DIVINITY SCHOOL
TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY

THE BOOK OE PSALMS.

THE BOOK OF PSALMS:
A NEW TRANSLATION,

BY THE LATE
JOHN MASON GOOD, M. D. F.R.S.
AUTHOR OF " A NEW TRANSLATION OF THE BOOK OF JOB," " SONG OF SONGS,"
" AN HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS ; " &C. &C.

EDITED BY
THE REV. E. HENDERSON, D.D.

i«&s*:

FLEET STREET, ahd HANOVEK STREET,
LONDON : MDCCCLIV.

THE EDITOR'S PREFACE.

Those who have perused the Memoirs of Dr. Mason
Good, by his friend Dr. Olinthus Gregory, will hail with
pleasure the appearance of the present volume— the last
labour of the former accomplished scholar. It will be
found a valuable supplement to his other Biblieal works,
and will convey to posterity a high idea of his indefati
gable industry, his critical ability, and his love of divine
truth. It is a work, to the preparation of which he de
voted, with intense interest, the closing years of his labo
rious and useful life. " The Psalter," observes his bio
grapher, " was evidently his chief delight. To some of
his friends he wrote about it ; to others he expatiated
upon it orally, read his translation of particular psalms,
and developed their peculiarities ; to his family he ex
pounded it, usually with great fervour and pathos."
(Memoirs, p. 306.) When asked once, how, being so
busily employed in the duties of his profession, he could
spare time for the study of the Scriptures ? " Oh," was
his reply, "T save every quarter of an hour, for my
heart is in it." Referring to his labours in translating
Lucretius, he remarks : — " I delight in profane literature,
but still more do I delight in my Bible." He brought to
his task a mind richly stored with the acquisitions of
science and art, — familiar, not only with the languages

VI THE EDITOR S PREFACE.
and literature of Greece and Rome, but with those of
the Orient, as well as with its geography, and the man
ners and customs of its inhabitants. He was, in short,
an universal scholar. Above all, with his heart deeply
imbued with the principles of genuine piety, he was well
prepared to sympathize with the pious aspirations of the
" sweet singer of Israel ; " to trace his course through
the varied scenes of his chequered and eventful life ;
and especially to seize upon those features of spiritual
experience, which have furnished the richest source of
delight to the devout in every age.
Though it will readily be admitted, that much progress
has been made in Hebrew philology and exegesis, in the
course of the quarter of a century which has elapsed,
since Dr. Good's Translation and Notes were prepared,
yet they contain so much valuable original matter, and
so much that he may be said to have anticipated, that it
would have been at once unjust to his memory, and a
loss to the Church of God, had they been consigned to
oblivion. The Notes are alike elegant and instructive. While
they deal much in matters of minute criticism, they
abound in beautiful illustrations of Bible scenery, evinc
ing that the author had it spread out before his mind's
eye, and well knew on what features to lay hold, for the
purpose of throwing light upon, or giving additional in
terest to the subjects of the Psalms. They are equally
free from the profanity which so flagrantly disfigured the
Biblical labours of his literary acquaintance, Dr. Geddes;
and from the speculations in which Bishop Horsley too
freely indulged.
To those whose ear is accustomed to the antiqueness and
solemnity of our common version, the modern familiar-
isms, occasionally employed by the author, may appear
to be out of place ; but it will be found on examination
of the instances which occur in his translation, that his
object in selecting them was to express what he con-

THE EDITOR S PREFACE. Vll
ceived better fitted to exhibit the meaning of the origi
nal, or more likely to strike the mind of his readers,
however their propriety might be questioned by fastidious
critics. Not unfrequently the literal forms of Hebrew phrase
ology are exchanged for others, equivalent in meaning in
our common usage — the translator evidently endeavour
ing to catch the spirit of the sacred writer, and give ex
pression to the sentiment conveyed by the bearing of the
context. To form a proper judgment of Dr. Good's labours, the
state of Biblical criticism in his day must be taken into
the account. It had for some time become fashionable
for Biblical literati to indulge ad libitum in the treatment
of the Hebrew text. Freed from the trammels of Rabbi
nical tradition, and giving unlimited scope to an unbridled
imagination, the critics exhibited quite a mania for tex
tual emendation. Every new writer on the Bible was
expected to contribute his quota to the expurgation of
the Hebrew Scriptures from the numerous errors of
transcription which were supposed to have crept into
them, and such was the licence taken, that at length the
records of inspiration more resembled the mutilated re
mains of a once living body, than the vital depository of
the words of eternal life.
While the author was convinced that the theory advo
cated by the older theologians, as to the Hebrew text
having come down to us in an absolutely immaculate
state, could not be sustained — the result of the much
vaunted collation of MSS. by Dr. Kennicott, satisfied
him as to its general ' integrity and trust- worthiness.
Whenever, therefore, he ventured upon an emendation,
he appears to have felt that he was treading on holy
ground ; and that he was bound to exercise the greatest
circumspection, and yield only to the most conclusive
evidence. He spared no pains in endeavouring to account
for the Masoretic text as it stands, and successfully ex-

Vlll THE EDITOR S PREFACE.
posed the unwarrantable liberties that had been taken
with it by many of his predecessors.
What will be found greatly to enhance the value of
the present work is the success with which Dr. Good has
investigated various questions, relating to the chronology
and history of the Psalms ; drawing his conclusions,
partly from the history of David, partly from certain
hints and references in the poems themselves. He shows
much ingenuity in treating of the music of the temple,
the choral adaptation of the Psalms, and the different in
struments on which they were played ; the probable
authors, and the significance of the different titles pre
fixed to the several Psalms. Those who wish for further
information on these subjects, are referred to a volume,
entitled, An Historical Outline of the Book of Psalms,
published by Dalton, Cockspur Street, London, 1842 ; to
which frequent reference is made in the present .volume.
Argyle Cottage, Mortlake.
August, 1854.

BOOK OF PSALMS.

PART I *
I.

1 Blessed is the man
That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor standeth in the way of sinners ;
Nor sitteth in the dwelling-place of scoffers.
2 But whose delight is in the law of Jehovah ;
Yea, in his law, who meditateth day and night.
This psalm has no title; it has been ascribed by different
critics to different writers, especially to David and to Ezra : and
by. some supposed to have been composed as a general prelude or
preface to the entire psalms by the latter, on his fixing the Jewish
canon and collecting the psalms into a distinct book. In some
copies it runs into the second psalm, and is identified with it : an
obvious error, however, as the subjects are entirely distinct.
On a very careful and attentive examination, and for reasons
stated in the Historical Outline, I have not the slightest doubt of its
being a production of him who was emphatically " the sweet psalm
ist of Israel," and that the present, with those abeady noticed in
conjunction with it in the historical outline of the Psalms, form the
earliest specimens of his fine poetical talents that have descended
to us. They are alike exquisitely beautiful georgics or pastorals,
manifestly composed in the rural retirement of his early life, with
the respective scenes immediately before him, described with so
much freshness and devotional feeling, and so admirably diversified
* See for an illustration of this Psalm, Historical Outline, &c. p. SO.
B

2 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM I.
3 Behold, he is like a tree
Planted by trenches of water,
That yieldeth its fruit in its season ;
And whose leaf doth not wither ;
And which matureth whatsoever it putteth forth.
4 Not so the ungodly :
For they are but as chaff which the wind driveth away ;
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous ;
in their subjects, before he had known any thing, or but very little
of those public events and extraordinary transitions, which chequered
his subsequent years.
In Acts xiii. 33, the passage in the ensuing psalm, " Thou art
my Son ; this day have I begotten thee," is quoted as a part of the
second psalm, ii/ ™ ^aA/*p t» SeuTc'jip : which would seem to show
that the present arrangement of the book of Psalms is that which
existed in the time of the apostles. But this by no means settles
the question ; for in a great number of the oldest and most approved
manuscripts the reading in Acts xiii. 33 is iv tu ^aXfio tsj irpprepp
— "in the first psalm," instead of "in the second:" whence
Griesbach has admitted this as the genuine reading into his text ;
conceiving that rp npurtf or first, has been altered into rq> hevrfpy
or second, since the present arrangement of the Psalms, for the pur
pose of making the quotation and the arrangement harmonize. And
it must be admitted that the passage is cited with the reading of
" first psalm," as restored by Griesbach, instead of "second" by
many of the early fathers ; as though the arrangement of our own
day was not that of theirs. Yet let the present division have taken
place whenever it may, it is founded on a sound judgment ; and
most probably leads back to the original order. See on this subject
Millii ad Acts xiii. 33.
Verse 1. " Blessed is the man,"] — Without the auxiliary and
supplied verb " happy the man ; " and still more closely to the
original " blessings on the man ! " for, properly speaking, the term
"HtBN is a noun plural — and the Syriac has thus rendered it. In
order to justify the common notion, which the present text follows,
it is necessary to suppose that the false concord of a plural and

PSALM T.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 3
6 For Jehovah will acknowledge the way of the righ
teous,
But the way of the ungodly shall bring perdition.
singular noun, in union with each other, is a peculiar idiom or
anomaly in the Hebrew tongue. It possibly is so : but in various
cases the grammatical rendering is the most forcible — and hence in
the Book of Proverbs, I have often thus translated it.
Verse 3. " Behold."] — The 1 is not here a copulative, " and," as
in the common versions, for this gives no meaning ; nor a causative
particle " enim" or "for" as in Tremellius and Junius, but an
adverb of exclamation as now rendered, and as it often should be
rendered in passages where a different sense is given to it. Upon
which see Noldius apud V And especially the author's note on
Job iii. 24. Geddes has omitted it altogether.
Id. "Trenches."] — Not " rivers," as commonly rendered, "^bs
imports "sections, divisions, channels;" and the passage imme
diately alludes to the trenches cut from the tank or reservoir of
water, sunk so frequently in the East, for the purpose of circulation,
and ramification in every direction.
Verse 4. " Not so the ungodly."] — In the Septuagint, and the
Vulgate which follows it, " Not so the ungodly — not so." The
repetition is uncalled for, and not justified by the MSS.
Id — " The wind driveth away."] — The Septuagint and the Vul
gate add, " from the face of the earth ;" an apparent interpolation
copied in our own Psalter version, but omitted in our authorized
Bible. Verse 5. " Shall not stand."] — " Shall not stand the test of the
scrutiny;" " Shall shrink back, and recoil with fearful apprehen
sion." " Shall not lift up the head firm and erect."
Verse 6. " Shall bring perdition."] — In the original 72Nh which
is here in Hiphil, the characteristic "> being dropped ; and hence,
strictly rendered, is, " shall bring, cause or make to perish : " but
not " shall perish," as commonly rendered, for this gives no clear
sense ; though the verb, regarded as in that, must be so interpreted.
It occurs in the same sense in Psalm cxii. 10.

B 2

BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM II.

II.*

] Why do the heathen rage ;
And the people murmur in vain ;
2 The kings, of the earth array themselves ;
And the rulers take counsel together
Against Jehovah, and against his anointed ?
3 " Let us break their bands asunder,
And cast their cords away from us."
Verse 1. "Why do — ?"] — The interrogation extends to the
close of the second verse; and the third immediately introduces the
subject of the conspiracy. The passage has hitherto been wrongly
divided. Id. — " The people murmur in vain."] — Nearly to the same effect
the Septuagint, and the same passage as quoted by the Apostles, Acts
iv. 25, Xaoi epeXeTvia-av Kevat;. In both these the Hebrew QifiMb is
itself a plural noun, as in truth is our English word " people "
though it admits of peoples in its application to foreign states. Dr.
Geddes gives peoples instead of people, and Bishop Horslcy nations.
But then, as just observed, these terms intimate other states or
countries besides the Jews : whereas the real intuition of the psalm
ist seems to be to direct the meaning of the term to the Jews alone,
so as to form a contrast with the word Heathen or Gentiles (Q^VO
in the preceding line : " the people" in the ordinary sense of the
term : " the collected and clamorous crowds"' " the vulgar and
busy commonalty,". " the talkative and gaping multitude ;" inti
mating that these also had confederated with the Gentile or foreign
powers to oppose the triumph of the anointed king of Zion. And
the term is thus expressly interpreted, Acts iv. 27, in which the
CfiNb, Xaoi, or " people," are directly called Xacl la-pay*., " the
multitudes or people of Israel."
The Hebrew pi~l, like the Septuagint Kern? is an adverb, " in
vain," rather than " a vain thing : " and n:n is well expressed
by the Septuagint k^Xtraa, or e>/«XeTa«, " to meditate, rumi
nate," especially with " solicitude and anxiety," " to talk mentally
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 120.

PSALM II. J BOOK OF PSALMS. 5
4 He that sitteth in heaven shall laugh.
The Lord shall have them in derision.
5 Thus shall he accost them in his wrath
And confound them in his indignation :
6 " Verily have I invested my king
Upon my holy hill of Zion."
or inwardly," " to murmur," " mutter," or " growl," " to
threaten:" and hence Bishop Horsley proposes for the text, "And
the nations mutter angrily in vain."
Verse 2. " Array themselves."- The direct meaning is " take a
set, fixed, or firm position," " draw themselves out in array,"
" take a military station." And so the Greek term mapk<rti\aav in
the Septuagint version, from wapstnrnju, " sisto, exhibeo, in medium
produco, in aciem copias produco." The authorized English version,
for the present place, gives " set themselves," and for the parallel
place in Acts iv. 26, " stood up ; " in both which the proper idea
. is indeed conveyed, but loosely and feebly : and not in exact keep
ing (if such an expression may be allowed) with either the Hebrew
or the Greek text.
Verse 5. Thus] — The Hebrew TN is here an adverb of manner,
rather than of time, thus, " sic, ita," rather than " then, tunc."
So, Song of Songs viii. 10;
I myself am a wall,
And my bosom resembles her towers :
Thus (in this manner or therefore) prevailed I in his eyes.
Other examples are numerous, for which see Noldius in verbum.
Verse 6. " Verily have I invested."] — " I have put on him the
robe of majesty," " I have clothed him with the royal mantle."
Such is the exact meaning of \TI3D3 whether derived from -jd " to
cover, overspread, or put over," or from "JD3 " to diffuse, spread
abroad, pour forth." And thus Prov. viii. 23.
" Prom everlasting was I invested."
For " invested," our established version gives us " set " in the one
instance, and " set up " in the other — being a translation of the
Vulgate rendering, " constitutus ; " but this is rather a paraphrase
than a strict rendering. Both the above Hebrew roots occasionally
also denote " to smear," or " overspread with oil, perfume, or
any other viscous substance," and consequently " to anoint." And
hence Bishop Horsley and other critics have translated the passage

6 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM II.
7 I will proclaim the decree
Jehovah hath announced concerning me :
" Thou art my son !
" This day have I begotten thee.
8 " Ask of me — and I will give
" The heathen for thine inheritance ;
" Yea, the limits of the earth for thy possession.
9 " Thou shalt crush them with a rod of iron ;
" Thou shalt shiver them like a potter's vessel."
before us, and Schultens the parallel passage in the Proverbs, by
the term anoint. " Yet will I anoint my king."
This is not a bad rendering ; but if it were the real idea of the
Psalmist, he would rather have employed again the more appropriate
and, so to speak, consecrated term niPB (Mashach, whence Messiah)
already used in verse 2, and translated by every one " Anointed,
Messiah, or Christ."
The Septuagint version employs " constitute or appoint " as the
Vulgate ; but it gives a different sense to the entire passage, and a
sense it is not easy to reconcile with the grammatical construction
of the Masorah. The verse runs thus 'Eye Be KaziaidBriv SaaiXevi;
vis' avrov e7i) 2i&?i/ opos to ayiov avrov BiayyeXSv ro itpotrxay^a
Kvptov. According to which rendering the copies used by the
Seventy must have had labia for "oba, and IWip for >W7p.
Geddes has adopted this rendering, and has given us —
" For I am his adopted king
Over Zion his hallowed mountain."
And the quotation of the • Septuagint version by the Evangelists
gives it a very high degree of authority : though not an authority
capable of superseding the original text in cases where we have no
reason to suspect it of corruption.
Verse 7. " Have I begotten thee."] — Geddes and several other
critics discover a hypercritical nicety upon this passage, and would
render or explain it, " have I adopted thee : " " begotten" being
in their opinion an improper term. But this is to enter too little
into the force and daring of Eastern imagery!" The figure is minutely
followed up through every subsequent part of the Old and New
Testament, and is especially unfolded in the latter. " Verily,"
says our Saviour, John iii. 5, " except a man be born again, he

PSALM II. J BOOK OF PSALMS. 7
10 Be wise, now therefore, 0 ye kings !
Be admonished, ye judges of the land !
11 Obey Jehovah with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
cannot enter into the kingdom of God." But, if he be born again,
he must be begotten again, or regenerated. And hence Matt. xix.
28, our Saviour speaks of those who had " followed him in the re
generation."* And hence again, while he himself is called in dif
ferent parts of the Scripture the " first-begotten," and " the only
begotten Son of God ; " all true Christians are themselves said in
other parts to be themselves begotten " through the gospel," or " to
a lively hope." And thus St. Paul tells the Corinthians (1 Cor.
iv. 15,) " in Jesus Christ have I begotten you through the gospel ;"
and adverting to Onesimus in his converted state, he says, (Philem.
1,) " whom 1 have begotten in my bonds." The image is therefore
not only consonant with the boldness of Eastern ornament, but
common to the whole tenor of Scripture phraseology. It was
clearly enough understood by the Jews at the period before us, and
is, indeed, in the present text sufficiently understood by them in
our own day. Thus Rabbi Immanuel, in his " Scholia in selecta
loca Psalmorum, Hebraica Scripta," as translated by De Bossi,
" Ego suscipio te in filium, ut filium suum suscipit pater : teque
habeo, perinde ac si hodie genuissem te." The direct meaning is
" This day have I begotten thee for this purpose : " " this day have
I renewed thee for this purpose." The meaning is clear enough as
applied to man ; and would no doubt be equally clear as applied to
our Saviour, were we, or could we be, fully acquainted with the
nature of the Deity, and more especially with the nature of that
mysterious union which runs through the different persons of the
Trinity, and branches out in the relationship of Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit.
Verse 11. " Kiss the Son."] — This form of worship was com
mon among most nations in ancient times, in connexion with
that of bending the knee : and hence it is applied in Hosea to the
worshippers of Baal, " let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves,' ' —
i. e. the idols to which they offer sacrifice.
* Modern editors insert a comma after " me " and then read : " in the regene
ration when the Son of man," &c. — Ed.

BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM III.
Kiss the son — lest he be angry,
And ye perish straightway
When his wrath is but just kindled : —
Blessed are all they that take refuge in him !

Ill*
A PSALM OF DAVID.
WHEN FLEEING FROM HIS SON ABSALOM.
1 0 Jehovah ! how do my foes multiply !
How numerous are the insurgents around me !
2 How numerous the speeches against my soul —
" There is no help for him in God." — (Selah.)
3 But thou, 0 Jehovah, art a shield unto me :
My glory and the uplifter of my head.
4 My voice will I raise to Jehovah ;
And he shall hear me from his holy hill. — (Selah.)
5 I will lay me down and will sleep —
Yea, I have awoke — for Jehovah sustaineth me.
The title to this Psalm is sufficiently clear : and in the historical
outline we have taken a view of the leading circumstances under
which it was composed.
Verse 5. '• I have laid me down, and will sleep ;
Tea, I have awoke."] — It is on this verse I ground
the belief that the Psalm before us was a pious meditation or ejacu
lation at night, when, as in the ensuing Psalm, the sacred writer
" communed with his own heart on his bed, and was still : " a
season, which he seems often to have devoted to religious exercises.
The verse has been rendered with some difference of interpretation,
by different writers and translators. But whatever be the render
ing, the general idea conveyed by it is, that the holy Psalmist
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 174.

PSALM IV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 9
6 I will not fear the myriads of the people
That beset me round about.
7 Arise, 0 Jehovah ! save me, 0 my God !
Behold thou art smiting all my enemies on the jaw
bone :
Thou art breaking the teeth of the ungodly.
8 Salvation is from Jehovah :
Thy blessing is upon thy people.
consoled himself in a full confidence of the presence of the Almighty
both by day and by night, while sleeping and waking. Dr. Ken-
nicott derives ini^^pn not from ypi " to awake," as all the
ancient versions do, but from yp " to be restless, irritated,
harassed." But the deviation from the received opinion is uncalled
for. The prefix n " yea," has hitherto passed without notice by
any of the translators, though highly explanatory of the sense, and
indeed necessary to it.
Verse 7. " Behold."] — This is a frequent meaning of the Hebrew
"O, as in Job iii. 24, and various other places : and the Arabic
^¦a., the same term, is in like manner used as a particle of ex
clamation or inclamation.

IV*
TO THE SUPREME.
For the stringed-instruments.
A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 When I called he heard me —
The God of my righteousness.
It is generally supposed by the commentators that the present
Psalm alludes to the subject of the preceding : and its matter seems
sufficiently to confirm such an opinion, with the exception that,
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 189, 190.

10 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM IV.
How didst thou stretch forth to me in distress ! —
0 be gracious to me, and listen to my prayer.
2 How long, ye sons of men, will ye be dull of heart ?
while the preceding Psalm was penned during the time that the
issue was yet doubtful, this, which is directly a triumphal ode, was
written after victory was obtained and David reinstated in his
government. The title indeed, as rendered by the greater number
of interpreters, states and establishes this fact. Thus in the
Chaldee we have Nr"Dtt?b " On or for the triumph or exultation,"
as rendered above. In the Septuagint 'E/$ to teAo? ; in the Vul
gate " In finem ; " both which may be rendered " Upon the con
summation and achievement " or " glorious issue." While Aquila
gives ra viKoitoi<f " to the Giver-of- victory ; " and has been followed
by Bishop Horsley. The Hebrew term is n^Sab from TO3 " to
excel, surpass, overpower, master ; " whence, as a noun, it means
" excellency, superiority, supremacy, mastery, consummation, pre
eminence." It is however applied occasionally to Psalms which do
not particularly allude to any success or victory over enemies, as
for instance in the title to Psalm viii. ; and hence it appears to me
that nS2ab is equivalent to the Eoman dedication, " Deo optimo
Maximo," — and should be rendered simply " To the Supreme," or
" Pre-eminent." It is especially applied in the radical form of
11!23 to the God of Israel in 1 Sam. xv. 29, " and moreover the
Supreme or over-ruler of Israel will not lie nor repent." So the
same term in Arabic *• j (nezeh) imports " awful, dread, reveren
tial," as we say, " dread majesty ; " tcAo? may import the same.
Verse 1. "When I called, he heard me,"] — So the Septuagint
and Vulgate, 'Ev ra iniKaXelo-Oat pie, ha^ROvai pov o 0eo; — " Cum
invocarem, exaudivit me Deus." The Hebrew, however, may be
rendered, " When I call, hear me, O God ! " and hence this is a
turn which has also been given to the passage by many interpreters :
though 1 think with less spirit, and less consistent with the subject
of the ode : for the call had already been made, and occurs in the
preceding Psalm ; the Almighty had actually hearkened to it ; the
battle had been fought, and the present effusion is a triumphant
return of thanks for God's gracious interference, accompanied with
a humble but noble and magnanimous intercession for the rebel
foes, that were now flying before David in every direction ; and a

PSALM IV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. ] I
How long will ye court vanity ?
Will ye follow a deceit ? (Selah.)
3 Mark how Jehovah hath signalized the man pious
towards him !
Jehovah will listen when I call upon him.
generous and princely expostulation with them upon their miscon
duct ; the vanity of their attempt, and the deceit that had been
practised upon them ; with an invitation to them to return to
loyalty towards himself, and duty towards God.
Id. " How didst thou stretch forth to me in distress."] — The
Hebrew is peculiarly emphatic from the introduction of the particle
il " 0 quam ! " which has nevertheless hitherto been omitted in
all the versions, with an unpardonable loss to the force of the ex
pression. In like manner, the preposition b in "»b " to me" is
omitted in most modern renderings, though retained in the Septua
gint and most of the Latin versions; lr SrKtyei eicXdrwai; /aoi — r
" in tribulatione dilatasti mihi," which is the rendering of the
Vulgate. " Thou didst expand, extend, stretch forth to me ; " and
not " stretch, expand, extend, or even enlarge me."
As this term, however, in the present title (and that to more
than fifty other Psalms), is joined with the word TOMa " for "
or " on the stringed instruments," or " neginoth," or some
other term which has been interpreted as applicable to some
other musical apparatus, it has been conceived by many critics
that nsaa instead of " supremacy or mastery," in the ordinary
sense of the term, is limited to supremacy or mastery in music ;
and hence Tremellius and Junius, and most of the modern inter
preters, following their example, have rendered the passage, " Ma-
gistro symphonise ; " or, as we have it in our authorized version,.
" to the chief musician : " without any standard reference, or
information as to the person thus adverted to. In like manner, in
Habakkuk iii. 19, the only place out of the Psalms in which the
passage before us incidentally occurs, we have it rendered, " to
the chief singer on my stringed instruments ; " while the proper
rendering of the entire verse, as I humbly conceive, should be
thus : —
The Lord Jehovah is my strength,
And will make my feet like the hind's ;

] 2 BOOK QF PSALMS. [PSALM IV.
4 0 tremble and be not led astray :
Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and
be still : (Selah.)
Yea, upon elevated grounds will he give me to walk
In supremacy (pre-eminence or triumph) with my stringed
instruments.
In the preceding Psalm we have perhaps a parallel or prefigura-
tion of the scene in Gethsemane : in this the type requires to be
continued into the scene on the cross. In the agonizing strife
endured by king David, he called upon God, and was heard. So
did our Saviour, in the memorable expostulation, " My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me ! " When the bitterness of suffering
was past, and the victory was rendered complete, both prayed for
their enemies, both felt the comfort and support of the Divine
favour, and both peacefully resigned themselves to sleep. " Fa
ther ! " said the crucified Saviour, " forgive them — for they know
not what they do ! — " This day shalt thou be with me in paradise :"
— " It is finished ! " And with this triumphant exclamation, " he
bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." " He both laid him down
and slept in peace ; " rising from his bed of death on the third
day, " because it was not possible that he should be holden of it ; "
and triumphantly re-entering into the glorious city, which, like
David, he had shortly before quitted for the wilderness of this
world. Verse 2. " Will ye be dull of heart ?' '] — In our authorized version
and various other renderings, " Will ye turn my glory to shame ? "
or, as in the Psalter version, ¦" Will ye blaspheme mine honour ? "
The difference of reading depends altogether upon the change of a
single letter in the Hebrew for another which is very like it in form
—that of a 2 (b) for a 3 (k). The former seems to have been the
original reading, if we may judge from the Septuagint, which, has
adopted it, and has been followed by the Vulgate and many later
authorities ; among others, by Bishop Lowth and Dr. Geddes ; in
which case, the a must have been mistaken for a 3 by some early
scribe, and the mistake been continued in succeeding copies. I am
much in error also, if this rendering do not give a better and
more forcible sense, in respect to the rebel band whom the Psalmist
is evidently addressing, and endeavouring to recal from disloyalty,
defeat, and disgrace, to a sense of duty and fidelity to his own

PSALM IV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 13
5 Sacrifice the sacrifices of righteousness ;
And adhere ye to Jehovah.

person. As now rendered, consistently with the Septuagint, the
original must run thus —
3b m33 na IV BPN vq
pn i!3n«n nab
In our authorized version, which is the sense of Tremellius and
Junius, and forms the Masora, it occurs as follows —
nabsb "him na *t» bpn "03
pn ]i3n«n
Verse 3. " Mark how Jehovah hath signalized the man pious
towards him."] — The rendering here offered is literal, but it has
been given very differently by different interpreters and critics, of
which, indeed, we have an example in our authorized Bible ver
sion, compared with our equally authorized Psalter. 1ST im
ports know, in the sense of " mind," " notice," " take heed,"
"mark;" "remark." The conjunction 1 before it, and ^3 after,
are of very wide signification in Hebrew : and hence with respect
to the former, we have " but know " in our Bible version ; " know
also " in the Psalter ; " and know " in the Septuagint and most
of the renderings. It seems rather in its present place to be an
interjection than a copulative, and it is here rendered accordingly.
>3 is, in like manner, rather an adverb of exclamation than of indi
cation, quam than ut, or how than that ; though the Latin ut and
the Greek in;, like the Hebrew ">3, import both senses. Of this
meaning of "»3 we have various examples in our common version as
1 Sam. xiv. 29, " See, I pray you, how ("O) mine eyes have been
enlightened." And again, Job xxii. 1 2, " Behold the height of the
stars, how (>3) high they are."
The next term that has been differently rendered is nb&n, or as
it is written in various MSS., Nbsn. nbD imports " to turn,
separate, assort, distinguish by some - particular mark, sign, or
signal," and hence it may mean " to signalize." NbD appears to
be derived from it, and is limited to the latter sense, and hence
imports " to work wonderfully or extraordinarily," " to excite asto
nishment." The Septuagint either read sbsn or rendered nbsn
in its last sense ;• for it gives ISavpiao-rao-e, which the Vulgate has

14 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM IV.
6 While the multitude were exclaiming
" Who will show us success ? "
closely translated " mirificavit,"--a sense retained by Bishop Hare,
and opposed by Bishop Lowth, and which the present text as
closely follows by signalized; a turn which I have preferred, as
well on account of its reconciling the various readings with the
Masora, and the Septuagint, as because of the greater force it ex
hibits. Our common rendering, " set apart," is evidently taken
from the primary meaning of the Masoretic text. Tet the Psalter
for " set apart," or "signalize," gives us " chosen," which is also
a secondary meaning from the common root.
It is very difficult and perhaps altogether impossible to find a
word in any other language that is an exact synonym of TDn and
which will run parallel with it through all its different senses.
In its primary sense IDn {hesed) imports energy and activity
swelling forth, and producing increase ; and hence, taking a very
different turn, and exhibiting a very different character according to
the nature of its source, so that like nbw in the same language,
and devotus and sacer in Latin, it signifies in its opposite ramifica
tions, the highest degree of what is good, and what is bad ; on
the one hand a zealous and energetic swell of affection, kindness,
piety, and every godly and religious feeling ; and on the other an
equally zealous and energetic swell of malevolence, envy, pride,
contumely. The term is to be found, and in all this multiplicity of
signification, in the Arabic, and under the same radical characters
of the alphabet : but here they are slightly varied to notice the dis
tinction, and it would have been better that the same variation
should have entered into the Hebrew. Thus "TD'n (hesed) in its
good sense is writtten with an aspirate t>£~» (heshed) and imports
a perennial stream or fountain, whether of water in a spring, milk
in a camel, or succulence in a plant ; while the same word is writ
ten precisely as in the Hebrew, or without the aspirate in its bad
sense, as (Xw,.^ (hesed) and imports jealousy, envy, malevolence.
For which see Golius and Meninski. And hence we are not to
wonder that the same term should be used in very different signifi
cations in different parts of the Hebrew Scriptures, and require a
very different rendering. In Isaiah xl. 6, it is used for the pomp,
pride, or ungodliness of life," as compared to the flower of the
field : in Proverbs xiv. 34, it is applied to the " bloatedness

PSALM IV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 15
There beameth forth over us
The light of thy countenance, 0 Jehovah !
of a people " in the midst of sinful and impious prosperity ;
though the word is usually, but less correctly rendered instead of
bloatedness, reproach. In Psalm civ. 1 7, and various other places,
nTDn (hesidah) is hence a name given to the stork from its pro
verbial affection for its young, and the fondness with which it per
forms its parental duty ; whence the Greeks, in like manner, de
nominated it cpiJSio;, " the bird of love." In Prov. xxv. 10, in
our common version iDn (hesed) is rendered " to put to shame ; "
meaning " to reproach or insult ; " though this is not the actual
signification of the word in this place, but " to swell forth, become
turgid, enlarge or aggravate."
In the passage before us, TOn is evidently used in a good sense ;
but the translators have found themselves at a loss for the best
word by which to express it. The Septuagint gives oo-io?, and
combines the same word in Psalm xii. 1, and especially in the
parallel passage Psalm xvi. 10, which may be rendered indeed
sanctus or holy, though for this the Hebrew generally gives W\p
and the Septuagint Greek dytos ; and which is, rather therefore,
" good, or pious." Tremellius and Junius give " benignitate ac-
ceptus," and in Psalm xvi. 10, "benignitate prosecutus ; " thus
adhering to the ordinary meaning of IDn when used in a good
sense. And hence Geddes gives " pious-one," in both instances.
The Vulgate gives " sanctus," or " holy-one," in both cases ; thus
making TDn and Wlp synonymous. And hence, though the
radical meaning of 7DT1 in a good sense, is " good, pious actions to
God and man," it imports also " holy and godly," in the highest
sense of these last terms : as in Psalm xvi. 10, and in Acts ii. 27,
where it is rendered by oo-jo? — thus giving a range equally wide to
the Greek term.
It is only necessary farther to observe that in rendering lb " to
wards him," instead of " for himself," I have only followed the sense
given to the preposition by the Septuagint and the Vulgate ; for " his
holy one, or his devoted," which is the literal rendering of these, is
only an equivalent phrasing for " the one, or the man devoted or
holy to him ;" as is fully confirmed by the parallel passage in Psalm
xvi. 10, in which the Hebrew itself gives us " his devoted or holy
one i " thus using the two expressions convertibly. Bishop Hare

16 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM IV.
7 Thou hast put gladness into my heart
More than when men's corn and their wine are in-
gathered.
attempts to correct the text by changing lb into ib, by which he
renders the passage, " Mirifieavit Jah misericordiam suum mihi,"
" Jehovah hath signalized his mercy to me." The alteration,
though ingenious, is uncalled for ; yet Bishop Lowth approves of it,
and Street follows it.
The general intention, then, of the present rendering, and of
these remarks upon it, is to show that the Septuagint does not
deviate from the Hebrew when rightly understood, and to offer a
text that unites the two.
Verse 6. " There beameth forth over us." — The Hebrew D3 sig
nifies, " to wave as a banner, or vibrate as light," " to corruscate,"
" to beam forth or glitter." One or two of the manuscripts how
ever for noa have NBW, which signifies " to bear up, or lift up ; "
and Junius and Tremellius, adopting this reading, have given
" attolle super nos ; " and they have been followed both in our
Psalter, and authorized Bible version, with a very unnecessary
deviation from the Masoretic text, and a deviation, which neither of
them often allows.
Verse 7. " More than when men's corn and their wine are inga-
thered."] — Literally, "their com and their wine" — in which, as in
various other parts of Hebrew poetry, the pronoun their is used in
definitely for one's or men's, agreeably to the English phrase they
say, for men say , or the Latin loquuntur, Lucret. iv. 584.
Faunos esse loquuntur
Quorum norcivago strepitu ludoque jocanti,
Adfirmant volgo taciturna silentia rumpi..
Fauns whose frolic dance
And midnight revels, oft they say, are heard
Breaking the noiseless silence.
So Hosea xi. 27, " as they called them "—import as " one called
them "—and refers to the prophets. So Job xxviii. 3, yp literally
"he delveth" into the region of darkness, signifies "man delveth,"
or " one delveth ;" and in the book of Proverbs we have numerous
examples of the same idiom ; as also in Mark vi. 54, " Straightway
they knew him ; " the people or the men knew him." In like

PSALM IV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 17
8 I will both lay me down and sleep in peace,
For thou only,0 Jehovah, makest me to dwell in safety.
manner in Psalm vii. 12, for " if he turn not," Bishop Horsley has
earnestly given " if the man turn not."
The passage hence becomes clear ; for it cannot easily be supposed
that David would greatly rejoice at the increase of the agricultural
prosperity of his enemies or insurgent subjects. The joy referred
to, is that of the harvest or ingathering, for which two public feasts
were expressly instituted under the Mosaic law, — one to celebrate
the first fruits, and the other when the whole of the harvest-labour
was completed. So Exod. xxiii. 16, "And (thou shalt keep), the
feast of harvest, the first fruits of thy labours which thou hast sown
in thy field ; and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the
year when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field." And
hence this joyous period is perpetually appealed to by the Hebrew
poets for an image or comparison that came home to every man's
bosom. Strictly parallel therefore to the present place is the fol
lowing passage of Isaiah ix. 3 :
They joy before thee as with the joy of harvest.
And, again, with exquisite pathos, xvi. 9 :
Therefore will I weep, with the weeping of Jaser, for the vine
of Sibmah :
I will water thee with my tears, 0 Heshbon, and Elealeh !
For the shouting for thy summer-fruits, and for thy harvest is
fallen.
Verse 8. "I will both ... in peace."] — I'm1* here, and in our
Bible version rendered both, is of extensive signification, and may
admit of other senses. The radical verb ITT1 imports " to unite,
bring or put together ; and hence lin^ as a derivative adverb,
means " jointly," " both together," " altogether," " wholly,"
* at once:" and precisely corresponds with the Latin simul, which
is the term employed by Tremellius and Junius. The Septuagint
give im to avro, whence the Vulgate, in idipsum, and Bishop
Horsley and various others " at once," or " instantly." The pas
sage might be rendered, and even with a nearer preservation of the
order of the words in the original.
Wholly at ease I will lay me down and sleep :
But it is not necessary to disturb the common text, which is sanc
tified by use, and familiar to every one's recollection. The Psalter
version omits the term entirely. c

18 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM V.

v.*
TO THE SUPREME.
For the wind-instruments.
A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 Give ear to my words, 0 Jehovah !
Attend to my supplication.
2 0 hearken to the voice of my cry, my King, and my
God!
For unto thee will I pray.
As the preceding Psalm was composed HWaaS " for the Negi-
noth," or " stringed-instruments :" the present is mb^nan bM
" for the Nehiloth," or " wind-instruments," as it is rendered by
Tremellius and Junius (pneumatic instruments) and as the term has
been understood by a very great, perhaps the greater, body of
learned writers since. In this case mb^na is a derivative from
bn (hel) " hollow, empty, excavated, perforated," and is nearly
synonymous with nibna from the same root " pipes or flutes,"
but which is often rendered tabrets and timbrels, in our common
version, and by an easy metonymy, dances and dancings. And in
confirmation of this interpretation it may be observed that the
same radical word in Arabic (J,^. (hal) is often applied to vocal
sounds, and means especially the rural call of the camel-owner to
his camel.
nib^na may however be derived from bna importing inheri
tance or possession ; and is so derived in the present instance in the
Septuagint version, and indeed by all the Greek interpreters;
whence the Vulgate, following them gives the passage thus, " pro
e§, quae hsereditatem consequitur," "concerning her who hath the
inheritance;" which modern commentators have referred to the
Church personified, put into possession of the heavenly inheritance
purchased by the death of our Saviour. This is a very ino-enious
and beautiful explanation ; but less simple than the preceding, and
less congruous with the relation which evidently exists between the
* Historical Outline, &c. p, 176.

PSALM V.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 19
3 In the morning, 0 Jehovah, shalt thou hear my
voice ;
In the morning will I address thee, and take heed.
4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in the
wicked ;
The evil-doer shall not dwell with thee.
two terms, negiloth, and nehiloth : both which seem rather to refer
to the nature and kind of instruments and the character of the music
to which the respective poems were adapted.
Verse 3. " In the morning," &c.]— " Every day shalt thou hear
me on my first rising ; every day, on my first rising, will I jiddress
thee, and resolve on a stricter watch over my life." " Will I take
heed," is in both our authorized versions " will look up : "¦ — but
which should rather be " look about," " keep watch," or " guard,"
" be circumspect or vigilant : " the great business to which prayer
should incline us, and its most valuable fruit and effect. The He
brew verb is nDS, and imports " to oversee, look around, observe,
or watch cautiously ; " whence the Septuagint gives correctly
im-^/Ofiat, " I will inspect or scrutinize myself." And that this is
the real sense of the term in the present place, we learn very clearly
from the motive for so doing, which is contained in the two verses
immediately following, " because God has no pleasure in those
who are wicked or allow evil of any kind." Bishop Horsley un
derstands the term in the same sense, and translates the entire
passage thus —
" In the morning I set every thing in order before thee, and
watch before thee."
Yet while the same sense is here ascribed to nS2, a different
bearing is given to the general passage. " I will look out for
thee," says he, or " watch for thee ; " i. e. watch for some usual
signal of God's favour ; some appearance to the flame of the sacri
fice, or a ray of the Sheckinah issuing from the sanctuary," thus
regarding the whole line, agreeably to the construction of Dr. Ken-
nicott, as formed of scriptural terms ; the preparing being that of
the wood for the altar, and the watching being that of the victim
placed on it, and consuming with good auspices or acceptance. The
explanation is ingenious, yet with all due deference to these able
critics I cannot but conceive that " the preparation, or setting-in-
order," is that of the heart in its approach to God, and " the watch-
C 2

20 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM V.
5 The profligate cannot stand the test of thine eyes ;
Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity.
6 Thou wilt destroy the speakers of deceit ;
The man of blood and of guile Jehovah abhorreth.
7 But I, through thy great loving-kindness,
Shall re-enter thy house : I shall prostrate myself,
In thy fear, within thy holy temple.

ing or taking heed," is that of the life and conduct ; ideas that
immediately connect themselves with the two next verses, which
the explanation of these valuable critics cannot be said to do.
The term -pj> implies " to regulate, set in order, prepare, di
rect." Our authorized version adds gratuitously my prayer, but
this is unnecessary, and as little connected with the ensuing verses
as the sacrifice understood by Dr. Kennicott. The rendering now
given requires no such gratuitous supply, — " set-every-thing-in-
order," as given by Bishop Horsley, is correct enough as equivalent
to "prepare;" though as needlessly diffuse in the wording, as it '
is erroneous in the application of the idea.
Verse 5. " The profligate."] — Hebrew Qibbin from bn "to
move briskly," to " glitter or make a display." And hence the
duplicate noun imports " madmen " rather than " fools," as ren
dered in our common version ; " men of merriment who laugh at
religion " — deriders, scoffers, scorners, the profligate — a term very
correctly employed in the present place by Dr. Geddes. .The Tar-
gum gives ]i3bna " scorners, or deriders."
Id. " Shall not stand the test of thine eyes."]— Strictly literally,
for the Hebrew verb is in Hithpael in the reflecting conjugation,
— Shall not present themselves to the test of thine eyes. ;„
The compound term Tl3b (leneged) like 133 (neged) alone is
directly Arabic : ^ jj (leneged) and j^si (neged) : the latter
"probatio," " experimentum," " contestatum : " the former "ad
probationem " " ad experimentum : " from the Arabic verb AaJ',:
" probare experimento." And hence 133 (neged) in Hebrew, and
j.srJ (neged) as a noun, imports "a man proved or approved"—
" of known or tried virtue, character, or excellence : " " morally
good " " ingenuous " " distinguished." See Prov. xiv. 7, and the
author's note upon it. In like manner, the " excellent things " in
Prov. viii. 6, in the Hebrew text Q1T33 is strictly " things triedyl

PSALM V.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 21
8 Guide me, 0 Jehovah, by thy righteousness ;
0 make plain thy way before me, because of my foes.
9 For nothing in their mouth is sincere ;
Their inside is utter depravity ;
Their throat an qpen sepulchre ;
Their tongue they set to beguile.
10 Punish thou them, 0 God ;
Let them fall by their own counsels !
In the multitude of their offences cast them away ;
For they are rebellious against Thee.
11 So shall all that trust in thee rejoice ;
and approved : " " of ascertained and established virtue." " To
stand in the sight jyf a person," is a common expression in the Old
Testament, but this is ordinarily rendered, not "pa"1}? 133b, as in
the present place, but "pasb as in Ps. Ixxvi. 7. " Who may stand
in thy sight (literally before thee) when once thou art angry ? "
The distinction is worthy of remark, and demands a difference of
rendering. Verse 8. " 0 make plain thy way before me because of my foes."]
— The order of the original however runs thus, " Because of my
foes, O make plain thy way before me." The translations in
general, unite " because of my foes " to the former period of the
verse : yet the parallel passage in Ps. lxxvii. 11, shows clearly that
the proper division is as here given —
Teach me thy way, O Jehovah !
Yea, guide me in a plain path because of my foes.
It is singular, however, that most of the translators have omitted
the emphatic n or 0 ! prefixed to the verb " direct or make plain."
The Septuagint has moreover changed the order of the pronouns,
and been followed, as in most instances, by the Vulgate : according
to which reading the passage runs — :
O make plain my path before thee.
The change is unnecessary, though either reading affords a good
sense ; yet the Masoretic or common rendering is justified, by the
parallel passage in Ps. lxxvii. 11, which the Septuagint has not
disturbed, and which I have just quoted.
Verse 11. "For thou wilt protect them."] — The common ren-

22 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM VI.
They shall evermore shout, for thou wilt protect them,
Yea all that love thee shall triumph in thee ;
12 For thou, 0 Jehovah, wilt bless the just man \
Like a child of favour wilt thou encompass him.
dering, *' for thou defendest them " gives the sense, though not the
literal and grammatical meaning of the original. " To protect "
is strictly " to cover over ; " which is the exact meaning of the
Hebrew " for thou wilt cover over them " " overcover or cover com
pletely : " ya'hv IDm- The future tense is often in Hebrew
used convertibly for the present : and hence a translator is often at
liberty to choose which modification of time he will, but when the
tense given in the original will make an equally clear sense in the
interpretation, it ought not to be departed from.
Verse 12. "The just man."] — Evidently, as it appears to me,
alluding to David himself and his own cause, as in verse 3, of the
preceding Psalm, in a literal sense ; and to our Saviour, the'AriOX
KAI AIKAIOZ " THE HOLY AND THE JUST ONE," or the AIKAI02
" the just one " alone of Acts iii. 14 ; vii. 52, and xxii. 44.
And I cannot but concur with Bishop Horsley in understanding
the same term, p'HS, wherever it occurs in the same definite
manner : for we have the authority of the Acts for regarding TDn
Wlp and jTHJi. or as they are given in the Greek oo-io;, aytaq and
h'tKaioq, " devoted, holy, just," as synonyms when employed em
phatically and definitely as " devoted one, holy one, just one."

VI.*
TO THE SUPREME.
For the stringed-instruments, in concert with the Chorus.
A PSALM OF DAVID.
I 0 Jehovah, rebuke me not in thine anger ;
Nor chasten me in thy fury.
2 Pity me, 0 Jehovah, for I am wasting ;
Heal me, 0 Jehovah, for my bones tremble :
3 Yea, vehemently trembleth my spirit.
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 172, 173.

PSALM VI. J BOOK OF PSALMS. 23
Come, then, 0 Jehovah ;-^how long yet ?
4 Turn thee, 0 Jehovah ; deliver my spirit ;
0 save me, for thy mercy's sake.
The title of this Psalm is nearly the same as that of Psalm iv :
differing only by the addition of JTa^atPn bN (al Ha-Sheminith)
which I have ventured to render " in concert with the chorus," b«
importing " together with " " along with " and consequently " in
concert with ; " — and jatP whence n^fittJ " plenitude " " fulness"
or "full power," and especially as applied to numbers ; whence Bishop
Horsley renders it, but I think without much perspicuity, " con
cerning the super-abundance." That the poetry of the Hebrews
was often sung in parts, and accompanied by a chorus, often divided
into sections, will be sufficiently clear as we proceed in the book
before us. As the period of the week, or earliest division of time
consisted of seven days, seven was regarded as a complete number ;
and hence eight was denominated Shemineh, redundant, super-
abounding, being nearly the same word as is employed in the
present title. The Septuagint have supposed that this is the idea
really intended, and have hence rendered the passage iitep t!j«
oySuV, whence the Vulgate " pro octavi," or " for the octave," i.e.
the superabundant number; and Dr. Geddes, "for the eight-
stringed Neginoth," while Tremellius and Junius give " ad gravem.
symphonium," which imports chorus, concert or co-operation.
That this is the real meaning is, I think, clear from the use of
the same term in 1 Chron. xv., where we have an account of the
high-festival which was held on bringing up the ark into the temple,
which David had prepared for its reception in Mount. Zion, or the
city of David. The priests led the procession, and were accom
panied with their entire band of both vocal and instrumental per
formers. These were divided into different companies, headed by
the chief musicians upon the different instruments employed, and
the chief choristers; and among the rest we are told, verse 21,
were appointed " Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and
p Obed-edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps on the Sheminith
to excel ; " but which with the interpretation now given would be
" with harps to be lifted up (sounded strong on high) in concert
with the chorus : " which gives an easy and intelligible sense.
Verse 3. "Come then, O Jehovah; how long yet?"] — The
translation is literal, but the real meaning does not hitherto appear
to have been understood. 1 is here then rather than Kai, sed, or

24 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM VI.
5 For in death no one commemorateth thee :
Who shall praise thee in the grave ?
6 I am worn out with my sighings,
All the night long wash I my bed ;
I water my couch with my tears.
7 Mine eye is consumed with the anguish ;
It sinks at the amount of my foes.
ergo, all which have been made use of. HN may be a verb in the
imperative mood, or a pronoun personal. If the former it is as
now rendered " come," which gives a complete sense to the passage.
If the latter it will mean " thou." The writers of the Septuagint
have adopted the latter sense, k«i 2T Kilpie iaq wore : and they have
been followed, so far as I have examined, by all subsequent trans
lators. But, instead of a complete sense, we have hence a version
that no one is satisfied with, and that requires a gratuitous supply
of other terms, and terms which every one has added according to
his fancy. Thus the old English edition gives " But how long unit
thou delay?" i.e. to help me. The Psalter edition, " how long wilt
thou punish me?" The common Bible version, "But thou, 0
Lord, how long ? " — Yet how long is not sufficiently expressive ;
for the Hebrew text Tia IV is literally " adhuc quousque ; " " yet
how long ? ' — " how long yet ? " " Come then, O Jehovah, how
long yet ? " — " how long till the time thou vouchsafest to come ? "
Verse 4. " Turn thee O Jehovah, deliver," &e.] — So the Psalter
version : " Turn thee, O Lord, and deliver," &c. The word and,
however, does not occur in the original.
Verse 5. " For in death no one commemorateth thee."] Copied
by Isaiah xxxviii. 18. In the Introductory Dissertation to my
translation of the Book of Job, p. lxxxiv., it is observed that " it
is curious to remark the different ground of argument assumed in
favour of a future state in the present poem — and hence, perhaps,
by the patriarchal times generally, and that assumed by the phi
losophers of Greece and Eome, who assented to the same doctrine :
the former appealing alone to a resurrection of the body, and
appearing to have no idea of a distinct immortality of the soul ;
and the latter appealing alone to a distinct immortality of the soul,
and appearing to have no idea of a resurrection of the body. It
remained for that dispensation which ' has brought life and im
mortality to light '—the resurrection of the body and the real

PSALM VI.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 25
8 Away from me, all ye dealers in vanity ! —
Behold, Jehovah hath listened to the voice of my
wailing :
9 Jehovah hath listened to my supplication :
Jehovah hath accepted my prayer.
10 Panic-struck, yea utterly confounded shall be all my
foes :
They shall turn back — they shall be panic-struck in
a moment.
nature of the soul — to reconcile the discrepancy and to give to
each ground of argument its proper force."
What was the opinion of the patriarchs appears with little altera
tion to have been that of the Hebrew philosophers and poets. From
their connexion with Egypt they seem to have imbibed some loose
and undefinable idea of a gloomy, joyless and shadowy existence
after death, in the prison of the earth, the Hades of the Greeks, and
which they denominated blNtP (Sheol) ; but even this idea appears
to have been confined to poetic writings, and only brought forward
on particular occasions for poetic or figurative illustration. The
historical account, therefore, of Dathe upon this subject, and upon
the verse before us, is well entitled to notice : " Est autem in hoc
versa descriptio poetica status animorum post mortem. Quern
quippe poeta Hebraei sibi fingunt a societate hominum in hoc mundo
viventium prorsus separatum, eundemque triste, tenebricosum, in
quo perpetuum sit silentium, qualem de orco suo etiam Grseci et
Eomani notionem sibi finxerunt. Hinc multa hujus generis in
Psalmis loca reperiuntur, inferos Deum non laudare, prsecisum
post mortem ausam extollendi numen et alia similiter." Psalm
lxxxviii. 11. " Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave ? "
Psalm cxv. 17. " The dead praise not Jehovah; nor any that go
down into silence." Isa. xxxviii. 18. "For the grave cannot
praise thee; death cannot celebrate thee. In examining Psalm
lxxxviii. 18, we shall perhaps find that the real sense of this passage
has not been clearly understood.
Verse 7. " It sinks."] — Some ancient versions for npHV " it
sinks," have T\pnv, " I sink, am worn out, or am become anti
quated." Whence Geddes renders the passage :
" I am worn out, amidst all mine enemies : " id. " at the
amount."] In the Hebrew b33 " at the all, the total, the sum,
the amount," rather than "because of all."

26 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM VTI.

VIL*
THE DESCANT OF DAVID.
WHICH HE SANG UNTO JEHOVAH, UPON THE WORDS OF THE
TKAITOEOUS BENJAMINITE.
1 Jehovah ! my God, in thee do I take shelter.
Save me from my pursuers, and deliver me ;
Shiggaion (p'OtP) is literally " an irregular or eccentric effusion,
branching out or wandering at large ; " "a descant or rhapsody ; "
a flight of poetry, in which the writer gives a loose to his imagina
tion, and strays from one part of his subject to another, without any
strict adherence to ordinary method. Dr. Geddes renders it " an
elegy," but I do not know on what ground. The Septuagint and
Vulgate translate it psalmus ; but this is to confound ]T<3ttf with
nbnn the general title of the book before us.
The historical subject of the piece is sufficiently explained by our
being further told that David is its author, and that he wrote it on
" the words of the traitorous Benjaminite : " unquestionably those
recorded in 2 Sam. xvi. 7, 8, and uttered when the king was fleeing
from his capital, and the formidable conspiracy of his rebellious son,
" Come out, come out, thou man of blood, yea, thou man of Belial.
Jehovah hath'returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul,
in whose stead thou reignest."
There has hitherto, however, been a great difficulty found in
referring this Psalm to the piece of history before us, because the
title, as ordinarily rendered, runs thus — " Shiggaion (the Descant)
of David, which he sung unto the Lord, concerning the words of
Cush the Benjaminite : " while the whole biography of David gives
us no such person as Cush, though the word occasionally occurs in
other parts and periods of the sacred writings ; whence it has been
by some writers referred to Shimei, by others to Saul, and by many
to a reviler whose history has not been transmitted to us : while,
in the opinion of Bishop Horsley, " it was difficult, if not impos
sible, to ascertain any particular occasion of this Psalm in the life
of David, or of any other character in the Jewish history."
* Historical Outline, &c. p 172.

PSALM VII.]. BOOK OF PSALMS. 27
2 Lest they tear my soul like a lion.
0 rescue — or there is no deliverance.
Cush (t»13) has hitherto, for want of a clearer etymology, been
derived from ni3 (cavah) " to burn or scorch ; " and has hence
been supposed to indicate those nations whose skin is of a dark
hue, as though sun-burnt ; and has been especially applied to the
Ethiopians. This etymology, however, cannot be allowed ; and to
those acquainted with the cognate languages of Arabia, it is unne
cessary : for here we meet with the very term, Chus, Kus, or Cush,
as a radical, giving rise to a considerable variety of ramifications,
and employed indifferently and very extensively as the name of a
country, the name of a person, and the name of a property or qua
lification; and showing very evidently that the Hebrew term,
which has heretofore been limited to the two former, is of a common
origin, ought to run parallel with the Arabic, and consequently to
embrace the last, as well as the two preceding senses. Chus (<*»»¦) in
its primary meaning imports " a wanderer or vagrant ; " and hence
derivatively " an ignorant rustic," " a mountaineer ; " a foreigner,"
" a barbarian." Hence again " a moral wanderer," " a man of
fraud and perfidy : " whence J***- (chusar) as a verb, imports
" to wander from the right way ; " and as a noun, ,«* fraud," " per
fidy ; " and with the ^ (u), more fully expressed u*.«»- (chus or
cush), in the language of Grotius, " decipere per fraudem, ac datam
fallere fidem" — " to deceive fraudulently" — " to break a solemn
trust or affiance." It is in this sense unquestionably that t»13,
MMi^, or Cush, is used in the text before us, not as the name
of a person, but of a quality ; and with this understanding every
difficulty is removed, and we are brought at once to the spirit of
history in which the Psalm was composed, and to which it mani
festly refers.
Verse 2. " 0 rescue, or there is no deliverance."] — The Hebrew
*ptfl means " to break in pieces," " to make^ or set loose " — and
hence " to rescue, deliver, or redeem." Tremellius and Junius have
taken the first sense, and have been followed in our established ver
sion, which gives " rending it to pieces." But this is an innovation
upon all the old translations and interpretations, Chaldee, Syriac,
Greek, and Latin, which conjointly render the term in its second
sense ; and on this account it has been also translated in this sense
by our latest English biblicists, Dr. Geddes and Bishop Horsley.

28 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM VII.
3 Jehovah ! my God, if I have done this ;
If there be injustice in my hands ;
4 If I have requited evil to the man at peace with me,
Or have taken from my foe without a cause,
5 Let the enemy pursue my soul, and seize it ;
Yea, let him trample my life to the ground ;
And lay my glory in the dust.
6 Arise, 0 Jehovah, in thy wrath :
0 lift up thyself against the fury of my foes,
And enforce, in my behalf, the judgment thou hast
ordained.
7 Then shall the multitude in crowds surround thee ;
So, on their behalf, be thou seated on high.
8 Let Jehovah award to the people.
Some of the Hebrew copies, however, appear to have had the word
fN " none," or " no," at the beginning as well as in the middle of
the verse ; and one or two of these have descended to the present
day • in consequence of which, the Septuagint, which is followed
by the Vulgate, gives piy orris Xvrpovpimv prjii a-^ovrof — " there is
none that rescueth, none that delivereth." But it is not necessary
to depart from the Masoretic text, which in truth is by far the most
beautiful and energetic. Bishop Horsley has well rendered it —
" Bescue, for there is no deliverer."
But I think 1 should here be regarded as a disjunction rather than
as a causal particle, — or rather than for.
The whole passage, as now rendered, puts the actual state of the
fugitive monarch before us ; and gives a lively picture of his distress
and terror.
Verse 4. " Or have taken from."] — The Hebrew ybn has a
good and a bad sense, the meaning being " to loosen or set free': "
" to take from, dismember, disrobe, strip, plunder." A few ver
sions, and our established translation among the rest, have chosen
the former sense ; but by far the greater number of those of early
as well as of modern dale, have taken the latter : which in truth
offers the clearest and simplest sense.
Verse 7. " Be thou seated." — Geddes rightly derives n31t»
from 2,W> " to sit or be seated," instead of 3£p " to turn or re
turn," as it is commonly derived in the present place.

PSALM VII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 29
Judge me, 0 Jehovah, according to my righteousness ;
Yea, render to me according to mine integrity.
9 0, let destruction consume the wicked,
But establish thou the just man ;
For the God of the just man is a searcher of hearts
and reins.

Verse 8. " Bender to me."] — In the original i^jj " meet me,
use me, render me," as though ibby. So the Cbaldee interpreta
tion, which gives J?-|Q " to render or recompense." bj? is there
fore, in this place, a verb " to act, do, effect, use, or treat," and
not a preposition " within," as generally understood : by which we
part with an ungraceful pleonasm, " my integrity within me " — and
obtain an elegant parallelism. The righteousness and integrity the
Psalmist appeals to, is confined to the case immediately before us —
to the justice of his cause in the present instance : for he had too
much humility, and too deep a knowledge of his own heart, to extend
the appeal to his general life and conduct.
Verse 9. " Though he taketh not vengeance."] — The critics have
found a difficulty in ascertaining the real meaningof C2Vf (zaam).
It is in fact a forensic term, both Arabic and Hebrew ; in the for
mer importing a judicial sentence, and in the latter a judicial
execution of the sentence. Thus £. ' (zom) in Arabic imports
" dicere ex opinione," " to give or deliver an opinion or sentence ; "
and as a noun, "opinio," " sententia," "an opinion or sentence."
See Mininski, from Wankulus and Golius. In Hebrew the same
term Q37I (zom) imports " to carry such opinion or sentence into
execution " to avenge or take vengeance upon," in which sense it
makes an approach to Dpa which signifies more directly the same
thing. And hence, in a secondary sense, t33?T (zaam) in the Hebrew
imports also the feeling which is usually ascribed to the exercise of
vengeance, and signifies " to rage, be wrathful, or indignant ; "
and hence again " to abhor or detest." In various texts, in which
this term occurs, it may be rendered with equal precision in the
Arabic or the Hebrew sense as in Num. xxiii. 7, 8, " Come, curse
me Jacob ; come, give sentence (or " vengeance " ) on Israel. How
shall I curse whom God hath not cursed ? or how shall I give
sentence or vengeance on whom God hath not given sentence or
vengeance ? " In our established version, for " take vengeance or

30 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM VII.
10 My defence is in God
Who delivereth the upright in heart ;
11 A God of righteous judgment. —
Though he taketh not vengeance every day,
avenge," we have " defy "—which is far less clear and obvious.
So Prov. xxiv. 24, which is usually rendered " him shall the people
curse : the nations shall abhor him : " might with equal propriety
be rendered " the nations shall give sentence upon or avenge them
selves of him."
For want of knowing the real meaning of this term, there has
hitherto been no settled rendering of the present text ; every trans
lator having tried it, and turned it in his own way : while some
have endeavoured to extract a sense, by giving to the negative
particle bs " nee, non, numquid," a substantive form, and ren
dering it " deus " or " God." In this latter sense it is understood
by Tremellius and Junius, who have been followed both in our
vernacular Psalter and common translation. Yet there is still a
difference which it is necessary to notice. In the Psalter it runs
thus — " God is a righteous judge, strong and patient ;
And God is provoked every day."
The phrase " strong and patient," is from the Septuagint, which is
evidently translated from a various reading of the Hebrew text.
The Bible version adheres to the Masoretic text, while it still inter
prets the ^ God. But the translators not obtaining a satisfactory
sense even by this rendering, have thought it necessary to interpo
late " with the wicked" for which the Hebrew text gives no autho
rity whatever. And hence, while without it we get no good sense,
this is a mere paraphrase destitute of any support. The Septuagint
gives the whole verse thus : 'O ©eo; /rp;Tvj; ikaios, Kai \oKvpo<;, na)
ps.aKpoBojA.os, pA) Ipyyv iirayuv na9' lKa<rri\v r^epav. The Vulgate
follows this reading. " God is a judge of the righteous — powerful
and patient — ought he not to be angry every day ? " But a great
part of this is paraphrase also. Geddes gives us the following : " a
God who judgeth rightly, and is never wroth without a cause ; "
but we have almost as little foundation for " without a cause," as
for " with the wicked." Horsley meets the passage fairly, and
translates strictly, " although he is not angry every day," i. e.,
continues he, " his anger is not breaking forth upon every occasion,

PSALM VII. J BOOK OF PSALMS. 31
1 2 If the man retract not, he will whet his sword.
He hath stretched out his bow and made it ready,
J 3 And hath fitted to it the weapon of destruction :
He will deal out his arrows red-hot.
yet the season of judgment will surely come." This is, in effect,
the real meaning ; which is only better explained by understanding
OV1 in the forensic sense of to " take vengeance or execute judg
ment," instead of " to be angry," and by connecting this part of the
verse immediately with the next.
Verse 12. " If the man retract not."] — The indefinite pronoun
man is often understood in Hebrew when it is not fully expressed,
as in Isa. lxi. 6 and the present Psalm, verse 4 ; for which, see the
note on Psalm iv. 8 : and Bishop Horsley has hence rendered the
passage before us in the same manner. The he or man referred to
is evidently the traitorous Benjamite noticed in the Bible, or rather
his party collectively ; and his retractation is that of the words or
curse which were vented against the anointed of the Lord. As
already observed, the verse should be connected with the latter
part of the preceding, and the stop be transferred to the middle of
the preceding verse. 327 is here used in the sense of " to turn
back, retract, revoke, repeal, reverse," as in Esther viii. 5, 8, rather
than in that of " to turn" generally.
Id. " He hath stretched his bow."] — Arcum tendit. EbenEzra.
Such is the exact import of "p*T. Bishop Horsley gives — " he
hath levelled his bow;" but this is hardly correct language, for
it is the arrow, not the bow, that is levelled. " He hath bent," as
in our established version, affords the sense ; but does not give the
critical import of "y\-\ which is rather " to direct, or make straight"
than " to bend." Shakespeare puts the same idea into the mouth
of Lear in his address to the faithful Kent, whom he has just cast
off from favour.
" The bow is bent and drawn — make from the shaft."
Verse 13. " The weapon."] — ">b3 is here in the singular : though
commonly understood as a plural in regimine.
Id. " Eed-hot."] — pbl in Chaldee and Syriac, as well as in
Hebrew, signifies " to burn, inflame, be on fire," and is thus inter
preted in almost all the versions in the present place. Yet the
prefix b (D^pbtb) is not a pronoun, as hitherto considered, and
without any clear meaning, but a particle of intensity, " thoroughly,

32 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM VIII.
14 Behold, he shall bring forth vanity :
For he is big with mischief,
And teemeth with falsehood.
15 He is digging a pit ;— and let him deepen it j
For he shall tumble into the hollow he is labouring at.
J 6 His mischief shall return upon his own head ;
Yea, upon his own crown shall his violence fall back.
17 I will praise Jehovah for his righteousness ;
And celebrate the name of Jehovah most high.
utterly, exquisitely." Hence Q^pblb, not rots Kma/tiveif, as the
Septuagint, ardentibus as the Vulgate, or in fervidos as Tremellius
and Junius, " for those that are fervid or burning," meaning pro
bably as equipoUently rendered in our established translation " for
or against the persecutors " — heated with rage and violence " but
exardentes, effervidas, " intensely heated," " red-hot." Whence
Eben-Ezra, who is the only critic that seems to have entered into
the real meaning of the expression, " sagittas aptat ardentes."

VIII.*

TO THE .SUPREME.

AT WINE-PRESS TIDE.

1 0 Jehovah ! our Lord,
How excellent is thy name through all the earth ;
Which rehearseth thy glory to the heavens.
The expression nTian bv in the title, here rendered " at wine
press-tide," has strangely puzzled the critics, and been very differ
ently rendered. D3 is uniformly employed through the Old Testa
ment to signify a wine-press or wine-vat, unless it be joined with a
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 66—59.

PSALM VIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 33
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
Hast thou ordained a triumph concerning thine
enemies ;
word meaning oil, in which case it signifies an oil-press or oil- vat
and hence n^nsn should denote " the time, tide or season of the
wine-press or vintage ; " for they were one and the same, the har
vest grapes being pressed as soon as they were gathered. Thus
Isa. xvi. 10,
Gladness is taken away, and exultation from the plentiful field ;
And in the vineyards shall be no singing, no shouting :
The treaders shall tread out no wine from the presses.
Their vintage-triumph have I made to cease.
And to the same effect Jer. xlviii. 33, in which both these parts of
rural economy are joined together. The vines of Palestine were pro
verbially fine, and so productive that the spies sent by Moses to bring
a report of the land, gathered in the vale of Eshcol a single bunch or
cluster, so heavy that two men were obliged to carry it between
them on a pole : Num. xiii. 23. The wine-press was therefore in
reality a most important appurtenance to every estate in Judea ;
and as such is not omitted in our Saviour's summary description,
Matt. xxi. 33, of the householder's possession which he let out to
husbandmen, on going to a far country. " He planted a vineyard,
and hedged it round about, and digged a wine-press in it, and built
a tower." The reason of the title therefore is obvious. The Psalm makes
no direct mention of either corn or wine, though they seem covertly
to be referred to in verses 5, 6 : and the title tells us, as the reason,
that both harvests were now over, for the corn-harvest preceded the
vintage, and consequently neithe.r article entered into the scenery
immediately before the poet's eye.
The festival celebrated on this occasion was that of trumpets,
which occurred a fortnight before the great feast of tents or taber-
naeles, expressly ordained to be observed after the harvest of wine,
Deut. xvi. 13. It commenced on the first of Tizri, in the
seventh month, answering to our September. The command for
the feast of trumpets is given Levit. xxiii. 24, and repeated Num.
xxix. 1.
The preposition hv means "on or upon" "about" — but not
".before" — and hence "at wine-press- tide." The Septuagint
D

34 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM VIII.
Utterly silencing the adversary and the avenger.
3 When I contemplate the heavens, the work of thy w»
fingers,
The moon and the stars, which thou art arraying, .
gives ivep rZv Xr,vS», whence the Vulgate "Pro torcularibus,,^
" on account of the wine-presses : " and Bishop Horsley, " To the
Giver of Victory : concerning the wine-press ; " but less clearly ;
" for concerning the wine-press " the Psalm states openly nothing
whatever, bj? is here not pro but ad or sub. The Septuagint and
Vulgate are more true to the original, in rendering n^nan plurally.
(wine-presses) than Bishop Horsley, in rendering it singularly.
For though it is not, strictly speaking, a noun in the plural num
ber, yet in its re-duplicate form of n,,n3n it has a superlative
meaning, and signifies great energy or activity in the thing predi
cated — " wine-press-energy, wine-press -activity, wine-press-labour,"
and consequently, " wine-press-tide or time." It is further in
confirmation of this view of the subject, that Ps. lxxxi., which is
entitled in the same manner nTI3n bj? " at wine-press-tide," is
expressly declared in verses 3, 4, of that Psalm to have been com
posed for the feast of trumpets, or that which, as just observed,.
took place on the first day of the month Tizri, or September ; being
the harbinger festival of the Feast of Tabernacles, or Ingathering,
which was held a fortnight afterwards, and at which every male
was obliged to appear at the Great Assembly.
Other interpreters not having hit upon this simple and direct
meaning, and being incapable of extracting a sense from the common-
rendering " on account of," or " concerning the wine-presses "—*
have conceived the term n\n3 to import some musical instrument,
or musical part. And hence our established version gives "To
the chief musician on the Gittith " — which is supposed to have
been a musical instrument invented at Gath : though apparently
for no other reason than the resemblance of the words Gith
and Gath, while in Tremellius and Junius we have "Magistro
Symphonise ad stationem Gitthseam : " " to the master of music
on the Qitthssam-station, or part;" — as though in their view
JTM3 (Gittith) imported not a single instrument, but a particular
part of the harmony composed for the occasion.
Verse 1. " Which rehearseth."] — The Hebrew n3H is rendered
by Tremellius and Junius, who are followed by our authorized

PSALM VIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 35
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him !
Yea, the son of the ground, that thou visitest him !
version, in the second person masculine, but in this case the
Hebrew would have been nn3 and not nna. Great difficulties
have hence been found in the text, insomuch that Bishop Lowth
declares, that he thinks it absolutely beyond the power of grammar
to account for this word. And so it is in the ordinary interpreta
tion of the phrase : but understanding n3n in the third person
feminine, and the relative ~itt7N as connected with the preceding
term earth, instead of Jehovah, as Geddes has done, every diffi
culty is removed, and we have the sense now offered. For the
primary meaning of ]na is " to give, or impart " — and hence " to
give forth, spread forth, display, rehearse : " by which last word
the term is rendered in our authorized version Judges v. 11, "there
shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord." The Arabic
carries the sense somewhat farther : for &'& (teneh) from the same
root, is almost any thing spreading or given forth in straight lines
'or different directions, and hence means, "a web, a vesture, the
spreading trunk of a tree." Behearse is the proper sense in both
instances : and in Judges V. 1 1, just referred to, it is thus rendered,
or by a synonymous word in almost all the versions. Thus the
Septuagint gives oWovo-j " give forth or utter ; " and Tremellius
and Junius, confabulentur "talk together of."
Verse 2. " Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings."] — As St.
Paul has distinctly ascribed verses 5, 6, to our blessed Saviour in
his humility, he has paved the way for our understanding this verse
also, as applicable to the same Great Personage, when in his child
hood " they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the
doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions : and all
that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers."
Luke ii. 46, 47.
The immediate reference of the passage, however, as we have
already observed in the historical outline, is to the early age of
David himself at the time of his encounter with the Philistine giant,
compared with whom, he was but a youth ; or in«his own language,
as given us by Josephus, "but a child, and scarcely older in years
than a child." In the genuine spirit of pious humility he here
calls himself but " a babe and a suckling."
Id. " Hast thou ordained a triumph."] — The Septuagint has
D 2

36 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM VIII.
5 Behold, thou hast made him little lower than the
angels,
And crowned him with glory and honour.
rendered this passage, "hast thou perfected praise;" and this
version is well known to be copied into the New Testament, Matt..
xxi. 16, as the words of our Saviour. The Hebrew IQi means
rather " to found, establish, ordain," than " to accomplish or per
fect ; " but the chief difference is in the translation of the word
T2 (oz) which, though here rendered praise in the Septuagint and
the New Testament, is ordinarily translated " strength " in all the
other versions of the Hebrew. It is easy to account for this differ
ence by attending to the real meaning of T37 in the cognate Arabic
language, in which it is used in the very same sense, and, as will
be obvious presently, in the very same extent as in the Hebrew.
jc (oz, or \'f), then in Arabic means, first, "to strengthen, or
empower ; " next, " to overpower, or triumph over ; " and hence
as a noun " conquest, triumph, glory, exultation, praise." On
which account the Arabians apply the term specially and emphati
cally to God himself, as all-powerful, all-triumphant, all-glorious.
The duplicate, :hc (ozaz) and indeed all the forms of jc are to
the same effect. From the rendering of the Seventy, therefore, in
the place before us, there can be no doubt that in their day the
Hebrew XV (oz) ran parallel with the Arabic ; and imported " a ,
triumph, an ovation, or shout of praise for victory." And we j
shall find that in various other parts of ¦ the Old Testament, i
" glory, honour, renown, triumph, exultation," are perhaps truer ]
interpretations of the original term than strength, as particularly »
in Ps. lxxviii. 61, and cv. 4 : though it is hardly worth while to
disturb the common rendering. And hence, which it is always
desirable to obtain, the rendering of the New Testament is recon
ciled with the text of the Old.
Id. " utterly silencing."] — The b in /T3t»nb may be either a
preposition or an intransitive adverb. If the former, the sense will
be " to the silencing ; " if the latter, " utterly silencing " — as now
rendered. I have»preferred the second as more forcible.
Id. " The adversary and the avenger."] — As the terms " babe
and suckling " have a manifest reference to David himself, the terms
" adversary and avenger " refer as clearly to the Philistian foe and
their champion, or avenger of their cause, Goliath. The triumph

PSALM VIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 37
6 Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy
hands ;
Thou hast put every thing under his feet.
immediately adverted to, as issuing from the mouth of. a babe and
a.suckling, may be found in 1 Sam. xvii. 45. "Thou comest to me
with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield : but I come to
thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of
Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee
into my hand, and I will smite thee, and take thine head from
thee," &c.
Verse 3. " When I contemplate the heavens."] — The Hebrew
nNT imports " to see, look at, or contemplate," rather than " to
consider ; " " video," as rendered in the Vulgate ; " and it is only
on this account that the version is altered. The Masoretic text
gives "-patfr " thy heavens." The Seventy unquestionably read
Q^atP " the heavens," for they have so rendered it, and have been
followed by many later interpreters. Thy is certainly pleonastic,
and it is highly probable that -[ is a mistake of the copyist for ?
— a mistake easily made, according to the characters in the old
manuscripts. - Id. " Which thou art arraying,"] — The passage is rendered
literally, and is hereby made to express a beauty which has hitherto
escaped the translators. The Hebrew verb, by an insertion of the
letter 1 after the first radical, is capable of expressing a continuity
as well as a presence of whatever action is denoted by the verb
made use of, precisely in the same manner as ourselves are able to
do by employing the terminal ing. Thus nnaa3 "II27N would be
not " which thou arrayest ; " but nna313 "ltt?N " which thou art
arraying." We hence get a knowledge of the precise time of day
in which this exquisite ode was composed. It was in silence of the
evening shade, when the sun had retired from the view, and the
great Creator was marshalling the host of heaven over the spacious
field the sun had just quitted ; and in the sublime language of the
same inimitable poet, Psalm cxlvii. 4, " hetelleththe number of the
stars, he calleth them all by their names " — and awaying them in all
their magnificence : — it was at this exact period, as we learn from the
yerse before us, that this beautiful production was composed.
Verse 4. " Yea, the son of the ground."] — Alluding, by a for
cible climax, to his origin and end, as formed of the dust, and re-

38 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM VIII
7 All flocks and herds, even the beasts of the forest ; J
turning to dust in the grave. The Hebrew DIN (Adam), usually;
rendered man, ought not only in the present, but in various other;
places, to preserve its primary sense of " ground-clod of clay :."
and especially in the parallel passage of Isaiah li. 12, in which its
real meaning is still more obvious :
" I am he that comforteth you,
Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of man that dieth ?
Yea, of the son of the ground, that shall turn to grass ? "
So in Psalm cxlvi. 3, 4 : —
" Put not your trust in princes,
In the earth-born, in whom is no safety,
His breath passeth away,
To his earth he returneth."
The idea is preserved with like spirit in Psalm xlix. 2, 11, 12, and
20 ; lvii. 4 ; lxii. 9 ; and especially in Psalm xc. 3 ; in all which it
should be rendered in the primary sense of the term, and not, as is
usually done, sometimes in a primary and sometimes in a remote
sense ; " earth-born, ground-born," and still more contemptuously
" groundling, ground-groveller." The Holy Scriptures indeed, and
especially those of the Old Testament, are perpetually mortifying
the pride of man, by referring him to his origin and his name —
" Adama, and Adam," " ground and ground-born," or " earth and
earth-born " — terrigena ; as particularly and emphatically given J
in Gen. ii. 7, and iii. 19. It is difficult however to transfuse thef
real force of these passages in the original into any other Ian- J
guage, because there is none in which the same term DIN and
na^ (Adam and Adama) imports adequately both man and the
earth or ground from which he was taken. The Latin, however,
as ordinarily, though incorrectly, derived, makes an approach to it,
by giving us homo or humo for the former, and humus for the
latter : whence man, in Gen. ii. 7, would be literally " humo de
pulvere humi ;" in our own tongue rendered with exactness, " and
the Lord God formed the ground-born of the dust of the ground,
and breathed into .his nostrils the breath of life ; and the ground -
born became a living soul." — So ch. iii. 19, 20. " In the sweat \
of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground,
for out of it wast thou taken. For dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return. . . And the ground-born called his wife's name
Eve." In like manner, Job xxv. 6 : —

PSALM VIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 39
8 The birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea,
Traversing the paths of the waters.
" How much less man, a worm,
Yea, the son of the ground, a grub."
Our English version is here peculiarly imperfect, not only as ren
dering the two Hebrew terms t&13S (anush) and DIM (adam) by
the common word man ; but also the two Hebrew terms na"!
(rimmah) and robin (tolaeh) by the common word worm ; the
last in each instance being a degradation of the preceding ; and
robin or grub, being manifestly employed to express the earthy
origin of man. See the note on Psalm xlix. 2.
The translators have generally felt compelled, in a few passages,
to adopt something of the meaning here offered, and especially
where D1H (adam) stands in opposition to BnaN (anush) or to
tE^N (aish). Thus Junius and Tremellius have, in Psalm xlix. 2,
and Psalm lxii. 9, for " sons of adam and sons of aish," " sons of
the vulgar man (plebeio homini)," and " sons of the noble (prse-
stanti viro) : and, in our established version, " low and high," or
" men of low degree " and " men of high degree." These observ
ations ought not to be closed without referring to the grand and
beautiful manner in which the passage has been spiritualized by
St. Paul, Heb. ii. 6 — 10, who refers its higher and esoteric mean
ing altogether to " the man Christ Jesus," of whom alone it can
strictly be said,
" Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands,
Thou hast put every thing under his feet ; "
and who, by his resurrection, attained to the highest possible sense
of the expression, and most fully justified its use — thou hast
" crowned him with glory and honour."
For with respect to any man, even the best, " we see not yet (says
the apostle) all things put under him : but we see Jesus, who was
made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death,
crowned with glory and honour, that he by the grace of God should
taste death for every man : " i. e. so that by the grace of God, the
death of which he has tasted should extend its blessings to every
human being.
Verse 5. " crowned him with glory and honour,
Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands,
Thou hast put every thing under his feet."]

40 BOOK OF PSALMS. [ PSALM VIII.
9 0 Jehovah ! our Lord,
How excellent is thy name through all the earth.
" Thou hast crowned him more especially with glory and honour,"
by uniting his nature with that of the Godhead in the person of our
blessed Bedeemer, who " took not on him the nature of angels, but
took on him the seed of Abraham ; for which cause he is not ashamed
to call men his brethren." It is through Christ alone, the Son of
Man as well as the Son of God, that the above passage can be truly
maintained, that anything is put under the feet of man ; and to
this mysterious union it refers. For " in that he put all things in
subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him.
But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see
Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering
of death crowned with glory and honour." Such is the explanation
of this passage in Heb. ii. 7 — 9, proving its typical and prophetic
meaning, and rendering the whole clear and satisfactory.
Verse 8. " Traversing."] — The Hebrew 133? traversing, being
in the singular number, yet unquestionably agreeing with v|-[ fishes,
is generally supposed to be a mistake for OHay. The false
concord, however, may be fairly got rid of, and the common reading
supported by supposing vn to be itself a noun of number in the
singular, as we sometimes use fish collectively in English. So
¦HB from niD, to fructify, imports fruit collectively, as we also
occasionally use the word fruit in our own tongue.

PSALM IX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 4 I

IX.*
TO THE SUPREME.
On the Death-blow.
A PSALM 07 DAVID.
1 I will praise thee, 0 Jehovah with my whole heart ;
I will tell of all thy wondrous works.
There is no Psalm whose title has so much puzzled the critics as
that of the present. The dedication or address, which is the same
as is prefixed to Psalms iv, v, vi, and viii, for reasons already ad
vanced, is here rendered in the same manner. The subject of the
title is thus stated and decided in the common copy of the Maso
retic text. ]3b nia bv (<d muth leben) : of this the Syriac joins
the two first words together, making them almuth leben, and then
obtains " the concealments or occultations of the son;" which the
Septuagint, by doubling the word al, as al almuth leben; renders
"firep tw Kpvfiui) tou liov, " upon the concealments or occultations
of the son." But what son or what occultations are here intended ?
The Syriac and Greek terms lead us rather to understand occulta
tions in a bad sense, as importing " things or deeds clandestine" —
as though the reference were to the clandestine attempts of Absa
lom, and that he is the son here implied. Bishop Horsley, on the
contrary, understands the occultations in a good sense, and trans
lates the expression " the mysteries of the son," as though " the
son " referred to were our Saviour. Yet in whichsoever way un
derstood, the title does not correspond with the Psalm itself, for the
Psalm describes nothing relating to the character of a son in either
of these senses. — This difficulty has been so generally felt that
another signification has been sought for by a different division of
the words, the two last being made a single term, instead of the
two first j and the phrase then runs al Muthleben, and is inter
preted " on the Mutlaben or Muthlaben." This is the ordinary
rendering of the present day ; and that which is given in our Bible
version. But what is the Muthlaben? The answer is, a musical
instrument of some kind or other. But when we inquire of what
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 119.

42 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM IX.
2 I will rejoice and exult in thee ;
I will chant forth thy name, 0 most High !
3 For mine enemies are turned back ;
They shall fall, they shall perish at thy presence.
kind ? the conjecture of such interpreters can go no farther : nor
is there the slightest ground for supposing that there ever was a
musical instrument expressed by such a word, or for coining such
a word out of two distinct terms.
Admitting that le ben imports " of the son," the direct inter
pretation of the common Hebrew, which is 73b ma bs would be
" on the death of the son." But this, again, cannot be right, be
cause the Psalm itself neither contains nor alludes to any such
fact, to whatever character the word may be applied. Their real
subject is a complete and final victory — a deadly overthrow of the
enemies of king David, whose very name was hereby " put out for
ever and ever:" and the title, to be properly understood, must
correspond with this idea.
When rightly understood then it does thus correspond. The
proper division runs in this manner : 73b ma bN (" al muth
leben") and the proper rendering as given in the text is, " On the
death-blow," or, as would be equally proper, " On the deadliness
of tne blow," — " On the mortality of the onset." The sole diffi
culty rests upon the word ]^ (leben) as a single term ; the real
meaning of which has not been hitherto hit upon by any of the
critics. This term is common both to the Hebrew and the Arabic
tongues ; and in both we can still trace it to have many of the same
derivative meanings ; and if we had more Hebrew works than the
Bible, we should in all probability be able to follow it through
bom languages in all such meanings, for the Hebrew would then,
it is highly rational to conjecture, give us all the different senses it
possesses in the Arabic. The primary sense of leben, (in Arabic
^jj (is milk. From the colour of milk, its next sense is that of
whiteness ; and here the Hebrew of the Bible meets it, for 13b in
various parts of the Bible means " white, or whiteness," and as a
verb " to whiten:" whence one of the most celebrated mountains
in Palestine was denominated equally in Hebrew and Arabic,
Lebanon (]i33b and ^UjJ ) from the whiteness of the snows with
which it is covered through the greater part of the year.
But leben, in Arabic, to the present day, and no doubt in He-

PSALM IX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 43
4 Behold thou hast maintained my right and my
cause ;
Thou hast sat on the throne awarding justly.
brew formerly, has also another meaning, derived in like manner
from its primitive sense. From the rapid flow of milk from a
^healthy and distended udder into a pail, it imports also " to rush,"
and hence " to rush upon," " to attack or assault," " projicere,
conjicere, coedere, contundere ; " and as a noun " ictus, incussus,"
" a blow, stroke, smiting, onset, assault ; " and there can be
no doubt, I think, that it is in this sense the term is used in the
passage before us, which removes every difficulty, and gives to the
title a clear and definite meaning, and a meaning correspondent
with the subject of the Psalm itself. ]3b_nia, therefore, if re
garded as a compound term, is a "death-blow" or " deadly blow,"
as ]n"!27n3 is a "brass-serpent" or "brazen-serpent;" but if
regarded as two distinct terms, of which the one is governed of the
other, the meaning will be " the deadliness or mortality of the
blow, onset, smiting, or assault;" importing evidently the glorious
but mortal battle adverted to and celebrated in the Psalm to which
the title is prefixed : and which, from the internal evidence of the
Psalm itself I have no hesitation in referring to the second over
throw of the Philistines, briefly adverted to in 2 Sam. y. 25.
This explanation offered with respect to the title will throw,some
light upon the antiquity of many of these titles ; for subsequently
to the era of Moses, who must have been intimately acquainted: with
the Arabic tongue in consequence of his long residence with his
father-in-law Jethro, and who has very freely intermixed itiwith
Hebrew in the book of Job (allowing him to be the author oi this
poem), the ehief traces we meet with of Arabic terms and Arabic
senses in the Old Testament, are in the books written during the
reigns of David and Solomon, to whom great part of Arabia, was
tributary, and who seem to have encouraged the study of this lan
guage. It is probable, therefore, that the title to the present Psalm
was added at, or about the period of its composition, when the
meaning of leben, as an Arabic term, was of common notoriety.
And we may hence see why the title is given in such general terms,
and without any notice of the particular attack or onset referred to,
which at that time was not necessary : the exploit being immedi
ately before the eyes of the people, and no doubt the theme of

44

BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM IX.

5 Thou hast repressed the heathen :
Thou hast demolished the wicked :
Thou hast blotted out their names for ever and ever.
6 Desolations have made an end of the foe utterly ;
Their very cities hast thou uprooted :
Their memory is perished with them.
general conversation. The Syriac gives the following argument to
the Psalm, " On Christ assuming his throne and kingdom, and
vanquishing his enemy."
Verse 1. " I will praise thee, 0 Jehovah."]— So the Septuagint,.
Ethiopic, Arabic, and Vulgate : though the Masoretic or established
Hebrew text gives " I will praise Jehovah." There can be little
doubt therefore that the proper reading is "plN instead of miN.
Id. " I will tell of all thy wondrous works."] — The same ex
pression in the same precise words occurs in Psalm xxvi. 7 ; and is
thus rendered in the Psalter and authorized Bible version, though
given somewhat differently by both in- the present place. I have
only made the change in the verse before us, that both passages
may be alike in English as they are in the Hebrew.
Verse 6. " Utterly."]— In the Hebrew n23b from n^3 " to
surpass, go beyond, overpower ; " whence, in the present adverbial
form, " surpassingly, completely, thoroughly, utterly : " penitus,
re^ov: as in Psalm xiii. 1. From another sense of " to surpass,
or go beyond," the derivative .adverb sometimes imports also
" continually " or " for ever," which is the sense here given in
most of the versions.
Verse 11. " Chant ye."] — In Hebrew nat. In the Septuagint
tyaKare : the term used as in verse 2, and which ought to be ren
dered alike. " Sing praise," as in our established version, gives a
good sense, but by means of two words instead of one. In the
psalter version, it is first translated, " I will make my songs," and
afterwards " praise." Dr. Geddes, Bishop Horsley, and many
other modern writers, in like manner, employ* different terms.
" Chant," used by Bishop Horsley in verse 2, seems to be the
proper term, and occurs in our Bible version in Amos vi. 5, though
as the rendering of a different word.
Id. " His exploits."]— l'tfnb'bs literally " lofty or exalted
deeds ; " and hence " exploits " or " heroic achievements ; " ad
mirably rendered " res gestas ejus " by Tremellius and Junius.

PSALM IX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 45
7 But Jehovah is installed for ever :
He hath established the throne upon equity ;
8 And shall judge the world with righteousness ;
He shall sentence the nations according to their
deserts :
9 Yea, Jehovah shall be a fortress to the afflicted ;
A fortress in the times of tribulation.
10 So shall they who know thy name trust in thee,
For thou, 0 Jehovah, failest not them that seek thee.
1 1 Chant ye to Jehovah who dwelleth in Zion,
0, celebrate his exploits among the people :
12 For he remembereth them, making inquest for blood,
He slighteth not the appeal of the injured.
13 On me hath Jehovah had compassion ;
Beholding my distress from those that hate me ;
Raising me up from the gates of death,
] 4 That I may tell of all thy praise,
In the gates of the daughter of Zion :
That I may exult in thy salvation.
The term " exploits" occurs in our common version in Dan. xi. 28,
and again 32 ; in both which places, however, the original term is
far less expressive than the present.
Verse 13. " Hath Jehovah had compassion."] — The Septuagint
and many of the modern translations, and among the rest our
common vernacular version give imperatively, " O Jehovah, have
compassion or mercy." The Greek version of Aquila, and most
modern critics, render the passage as above, which seems to me to
be the best sense : though the original will bear either. " From
those that hate me " may be rendered more literally " from my
despisers : " "WlPa.
Verse 14. " That I may exult."]— The Hebrew verbs " tell of"
and " exult " are in the same mood and tense, and directly in appo
sition. The particle 1, or that, expressed before the former verb,
is understood before the latter, as in a great variety of similar
phrasings ; of which we have one example in the ensuing verse 1 8,
where the negative is in like manner omitted before the second
verb. In our own tongue, however, it is necessary to repeat both
these particles to give a clear sense.

46 BOOK OF PSALMS. [^SALM IX.
15 The heathen are sunk into the pit they have pre
pared ;
In the trap which they have hid is their own foot
entangled. — .
] 6 Jehovah is manifested !— he is executing judgment !
In the work of his own hands is the wicked ensnared.
(Higgaion, Selah.)
1 7 The wicked shall be turned away into hell ;
All the heathen neglectful of God.
18 For not for ever shall be neglected the humble,
Not for ever shall perish the hope of the afflicted.
19 Arise, 0 Jehovah, let not man prevail ;
Let the heathen be doomed at thy look.
20 Set a mark upon them, 0 Jehovah ;
Let the heathen know themselves to be but men.

Verse 17. " The heathen."] — In Hebrew O^, as in verse 5 ;
and again verse 20. The rendering, therefore, in all these should
be alike ; and Bishop Horsley has strictly attended to this point.
In our Bible and Psalter translations the term is rendered indiffer
ently " heathen," "people," and "nations."
Verse 19. "At thy look."]— So Prov. xvii. 18, iron 133b
" at the look of his companion."
Verse 20. " Set a mark upon them."] — I have given the passage
according to the Hebrew reading. The Seventy for n~!ia " a
mark or directing," seem to have read N~iia " fear, awe ; " and
they have been followed by many later versions ; and among others
by our Psalter and Bible translations ; but the rendering now
offered will shew that there is no necessity for deviating from the
letter of the original text. Bishop Horsley, adhering to the same,
renders the passage, " appoint thou a teacher for them ; " and
Dr. Geddes, " place a master over them." The proper text will
admit of both these ; but the version now offered is the simplest
and most in point ; though the passage does not hitherto appear to
have been quite correctly understood. The immediate reference
seems to be to Gen. iv. 15, "And Jehovah set a mark upon Cain."

PSALM X.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 47

X.*
1 Why, 0 Jehovah, standest thou afar off ?
Why withdrawest thou in times of trouble ?
This Psalm is without a title, and in many of the ancient versions
and those of Dr. Kennicott's manuscripts is added to the preceding,
as though written on. the same occasion, and making a part of it ;
whence, as Dr. Geddes has observed, a different order in the num
bers takes place as far as Psalm cxlvii., which, being divided into
two, by those who regard the present and the ensuing Psalm as
one, restores the ordinary numeration to the end of the Psalter.
Bishop Horsley conceives that the two bear a great similitude, but
that this should be the opening instead of the close, as Psalm ix. is,
in his estimation, " an appendage of Psalm x., and is preposterously
placed before it.
I cannot trace out this similitude, excepting in a few of the images
and illustrations ; and regard the disjunction as correct. It appears
to be an entire poem, with an introductory address, which leads to
the subject-matter of complaint, and terminates in the usual manner
with a triumphant anticipation of success. In the preceding Psalm
the complaint respects an individual addressing the Almighty in his
own person, and who appears to be King David, whose right and
cause Jehovah had signally maintained by the utter discomfiture
and destruction of a confederacy of foreign enemies, — their cities
being uprooted, and their memory perishing with them. In the
present Psalm the complaint respects rather a generic or collective
body — the needy, the helpless, and the destitute, labouring under
great domestic oppression. The address is rather drawn up for
them than spoken by them, for the first person, that runs through
the whole of the preceding Psalm, does not once occur here. The
individuals complained of are certain covetous men of wealth and
power who, full of knavery and deceit, of fine speeches and hollow
proffers, made a practice of pretending to befriend the helpless, but
instead of doing so, led them forth into their snares, and made a
spoil of them ; and who are forcibly and aptly compared to the
lion, or some other powerful and crafty beast of the forest, which
cunningly prepares his lure, crouches in some lurking hole in the
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 169.

48 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM X.
2 Through the pride of the wicked are the helpless op
pressed ;
They are caught in the plots which they devise.
3 So, the wicked exulteth in the gratification of his
desire ;
neighbourhood to watch its success, and springs upon his prey as soon
as he comes within his reach. We know, from an incidental allusion;,
to the expulsion of the heathen nations from Judea, that this poem
must have been written subsequently to the establishment of the
Jewish monarchy ; for the poet referring with much ardour of mind
to this piece of national history, and realizing it before him, seems
in verse 1 7 to draw an argument that Jehovah, who had so glori
ously delivered the land from foreign subjugation, would not let it
become a prey to domestic tyranny and injustice ; that he would
bow down his ear to the cries of the destitute and the defrauded,
and be revenged on their proud and atheistical oppressors ; and
there is little doubt of its applying to the same period of time as
Psalm xii.
In consequence, however, of this allusion to the expulsion of the
heathen nations, Mudge seems to imagine that the oppressors
actually complained of, were themselves — some public enemy of
the Jewish nation ; and Dr. Geddes conjectures them to be the
hostile bands of Arabians and others that, excited by Sanballat and
Tobiah, obstructed the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem so late
as upon the remigration of the captive tribes from Babylon, under
the guidance of Nehemiah. But there seems nothing to justify this
view: The allusion in question is altogether incidental, and in the
true spirit of poetic illustration.
The Syriac translation contains an argument of uncertain origin,
and not found in the Hebrew, prefixed to most of the Psalms ; and
that to the present is as follows " of the enemy's attack upon Adam
and his race, and how Christ shall quell his arrogance." Bishop
Horsley apparently working upon this hint, says, " I am persuaded
that its sole subject is the general oppression of the righteous by
the wicked faction — that is, by the conspiracy of apostate spirits,
atheists, and idolaters, rather than any particular calamity of the
Jewish nation, or of any individual." It is very possible that the
one or the other of these explanations may give the concealed mean
ing of the poem, but they do not enter into its external or obvious
intention at the time of its composition.

PSALM X.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 49
And greeteth covetousness, the abomination of Je
hovah.
4 The wicked, in the height of his insolence, careth not ;
Devoid of God are all his projects ;
5 Distempered the whole of his ways.
Thine uplifted judgments are beyond his heed :
All his counter- checks — he puffeth at them.
Verse 3. " And greeteth covetousness, the abomination of Jeho
vah."] — This passage has been thought inextricably difficult ; and
is explained in a thousand various manners ; sometimes by putting
a period in the middle, and running the latter hemistich into the
beginning of the next verse ; as is done, but in different ways, by
Archbishop Seeker and Dr. Geddes ; sometimes by a pretended
emendation of the text, as is attempted, but in different ways also,
by Bishop Hare and Mr. Dimock ; and sometimes, and more gene
rally by a paraphrastic rendering. The version now offered is
strict, and in the order of the original. It seems to have a reference
to Exod. xviii. 2i, where the term S23 is employed as in the
present place, and is rendered covetousness in our common version.
" Thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear
God, hating covetousness."
Verse 4. "Of his insolence."] — Literally " of his nose " — which
in Hebrew poetry is commonly used for heat, wrath, insolence, as
the supposed seat in which these reside. See note on Job xxxvi. 13.
Id. " Devoid of God are all his projects."] — I have given the
passage literally and in order. The word projects mata is the
same as in verse 2, which is rendered above by the synonym plots.
Bishop Horsley gives the passage somewhat too modern a dress —
No God, is the whole of his philosophy.
Verse 5. "Distempered."]— " Sickly," "infirm," "diseased,"
and hence sorrowful and grievous. In the Vulgate " inanimata?.'''
Geddes renders the term " perverse," but b^m cannot be made to
bear this sense, except paraphrastically. Bishop Horsley gives us
" confident " — " his ways are confident," but on what basis I know
not ; perhaps from Junius or Tremellius, who have " munitse,"
but without authority.
Id. " His ways."] — The Masoretic text is in the singular !3~n
but numerous MSS. have the plural s3~il and they have been very
generally followed by the ancient, as well as the modern versions,
E

50 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM X.
6 He saith in his heart, " I will in no wise give way ;
" From generation to generation shall I march on
without calamity."
7 His malignant soul is full of very fraud and deceit ;
Under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
8 He croucheth in the ambushment of fences,
In lurking holes he murdereth the innocent :
His eyes peep about for the wretched.
among others by our national Bible and Psalter. It is probable
therefore that the Masora is incorrect. If not, the rendering should
be " distempered is all his conduct." The sense is the same. The
whole character of the infidel or atheist is very forcibly described.
He not only pursues his march without God, but against him —
heedless of his judgments, and even grappling with his strength.
The picture is perhaps takeD from Job xv. 25.
 he stretched forth his hand against God,
And fortified himself against the Almighty.
Verse 5. " All his counter-checks."] — VVV|2 — a very powerful
term. "All his hostile impediments or obstructions" — planted
against him by Jehovah to resist his advance. Repugnantite, rather
than repugnantes.
Verse 6. "From generation to generation shall I march on
without calamity."] — So St. Jerome " a generatione in generationem
sine malo." But here the Hebrew ItffM is entirely omitted, which,
as a verb, means " to proceed, advance, come on, march forward ; "
and as an adverb " for, because." It is clear that the former is -
intended in the present case : and Mr. Parkhurst has thus rendered
the verse correctly. Our Bible version is extremely imperfect.
The Psalter rendering "then shall no harm happen unto me," i.e.
" come upon me" is far preferable, though this is also imperfect.
Verse 8. " Of fences."] — ClSn " of inclosures "—doubtless
those in the country : whence Geddes renders it " of hedges : " and
our Bible version " of the villages." It refers sometimes however to
the walls of courts or public buildings : and hence Houbigant, but
with little correctness, has " in forces," and our Psalter version
"of. the streets" — "the thievish corners of the streets." The
Septuagint for Qi-)2n most probably read Qi-^ffiry for they give
us, "he sitteth in the ambushment of the rich ; " — and they are

PSALM X.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 51
9 He lieth covertly in wait, as a lion in his lair ;
He lieth in wait to seize the helpless :
He seizeth the helpless by dragging him into his toil ;
10 And the vanquished submitteth and falleth
Beneath his ruinous exertions.
11 He saith in his heart, " God is forgetful :
" He withdraweth his face ; — he will never see it."
followed by St. Jerome in the Vulgate. " He plotteth with the
great in oppressing the poor and helpless : " but this destroys the
figure, which is that of a beast of prey prowling for ravine.
Verse 9. " In his lair."]— The Masora gives n3D3 " in the lair
or covert :" but the pronoun occurs in one or more of the MSS.
and in all the old versions. The original reading was probably
therefore 1303-
Verse 10. " And the vanquished submitteth and falleth
Beneath his ruinous exertions."]
Much difficulty has been found in this passage ; and hence scarcely
any two translators agree in their interpretations. I have given
the passage strictly, and in the order of the original. Q^SSbn
is nearly the same word as n3bn in ver. 8, both importing " dis
tressful, calamitous," which, in fact might also be rendered
wretched, ruined, or ruinous. Houbigant, by a gratuitous altera
tion of the text, gives " and the helpless man is cast down and
falls with all his substance into the snares." The substance of an
indigent or helpless man is not a very clear idea. Bishop Horsley,
gratuitously dividing D^MSbn into two words, Q^W3 bn renders
And the overpowered man submits,
And by his strength the bulwark of the oppressed falleth.
The present rendering, which makes no change whatever either
verbal, literal, or ordinal, will be thought perhaps by the reader to
be simpler and more perspicuous than either of these. Vai237 is
chiefly "his forces, powers, or .efficacies;" but as things rather
than as persons ; " his exertions," rather than " his exerters," or
" captains," as rendered in our Psalter, and " strong ones " in
our Bible version.
Verse 11. "He withdraweth his face."] — So in ver. 1, of the
Psalm before us. To hide the face is an active idea, not strictly
consistent with the remissness of forgetfulness. It imports to take
a part rather than to be neglectful, or careless.
E 2

52 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM X.
12 Arise, 0 Jehovah !-0 God, lift up thy hand :
Forget not the helpless.
13 Yet why should the wicked despise God ?
Why say, in his heart, " Thou carest not ? "
14 Thou dost see it : — lo ! thou thyself:
Thou beholdest the mischief and the harassing,
To recompense with thine own hands.
To thee the wretched committeth himself ;
Thou art the stay of the desolate.
Id. " See it."] — That the pronoun it, though omitted in most
of the versions, and inserted in italics in our Bible translation, is
actually in the Hebrew in which the n in n«T is the pronoun itself,
and not the omissible final of the verb, is obvious from the repe
tition in ver. 14.
Verse 13. " Yet why should —
Why say."]
The verse has not been understood : na bv is not in the present
place " for why " or " wherefore " — but, as now rendered, " yet
why." bv is an adverb, " desuper, prseterea," rather than a
preposition " super or prseter." The adverb why is clearly under
stood, though not expressed in the Hebrew as in the second period
of ver. 1 . It might be omitted in both places, in English as well
as in Hebrew, but the wording would be harsh and elliptical.
Verse 14. " Thou dost see it :— lo ! thou thyself."]— This for
cible rendering, and indeed the entire verse is given literally,
though it does not appear to have been hitherto quite understood.
The pronoun it, in the Hebrew has been generally regarded as an
interpolation, and is hence omitted in most of the renderings. It
is an intentional repetition or anaphora from ver. 11, brought for
ward for the purpose of a severe retort. It is singular that our
Bible version, deviating from the translators in general, gives its
but in italics, as though the same term in the original was not
genuine, and the common opinion of the critics correct. It is ob
vious, I trust, that the text requires no amendment. The Hebrew
"O, is here an interjection, lo ! which is very common in Arabic
(css») as well as in Hebrew, as I have had frequent occasion to
notice in my annotations on the book of Job, and as often occurs'
in the Proverbs.
Verse 15. " Take thou care of his wickedness."] — The term

PSALM X.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 53
1 0 break the arm of the wicked and the worthless ;
Take thou care of his wickedness — let him not be
to be found.
16 Jehovah is king for ever and ever.
Perished are the heathen from off his land.
17 Thouhearest, 0 Jehovah, the yearning of the helpless,
To the address of thine heart let his ear be bowed
down :
tumn, is sarcastically iterated from the mouth of the wicked
man in ver. 13, as the term nnsi " thoU seest it" is from ver.
1 1 . Such iterations, common to all poets, are peculiarly so to
those of Jerusalem ; and such sarcasms are by no means uncommon
to the most solemn religious exercises among the Jews, and cer
tainly not to the Psalter. Psalm xxviii. 3, 4, which is altogether
upon a like subject, is directly of the same description.
The verb W~\1 imports, " to seek or inquire about, or into a
thing " — " to consult about it " — " to care, be careful or con
cerned." The term occurs not less than three times in the present
Psalm, ver. 4, 13, 15 : in all which it is here rendered alike. In
our Psalter version it is translated " to care," in the two first in
stances, but " to take away" in the last. The two first renderings
are correct, and I have readily copied the sense : the last is a
meaning which it never possesses. In our Bible version it is ren
dered, first, " to seek after," then, " to require," and lastly, " to
seek out."
Id. " Let him not be to be found."] — The seventy read
b31 VW1, " And let him not be found," or rather " be to be
found," which is much more forcible, and strict to the original.
Verse 17. " The address."] — The term ^OH may be a verb or
a noun. If the former, it imports, " thou wilt prepare, dispose,
adapt, address, suit, make meet," &c. one of which significations is
ordinarily given to it. The Septuagint regards it in the latter light,
and hence renders it r\v iroipida-taii — which is followed by St.
Jerome : and appears to be by far the best interpretation. In this
sense it imports " preparation, adaptation, suit, address :" the
subject-matter prepared, arranged, or dressed up by the heart.
Verse 18. " O, thoroughly right thou."] — In the original aDttfb
in which b istnot the sign of the infinitive mood, " to right, judge,
or do justice" — but a preposition, or particle of intensity, forming

54 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XI.
18 0 thoroughly right thou the desolate and the op
pressed ;
Let not man evermore act the tyrant upon earth.
a part of the verb itself which is a compound of the second person
singular ; correspondent^ with &(», and per ; haxpht and perju-
dica, " thoroughly right thou, judge thou or distinguish-"
XL*
TO THE SUPREME.

I In Jehovah do I take shelter :
Wherefore exclaim ye to my soul
" Flee, as a swift, to tour hill :
I have given the passage correctly from the original text. Two
MSS., however, instead of "rnb (David's or by David), have
"Tllb "liata (« Psalm of David), and the supply is introduced
into the translations generally. As it is not absolutely necessary, I
have adhered strictly to the sense of the Masora.
Verse 1 . " Flee away as a swift " — to your hill.] — The meaning
has not been exactly hit upon by any of the interpreters. " How
then say ye to my soul, that hath made choice of the Lord Je
hovah for her refuge," flee away with the utmost speed, like the
fleetest bird of passage, that can no longer support itself when it
has chanced to wander, to tour hill ? the high place of tour im
potent and idolatrous worship for protection, and put my trust in
the gods of wood and stone, which you fijst carve with your hands,
and then pay homage to with your bodies 1
In like manner, Jer. iii. 23 : —
" Surely in vain is salvation hoped for
From the hills, and the multitude of mountains :
Truly in Jehovah our God
Is the salvation of Israel."
The idolatry of the heathen nations is generally described in the
Scriptures under the character of hill-worship : for it was on
hills they chiefly planted their groves, and erected their altars and
temples on high places, as they are technically called, nia3 ; in
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 94.

PSALM XI.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 55
2 " For, see, the wicked are bending their bow,
" Are fitting the arrow to the string,
" To shoot privily at the upright of heart —
the Septuagint, Su/aoi : such situations having been ordinarily
chosen by them, partly that the sacrifices there offered might be
more conspicuous to the surrounding crowds of idolaters, and partly,
as being visibly nearer to heaven, and consequently to the gods
themselves, especially to Baal (bV3) the sun, and Baalim or the
heavenly host, who might hence more easily behold the homage
paid to them. 2 Kings xvii. 10,
Each of the nations appears to have had its separate hill or hills ;
and-as the gods of the hills were not always propitious to them,
some of them had also particular valleys appropriated to the same
purpose, and sacrificed to the gods of the valleys ; planting their
groves and making or setting up their temples and altars on high
places, or the banks of the rivers that ran through them. And
hence when the Israelites were at length seduced to this idolatrous
worship, by their intercourse and intermarriages with the nations
around them, and as the Psalmist says, lxxviii. 58, " grieved God
with their hill-altars, and provoked him with their images, the
prophet Ezekiel is commanded to denbunce a fearful curse, both
upon their abominable altars and upon themselves, ch. vi. 3, 4.
" Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, and
to the rivers, and to the vallies, Behold I, even I, will bring a
sword against you, and I will destroy your high-places, and your
altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken." This
view of the subject will explain the reason why Balak took Balaam
from one hill to a second, and from a second to a third, and offered
sacrifices on all : for as he was not favourably received on the first,
he hoped to be more successful among the powers of the second,
and afterwards among those of the third.
Now in direct opposition to all this the Jewish nation itself had
its own appropriate hill for religious worship, where its national
altar was built, its tabernacle or temple erected, " and God himself
vouchsafed to dwell : " — it was the holy hill of Zion ; " the moun
tain of holiness ; " — " the mountain of the Lord," — and " the
mountain of the Lord's house ; " — for by all these, and a variety of
other characters of a similar kind, is it described in the inspired
writings. So Ps. iii. 4. " My voice will I raise to Jehovah, and

56 BOOK OF PSALMS. ^ALM XI.
3 " If the foundations give way
" What can the just one accomplish ? "
he shall hear me from his holy hill." And hence, to this sacred
spot, the eye of the Jewish people was ever directed with devout
enthusiasm, whether at home or abroad, and they hung upon it
with the warmest feelings of their heart. Ps. xv. 1, " Who, says
the Psalmist, shall frequent thy tabernacle ? who shall dwell in thy
holy hill?" And in another place, "Beautiful for situation,
the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion." Ps. xlviii. 2. See also
Ps. lxviii. 15, 16; lxxviii. 69. And as Mount Zion was seated
in the midst of various other hills or mountains in its immediate
neighbourhood, or rather constituted one of the heights of a
common chain or elevation consisting of Carmel, Moriah, Acraj
Calvary, Olivet, Gihon, as well as itself ; and was surrounded by
other chains subject to the same sceptre, as Zalmon, Gibbor, Tabor,
Gilead, Hermon and Lebanon, the consecration bestowed upon
Mount Zion, on fixing the ark there immediately after the installa
tion of kins David, was extended to the rest ; and hence in another
place, exxi. 1, the Psalmist exclaims in the plural number, "I
will lift up mine eyes unto the hills. From whence cometh my
help ? My help is from Jehovah, the maker of heaven and earth."
This view of the subject has never hitherto, that I know of, been
touched upon by biblical commentators. But it is pregnant with
instruction, and will enable us to enter with a clearer insight, and
deeper interest, into much of the phraseology and many of the
descriptions that occur, not only in the book of Psalms, but in
other parts of the sacred writings, subsequent to the consecration
of Mount Zion : and will hence, also, give us some occasional clue
as to their chronology. Whence comes it that on the present
occasion Mount Zion is not brought forward and triumphantly con
trasted with the idolatrous hill, to which he was urged to flee for
succour ? And that the Psalmist does not exclaim, as on a later
occasion, " He will bring me to his holy hill, and to his dwelling."
Ps. xliii. 3 ? Such must have been the reply had the hill of Zion been
at that time appropriated to Jehovah, and consecrated to his service.
And we hence obtain an additional argument, that the Psalm before
us was composed antecedently to the conquest of the Jebusites,
and the possession of Jerusalem by king David's forces ; — leading
us, in like manner, to the precise period which I have already fixed
for its composition.

PSALM XI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 57
4 Jehovah is in his holy temple :
Jehovah !— his throne is in the heavens,
His eyes regard [the afflicted] ;
His eye-lids try the children of men.
The term your is of great importance in the passage ; and shows
that the wording of the original text is correct, and does not stand
in need of the various amendments which have been attempted
upon it by most of the versions which, in different ways, have ex
changed this term for some other. Thus the Septuagint, instead
of "to your hill," (Q3in) give " to the hills " having probably
transformed "11D2 03~CT into "11D23 Q^D : while the Chaldee
gives " to the hill," (ia3 in) thus transforming the pronoun
your, with a slight alteration, into the particle as ; a sense which
has been adopted by the Vulgate. It is in this spirit of departing
from the original »text that our Psalter version gives a different
rendering from that of our established Bible, and which seems to
be taken from the Arabic rendering rather than any other. In
Tremellius and Junius the pronoun your is preserved, but the whole
has a different sense from any of the preceding, being as follows,
"emigra e monte vestro, avicula" — "flee birdling from your
mountain ; " while Bishop Horsley, pursuing the same imperative
sense, offers " flee sparrows to your hill."
Upon the whole I cannot but think that our own Bible render
ing, as it is by far the closest to the original, is by far the best and
clearest, "flee as a bird to your mountain," or hill : the particle
as being allowably supplied here, though only understood and not
expressed in the Hebrew, as in hundreds of other cases. It is
only necessary to observe further that -)1D2 here rendered collect
ively bird, but more frequently as in Ps. lxxxiv. 3, and cii. 7,
specifically sparrow, ought rather to be swift, swallow, or martin ,-
the Hebrew term itself imports peculiar swiftness or rapidity of
wing; and the characters applied to the 11Q2 in the different texts
in which it occurs, and especially those of prodigious fleetness
emigration to remote countries, and fixing or building on the tops
of houses, turrets, or temples, essentially, and almost exclusively
apply to this species of bird. For which, however, see my note on
Prov. xxvi. 2, where the subject is more fully discussed.
Verse 3. " If the foundations give way."]— If the divinities in
whom you confide, if Jehovah and his heavenly host, fail in their

58 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XI.
5 Jehovah trieth the Just One ;
But the wicked, and the lover of violence, his soul
abhorreth.
6 On the wicked he shall rain thunder-bolts, fire-balls,
and brimstone :
power to afford succour, what can you hope to accomplish though
your cause be righteous, and you yourself are earnestly and prover
bially surnamed " the Just one, or Just man ? " But the passage
has not hitherto been distinctly understood. Din is here used in
an active instead of a passive sense, " break down or give way,"
and not " are broken down, or destroyed." The Septuagint offers'1"
a different construction to the entire passage, and which it certainly
may bear, but is less obvious, and has rarely been adopted except
by the Vulgate, tn a Karijplaa KaBstKov, " for what thou bast
founded they have-broken down."
Verse 4. " Jehovah is in his holy temple."] — Jehovah ! — his
throne is in the heavens. Thus far David repeats the language of
his revilers. His reply commences with the present verse. I have
given the passage literally, and in the full and striking force of the
original, which is accurately copied in the same manner, into the
Septuagint. It must be obvious to every reader that with this
verse opens the noble and confident reply of King David to those
who derided his religion, and exulted in the apparent failure of the
foundations on which he had placed his reliance. " The founda- |
tions, says he, give way ? — No : — Jehovah is still in the plenitude \
of his power : Jehovah is in his holy temple," &c.
Id. " The afflicted."] — For this term, which completes the
hemistich, and harmoniously lengthens the line, we are indebted to
the Septuagint in the copy of which it occurs ; and has been in like
manner introduced into the Vulgate, and many modern versions,
especially those of Bishop Lowth and Bishop Horsley. It has
been dropped, as Dr. Lowth has ingeniously observed from its like
ness to the word before it, which when introduced must have run
thus :
•mr "W yyv-
Oiniu oni ihezu.
Id. " His eyelids try."] — " This is a bold metaphor, but by no
means unnatural : when we examine any thing seriously, the eye
brows are sensibly affected, and visibly exerted." Geddes.
Verse 6. " Fire-balls."] — In the Hebrew CnD, which, if de-

PSALM XI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 59
Yea, a smouldering whirlwind shall be the portion
of their cup.
7 For righteous is Jehovah ; in righteousness he de-
lighteth ;
His countenance regardeth the upright.
rived from na Arabic J (pach) would be " snares," as rendered
by the Septuagint, and our established version : but if derived from
nD3 Arabic j« (nephech) is " fire-bolts, fire-balls, fire-brands,
live-coals," avB^aKai oTpruince, as rendered by Chrysostome in the
present place, and by Tremellius and Junius : who have been fol
lowed by Bishop Lowth, and various other modern writers. The
reader can have no difficulty in determining which rendering to
adopt. The exact meaning is evidently meteoric or thunderbolts.
Bishop Horsley gives " glowing embers ;" and Dr. Geddes, uniting
all the terms together, " flakes of sulphurous fire ; " but the con
struction of the original will not bear this last rendering, excepting
as a paraphrase. It is obvious that the general description is
drawn from the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah ; a catastrophe often
alluded to in the poetic writings of the Hebrews ; and here employed
with great force, as being fully known to the idolatrous courtiers to
whom the reply is addrest.
Id. " Yea, a smouldering whirlwind."] — Marg. literally, " Yea
— a whirlwind of smoulderings or suffocations of smoulder-blasts,"
or " smoulder-damps," — for the Hebrew niDSbt (zel-ophut) in
the singular, as in Psalm cxix. 53, iTSybt (zel-opheh) is a com
pound term in the plural number governed of nn " a gust, whirl
wind or tempest." The origin of this term, however, which only
occurs in these two places in the whole Bible, has puzzled all the
critics, none of whom appear to me to have hit on its proper source,
which I have little doubt is the Arabic sljLc (Jj£ (zel-ophaeh) lite
rally " latens clandestina," erratica exitio," " wandering or lurking
destruction, or suffocation ;" and forcibly and evidently alluding to
the destructive and pestilential wind of the Simum or Samiel, that
so often sweeps suddenly with scorching and fatal violence over the
Arabian and many other deserts of the East. Michaelis and Lowth
understand it in the same sense. The picture is exquisitely strong
and terrific, and approaches in fearful grandeur to some of the most
daring strokes in the book of Job. See the same term employed
Psalm cxix. 53 ; Lament, v. 10.

60 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XII.

XII*
TO THE SUPREME. "i
In concert with the Chorus.
A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 Save, 0 Jehovah, for no more is- the good man ;
For gone are the uncorrupt among mankind.
This title is nearly the same as that to Psalm vi ; the name of the
leading instrument to be assisted by the chorus, whether of string
or wind, being alone omitted.
The subject is nearly the same as that of Psalm x. The reign of
King David is marked in several parts of it by the existence of a
proud, overbearing, rapacious faction of men of wealth and power,
who were equally a terror to himself and their more needy brethren ;
atheists towards God, incendiaries towards the throne, and tyrants
towards the poor. Hence the difficulty of dispensing justice in the
public courts, notwithstanding the admirable system devised by
David for this purpose ; hence the facility of public plots and insur
rections by which his reign was distinguished ; and hence the
misery to which widows, orphans, and the needy, and the helpless
of all kinds were reduced through the stratagems and deceit, and
overweening power with which they had too frequently to contend ;
the commiseration he is so perpetually expressing for them, and
the readiness with which his own cause becomes identified with
theirs ; all which necessarily resulted from the gross depravity into
which we find this extraordinary people plunged during the era of
their judges, when, to use the emphatic words of the writer of the
book of Judges, " there was no king in Israel, but every one did
what was good in his own eyes " — a state of things that equally
overthrew the houses of Eli and Samuel — the sons of both having,
though not perhaps in an equal degree, partaken of the wickedness
of the times ; and which the turbulent reigns of Saul and David were
little calculated to bring back to perfect order. It is against this
detestable party of oppressors and petty tyrants, deceitful among
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 163.

PSALM XII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 61
2 Deceitfully talk they, every one with his neighbour ;
With beguiling lips, from a double heart do they talk.
3 0, that Jehovah would cut off all beguiling lips ;
The tongue that uttereth big words ;
4 Those that exclaim " With our tongue will we
carry it ;
themselves, insolent towards the. throne, and rapacious towards the
poor, that the present Psalm pours forth its just deprecation. In
the mystery of divine providence the church has but too often had
occasion to take up the same complaint from exposure to a like state
of suffering.
Verse 1. " The good man."] — See Note on Psalm iv. 3.
Verse 5. " In due time."] — TiT\V " opportune," rather than
" nunc : " " in God's own time." The subsequent part of the
Psalm shows that this is the real meaning : for it regards the de
claration as promissory of what is to be performed, rather than pro-
clamatory of what is performing at the moment. It is the language
of faith rather than of vision.
Id. " I will put in security him thatpuffeth at them."] — I have
given the passage literally, " I will put in safe custody." So
Psalm x. 15, " take thou care of his wickedness ;" and ver. 7, of
the present Psalm, " Thou wilt keep them safe." But the real
meaning has not been understood ; and hence a sense has been
attempted to be made out by interstitial words, or a more direct
paraphrase. Of the first we have an example in our authorized
Bible, which is a literal rendering from Tremellius and Junius, " I
will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him." In the origi
nal there is nothing that will warrant either him, ox from. Of
more direct pharaphrase we have an example in St. Jerome who
literally translates the Septuagint version : " Ponam in salutari :
fiducialiter agam in eo." " I will put in a safe place ; I will act
faithfully towards him." While our Psalter version takes a still
wider periphrasis ; " and will help every one from him that swelleth
against him, and will set him at rest."
The last hemistich of the verse might be rendered " him that
bloweth upon them ; " but there is no necessity for deviating from
the common interpretation. Both are phrases of contempt, though
the latter perhaps the most so.

62 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XII.
" Our lips are our own ;— Who is Lord over us ? "
5 " For the robbery of the helpless,
" For the sighing of the poor,
" In due time will I arise," saith Jehovah,
" I will put in security him that puffeth at them."
6 The words of Jehovah are tried words ;
Silver assayed in an earthen crucible ;
Seven times purified.
7 Thou wilt keep them, 0 Jehovah ;
Thou wilt protect us from the race for ever.
8 Should the wicked advance on every side ;
Should the dregs of the earth be uppermost ?
Verse 7. " Thou wilt keep them, 0 Jehovah,
Thou wilt protect us."]
Them, i. e. " thy words," as in 1 Kings viii. 23 and 25, where the
same term is used . The pronoun thus rendered is clear to every
"one. But since the verb VaWH " keep," has hitherto been re
garded by all the translators as used in reference to those who were
the objects of God's favour, this pronoun is so far from being clear,
that some translators have rendered it him instead of them, while
many have suspected an error, and that the pronoun ought to have
been in the first person. Thus the Greek versions concur in read
ing us in both lines of the verse, instead of them, and are followed'
by St. Jerome ; while Tremellius and Junius give them, in both
places, and are followed by our authorized Bible ; and the Psalter
renders them in the former, and him in the latter place.
Bishop Horsley is the only critic I know of who has hitherto
strictly adhered to the Hebrew text, and has fully entered into its
meaning. Verse 8. " The dregs of the earth be uppermost."] — The origi
nal is given literally, nibt means " fceces, feculences, dregs : "
Q"13 is here an adverb, and imports uppermost, rather than exulted.

PSALM X1II.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 63
XIII.*
TO THE SUPREME.
A PSALM OP DAVID.
1 How long, 0 Jehovah, wilt thou utterly forget me ?
How long wilt thou hide thy face from me ?
2 How long shall I hold consultations for my life,
Pining away daily at my heart ?
How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me ?
3 Look down ! — 0 vouchsafe to me, Jehovah, my God !
Enlighten mine eyes, lest I sleep in very death :
4 Lest mine enemy exclaim, " I have prevailed ! "
And the besiegers exult when I fall.
Verse 1. " Utterly."] — See the note on Psalm vi. 9.
Verse 2. " Hold consultations for my life." — I have rendered
the passage literally and ordinally : but the real sense not having
been understood, the critics have been puzzled for a meaning ; and
the Syriac version for r\T2V " counsels," or " consultations," has
conjectured that the text ought to be ni32V " vexations," which
has since been followed by Archbishop Seeker, Bishop Hare, Dr.
Kennicott, Dr. Geddes, and Mr. Street, and approved by Bishop
Horsley. The present rendering shows there is .no necessity for an
alteration of the standard Hebrew : and the passage probably refers
to the consultations with the ephod 1 Sam. xxiii. 9 — 12.
Verse 3. " Look down ! 0 vouchsafe to me."] — Bendered lite
rally " look graciously — eye me favourably and assentingly." But
not " hear me," as in our authorized version.
Id. " Lest I sleep in very death."] — Bendered literally )tB'»M IS
man. The n is here emphatic, but omitted in all the translations.
It imparts reality, the very thing or thing itself with which it is
joined. Thus Job xxxvi. 30, DM signifies " the very ocean," or
" ocean itself." And so in colloquial language we say " in very
truth," '* in very deed," " in very spite." Our Bible version gives,
" lest I sleep the sleep of death," after Tremellius and Junius ; but
here the second sleep is an interpolation. The Psalter renders it,
" that I sleep not in death ; " perhaps after St. Jerome, who gives
from the Septuagint " Ne unquam obdormiam in morte : " more
strictly " in morte ipszi.; " but the expletive is omitted in both.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 84.

61 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XIII."
5 Still do I trust in thy mercy :
My heart exulteth in thy salvation. —
6 I will sing to Jehovah, for he retributeth to me :
Yea, I will celebrate the name of Jehovah most high.
Verse 4. "And the besiegers exult when I fall."] — Most forcibly
painting the extremity of his distress. He contemplates himself as
surrounded by the foe, and cut off from all help in the blockaded
town — probably that of Keilah ; daily consulting, sometimes with
his confidential friends, sometimes with Jehovah himself, for the
safety of his life ; and overwhelmed and sinking at the prospect.
The original is rendered literally and in the order of the words : "
but I think with Dr. Durell; that the "» which, as a pronoun, closes
the preceding line, should, as a copulative, commence the present ;
for it can be spared in the first place, and is wanted in the second :
and hence our authorized translation, which keeps it as a pronoun,
is obliged to supply the copulative gratuitously. According to
the former reading, the version would be —
Lest the enemy exclaim, I have prevailed over — or overcome
Him ;
The besiegers exult when I fall.
According to the latter reading, the version must be as now offered.
"H2 " beleaguers or besiegers," is derived from "12. expressly im
porting " to straiten, enclose, beset, besiege, beleaguer, blockade," ,
and is strictly a military term ; in the present place, pointing to
a particular period of the Psalmist's history, and keenly describing
the extremity to which he was reduced. The term occurs in 1 Sam.
xxiii. 8, which probably relates to the historical fact here referred ,
to. " And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down
to Keilah to besiege ("112) David and his men."
Verse 6. " Yea I will celebrate the name of Jehovah Most High."]
In the Hebrew text the conclusion of the Psalm is manifestly de
fective : it ends with an old hemistich wanting its correspondent.
The Septuagint has happily preserved it :
K.at if/aW3 rcj> ivopt-ari Kvplov tov tyforov.
: ]vb» mni ow niatNi
" The same that terminates Psalm vii." Lowth. There is so much
force in this remark, and the addition seems so natural, that I have
admitted it. It has already, indeed, been admitted into our Psalter
version, and consequently is in permanent use in our church-service :
" And I will praise the name of the Lord most highest."

PSALM XTV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 65

XIV*
ON THE SUPREME.

1 " No God ! " saith the profligate in his heart.
They are corrupters : they practise an abominable
ascendancy. —
Not one doeth good. —
The matter of complaint is here precisely the same as in Psalm
xii. It is a pious lamentation over the same powerful, insolent,
profligate, and atheistical faction as is there adverted to ; a faction
equally refractory to the king, and tyrannical to the poor and the
helpless, whom they never failed to grind down with unsparing
severity, laughing to scorn every good man who advocated their
cause, and strove to render them assistance ; a faction possessing a
preponderating and most dangerous influence throughout the king
dom, and who were constantly exerting it by a bold and fearless
display of their licentious lives, and licentious maxims, to draw
others into the same walk of dissipation and profligacy ; and who,
as we learn from the present ode, succeeded to the most gratifying
extent they could desire : insomuch that every soul of man is re
presented as being contaminated and drawn astray by their abomi
nable seductions.
This brief effusion is full of poetical figures. It presents us with
examples of bold and sudden breaks, poignant interrogatories,
animated apostrophes, and sublime personification. Jehovah him
self is brought forward, as a distinct character, on the stage ; scru
tinizing the state of the people ; noticing their general apostacy ;
upholding the little band of the pious, overlooked and lost amidst
the crowds of the wicked ; and at length confounding and over
throwing the infidel confederacy, and diffusing the blessings of the
temple of Zion over all Israel.
It appears to have been a favourite produetion with the Jewish
nation, and probably with the author himself: for at the time of
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 163.
F

66 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XIV.
2 Jehovah looked down upon mankind from heaven, :
To see if there were any that had understanding
To seek after God. —
collating and fixing the canon of the Old Testament books, there
were at least two different forms of it, which were perhaps different
editions by the author : and the superintendants of this collation,
thinking the ode in both its forms, or editions, well worthy of pre
servation, admitted each into the sacred Psalter, arranging one of
them as the fourteenth, and the other as the fifty-third Psalm, in
which order they have descended to the present day. We have
another example or two of a like kind ; as in Ps. xviii. which is a
diversified copy or various reading of the ode in 2 Sam. xxii. To
the quotation from this sacred ode by St. Paul, Bom. iii. 11, 12,
there are added several verses containing matter of a like kind,
existing mostly in Ps. v. 10 ; cxl. 4 ; x. 7 ; and Isaiah lix. 7, 8 ;
all concurring in support of St. Paul's argument ;¦ and probably
selected from nearly the beginning and nearly the close of the
Jewish monarchy, to show that this argument applied to the Jewish
nation at all times, or at least as well towards its commencement
as towards its close : in the reign of David, as well as in that of
Hezekiah. It seems however to have been conceived by some
writers, in consequence of the connexion of these verses by St.
Paul, that they were connected from the first ; that a third edition
or various copy of the Psalm existed among the Jews, and' that
St. Paul has only quoted from such copy or edition : while others
have supposed, as Dr. Kennicott and Dr. Durell, that the sup
plementary matter was originally a part of the copy or edition of
the Psalm before us, and has been omitted by the carelessness fof
transcribers. And hence various attempts have been made to
restore it to the original text, by introducing it immediately after
verse 3, of the present Psalm. Some of these are of considerable
antiquity ; for we find the supplement thus interpolated in a Hebrew
MS, of doubtful authority, by De Bossi supposed to be of the
fourteenth century'; in the Arabic version ; and in the margin of the
Vatican manuscript of the Septuagint ; in consequence of which it
has been suffered to slide down into the text itself of some printed
editions of this manuscript. It does not, however, accompany the
Alexandrine copy of the Septuagint in any form ; is not in the
Syriac version ; and was not found by St. Jerome in any of the

PSALM XIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 67
3 They are all led astray ;
They are altogether contaminated :
Not one doeth good : — not even one.

4 Have all the dealers in iniquity no sense,
Devouring my people as they devour bread ?
They call not upon Jehovah !
5 Fearfully therefore shall they fear.
Behold, God is in the community of the just.
Hebrew manuscripts of his time ; on which account St. Jerome
concluded that the quotation of the apostle, is, as I have already
supposed it, from different parts of the Jewish scriptures. This is
not the only instance in which St. Paul catenates passages from the
Old Testament which lie at a distance from each other ; for we
have a second example in Bom. xi. 8, which appears to be brought,
with some degree of looseness of quotation, partly from Isa* xxix.
10, and partly from Isa. vi. 9, 10 ; — and a third in Bom. ix. 25,
which is brought partly from Hosea ii. 23, and partly from Hosea
i. 10.
Verse 1. "They are corrupters: — they practise an abominable
ascendancy."] — " They are corrupt" as in our common version,
does not give the exact sense, nor a sense sufficiently strong. The
verb is in Hiphil, and hence is literally " they make or cause to be
corrupt." nb^by, in our common version rendered works, is a
noun singular .from rhv "to ascend, or mount aloft," and in
Hiphil "to be exalted or lifted up."
Verse 2. " And Jehovah looked," &c] — The description appears
very clearly drawn from that of the state of the earth before the
flood, Gen. vi. 12. " And God looked upon the earth, and behold
it was corrupt : for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth."
The real meaning of which is that the few (as the family of Noah)
who remained uncontaminated, were indistinguishable and lost
amidst the multitudes of the wicked. So in the present place the
few that remained faithful to their duty to God were as none in
comparison of the apostate aggregate.
Verse 4. " Devouring my people."] — This seems rather to be a
lamentation of David than an interrogation of Jehovah himself.
F 2

68 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XIV.
6 Ye would put to shame the advocacy of the help
less !
Behold, Jehovah is their refuge ;
7 Who shall give forth from Zion salvation to Israel :
When he shall reverse the bondage of his people
Jacob shall exult, Israel shall leap for joy.
Verse 6. " Advocacy."] — Such is the meaning of n23? here as
in Job xxi. 1 6, rather than counsel.
Far from me be the advocacy of the wicked.
Verse 7. "Who shall give."] — So the Psalter version, only with
an interrogatory, which is not wanted. " 0 that ! " — as rendered
in our Bible version, is a sense which the original will bear, hut
does not seem to be the sense intended.
Id. "When he shall reverse."] — He shall utterly change the
condition of the two parties — giving freedom and triumph to those
who have hitherto been oppressed, and in misery ; and subjugating
and punishing the abandoned confederacy that oppressed them.
From the ordinary rendering of this verse it has been supposed,
first, that the bondage here spoken of refers to the Babylonian
captivity ; and next, that this verse, at least, is spurious, and.must
have been composed by some other person subsequently, to the re- ,
migration from Babylon. Such is the opinion of De Bossi; others a
regard the whole as composed by a later writer than David, about
the time of this national deliverance. The rendering now offered
will entirely do away the objection, and show its futility. It is
far more probable that it refers to the Egyptian : " Who shall
give a glorious freedom to Israel, the freedom or salvation of the
holy temple — who shall proclaim liberty to the captive thus en
thralled in a worse than Egyptian bondage? When God shall
reverse this captivity, and lead them forth from their vassalages of
overwhelming impiety, Jacob shall exult — Israel shall leap for joy."
The passage, thus rendered, forms a fine and forcible application of
an historical fact of deep-felt and prominent interest, and preserves
the correctness of the title which ascribes the ode to David.

PSALM XV.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 69

XV.*
A PSALM OP DAVID.
1 0 Jehovah, who shall frequent thy tabernacle ?
Who shall dwell in thy holt hill ?
2 He that walketh uprightly, and dealeth justly,
And speaketh the truth from his heart.
3 That slandereth not with his tongue ;
That acteth not unneighbourly to his neighbour,
Nor bringeth a reproach upon his kindred.
4 In whose eyes the reprobate is vile,
But who honoureth them that fear Jehovah.
That, pledged to utter ruin, still changeth not.
5 That putteth not out his money to usury ;
Nor taketh a bribe against the innocent.
He that doeth thus shall never fall.
Verse 1. " Holy hill."] — For the real meaning of holy hill see
the note on Ps. xi. 1 . The hill made sacred, and expressly conse
crated to the worship of the true God, in opposition to the hill-
worship of the idolaters, as well in Jerusalem as out of it.
r Verse 3. " Unneighbourly to his neighbour."] — The term is
here repeated merely to keep up the iteration in the original
HV1 injnb (le-rohu rohe.)
Verse 4. "Pledged to utter ruin."] — The Hebrew 373K72 means
" pledged as a surety by a bail-bond, or judicial oath ; " — and hence
the rendering in our established versions " that sweareth."
Verse 5, " Fall."] — Such is rather the meaning of tola'' than " be
moved." The verb aa imports "to slip, slide, yield, give way,
fall."

Historical Outline, &c. p. 139,

70 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XVI.

XVI,*
A GOLDEN PSALM OF DAVID.
1 Preserve me, 0 God !
For in thee do I take shelter.
Dn3a- Literally as now rendered golden : and as already
rendered by Dr. Geddes. DH3 imports primarily and as a verb
" to stamp or impress ; and secondarily, as a noun, stamped 'or
impressed gold as the purest gold of Ophir. See Job xxviii. 16;
Psalm xlv. 9 ; Prov. xxv. 12, and various other places. The title
therefore is strictly in the oriental style, and indicates the great
worth of its subject, and the high value at which it was estimated
at the time of, or shortly after, its composition, as though its refer
ence to the Messiah were then fully known:
To what particular period in the life of David this beautiful and
triumphant composition refers in its primary meaning, is not known;
and there are so many periods to which it is applicable, in which
his trust in God was put to the severest test, and he was enabled ;.
with holy confidence to look forward from scenes of the deepest
gloom to prospects of the highest exaltation and glory, — that an
inquiry upon this subject is perhaps hopeless. But in none of them.
will the whole of the language apply to David in its strict or literal
sense. It is only to the great archetype of David, the king of the
heavenly Zion, whose temple is not made with hands, eternal in the
skies, that — as St. Peter and the rest of the apostles forcibly and
justly observed to the assembled multitude on the day of Pentecost,
— the bold and triumphant prediction, that God would not suffer his
Holy One to die and see corruption, can have any strict and abso
lute application. David, in various instances, when overwhelmed
with despair and in the full prospect of death, was, indeed, as we
well know, rescued from destruction, in those particular cases : but
it was also well known at the time of St. Peter's discourse, that he
did at last fall a prey to corruption — that he was dead and buried
— and that his sepulchre was with them at that day. " Wherefore
being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to
* Historical Outline, &c, p 161.

PSALM XVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 71
2 I have said to Jehovah — "Thou art my Lord !
My Good ! there is nothing besides thee !
him, that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh, he would
raise up Christ to sit on his throne ; he, seeing this before, spake
of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, nei
ther his flesh did see corruption."
It was sufficient for St. Peter's purpose to limit his remarks to
this part of the Psalm before us. But I think it would have been
easy, if he had found it necessary, to show that the whole of it was
equally spoken of the great Son of David, for there is a striking
resemblance between many of the preceding phrases of the Psalm
and those uttered by our Saviour on the banks of the Cedron or on
the cross — as the following comparison will show, and it might be
more extended if necessary. ADDRESS OF OUR SAVIOUR.
" Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me :
nevertheless not my will, but thine be done, I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world :
thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept
thy word. I pray for them: I pray not for the world; but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine; Father
the hour is come ; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify
thee. I have glorified thee on earth : I have finished the work
which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before
the world was." Luke xxii. 42. John xvii. 6, 9, 1, 4, 5.
ADDRESS OP DAVID.
1 Preserve me, 0 God,
For in thee do I take shelter.
5 Thou O Jehovah hast meted out my course and my cup ;
Thou maintainest my lot.
3 Among the saints that are in the earth,
The multitude of the truly excellent,
With them is all my delight.
4 Multiplied be their sorrows that run headlong elsewhere.
Their libations of blood will I not offer,
Nor take their names upon my lips.
8 I will set Jehovah before me continually :

72 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XVI.
3 Among the saints that are in the earth,
The multitude of the truly excellent —
With them is all my delight.
While he is at my right hand I shall not fall.
9 Wherefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoiceth;
Yea my flesh shall rest in security ;
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
Nor suffer thy Holy One to see corruption.
1 1 Thou wilt show me the path of life ;
The fulness of the joys in thy presence ;
The pleasures at thy right hand for ever.
Verse 2. " I have said."] — The Masoretic text gives n*lBN,
" thou hast said " — " dicis " — which is the rendering of Tremellius
and Junius. But to whom does the pronoun thou apply ? The
translators of our established versions have felt the difficulty, and
have gratuitously introduced into the text, " 0 my soul." There is
no necessity for this gratuitous supply. rnaN is clearly a corrupt
reading for Vl")aN, " I have said : " the manuscript copies gene
rally give it thus : and the Septuagint and all the other ancient
versions except the Chaldee, have thus translated it.
Id. " My Good ! there is nothing."] — The passage does not seem
to have been understood ; and hence Houbigant, Lowth, and Horsley
suppose it corrupted, and attempt, in different ways, to amend it.
"'n3ia may be a verb in the first person, or a substantive ; if the
latter, b3 must be also taken as a substantive, as in Psalm xvii. 3 :
and for which, as Noldius observes, it often stands. \nb3 "^3 b3
says he, " sunt nomina a radiee nb3 veterascere, deteri, consumi,
aboleri, Ebraeis satis usitata. Proprie hinc denotant consump-
tionem, abolitionem, defectum ; ita concretive consumptum, nihi-
lum." — It is not necessary to copy his references. He might have
added, that in taking this substantive meaning it only follows the
example of its synonym sb, which in like manner ordinarily means
no, but not unfrequently nothing, as in Job vi. 21, and viii. 9, where
it is so rendered in our authorized version ; and Job iv. 6 and xxxii.
16, where it ought to be so rendered. And, thus understood, the
passage before us is clear, and requires no correction whatever,
being literally as now given in the text.
If VQ1B be a verb, it may, then, be rendered literally —
No good can I have besides thee.

PSALM XVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 73
4 Multiplied be their sorrows who run headlong else
where.
Their libations of blood will I not offer ;
Nor take their names upon my lips.
5 Thou, 0 Jehovah, hast meted out my course and
my cup :
Both renderings are true to the text as it now stands. I am
not quite certain, however, that 3B, as a verb, occurs in this pos
sessive sense in any other part of the Bible : and as the translators
have generally regarded it as a noun, I have not chosen to deviate
from their example. The Septuagint gives t£» dyaBSv pov oi
XpLav ex«;, which is followed by St. Jerome, " thou hast no need of
my goods." And hence the Psalter version, " my goods are nothing
unto thee : " which in our Bible rendering is thus altered : "my good
ness extendeth not to thee." None of these give a clear sense, and
hence the reason for supposing the text corrupt, as just noticed, and
the attempts which, by different critics and in different ways, .have
been made to reform it : which the present explanation will perhaps
show to be unnecessary. We have a parallel passage in 1 Sam. ii. 2.
" There is none (or nothing) besides thee." -jnb3 ^N-
Verse 3. " Among the saints that are in the earth
The multitude of the truly excellent."] — This verse
seems to have been as much misunderstood as the preceding. The
present text gives the original in its literal construction, how dif
ferent soever it may be from the renderings of former interpreters.
nan (chemah) may be understood as a pronoun or a noun sub
stantive. It has generally been regarded in the first sense, and
rendered " in eis, or iis," " in them, those, or such," though it
has no preposition before it. In this case the passage would be
Among the saints that are in the earth
' Those of the truly excellent — in them is all my delight.
nan (chemah) however, as a noun substantive, means " a
throng, multitude, company, or consociation." It occurs in Arabic
in the very sense in almost all the variations of the radical term.
\& (ghema or chema) " collectio, tuberculum, corpus conspicuum."
clfr (ghemea) " consentire, concordare, coire; " " universitas,
multitudo omnis rerum," e\v» (ghemmea, or chemmea) " turba

74 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XVI.
Thou maintainest my lot.
hominum." »s\ir (gemmaeh, or chemmaeh) " turba, agmen, con-
sessus, communitas, synagoga." This gives a far more forcible
import, and the Psalmist seems to have had in his mind the precise
idea that so strongly affected him when composing Psalm xiii. 5. in
which the same radical term is employed to express multitude,
though modified by a different terminal, pan (chem-un) instead
of nan (chem-dh). The passages are nearly parallel as to the
predominant idea, and the second shows evidently what .ought to
be the meaning of the first.
The sense, however, not having been exactly lighted upon, the
ancient as well as the modern interpreters have been driven to
paraphrase rather than to translate, without satisfying any one.
Thus the Septuagint, Toi; dylois toT? iv tj 75 avrov, iBaviida-rua-e
itdvra ra SfeK^piara avrov iv avrots, which St. Jerome renders in
the Vulgate, " Sanctis, qui sunt in terra ejus, mirificavit omnes
voluntates meas (Grseci suas) in eis. " On the saints that are in
the earth, on them has he marvellously displayed all my desires,"
or as the; Septuagint has it, "all his desires." The sense is not
clear ; and yet to obtain even this rendering nearly half the original
must be altered. Tremellius and Junius give " Sanctis qui in
terra sunt, et magnificis collaturus es ; iis in quibus est tota oblecta-
tio mea." " Upon the saints that are in the earth, and the
mighty ones art thou about to confer good ; upon them in whom is
all my delight."
Bishop Horsley renders the passage as follows :
For the saints which are in the land,
And my glorified ones, all my delight is in them.
Here nan, however, whether it mean those, or multitude, is entirely
omitted, while the preposition my is expressed gratuitously. The
word and is rather as rendered in the present text, " truly, verily,
really." ">THN1 " truly excellent, or glorified," rather than '* and
the excellent or glorified."
Dr> Geddes joins the verse which follows, and thinks he is then
able to extract the following sense, which is of a ve'ry different ¦
kind, and in which he stands alone.
" As for those profane earthly idols,
And all the great who in them delight —
Multiplied be their sorrows," &c.

PSALM XVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 75
6 Truly pleasant the lines that have fallen to me :
Mine indeed is a goodly heritage.
It is not necessary to compare the renderings of pur Bible and
Psalter versions, or to notice their discrepancies. Enough is
already advanced to show how little the critics have been satisfied
with any rendering already offered, and how much a simpler and
more correct version is required.
Verse 4. " Who run headlong elsewhere."] — The Hebrew "inN,
imports other, as a noun of person, or adverb of place— oKks and
alibi, other person, and otherwhere, or elsewhere. Our Psalter and
authorized version understand the term god, though not expressed,
and hence render the passage "other god;" but the older ver
sions do not justify this. inM may also mean " after, backward,
or behind," and many of the translations give it this sense. Thus
the Septuagint e«Xijfii7v&»i<rav at aa-Bfvetat avrov, pierce ravra
ird%wav " Their infirmities (referring to the saints) were mul
tiplied : after which things (or as St. Jerome has it, a/iterwards)
they made haste." But "inN cannot possibly mean after and other
at the same time ; and yet such is the double sense given to it in
both our English versions : " who run or hasten after another
god." There are various other senses ascribed to the passage by other
interpreters, from the real meaning not having been seized, which
it is not necessary to notice, and which seem to be still wider of the
mark, "ina signifies not merely " to run," but " to run headlong,
or head foremost," as in Job v. 13; an idea which ought not to
be omitted in the present passage, as indicating the rash, heedless,
inconsiderate, and precipitate conduct of those who fly from real
religion, to any substitute for it whatever.
Verse 5. " Thou, O Jehovah, hast meted out."] — The Hebrew
n3B appears in this place to be a verb in the second person singular,
rather than a noun. The theme is n3B " to compute ; mete, mea
sure, or reckon ; to allot or apportion."
I. " my course."] — The primary meaning of pbn is " round or
smooth ; " its secondary in npbn " a course, circle, series ; a reg
ular or orderly division ; and hence again " an equable allotment,
or portion," As used in the present instance in connection with
D13 " cup " — it forms a striking and beautiful metaphor : " Thou
hast measured out for me the path of duty, and the chalice of

76 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM XVI.
7 I will bless Jehovah who hath consulted for me :
Yea, my reins shall stir me up every night.
8 I will set Jehovah before me continually.
While he is at my right-hand I cannot fall.
9 Wherefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoic-
eth ;
Yea, my flesh shall rest in security ;
blessing." To which the Psalmist adds, " Thou givest them per
manency : " " thou not only bestowest but maintainest my lot."
The Septuagint and Vulgate render the last passage " Thou wilt
restore my inheritance." Could this be justified it would point to
a particular era in the Psalmist's life in which the ode was written,
I mean when driven from his throne by the rebellion of Absalom.
But this rendering cannot stand the test of criticism.
Verse 6. " Truly pleasant."] — Bather than "in pleasant places"
The 3 in D^B^SS is rather in this place a part of the word itself
importing an intrusive or superlative power, than a separate pre
position, as the Latin per in peramatus, perbeatus, perplacens ; any
one of which may apply to the compound before us : " Truly plea
sant " — rather than " in pleasant places ; the term places being
neither expressed nor wanted. .This is a common meaning of the
Hebrew 3 in compounds. See Prov. iii. 26 ; viii. 8 ; xiv. 33.
Verse 7. " Stir me up every night."] — Thus Bosenrauller — «
" noctu (nib^b proprie noctes quod attinet) dicit, ut nullum om-
nino tempus, ne illnd quidem, quo cseteri mortales somno indulgent,
esse innuat, quo ea de re non cogitaret. Verbum -id"1 primo acuere,
hinc acuere animum, erudire, significare notum est.
The reins, the supposed seat of the deepest and most rooted de
sires and appetites, is here put, by an elegant metonymy for those
affections themselves, as in Ps. vii. 9. and in other "parts of Hebrew
poetry. Verse 9. " My tongue rejoiceth." The tongue, when properly
employed, is the glory of the human frame ; when improperly, its
curse. The latter part of this remark is fully and beautifully illus
trated by St. James ch. iii, and we hence see that it was an opinion
of high authority, and exclusive adoption in his day. And we have
a like proof that the former part of this remark was of equal autho
rity and adoption : for while the term tongue is that which occurs

PSALM XVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 77
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell,
Nor suffer thy holt one to see corruption.
1 1 Thou wilt show me the path of life !
The fulness of the joys in thy presence ;
The pleasures at thy right hand for evermore.
in the Septuagint version of the text, and in its quotation by St. Peter,
Acts ii. 26, the Hebrew term (1133) rendered literally is glory ; —
showing pretty clearly, in connection with the Septuagint rendering,
and that of St. Peter, that at the time when the Hebrew text was
composed, the word 1133 or glory, when applied to the human
frame, so generally imported the tongue, that it was a kind of sy-
nonyme : and showing also that this application of the term glory,
if not confined to the Hebrews, did not extend to the Greeks, nor
even to the mixt people at Jerusalem in the time of the Apostles. In
consequence of which, instead of rendering the term literally, which
would have given it obscurity, by an allowable metonymy, they
have used the organ for the quality, and thus cleared it of every
difficulty. The same term occurs, apparently in the same sense,
Ps. xxx. 12. 1133, however, is so nearly allied, both in origin
and orthography to 133 the organ of the liver, that several Hebrew
MSS., of which Dr. Kennicott has noticed five, have written the
latter instead of the former, and several translators have followed
the unauthorized reading, and have rendered the term liver, instead
of glory, as the Masora has it, or tongue, as it occurs in the Septua
gint, and in the New Testament. The Vulgate follows the latter,
Tremellius and Junius our own authorized versions, and by far the
greater number of renderings adopt the former. ' The remarks now
offered will, I trust, sufficiently justify me in translating the term as
above : in doing which indeed Bishop Horsley has already pre
ceded me. Beins, heart, tongue, and flesh are in full harmony with
each other ; but reins, heart, glory and flesh, destroy the general
congruity, and show clearly enough that the ¦ third term requires
correction, except in a country where it speaks the import of tongue
or some other organ by common consent.
Verse 11. "Of the joys."] — I have rendered the Hebrew liter
ally, which is in the plural ninattf. In Ps. xxi. 7, it is given in
the singular nnat£.

78 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XVII.

XVII*
A PRATER OP DAVID.
1 Hear, 0 just Jehovah ! — attend to my cry ;
Give ear to my prayer from lips void of deceit.
2 Let my doom proceed from thine own presence ;
Let thine eyes discriminate the right.
3 Thou hast tried my heart, thou hast essayed it by
night ;
Thou hast fused me, — hast thou found baseness ?
I have purposed that my mouth shall not be led astray
By the devices of men.
David here, as in various -other Psalms, feels the difficulty of
his high situation, surrounded as he is by a worldly, crafty, and
infidel court : by men of rank and power, whose united influence
was often too much for him — and whose traitorous views he seems
to suspect. In this calamity his whole reliance is upon God.
Verse 2. " From thine own presence."] — T'aoba. The b is
here intensive ; not " from thy presence," which would be "pasa
but " from thy presence itself," " thy very presence," "thine own
presence." — " I appeal to thee from the false judgment of my
enemies : ascend thou the tribunal of equity : let thine own ears
listen to my cause, and thine own mouth pronounce upon its
deserts." The primary meaning of ntn is " to fix, settle, bound,
determine : " in its secondary sense it imports " to fix the atten
tion or the eye distinctively, to mark electively, to discriminate " —
and hence again " to inspect, gaze at, behold, regard." The word
right in the Hebrew is in the plural — whence the passage might be
rendered " let thine eyes discriminate the merits."
Verse 3. "Thou hast fused me — hast thou found baseness ?"] —
The exact idea is, "hast thou found dross?" The allusion is
evidently to the process of refining metals by fire — and hence the
Septuagint ^icipaads pie ; which St. Jerome renders " igne me
examinasti." * Historical Outline, &c. p, 164.

PSALM XVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 79
4 By the word of thy lips
Have I kept from the paths of destruction.
5 Uphold thou my steps in thy ways
That my feet may not slip.
6 To thee do I call ; for thou, 0 God, wilt answer me ;
Incline thine ear to me, hearken to my words.
7 Signalize, by thy power, 0 Saviour of them that shelteB
in thee !
Thy pious ones against their uprisers.
Verse 7. " Signalize.
"Thy pious ones."] — As in Ps. iv. 3. Here however
as in the former place, the Septuagint, for nbsn " to separate,
assort, or mark distinctively," seems to have read Nbsn, and
again translates it davpido-raa-ov, which, however, as observed in
the note on Ps. iv. 3, may mean " signalize," as now rendered ;
though St. Jerome, and after him our English versions, give " work
marvellously or wonderfully." There seems no occasion for alter
ing the original text in either passage.
As lDn means pious, in connection with nbsn in Ps. iv. 3,
there can be little doubt that it ought to be so rendered in the
present place, which forms a parallel : there is otherwise no reason
why it might not be translated " misericordias tuas " " thy loving-
kindnesses," as in the Vulgate and our authorized English copies :
for the term imports equally "pious ones " and "pieties or loving-
kindnesses." Id. " Their uprisers."] — This verse has been thought difficult
and rendered very differently. The C3 in O^aBlpfiB is a pro
noun, importing them, and not the plural termination, as the word
is in regimen.
Verse 10. "Their own fat inwrappeth .them."] — Houbigant,
Kennicott, and Horsley, propose to alter lB3bn to laban and to
bring "bs " about me "—which closes the last verse, into the
present ; by which means they obtain, " They have closed their net
upon me." " The whole imagery, says Bishop Horsley, in verses
9, 'JO, 11, is taken, as Mudge and Kennicott well observe, from
hunting. In the ninth verse, the sportsmen beat the field, and
spread their nets. In the tenth, they draw the nets. In the
eleventh, they exult in their success, and take aim at the prey."

80 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XVIL
8 Guard me as the apple of the eye :
0, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
9 From the face of the wicked who would destroy me,
My deadly foes that encompass me about.
10 Their own fat inwrappeth them ;
With their mouth they speak haughtily.
11 Already are they prowling about our track :
They fix their eyes, on the stretch, towards the spot ;
J 2 Their couching is as of a lion panting for prey,
Yea, as of a young lion cowering in a covert.
13 - Arise, 0 Jehovah !
Forethwart their views ; make them crouch.
The alteration of the text is totally unnecessary ; and would, in
fact, spoil the correctness and beauty of the real imagery which
these learned men have mistaken. That it is derived from hunting
is true; but then, as we are told in verse 12, which gives the clue
to the whole, it is the hunting of a lion or other wild beast after
his prey, and not of men after wild beasts : and consequently the
introduction of such an implement as a net, would be completely
incongruous. The passage, as now rendered in strict conformity to
the original, is so clear to this purpose, as to require no explanation
whatever. The text, however, not having been duly examined
into, has been disturbed by different critics and interpreters in a
variety of ways.
Verse 11." They fix their eyes on the stretch towards the spot."]
— I have given the passage literally, which admirably describes the
attitude of the lion, before he makes his spring ; taking an accurate
aim, couching, and contracting himself to escape being seen, and
concentrating his muscles to augment his strength.
Verse 12. " Their couching."] — Or, as it might be rendered,
" their likeness " — in the margin of our Bibles " his likeness," the
pronoun being understood in the singular : but the real meaning of
la^Bl is here evidently " clandestine, quiet, or hushness to avoid
being observed." >»l or pai from rtBl " to rest, to still, or take
repose." Verse 13. " Forethwart his views ; make them crouch."] — The
whole is rendered literally. V3Q " their views " should not be

PSALM XVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 81
14 Let thy sword deliver my soul from the wicked ;
Thy hand, 0 Jehovah, from worldlings ;
contracted into him : nor put in the singular here, as it imports the
plural, and is used as such in numerous parts of the Bible, both
prose and poetry. jn3 means " to crouch, bend the knee, or suc
cumb," as here translated, and as is also admirably rendered by the
Septuagint, vtcoo-k&Xio-w airols ¦ in which however the singular pro
noun is changed unnecessarily into the plural.
Verse 14. " Let thy sword deliver my soul from the wicked."] —
Bather than the common rendering,
Deliver my soul from the wicked which is thy sword.
This rendering prevents the necessity of interpolating which. nabD
is in this case a participle in Benoni used in the present tense, literally
" let thy sword be delivering my soul." — as we say, " I am deli
vering," for " I deliver," in various other tongues, especially Per-
an, Spanish, and English. The participle is feminine, as 3~in
sword" is feminine also.
Id. " Worldlings."] — In the original OVIB " mortals," used
contemptuously — " grovellers or worldlings : " — men who have no
thought or hope beyond the present world, or the clod they tread
upon. Id. " From worldlings whose flitting portion is in their life."] —
Bather than From men of the world whose portion is in this life.
The Hebrew ibnB commonly rendered " of the world," is a par
ticiple, " flitting or flitful," from ibn " to creep, or creep away
insensibly," " to flit or flow " as time does ; and hence as a noun
it imports " the time or age of man; " and in this sense is above
employed to signify " the world." The q in O^TO is regarded
as a pronoun by the Septuagint, and correctly, iv rf tyy dvrSv .,
and I have hence rendered it " in their life."
Verse 15. " May I be replenished With the effulgence of thy
similitude."] — The word replenished is elegantly iterated from the
preceding verse, though the term in the first and second instances
has been strangely rendered by a different word in most of the
translations, and the force and beauty of the figure dropped., It
is however preserved in the Septuagint, and in Tremellius and
Junius. "
ypn has usually been derived from the verb ypi " to awake, be
G

82 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM XVII.
From worldlings whose flitting portion is in their life ;
Yea, whose belly thou gluttest from thy store-house.
wakeful or vigilant ; " but in this case, the original, if literally ren
dered, would not be " when I awake in thy likeness or similitude,"
as usually translated, but, as Bishop Horsley has well observed,
" when thy likeness is awakened," or " caused to awake ; " the
verb being in Hiphil : and hence St. Jerome renders it, though
loosely, " cum apparuerit gloria tua " — " when thy glory shall ap
pear," and the Septuagint not essentially different.
y>p however, or emphatically ^pn, is a noun as well as a
verb ; and as a noun imports the " glowing warmth, fervency, and
effulgence of summer," and particularly in its height or zenith ; and
hence the ripening season of summer itself, summer-shine, summer-
tide, and summer-fruitage : — the glory and wealth of the year. And
I cannot but think that this is the real meaning of the term in the
present case ; the adjunct 3 being a preposition, with, rather than
an adverb, when. The metaphor in this case is peculiarly bold and
beautiful — " May I be replenished with the effulgence, (the glory,
full radiance, or summer-shine, gloriously beaming and ripening,
and rich with every blessing) of thy similitude."
The Arabians are in possession of both terms, for ypi (ikez),
with them Ib'jo (ikez), is a verb signifying " vigDare, evigilare.f
providus esse ; " "to awake, be vigilant, circumspect ; " and yip
(kiz), in Arabic, Jgjji (kiz), the term actually employed in the
present text, imports the whole season of summer, but particularly
the season when at its utmost height of effulgence and glory.
" Media eestas," the height of summer," as Golius explains it; and
as a verb " admodum fervere, uti media sestate diem," asMeninski
interprets it ; "to glow as the day in the height or zenith of
summer." The term however, even as a noun, may undoubtedly bear the
more common sense of awaking ; but the rendering would then be,
" May I be replenished by the waking up of thy similitude : " yet
the metaphor is less striking and beautiful.
The passage has generally been applied to the glorious resurrec
tion of the body from the grave ; but it seems rather to allude to
that devout desire of beholding the likeness or manifestation of
God's face, his image, similitude, or glory — for all are synonymous
terms—which was granted to Moses and a few other saints of patri- -

PSALM XVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 83
They are replenished with offspring ;
And lay by their superabundance for their children.
archal times, and which, possibly, may have been granted to David,
as a proof of peculiar favour and intimate union with the Deity.
The passage immediately alluded to is perhaps, as Bishop Horsley
ingeniously conjectures, Num. xii. 8, " With him (Moses) will I
speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches ;
and the similitude of Jehovah shall he behold ; " in which the term
here rendered similitude, is the same as occurs in the text before us.
This distinguishing honour, which is particularly detailed in the
thirty-third chapter of Exodus, was conferred upon Moses, in an
swer to the petition, which like David in the present place, he
offered to the Almighty, " I beseech thee, show me thy glory ;" .for
the similitude, glory, or glorious appearance of God, I have just
observed, are convertible terms ; and hence the Septuagint, Vulgate,
and various other versions, translate the word before us naian
literally " similitude, likeness, or delineation," by the term glory,
as they might however more readily have done yipn. St. John
seems to allude to the same distinguished honour as conferred upon
himself and others of the apostles, probably at the time of transfi
guration on the mount, in ch. i. 14, " And we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father." In all these cases,
however, it should be remembered that this glorious appearance of
the Deity was not that of his real but of his substituted face or
person ; of such a vision of him as the feeble faculties of man in
his best estate can possibly endure without sinking under the weight
of the glory by which he would be oppressed ; and hence the force
and beauty of the expressions " the image, manifestation, likeness,
or similitude of God," contained in the present, and all the parallel
passages of Scripture. For Moses was expressly told by God him
self, when addressing to him his high request, Exod. xxxiii. 20,
" Thou must not see my face (my real person) ; for there shall no
man see me and live." And so St. John i. 18, " No man hath
seen God at any time : the only-begotten Son which is in the bosom
of the Father, hath declared or manifested him — sZijyyo-aro."
There was a common belief that man in a state of sin and wick
edness could not endure eveu this degree of the awful splendour of
the divine vision ; and that to such the glorious manifestation or
similitude of God must still be that of a consuming fire. This is
G 2

84 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XVII.
15 For me, may I behold thy face in righteousness,
remotely alluded to Deut. iv. 4, and still more distinctly Heb. xii.
29. And hence the joyful surprise expressed by Jacob, Gen,
xxxii, 30, that " he had seen God face to face, and his life was
preserved ;" and the terror exhibited by the Israelites on approach
ing Mount Sinai, where God vouchsafed to give a glorious vision
of himself in the midst of thunders and lightnings — "And they
said unto Moses, Speak thou with us and we will hear ; but let not
God speak with us, lest we die." Exod. xx. 19. To enjoy this
distinguished communication, however, without suffering from it, it
was necessary that man should have the proper qualification of
purity and holiness of heart ; and hence the propriety and beauty
of the expression in the text before us — " May I behold thy face
in righteousness !" — the only state in which the actual ap
pearance or similitude of God could be a beatific vision. And being
thus prepared, and thus highly favoured and replenished, the
Psalmist might well resign, as he does with contempt, all the
fleeting and empty gratifications of the men of the world, their
wealth, their honours, and long line of descendants. We have a
parallel supplication, and it may be advanced as affording additional
support to the present interpretation of the passage in Psalm iv. 6.
While the multitudes were exclaiming,
" Who will show us success ?"
There beamed forth over us
The light of thy countenance, 0 Jehovah.
As the actual vision of God, or a real contemplation, not indeed
of his face, but of the softened image or similitude of his face, was
the highest privilege and happiness that could be conferred on man,
the phrase was afterwards used in a figurative and popular sense,-
to denote the possession of religious privileges and blessings in
general : and in this subordinate meaning every one who enjoyed
any high degree of the divine favour, was said to walk in the light
of God's face, or countenance ; and every good man in affliction or
distress, was said to have God's face, or countenance, hidden from
him. By another figure, the holy tabernacle, n2i3t», or dwelling-place
of Jehovah, on which his glory rested visibly, was also called, in
common language, God's face or presence ; and before this the
Jews were obliged to appear at least three times annually, Exod.

PSALM XVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 85
May I be replenished with the effulgence of thy simi
litude !
xxiii. 17, but it was always open to them, and the most pious were
most frequent in their attendance. Whence Psalm cv. 4 :
Seek ye Jehovah, and his strength ;
Frequent his presence evermore.
And in like manner Psalm lxiii. 2, " My soul thirsteth to see thy
power and thy glory," &c.

XVIII*
TO THE SUPREME.
by jehovah's servant david : who addressed to jehovah the words
of this song, in the day when jehovah had delivered him from
the hands of all his enemies, especially from the power of saul;
thus spake he :
1 I will love thee, 0 Jehovah ! my strength ;
2 Jehovah ! my fastness, and my strong hold, and my
refuge ;
The subject is sufficiently explained in the title. It appears to
have been a favourite composition among the Jewish people, and
is well worthy of having been so ; and hence, like Psalm xiv, there
were two or more diversified copies, perhaps different editions of it
by the author, extant at the same time. Of these we have two
preserved in the sacred text : the present, and another in 2 Sam.
xxii. The variations are not considerable ; but upon the whole,
with one or two exceptions, it appears to me that the Psalter copy
is the most beautiful, and that the ancient collators who arranged
the book of Psalms, showed their taste in the preference they have
given to it.
Verse 2. " Jehovah my fastness," &c.J — In plain prose, " my
natural and artificial defence." The first couplet alludes to the
means of natural defence which the Almighty had afforded him,
and which are hence referred to himself ; and the second to those
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 156.

86 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XV) II.
My God, my rock, in whom I take shelter ;
My shield, and the horn of my salvation,
My high tower.
of artificial. The natural defence was derived from the craggy
steeps, and 'precipices, the ravines and caves, or excavations,
afforded by the rocks, hills, highlands, and deserts of Palestine,
and its vicinity ; and especially the desert or wilderness of Ziph,
the hill Hachilah, the cave Adullam, and the rocks called " the
rocks of the wild goats " in Engedi ; in the fastnesses or strong.
holds of which David hid himself repeatedly from Saul, and defied
the pursuit of his army. See 1 Sam. xxii. 1; xxiv. 1,2; xxvi.
1,2. To which retreats the verse before us peculiarly alludes,
and of which it gives a striking description.
3?bD (selo) imports not so much a rock as in our common ver
sion, which is ~)1S, in the next line, as a rocky fissure, ravine, a
cleft, chasm, or split channel ; and hence as a military term, an
inaccessible fastness or hollow in the midst of rugged rocks or
mountains, as the term is rendered in our common version, Isaiah
ii. 21. Thes word is Arabic, xXm (selo) as a verb " findere or
frangere;" — " to cut through, split, or break;" and as a noun,
whose plural is both cJL»l and x^L* " fissura in monte," as
Wankulus explains it : "a ravine or fissure in a mountain." There
is a mountain in Arabia not far from Medina, that bears the name
of Selo, from its craggy and precipitous hollows.*
\nil2a here rendered " my strong hold," but in our common
version " my fortress" — is very nearly a synonyme, and evidently
refers to the same kind of natural defence. It imports literally " a
narrow pass," and is generally rendered by the Septuagint, aruvos,
"a strait or defile." In 1 Sam. xxii. 4, 5 ; 2 Sam. v. 17, and
indeed all the historic passages referred to in the verse before us,
it is translated in our common version " hold," and " strong
hold ; " and evidently therefore ought to be so rendered in the
present place.
^absa ordinarily rendered " my deliverer," from abD, " to es
cape, flee away," and in Hiphil " to deliver or cause to escape," is
rather " a place of escape or deliverance," a refuge," than " a
• Hence also Stila or Petra, the capital of Idamea, whose remarkable ruins,
fully answering to the character here given, are so graphically described by Burk-
hardt, Laborde, Dr. Robinson, and other travellers in the EaBt. — En.

PSALM XVIII.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 87
3 When confounded will I call upon Jehovah,
And from mine enemies shall I be delivered.
person effecting or enabling an escape : " and, as such, is in direct
accordance with the preceding terms.
Id. "The horn of my salvation."] — The Hebrew )1p (karn or
corn) here, and in all other places rendered horn, is used in various
senses in different parts of the Hebrew scriptures, as it is, indeed, in
most other languages, for the term was of as common and extensive
employment among the Greeks and Bomans, as among the Hebrews,
and continues to be so in most modern tongues ; upon which the
reader may turn to the author's note on his translation of the book
of Job, xvi. 15. The horns of most animals constituting equally
their strength and beauty, the horn has been almost universally
employed to express strength and beauty generally. And hence, in
the sacred writings, when described as a part of personal attire, it
imports a head-dress, or dress surrounding the forehead, of a tur
binated or horn-like figure, worn for ornament or defence. The
first seems to have been a kind of turban, more or less elevated
according to the rank of the person wearing it, or the festivity of
the occasion ; and to this we are to refer the expression in the
Psalms, lxxv. 5, " Lift not up your horn on high ; " cxii. 9, " his
righteousness endureth for ever ; his horn shall be exalted with
honour," and Job xvi. 15, " I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin ;
I have defiled my horn in the dust : " i. e. " I have rolled my turban
in the dust."
The second kind of horn, which is that here referred to, is evi
dently a part of military array, or defensive armour, encircling the
forehead, and in this respect, as well as in its turbinated or pyra
midal shape, answering the purpose of a horn. It is in this sense
called a saving horn, or horn of salvation, and is used in connexion
with other implements or means of defence, as in Lam. ii. 2, 3, 4,
8, 17, where it is joined with " strong holds," "walls," " ram
parts," and "boWs ;" and in the present passage where it is united
with "shield" or buckler," "tower," "fastness," " strong hold,"
and " rock." Horn, therefore, in this sense is equivalent to hel
met ; and the two appear to be used synonymously both in the Old
and New Testaments. Thus while the Psalmist calls the armour
¦of the head " the horn of salvation," Isaiah (lix. 1 7,) calls it " the
helmet of salvation," and unites it with other pieces of mail. So

88 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XVIII.
4 The billows of Death had encompassed me ;
And the floods of ungodliness dismayed me ;
5 The cords of Hell had encircled me ;
The bands of Death lay before me : —
6 In my distress I called upon Jehovah ;
Yea, I cried aloud unto God.
He heard my voice from his temple ;
And my cry came before him, into his ear.
while in St. Luke i. 69 we have the first phrase repeated, in Ephes.
vi. 17 and 1 Thess. v. 8 we have the second.
Besides these articles of civil and military dress, however, the
word horn sometimes, as in Josh. vi. 4 and following, imports a
trumpet — not widely different perhaps from the musical horn of the
present day — as it seems to have assumed the curve of the ram's
horn. And in 1 Kings xxii. 1 1 we meet with a very powerful mar
tial instrument under the name of " horns of iron," which appears
to have some resemblance to the aries or battering-ram of the Bomans
and Carthaginians, and was clearly a means of offence, as the horn
before us was of defence.
Verse 3. " When confounded."] — The Hebrew bbn imports
" to move violently or tumultuously, to agitate, distract, or con
found." And hence, in a bad sense, " to render drunk, mad, or
senseless, as in Job xii. 1 7, Isa. xliv. 25 ; and, in a good sense,
" to celebrate with sacred dance, to laud, praise or glorify." It is
commonly rendered in the passage before us, in the latter bearing,
" laudatus " or " laudabundus," but I think incorrectly. See the
author's note on Job xii. 1 7.
Verse 4. " The billows."] — Such is the reading in the copy of
the same Psalm, 2 Sam. xxii. 5, which gives "H32?a instead of
•>b3n, " cords or sorrows," and thus avoids an inelegant repetition,
as the latter term occurs in both copies in the ensuing verse. The
image is proverbial, and refers to the passage through theJRed Sea,
or the Jordan.
There are a few verbal or literal errors in both the copies, of
which the one may easily be corrected by the other. Three exam
ples are given in the note on verse 42.
Verse 4. *' Of ungodliness."] —Literally b^bi (Beliol) of Belial.
Verse 5. " The cords."] — The Hebrew ">b3n means either
"pangs" or "cords:" the latter is most consistent with the

PSALM XVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 89
7 Then shook the earth, and trembled ;
The foundations of the hills tottered and shook ;
For wrath was within him.
8 From his nostrils burst forth smoke,
And from his mouth devouring flame :
The meteors were kindled by it.
9 And he bowed the heavens, and came down ;
And the massy dark was under his feet :
general spirit of the imagery here employed ; and directly harmo
nizes with snares in the ensuing part of the couplet.
Verse 7. " Then shook the earth and trembled."] — The poet
puts forth the full stretch of his powers upon the sublimest occasion
to which it is possible to direct them — the descent of Jehovah
from heaven to earth for the purpose of taking vengeance on his
foes. The description is unparalleled in the sacred writings, unless
by the sublime passage in Job, the latter part of the thirty-sixth
and the whole of the thirty-seventh chapters ; and there is nothing
in the poetry of Greece and Borne that can make an approach to it.
The reader will find a copious explanation of the general description
in the Historical Outline.
Id. " The foundations of the hills."] — In the copy in 2 Sam.
xxii. 8, " the foundations (pillars) of heaven : " which is certainly
more magnificent. ;
Id. " For wrath was within him."] — In the original put imper
sonally, " for it raged or was wrathful within him."
Verse 8. " The meteors."] — D^bna. Literally pyrites : masses
or nodules of igneous mineral, whether below or above the surface
of the earth ; and hence coals, embers, slags, thunder-bolts, or me
teoric concretions generally. That the last is the actual meaning
in the present place is clear from verses 12 and 13, in which the
same word is united with hail-storm, and necessarily placed in the
atmosphere. See Psalm cxl. 10.
Id. " And the massy dusk."] — That is, " the substantial and
opaque ether," formed of condensed but most threatening vapours
or auras, and of itself utterly destitute of light.
Verse 9. " And."] — The Hebrew is a compound word bs~)5?
from tpv " to beat, hammer, drive together, or into a more sub
stantial form ; to inspissate, or make stiff, dense or massy ; " and
bSH " darkness " or " blackness." The term thus rendered will
apply to all the places in which it occurs, as Job xxii. 13 :

90 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM XVIII.
1 0 And upon a cherub he rode, yea he flew,
Yea, he rushed on the wings of the wind.
1 1 He made darkness his shrine round about him,
His pavilion dark waters, misty clouds.
12 At the splendour of his appearing the clouds dis
persed,
The hail-storm and meteors of fire.
13 For Jehovah thundered in the heavens,
Yea, the Mightiest uttered his voice
To the hail-storm and meteors of fire.
14 And shot forth his bolts and scattered them,
And redoubled his flashes and drove them away.
15 Then were disclosed the sluices of the waters,
Yea, the foundations of the world were laid bare,
At thy chastisement, 0 Jehovah,
At the blast of the breath of thine anger.
1 6 From on high he stretched forth, he laid hold of me ;
He drew me out of many waters.
How then, sayest thou, can God know ?
Can he discern through the massy dark ?
So Isa. Ix. 2 :
Por behold darkness shall cover the earth,
Massy darkness the people.
Verse 13. " To the hail-storm and meteors of fire."] — The repe
tition of this line does not occur in the copy in Samuel, nor in the
Septuagint, nor in the old Italic version. And it has hence been
omitted by many later interpreters, as of doubtful authority. One
reason, however, for the omission is, that its introduction in the
present place has not appeared generally intelligible from their
omitting the preposition to. This, indeed, is not expressed in the
Hebrew, nor is it necessary, for it is sufficiently understood without
being expressed : as clearly so, indeed, as the phrase " I gave him
my hand," imports, " I gave my hand to him." The present
feature of the grand and masterly description has perhaps an allu
sion to Exod. ix. 23, 24.
Verse 16. " He drew me out of many waters."] — The phrase,

PSALM XVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 91
17 He rescued me from my strong foe,
And from him that hated me ;
For they were mightier than I.
18 They came before me in the day of mine exile,
But Jehovah was my dependence :
1 9 And he led me forth at large ;
He set me free, because he took pleasure in me.
20 Jehovah rewarded me according to my righteous
ness ;
According to the cleanness of my hands he recom
pensed me.
21 For the ways of Jehovah had I kept,
And never had swerved from my God :
22 For all his ordinances were before me,
And his statutes I put not away from me.
23 Yea, uncorrupt was I towards him,
And watchful against my own depravity.
24 So, according to my righteousness, Jehovah recom
pensed me,
According to the cleanness of my hands before his
eyes.
as in verse 4, is probably proverbial, and seems to refer to the
miracle at the Bed Sea, which gave a free passage to the Israelites,
while the Egyptians sank like lead in the mighty waters : and if so,
its real meaning is, " he drew me out of many Bed Seas, and
suffered me not to sink like the Egyptian hosts : " every one of his
escapes being compared to this miraculous interposition.
Verse 18. " They came before me in the day of mine exile.": —
Evidently when Saul had driven him from his own court through
jealousy, and had overtaken and surrounded him in the wilderness
of Maon, or that of Engedi. See 1 Sam. xxiii. 22 — 29, and xxiv.
1, 2.
¦ Verse 22. " Por all his ordinances."] — '* Ordinances " rather
than " judgments," as commonly translated. We shall frequently
find '•BStPa importing this sense in the subsequent Psalms : espe-
; cially in Psalm cxix.

92 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XVIII.
25 To the merciful thou provest thyself merciful :
To the sincere man thou dealest sincerely ;
26 To the pure thou showest thyself pure ;
But to the froward thou actest adversely.
27 How hast thou brought salvation to the humble !
And humbled the looks that were haughty !
28 How hast thou lighted up my lamp !
Jehovah my God irradiated my darkness.
29 How, by thee, have I broke through a troop !
Yea, scaled a wall, by my God !
30 A God, indeed ! his way is perfect :
The word of Jehovah hath stood the test :
He is a shield to all that shelter in him.
31 For who is a God save Jehovah ?
Or who a Rock besides our God ?
32 A God, indeed ! — who girdeth me with strength ;
And giveth perfection to my way.
33 Who maketh my feet like the hind's,
And sustaineth me in my acclivities.
Verse 26. " To the froward thou actest adversely."] — In our
established version, " with the froward thou wilt show thyself
froward." The word is not repeated in the original, but as in the
present lection, a synonyme is employed in its stead. The passage
refers probably to the Levitical law, Levit. xxvi. 23, 24. " And
if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk
contrary unto me, then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will
punish you yet seven times for your sins."
Verse 27. " How."] — The Hebrew 13 is generally understood
as a causative particle in the present place, and rendered for or
because : its proper meaning, however, seems to be interjective;
how, as in 1 Sam. xiv. 29, " how are my eyes enlightened ; " and
in a multitude of other places.
Id. " To the humble.
" And humbled."] — A like iteration exists in the original
between "037 and D^y. It is merely imitated in the present
version. Verse 33. " My feet like the hind's :
"And sustaineth me in my ascents."] — Por climbing

I'SALM XVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 93
34 Who traineth my hands to the battle,
So that my arm putteth down the bow of brass.
35 Yea, thou grantedst me the shield of thy salvation ;
And thy right hand upheld me,
And thy tenderness made me great.
36 Thou enlargedst my pathway beneath me,
That my feet might not slip.
37 1 pursued my foes, and overtook them,
And turned not back till I had made an end of them.
38 I smote them so that they were not able to rise ;
They fell prostrate under my feet.
39 For thou girdedst me with strength for the battle ;
Thou subduedst mine uprisers under me ;
steep fastnesses for defence ; or scaling ramparts when strong enough
to act offensively.
Verse 34. " So that my arm putteth down the bow of brass."]
— The verse is rendered literally : but it does not seem to have been
hitherto thoroughly understood, and has hence been given very
differently, nnna may be derived from nn3 or from Ann- If
from the former, it must import " to descend or make to descend "
— " to put down or under " — as now translated. If from the
latter, it will mean to " break or cause to be broken." Junius
and Tremellius have chosen the latter, and have been followed by
both our authorized versions ; but they are obliged to supply the
preposition by, for which there is no equivalent in the original text.
The Septuagint and Vulgate give " Et posuisti ut arcum aereum,
brachia mea." Whence Geddes, " And maketh my arms like a
bow of brass ; " but there is nothing in the original to correspond
with like, any more than with by. The version now offered gives
the text simply without any gratuitous supply of terms ; and as I
trust perspicuously.
Verse 39. " Mine uprisers under me."] — " My uprisers or insur
gents," in the same sense as we say "my opponents and my
enemies." In Ps. iii. 1, instead of ^ap " mine uprisers or insur
gents" it is >bv D^ap "the insurgents against or about me."
The phrases are therefore of the same import, and refer to the
rebellious hordes of his own country whom he had been enabled to

94 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XVIII.<
40 And gavest me the neck of mine enemies,
And I destroyed them that hated me.
41 They cried — but there was none to deliyer ;
To Jehovah — but he answered them not.
42 So I ground them as dust before the wind,
I trod them down as the mire of the streets.
43 Thou deliveredst me from the strivings of the
people ;
Thou hast placed me at the head of the heathen :
A people, whom I knew not; are obedient to me ;
44 At the hearing of the ear, they gave ear to me.
Foreign nations shrink before me :
45 Foreign nations wither away,
And tremble within their entrenchments.
reduce to obedience, in contradistinction to the foreign foes over
whom he had also obtained a complete mastery. The contrast is
still kept up and equally marked in verse 43.
Verse 42. "I trod them down."] — The text gives Op^nN which
in our Bible version is rendered, " I cast them out ; " but the
parallel passage in 2 Sam. xxii. 43, gives Qp'HN " I stamped or
trod upon them." The present text therefore, as Dr. Lowth has
justly observed, contains ") corruptly instead of 1. In reality
these two letters have so close a resemblance, that the one is often
mistaken for the other ; of which we have another example a few
verses higher up in the same Psalm : and in that, the text in Samuel
is erroneous which gives NT' " he was seen on the wings of the
wind " — for NT " he rushed on the wings of the wind " — as in
the Psalm text of the Hebrew: So in the same copy 2 Sam. xxii.
46, we have nan^l, literally " and gird themselves," for lam^l
" and tremble," as is correctly given in the present place ; the a
and -) being carelessly transposed.
Verse 44. "At the hearing of the ear they give ear."]-— The
original is rendered literally, and the figurative repetition purposely
preserved. Verse 45. " Intrenchments."] — Por this our Psalter version
gives " prisons," and our Bible version "strong holds." The last
affords the real meaning, though "strong holds" is usually the

PSALM XVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 95
46 Jehovah liveth ! — and blessed be my rock !
• And exalted be the God of my salvation !
47 A God, indeed ! who beareth vengeance for me,
And bringeth the peoples in subjection to me ;
48 Who delivereth me from mine enemies.
Thoroughly hast thou upraised me over the insurgents
against me :
From the man of violence hast thou protected me.
49 Therefore, among the heathen, will I celebrate thee,
0 Jehovah ;
Yea, I will sing praises to thy name :
50 Who multiplieth deliverances to his king,
And showeth favour to his anointed ;
To David, and to his seed for evermore.
interpretation of nillSa as in verse 2, of the present Psalm,
while the term in the verse before us is miaDa ; on which account
I have varied the rendering to intrenchments, which is a closer sig-
aification than " strong holds."
Verse 47. " the peoples."] — In verse 43, it is twice Q37 in the
singular ; in the present place it is Q^av in the plural — and in
cludes, therefore, all the parties referred to from verse 43, to the
present ; his foreign and domestic enemies.
Verse 48. "Thoroughly:"] ^-Hebrew f]N ; not imo "yea," as
usually rendered ; but prorsus, profecto, omnino : " utterly, tho
roughly, effectually."

96 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XIX.

XIX.*
ON THE SUPREME.
A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
And the firmament showeth the work of his hands.
2 Day after day welleth forth speech,
Night after night promulgeth knowledge.
It is uncertain at what period of his life David composed this
beautiful pastoral. But from its perfect quiet and silence as to all
political troubles and tumults, there can be little doubt that he
wrote it before the commencement of his public career, in the happy
and tranquil retirement of keeping his father's flock. In this case,
we must interpret the two images in the last verse, " My rock and
my Eedeemer," as referring to the same state of rural solitude ::
the first relating rather to the cooling and refreshing shelter afforded
by the cavernous structure, or precipitous sides of a rook, in the
oppressive heat of noon-tide, as in Isaiah xxxii. 2 ; " the shadow
of a great rock in a weary land ; " than to its fastnesses or strong
holds against an enemy. And the last, to one or more of the won
derful deliverances God had vouchsafed him in his encounters with
the wild beasts of the forest, the lion and the bear which had
robbed his father's flock of its lambs, as related in 1 Sam. xvii.
34, 35.
The magnificent scenery to which the poem alludes is derived
entirely from a contemplation of nature, in a state of pastoral
seclusion ; and a contemplation indulged in, at noon-tide or in the
morning, when the sun was travelling over the horizon, and eclips
ing all the other heavenly bodies by his glory. On which account
it forms a perfect contrast with the eighth Psalm, evidently com
posed in the evening, and should be read in connexion with it, as
it was probably written nearly at the same time : and as both are
songs of praise derived from natural phenomena, and therefore
peculiarly appropriate to rural or pastoral life.
Verse 2. " Welleth forth."] — As from a perpetual fountain. In
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 56.

PSALM XIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 97
3 No speech is there, no language
Where their voice is not heard.
4 Their strain goeth forth over all the earth,
Yea their tidings to the end of the world.
Amidst them hath he set the tabernacle of the sun.
the original jpai. The figure is too beautiful to be lost sight of.
The Septuagint gives ipevyerai — and the Vulgate, and most of the
Latin versions eructat " eructateth." But this will by no means
do in our own tongue, and is not strict to the original, which is as
now rendered.
Id. " Promulgeth."] — In the Hebrew nin"1 from nin " to
promulge, preach, or teach openly, to manifest, or demonstrate."
So the Chaldee and Syriac Nin " promulgo, demonstrO, .ostendo."
Verse 3. " Where their voice is not heard."] — So the Septuagint
and Vulgate : but Bishop Lowth thinks the original will not bear
this rendering ; and Bishop Horsley proposes —
There is no speech, no words,
No voice of them is heard
Yet their sound goes throughout the earth.
ib3 is here, however, not non or no, but sine, sinon, but, without ;
and the direct literal interpretation is, —
No speech, no language,
But their voice is heard.
Verse 4. " Their strain."] — In the Hebrew Qlp from nip " to
extend, expand, strain, or stretch abroad ; " "a line, strain, tract,
or course," and hence "tract, treatise, or discourse, subjecta
materia, subject matter, or theme." The Septuagint give <p6oyyoq
or sonus (sound) as rendered by St. Jerome ; in consequence of
which Archbishop Seeker supposes they read a different word;
while Dr. Kennicott makes no doubt that nip means sonitus, for
which opinion, however, we have no authority. " Strain, theme,
tract, discourse," answer the purpose strictly and quite as well.
Id. "The tabernacle of the sun."] — The image is exquisitely
fine: "the moveable dwelling," alluding to each of the signs of
the zodiac, in which he appears progressively to take up his tem
porary residence, These resting-places or abodes of the sun, are
in the Sanscrit astronomy called his mansions ; but tabeenacles,
or moveable dwellings, is a term as much more poetical as it
is more scientifically correct. H

98 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM XIX,
5 How, like a bridegroom doth he issue from his retire
ment !
Like a giant, exult in the rapid course !
6 At the verge of the heavens is his outset ;
And over their vergings his circuit ;
And nothing is hid from his heat.
7 Perfect is the plan of Jehovah !
Converting the soul,
Established the evidence of Jehovah,
Making wise the thoughtless.
Verse 5. "How like a bridegroom."] WThe exclamative par
ticle l, or how, is omitted in our own, and almost all the versions,
but with great injury to the force of the description. I have here
allowed it its full bearing.
Verse 7. " Perfect is the plan of Jehovah !
Converting the soul."] — The subjoined moral is of
the highest kind, and flows most strictly from the subject. The
paraphrase is given us by St. Paul, Bom. i. 20 : " For the invisible
things of God are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being
understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and
godhead : so that they are without excuse " — who as they must
have known him, '* glorified him not as God." A contemplation
of the heavens is the best cure of atheism ; the system they present
to us is perfect, and their testimony of a divine origin, established
and irrefragable. Several of the terms, however, in this passage
have not hitherto been clearly understood, and hence some writers
have found a difficulty in connecting the latter part of the Psalm
with the former; while others have contended that these two
parts ought to constitute two distinct Psalms, the second begin
ning with ver. 7. The present rendering will sufficiently show the
futility of such reasoning, and the mistakes of those who have ad
vanced it. The direct meaning of mm from in, " to go
round," is "circuit, system, plan;" to which the terms "law
and command," by which it is ordinarily rendered in the present
place, are only secondary and derivative.
Id. " thoughtless.] — In the original, tnS from nnB, " to draw
aside, to seduce." More strictly, " the seduced or deluded " —

PSALM XIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 99
8 Equal the laws of Jehovah,
Kejoicing the heart.
Clear the precepts of Jehovah,
Enlightening the eyes.
9 Pure the worship of Jehovah,
Enduring for ever.
Fixed the judgments of Jehovah,
Altogether righteous.
1 0 More desirable than gold :
Yea, than much fine gold :
And sweeter than honey,
Yea, than the dropping honey-comb.
11 Surely by them is thy servant illuminated :
In keeping them great is the reward.
12 Who can follow up transgressions 1
0, cleanse thou me from secret faults !
13 Restrain thy servant, also, from presumptuous sins :
Let them not have dominion over me.
those who from heedlessness or thoughtlessness are easily led
astray : as in Prov. i. 21, on which see the author's note. Simple
is too equivocal a term, for it is often used in a good and highly
moral sense.
Verse 11. " illuminated."] — In our Bible version " warned," —
in our Psalter version ** taught." The real meaning is as now
given, inM from int. "to shine, or brighten;" "to make
bright, iUuminate, or enlighten." The word is already in our
established version, Heb. x. 32.
Verse 12. " Cleanse thou me from seeret faults."] — It may
possibly refer to the sins of ignorance noticed and provided for
in Levit. iv. 2, 13, 22, 27, 28. Dr. Paley has a sermon upon
this text in which he does not seem to have hit the meaning.
Verse 13. " So shall I be upright."]— The Masoretic text
gives OTN, which strictly rendered is, " so shall I be exempt or
devoid of; " but as various manuscripts have DnN, " upright,
undefiled, perfect," — and as the Septuagint has so rendered it,
ikpiaiMs, there is good reason to suspect that the text of the Masora
is corrupt, and the translators have concurred in following the
Hebrew manuscripts and the Septuagint. Either, however, will
give a good sense.
H 2

100 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XX.
So shall I be upright,
And innocent of gross iniquity.
14 Let the words of my mouth,
And the meditations of my heart,
Be acceptable in thy sight,
0 Jehovah, my rock, and my redeemer.

XX*
TO THE SUPREME.
A PSALM OF DAVID.
(General Chorus)
1 Jehovah hear thee in the day of distress !
The name of the God of Jacob be thy bulwark !
The abrupt changes of person and number evidently prove that
this bold and elevated song was of a dramatic character ; or in other
words, that different parts of it were adapted to and recited by dif
ferent divisions of the Jewish congregation. It is beyond all doubt
a war-song ; and in ver. 7, we have an internal indication that it
was composed shortly after the installation of David and his pos«
session of Jerusalem, whence he was threatened to be expelled by
the formidable forces of the Philistines, Moabites, and Syrians,
leagued against him and menacing his total destruction.
To enter into the full spirit of the Psalm we are to suppose the
Jewish army marshalled in full array, arid on the point of marching,
having just united with the people at large in the solemn service of
the temple, and in the sacrifices offered up on the altar. The holy
prayer for success contained in the first four verses seems, at this
moment of awful suspense and farewell, to have been sung by the
whole congregation in chorus. In the fifth verse, the army by its
band of vocal and instrumental performers, displays its zeal and
ardour and entire devotion to the great cause of its God, its king,
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 143.

PSALM XX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 101
2 Send thee help from the sanctuary,
And uphold thee from Zion !
and its country. In verse the sixth, the high-priest is heard alone,
who perceiving the enthusiasm of the troops, confidently, and in the
name of heaven, predicts a glorious success. The army, through its
military band, again takes up the strain in the seventh and eighth
verses, and in the spirit of real piety, lays before us its only hope of
success and only subject of glory. In the last verse the congrega
tion again join in full chorus, with a final invocation to Jehovah for
deliverance and triumph.
When David commenced his reign, the Jewish army appears to
have been without cavalry or chariots of war ; and it was not till
the reign of Solomon that any effective number of either were em
ployed, nor perhaps any except as trophies of success : at which
time both were brought from Egypt, a country peculiarly celebrated
in this respect. There were two reasons for this. The first was
that the turbulence of Saul's reign, and the brevity of the Jewish
government, as a kingdom, had not allowed sufficient time for this
purpose. The second was that such an arm of flesh was totally
prohibited by Moses in his prophetic view of the Jewish tribes
under a form of monarchical government. Thus, " when thou hast
chosen a king," says he to the house of Israel, Deut. xvii. 16, " he
shall not multiply horses unto himself, nor cause the people to
return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses." So
when Joshua, whose troops were without horses, was promised vic
tory over the confederate kings of Canaan, he was commanded to
hough all the horses, and burn all the chariots that should become
his spoil, Josh xi. 6.
This want of cavalry and chariots of war would have rendered
the conflicts of David very arduous and doubtful, had not the Al
mighty himself fought for him in this as well ' as in every other
respect, and rendered the possession of such assistance unnecessary.
The want of them however was peculiarly felt in David's warfare
with the Syrians, and particularly with Hadadezer, or Hadarezer
the Great, king of Zobah, by far the most powerful of all the princes
of Syria, and upon whose fall arose the kingdom of Damascus. It
Was in the fy^st war of David with him, and his confederate forces,
which occurred shortly after the building of the tabernacle for the
reception of the ark in Zion, that we have reason to suppose the

102 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XX.
3 Remember all thine oblations,
And accept thy burnt-offerings :
present Psalm was composed. Supported as he was with an
enormous establishment of this formidable part of an army, the
hosts and people of Israel might well tremble ; but they withdrew
not their confidence from the Almighty — of which the seventh verse
affords a sufficient proof.
Some in horses, and some in chariots,
But we will get renown in Jehovah our God.
It was not a vain reliance. The mighty head of the Syrians was
defeated, and in the battle which immediately followed, king David
took from him, as we learn from 2 Sam. viii. 4, a thousand chariots,
seven hundred cavalry, and twenty thousand infantry. And, which
is of more importance, we learn also, that true to the trust of him
self and his countrymen in the cause of Jehovah, and to the com
mand of Moses upon this subject, they immediately houghed and
thus rendered useless all the chariot-horses they had thus taken,
except those which were reserved as trophies to swell the triumphal
procession. Happy would it have been for the Jewish princes and govern
ment, if they had continued to exhibit the same reliance on the
God of their forefathers. But the connexion of Solomon -with
Egypt, which was a nursery of war-horses, too soon introduced
these animals, and the chariots to which they belonged, as largely,
if not more so, as into the armies of their enemies : so that even in
the reign of Hezekiah, as we learn from Isaiah ii. 7, " the land was
full of horses, neither was there any end of their chariots."
Verse 1. "Be thy bulwark."] — Literally " bulwark thee ; " and
hence in our English versions " defend thee."
Verse 3. " Accept."] — The Hebrew )Wi (deshen) in its ordinary
meaning imports " to fatten, make fat or full ; " and the Septua
gint version has thus rendered it, whence the Vulgate " holocaustum
tuum pingue fiat." It is here however used in the Arabic sense,
^*,S (desen), which imports "do, dono, prsebeo;" "to give,,
grant, or reward, to give in, yield, or assent : " and the rendering
of our standard English versions " to accept," though they deviate
from the Greek and Latin, affords the true sense, and indicates the
judgment of the translators.
Verse 5. " Will we signalize ourselves."] — In our Bible version,

PSALM XX. J BOOK OF PSALMS. 103
4 Grant thee according to thine own heart,
And accomplish all thy purposes.
(Military Band)
5 We will exult in thy deliverance ;
And in the name of our God will we signalize our-

Jehovah accomplish all thy petitions !
(High Priest)
6 Now do I know that Jehovah will save his anointed ;
That he will hear him from his holy heavens ;
With the saving powers of his fight hand.
" will we set up our banners," or signals. In that of the Liturgy,
" we will triumph." In the Septuagint peya'kvv&rio-d'pieSra, which St.
Jerome's version has rendered exactly " magnificabimur," — " we
will do great things — we will triumph." The term in the Maso
retic text is bai3 which possibly may be interpreted " we will set
up our banners." But as the Septuagint and Vulgate have given a
different sense, it has been conceived by Houbigant, Lowth, and
most of the critics, that ba^ is a corruption for biaa, the second
and third letters being made to change places ; and with this alter
ation we undoubtedly obtain the Septuagint sense. But it does not
appear to me that any such alteration is necessary — not even for the
purpose of making the original express the Septuagint meaning ;
for it does that sufficiently as it is, if rightly interpreted. bai is " a
standard, banner, or military signal •. " whence as a verb it imports
" to make or bear a signal," " to signalize, or be signalized," to
" become conspicuous, or illustrious," which is the meaning of the
term in the cognate Arabic. And hence bxi bears the same affinity
in Hebrew to nbs (used in Ps. iv. 4,) as Oavpid^a does in Greek
to pnyaXvvu ; or magnifico in Latin to mirifico. The first being
" to do great things," the second " to do marvellous things ; " and
both importing " to act signally," or " to signalize oneself."
Verse 6. *' With the saving powers."] — I have given the plural
number because it is so given in the Hebrew. Bendered strictly,
literally it is " with the power of salvation of his right hand : " as
the preceding line would be " from the heavens of his holiness."

104 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXI.
(Military Band)
7 Some in chariots, and some in horses,
But we will get renown in the name of Jehovah our
God.
8 They shall be brought down and laid prostrate :
But we shall be raised up, and established.
(General Chorus)
9 Save the king, 0 Jehovah ;
Hear us in the day of our call.
Verse 7. " We will get renown."] — Not " we will remember,"
but, as Bishop Horsley has justly observed, " we will make our
selves to be remembered," or " had in memory or renown ; " " we
will get renown."

XXL*
TO THE SUPREME.
A PSA1M OF DAVID.
1 Let the king, 0 Jehovah, rejoice in thy might :
0, how greatly should he exult in thy salvation !
2 Thou hast granted him the desire of his heart ;
And hast not rejected the vow of his lips.
This beautiful thanksgiving-ode seems to have been composed on
the fall of Hanun, king of Babbah, chief of the princes of the
Ammonites : and the particular part of history to which it relates,
is apparently to be found in 2 Sam. xii.
Verse 2. "rejected."] — Bather than "withholden" as in our
common version. 373a (mend) in Hebrew is «i^ (meno) in
Arabic, which imports " repellere," " recursare," " denegare,"
as well as " prohibere," or " impedire."
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 155.

PSALM XXI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 105
3 Behold thou hast set before him the blessings of
prosperity :
Thou hast placed a crown of gold on his head.
4 He asked of thee a life ;
Thou hast given him a line of successions,
Offspring even for ever.
Id. " the vow."] — Bather than " the request or prayer." The
Hebrew term t£HN (aresh) conveys a very forcible and beautiful
idea : for it imports a bond, tie, or engagement, and hence " affiance,
betrothing, espousal, marriage vow." The Arabic <i»j£ (ares) is
to the same point ; as a verb signifying " to tie or bind," and as
a noun " a bond or vow," — " conjugality," " the conjugal rela
tion;" and hence also " conjux," " a husband or wife." I can
not find that it means "request" anywhere.
Verse 3. " Thou hast placed a crown of gold on his head."] —
Most probably as hinted in the Historical Outline, the crown of
the king of Babbah, the capital of the different states of the Am
monites, 2 Sam. xii. 30. " And he took their king's crown from
off his head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the pre
cious stones : and it was set on David's head ; and he brought
forth the spoil of the city in great abundance."
Verse 4. " He asked of thee a life,
Thou hast given him," &c.]-^The explanation is to
be found in the chapter referred to in the preceding note. " I
asked of thee the life of an infant dear to me, though begotten and
bom in infamy ; thou refusedst indeed this request ; but thou hast
graciously accepted of my unfeigned contrition and repentance ; and
given me in his stead, a 'son beloved of thyself, and to whom
and his offspring thou hast graciously promised the kingdom for
ever." The phrase ?'•a'' ~pN is very common in the Old Testament,
and in our authorized version is rendered sometimes " long life,"
as in Psalm xci. 16 ; sometimes " for ever," as in Psalm xxiii. 6 ;
and more generally " length of days," as in Deut. xxx. 20 ; Job
xii. 12 ; and Prov. iii. 2, 16. As a compound term the two words
are literally longtevus, "long-lived," or "long life:" and in this
sense it is applied Job xii. 12, to the antidiluvian age. As two
distinct terms, the first imports " length, line, extent, prolonga
tion," which is its sense in the passage before us ; and the second

106 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXI.
5 Great is his glory through thy salvation :
Honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him.
6 Behold thou hast confirmed him in blessings for ever :
Thou hast gladdened him with the joy of thy presence.
7 Behold the king trusted in Jehovah,
And through the mercy of the most High he shall not
fall.
8 Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies :
Thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
9 Thou shalt treat them as a fiery furnace
At the time of thine appearing.
Jehovah shall devour them in his heat ;
Yea, the fire shall eat them up.
sometimes " days ; " sometimes " revolutions of any term of
time ; " as first years, or annual instead of diurnal revolutions, as in
1 Sam. i. 3, in which case it is synonymous with natP, and for
which it is exchanged in the same chapter, ver. 7 : and secondly,
" seasons, periods, or successions of time, events, or persons ; "
which last it appears to import in the passage before us. Bishop
Horsley supposes it to comprehend in this place. " the whole extent
of infinite duration : " and as such applies and confines it to our
Saviour. But there seems no authority for this application and
limitation, though the idea in respect to the duration it embraces,
harmonizes with the present rendering which supposes a succession
of generations, and this, indeed, seems to be the sense assigned by
our authorized version to the same phrase in Psalm xxiii, which,
as just observed, is there translated " for ever."
Id. " Offspring even for ever."] — I have rendered the passage
literally, and in the order of the original. E3bl5 is not, in this
place an adverb of duration, " ever, or for ever," — but the plural
of bl37, " a child," whence QblV " children, or offspring."
Verse 6. " Thou hast gladdened him with the joy of thy pre
sence."] — In Psalm xvi. 11, " the fulness of the joys in (or of)
thy presence." Omitting the first word, the phrase is verbally the
same, excepting that joy is in the singular in the one case, and in
the plural in the other. So Matt. xxv. 21, 23, " enter thou into
the joy of thy Lord." A common and obvious meaning pervades
the whole.

PSALM XXI.] . BOOK OF PSALMS. 107
10 Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth :
Even their seed from among the children of men.
1] For on evil against thee were they intent :
They plotted a device they could not accomplish.
1 2 Therefore shalt thou assign them a reward :
With thine archery shalt thou provide for their persons.
Verse 12. " a reward."] — A great difficulty has been felt by the
translators in rendering this passage, merely from not understand
ing the meaning of Q3t», which, in its ordinary sense in Hebrew,
imports " haste, or readiness ; " and in some passages " the
shoulder-bone, or shoulder-blade." The first seems to offer no
idea that can be made use of: Symmachus has taken the latter;
and hence our Bible version, " thou shalt make them turn their
back," or literally, " thou shalt make them give the shoulder ; "
whence our Psalter version with a wider paraphrase, " thou shalt
put them to flight." Mr. Merrick has ingeniously supported this
rendering ; but few have approved of it, for in most languages, to
give the shoulder to any thing, means " to act in support of it,"
rather than to turn the back upon it. Cocceius, Ainsworth, and
other critics, give D3CD the sense of " butt, or scope," but with
out any satisfactory authority. Bishop Horsley however, and Dr.
Geddes have adopted this meaning, though the former appears to
do it as by force, and for want of a better.
Q3tP (shekem) is here used in its Arabic sense, t «=-.... (shekem)
importing " a recompence, remuneration or reward," for which see
Golius, and Mininski in verb., as also Wankulus; and with this
change of meaning, the passage becomes at once perfectly clear and
intelligible. Id. " With thine archery shalt thou provide for their persons."]
— The verse is rendered literally and in the order of the original.
The sarcastic style of the preceding line is continued into the pre
sent. Por " archery we may read " bow-strings," but the former
is better : for the collective sense of " archery " is equivalent to
a plural noun, importing all the various branches of the bowyer's
art. Verse 13. "Thy masterdom."] — Masterdom or mastery, rather
than " thy power ; " and in this sense mi3a is used, Exod. xxxii.

1 08 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXIL
13 Arise, 0 Jehovah, in thy might.
Let us sing forth and celebrate thy masterdom.
18, as well as in various other places. See especially Psalm cvi. 2,
8. It imports immediately the mastering prowess of a hero or

champi

XXII*
TO THE SUPREME.
In the midst of gloom.
A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 My God ! my God ! why hast thou forsaken me ?
Away from my deliverance ;—from the words of my
moaning.
The passage is rendered literally. Parkhurst Art. T\W, II.,,
gives, " To the Conqueror, upon or concerning the interposition of
the dusk, or such darkness as prevails at the dawn of day." Whence
Bishop Horsley, " To the Giver of Victory, concerning the inter
position of the darkness." Geddes, " Por the first musician — to,
be sung at the dawn of day." The last is the worst. That the
Psalm has a direct reference to the sufferings of our Saviour-just
before and at the time of his crucifixion, is clear from the numerous
references made to it by our Saviour himself at this period, and by
the evangelists in narrating this part of his history. It is even
referred to the Messiah in the Mischna Tehillim, and the Talmud
of the Sanhedrim. See Horsley and Huet. Dem. Evangel. Pref.
vii. The conclusion of the Psalm seems very clearly to apply to
the triumph in reserve for our Saviour after his exaltation : and is
thus applied by Bossuet, who has four excellent sermons upon the
entire Psalm.
Geddes supposes it to have been composed by David in his flight
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 89.

PSALM XXII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 109
2 In the day-time, 0 my God, do I cry — but thou an-
swerest not :
- Yea, in the night — for to me is no rest.
' 3 Yet. thou, 0 Holy One !
Art the theme of the praises of Israel.
4 In thee confided our forefathers : —
They confided — and thou didst deliver them.
5 To thee they cried, and were delivered :
In thee they confided, and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm — and not a man ;
The scorn of men, and the scoff of the people.
from Jerusalem during Absalom's rebellion. But as we have no
allusion to the writer's favourite subject of " Mount Zion," or
" the holy hill," as in Psalm iii., nor even to his solemn inaugura--
tion as in Psalm ii., it seems most probable that it was written
before the conquest of the Jebusites ; and consequently during his
severe and distressing persecution by Saul, when he might well
describe himself or be described by others as " in the midst of
-gloom " or " darkness : " especially when he was so hotly pursued
as to be surrounded by his forces, and only saved by a providen
tial and sudden recal of Saul to repel the Philistines who had pene
trated into the heart of the country. 1 Sam. xxiii. 26, 28.
Verse 2. " Por to me is no rest."] — " No rest, quiet, sleep, - or
silence." I have given the passage literally. Many critics render
rpan " alleviation, or relief; " and hence, " but to me is no alle
viation or relief;" or, " but I have no alleviation." Tet the former,
which is the strictest rendering, is the most forcible.
Verse 3. " Yet thou O Holy One !
Art the theme."] — This is also rendered literally.
3BV is here a noun importing " resting-place," " theme," " sub
ject," "position," Bipia;— from 3tt?>, ti%«, pono, " to put, sit, or
set down ; " and hence " to dwell or inhabit," as though it were,
" on thee for ever dwell the praises of Israel." St. Jerome trans
lates it, " Tu autem in Sanctohabitas, Lats Israel." " But thou
dwellest in the holy place, O Praise of Israel." Tet the original
will not bear this, except as a paraphrase, though it is a literal ver
sion of the Septuagint. Dr. Geddes gives, far better,
Tet thou art still the Holy One,
The subject of praise in Israel.

110 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXII.
7 All that see me make a mock at me ;
They taunt me with the lip, they wag the head ;
8 " He trusted to Jehovah that he would save him.—
" Let him deliver him since he doteth on him."
9 Yet thou hast brought me up from the womb :
My confidence upon my mother's breasts.
J 0 Upon thee was I cast from the matrice ;
From my mother's womb thou art my God.
11 0, be not away from ine
When distress is at hand ;
When there is none to give aid.
12 Huge bulls beset me.
Monsters of Bashan encompass me.
Verse 9. " Tet thou hast brought me up from the womb."] —
So in the parallel passage, Psalm lxxi. 6 :
By thee have I been sustained from the womb.
And hence Bishop Horsley renders the passage before us :
Tes : thou hast been my bringer-up from the womb.
na however (educo) may mean " to bring forth or forward," as
well as " to bring up or sustain ; " and hence the general, but I
think less correct rendering, though it is that of the Septuagint, is
" thou didst bring me forth, or take me out from the womb."
Verse 12. " Huge."] — The Hebrew 3") is multus or magnus —
" many" or " great." In the present place it is usually rendered
in the former sense. I concur with Bishop Horsley in thinking
that the latter is preferable.
Id. " Monsters of Bashan."] — ft»3 "n^N- " Monsters" rather
than " bulls of Bashan." The province or kingdom of Bashan on
the north side of the Jordan formed a part of the land of Canaan,
and was remarkable for its fertility and gigantic character. Its
hills, and particularly that called emphatically the hill of Bashan,
whence indeed the whole country derived its name, were very lofty;
its trees, and especially its oaks, of stateliest growth ; its herds, of
enormous bulk ; and its inhabitants, or at least its reigning family,
of gigantic stature. Og was the most celebrated of them : he was
of the race of the Bephaim, and the last of that race ; for, refusing

PSALM XXII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. Ill
13 They stretch open their mouths at me.
Like a ravenous and roaring lion.
14 I am dissolved as water :
a passage to the children of Israel in their tour to the other side of
the Jordan, and joining Sihon, another king of the Amorites, he
was attacked by Moses, after the fall of Sihon, and experienced a
like fate. Josephus tells us, however, that he was a dreadful
enemy : his principality containing not less than sixty walled towns
besides villages : and his bedsted was of iron, nine cubits long and
four wide. Deut. iii. 10, 11.
The lawless tyrants of the East were described formerly, and still
continue to be described in the present day, under the name and cha
racter of savage monsters, and ferocious beasts ; of bulls and lions
waging unequal war with lambs ; or dogs pursuing a fearful hind
and panting for his blood. Both images are introduced into the
present Psalm : the former, in the present and ensuing verse ; the
latter, in verse 16. The country of Bashan, as connected with such
imagery, has a peculiar force from the gigantic make of all its pro
ductions ; and particularly the stature and formidable force of its
princes, who were as much monsters as its cattle. The Hebrew
term here rendered monsters is "H^N which imports enormous, or
inordinately stout and sturdy brutes of any kind, and especially
bulls or horses, to both which it is frequently applied ; as it is also
to tyrants or others of gigantic might or stature. In Isa. xxxiv.
7, and Jer. 1. 11, it is applied decidedly to enormous bulls; in
Jer. viii. 16, and xlvii. 3, as decidedly to bulky and powerful
horses ; in Job xxiv. 22, and Jer. xlvi. 15, to powerful champions ;
and in the present place, as also in Psalm Ixviii. 30, to strong and
bulky monsters generally. In the passage before us, however, it
seems more particularly to have a reference to the monstrous or
gigantic family of Og, and the formidable resistance he manifested.
It is certain they were gross idolators ; and from the comparison
of the hill of Zion to that of Bashan, Psalm Ixviii. 15, probably
hill-worshippers. Verse 13. " Like a ravenous."] — The Masora copy has dropped
the 3 like : evidently from carelessness in transcription : for it is
retained in one or two MSS. as well as in all the old versions : and
is necessary to the sense.

112 BOOK OF PSALMS. [ PSALM XXII.
Yea, all my bones are unstrung.
My heart is like wax,
Melted in the midst of my bosom.
15 Dried up as a potsherd is my strength :
Yea, my tongue is soldered to my jaws ;
And thou hast laid me in the dust of death.
1 6 Lo ! the dogs are round about me :
The confederacy of the wicked encircle me.
They are piercing my hands and my feet ;
17 They are counting all my bones.
They are gazing, and staring upon me :
18 They are parting my garments among them,
And casting lots for my vesture.

Verse 15. " My tongue is soldered."] — In the Hebrew p3ia,
literally is "made to cleave," not "cleaveth," as commonly ren*
dered. " Is soldered or cemented."
Verse 16. "Lo! the dogs are round about me."] — The chase
is over ; the parched and panting hart is exhausted ; he lies down
in the dust and surrenders himself to his fate ; and the cruel hounds.
are closing around him on every side. There is exquisite force in .
this figure, which paints as present what was possible to David*,
and distinctly realized in his great antitype. Por thus the con
federate and wicked Jews surrounded our defenceless Saviour, and
seized him for their prey ; tore his sacred body ; stared at him
during his crucifixion ; examined the state of his limbs to know
whether or not he was dead ; and parted his raiment amongst them.
It is difficult to say to what period of the life of David this descrip
tion, except in a very general sense, applies : but there is no mis
taking its reference in the history of the great Son of David.
Verse 17. "They are counting."]— The Masora text gives HSDN
'.' I may count." The Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate,
concur in the reading now offered ; and hence read T1DD : which
affords a much more connected, and therefore most probably the
true sense. These versions also contain the l or copulative and
in the next verse, " and stare," which has been dropped in the
Masora — clearly because the verb that precedes it terminates with
the same letter.

PSALMXXII.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 113
19 But thou, 0 Jehovah ! withdraw not :
Hasten, 0 my Strength ! to my succour.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword :
My desolate soul from the gripe of the dog.
Verse 19. "My Strength !"]— The Septuagint unites these
words with the preceding stanza — 2fc Se Kifyie f*i) piaxpiv^s i\»
HoyBetdv piov —
But thou, O Lord, withdraw not my aid, (or strength.)
And the text may admit of this rendering, which has in fact
been followed by Bishop Horsley, and many others. But the above
division, which is that of our vernacular version, is, I think, clearer.
Verse 20. "My desolate soul."]— The Hebrew nTH^ "deso
late," "lone or forlorn," as in Ps. xxv. 16, is a feminine adjective,
and the substantive with which it agrees is DS3 " life, soul, or
spirit," also of the feminine gender, in the preceding line, and
which is here again understood though not expressed. The primary
term is in"' " single, sole, solitary, lone, alone, only." It is used
in this sense in the Syriac and Chaldee, as well as the Hebrew.
Sole, solitary, desolate, having all the same root, I have preferred
the last. Calvin seems to have been the first critic who pene
trated its genuine import in the present place. In alluding to the
Septuagint which gives r\v piovoyevy piov " my only begotten " and
the Vulgate, which offers " unicam meam " " my only one," he
observes, Quod animam unicam pro chara, et pretiosa quidam
accipiunt, non convenit ; quia potius significat inter tot mortes
nihil sibi opis in toto mundo ferri. Sicut eodem sensu Ps. xxxv.
17, unica anima ponitur pro solitaria. Vide etiam xxv. 16. " The
rendering which some give of dear or darling is not applicable :
since it rather signifies that in the midst of so many deaths there
is no assistance for him in the world. And in the same sense,
Ps. xxxv. 17, lone soul is put for solitary." To the same effect
Eosenmuller, after noticing the innumerable meanings which have
been assigned to this expression : " Mihi tamen in hoc loco, quam
Ps. xxxv. 17, misericordiae commovendse gratis illud nomen sub-
junctum videtur, quod solitaria veluti esset anima sua, et omni
ope et auxilio destituta. Sic Ps. xxv. 16. Bespice me, nam
unicus (Tns) i-e. solitarius, et miser." Those who, like Mr.
Parkhurst and Bishop Horsley, conceive that "'m^n1' " my lone
soul," denotes the humanity of Christ in union with the divinity,
I

114 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXII.
21 0, save me from the mouth of the lion,
And from the horns of the rhinoceroses.
Thou hast heard me. —
22 I will celebrate thy name among my brethren,
In the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
understand the same thing ; though by employing the term " united
one," they give no clearer idea of their meaning than occurs in our
Bible and Liturgic rendering " my darling ; " for which Geddes
gives "my dear life," properly enough, however, repeating the
term life, or soul, from the preceding line, as it is here understood,
though not formally reiterated. The terms " forlorn, solitary, dis
consolate," may well apply to the conflict in Gethsemane.
Verse 21. "Of the rhinoceroses."]— See note on the author's
translation of Job xxxix. 9. There are two species ; a unicorn,
and a bicorn : that with the one horn is most frequent. In the
bicorn, the second horn stands straight behind the first. The
GNH, OH reem, or rhinoceros with one horn is said, by Pliny,
to have appeared in the Eoman circus among the games exhibited
by Pompey. He was opposed to the elephant, and showed himself
no unequal antagonist. He fights with his horn, which he is said
to whet for the purpose upon hard stones, and with this endeavours
to rip up the belly of his adversary. This, in some parts of Africa,
is called Huaddee : the bicorn or two-horned rhinoceros is named
in the same quarter of the globe, and about Kouka Kerhadan. Of
its enormous power some idea may be formed from an anecdote
related by Major Denham, who tells us that on the sheik's expe
dition to Gulphi, one of these animals carried off a man and a
horse spiked on his horn for more than a hundred yards ; when,
frightened by the cries of the people, he dropped them, and made
his escape ; the man was unhurt, but the horse died. Travels into
Africa, Vol. ii. p. 76. Sparman, indeed, asserts on the authority
of some Camdebo colonists, that a rhinoceros of this kind ran up
to a waggon and carried it a good way along with him on his snout
and horns. Id. p. 77.
Id. " Thou hast heard me 1 "] — I am indebted to Bishop Hors
ley for the first hint of the present division of the text ; which
runs in the following order in the original : whence every one must
see that the latter half of the verse should have a pause before it,

PSALM XXII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 115
23 " Praise him, 0 ye that fear Jehovah ;
" Glorify him, all ye seed of Jacob ;
" And stand in awe of him, all ye seed of Israel.
24 " For he hath not slighted nor disdained
" The misery of the forlorn ¦
" Nor hid his countenance from him :
" But heard when he cried unto him."
25 Thus shalt thou be my praise in the great congre
gation :
In the presence of those that fear him will I pay my
vows.
26 The afflicted shall feast, and be satisfied :
They that seek Jehovah shall praise him :
The heart of those that weep shall revive for ever.
27 All the borderers 'of the earth
Shall bethink themselves, and turn to Jehovah ;
Yea, all the tribes of the heathen
Shall do homage before him.
and form a distinct hemistich, as well as the commencement of a
new paragraph.
" And from the horns of the rhinoceroses — Thou hast heard me."
And as a further explanation, his lordship adds the passage from
Luke xxii. 43, " And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven,
strengthening him."
Verse 23. " Praise him, O ye — "] — " Here commences the eu-
charistie song just spoken of, and which comprises the whole of the
present and ensuing verse.
Verse 25. " Thus— thou— '']— Not " of thee." In the Hebrew.
T/1N ; in which a is an abverb, sic, " thus," rather than a pre
position, de, " of." It marks the close of the song intercalated as
above. Verse 26. " The heart of those that weep."] — In the Hebrew
D333b rendered in most versions " your heart," which gives no
sense. One MS. in Dr. Kennicott gives Q33b " their heart,"
which affords a better sense, and is laid hold of by Geddes. The
common text is correct, but the letters are improperly divided. In
I 2

116 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXII.
28 For with Jehovah is the sovereignty ;
And over the heathen he is lord.
29 All the full-fed of the earth shall eat, and do hom
age;
All the down-fallen in the dust shall bow before him,
And, void of strength, shall revive.
30 Posterity shall serve him, and be accounted the Lord's ;
two distinct words, besides that of the pronoun, Q33"3b the sense
is as now offered, and renders the whole clear.
Verse 29. " All the full-fed of the earth shall eat and do hom
age,"] — So St. Paul, " Whether ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye
do, do all to the glory of God." Men of all stations and condi
tions shall acknowledge the Giver of all good, and shall live to his
praise. Id. "And void of strength shall revive."] — In the Hebrew —
TTT1 Nb ltCDai
In the order of the words, " and shall revive without (or void of)
strength." The passage is thus obvious, and of easy meaning. But 1H7D3
has been generally understood as a noun instead of a verb, in which
case, the rendering becomes " and his life or soul, is without
strength, vigour, or life," or "shall not live, have strength or
vigour," according as n^n is regarded also as a noun or a verb.
Many of the versions have thus rendered it. But the rendering
gives no connective sense ; and hence from a very early period, the
proper meaning of the original not having been seized, an error has
been supposed to exist in the text, which even the Seventy thought
themselves compelled to admit, and thus endeavoured to amend—
rrri lb ¦'tDsai
and then translated Ka) % tyvyfl pov dvra JJtj", which is literally
"and my soul shall live to him; " an amendment and translation
adopted by the Vulgate, and continued by Bishop Horsley, but
which the version now offered shows to be.unnecessary. Dr. Geddes
has — " And those who are starving shall adore and be revived,"
giving the genuine sense, but too paraphrastically.

PSALM XXIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 117
31 In turn shall they come forth, and unfold his righte
ousness ;
To a race about to be born, what he hath wrought.
Verse 31. " In turn."] — In the original ~il"rb — which in almost
all the versions is connected with the preceding verse, and forms
its close ; being rendered in our standard text " for a generation."
The Hebrew ~n (dur) imports primarily " to make a turn, round,
or circle," in French " environner"— and hence as a noun 11 1
(duer) " a turn, round, or circle." From this primary sense it has
been employed secondarily to import " the round or circle of a
tribe or neighbourhood," and hence " a race or generation." It is
used in the Arabic and Persian tongues, ,«t) (duer, deur, or as
more commonly written douwar) in both the above senses in the
present day, " gyrus, revolutio, conversio ; domus, tribus, secu-
lum." There is no difficulty, therefore, I think, in determining
concerning the proper meaning of the term in the present place.

XXIII.*

A PSALM OF DAVID.

1 Jehovah is my shepherd ; — I shall not want.
2 He giveth me to lie down in green pastures ;
He leadeth me beside peaceful waters :
3 He reclaimeth my soul : he guideth me
To the tracks of righteousness, for his name's sake.
The subject of this Psalm has been so completely noticed in the
Historical Outline, that it is unnecessary to add any further remarks.
Verse 3. " To the tracks of Bighteousness."] — The Hebrew ba»
means " a tract, district or circuit " of country ; baiJB derived from
it, " a track or outline " running round it ; and hence, secondarily,
"a path or way generally." The word " righteousness " here, and
" deathshade "• in the ensuing verse are probably introduced as
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 52.

1 18 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXIII.
4 Yea, though I walk through the vale of the Death-
shade
I will fear no evil — for thou art with me. :
Thy staff, and thy crook ; — these shall comfort me.

figurative or proper names in reference to the peculiar character of
the places referred to agreeably to the common mode by which
persons and places were distinguished by the Hebrews ; whence
we have " wells of salvation," " vale of weeping," and an infinitude
of like phrases. In our own day we occasionally meet with some
thing of the same kind ; as in the appellations " Cape of Good
Hope," " Summer Islands," &c. The tracks of Zedek or Bighteous-
ness most probably allude to a land of excellent fertility, whose
soil, instead of being barren or unjust, made a fair, true, and equi
table return for the labour bestowed upon it ; but the vale of the
Deathshade was probably so denominated from its great depth,
darkness, and surrounding horrors. If we suppose David in this
Psalm to be describing the scenery immediately around him, and
referring to the duties of his own early life, the valley of the
deathshade here referred to, was probably that of Tophet, Hinnom,
or Gehenna, emphatically denominated the valley of death, or the
deathshade, from its being the place in which the bloody idolators
of Moloch buried their children in sacrifice to this detestable idol ;
and into which dead impurities were afterwards thrown as a place
proverbial for its abominations. This valley, overshadowed with
darkness, was situated on the side of the spring of Siloah, and
consequently must frequently have been in front of David, not
more than three or four miles distant, when keeping his father's
flock at Bethlehem. And as the country on the other side of this
celebrated fountain was remarkable for its verdure, and the beauty
of its scenery, and the copiousness with which it repaid whatever
labour was bestowed upon it ; it is highly probable that it is to
this country on the other side of Silon or Siloam, that the poet
figuratively applies the appellation of " tracks or paths of righteous
ness." Such appellations are still common in the same country,
which at the present day furnishes us with the " Djebel Hamam,"
or " mount of death," in a part of Mount Sinai ; and the " Wady
el Baka," or vale of weeping, (&\fA\ cfiL) in another part of
Syria.

PSALM XXIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 119
5 Thou preparest before me a table
In the face of mine enemies ;
My head hast thou anointed with oil,
My cup overfloweth.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life ;
And through the remnant of days
Shall I dwell in the house of Jehovah.
Verse 5. " Thou preparest before me a table : my head hast
thou anointed with oil."] — The anointing here referred is probably
that of Samuel the prophet. 1 Sam. xvi. 13. The enemies referred
to may be migratory hordes lurking for a favourable opportunity of
seizing the flock, or his own jealous and irascible brothers, who
appear to have treated him with a wonderful degree of harshness
and contempt.
Id. " My cup overfloweth."] — Literally, " My cup is repletion,
or replenishment : " n^ll, a substantive feminine from nil " to
satiate or replenish." So the Arabic ^ " irrigavit, explevit."
See the note on Psalm xxxvi. 8.
Verse 6. " Length of days."] — Qi^i -pN Literally as here
rendered, and as given in the margin of our bibles, as well as in a
great variety of other parts of Scripture : as Deut. xxx. 20 ; Prov.
iii. 2, 16, in which sense it occurs in the Septuagint and almost
all the versions. The obvious meaning is, " Through the whole of
a long life shall I dwell in the immediate presence and protection
of Jehovah."

120 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXIV.

XXIV*

(Chorus of Priests, in waiting)
1 The earth is Jehovah's and its plenteousness ;
The world, and its inhabitants.
This Psalm is commonly and most correctly supposed to have
been one of those written on the glorious festival of bringing up
the ark from the house of Obed-edom, where it had been tempo
rarily deposited, to Mount Zion, for a more permanent residence in
the sanctuary, or temple, prepared for it. It was the most mag
nificent public feast given by David in the whole course of his
reign ; and is particularly related in 2 Sam. vi. ; but much more
so in 1 Chron. xv, xvi. ; in the last of which chapters is preserved
another noble specimen of psaltery sung on the occasion after the
ark was deposited, as this appears to have been during the pro
cession. The scene of the performance of this beautiful ode before us,
was unquestionably on Mount Zion itself immediately before the
temple, as the ark and the whole congregation of Israel were ap
proaching it. Like Psalm xx. it bears evident internal marks of
its being of a dramatic- character ; or in other words, sung in parts
or responses. And such is the opinion of Bishop Lowth, who has
given an admirable. Latin version of it in his twenty-seventh pree
lection. The exact manner however in which it was divided on the
occasion is not now known, and is open to a difference of opinion :
whence the division of Bishop Horsley does not precisely corres
pond with that of Bishop Lowth, nor the present with that of
either. Tet after a close critical examination of the Psalm in every
point of view, notwithstanding I always differ from these scholars
with regret, I cannot but think that the division now offered will
be found the clearest and simplest, and that which most imme
diately corresponds with the historic narrative.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 137,21, 127.

PSALM XXIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 121
2 Behold, he hath founded it on the seas,
And established it on the rivers.
(High Priest)
3 But who may ascend Jehovah's hill ?
Yea, who may stand in his holy place ?
(Chorus of Priests)
4 The clean of hands, and pure of heart,
Who puffeth not his soul up with vanity,
Nor maketh oath to a fraud.
Upon the present explanation the Psalm opens with a general
chorus, comprising the first two verses, uttered by the priests
arranged, and waiting the arrival of the ark. Verse the third is
evidently a response by another party, probably the High Priest.
It consists of a question flowing naturally from the subject of the
preceding, and peculiarly appropriate to the occasion. The an
swer is contained in verses 4 and 5, apparently by the party that
opened the ode. Verse 6 gives a confirmation of the answer,
seemingly from the mouth of the High Priest who here again takes
his turn in the sacred melody.
At this moment the procession approaches with a general chorus
of the Levites and another body of priests, whose office it was to
conduct and superintend the ark, accompanied by their full band
of instrumental music. This chorus is in the highest degree figu
rative and spirited, and comprises the seventh verse. In verse the
eighth, agreeably to ancient usage on other grand occasions, the
doors of the temple now formally shut, remain so till the rank and
character of the mighty visitant and his rightful sovereignty are
publicly declared and joyously acknowledged. This part of the
ceremony appears very clearly to belong to the High Priest, who
again therefore takes up the song. The declaration of right and
sovereignty is declared by the whole congregation in full chorus,
in consequence of which the Levites again apply for admission into
the temple, in verse 9. The High Priest renews his formal in
quiry, in the beginning of the last verse ; and the Psalm closes
with a repetition of the general chorus of the whole assembly, as
the mighty pomp is entering the temple doors.
Verse 4. " The clean of hands and pure of heart,
Who puffeth not," &c] — The cardinal virtues de-

122 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXIV.
5 He shall bear away a blessing from Jehovah ;
Yea, justification from God his Saviour.
(High Priest)
6 This is the generation that seek him ;
That frequent thy face, 0 God of Jacob.
manded of those who would gain admission to the holy hill and
beatific presence of God, are here declared to be four : innocence,
chastity, humility and sincerity. The line importing humility —
Who puffeth not his soul up with vanity,
is thus rendered by Bishop Lowth :
Qui per vana numina animam suam non obstrinxit.
Who hath not bound himself to vain or false deities.
The crime denounced by this rendering would be idolatry instead
of pride. But, not to remark that the idolater can hardly be
supposed among the assembly who are inquiring their way to Zion
— his high place being on a different hill — it does not appear to
me that we can introduce the gratuitous term numina without
much force or much imagination. It is not wanted, and therefore
,ought not to be introduced at all.
Geddes renders it —
Who setteth not his mind on falsehood.
But this is to forestall the crime denounced in the next verse. Our
common version is perfectly correct with the alteration of the pre
position alone, " Who hath not lifted up (puffed up) his soul with
vanity." NtM is very frequently employed in the signification of
" to puff up," " to swell with haughtiness or pride," " to be
elated." And this, in truth, is its real meaning, though in a good
sense, in verses 7 and 9 of the present Psalm.
Verse 5. " from God his Saviour."] — So the Septuagint mapa.
©toE aurripos avrov. And in like manner Isaiah lxii. 11, 'iSofc o
a-uryp a-ot vupayiyovev. " Behold the Saviour cometh to thee,"
which is adopted by the Targum. And thus in the passage before
us, the Vulgate " a Deo Salutari suo." And so Bishop Lowth in
his twenty-seventh Preelection —
Et justitiam a Deo ejus Sospitatore.
Verse 6. " — r- — —that seek him,
That frequent thy face."]— In our common version,
the word " seek " is repeated : but in the Hebrew the terms are

PSALM XXIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 123
(Chorus of Levites, accompanying the procession)
7 Lift up your heads, 0 ye Gates !
0, be ye lifted up, ye everlasting Doors !
And let the King of Glory enter.
different, as here expressed, and the same distinction is preserved in
Psalm cv. 4, being am and BJp3, whence Bishop Lowth most
correctly — Talis sit gens qua? ilium que sit j
Guae visit faciem Dei Jacobi.
For the meaning of the phrase, see note on Psalm xvii. 15, vers. fin.
Id. " 0 God of Jacob."] — In the above passage Bishop Lowth
has nearly the same rendering. The Masora, however, gives only,
as in our established lection, " 0 Jacob." All the old versions, how
ever, prove an omission of the word God, by retaining it, and the
sense requires it. The Septuagint, Arabic, Vulgate and Ethiopic,
read 3pjyi bN ''33, " the face or presence of the God of Jacob."
The Syriac 3pj?'' bN "733, " thy face or presence, O God of
Jacob." The old MSS concur in the last, as Dr. Kennicott has
shown ; and I have hence made choice of it.
Verse 7. " Lift up your heads, O ye gates."] — So in Psalm
lxxxiii. 2. " And they that hate thee have lift up the head ;"
but in the present place, in a good sense. " Exalt and elevate
yourselves," — lift up your heads with holy pride on so glorious an
occasion — raise your heights to their utmost pitch— open wide the
temple of Zion — display " the beauty of holiness " in its most
perfect magnificence. O be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors ! —
ye doors that shall endure and continue open for ever : — open from
this time to all the world — open at the command of him " who
hath the key of David, who openeth and no man shutteth." Eev.
iii. 7.
In,the little variation that may be traced in ver. 9 and 10, com
pared with ver. 7 and 8, "lift ye up," for "be ye lifted up;"
and " he— this king," for " this king," I have accurately copied
the original. They are the playful changes of rapid poetry, which
ardour produces, and judgment allows.
Dr. Geddes seems strangely to have mistaken the sublimity of
this fine address, by supposing, from a literal interpretation of the
description, that the doors to the temple must have been draw-

124 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXV.
(High Priest)
8 Who is this King of Glory ?
(General chorus of the Assembly)
Jehovah, strong and mighty :
Jehovah, mighty in battle.
(Chorus of Levites.)
9 Lift up your heads, 0 ye Gates !
0, lift ye up, ye everlasting Doors !
And let the King of Glory enter.
(High Priest.)
10 Who is he — this King of glory ?
(General Chorus of the Assembly)
11 Jehovah of Hosts ; —
He is the King of Glory.
bridges, or port-cullises, and on this account were to be really
raised high, as he states it, to admit those who entered, — though
these are rather let down on such occasions than lifted up, in order
that they may form a passage over the moat. He also equally errs
in rendering the phrase everlasting doors " lofty doors."

XXV*

N
1 To thee, 0 Jehovah, my God,
Do I lift up my soul.
The form of this Psalm is alphabetic, or in other words, consists
of .twenty-two couplets, being the exact number of letters in the
Hebrew alphabet ; and of these every couplet commences in regular
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 162,

PSALM XXV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 125
3
2 In thee do I trust, let me not be put to shame ;
Let not mine enemies triumph over me.
order with the letter of the alphabet which belongs to it in rotation.
This is a structure in which David does not seem to have indulged
very often ; and it has hence been conceived by some critics, that
the Psalm, notwithstanding its title, was not composed by David,
but by some other poet in a much later period of the Jewish his
tory, to whickperiod they ascribe the invention of this structure.
It does not appear to me that there is any reason for this opinion.
An alphabetic arrangement of some kind or other is common to all
eastern poetry (of whatever country) of a very high origin, and par
ticularly to Arabia and Persia. That it existed in the time of So
lomon is clear from the last twenty-two verses of the last chapter
of the book of Proverbs, comprising the greater part of the fine
oration which Lemuel (apparently a familiar name for Solomon)
committed to memory from his mother's instruction, and which is
altogether formed upon this structure. And hence if this peculiar
form of versification existed in the time of Solomon, we can easily
carry it, and without much stress of the imagination, as high as to
the time of his father.
With verse 21, as it occurs in our vernacular rendering, which
corresponds with verse 22 in the Hebrew, the Psalm itself most
probably closed when first written ; the last couplet being supernu
merary, and forming perhaps a common general chorus frequently
sung by the whole Jewish congregation, after a particular Psalm
had been gone through in its regular order.
The reason why our established version makes but twenty-two
verses, including the closing couplet or chorus, while the Hebrew
makes twenty-three, will be found in the division of verse 5, which
in our own version very improperly extends to two couplets.
There are manifestly a few literal or even verbal errors which
have crept into the original text, in the descent of this composition
to our own day, which will be noticed as we proceed.
Verse 1. "To thee, O Jehovah, my God."] — As the stanzas are
in couplets, it is pretty clear that the term ^nbN (my God), which
in the Masora occurs at the end of the second line, should be at
the end of the first, for otherwise it stands unconnectedly ; and is
either obliged to be assisted by words added gratuitously, as in the
following of Dr. Geddes, —

126 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXV.
a
3 0 let none be put to shame who long for thee :
Let them be put to shame who dissemble falsely.
4 Show me thy ways, 0 Jehovah ;
Teach me thy paths.

5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me ;
For thou art the God of my salvation.
" To thee, Jehovah ! I raise my soul ;
Save thy servant trusting in thee, 0 God : "
or must be carried into the second verse, which ought to begin with
a 3 or the second letter of the alphabet ; but which would then
begin with an N or repetition of the first letter. Or else, with
Bishop Horsley, we must transpose its place in another way, and
put it into the second verse after the word "73 " in thee : " in
which case however, we reduce the first stanza to a single line, and
thus destroy the structure of the versification.
As now rendered, both the structure and sense are preserved,
without any gratuitous additions whatever. And hence, there
fore, for —
mn1' -pbN
•<nbN Nt»N •'t&BS
I propose as what indeed seems to have been the text at first —
^nbN mni -pbN
NttfN •»!»£»
It is however highly probable that the pronoun "pbN "to thee,"
was originally repeated, which would make the second stanza full,
instead of being, as at present, little more than a hemistich ;
" To thee, 0 Jehovah, my God,
[To thee] do I lift up my soul."
Verse 5. " For thee do I long all the day. "3 — This is one of
the most imperfect couplets in the entire Psalm, as it has descended
to us, and we have the clearest proofs that it has been in several
respects:mutilated in its reaching us. As the Masora text stands
at present, the entire couplet consists of only the above fragment.
It should commence with 1 which is the letter in turn, and corres-

PSALM XXV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 127
1
Yea, for thee do I long all the day,
Because of thy goodness, 0 Jehovah.
T
6 Remember, 0 Jehovah, thy tender mercies ;
And thy loving-kindnesses ; for these are for ever.
n
7 The wanderings of my youth, and my sins remem
ber not :
0, remember thou me in thy loving-kindness.
a
8 Good and righteous is Jehovah ;
Therefore will he guide the wandering into the way.

9 The meek will he direct with judgment :
Yea, the meek will he teach his way.
ponds to our yea or and. Even this, however, has been dropped ;
yet it is pretty clear that it did exist, as it is still found in many
of the Hebrew MSS. of which Dr. Kennicott has enumerated four,
and in the Septuagint, and indeed most of the early versions. And
I have hence restored it.
The second stanza introduced above into the couplet, has, by
some strange mistake, been carried to the bottom of verse 7, where
it is just as much out of the way, as it is in the way in its present
place ; for by this misplacement, neither verses are of their proper
dimensions, the one being a monostich, and the other a tristich,
instead of both being distichs or couplets, as they are by the present
emendation. Verse 7. " 0 remember thou me in thy loving-kindness."] — The
term is poetically and purposely iterated from the preceding verse :
and in the common collocation a third or supernumerary line is
added to the present — " because of thy goodness (or for thy good
ness' sake) 0 Jehovah ; " brought down evidently by mistake, from
the latter couplet of verse 5, and which ought rather to be verse 6,
as already noticed.

128 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXV.
3
1 0 All the paths of Jehovah are loving- kindness and
truth,
To the keepers of his covenant and his testimonies.
b
11 For thy name's sake, 0 Jehovah,
Pardon mine iniquity, though it be great.
a
12 Who is the man that feareth Jehovah ?
Him shall he direct to the way he shall approve.
3
1 3 His soul shall dwell in prosperity ;
And his seed shall inherit the earth.
D
14 The communion of Jehovah is with them that fear
him ;
And his covenant for giving them knowledge.
V
15 Mine eyes are ever towards Jehovah ;
That he may bring out my feet from the snare.
B
16 0 turn thee unto me, and have pity on me ;
For desolate am I, and afflicted.
Verse 14. " The communion of Jehovah."] — So in Prov. iii. 32.
For the froward is an abomination to Jehovah.
But his communion is with the righteous.
So, in the last place, the Septuagint rightly iv 8e hxatois
2TNEAPIAZEI and St. Jerome, to nearly the same effect, "et cum
simplicibus sermocinatio ejus." In like manner Schultens,
" cum rectis est ipsius commercium arcanum." T1D imports
" secret intercourse, privy counsel, confidential communication,
communion." And to the same effect the Arabic noun »» See
my note on Prov. m. 32.
In the present' passage the Septuagint has less correctly given •
Kparalapia, and the Vulgate firmamentum, " strength, power,
might," which meanings are difficult to extract from "pD except in
a very remote and circuitous way.

PSALM XXV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 129
17 The sorrows of my heart are increasing :
0 deliver thou me from my distresses.
P
18 Take away mine afflictions, and my suffering ;
And forgive all my transgressions. -i
19 Behold mine enemies, for they are numerous ;
And with a cruel hatred do they hate me.
20 0 keep my soul, and deliver me ;
Let me not be put to shame, for in thee do I take
refuge. n
21 Let integrity and uprightness defend me,
Because for thee do I long, 0 Jehovah.
22 Redeem thou Israel, 0 God,
Out of all his distresses.

Verse 18. " Take away."] — This verse in the Masora text begins
with nN"l " behold " as the succeeding : which is unquestionably
an error, as the structure of the poem requires that it should com
mence with a p the alphabetic letter in rotation, and not a "1
which is the proper initial for the next couplet. The critics have
hence had a wide field for conjecture, and many different terms
have been substituted. The original word appears to me to have
been Jlp " take away " and I have employed this accordingly.
Verse 21. " O Jehovah."] — So the Septuagint — and the brevity
of the line without it, seems clearly to show that the term has
been accidentally dropped in the Hebrew text where at present it
does not occur.

K

130 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXVI.
XXVI.*

1 Judge me, 0 Jehovah ;
For in mine integrity have I walked ;
And in Jehovah do I trust,
I shall in no wise give way.
2 Try me, 0 Jehovah, yea prove me ;
Essay my reins and my heart :
3 For thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes,
And by thy truth do I guide myself.
4 Never have I associated with men of falsehood ;
And never do I go among hypocrites :
There is nothing in this Psalm to fix with any precision the
period in which it was composed. The heavenly-minded bard, con
scious of the integrity of his heart, dares to make an appeal to
Jehovah upon the subject, and adverts to the general course of his
life as in beautiful harmony with his religious professions. His
delight has been uniformly in religion and the fear of God ; he has
studiously avoided all friendship and connexion with the wicked*
and has fixed his heart upon the altar and tabernacle of Jehovah,
venerating the ground on which they stood, and making it the scene
of his daily walks.
We have nothing, however, about the holy hill of Zion, or the
bulwarks of Jerusalem, or the concerns of the Jewish state : and
we may hence pretty fairly conclude that the Psalm was com
posed before David was in possession of the throne. It is generally
indeed conceived that it was written in the days of his proscription
by Saul, at which time the ark and tabernacle were at Kirjath-
jearim. But there is quite as much reason for carrying it to an
earlier period of his life, and regarding it as one of the pieces he
wrote in the retirement of his youth amidst the shades of Bethle
hem, while tending the flocks of his father.
* Historical Outline, &c. p, 51.

PSALM XXVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 131
5 I hate the company of the wicked ;
And never associate with the corrupt.
6 I wash my hands in innocency,
And keep about thine altar, 0 Jehovah ;
7 To listen to the sound of thanksgiving,
And tell of all thy wondrous works.
8 The place of thy house, 0 Jehovah, do I love,
Yea, the site of the tabernacle of thy glory.
9 0 number not my soul with sinners ;
Nor my life with men of blood ;
10 In whose hands is intrigue ;
Yea, whose right-hand is full of bribery.
1 1 Still may I walk in mine integrity :
0 save me, and have mercy upon me.
1 2 Uphold thou my foot in rectitude ;
Let me bless Jehovah in the assemblies.
Verse 6. "I wash my hands in innocency."] — In allusion to the
rite of making a solemn attestation of innocence in the matter of a
supposed or alleged crime. See Deut. xxi.(6; Matt, xxvii. 24. In
which last passage Pilate,' while in like manner washing his hands
in pure water, throws off the crime of putting our Saviour to death
upon the -Jews, who consent to take it up.

XXVII*
BT DAVID.
1 Jehovah is my light, and my salvation :
Of whom shall I be afraid ?
The first six verses are a thanksgiving ode for victories gained,
and about to be gained, over the king's foes, and the prospect
hereby presented to him of peace, and leisure for stated worship in
* Historical Outline, &c. p. H2 and 89.
K 2

132 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXVII.
Jehovah is the strength of my life ;
At whom shall I tremble ?
2 When the wicked advanced against me,
To eat up my flesh —
My persecutors arid my foes —
They themselves stumbled and fell.
3 Though a camp should encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear.
Though the battle should rise against me,
Even here will I be confident.
the temple of God. It is uncertain what is the victory or the period
of time here alluded to. As no mention is made of Mount Zion, it
is obvious that it must have been composed before this was in his
possession,' or rather before it was consecrated to Jehovah and the
temple was erected, there : yet from the Psalmist's looking forward
with an immediate hope of accomplishing some such object, it
seems reasonable to conclude that it was written a very short time
antecedently to this event. We learn moreover from verse 6, that
notwithstanding the success of the king, he had still some contests
to engage in, and had yet to overcome a host of foreign foes around
him, as he had succeeded in quelling his opponents, the adherents
to the house of Saul, at home. And we are hence perhaps justified in
fixing the composition of this ode at the period when he had just ob
tained possession of Jerusalem, but before he had seated himself
there, and while he had still to repress the united efforts of the
Philistine nations who had invaded his borders, and were rushing
forward with great fury, his own forces being entirely occupied
with the conquest of Jerusalem. In this view of the subject, the
victory more directly alluded to in verse 2, is that obtained shortly
before over Abner his old enemy and persecutor — at that time the
commander-in-chief of the army of Ishbosheth, who was king over
the eleven tribes of Israel, as David was king over Judah alone.
The ode evidently closes with, the triumphant triplet forming the
latter half of verse 6 ; for all the verses beyond- this are in a different
metre, and devoted to a different subject. And upon this point the
critics seem in general to be agreed.
How the two compositions came to be united, or at what time
this took place, we have no means of ascertaining. The Psalm

PSALM XXVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 133
4 This only do I ask of Jehovah :
For this do I make endeavour :
That I may dwell in the house of Jehovah
All the days of my life :
To gaze at the beauty of Jehovah,
And to admire in his temple.
5 There, in the day of evil,
Will he hide me in his pavilion :
In the secret of his tabernacle will he secrete me ;
He will set me up upon a rock.
from this break, however, is a threnic elegy rather than a triumphal
ode. The writer laments the distressful prospects around him,' —
hunted down by an overwhelming host of oppressors, and upon
charges brought against him by false witnesses. Towards the close
of it his faith rallies as usual, his hopes in his Almighty Succourer
brighten, and he is enabled to contemplate a final, though a remote
deliverance. There can be little doubt that this latter part of the Psalm was
written on some occasion when he was pursued by Saul, when his
means were feeble, his affairs in a state of desperation, and his
rivals at Saul's court were taking every opportunity of poisoning
the king's mind against him, and of rousing his natural jealousy to
deeds of vengeance.
5. " In his pavilion."] — So the Septuagint, and all the other>
versions, as well as one manuscript. But the Masora or common
Hebrew text for 131D " his pavilion," has n31D " a pavilion."
There can be little doubt that the Masora is in this instance faulty;
and our own translators hate done right in following the concurrent
reading of the versions.
Verse 8. " For thee my heart expatiateth, my face seeketh."]
— The passage has not been understood, and has hence been con
ceived to be corrupt in the original, " The present reading," says
Bishop Lowth, " cannot be right." " I can make nothing," says
Bishop Horsley, " of this verse as the text stands." This has been
the general feeling ; and hence the text has been altered in different
ways from a very early period. The Septuagint gives, 2oi emev ij
Kapvia piov : 'E^e<£i)Ti}o-« to icpi<roiiiov aov — to upaauiiiv aov Ktipie
5ijTijo-aj. " My heart hath said to thee, it shall seek for thy face.

134 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXVII.
6 Even now will he lift up my head
Over the foemen of my borders :
And in his tabernacle shall I sacrifice
The sacrifices of triumph :
I will sing, yea I will chant unto Jehovah.
7 Hear my voice, 0 Jehovah ; I cry aloud :
0 pity and answer me.
8 For thee my heart expatiateth, my face seeketh :
Thy face, 0 Jehovah, will I seek.
Thy face, O Lord, will I seek." And the Vulgate, " Tibi dixit cor
meum, exquisivit te facies mea : faciem tuam, Domine, requiram."
" My heart hath said to thee, my face hath sought for thee. Thy
face, O Lord, will I seek." As though the word Itt7p3 had been
*7t£7p3- Tet with this emendation the sense is not very clear or
satisfactory. Tremellius and Junius give, " Tuum Mud, requirite
faciem meam, cogitabat animus meus : faciem tuam, Jehova, re-
quiro." " This thy saying, seek ye my face, my soul meditateth:
thy face, O Jehovah, do I seek." And hence the still more peri
phrastic rendering of our standard version, " When thou saidst,
Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek."
The rendering now offered is strictly literal, and if I mistake not,
perfectly clear. The common mistake has been in regarding l£J?p3
as a verb plural in the second person of the imperative mood, instead
of a verb plural in the third person in the indicative mood, agree
ing with iys or ''"OB which is also plural. *1BN in the present place
is rather " ruminateth, expatiateth, rangeth abroad, or communeth,"
than " sayeth or speaketh ; " and is well rendered by Tremellius
and Junius cogitat. The same term, and indeed the same phrasing,
occurs to us in Ps. iv. 4, and is rendered in the same manner by
the translators generally D333b3 l~iaN " commune with your
own hearts : " " excogitate, ruminate, expatiate, range about in
your own hearts " — " seek the ground of them," as in the Psalter
version of Ps. cxxxix. 23 : thus making ~!QN a synonym with ntD
which in Psalm lxxvii 6, is rendered in the same manner, " I com
mune with mine own heart." If the idea of open speech be at
tached to the term, the rendering will then be " for thee my heart
calleth." bN *iaN is " to speak to ; " b nBN " to speak to, or
call to."

PSALM XXVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 135
9 Hide not thy face from me :
Turn not thy servant away in anger.
Thou hast been my help ; — do not leave me :
Do not forsake me, 0 God of my salvation.
10 Though my father and my mother should forsake me,
Still Jehovah will take me up.
11 Teach me, 0 Jehovah, thy way ;
Yea, lead me in a plain path
Because of mine oppressors.
12 Give me not up to the will of mine enemies ;
Verse 12. " And iniquity panteth for utter ruin."] — Perhaps ra
ther more literally " for utter waste, annihilation, or extinction."
The Hebrew is sblb in which «bl is a negative noun " merum
inane," instead of a negative particle, ovtiiv instead of ou8f ; as in
Job xxxvi. 26.
" Behold God is great — -a mere waste (utter vanity) is knowledge !
The number of his years — a mere waste is research ! "
And again, Isaiah xlviii. 7 : —
" To-day are they created, and not of old time,
Yea, before the present day a mere nothing hast thou heard
of them."
Mbl is therefore in all these places sb with an intensive prefix :
which is in like manner frequently used as a noun without the prefix,
in the sense of " nothing, a waste or void," " nihil," " inane."
Thus Job vi. 21, and is so rendered in our authorized version —
" Behold ye also are a nothing."
So in Psalm lxxiii. 25.
" Tea, nothing on earth do I long for but thee."
The punctuation, however, of the passage in the text is erroneous,
and has hence led to a great difficulty of interpretation ; insomuch
that all the critics I am acquainted with have supposed the word to
be a mis-copy for some other word ; while many have asserted that
it is not a Hebrew term. In the common text it stands thus —
: nan ns^i
3ia3 nwib •'nsawn Nbib
While in the reading now offered it runs thus —
: sblb oan n3*i
3ia3 niwib "-niasn

136 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXVII.
For false witnesses have risen up against me,
And iniquity panteth for utter ruin.
13 Still do I rely on a sight of prosperity,
0 Jehovah, in the land of the living.
This division however not having occurred to the critics, no sense
could be made of sblb ; and hence, upon the idea that it is a cor
rupt reading, it has been altered in a variety of ways, according as
the fancy of each has suggested. Houbigant proposes in its stead
bsb, and the reading would then be,
And iniquity panteth.
On God do I rely for a sight of prosperity.
Archbishop Seeker alters Nblb to ^bN ; and then to introduce this
he is further obliged to alter nS"1! to lnB"1! by which he gains the
following : And they breathe out violence against me.
Yet I trust that I shall enjoy good,
0 Jehovah, &c.
Geddes and many others read sbl : "b, putting the ib at the end
of the first line, and Nbl at the beginning of the second : and at
the same time deriving nS1* from nB " to lay snares," instead of
from nB'1 " to breathe or pant," in this way obtain —
And iniquity layeth for me snares ;
I think I" shall no more see
Jehovah's favour in the land of the living.
Our standard version is derived from Tremellius and Junius, who
have paraphrased rather than translated, and gratuitously added
words for which there is no foundation in the original, though they
have given notice of them by putting them in italics :
Et qui spirant violentiam
Abrepturi me nisi crederem, &c.
The Septuagint- seem to have changed sblb into lb alone, and
hence the reading is :
Ka) tyeiaaro :i\ abiKia iavrvj.
Hi jtcto rov iSeix ra, dyaBa Kvptov, &C,
Which the Vulgate gives literally thus :
Et mentita est iniquitas sibi.
Credo videre bona Domini, &c.
In which nB'' seems to be understood as importing " to smite with
a blast."

PSALM XXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 1 37
14 Hope on in Jehovah,
Take courage, and firm be thy heart.
0 hope on in Jehovah.
The sense now offered follows up the original without the slightest
variation from the text, and is given literally and in the order of
the words.
Verse 14. " Take courage."] — Bepeated with a little variation in
Psalm xxxi. 24. And so 1 Cor. xvi. 13, " Watch ye: stand fast
in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." But the expression
in the text seems to have been proverbial, and of hjgh antiquity,
for it occurs not less than four times in the first chapter of Joshua,
verses 6, 7, 9, 18.

XXVIIL*
BY DAVID.
I Unto thee, 0 Jehovah, do I call ;
0 my rock do not fail me !
Lest, if thou withdraw from me,
I become even as those that descend into the pit.
The incidental hints contained in this pathetic prayer for the
" anointed" of Jehovah and his "people," as the prophetic poet calls
himself, and the faithful and valiant band around him, shows first
that it was composed when he was in great danger of guile and
treachery by the men of power among whom he was residing, or with
whom he had taken shelter, who are represented ver. 3, as speaking
smoothly, and like neighbours, while mischief was in their hearts.
It appears next, ver. 4, that the persons and their adherents who
were thus treacherously engaged in plotting the ruin of David, were
hereby evincing great ingratitude for favours they had received, and
were totally unmindful of the mighty works of Jehovah in their
behalf, by whose signal deliverance they had been marvellously
rescued when threatened with utter demolition and ruin. It ap-
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 86.

138 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXVIII.
2 Hear the voice of my supplication when I cry unto
thee;
When I lift up my hands towards thy holy oracle.
3 Let me not be misled by the wicked ;
Nor by the workers of vanity :
Who speak smoothly t.o their neighbours,
While mischief is in their hearts.
pears still further that these transactions occurred after David had
been anointed and specially called by the prophet Samuel to the •
subsequent government of the people of Israel, as in ver. 8 and 9 ;
when he was at a distance from the holy oracle, or ordinary place
of public worship and oracular response to the prayers of the saints,
so that, in consequence of this distance, he could only look and
" hold up his hands towards it," as in ver. 2 ; and most probably
before this holy oracle was settled in Mount Zion, as the term does
not occur, though it is seldom suppressed by the sacred poet when
describing the place of public worship after the removal of the ark
to this beloved hill which was solemnly consecrated and rendered
holy for its reception.
Now if we look with a little accuracy into the life of David as it
is given to us in the books of Samuel, we shall find that all these
historical incidents concentrate themselves during his short and un-
propitious connexion with the city of Keilah, the rulers of which,
after he had generously liberated it, at the hazard of his life and the
brave band that adhered to him, from the hand of the Philistines,
whom he drove away from its walls and smote with a terrible
slaughter, — while cajoling him with the most flattering attention,
and intreating his stay in the midst of them, were secretly plotting
with Saul for betraying him into his hands. " The mischief that
was thus secretly practised against him," as it is called in 1 Sam.
xxiii. 9, was however privately whispered to David, who after a
holy communion with the Almighty upon the subject through the
means of the ephod, and finding that the report was true, and the
treachery fully determined upon, as in ver. 11, of the same chap
ter, abruptly fled with his troops from the city before Saul could
reach it ; and as soon as he found himself secure in the precipitous
fastnesses of the wilderness of Ziph, commemorated his escape in
the subject of the present Psalm ; the first part of which to ver. 4,

PSALM XXVI1I.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 139
4 Give them according to their deeds ;
According to the mischief of their imaginations,
Give them according to the work of their hands ;
0 render unto them their desert.
5 Because they regard not the works of Jehovah,
Nor the operation of his hands,
Let him demolish them,
And never build them up.
6 Blessed be Jehovah,
For he hath heard the voice of my supplication.
7 Jehovah is my strength and my shield :
In him my heart trusted, and I am helped.
Therefore shall my heart leap for joy,
And with my song will I praise him.
8 Jehovah is the strength of his people,
Yea, the safeguard of his anointed is he.
contains his address to Jehovah for assistance while in the midst of
this ungrateful and perfidious city ; and the second part, from ver.
5, to the end, forms an apostrophe of thanksgiving for the deliver
ance with which he was so promptly and opportunely favoured, and
of prayer for future protection.
The ingratitude he experienced at Keilah, and the interposition
of Jehovah in his behalf, seem to have impressed the mind of the
sacred poet very deeply ; and hence we have already seen that
Psalm xiii. was composed upon the same subject.
Verse 8. " The strength of his people."] — The Masora gives
"' the strength of them," whence our standard version, " their
strength." The difference in the Hebrew depends upon the intro
duction or omission of a single letter ; in the Masora lab ; but in
six MSS. collected by Dr. Kennicott, ia3?b, which is supported by
the concurrent versions of the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and
Arabic ; and which also gives by far the clearest sense. There can
be little doubt therefore that the y has been accidentally dropped,
so as to produce an error in the Masora text, and it is hence restored
in the present version, so as to give the rendering above.

140 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXIX.
9 0, still save thy people,
And still bless thine inheritance ;
And feed them and sustain them for ever.
Verse 9. " 0 still save."] — The Hebrew nN is not here re
dundant, as supposed by the translators in general, but emphatic —
" still save " and " still bless ; " adhuc, etiamnum.
Id. " And feed them, and sustain them."] — Pastoral terms in
common use from the time of the elevation of David from pastoral
life. So Ps. lxxvii. 20, " Thou leddest thy people like a flock."
SD3 is here " to sustain, bear, or carry," and not " to lift up."

XXIX*
A PSALM OP DAVID.
1 Give unto Jehovah, 0 ye sons of the Mighty,
Give unto Jehovah the glory and the power.
2 Give unto Jehovah the glory of his name :
0 bow to Jehovah with holy reverence.
This sublime ode, on a tempest or hurricane, is in the noblest
style of grandeur and devotion, and forms a master-piece of the
royal lyrist. As the description is that of an equinoctial tornado,
it was probably sung as a part of the temple-service on some annual
feast of tabernacles in the month Tirzi, corresponding with our
own September.
Verse 2. " With holy reverence."] — The Septuagint gives iv dvXf
dy'la avrov, and the same in the parallel passage, Ps. xcvi. 9 ;
whence St. Jerome, " in atrio sancto ejus," in his holy court*
Tremellius and Junius " in decoro sanctitatis : " and thence our
authorized version, " in the beauty of holiness," which is continued
in Ps. xcvi. 9, and given in like terms in 1 Chron. xvi. 29, from
which both are derived, as also in 2 Chron. xx. 21. The Psalter
version makes a difference in the two Psalms, rendering the last in
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 228.

PSALM XXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 1 4 I
3 It is the voice of Jehovah on the waters.
The God of Glory thundereth :
Jehovah is on the stormy waters.
4 The voice of Jehovah is full of strength :
The voice of Jehovah is full of majesty.
5 The voice of Jehovah shivereth the cedars ;
Yea, Jehovah shivereth the cedars of Lebanon.
6 How, like a calf, doth he make them rebound,
Lebanon and Sirion like the young of the buffaloes.
this manner, but the first " with holy worship." The phrase
" beauty of holiness " is so pleasing and elegant, that I am sorry
to part with it ; but it is less accordant with the grandeur and
awfulness of the occasion in both Psalms, and especially with the
fear expressed in the ensuing line, than the phrasing now of
fered, and which has already been made choice of by Mr. Street :
and in truth mSB or niNB is rather the term, for beauty, than
Tin, where these terms are used correlatively, as may be seen by
comparing Ps. xcvi. 6, with ver. 9 of the same. Bishop Horsley
renders it " in the pomp of holiness ; " but this is too fine and
flourishing a term. Dr. Geddes gives " with holy decorum : " but
"reverence" is far better. It is a derivative from the same root
that in ver. 4, is ordinarily rendered " majesty."
Verse 3. " Stormy waters."] — ?'On is here, I take it, the
plural of 3") " striving," " conflicting," rather than of 3~l from
n3T " many or great."
Verse 4. " Full of strength ;
Full of majesty."] — In the Hebrew n33 and 1*rn3
in which the 3 is not a separate preposition, but part of the com
pound terms, giving them an intensive power, as per-acutus,
peracute, or full of acuteness — perfectus, perfect, thoroughly made
or complete. Our standard version affords this sense in both ; but
powerful is not, in its ordinary use in the present day, quite equi
valent to " full of power, of strength."
Verse 6. " Lebanon and Sirion."] — Libanus and Anti-Libanus
— for by the last was Mount Sirion denominated ; as it was also
by Shenir and Hermon. See Deut. iii. 9.
Id. " Of the buffaloes."] — The Hebrew writers seem to make
a distinction between D1*"! and QN~i : for we often meet with

142 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXIX.
7 The voice of Jehovah launcheth the bolts of fire ;
8 The voice of Jehovah rendeth the wilderness :
Jehovah rendeth the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of Jehovah splitteth the oaks,
And layeth bare the forests.
0, within his temple
Let every one speak of his glory.
J 0 Above the tempest Jehovah is seated :
Yea, Jehovah is seated King for ever.
the one ¦ word, and often with the other : and whatever diffi
culty there may be in explaining the actual animals that are in
tended by them, there is a clumsiness in supposing that both mean
the same, and that the writers have used the one or the other term
promiscuously. 0"H (reem), in Job xxxix. 9, appears to be the
rhinoceros, as rendered by the Septuagint, since this animal, com
mon to Arabia, is still called by this very name in the- same country
to the present day. QN"], the word here made use of, appears to
be a horned beeve of some kind or other, common to Palestine,
which we do not know that the rhinoceros was ; and we find it very
generally associated with the herds and flocks of the field, as in
Isaiah xxxiv. 6, 7 : and I have hence rendered it buffalo, after
many other translators.
Verse 7. "The bolts of fire."]— 3nb is rather "a brand,"
" sword," or " bolt," than " a flame." See the author's note on
Job xxxvi. 32.
Verse 8. " The wilderness of Kadesh."]— At the foot'of Mount
Hor : peculiarly rocky, and destitute of water. It was here the
children of Israel murmured in the midst of severe thirst : and that
Moses struck the rock, and the water gushed forth.
Verse 9. " Splitteth the oaks."] — In this version I follow Bishop
Lowth, and almost every later critic. b^N (ail) is unquestionably
" an oak-tree " or other tree of great firmness : and hence (JjJ
(ail) in Arabic is " crassus" or " crassissimus," and in Persian
means " a stout door-post." The passage, however, may be ren
dered as in our established version, but with far less accordance to
the general imagery.
Id. " 0, in his temple."] — The 1 his, is not in the Masora ; but
it is found in many MSS. and in all the versions, and the sense

PSALM XXX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 143
11 Jehovah shall give strength to his people :
Jehovah shall bless his own people with peace.
seems to require it. There is little doubt, therefore, that it has
been dropped by accident.

XXX*
¦ A MUSICAL PSALM.
On the opening of David's house.
1 I will extol thee, 0 Jehovah, for thou hast raised
me up,
And hast not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 Jehovah, my God, I cried unto thee.
And thou, 0 Jehovah, didst restore me.
3 Thou broughtest up my soul from the grave ;
Thou preservedst me when sinking into the pit.
4 Sing unto Jehovah, 0 ye his saints,
And celebrate, in commemoration, his holiness.
This beautiful composition is very evidently a hymn of thanks
giving upon the Psalmist's recovery from some dangerous illness, in
which he had a strong expectation of dying, and knew that the
enemies to his family were in full activity to avail themselves of this
event. To which condition he seems to refer in Psalm xxxviii.,
written apparently during his illness. In the midst of this great
calamity, all public business in which he was personally concerned,
ceased ; — his house or palace was shut up, and all was silence and
sorrow. From . the bed of sickness the sufferer poured forth his
petition to his God, who heard him in his distress, once more in
terposed in his behalf, and restored him from the borders of the
grave. The house or palace was now opened, the voice of joy was
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 168.

]44 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXX.
5 Lo, a moment is for his wrath :
Life for his favour.
Weeping may lodge for a night,
But at the dawn is rejoicing.
6 How did I say in my prosperity
I shall not be moved for ever !
7 Jehovah ! in thy favour didst thou give firmness to
my hill ;
When thou hiddest thy face I was confounded.
8 I cried unto thee, 0 Jehovah,
Yea, to Jehovah did I make supplication :
9 " What value will there be in my blood
" If I shall go down to corruption ?
" Can dust praise thee ?
" Can it utter forth thy truth ?
10 " Hear, 0 Jehovah, and be gracious unto me :
" 0 Jehovah, be thou my helper/'
again heard, and the Divine goodness commemorated in an ode
meet for the occasion, and. recited as his first public act.
Verse 5. " Lo, a moment is for his wrath," &c] — I have rendered
the whole literally, ^b11 " may lodge," is beautifully figurative :
" may be a passing inmate," but not " a resident." Some versions
seem to have read M") for yan " disturbance," " trouble is in his
wrath," and others n~iV5 " a rebuke is in his wrath ; " but the
established text is far preferable to either.
Verse 7. "My hill."]— The hill of Zion, taken by him from the
Jebusites, consecrated by him to the service of the temple, and on
which he built the city called after his own name, " The city of
David." The image intimates that the strength of his government
was shaken by his illness, and that his enemies were on the alert to
overthrow it.
Verse 9. " Corruption."]— In the Hebrew nnt». If the n be
a radical letter, the meaning is as now rendered ; and it is thus un
derstood and rendered by the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate trans
lators. Bishop Horsley gives the same sense. The word however
is often used with the n added to 1712 to give a substantive form,
and it then imports " pit," as in our standard version.

PSALM XXXI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 145
11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into music.
Thou hast put off my sackcloth
And clothed me with gladness.
12 Therefore shall my tongue laud thee and not be silent ;
0 Jehovah, my God, I will praise thee for ever.
Verse 12. " My tongue."] — T133. See note on Psalm xvi. 9,
in which 1133 is rendered tongue in the Septuagint, and the sense
confirmed by its adoption by St. Peter. In this place, however,
the Septuagint has glory. But if it be correct in rendering 1133
tongue in the former passage, of which after the interpretation in
the New Testament there can be little doubt, it ought to have ren
dered it tongue also in the present verse : for the subjects are paral
lel. The Septuagint makes another inroad upon the original in
adopting some other verb for DT " be silent " — and putting such
verb into the first instead of the third person in this manner, " that
my glory may laud thee, and J may not be in trouble. While the
Syriac alters the text thus, " that / may laud thee, my glory, and
not be silent," for DT reading OllN. It is highly probable,
however, that the pronoun my before tongue or glory, formed at
first a part of the original text, and has been dropped by accident,.
as it occurs in both these ancient versions, and though not abso--
lutely wanted, adds, nevertheless, to the freedom of the text. The
1133 should probably therefore be ^1133, as now rendered.

XXXL*
TO THE SUPREME.
A PSALM OP DAVID.
1 In thee, 0 Jehovah, do I take shelter ;
Let me never be confounded.
Deliver me in thy righteousness :
This Psalm, like the thirteenth, appears to have been composed
when David, with his little band of faithful soldiers were in the city
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 85.
L

146 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXI.
2 Speedily incline thine ear unto me :
Defend me — be a strong bulwark unto me ;
A line of ramparts for my safeguard.
3 0, my fort and my rampart be thou.
Yea, for thy name's sake lead me and guide me ;
of Keilah, when, from the assistance he had rendered it, he had
reason to expect every kindness in return ; but when, on the con
trary, he became exposed to more imminent danger than in any
former period of his life ; being, from without, in danger of a block
ade, as alluded to in verse 21, with all the combined forces of Saul,
collected for this purpose ; and, within, surrounded by a band of
traitors, the miserable agents of his implacable oppressor ; by whom,
in the language of the sacred historian, " Saul was secretly prac
tising mischief against him," 1 Sam. xxiii. 9. As Keilah was a
fortified town, the siege seemed easy, and was on the point of com
mencing ; and, encompassed and watched as he was in all his
movements, escape seemed impossible. I have already adverted to
these circumstances in examining the subject of Psalm xiii. : and it
was under such circumstances that the Psalm seems to have been
written. The nature of the town as a citadel, suggests the images
derived from military fortification in the 2nd and 3rd verses : and
the " secretly'practising mischief against him," is evidently alluded
to in the 4th. His situation as " shut up" and " in the hand of
an enemy " — who, however, ought to have been his most zealous
and grateful friend — and his desire to be " set at large," are espe
cially noticed in verse 8.
As usual, his confidence rises as he proceeds, and in verse 21
advances to holy triumph ; concluding in the last two verses with
a general exhortation to take God for our portion, and rely on him
alone. Verse 2. " Speedily incline thine ear to me;
" Defend me."] — The rhythm shows that mnti
" speedily " belongs to the first rather than the second period of
the verse. b^Sn forms a more perfect parallelism with -iljf
" rock," if derived from bi$ " to shade, protect, defend," than, as
is more common, from bl53 " to deliver."
Verse 3. " 0, my fort and my rampart be thou ! "] — This line
belongs to the preceding verse. *»3 is here " Would that ! Othat!"

PSALM XXXI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 147
4 Keep me from the snare they have set for me in am
bush.
0 be thou, Jehovah, my bulwark !
5 Into thy hands I commit my spirit :
Thou art working deliverance for me, 0 Jehovah, God
of truth.
6 Thou hatest the vain holders of falsehood :
But for me, I put my trust in Jehovah.
7 I will exult and rejoice in thy loving-kindness,
When thou shalt have regarded mine affliction ;
Taken cognizance of the distress of my soul ;
8 Yea, shut me not up in the hand of an enemy,
But set my feet at large.
" 0 si ! utinam ! " as in Num. xi. 29, where it is thus rendered
by Diodati, and the Dutch version, " Would to God that all the
people were prophets. 0, would to God that Jehovah would put
his Spirit upon them." So Isaiah xxxix. 8. " 0, that there might
be peace and security in my days ! " For which see Noldius in
verbo. Id. " My fort."]— Not " my rock," which is na or i")lS. but
my "fastness," " stronghold," " broken steep, or cliff," " natural
fort," as in Ps. xviii. 2. The term is Arabic «L» and imports, as
a verb "to break or cleave abruptly ; " and as a noun " a mountain
cleft or cliff, steep or precipice ; a fastness, or stronghold," a "wild
or natural fort."
Verse 4. " Jehovah."] — This word is in the Septuagint' — and
the metre seems to require it, and to show that it has been acci
dentally dropped in the Hebrew.
Verse 5. " Thou art working deliverance."] — nn^lB in Hiphil,
and hence "thou art working deliverance for," rather than ." thou
deliverest or redeemest." But in either case the present time is
here to be preferred to the past.
Verse 6. "Thou hatest."]— The Masora gives V1H3B7, "1
hate." But the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and one MS. of
Kennicott, have " thou hatest " nW3tt7. Lowth, Horsley, Geddes,
Street, and most modern critics have adopted this readings which
is more forcible, while the structure seems to imply an opposition
or change of person in the two hemistichs, L 2

148 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXI.
9 Pity me, 0 Jehovah, for adversity is mine :
Wasted utterly with vexation
Is mine eye, my soul and my body.
10 Lo, my life is consumed with grief ;
And my years with sighing.
My strength faileth beneath mine oppression ;
Yea, utterly wasted are my bones.
11 I am become the reproach of all my foes ;
And, still more so, of mine associates :
Even a terror to them that know me :
They that see me abroad flee from me.
12 I am forgotten as one dead ;
I am out of mind as a broken vessel.
13 How do I hear the murmuring of the many !
Spreading around me on every side !
In their joint caballing against me,
They conspire to take away' my life.
Verse 8. "But."] — n is here omitted by almost all the trans
lators, though it is an important conjunction importing " imo — .
vero — enimvero " — as in Job xxxvii. 20 ; xii. 24.
Verse 11. " And still more of mine associates."] — He was sur
rounded by enemies within the walls, as well as without : some of
them appear to have been traitorous spies, others were bold enough
to vilify him openly ; his friends were wavering ; many of them
joined in the general contumely ; and most trembled at his ap
proaching fall and fled from him : forgetting all his former deeds,
his acts of kindness and military exploits, as though he had never
lived or had been long dead : and particularly his generosity in
coming forward to extricate this very city, which thus maltreated
him, from the hands of the Philistines, and the triumph he obtained
over their enemies.
Verse 12. "I am out of mind."] — The ancient versions join
3ba " out of mind," with the preceding clause : but Mr. Street
has greatly improved the passage by suggesting the present
division. Verse 13. " How do I hear the murmuring of the many,
" Spreading around on every side ! "] — The passage

PSALM XXXI. J BOOK OF PSALMS. 149
14 But in thee, 0 Jehovah, I put my trust :
I have said " Thou art my God ! "
15 My times are in thy hand : — 0 deliver me
From the hand of mine enemy, and from my perse
cutor.
1 6 Let thy countenance shine on thy servant ;
Save me for thy loving-kindness, 0 Jehovah.
17 Let me not be confounded ; for to thee do I cry :
Let the wicked be confounded ; let them be silenced
in the grave :
18 Let the lips of falsehood be struck dumb ;
Perversely haranguing against the Just One,
In arrogance and contempt.
19 How great is thy goodness
Which thou hast in reserve for them that fear thee !
Which thou hast wrought out for them that take
refuge in thee,
In the sight of the sons of men !
20 Thou shalt shelter them in the shelter of thy coun
tenance
From the complottings — of man.
Thou shalt cover them with a shrine
From the violence of tongues.
is rendered literally. 13 is a particle of exclamation, *iiaa usually
derived from 12s " to fear," should be derived rather from ~iaa " to
spread or diffuse." We know from the account in 1 Sam. xxiii. 9,
that the great body of the ungrateful Keilites had openly turned
against their deliverer, and that many of them at the instigation
of Saul were caballing, or " practising secretly" to deliver him up.
Verse 18. " Haranguing stubbornly."] — pHV is here an adverb :
" pertinaciter ; " "pertinaciously, obstinately, stubbornly,, stoutly."
Verse 20. " Complottings — •
"Violence."] — Alluding to those who secretly con
spired against his life, and those that more openly spoke against
him, as in verse 13.
Verse 21. "City of siege."]— I have translated literally, nisa

150 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXII.
2 1 Blessed be Jehovah, for he hath effected
His loving- kindness toward me in a city of siege.
22 I said, in my precipitation,
" I am cut off in the sight of thine eyes,"
But thou heardest the voice of my supplication,
Upon mine outcry unto thee.
23 0 love Jehovah, all ye his saints !
Jehovah defendeth the faithful ;
But plentifully rewardeth the dealer in pride.
24 Take ye courage,. and firm be your heart,
All ye that stay yourselves on Jehovah.
is a technical term in the Hebrew vocabulary of fortification, and
is expressly used in the present sense in Deut. xx. 19, and xxviii.
53, as in its verbal form it occurs in 1 Sam. xxiii. 8, the his
torical passage to which the Psalm seems immediately to refer. It
is not at all improbable that the siege was at this time actually
commenced, and the first trenches cut : but, if not, we know to a
certainty that it was prepared for and on the point of taking place ;
and hence, by a very allowable prolepsis, Keilah might be denomi
nated " a city of siege," or " a city about to be besieged."
Verse 22. " In the sight of thine eyes."] — In thine immediate
presence, and regardless of thy vengeance.
Verse 24. " Take ye courage, and firm be your heart."] — See
Ps. xxvii. 14, from which this is repeated.

XXXIL*
AN INSTRUCTIVE OF DAVID.
1 Blessed is he whose transgression is put away,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom Jehovah
This composition is entitled b'Ottfa — a term derived from b3t&
* to possess or give wisdom or prudence ; " — " to instruct : " and
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 154.

PSALM XXXII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 151
2 Imputeth not iniquity ;
And in whose spirit is no guile.
3 While I held back, my bones wasted away
Through my groaning all the day long.
4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me ;
My moisture was turned into summer-droughts.
(Selah.)
5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee :
Yea, mine iniquity I did not conceal.
" I will confess," said I, " my transgression to Jeho
vah;"
And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. (Selah.)
6 Therefore shall every good man
Make prayer to thee in a time of acceptance.
Even in the water-flood
The swelling waves shall not come near him.
hence imports a solemn monition, precept, or exhortation : " ode
didascalia," which is the rendering of Tremellius and Junius ; or " a
didactic ode " — which is that of Geddes. The term is prefixed to
various other Psalms, as xiii, xliv, Iii, liv.
The commentators are nearly agreed that the present Psalm was
composed upon the divine forgiveness vouchsafed to David on his
sincere repentance of the heavy guilt incurred in the matter of
Bathsheba ; and consequently that it followed soon after the com
position of Psalm li. He was at war when Uriah fell, but the war
was altogether in his favour, with the mere remnant of the Am
monites, insomuch that David did not think it needful to attend in
person, except long afterwards, as a conqueror, on the fall of
Babbah, the " city of waters," to take possession of his trophies,
and to close the contest. It is intended also, as the title expresses
it, as a didactic or instructive Psalm, for general use : hereby
giving a full proof of his deep humility and desire to make public
confession for a public scandal.
Verse 6. " Of acceptance."] — MSa is here a noun instead of a
verb : or it may be rendered participially " of procuring, obtaining,
acquiring : " — though the former is'best.

152 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXII.
7 Thou art my refuge : in distress hast thou pre
served me ;
With shouts of deliverance shalt thou surround me.
(Selah.)
8 I would instruct and enlighten thee
In the way wherein thou shouldst go ;
I would direct mine eye over thee.
9 0 be not without sense, as the horse, as the mule,
With bit and bridle upon him,
For a curb, lest he rebel against thee.
10 Many are the miseries of the wicked :
But for him that relieth on Jehovah,
Loving-kindness shall surround him.
11 Be glad in Jehovah, and exult, 0 ye righteous ;
Yea, shout aloud, all ye upright of heart.
Verse 7. " Thou hast preserved me ;
" With shouts of deliverance."] — Houbigant and a few
other critics have supposed a difficulty in this passage which does
not seem to exist, and have endeavoured very unnecessarily to
amend the text, which they have in consequence suspected to be
corrupt. Bishop Horsley has adopted the same view.
Verse 8. " I would instruct thee."] — Geddes, and some other
critics, suppose this passage to be an address from the Almighty
to the Psalmist. It seems rather, I think, to be the Psalmist's in
structive address to his readers adverted to in the title : in conse
quence of which the second person is employed sometimes in the
plural, and sometimes in the singular ; which can hardly be allowed,
in Hebrew poetry, in an address to an individual. In our own
tongue we find, indeed, occasional instances of this ; but the ground
is totally different ; and even among us it is a gross barbarism.
Verse 9. " 0 be ye not."] — The verse has been rendered very
variously by different translators, most of whom have given a sense
very remote from that of our established leetion : but in my judg
ment, altogether unnecessarily. I have rendered the passage
strictly, and have not essentially differed. 1>!V may mean " his
mouth," as a noun ; or " upon him," as a pronoun. The last
offers the clearest sense. — bs 3~lp " to come near," is rather " to
come upon," " to rise in opposition to," " to advance or rebel
against," as in Psalm xxvii. 2, and in numerous other places.

PSALM XXXIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 153

XXXIIL*
1 Rejoice, ye righteous, in Jehovah :
Comely is praise for the upright.
2 Hymn ye to Jehovah upon the harp ;
Upon the ten-stringed psaltery chant unto him.
3 Sing unto him a new song :
0 strike ye up a shout of triumph.
4 For right is the word of Jehovah,.
And all his works are very truth.
5 He loveth justice and equity :
The earth is full of the goodness of Jehovah.
6 By the word of Jehovah the heavens were made,
Yea, all their hosts by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathered, as a mass, the waters of the sea ;
The abysses he placed in store-houses.
This beautiful anthem of praise has no title in the Hebrew, but
in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, it is called a " Psalm of
David," and from its poetic excellency, as well as its highly devo
tional spirit, is well worthy of his sacred muse. In its extensive
fheme it celebrates Jehovah as the God of nature, creating all
things by the word of his power ; as the God of provjdence, go
verning every nation by his supreme authority, and trying every
heart by his pervading omniscience ; and as the God of grace,
selecting in his special favour a peculiar people for his heritage,.
subverting the counsels of their enemies, and overthrowing all their
enterprises. For the time of its probable composition, see the Historical Out
line, Verse 4. " Very truth."] — naiaM3 The is here an intensive
adverb, " very, truly, itself," as in Prov. viii- 8, and numerous
other places.
Verse 7. "As a mass."] — In Hebrew 133 " as amass," in per-
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 108.

154 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXX1IL
8 Let all the earth fear Jehovah,
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of
him.
9 For he spake, and it existed ;
He commanded, and it was established.
10 Jehovah subvert eth the counsels of the heathen :
He frustrateth the desires of the peoples.
11 The counsels of Jehovah are established for ever,
The designs of his heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah ;
The people he hath chosen for his heritage.
J 3 From the heavens surveyeth Jehovah ;
He beholdeth all the children of men.
14 From the tribunal of his abode
He inspecteth all the inhabitants of the earth.
1 5 He traceth out equally their hearts,
He exploreth all their doings.
1 6 No king is saved by dint of might ;
The champion escapeth not by dint of strength.
17 Vain is the steed for a safeguard ;
Yea, by dint of his own might can he not deliver.
18 Behold the eye of Jehovah is on them that fear him ;
On them that trust in his goodness.
19 To deliver their soul from death ;
Yea, to uphold them in the midst of famine.
feet consistency with Gen. i. 9, 10, and the best systems of geology
in the present day, especially Kirwan's and Werner's. The ancient
versions for na read INa, " a bottle ; " and Dathe, Geddes, and
Horsley have followed the alteration, but unnecessarily, and erro
neously. Verse 16. " The champion escapeth not by dint of strength."] —
Alluding to the heroes of gigantic .stature the Philistines were in
the habit of employing.
Verse 17. " Vain is the steed for a safeguard."] — Cavalry was

PSALM XXXIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 155
20 Our soul waiteth for Jehovah ;
He is our help and our shield.
21 Lo, in him shall our heart exult :
Lo, in his holy name will we trust. ,
22 Let thy loving-kindness, 0 Jehovah, be upon us,
According as our hope is in thee.
employed by the Philistines ; but not used by the Israelites in the
time of David ; and in fact forbidden by a divine prohibition : for
which see Note on Psalm xx. 7.

XXXIV*
BY DAVID.
ON HIS BEFEATING HIS DEMAND BEFOKE ABIMELECH ; WHEN HE HVBBIBII
HIM AWAY, AND HE WENT.
H
1 I will bless Jehovah in every state :
His praise shall be continually in my mouth.
This Psalm is alphabetical : but the sixth letter in the alphabet,
with the verse corresponding to it, has by mistake been transferred
to the close. The title explains the subject, though there is
nothing in the Psalm itself that would indicate it otherwise. From
the title, it was composed by David just after he had quitted
Abimelech, who had complied as far as he was able, on the spur of
the occasion, with both his demands, that of bread, and that of
arms. Abimelech, who was from the first suspicious that David
was dismissed from the court, seems to have been ill at ease through
the entire conference, and both were probably afraid of the pre
sence of Doeg ; he dismissed him therefore with all speed ; and
David, overflowing with gratitude to God for his providential pro-
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 77.

1 56 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXIV.
3
2 My soul shall boast herself in Jehovah :
Let the afflicted listen and rejoice.
a
3 Let them magnify Jehovah with me ;
0, let us extol his name together. 1
4 I sought Jehovah, and he hath heard me,
And rescued me from all my fears.
n
5 0, trust in Jehovah, and be lighted up,
And let not your faces be cast down.
1
For Jehovah redeemeth the soul of his servants ;
And none shall be condemned that shelter in him.
tection in affording him an immediate escape from the hand of
Saul, flies next to Achish, king of Gath.
The whole is a song of ardent thanksgiving, and fearless confi
dence in Jehovah for the future. He seems particularly to allude
to his condition in ver. 1, 3, 6, 10, 14, 18, and the three following
verses ; in which case it is probable that ver. 21 refers to Doeg,
though we are not acquainted with his end.
St. John has selected ver. 20, as typical of our Saviour, chap.
xix. 36 ; and in this case the last three verses must equally apply
to him ; while ver. 2 1 must refer to Judas, and the Jewish com
munity, and their respective ends.
Verse 3. " Let them magnify."] — Bather than " Magnify ye,"
for the sign of the mood ( ¦» ) is dropped by elision, as in English
the sign let is dropped in the preceding verse before " rejoice."
Verse 5. " 0 trust ye."] — The Hebrew imports thus : or "they
trusted," as in our standard version. But the pronoun they has no
antecedent : and most of the critics therefore use the second person.
Id. " Your faces."] — The Masora gives On^aB (their faces)
but the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Kennicott read Q3^aB, " your
faces : " and the sense shows that they are right, and that n is an
error of the copyists for 3.

PSALM XXXIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 157
t
6 This oppressed one called, and Jehovah heard,
And saved him out of all his distresses.
n
7 The angel of Jehovah encampeth
p' Around them that fear him, and delivereth them.
a
8 0 taste and see that Jehovah is good :
Blessed is the man that sheltereth in him.

9 0 fear Jehovah, ye his saints ;
For nothing shall be wanting to them that fear him.
3
10 The young lions may lack, and suffer hunger ;
But no good thing shall they want that seek Jehovah*
b
11 0 come, ye children, hearken unto me ;
I will teach you the fear of Jehovah.
a
12 What man art thou that desirest life,
Coveting. days, with a view to well-being ?
Id. " For Jehovah."] — This verse occurs last in the Masora,
but is there supernumerary, for the Hebrew alphabet closes
with the preceding verse : and as a verse is omitted in the present
place to answer to the letter 1, there can be little doubt that Dr.
Kennicott is right in transposing it. To make it correspond, how
ever, the word nilB with which it commences, must have the two
first letters exchanged hlBl, which is perhaps best ; or else have a
supply of 1 as given by Dr. Kennicott nilBl.
Id. " Shall be condemned."] — maw as here rendered : but
it has often been confounded with, or mistaken for !DttJ\ " shall
be desolate."
Verse 6. " This oppressed one."] — Alluding to himself.

158 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXIV.
a
13 Keep thy tongue from evil,
And thy lips from speaking guile :
D
14 Turn aside from evil, and practise good,
Seek out peace and follow it up.
V
1 5 The eyes of Jehovah are on the righteous ;
And his ears are at their call.
3
16 The face. of Jehovah is against evil-doers ;
To root out the memory of them from the earth.
2
17 The righteous cry, and Jehovah heareth,
And delivereth them out of all their distresses.
P
18 Jehovah draweth near to the broken in heart ;
And saveth the contrite in spirit.
1
19 Great are the sufferings of the Just One,
But Jehovah delivereth him out of them all.
w
20 He guardeth all his bones ;
Not one of them is broken. n
21 Violence shall cut off the offender ;
And the revilers of the Just One shall be condemned.
Verse 17. "The righteous."] — In the Masora, "they cry,"
without an antecedent, evidently importing that QipilSJ has been
dropped by mistake. It occurs in the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac,
Chaldee, Bishop Lowth, Bishop Horsley, and most of the critics.
Verse 21. " Violence shall cut off the offender, and the revilers
of the Just one shall be condemned."] — The whole passage is ren
dered strictly ; and while the term Jdst one appears clearly to
apply to our Saviour, both in the present verse and verse 19, the
term offender is equally designed for the traitor Judas.
Verse 22. In the Masora reading misplaced.

PSALM XXXV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 1 59

XXXV*
BY DAVID.
1 Contend thou, 0 Jehovah, with my contenders,
Fight thou them that fight against me :
2 0 grasp the shield, and the buckler
And arise in my defence :
3 And stretch forth the spear, and the 6ow-string,
For encountering my persecutors.
Say unto my soul, " I am thy salvation."
4 Let them be confounded, and put to shame
That seek after my soul.
Let them be turned back, and sink away
That meditate my ruin.
Verse 3. "Bow-string."] — "liaD usually rendered " stop," — i. e.
the way ; but the critics have not been satisfied with this meaning,
as "liaD is in parallelism with n^in or " spear." Bishop Horsley
copies Hare, who represents it as a Persian term importing a small
sword ; whence he renders the passage.
Present the javelin and dirk against my persecutors.
In Arabic, which is the tongue we ought chiefly to look to, for an
explanation of like terms in Hebrew, iaD or JCj means " ner-
vus, tendo, cartilago " — and hence applies rather to the string of
the bow than to the sword : and I have accordingly thus rendered it.
It imports also vibratory excitement of any kind ; and hence " ebri-
ety, intoxication."
Verse 5. " Disperse them."] — nm literally " chase;" but which
appears to have been read by the Septuagint Qm " chase them ;"
whence they render the passage eK6\l€av dvrois. The n is there
fore a mistake for D, and is so regarded in our common version.
This is still clearer as the Q is retained in the ensuing verse, which
is a parallelism : "pursue them," or " be upon them."
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 69.

160 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXV.
5 Let them be as chaff before the wind :
Yea, let the angel of Jehovah disperse them.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
And the angel of Jehovah pursue them.
7 As they have laid for me their trap unawares,
As a pit unawares they have digged for my soul,
8 May destruction unforeseen come upon them,
And their trap that they have laid catch themselves.
For destruction let them stumble upon it.
9 So shall my soul exult in Jehovah,
It shall rejoice in his salvation.
1 0 My bones shall all exclaim
" Who, 0 Jehovah, is like unto thee,
" Upholding the helpless against the stronger than
himself,
" Yea, the helpless and the destitute against his
devourer ? "
11 False witnesses rise up :
They charge me with what I know nothing of:
12 They requite me evil for good
To the bereavement of my life.
1 3 But, for me, during their sickness,
Sackcloth was my clothing,
I afflicted my soul with fasting ;
While my prayer returned into my bosom.
Verse 7. " Have they laid for me their trap.
A pit have they digged."] — As it occurs in the Ma
sora text it is, " have they laid for me a pit ; their trap have they
digged." But it is generally agreed that nntP "a pit," and
QnttFl " their trap," have by mistake been made to change places.
And hence, in our established version, and most others, the trans
position is rectified.
Verse 8. " Let them stumble."] — In the Masora " Let him
stumble," but the Septuagint gives the plural, and seems to restore
the correct reading. The terms them and their in the preceding
parts of the verse are either singular or plural in the Hebrew.

PSALM XXXV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 161
14 As to my friend or brother I carried myself;
Like one mourning for a mother I sunk in heaviness.
15 But in my down-casting they rejoiced and met
together,
Against me met the railers, — yet I knew nothing,
They rended, and ceased not to abuse me.
16 The scoffer scoffed at me
Gnashing upon me with his teeth.
17 How long, 0 Lord, wilt thou look on ?
Rescue my soul from their violence ;
Verse 15. " Downcasting."] — Hebrew 3?b2 " halting, faltering,
giving way," from a loss of balance, " sinking on one side." So
Jerem. xx. 10, " my familiars watched for my halting," in which
the same word is used. As applied to our Saviour it appears to
refer to the agony in Gethsemane, when he sweat great drops of
blood, and an angel was sent to comfort him.
Id. " Yet I knew nothing."] — " Of any charge they could bring
against me," as in verse 1 1 .
Id. " Bailers."] — ?''Sa, smiters, sometimes with the hand, as
in Isa. 1. 6, " I gave my back to the smiters." Sometimes with
the tongue, as in Jerem. xviii. 18, " Let us smite him with the
tongue." The latter seems the sense referred to, from verses 1 1
and 1 6, as well as from the remainder of the present verse.
Id. "And ceased not to abuse me."] — The verse should be
united with the first word in the ensuing. ,<3an3 " from abusing
me," or "from the abuse of me :" though in our established version
rendered, without sufficient authority, " hypocritical." But the
proper division not having hitherto occurred to the critics, every
one has felt a difficulty and rendered it according to his own ima
gination. Verse 16. "The scoffer scoffed at me."] — This is a parallelism
with the ensuing half of the couplet. The Septuagint and Vulgate
have rendered it in the plural " subsannaverunt subsannatione ; "
but this is unnecessarily to deviate from the original, though not so
much as our established translators who give " mockers in feasts,"
deriving 319a from 5V, instead of from a^b.
Verse 17. " My desolate soul."'] — For which see the note on
Ps. xxii. 20. M

162 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXV.
My desolate soul from the lions.
18 0 let me give thee thanks in the great assembly.
Amongst the thronging people let me praise thee.
19 Let not the lying persecutors rejoice over me,
Let not the causeless scoffers wink the eye ;
20 They that never speak peace ;
But against the peaceful of the land hatch false tales.
21 Yea, who open their mouth against me,
Who say, " Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it."
22 This hast thou seen, 0 Jehovah, be not silent ;
Be not far from me, 0 Lord.
23 0 rouse thyself, and wake up to my award,
0 my God, and my Lord, to my suit.
24 Award to me according to thy justice, 0 Jehovah, my
God,
And let them not rejoice over me :
25 Let them not say in their hearts
" Aha, we are satisfied : "
Let them not say, " We have devoured him." ,
26 Let them be confounded and sink together,
That rejoice in my ruin :
Let them be covered with shame and dishonour
That magnify themselves against me.
Verse 20. " They that never."] — A great difficulty has been
found in this passage ; and hence the Septuagint, Arabic, and Vul
gate, for «b read 'b " For they speak to me " — instead of " for
they speak not : " — as though they dissembled, and assumed a
friendly appearance. And hence Bishop Horsley —
For they speak to me friendly language.
We do not gain much in point of perspicuity by this alteration
of the text : nor does it seem necessary ; since we have only to
regard "O as a relative " qui," " who, that, which," instead of as
a conjunction " for " — and the whole difficulty is cleared away —
sb being never instead of not.
Noldius has sufficiently shown that ">3 has often this import, and
has given numerous examples in which it thus occurs : the first of

PSALM XXXVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 163
27 Let them shout aloud and rejoice
That favour my righteous cause.
Yea, let them say continually, " Jehovah be magnified,
" Who favoureth the prosperity of his servant."
28 , So shall my tongue talk of thy justice,
Of thy praise all the day long.
which is in Gen. iv. 25, )>p lain "O b3n nnn which in our
established version runs thus, "instead of Abel whom Cain slew."
This indeed might be rendered, " for Cain slew him." But in
other examples, and especially 2 Sam. xxiv. 10, he contends that
in its strict sense it can only be a synonym of -iW# as employed in
Num. xii. 1 1 — and that it ought to be so used in various other
places.

XXXVI.*
TO THE SUPREME.
at jehovah's servant david.
1 The transgression of the wicked proclaimeth to my
inmost heart,
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For to his own eyes he beguileth himself
Lest he should discover his iniquity to be abominable.
Verse 1. " To my inmost heart."] — The Septuagint, Syriac, and
a few MSS. have 1 (his) for "> (my). And most modern critics
have adopted the variation. In which case the rendering would
be— Proclaimeth in his inmost heart.
The change is not of great moment, but the common or Masora
reading seems the best ; and such a change is not called for.
Verse 2. " For to his own eyes he beguileth himself.
"Lest he should discover."] — The passage is thus
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 71.
M 2

164 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXVI.
3 Deceit and iniquity are the words of his mouth :
To be wise — to do good, he hath left off.
4 He thinketh of mischief upon his bed :
In no good way doth he settle himself :
He hath no abhorrence of evil.
5 To the heavens, 0 Jehovah, is thy tender-mercy.
Up to the skies thy faithfulness.
6 Thy righteousness is as the unsealed mountains;
Thy judgments are a vast abyss.
0 Jehovah, thou preservest man and beast.
7 How unparallelled is thy tender-mercy, 0 God !
Therefore shall the sons of men shelter themselves
Under the shadow of thy wings.
rendered literally, and agreeably, indeed, to what it has generally
been understood to signify, though it has been usually translated
with some degree of paraphrase. Thus Bishop Horsley —
For he giveth things a fair appearance to himself,
In his own eyes, so that he discovers not his own iniquity
to hate it.
" He sets," says the learned prelate, " such a false gloss, in his own
eyes, upon his worst actions, that he never finds out the blackness
of his iniquity, which, were it perceived by him, would be hateful
even to himself."
Verse 5. " To the heavens, 0 Jehovah, is thy tender-mercy."] —
The apostrophe is very fine. Nothing less than a God of infinite
mercy could endure this, and bear with such a culprit. Nothing
less than a God whose love is immeasurably high — who has de
clared that he willeth not the death of a sinner, and whose faith
fulness is as immeasurable as his love. Thy righteousness is
inscrutable— Thy judgments a vast abyss. We are lost in the'
contemplation. The key to the passage is in Luke vi. 35, — " he is
kind to the unthankful and the evil."
Verse 6. " Unfathomed mountains."] — Literally, "as the moun
tains of God" — and so the Septuagint and Vulgate. But the
primary meaning of the term is intervention, interposition, prohi
bition, — that which cannot be scaled or passed through, — being
impervious, inscrutable, or unfathomable.

PSALM XXXVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 165
8 On the plenteousness of thy house shall they banquet :
And thou shalt give them to drink of the river of
thy pleasures.
9 For with thee is the fountain of life :
In thy light we shall be irradiated with light.
10 0 stretch forth thy tender-mercy to them that know
thee;
And thy righteousness to the upright of heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride come upon me,
Let not the hand of the wicked be shaken at me.
12 Already are they fallen — the workers of iniquity ;
They are cast down, and are unable to rise.

XXXVII*

Bt DAVID.

N
1 Fret not thyself on account of the wicked ;
Envy not thou the workers of iniquity :
2 For soon shall they be cut down as the grass,
And wither as the green herbage.
3
3 Trust thou in Jehovah, and do good :
Take thy station on earth, and cherish truth :
4 And place thy delight in Jehovah,
And he shall grant thee the desires of thine heart.
a
5 Commit thy cause to Jehovah ;
0 trust in him, and he shall accomplish it ;
6 And shall display thy righteousness as the light,
Yea, thine equity as the sun-beams.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 255..

166 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXVII.
1
7 Repose thou on Jehovah,
And wait patiently for him ;
Fret not thyself at the successful in his career ;
At the man that accomplisheth a device.
n
8 Forbear from anger, and give up wrath ;
Fret not thyself even at evil :
9 For evil-doers shall be cut off,
But they that wait for Jehovah shall inherit the
earth. 1
10 Lo ! a little while, and the wicked shall be a nothing.
Yea, thou shalt search for his place, but there shall be
nothing of him :
1 1 While the meek shall inherit the land,
And delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
T
12 Let the wicked plot against the just man,
And gnash upon him with his teeth :
13 The Lord shall laugh at him ;
For he seeth that his day is approaching.
n
14 Let the wicked draw the sword, and stretch their
bow,
To cut down the distressed and the needy,
To murder the upright in conduct : —
15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart,
And their bows shall be shivered.

a
1 6 Better is the little of a just man,
Than the abundance of combining wicked men :
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken ¦
But Jehovah upholdeth the just.

PSALM XXXVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 167
18 Jehovah respect eth the days of the upright ;
So shall their inheritance be for ever.
19 They shall not be disturbed in the time of distress ;
Yea, in the days of famine, they shall be satisfied.
3
20 But the wicked shall perish —
Even the enemies of Jehovah :
Like the fat of lambs shall they consume ;
They shall consume into smoke.
b
21 The wicked borroweth, and repayeth not ;
But the just man is merciful and giveth.
22 Lo, the blessed of him shall inherit the earth,
And the cursed of him shall be cut off.
a
23 The steps of the man * are established by Jehovah,
And he favoureth his course.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be cast away,
For Jehovah upholdeth his hand.
a
25 I have been young, but am grown old,
Yet never have I seen the just man forsaken ;
Nor his seed begging bread.
26 Daily is he succoured and satisfied,
And his seed is for a blessing.

D
27 Depart from evil and do good ;
And have a dwelling-place for ever.
28 For Jehovah loveth righteousness,
And will never forsake his saints.
* i. e. The just man in the preceding verse, the subject of which is run into
the present.

168 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXVII..
V
Evermore shall they be protected,
While the seed of the wicked are cut off.
29 The righteous shall inherit the land ;
Yea, they shall dwell in it to perpetuity.
a
30 The mouth of the just man uttereth wisdom ;
And his tongue speaketh equity.
31 The law of his God, in his heart,
Causeth his footsteps not to slip.
32 The wicked is on the watch for the just man,
And pryeth to put him to death.
33 Jehovah will not leave him to his power,
Nor condemn him according to his doom.
P
34 Wait thou on Jehovah,
Yea, give heed to his way ;
So shall he raise thee to the heritage of the land,
Whilst thou seest the destruction of the wicked.
1
35 I beheld the wicked man overbearing,
And branching out as a vigorous tree :
Verse 29. " Evermore."] — Dbl3? and QblJJb seem to have
been used convertibly, as, in our own tongue, we say " evermore,"
or " for evermore." The Masora has EDbl3?b, in which the b is evi
dently erroneous, as the verse must begin with 3? to preserve the
order of the alphabet, the Psalm being an acrostic quatrain. Many
critics have endeavoured to obtain the V in some other way ; and
particularly as the different reading of the Septuagint allows con
jecture; but this is the simplest.
Verse 36. " But he passed away."] — The Septuagint, Vulgate,
and Syriac read "133?N1 instead of "133^1, which gives " But I re
passed." Houbigant uses the same, as also Bishop Horsley ;
But I passed by, and behold he was not.
The alteration is ingenious, but unnecessaiy : and hence should not
beadmitted.

PSALM XXXVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 169
36 But he passed away, and, lo, there was nothing of him,
Yea, I searched for him, but he could not be found.
W
37 Mark the sincere man, and behold the upright ;
For the end of that man is peace :
38 While transgressors shall be wholly destroyed,
And the end of the wicked shall be their excision.
n
39 The salvation of the righteous is Jehovah —
Their strength in the time of distress.
40 Yea, Jehovah will help them, and deliver them ;
He will deliver them from the wicked,
Because they have taken shelter in him.
Verse 38. " And the end."] — The Hebrew seems in this place
not properly divided in the Masora, which, instead of n'HnN lin\
should be perhaps n">"im in\ which gives us the conjunction
and, that seems wanting.
Verse 39. '* The salvation."] — The Masora reading has here
still more evidently misplaced the i than in the preceding passage,
as it should terminate the last word in the foregoing verse, —
inni3a, " their excision," or " cutting off," 1 being here plural,
as in many other places, — instead of beginning the verse before us,
which demands the letter n in the ordinary course of the alpha
betic arrangement, and obtains it with this alteration. The 1 is
hence thrown out by. most of the modem critics, but it seems to
me, as in the foregoing verse to be a mere misplacement, and that
it should be only carried back to the end of the preceding word.

1 70 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXVIII.

XXXVIII*
A PSALM OP DAVID.
For a Memorial.
1 0 Jehovah, rebuke me not in thy rage,
Nor in thine indignation chastise me.
2 Behold, thine arrows are lodged within me ;
Thy hand beareth down upon me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh,
Because of thine anger ;
No ease in my bones,
Because of my sin.
4 Behold, mine iniquities hang over my head :
Like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5 How noisome are my blotches ! how corrupt !
Because of my brutishness.
6 I tremble, I am utterly bowed down ;
I go mourning all the day long.
7 Behold, my loins are filled with the inflammation ;
Yea, there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am reduced and utterly exhausted ;
I groan in the tumult of my heart.
This most interesting and plaintive Psalm represents the author
as labouring under a severe disease, possessing, like that of Job,
the character of the elephantiasis, or black leprosy ; which he re
gards as a punishment for his sins : and in the midst of which,
while burning with fever within, and fetid from offensive sores
without, he is deserted by his friends, and persecuted by his ene
mies. Thus humiliated he makes no appeal to his fellow-mortals ;
but, freely confessing his sins to Almighty God, relies on his mercy,
and supplicates his protection. * Historical Outline, &c. p. 168.

PSALM XXXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 171
9 0 Lord, before thee is all my suit :
For my wailing is not hidden from thee.
1 0 My heart panteth, my strength faileth me,
Yea, the light of mine eyes.
But these are a nothing to me : —
1 1 My familiars and intimates
Stand off from the sight of my suffering :
Yea, afar off stand my relations.
The calamity, in the variegated life of David, seems to apply to
him shortly before the rebellion of his son Absalom, when he was
surrounded by a daring and powerful faction of infidels and scoffers.
In a spiritual sense it is no doubt applicable to every good man
when peculiarly smarting under a sense of the leprosy of sin in his
soul ; beset by his spiritual enemies ; deprived of the ordinary
comforts of religion ; and making his humble prayer to God for a
restoration of the light of his countenance, whose healing beams
alone can recover him from the sickness under which he is bowed
down. In the case of the Psalmist, the title intimates that his prayer was
heard and granted : and that the elegy was composed as a memo
rial of the mercy received, which was never to escape from his
recollection. Verse 10. " But these are a nothing to me."] — That is, in com
parison with the social and moral evils I have sustained, and have
yet to enumerate : the falsehood of friends, the proscription of
near relations, and the fraud and malice of the world. The Chal-
dee paraphrase limits the E3n " these " to the eyes alone, in
stead of extending it to all the evils already noticed ; and under
stands the phrase that " his eyes are become a nothing, or a blank
to him ; " or as Bishop Horsley has it —
And the light of mine eyes — nay, they themselves are lost to
me.
But the present interpretation is the simplest and most forcible.
The common rendering, which is that of our Bible translation, can
not be supported : for the pronoun is in the plural, and cannot be
it. Bishop Hare alters the text, and carries nn D3 towards the
close of the next verse.

172 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXVIII.
12 While they that seek my life lay snares,
And they that consult my ruin speak falsehoods ;
And plot stratagems all the day long.
13 Yet I am like a deaf man, that heareth not,
Or like a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.
14 Yea, like a man am I that doth not hear ;
And in whose mouth are no replies.
15 "Lo ! to thee do I trust myself, 0 Jehovah ;
" Thou shalt answer, 0 Lord my God."
16 Thus much exclaim I, lest they should triumph
over me ;
Lest they should exult against me when my foot
slippeth :
17 For I am ready to falter.
How perpetually is my suffering before me !
18 Though I acknowledge mine iniquity ,
Though I am grieved for my sin.
19 While mine enemies flourish through life ;
And they that causelessly hate me grow great :
20 And, recompensing evil for good,
War with me for the good I have done.
21 0 forsake me not, Jehovah !
My God ! be not thou away from me !
Hasten to my help, 0 Lord, my salvation !
Verse 13. "  that heareth not."] — In the Masora " I hear
not : " but as the third person is given in the ensuing line, and the
two form a parallelism, it would seem that the third person ought
to have occurred in the first line also. And thus it is given in nine
MSS of Kennicott, and one of De Bossi.
Verse 16. " Thus much."] — The Hebrew 'O seems here to im
port turn, tantum, as it often does quam, quantum.
Id. " Lest they shoult exult."] — Literally, " should exult " —
but the particle ]D, lest, is clearly understood.

PSALM XXXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 1 73
XXXIX.*
TO THE SUPREME,
Upon his dispensation.
A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 I was purposed that I would take heed to my ways,
Lest I should transgress with my tongue :
The title admits of various interpretations. nSiab in the pre
sent version, and for reasons already offered, has been uniformly
rendered " To the Supreme." The next term fin'H'b may be
" upon his dispensation or decree," " ordinance," " the special
appointment or visitation of his providence ; " to which the Psalm
makes an impressive though general reference. In this case the
origin is ni> whence mT and VYH'1 " a law, dispensation, or
ordinance," with the pronoun " his " — " his ordinance or dispen
sation." It might also import, but that the subject of the Psalm is
of an opposite character, "From the eulogist" or "praise-giver."
In which sense '}n',^', is a pluriliteral or compound, from nT<
" praise," and ]n or }ri3 " giving." Or the term may be per
sonal, and refer to one of the leaders of the band of sacred music
of the name of Jeduthun, or " the eulogist," or " praiser : " of
whom particular mention is made in 1 Chron. xvi. 38, 42. The
first is the simplest and most connective sense, and is hence adopted
in the present place. The last, however, is the common rendering.
The historical circumstances of the Psalm can only be conjec
tured, for no information on the subject has reached us. It un
questionably refers to some very heavy calamity that had befallen the
Psalmist, to all appearance suddenly and unexpectedly, and which
he expressly regarded as a direct chastisement from the hand of
God. He was at this time, according to the tenour of the Psalm,
surrounded with hosts of wicked and taunting enemies, who were
ready to rejoice in his affliction, and to scoff, as atheists or idolators,
* Historical Outline, &c. p, 97.

174 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM XXXIX.
2 That I would take heed of my mouth with a bridle,
While the wicked was before me.
I kept a dead silence, I was becomingly mute,
Though my indignation was stirred up,

at his religious principles, seeing they afforded him no protection,
while they themselves were in a state of prosperity and triumph.
And he seems to have felt the contrast very severely : for which see
ver. 2, 3, 8, 9.
Under this oppressive stroke he does not at first trust himself to
utter a word, lest in the violence of his grief he should " speak un
advisedly with his lips," and complain of his situation in terms that
might dishonour his character, and be taken hold of by bis infidel
enemies. He determined therefore from the first to submit, in
deep and becoming silence, to the severe dispensation, and only to
muse on it in his own mind. As his holy meditation however pro
ceeds, every irrascible passion dies away ; and finding himself at
length capable of venting the deep grief of his heart in the lan
guage of pious resignation, he breaks forth into the plaintive and
forcible address to the Almighty, which commences with ver. 4, in
which he dwells upon the utter vanity of life and all its enjoyments
and heaped-up treasures, which may be swept away in a moment.
In his present distress he places his whole reliance on God, who he
acknowledges had justly visited him for his sins ; yet alluding to
the emptiness and brevity of life, he strikingly entreats, ver. 1 2, as
a mere pilgrim and sojourner in the wilderness of the world, to be
allowed the rites of hospitality from the hand of his Almighty Bene
factor, during the shortness of his stay ; and emphatically concludes
with a wish that his life might be spared so long, as to enlighten
him on a dispensation so dark as the present.
As there is not the slightest reference to his own royalty, or to
the ark or the temple on Mount Zion, or " the hills from whence
cometh his salvation," it is clear that the Psalm was composed
before he was made king over Israel, and had effected the conquest
of Jerusalem, and the hills by which it was surrounded. And
there seems to be no period 'that will so exactly apply to it as that
of his returning from the army of Achish, the Philistine monarch,
from which he was driven contemptuously, and against the will of
Achish, by the united voice of his scoffing and infidel band of

PSALM XXXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 1 75
3 My heart was hot within me.
While I was musing the fire died away :
Then spake I with my tongue :
4 Shew me, 0 Jehovah, mine end,
And what is the measure .of my days ;
May I see how fleeting I am.
5 Lo ! a handbreadth hast thou set for my days ;
Yea, my time is as nothing before thee.
haughty courtiers ; and his finding, on his arrival at Ziklag, the
city entirely burnt by an incursion of the Amalekites, who took
advantage of his absence, despoiled it of everything, and carried
David's own wives and family, and the wives and families of all
that were with him, into captivity. " Then David and the peojile
that were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no
more power to weep." 1 Sam. xxx. 4. This, indeed, he might
well fear would be a new reproach urged against him, and was
sufficient to strike him dumb. Thus applied, the description that
he was " a stranger and a sojourner" under the special care of
God, is peculiarly forcible.
Verse I . " I was purposed."] — Bather than " I said," — as in
Exod. ii. 14, and 2 Sam. xxi. 16, in both which -)BN means " to
purpose ; " " to intend, or think to do : " the two last of which are
the renderings of this verb, as given in these two places in our
common version.
Verse 2. " I was becomingly mute,
Though my indignation"  ] — 3iaa is rather an
adverb, " goodly, fitly, meetly, becomingly," than a noun, as in
our common version " from good." 3N3 is not merely sorrow,
but " exulcerating sorrow, pain, or grief," " vexation," " indig
nation." Verse 3. " The fire died away."] — That is, " was consumed, or
burnt out," which is the primary signification of. 1^3, and a
frequent sense in the Bible. It was then only he became fit for
religious exercises.
Verse 5. " Utter vanity is every one, even the stablest man."] —
Or " man of stability." The passage has been supposed difficult;
it is here rendered literally : 323 OIN- Geddes offers " every

1 76 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXIX;
Surely utter vanity is every one, even the stablest man ;
(Selah.)
6 Surely man busieth himself after a shadow.
Surely in vain do they heap up possessions,
For one knoweth not what may sweep them away.
7 And what now may I hope for ? —
On thee, 0 Lord, is my reliance.
8 0 deliver me from all my transgressions ;
Make me not a reproach of the foolish.
existing man,"' — but 32a is not sufficiently expressed by "existing:"
" man in his best estate " is a good paraphrase, though not a literal
interpretation. Bishop Horsley translates " every man with all his
pride," deriving 323 from n32 " to swell ; " but it is not neces
sary to deviate from the . common meaning, which after all is
stronger. Verse 12. " For a stranger am I with thee,
Yea, a sojourner."] — " Give me therefore in my
pilgrimage the rites Qf hospitality ; " alluding to the custom of
entertaining strangers and sojourners in their journeyings, practised
throughout the east.
Verse 13. " O spare me, that I may become enlightened."] —
Copied almost verbatim from Job x. 20 : —
" O spare me ! that I may become a little enlightened
Before I go, (and I shall not return,)
To a land of darkness and death shade."
The term here used in both places is nS'bsNl- ab3 will, I
think, appear to every one, who critically examines the text, to be
an Arabic root, (_Lj the same word, offering a very clear and impor
tant sense.) ab3, or _Xj, as given by all the Arabic lexicographers
who notice it — (for Meninski has strangely omitted it), — imports to
light, or give light, to shine forth, clear up, inform ; and hence, figu
ratively, " to dissipate mental gloom," " to brighten or cheer the
countenance ; " and " to dissipate intellectual gloom," to make mani
fest what was obscure and doubtful. In Golius, who is supported by
Giggeius, it is therefore given as follows : — " _Xj fut. o. n. a. nituit.
fulsit, luxitque aurora. Gig. item aperuit, patefecit, clarum ac mani-
festum reddidit. Discriminavit. Clarus et manifestus fuit — «*Vj

PSALM XXXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 177
9 I was mute, I opened not my mouth,
For it was thou who didst it.
10 0 turn thy stroke away from me ;
I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.
11 By rebukes for iniquity thou chastisest man,
And blightest his beauty as a moth-worm.
Surely every man is vanity — (Selah.)
fieZeye^lux,etpeculiariter postrema pars noctis, aurorse proxima;
diluculum. Ji (beleg) fulgidus, lucidus : ita et nitidus vultu ;
clarus et evidens de jure, argumento, &c." And hence jJj
clarus, renidisoens. *—
The term occurs only five times in the whole of the Hebrew
Scriptures — twice in the book of Job, and once in that of the Psalms,
in the prophecies of Jeremiah, and those of Amos, To understand
its real meaning, we must trace it to its source ; for those who fol
lowed, unquestionably employed it in the sense of him who first
used it and led the way.
Now the book of Job is genuine Hebrew, with a very con
siderable interspersion of Arabic, insomuch that no scholar ac
quainted with Hebrew alone, or by a Hebrew lexicon alone, can
possibly interpret it ; and hence has arisen one of the chief diffi
culties in rendering it literally as well as intelligibly. In both
places, then, in the book of Job in which the term occurs, the
obvious meaning is the Arabic sense of the term, in some modifica
tion or other; and in both it is thus rendered by Beiske and
Sehultens, who have concurred in giving it the bearing of reni
disoens, to clear or brighten up, as the sky after a storm ; or the
dawn after night.
The first passage occurs in ch. ix. 27, and is rendered in our
version '* I will comfort myself," which is well enough as a ren
dering, but it does not give us the literal sense, which is that of
" clearing up," or assuming a fair and shining, instead of a dark
and gloomy countenance, as both interpreters just adverted to
rendered it. The second passage occurs in ch. x. 20, and is simiT
larly translated " take comfort " in our common version, as it is
by " renidescens," " to clear up, or brighten up," by Sehultens
and Beiske. The last, as it is the primary, is also by far the best
meaning ; only the context seems to show very sufficiently that
N

1 78 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XXXIX.
12 Hearken, 0 Jehovah, to my prayer,
And give ear to my cry :
Be not thou silent to my tears.
For a stranger am I with thee,
Yea, a sojourner, as were all my forefathers.
13 0 spare me that I may become enlightened,
Before I go hence, and be no more.
" the clearing or brightening up," in the present place, refers rather
to the intellectual than to the animal faculties. The verb, more
over, is given in a causative sense, " that I may make myself clear
or enlightened," " that I may be clear or enlightened : —
" 0 spare me, that I may become a little enlightened ; "
thus offering us a beautiful and noble idea, with which the common
rendering can form no competition. Admitting this to be the sense
in this passage of the book of Job, there can be.no doubt that the
Psalmist, in copying the entire verse, with the exception of the
adverb aya, " a little," used it in the same signification, and meant
to convey the same expressive and exquisite idea : —
" O spare me, that I may become enlightened."
In the other two passages of the Bible in which the same term
occurs, it must necessarily follow the common stream of meaning ;
as there the same explanation is equally true, and will afford an
equally intelligible sense ; though some doubt has been expressed,
whether in the passage in Amos ab3 is the proper word, as a differ
ent rendering is found in several of the MSS. The Septuagint ver
sion gives us no clue upon the subject ; for its rendering in all these
places is very different ; and in one or two of them, and particu
larly in the passage immediately before us, it appears to be formed
from a very different reading than the Masoretic Hebrew.
The Hebrew interpreters are left very much to guess at a
meaning, from the five only instances in which the term occurs ;
and as the present is unquestionably a direct copy from Job x. 20,
and the passage- in Amos is somewhat doubtful, they have only
three examples from which to settle it. Taken as an Arabic term,
there is no difficulty upon the subject whatever.

PSALM XL.] BOOK OF PSALMS. ] 79

XL*

TO THE SUPEEME.

A PSALM OF DAVID.

] Longingly did I long for Jehovah,
And he inclined to me, and heard my cry,
2 And raised me from the pit of destruction,
From the mire, the very quagmire,
And fixed my feet upon a rock,
Ensuring my success.
3 Thus hath he put a new song into my mouth,
A triumphal unto our God.
The multitudes shall see, and bow the knee,
And shall cleave unto Jehovah.
4 Blessed is the man that taketh Jehovah for his
trust,
And turneth not to the proud,
Nor to the dispersers of falsehood.
Verse 1. " Longingly did I long."] — The repetition is that of
the original, purposely and poetically made use of, ''n^lp nip : and
hence St. Jerome in the Vulgate " expectans expectavi."
Verse 2. " Ensuring my success."] — In the general rendering
" my goings ; " but -)E?N in its common signification means some
thing more than merely going, and imports " going forward," " ad
vancing," " prospering," " succeeding," and hence as a noun,
" success, prosperity, happiness," which seems to be the sense in
the present place.
Verse 3. " The multitudes shall see and bow the knee."] — The
play upon the sound, or the repetition of the sound, is here given
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 82.
N 2

1 80 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XL.
5 Mighty things doest thou, 0 Jehovah, my God :
Thy wonders and thy plans concerning us,
None can set forth.
I would celebrate them before thee,
But should I speak of them, they multiply beyond
number.
6 Sacrifice and oblation thou dost not accept ;
(Thou hast opened unto me the provision)
Burnt-offering and sin-offering thou dost not desire.
7 Then said I, " behold I come ! "--
(In the volume of the Book it is written concerning
me)
which occurs in the original, and is a figure to which the Hebrew
poets were much addicted. is-i^i n^n int
Verse 6. " The provision."] — In the Hebrew CD'OTN probably
from )T " to provide or prepare," with a formative N whence the
Septuagint rendering a-upia " a body," — " the provision itself or
substance provided." In the Masora, however, it is Q">3TN in the
plural, literally " means, provisions, resources." The quotation of
the passage in Heb. x. 5, has given a sanction to the Greek inter
pretation which is that immediately referred to ; and the rendering
now offered is accordant with both the Greek and the Hebrew,
and hence seems to show itself to be correct.* COW however has
by most translators been derived from }TN " an ear," in which case
the passage is literally " the ears hast thou opened to me," — the
sense of which is not very clear, and hence it has been paraphrased
" mine ears hast thou opened." And as this has been supposed
the actual meaning of the Hebrew text, a great difficulty .has been
felt in reconciling this text with the Septuagint, and the quotation
from it in the Epistle to the Hebrews. The version now offered
may perhaps be regarded as going far towards settling this dif
ficulty. * What precise idea suitable to the context, the Author discovered in the ren
dering here given, I cannot possibly divine, except it be the provision made for
the redemption of the world by the death of Messiah ; but even this it would
seem very enigmatically to express. The common construction of the passage
which refers the phrase to the custom of boring the ear of a servant as symbolical
of rendering him obedient to his master, would appear, after all, to afford the most
satisfactory solution of the difficulty. Comp. Isa. 1. S. Phil. ii. 8. Heb. v. 8.— Ed.

PSALM XL.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 181
8 " I delight, 0 God, to do thy will :
" Yea, thy plan is within my bosom."
' 9 I have preached righteousness to the great congre
gation,
Behold, I will not refrain :
My lips thou knowest, 0 God.
10 Thy justice have I not hid within my heart :
Thy faithfulness, and thy salvation have I declared.
I have not concealed thy loving- kindness,
Nor thy truth from the great congregation.
11 Withhold not thou thy tender-mercies from me, 0
Jehovah,
Let thy loving-kindness and thy truth guard me for
ever.
12 For evils beyond number crowd around me ;
Mine afflictions press upon me, so that I cannot look
up;
They multiply, beyond the hairs of my head ;
And my heart faileth me.
13 Vouchsafe, 0 Jehovah, to rescue me :
Hasten, 0 Jehovah, to my help.
14 Let them be confounded, and sink together,
That seek my life to destroy it.
Let them be turned back and put to shame,
That covet my ruin.
15 Let them be repaid with utter disgrace
That say unto me, " aha ! aha ! "
Verse 8. " Thy plan."]: — niin " plan or system," rather than
" law," as in Psalm xix. 7.
Verse 12. " Mine afflictions."] — As the term here rendered
afflictions is put in conjunction with evils, it should have a parallel
meaning ; and hence " afflictions," as rendered by many writers,
seems preferable to " iniquities," — the ordinary sense. The Hebrew
term may import either.
Verse 14. " Let them be confounded."] — The whole verse is an

182 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XLI.
16 All that seek thee shall exult and rejoice in thee :
17 For ever shall they that love thy salvation say,
" Magnified be Jehovah."
18 Thus let me be afflicted and destitute,
The Lord taketh thought for me.
Thou art my helper, and deliverer,
My God : — thou wilt never delay.
intentional copy of Psalm xxxv. 4, with a few verbal changes : and,
in conjunction with several adjoining verses, forms a model for
Psalm lxx. — apparently sung on a subsequent occasion.

XLI.*
TO THE ST/PEEME.
A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 Blessed is he who ministereth to the necessitous :
Him shall Jehovah deliver in time of trouble.
2 Jehovah shall preserve him, and strengthen him.
He shall prosper in the land ;
For thou wilt not give him up to the will of his ene
mies.
3 Jehovah shall support him on his couch of languor :
0, make thou all his bed in his sickness.
4 " On me," said I, " 0 Jehovah, have compassion on
me!
" Restore me, for I have transgressed against thee.

Apparently while fleeing before Absalom and his co-traitors, and
nobly administered to by BarziUai, see 2 Sam. xvii 27, and xix. 31,
— the familiar friend in verse 9 being Ahithophel. See the His
torical Outline. " Historical Outline, &c. p. 181.

PSALM XLI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 183
5 " Maliciously speak mine enemies against me,
" When shall he die, and his name perish ? "
6 Yea, when he came for an interview,
He talked deceit from his heart ;
He gathered mischievousness from it ;
He went abroad, he gave it vent.
7 Against me did they whisper together,
The whole of my revilers, against me.
To myself do they impute the affliction :
8 " A curse," say they, " is denounced against him,
" And now that he is down, he shall never more rise."
9 Yea, my familiar friend, in whom I confided,
Whilst eating of my bread, hath stealthily risen
against me.
10 But thou, 0 Jehovah ! have pity upon me :
0 raise me up that I may requite them.
11 Hereby shall I know that thou favourest me ;
That mine enemies shall not triumph over me ;
1 2 That thou wilt uphold me in mine integrity,
And establish me in thy presence for ever.
13 Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel !
From everlasting even to everlasting. Amen and amen.
Verse 8. " A curse." —Literally " ill-luck, ill-fortune," " mispro-
fit," bj^ba, from b3 " ill " or " evil," and bv* " profit " or
" success." Id. " Say they."] — Literally " it is said" or " rumoured," 13T
—the verb being put impersonally as in Latin.
Verse 9. " Hath stealthily risen against me."] — Bather than,
" hath lifted up the heel against me : " for 3p27 though it means
heel, means also, as an adverb, " entrappingly, supplantingly, slily,
stealthily." The real sense is given in the Psalter versibn, " hath
laid great wait for me." Bishop Horsley renders it, " has prac
tised the greatest treachery against me ; " and Geddes, " egre-
giously betrayed me." The Greek of the parallel passage will bear
and should receive the same rendering as now offered, for itrepva
imports also, " supplanting, slyness, stealthiness."

184 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XLII.

XLIL*
TO THE SUPREME.
AN INSTRUCTIVE OF THE SONS OP KOEAH.
1 As the hart panteth for the water-brooks,
So panteth my soul for thee, 0 God.
With this poem commences the second part or division of the
book of Psalms according to the division and title in the Masora.
The present beautiful elegy appears, from its title, to have been
composed by one of the sons or descendants of Korah — eleven of
whose compositions are embodied in the Psalter, and all of which
are highly beautiful. This family was especially appointed by David
to officiate in the temple, to guard the doors against the entrance of
improper persons, and to sing the praises of the Most High. They
were in great favour, for the same purpose, with Jehoshaphat,
(2 Chron. xx. 19,) and seem to have maintained their station during
the captivity, and even long afterwards.
The subject of the Psalm seems to be the afflictive state of king
David, when compelled to flee from Jerusalem before the rebel
standard of Absalom and his faction, and to cross the Jordan for
safety. It appears, therefore, that some of the family of Korah
accompanied him in his flight, and composed this elegy in his name,
at the time when he was on the banks of the river Jordan, overflow
ing and tempestuous from the equinoctial torrents of the bordering
mountains, as was the case when it was miraculously passed through
by the Israelites on their first entering the land of Canaan, Josh.
iii. 15. And it is to these torrents, and the tempest that accom
panied their flow, that the Psalmist appears to allude in verse 7.
That the Psalm was written by David or for him appears pretty
clearly from its numerous personalities, and especially from his
repeatedly calling God in such emphatic terms, " the guard of his
person," verses 5, 11, and verse 5 of the ensuing Psalm, which is
properly regarded by most of the critics as a continuation of it.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 178.

PSALM XLII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 185
2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God ;
When shall I come and see the face of God ?

3 My tears have been my food by day and by night,
While daily they exclaim to me, " where is thy God ? "
4 These things I call to mind — and pour out my soul
within me.

The insolent foes who followed the distressed monarch for the pur
pose of mocking at him, as referred to in verses 3 and 10, are suf
ficiently described in 2 Sam. xvi. 5 — 13, while the " man of guile "
so forcibly adverted to in xliii. 1, is very clearly Ahithophel. That
the Psalm was composed after the possession of Mount Zion, and
the building of the tabernacle on it, and the removal of the ark, is
sufficiently clear from xliii. 3, — while the whole of the sentiments
and language, and especially the holy aspiration it displays, are
strikingly and characteristically those of David.
Verse 2. "And see the face of God."] — So Houbigant, " con-
templabor faciem Dei : " and so Horsley, " and see the face of God."
Our common version, however, is true enough to the text ; but that
the present which is also a literal rendering, is that which was really
designed by the Psalmist, is to me demonstrable from a variety of
parallel passages, as Psalm xvi. 11 ; xvii. 15 ; but particularly the
sixty-third Psalm, an exquisite ode of David,' (apparently com
posed nearly at the same time,) at the beginning of which, the very
same terms, as well as the same general idea, and particularly the
word nsi in the sense of " to see," instead of " to appear," are
made use of —
0 God, thou art my God — my soul thirsteth for thee —
To behold thy power and thy glory, as I have seen thee in the
sanctuary, &e.
See also the author's note on Psalm xvii. 15.
Verse 3. " My tears have been my meat."] — The chief food of
the ancient Hebrews consisted of liquids, as broths, pottages, &c.
Verse 4. " I pour out my soul within me."] — So Hannah, 1
Samuel i. 15, as Bosenmiiller has observed, " I have poured out my
soul — before the Lord."
Id. " Tet shall I go forth to the tabernacle,
" I shall flee."] — A great difficulty has been felt about thisj

186 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XLII.
Yet shall I go forth to the tabernacle :
I shall flee from them to the house of God ;
With a shout of exultation,
And the gratulation of the festal throng.
passage, merely because it has not been exactly understood ; on
which account the text has been altered in various ways, and most
of the critics have countenanced some deviation or other from the
Masoretic reading, and particularly Lowth. Geddes has omitted
the second period, " I shall flee from them to the house of God ; "
— but on what ground I knew not. Bishop Horsley has stuck to
the genuine text, though he does not seem to have caught the
precise meaning. His words are,
These things I remember — and to myself I pour out my soul,
That I am to pass over to the tabernacle, — that I shall escape
from them to the house of God ;
Amid the sound of exultation and thanksgiving,
The multitude rejoicing.
The version I have submitted, while strictly true to the original,
offers, if I mistake not, a simpler and clearer meaning. The verbs
H3VN " shall go forth," and "HN " flee from," are distinctly in
the future, though ordinarily rendered in the past, " had gone "
and " went." IIS, from "na, is rather " to flee away," either
" from or towards," as the sense may require, than " to go ; " —
and is so rendered in our common version, Ps. xxxi. 1 1 , and Ixviii.
12. "O at the opening of the paragraph is not in this place an adverb
of illation " for," as usually rendered, but of restriction " yet, still,
nevertheless " — as it is rendered in our established version, 2 Sam.
xxiii. 5, " Yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant ; "
and as it manifestly ought to be rendered, Isaiah Ixvi. 8, " Yet as
soon as Zion travailed," &c. and Jer. ii. 20, " Yet upon every
high hill," &c.
The supposed difficulty of the passage depends chiefly upon the
proper sense of this adverb not having been seized. The chorus
or burden of the ode that immediately follows — comports admirably
with the present rendering, which is in truth its origin and foun
dation. Verse 5. "The guard of my person, and my God."] — I do not
know that niJ? W or as it is spelled in the last verse of the Psalm,
fllW1 means any where else " help," except in an unnecessarily

PSALM XLII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 187
5 Why shouldst thou be cast down, 0 my soul ?
Why shouldst thou be disquieted within me ?
remote sense : " a-urypiov, or salus " is the rendering of the Septu
agint, and the greater number of the Latin versions, as well here as
in the last verse of the present and ensuing Psalm — " salvation,
safety, or. health." The primary Hebrew term means " to guard,
preserve, save, deliver." And the present is perhaps the clearest
sense. The word " my God," which begins the next verse should
close the present, as is obvious from both the subsequent instances
in which the same chorus or burden is repeated : as in both which
also the 1 in vaQ should begin the next verse instead of termi
nating this, making " my person or countenance, and my God,"
instead of " his countenance — 0 my God." And so St. Jerome,
who has deviated, which he rarely does, from the Septuagint in
giving this division of the terms.
Verse 6. " Therefore will I retrace thee,
" Through the land of Jordan, and the Hermons,
"Prom the lowest ascent."] — I will think of thy
mighty deeds from the miraculous crossing of the Jordan, and the
victories obtained on its banks at the spot where I am now
standing, and to which I have been obliged to retreat, to the final
conquest of Jerusalem, and the establishment of the tabernacle in
Mount Sion, which thou hast enabled me to accomplish. The
Hebrew term is Hermons in the plural — alluding to the two ridges
of hills of this name, the one on the farther side of the Jordan
which constituted the realms of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and
Og, king of Bashan, where the achievements of the Jewish armies
may be said to have commenced ; and the other on the hither side
of the same river, of which Mount Sion was one of the smaller
acclivities, immediately under Mount Hermon, and with which it
constituted a part of the great chain of Lebanon. And, as it was
here that king David finished the conquest of Palestine by taking
possession of Jebus or Jerusalem, and building the city of Zion,
it constituted the point in which the achievements of the Jewish
armies were completed ; and consequently the poet means hereby
that he would solace himself by following up in review all the won
derful appearances of God on behalf of his countrymen from their
coming in sight of the promised land till their full possession of it.
There is no such hill as Mizar in the geography of the Old

188 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XLII.
Stay thou on God — for I shall yet praise him,
The guard of my person, and my God.
6 Yet is my soul cast down within me.
Therefore will I retrace thee through the land of the
Jordan,
And of the Hermons, from the lowest ascent.
7 Gulf pealeth to gulf at the roar of thy torrents :
All thy breakers and thy billows have gone over me.
8 Yet daily doth Jehovah send forth his loving-kindness,
And nightly from me shall there be a song,
A prayer to the God of my life.
Testament. Its real meaning is " low or lowest, little or least : "
and it is thus rendered by the Septuagint, and almost all the old
versions. The poet evidently uses it in this sense in the passage
before us, intimating that he would follow in his memory the foot
steps of the Almighty, from his beginning to ascend both the
Hermons, till his conquest over their whole range and utmost
elevation. Verse 7. " Gulf is pealing to gulf at the roar of thy torrents."]
— The poet is alluding to a mighty storm then before him, and
boldly compares the ruin of the church or of himself to its violence.
The Jordan as well as the Euphrates, had its torrents, during its
summer flow, like those of the Nile. Cataract is the word in the
Septuagint and Vulgate — and either will answer. This verse gives
us a pretty clear insight into the scene, and consequently into the
time in which this beautiful elegy was composed, if we compare it
with the adjoining verses. When the Israelites marched through
the river, it was raging in the same manner ; see Joshua iii. 15.
Id. " All thy breakers and billows have gone over me."] — This
bold and figurative expression is copied in the Hebrew literally,
and in the order of the words, in the address of Jonah, chapter ii.
3, out of the whale's belly, by whom, however, it was used in its
natural force and meaning.
Verse 8. " A song,
"A prayer."] — In our established and almost all the
versions, including the Septuagint, " my song — my prayer." The
pronoun my is not in the Hebrew text and is unnecessary.

PSALM XLIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 189
9 To God, my rock, will I exclaim,
" Why hast thou forgotten me ?
" Why go I mourning under the crush, of the enemy ?
10 " Like a sword in my bones mine oppressors strike
me through,
" While they daily exclaim to me — ' Where is thy
God?'"
11 Why shouldst thou be cast down, 0 my soul ?
0, why shouldst thou be disquieted within me ?
Stay thou on God — for I shall yet praise him,
The guard of jny person, and my God.
Verse 11. " O, why."] — Making a little variation from the first
recital of the chorus in verse 5. The 1 is here a particle of ex
clamation, as in Buth iii. 9, " 0 spread thy skirt over me," and
numerous other places.

XLIII*
1 Judge for me, 0 God; and contend with my con
tenders ;
From a people devoid of pity,
From the man of guile and oppression, deliver me :
2 For thou art my God — my support.
Why hast thou cast me off ?
Why go I mourning under the crush of the enemy ?
3 0 send forth thy light and thy truth ;
Let them guide me, let them bring me
To thy holy hill, and to thy dwellings.
A continuation of the preceding, and which ought not to have
been disjoined from it. It contains the same subject, and the same
metrical ornaments, especially the same chorus.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 180.

190 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XLIV.
4 Yes— I shall come to the altar of God :
To God, the spring of my rejoicing ;
And I shall praise thee upon the harp,
0 God, my God.
5 Why shouldst thou be cast down, 0 my soul ?
0, why shouldst thou be disquieted within me ?
Stay thou on God, — for I shall yet praise him,
The guard of my person, and my God.

XLIV.*
TO THE SUPREME.
AN INSTRUCTIVE OF THE SONS OF KOEAH.
1 We have heard, 0 God, with our ears^
Our fathers have rehearsed to us
The work that thou workedst in their days,
In the days of yore.
Every part of this Psalm shows it to have been composed during
some great public calamity — and a calamity that had put the nation
into a state of captivity, and subjected them to the control of their
enemies at a distance from their own country. There can hence be
little doubt that it was written during the Babylonian yoke. The
title ascribes it to the sons of Korah, who were the authors of
various Psalms, composed during periods of heavy distress. They
seem indeed to have maintained a wonderful power of poetical com
position in succession from the time of king David to the re
building of the temple, and to have pursued it indefatigably as a
sacred study.
It is instructive to observe how much the Jews appear in every
instance to have been benefited by their national chastisements,
and how thoroughly to have been called back from idolatry to the
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 30U

PSALM XLIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 191
2 With thine own hand thou layedst waste the heathen,
And plantedst them ;
Thou breakedst up the nations,
And causedst them to shoot forth.
3 For not with their own sword did they lay waste the
land,
Nor did their own arm save them ;
But thy power, and thine arm, and the light of thy
countenance,
Because thou tookest pleasure in them.
4 Thou art my king, 0 God,
The ruler of the salvation of Jacob.
5 By thee will we rebut our enemies,
In thy name will we tread down our withstanders.
service of the living God. The words of the Psalm from verses
17 — 22, which it was impossible for them to have made use of in
the presence of the all-seeing Jehovah, when the captivity com
menced, were no doubt uttered as the language of truth at the time
when the Psalm was composed and became public, and sufficiently
support the remark now offered.
Belying on the promises of God that he would return to them
upon their return to him, and probably with an eye to the express
prophecies concerning their restoration, this Psalm, like the pre
ceding, concludes with a bold anticipation of a restoration of the
Divine favour — and even represents it as actually realized and
operating. Verse 2. " And madest them shoot forth."] — nbtP, " to send
forth," as plants send forth, or " shoot out branches ; " or " to
send away," as an arrow is sent, or shot away from a bow. Our
common version has erroneously taken the last sense. The Syriac
gives the present, as does Houbigant — " germinare fecisti : " and
to the same effect Horsley and Geddes. The idea is altogether
taken from rural life, the breaking up the soil of an unproductive
plantage, and sowing it with a different crop.
Verse 5: " By thee will we rebut,
In thy name will we tread down."] — The imagery is
taken, like that in verse 2, from rural life, and alludes to the mode

192 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XLIV.
6 For not to my own bow will I trust,
Nor shall my own sword deliver me :
7 Lo, thou hast ordained deliverance for us from our
assailants,
Thou hast ordained confusion to our revilers.
8 In God will we glory every day ;
Yea, thy name will we laud evermore. (Selah.)
9 But thou hast cast off and put us to shame,
And didst not go forth with our armies.
10 Thou madest us to turn the back upon the enemy,
And our revilers took the pillage for themselves.
11 Thou hast given us up, like sheep, to be devoured ;
Yea, thou hast scattered us among the heathen.
12 Thou hast sold thy people without gain,
Nor enriched thyself by their transfer.
13 Thou hast made us a reproach to our invaders ;
A scorn and a derision to those around us.*
14 Thou hast made us a proverb among the heathen,
A shaking of the head among the nations.
15 My disgrace is before me every day,
Yea, the blush of my face overcovereth me.
16 At the outcry of the slanderer and the reviler,
At the presence of the persecutor and avenger.
1 7 All this hast thou brought upon us ;
Yet do we not forget thee,
Nor prove untrue to thy covenant.
of fighting among horned quadrupeds — that of butting with the
horns, and trampling under foot.
Verse 13. " Invaders."] — In the original 13^3327. In a good
sense }327 means a neighbour, inmate, oi indweller. In a bad
sense an intruder, invader, eneroaeher. See the same sense' in
Psalm lxxix. 4 ; lxxxix. 41. * See Daniel ix..l6.

PSALM XLIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 193
18 Our heart draweth not back,
Nor our footsteps turn aside from thy way :
1 9 Though thou hast sunk us into the bog of dragons,
And overcovered us with the death-shade.
20 If we had let go the name of our own God,
And stretched out our hands to the God of the alien,
21 Truly, would not God have discerned this ?
For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
22 Lo, for thy sake are we slain every day,
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Arise ! — why sleepest thou, 0 Lord ?
0 do not cast us off utterly ! —
24 Why withdrawest thou thy countenance ?
Why foregoest our distress and oppression 1
25 Lo> our soul is bowed down to the dust,
Our belly is cleaving to the ground. —
26 Stand forth ! — thou art helping us I —
0 deliver us for thy mercy's sake !
Verse 17. " Yet do we not forget thee,
Nor prove untrue."] — The verbs are to be under
stood in the present tense, which gives us a correct assertion re
specting the Jews, who by adversity were usually called back to a
sense of their guilt, and a return to Jehovah ; but it cannot be
predicated of them in the past tense, as the passage is usually ren
dered, and has produced an unnecessary difficulty.
Verse 25. " Thou art helping us ! "] — This beautiful and for
cible change of tense, in which the poet represents the Almighty
as instantly attentive to the voice of his prayer, and already en
gaged in the deliverance of his countrymen, is lost sight of in all
the versions so far as T am acquainted with them ; though in the
original it occurs precisely as now given. It might be rendered —
" thou hast helped us — still deliver us for thy mercy's sake : " but
the former is in the truest spirit of the sacred book before us, and
analogous to the preceding Psalm, ver. 4; Psalm vi. 9.; xxii. 21,
and various others.

194 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XLV.
XLV.*
TO THE SUPREME.
For the hexachord ; by the sons of Korah.
AN INSTRUCTIVE SONG OF LOVES.
1 Choice is the theme my heart is agitating :
I will recite what I have made upon the king :
My tongue shall be the pen of a ready scribe.
There is no Psalm whose title is so differently explained. Por
while the introductory, or inscriptive sentence, here rendered " To
the Supreme," is by some translated " To the giver of Victory,"
and by others " To the chief or supreme musician, — the latter
word being supposed to be understood, the middle term n3s3E7t2?>
has been equally rendered " for, or concerning the lilies," " for
the rejoicings," " for the hexachord, or instrument of six strings,"
as now offered. The term will, in effect, bear any of these. " We
think," says Calmet, " that soshannim signifies an instrument of
six strings, or a song of rejoicing." These indeed seem to be the
two clearest renderings : and the latter might have been employed,
but that soshannim is equally applied to Psalms lxix and lxxx, of
which neither can be regarded as Psalms of rejoicing, but rather as
threnic elegies. We are very much in the dark concerning the
musical instruments of the Hebrews, but that they had both
stringed instruments and wind instruments, is clear from the titles
to Psalms iv and v. The Septuagint renders the passage titep rav
aXKoiuBi\<ropiivZv, — " upon those that shall be changed or trans
formed : " of the meaning of which, or its derivation from ?,|3tt7!27,
I am totally ignorant.
There is little doubt that this Psalm is an epithalamium, as in
deed the commentators generally agree; pretty certainly com
posed on. the marriage of Solomon with the Egyptian princess.
There is also as little reason for doubt that it has a typical and
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 264, 267.

PSALM XLV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 195
2 Exquisitely fair art. thou beyond the sons of men !
How doth grace flow forth from thy lips !
Verily, God hath blessed thee for ever.
3 Gird thy sword on the thigh, 0 puissant !
Thy glory and thine honour ;
4 And prosperously let thine honour ride on
In the cause of truth, and of downfallen justice,
And let thy right hand teach thee wonders.
5 Sharp be thine arrows, prostrating the peoples to thee ;
Let them pierce into the hearts of the king's enemies.
esoteric reference to the sacred union of Jesus Christ with his
church, as we shall have further occasion to show presently, and
have already adverted to in the Historical Outline.
Verse 2. "Exquisitely fair."] — JTQiSi The verb is in the redu
plicate form — fair in the superlative degree.
Id. "How doth grace."] — The n in p2in I take to be a poten
tial expletive, or interjection, as in innumerable places besides — 0
quam !
Verse 3. " O puissant ! "] — As a substantive it might be rendered
0 potentate ! but puissant gives a closer meaning of H33, and is
that ascribed to it by Milton, who has thus put the passage before
us into the mouth of the victorious and eternal Son.
Our puissance is our own — our own right hand
Shall teach us high deeds.
Id. " Thy glory and thine honour."] — i. e. " thy sword which
is thy glory," &c.
Id. " Thy right hand teach thee."] — A bold catachresis for " work
thee wonders ; " — " work wonders that even thyself hast hitherto
never performed, and art yet to learn."
Verse 5. "prostrating to thee the peoples."] — ~pnnn is here a
participle, agreeing with arrows ; the order of the original is thus
preserved, as well as the sense given literally. lbD'> is a derivative
from nbs " to pierce or divide," rather than from bQ3 " to fall
down," as usually given. It is thus rendered in our common ver
sion, which at the same time inverts the order of the passage :
" Thine arrows are sharp, (in the hearts of the king's enemies,)
whereby the people fall under thee."
02

196 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XLV.
6 Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever :
The sceptre of thy kingdom is a righteous sceptre.
7 Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity ;
Therefore God, thine own God, hath anointed thee
With oil of gladness above thy compeers.*
Verse 6. " Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever."] — The pas
sage is capable of being rendered, and has been rendered by many
commentators, " thy throne may God establish for ever ; " but to
obtain this we must understand 1Q"S or some other word not directly
expressed : and hence the direct rendering is as given in the text.
And that this is the proper rendering, is undeniable from its having
been adopted in the Epistle to the Hebrews (i. 8,) for the purpose
of applying it to our Saviour, and hereby proving his deity.
It is unquestionable, however, that the term God, while one of
the titles of the supreme being, was also occasionally applied in a
certain sense to men when highly exalted above their fellows by
rank or power. This was peculiarly the case among the pagan
nations : thus Augustus was called a god by Virgil, and Epicurus
by Lucretius, v. 7, and in the sacred writings we perceive similar
marks. Thus Exod. vii. 1 , Jehovah himself tells Moses, " I have
made thee a god to Pharaoh." So in Psalm Ixxxii. 6, " I have
said ye are gods ; yea, all of you children of the Most High ; but
ye shall die like men." And in Acts xii. 22, we find Herod as
suming the character of a god, and the giddy multitude acceding to
his wish, " and the people gave a shout saying, It is the voice of a
god, and not of a man."
Yet there is no instance in the Bible, if we except the present, in
which a human being, of whatever authority or power, has been
publicly addressed in this character in the second person ; and
hence while the Psalm evidently shows its prophetic character and
direct reference to our Saviour, there is a difficulty in applying it to
David or Solomon, or any one else ; and the difficulty is only to be
cleared by supposing the sacred bard to have had at the time a
sense of both the glorious type and the still more glorious antitype,
and to have been suddenly rapt from a contemplation of the one to
a contemplation of the other. The descriptive part appears to be
plainly historical.
Verse 7. "Anointed thee with oil of gladness above thy com-
* i. e. above thy fellow monarchs.

PSALM XLV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 197
8 Myrrh,, aloes and cassia are all thy garments :
From cabinets of Armenian ivory they make- thee
gladsome.

peers."] — In the application of this passage to Solomon, it may
mean, " above thy fellows of the children of Israel ; " or, " above
thy fellows or brethren of the house of thy father David ; " but
most probably " above thy felldw-monarchs — thy compeers in
government and earthly state." As applied to our blessed Lord,
it may refer to his own disciples whom he was " not ashamed to
call his brethren," or to Moses, and the prophets who had been
entrusted with earlier dispensations of grace.
Verse 8. " Prom cabinets of Armenian ivory."] — The Hebrew
b^Tl like the Latin templum, though importing emphatically " a
temple, sanctuary, or consecrated palace," seems to have imported
also a hollow or vaulted recess of any kind ; and hence Lucretius
applies the latter to the roof of the mouth —
Humida linguai circum sudantia templa, iv. 628.
The Hebrew bs^n is probably derived from b3 " to hold, contain,
comprehend ; " and Houbigant suspects that this ought to be the
word in the original ; and that "'bs^n is a corruption of >b3n.
Such a change, however, is not called for : as the former may of
itself mean cabinets or wardrobes, in which the royal vestments are
carefully laid up and kept in a condition of perfume for state-
demand. The term "0)3 (Meni) in our common version rendered whereby,
gives no meaning, if thus understood as an adverb : and there can
be little doubt that its real meaning is Armenia, as in Jer. Ii. 27 ;
for by the kingdom of Meni or Minni is understood Armenia by
Bochart and most of the critics. And it is well known that the
ivory, or elephant's tusks, obtained from this quarter, were in pecu
liar repute over the East.
Bishop Horsley in his text gives the passage thus :
Thy garments are all myrrh, aloes, and cassia,
Excelling ivory palaces,
Excelling those which delight thee.
But this rendering gives us nothing clear or satisfactory ; and in
deed seems to have afforded little satisfaction to himself, since in
his notes upon the passage, he adds — ¦" rather, from cabinets of

198 BOOK OF PSALMS. [ PSALM XLV
9 Daughters of kings are for thy jewels.
On thy right hand is stationed the consort,
In gold of Ophir.
10 Hearken, 0 daughter ! and look around ;
Yea, incline thine ear, and forget
Thine own people, and thy father's house.
11 So shall the king delight himself in thy beauty :
Lo, he is thy Lord, and worship thou him.
1 2 See the daughter of Tyre with an offering before thee :
The wealthy of the, people are in waiting.
Armenian ivory they have pleasured thee : " in direct consonance
with the present version.
Dr. Geddes gives us,
Myrrh, lign-aloes, and cassia,
Prom vases of Armenian ivory,
Perfume all thy garments.
But this is not a literal rendering. To make n)2£P express " per
fume," it must be derived from ntpa, without the n: — we
have no reason, however, to suppose that this latter is a corrup
tion, and hence cannot derive the word from this quarter, or make
it import perfume, naw, indeed, in its proper sense is a far more
powerful word, and imports, in the form here used, " to make gay,
or gladsome " — combining the two ideas of pleasure and splendid
show. Verse 9. " Por thy jewels."] — nilpi "jewels, brilliants, pre
cious stones," as in 2 Sam. xii. 30. The bride, or consort, seems
to refer to the universal church : the royal daughters, constituting
the jewels of the kingly crown, the several nations, or national
churches of which it was to consist — who are in like manner called
jewels, Mai. iii. 17, " And they shall be mine, saith Jehovah of
Sabaoth, in that day when I make up my jewels."
Id. " Consort."] — This is rather the meaning of bVB, than
queen, and is so rendered by Bishop Horsley. The term has no
particular reference to royalty, or regal station, though it is un
questionably thus applied in the present place.
Verse 12. " See."] — A frequent meaning of 1, as in Gen. xxiv.
31. " See I have prepared:" and thus rendered by Bishop Horsley.
Por other examples of l in this sense, see Noldius in verbo, $ 17.

PSALM XLV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 199
13 All glorious is the King's daughter :
Her bosom is arrayed with studs of gold ;
Id. " Before thee."] — In Hebrew "pas — more commonly written
"p3Sb, or ~p3Ba, but the preposition is often omitted. Thus in
2 Sam. x. 9, we have COBa, in 1 Chron. xix. 10, Q"OB alone, and
the same in 2 Chron. xiii. 14. But the passage has been im
properly divided, and this term carried forward to the second part
of the couplet in the sense of " thy face," or " thy favour " —
" the wealthy of the people are waiting for thy favour," in which,
however, the preposition is as much required as in the sense now
offered. The daughter, or city of Tyre, is here, like the Egyptian prin
cess herself, a representation of the heathen world ; and a striking
representation also, as being the richest and most industrious state
of its day. In like manner, " the wealthiest of the people," that
is, at Jerusalem, are the representatives of the Jews ; so that Jews
and Gentiles are equally participants in the mystical union of
Christ and the universal Church, " the middle wall of partition
being hereby broken down."
If the Psalm relate to Solomon, there is no difficulty in conceiv
ing this description to be a part of actual history, as we are told
expressly that Hiram, king of Tyre, sent a splendid embassy of his
servants, which in the East is always accompanied with costly pre
sents, to Solomon, shortly after his instalment in the throne, and
on his union with the Egyptian princess, to congratulate him on
these events ; " for Hiram," it is added, " was ever a lover of
David." 1 Kings v. 1 . And that the throne was on this latter
occasion surrounded with princesses or daughters of kings, as
bride-maids, — is by no means improbable, since we are also told
that " all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon,
to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart," 2 Chron. ix.
23 ; and that " Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river
to the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt, who
brought presents, and served him all the days of his life," 1 Kings
iv. 21.
Verse 13. " Her bosom is arrayed."] — The passage is wrongly
divided in our common and many of the earlier versions, in which
na^aS " interior, inside, within," is made a part of the preceding
stanza of the couplet. It is here an ellipsis for nna'OB " her

200 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XLV.
14 In embroidery is she presented to the king.
The virgins of her train are her friends.
15 They are approaching thee ; they shall be presented
with joy ;
Yea, with exultation shall they enter the king's palace.
16 In the place of thy fathers shall be thy children :
Thou shalt establish them for rulers over all the earth.
17 Thy name will I memorize through all generations :
So that the peoples shall laud thee for ever and ever.
interior, inside, or part within ; " — her bosom or waist : but the
sense not having been properly hit on, it has been referred by dif
ferent critics to very different appurtenances of the royal bride.
Bishop Horsley, instead of applying it to her person, applies it to
her garment, " her inner (garment) is studded with gold ; " liter
ally, says he, " with studs of gold." Mr. Parkhurst renders it the
interior of her " litter, palanquin, or vehicle in which she rode ; "
Dr. Geddes, and several others, her " apartment." The expression
as now rendered, and rendered for the first time literally, will suffi
ciently show, I think, that the term relates to her person, and is
directly synonymous with ]to3. The passage seems to describe the
gorgeous cestus or girdle with which the bride was adorned on the
occasion. Q^B, as a plural, means distinctly the person, and
there can be little doubt that both are derived from the same root.
Verse 14. " Of her train."] — rpinN : literally " of her back
parts," as in Exod. xxxiii. 23, " Thou shalt see my back parts," or
ain. So the back part of a gown or robe is called its train, and
hence the back or retinue of a prince going in solemn procession.
Verse 17. " Thy name will I memorize."] — The poet closes this
beautiful epithalamium, as he began it, with a reference to his own
metrical powers : and in the true spirit of oriental grandiloquence,
boasts of his ability to confer immortal fame on the subject of his
verse : which, indeed, in the case before us, he was fully author
ized to do from his divine inspiration ; and which in fact he has
actually accomplished : for his immortal poetry has reached our
own day, and will doubtless form a part of the service of the church,
as long as the world shall continue.

PSALM XLVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 201

XLVL*
TO THE SUPREME.
By the sons of Korah.
A SONG FOR THE SEASON OF YOUTH.
1 God is our refuge and strength ;
A very present help in trouble.
The latter part of the title niab^ bv (alamoth) admits of many
renderings. The primary meaning of dbv appears to be that of
a " veil, cover, envelopement ; " and its derivations are hence
applied to whatever is' at present unopened to the view— as mys
teries, hypocrites, future time, and especially the season of youth,
or that in which life is ^only budding." Hence the Septuagint
renders the passage before us 'Twzp rav xpvflav, " Por or concerning
mysteries ; " which, however, does not seem to apply : Symmachus,
'Tvlp rav a\avluv, " Por eternity, or all future ages ; " and others,
" In adolescentiam, or, in virgines ; " " Por the season of youth,
or for the virgins." Mr. Street has adopted the last : and if it
could be proved that virgins formed a part of the regular Hebrew
choir, I should adopt his version. But this they do not appear to
have done, notwithstanding that they are occasionally called upon
to unite with young and old in choruses of general praise to God ;
and have occasionally, as individuals, discovered great musical
talents, as in the case of Miriam. But they do not seem, as in the
priesthood of heathen nations, to have formed a regular part of the
hierarchy. And I have hence preferred the sense of " In adolescen
tiam," " to the season of youth or of the rising generation," to
whom a nobler gift than this glorious production cannot be pre
sented ; one more worthy of being committed to memory, or more
capable of confirming their trust in the good providence of God,
and of enabling them to obtain a triumph over the heaviest afflic
tions to which they may be exposed.
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 287, 290.

202 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XLVI.
2 Therefore will we not fear though the earth be broken
up,
And though the mountains be tumbled into the heart
of the sea.

There are some critics who suppose that niab37 means a
musical instrument of some kind, for which the Psalm was com
posed : but we have no account of any such : and there are others,
who, by a different derivation, nia'bj?, as though it were a
compound, regard it as signifying " deathlessness or immortality."
This approximates the sense to that of Symmachus, obtained from
a different source : but it wants both authority and analogy.
There is no difficulty in fixing the time and occasion of this
exquisite triumphal ode. It was obviously composed immediately
after a period of great alarm ; when the Jewish nation was suddenly
threatened by a combination of powerful enemies, marching abruptly
against it from the other side of the Jordan which formed an
important barrier, and under whose formidable tread and appear
ance, the earth and even the waters of the Salt Sea, or that of
Tiberias, or both, seemed to tremble as with an earthquake. The
arm of Jehovah is represented as splendidly conspicuous on this
occasion, working a signal deliverance by a miraculous interposi
tion ; during which the people are commanded by God himself to
" be still," or take no part in the transaction, but that of looking
on with holy confidence, while he exalted himself among the
heathen and throughout the whole earth. The result was an utter
discomfiture and waste of the combined forces which had reached
the borders of the Jordan, and such a terror among those that had
not yet joined them, that the war was instantaneously put an end
to, and every quarter restored to quiet.
The whole of this was realized in the reign of Jehoshaphat, one
of the best, as well as one of the most splendid monarchs that ever
sat on the throne of David. Por which see 2 Chron. xx. 1 5 — 30 ;
as also the Historical Outline.
Verse 2. " Demolished."]— "van from nan " to break to
pieces, demolish, or wreck;" and not from "in"' "to change."
This sense is not only more powerful, but agrees with the latter
hemistich of the verse. The whole alludes to some grand earth
quake in the natural or moral world.

PSALM XLVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 203
3 Let its billows roar, let them be tumultuous,
Let the mountains quake amidst its swell — (Selah.)
4 Inviolable is the river whose streams make glad the
city of God,
The tabernacles of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her — never shall she be shaken ;
God shall help her as early as the dawn.*
6 The heathen raged — the kingdoms were in motion :
He uttered his voice : — the earth melted.
Verse 4. " Inviolable is the river."] — The general drift of the
Psalm is to show that in the midst of this tremendous and general
wreck, Zion was still safe under the protection of its mighty King :
but the exact meaning does not seem to have been caught : Wlp
commonly rendered " the holy place," is here, if I mistake not, in
concord with "in3 " river," and imports " sacred, set apart by con
secration, inviolable, not to be profaned." Por want of this
rendering, which makes the whole perspicuous, an unnecessary dif
ficulty has been felt, and Houbigant, and after him Bishop Horsley,
has proposed an alteration of the text.
The river here referred to is doubtless the Jordan, the only river
of moment that ran through Palestine, and which was dear on innu
merable accounts to the tribes of Israel, and altogether identified
with their history. Its course, from its rise in Mount Lebanon to its
embouchure in the Lake Asphaltites or the Salt Sea, is little short
of a hundred miles, very rapid, and about the breadth of the
Thames. The Salt Sea, and that of Tiberias, are equally fed with
its waters. By this line of defence, Jerusalem, and the whole of
Palestine on the hither side of the Jordan, derived a strong natural
protection against the assault of the Syrians, Ammonites, Moabites,
and Midianites; but not against the Edomites, Amalekites, or
Egyptians, which lay on the south, on the outer side of the river of
Egypt and Mount Seh\ And we may hence see from what quarter
the danger was threatened, and what nations were in league for
the overthrow of Jerusalem at this time ; and the importance of
having this river or its branches as an inviolable barrier on the side
from which the war was pouring down.
* Literally " at the peep of the dawn."

204 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XLVII.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us,
The God of Jacob is our bulwark.
8 Come, behold the exploits of Jehovah,
What desolations he hath wrought in the earth,
9 Putting down wars to the earth's limit.
He hath broken the bow, and shivered the spear,
And burned the chariots with fire.
10 "Be still !— and know that I am God :
" I will be exalted among the heathen ;
" I will be exalted throughout the earth."
1 1 The Lord of hosts is with us ;
The God of Jacob is our bulwark. (Selah.)
Verse 5. " As early as the dawn."] — Somewhat more literally
" at the turn or peep of the dawn," at its first look or glimpse : a
beautiful image- for the ordinary idea of " right early," or instan
taneously, — the first moment help may be required.
Verse 6. " He uttered his voice."] — i. e. " he thundered," as
in Ps. xxix. 3, and Job xxxvii. 2.

XLVII*
ON THE SUPREME.
A PSALM OF THE SONS OF KORAH.
1 0 clap your hands, all ye peoples,
Shout unto God with the voice of triumph :
This is one of the most celebrated of all the triumphal odes
contained in the book of Psalms, and is admirably selected by the
church to be used on Ascension-day, being a clear and most beau
tiful type of the glorious event which is then solemnized. There
* Historical Outline, &c. pp~. 127, 128.

PSALM XLVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 205
2 For Jehovah, the lofty, the terrible,
Is the great king over all the earth.
3 He hath subdued the peoples under us,
Yea, the nations under our feet.
4 He hath vouchsafed to us our inheritance,
The boast of Jacob, whom he loved. (Selah.)
5 God hath ascended with acclamation,
Jehovah with the peal of the trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises,
Sing praises to our king, sing praises.
7 For God is king of all the earth,
Sing ye praises with understanding.
8 God is king over the heathen.
God is seated on his holy throne.
can, or ought to be no doubt of its being one of the series com
posed to celebrate the great national festival of the ascension of the
ark into the temporary temple or tabernacle erected by David on
Mount Zion for its reception, almost as soon as he had wrenched
this' part from the h'ands of the Jebusites, and had established
himself in the earthly Jerusalem.
To enter into the full meaning of the Psalm, it is necessary to
recollect that David had obtained a complete triumph over all the
nations by which he was surrounded, and had rendered them all
tributary to his throne, hereby advancing the majesty and honour
of the only true God by whom alone he was invested with power,
and in whose name alone he fought, over all the idols of the hea
then. " Jehovah the lofty and the terrible," was hereby rendered
manifestly " the king of all the earth ; " and all the heathen states
were compelled to pay him reverence, and probably united by their
princes, who seem from the last verse to have been present on the
occasion, in making votive gifts.
Verse 3. " Hath subdued."] — In this and the ensuing verse,
the Septuagint has rendered the Hebrew verbs by preterite aorists,
instead of by the future ; the general sense demands such a tense ;
and Bishop Horsley and various other critics have given examples
of it.

206 BOOK OF PSALMS. [ PSALM XLVIII.
9 The chiefs of the peoples are assembled before the God
of Abraham ;
For with God are the mighty >f the earth :
Transcendently is he exalted.
Verse 9. " The mighty."] — "0313! may be translated " shields,"
or " beshielders," i.e. "protectors," "mighty," "potentates."
The Septuagint have correctly understood it in the latter sense, as
in apposition with 13m " princes," in the preceding line, and
have rendered it Kparaioi, as now given.

XLVIII.*
A MUSICAL PSALM.
BY THE SONS OF KOKAH.
1 Great is Jehovah,
Yea, supremely to be praised
In the city of our God,
The hill of his holiness.
2 Beauteously stretching forth,
The joy of all the earth is Mount Zion.
This is treated of so largely in the Historical Outline as to
render it unnecessary to add anything further upon the subject in
the present place.
Verse 1 . " Great is Jehovah,
Supremely to be praised."] — The Psalmist appears
to have been peculiarly pleased with this verse : and hence we find
it copied into his dedication ode, 1 Chron. xvi. 25, and again Psalm
xcvi. 4.
Verse 2. " Sideways on the north,
Is the capital of the great king."] — This rendering
gives the relative geography correctly ; for the capital (TT>~)p) or
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 110, 115.

PSALM XLVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 207
Sideways, on the north,
Is the capital of the great king.
3 God is known as a refuge in her palaces :
4 For, lo ! the kings assembled ; — they advanced in a
body ; —
5 They beheld ; — they were straightway confounded ;
They were panic-struck ; — they hasted away,
6 A trembling seized them instantly,
A pang, as of a woman in travail. —
7 Thou wreckedst the fleets of Tarshish with a Le
vanter-wind.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen,
Concerning the city of the Loed of hosts,
Concerning the city of our God. —
God will establish her for ever. (Selah.)
old city of Jerusalem lay to the north of ")ij? the new city, or
Mount Zion, and not Mount Zion on the north of Jerusalem. The
Hebrew terms n^lp and I^V answer to the English terms here
introduced, and keep up the intended distinction. David having
now overcome by far the greater part of his enemies, and perma
nently seated himself in his new capital, is justly entitled to the
name of " the great king," as compared with the kings he had
subdued. Verse 7. " Thou wreckedst the fleets of Tarshish with a Le
vanter-wind^"] — The Hebrew "ON or n'ON, imports singly a ship,
and collectively a fleet. Thus in 1 Kings ix. 26, "OH is translated
in our established version " a navy of ships ; " but in Isaiah
xxxiii. 21, " a galley." We use the word craft, something in the
same way. Por Levanter, or as here written Levanter-wind — the
Euroclydon of the New Testament, see the author's note on Job
xv. 2.
Tarshish, I have already observed, was a name bestowed on
the Phenician coast, Tyre and Sidon, and the adjoining isles ; and
the hint given in this verse is alone sufficient to determine the
point of Jewish history to which the Psalm relates. Por the only
time in which Tyre, the chief of the Tarshish principalities was

208 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XLVIII.
9 We have mused on thy loving-kindness, 0 God,
In the midst of thy temple. —
10 According, 0 God, to thy name,
So be thy praise,— to the ends of the earth.
Righteousness filleth thy right hand.
] 1 Let Mount Zion rejoice,
Let the daughters of Judah exult,
On account of thy judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, yea, go all around her ;
13 Count ye up her towers ; fix your heart on her bul
warks ;
Particularize her palaces ;
So that ye may tell to the coming generation,
united against the house of David, was at his first possession of
Jerusalem, when it formed part of the general and formidable league
of land and sea forces which at that time was combined against
him, and is particularly noticed in Psalm lxxxiii. 7 ; the miraculous
destruction here described broke up the league instantaneously, and
we find Tyre from this time among the nations, favoured indeed by
the Hebrew monarch, but tributary to it. Another proof, however,
settling the period of the composition of the Psalm is to be found in
verse 2, which represents the capital of Jerusalem as separated from
the city of David, and lying to the north of it ; which was the fact
when David first took possession of Mount Zion, and commenced
the new city which he called by his own name, though the two
were afterwards conjoined by increased building and an increased
population. Verse 11. "Daughters of Judah."] — " The other cities of Ju
dah," besides Mount Zion on Jerusalem, which is often itself dis
tinguished by a like personification.
Verse 13. "Particularize." — In Hebrew 13D3 peculiarly expres
sive, and for which we have no term that so fully explains its mean
ing as that here chosen. It imports, " to view distinctly, or with
discrimination," in all its parts, and hence to divide or dissect for
this purpose. The whole passage is full of the fondness with which
the sacred writer hung on the beauties of the rising city, and copied
them into his heart.

PSALM XLIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 209
14 " Lo ! this God is our God for ever and ever :
" This is he that will be our guide unto death."
Verse 4. " This is he that"] — Such I take it is the meaning of
Sin in this place as in 2 Chron. xxviii. 22, and various other places.

XLIX*
ON THE SUPREME.
A PSALM, BY THE SONS OF KOKAH.
1 Hear this, all ye peoples,
Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world ;
2 Both sons of the ground, and sons of substance ;
Ye rich, and ye poor together.
The opening of this address is in a style of peculiar grandilo
quence, yet not more so than is justifiable from the momentous
doctrine or burden which it unfolds, and which peculiarly adapts it
for the service of the Passover. It appears also that at the time in
which it was written, the sect of the Sadducees, though probably under
another name, were as numerous and as powerful and as profligate
as in the time of our Saviour : a rank of scoffers and atheists,
whose wealth gave them authority, which authority they were per
petually abusing, so as to be feared as well as despised by good
men ; and the object of the Psalm before us is to show that the
present alone is their world, and that their honours and happiness
can never follow them be3rond it — that righteousness alone will be
the passport to happiness hereafter — and consequently that how
much soever they may scoff at and oppress the just and the humble
on earth, eternal life will be the reward of the latter, while the
atheist and the scorner, stripped of all their wealth and brief au
thority, will be doomed to eternal destruction.
Verse 2. "Both sons of the ground, and sons of substance."
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 199.
P

210 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XLIX.
3 My mouth shall discourse of wisdom,
Yea, the theme of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will bend mine ear to a parable ;
I will utter my burden upon the harp.
5 Why should I fear in these days of evil
That the iniquity of my supplanters should circum
vent me 1

—The term is rendered literally. naiS (adama) is " ground."
QTX (adam) is often employed in the same sense, or in that of ori
ginating from or being attached to the ground — terrigena : earth-
born, or earth-bred, ground-born, or ground-bred. So homo or humo
in Latin is by some lexicographers derived from humus, the origin
and end of man. It is also sometimes, as in verse 12 of the present
Psalm, used in a more contemptible sense for " groundling, or gro
velling on the ground," from low and base pursuits. See Psalm
viii. 4, and note upon it. See also especially Isa. Ii. 12, which is
a paraphrase of Psalm viii. 4 :
I even I am he that comforteth you.
Who art thou that thou shouldst be afraid of man that dieth ?
Yea, of the son of the ground that shall burn to grass.
In other words, " that shall bring forth its own kind ; " and hence
necessarily ground-born, or earth-born, rather than man ; which is
properly given in the preceding line when the word is IP13N, and
not as here DTS. So, as already observed, Job xxv. 6 :
How much less man, a worm,
Tea, the son of the ground, a grub.
So again, in a like way of contempt, Psalm lvii. 4, but especially
Psalm lxii. 9, where the phrase of the present text is repeated. In
our established version these two texts are rendered somewhat dif
ferently, though verbally alike in the original ; for while in the
former of the two Psalms we have " low and high," — in the latter
we have, " men of low degree," and " men of high degree." In
Junius and Tremellius " the plebeian and the patrician ; " in each
instance making an approach to the exacter rendering now offered.
See the note on Psalm viii. 4.
Verse 5. "The iniquity of my supplanters."] — "Lest the so
phistry of those that lie in wait for me should trip me up or sup
plant me, and thus triumph over me." See note on Psalm xii. 9.

PSALM XLIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 211
6 They that trust in their riches,
That boast of the greatness of their wealth ;
7 No man can pay the ransom of his brother,
Nor offer to God his own atonement ;
8 (So costly is the redemption of their souls !
So faileth it continually !)
9 That he should still live on,
That he should never see corruption.
10 For one beholdeth the wise die
As well as the fool and the brutish.
They perish and leave to others their riches.
11 Their houses are their subject for ever,
Their mansions, from generation to generation.
They call their grounds after their names :
12 But the groundling, in the midst of splendour, en-
dureth not ;
He is like the beasts : — they are on a level.
13 Such is their conduct ; — their folly ;
Yet will their posterity incline to their course.
(Selah.)
14 They are stowed, like sheep, in the grave ;
Verse 8. " So costly is the redemption of their soul."] — In like
manner in verse 15 : " But God shall redeem my soul.'
Verse 12. "Yet the gboundling."] — In the preceding verse
we have niaiN " grounds." It is here Q1M " groundling," with a
designed iteration and play upon the word ; for want of an attention
to which the passage has not been fully understood. See the note
on verse 2.
Verse 12. " They are on a level."] — I cannot discover that nai
imports the idea of " perishing " in any place. To " equalize, make
level, or be on a level," is its ordinary meaning ; and beyond this
it may import " to rest,' be still or quiet," which, however, will
give no definite sense, though it is probable that, from this meaning,
that of " to perish " has been somehow or other extracted.
Verse 14. " They are stowed like sheep in the grave,
Death shall feed upon them."] — The grave is the
great slaughter-house ; and Death is the monster for whose enor-
P 2

212 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XLIX.
Death shall feed upon them ;
And the just shall triumph over them in the morning :
For their strength is utter dissolution ;
The grave is their home.
15 But God shall redeem my soul. —
From the grasp of the grave
Assuredly shall he take me away. (Selah.)
16 Fear not thou when one is made rich ;
When the glory of his house is increased.
17 For in his death he shall carry off nothing whatever;
His glory shall not descend after him.
18 Though, while he lived, he gratified his own soul,
Then shall he laud thee for acting well for thyself.
19 He shall go to the generation of his. fathers ;
Never more shall they see the light.
mous and gluttonous jaws they have been fattening while on earth.
Death shall feed upon them. The idea of Death as a shepherd
feeding them, and themselves as a flock of sheep, entrusted to his
care, as given of this passage by Dr. Geddes, Bishop Horsley, and
various other critics, is in total discordance with the characters.
Bishop Home has seized the true sense.
Id. " Utter dissolution."] — The b in nibsb is intensive, whe
ther regarded as an adverb, or as forming a compound noun ; in
either case the passage will be as now rendered ; though in Latin
we might put for the first case " dissolutio penitus," and for the
second " persolutio." Such meanings are common, and I have
often had occasion to instance them in the book of Job and in the
Proverbs. Noldius gives various examples, as do also Sehultens,
and Beiske. Gen. ii. 24 affords us the earliest specimen — " And
they two shall be one flesh : " it is omitted however in this render
ing, which might be " shall be one very flesh," i. e. " one and the
same flesh," " caro ipsissima."
Verse 20. " Without understanding."] — This verse is an itera*
tion from verse 1 2, with a trivial difference, playfully introduced,
according to the custom of Greek and Boman as well as of Hebrew
poets. A difficulty however has been felt in the ordinary reading

PSALM L.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 213
20 The groundling, in the midst of splendour, but with
out understanding,
Is like the beasts : — they are on a level.
of verse 12, and it has been proposed to reduce it to the wording
of the present established version, without necessity, and with a
strange want of taste for the little but delicate ornaments of poetry.

L*
A PSALM OP ASAPH.
1 Jehovah, God of Gods, hath spoken,
And summoned the earth
From the rising of the sun to his going down.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
Is God shining forth.
3 He shall come, our God,
And shall not keep silence :
A fire shall devour before him, and round about him ;
Vehemently tempestuous shall it be.
4 He shall summon the heaven, from on high,
And the earth to the judgment of his people.
5 " Assemble ye unto me my saints ;
" Those that are parties with me in my covenant by
sacrifice."
Verse 1. " God of gods."]— In the Hebrew n\nbN bN— lite
rally as here rendered. So Kennicott, " a God of gods is Jehovah."
Verse 3. "Before him and round about him :
Vehemently tempestuous shall it be."] — Such seems
the proper division ; for the verb " shall it be " is not impersonal,
but refers to the noun fire, and, like devour, is in the feminine to
agree with it. * Historical Outline, &c. p. 205.

214 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM L.
6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness,
For God himself is the judge. (Selah.)
7 " Hear, 0 my people, for I will speak out,
" 0 Israel, for I will testify against thee.
"lam God, thy God.
8 " I will not reprove thee on account of thy sacrifices,
" For thy burnt-offerings are perpetually before me.
9 " I will accept no bullock out of thy stall,
" Nor he-goats out of thy folds,
10 " For all the beasts of the forest are mine,
" The cattle upon hills innumerable.
1] "I own all the fowls of the mountains,
" And the stock of the fields is from me.
12 " If I were hungry I would not tell thee,
" For the world is mine, and its plenteousness.
13 " Shall I, then, eat the flesh of bulls,
" Or drink the blood of goats ?
14 " Offer unto God thanksgiving,
" And absolve thy vows to the Most High ;
15 " Then call upon me in the day of trouble —
" I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."
16 But unto the wicked God sayeth,
" What is it to thee to recount my statutes ;
" Or that thou shouldst take my covenant upon thy
lips,
17 " Since thou hatest instruction,
" And easiest my words behind thee ? —
18 " When thou seest a thief, surely thou art an accom
plice with him,
" And takest thy lot with adulterers.
11. "I own."] — 3>T> is here apparently used in the sense of " to
own or acknowledge," as in Psalm i. 6, and various other places.
Verse 13. " Shall I then eat."] — In the original b31Nn in which
n is not redundant, but emphatic, " Shall I truly," or " forsooth"
— an vero edam ?

PSALM L.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 215
19" Thou givest forth thy mouth to mischief,
" And thy tongue frameth deceit.
20 " Thou sittest, and speakest against thy brother,
" Against thine own mothers son thou ventest
slander.
21 " This hast thou done ; — and because I kept silence,
" Thou tookest me to be just like thyself. —
" I will correct thee, and do justice to thy face.
22 " Think, now, on this, ye forgetters of God,
" Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be no deliverer.
23 " Whoso offereth thanksgiving, glorifieth me ;
" And, thus walking, will I show him, of the salva
tion of God."
Verse 21. "And because."] — So the Hebrew -ni ; though' n as
a causal particle is generally but improperly omitted by the trans
lators. Verse 23. " Whoso offereth thanksgiving glorifieth me."] — The
words are repeated literally from verses 14 and 15, and hence in
both places ought to be rendered alike : they are a direct anaphora.
Id. " And thus walking will I show him-."] — The passage is
rendered literally, and is supported by the Septuagint and Vulgate.
K«i iKei odos — et illic iter. So Tremellius and Junius, " Et qui
componit viam." OtD however, as in the two former, should be
regarded as an adverb, while the verb is "pi- This rendering
is clear, and requires no gratuitous terms, as employed in our
common version ; and the meaning of the preposition 3 in SBTQ is
expressed instead of being merely understood.

216 BOOK OF PSALMS. [l'SALM LI.

LI.*
TO THE SUPREME.
A PSALM OP DAVID : WHEN NATHAN THE PKOPHET HAD GONE TO HIM,
AFTER HE HAD BETAKEN HIMSELF TO BATH8HEBA.
1 Have pity upon me, 0 God,
According to thy loving-kindness ;
According to the multitude of thy tender-mercies,
0, blot out my transgression.
2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity,
And purify me from my sin :
3 For I acknowledge my transgression,
Yea, my sin is ever present with me.
4 Before thee, before thee alone, have I sinned ;
Yea, in thy sight have I committed the offence.
So that thou art just in thy decree,
Unsullied in thy judgment.
The subject is sufficiently explained by the title, which refers to
the heinous transaction recorded in 2 Sam. xii. From the ordi
nary rendering of ver. 4, as also from ver. 1 8, Bishop Horsley dis
credits the title, and contends that it was neither written by David
nor at the period referred to, but by some one of the multitude
that were carried captive to Babylon. But this is most unjus
tifiably to wrong the title : the ordinary rendering of ver. 4, re
quires a little correction, which removes this part of the difficulty
at once ; while the phrase of Jehovah's building, or rather re
building, th e walls of Jerusalem, is altogether figurative, for giving
strength and stability, in consequence of the shock they had. sus
tained from the heinous sin of the Jewish monarch.
Verse 4. " Before thee, thee alone."] — That is, before thee in
secret — when thine eye only beheld me. The whole of this ne
farious transaction was kept hidden from the people at large, and
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 153.

PSALM LI.] BOOK OF PSALMS, 217
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
Yea, in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inmost parts ;
So make me to know wisdom within.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure ;
Wash me, that I may be whiter than snow.
8 Give me to hear of gladness and rejoicing,
That the bones thou hast broken may exult.
9 0, hide thy face from my sin,
And blot out all mine iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, 0 God !
And renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence,
And take not thy Holt Spirit from me.
12 0, restore to me the joys of thy salvation,
And may that gracious Spirit uphold me.
13 I would teach to transgressors thy way,
That the sinners might be brought back unto thee.
14 Free me from blood-stain, 0 God,
Joab alone, or nearly so, was privy to it, as is obvious from the
general tenour of the history. Before, instead of against, removes
a difficulty offered by Bishop Horsley, and referred to above ; and
is more immediately congruous with the line that immediately
follows. Id. " So that thou art just in thy decree."] — The decree and
the judgment here referred to are detailed in 2 Sam. xii. 10,
11, 14.
Verse 6. " Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
Tea, in sin," &c] — " Behold, in iniquity," Sec.
Symmachus, and still later Dr. Geddes, has rendered — " Alas ! I
was born to iniquity, and to sin my mother conceived me." This
version may be allowed, but the re-creation and renewal spoken of
in verse 10, seem to show that the doctrine of original sin is here
referred to, and justifies the ordinary rendering.
Verse 7. " Cleanse me with hyssop."] — The common purifying
material of the sanctuary. See Levit. xiv. 6. Numb. xix. 18.

218 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LII.
Thou God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall shout aloud thine award.
15 0 Lord, open thou my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
16 Behold,' thou desirest not sacrifice, or I would give
it;
Thou acceptest not a burnt-offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit ;
The broken and contrite heart, 0 God, thou wilt not
despise.
18 Of thy bounty be favourable to Zion,
Repair thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then wilt thou desire the sacrifices of righteousness ;
Burnt-offerings, yea, whole burnt-offerings ;
Then shall they pile up bullocks upon thine altar.
Verse 18. " Bepair thou the walls of Jerusalem."] — A bold and
beautiful figure, drawn from a sense of their being shaken and en
dangered by his own crime.

LII*

ON THE SUPREME.

AN INSTRUCTIVE OF DAVID :
WHEN DOEG THE EDOMITE WENT AND TOLD SA'JL ; AND SAID UNTO HIM,
" DAVID IS GONE TO THE HOUSE OF ABIMELECH."
1 Why boastest thou of maliciousness, insolent minion ?
Por the subject, see the title and the Historical Outline.
Verse 1 . " Insolent minion ?
Is not — "] — The entire passage has been a stum-
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 78.

PSALM LII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 219
2 Is not thy tongue daily plotting mischief?
Working glibly, like a polished razor ?
3 Thou lovest evil rather than good ;
Slander rather than right speech. (Selah.)
bling block to all the translators and critics, almost all of whom
have thought it necessary to alter one or more words of the
original, though in different ways. Our common English, and
most of the other versions, render the Hebrew bN. " God," and
separate it from the first line of the distich.
Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, 0 mighty man?
The goodness of God endureth continually.
The Septuagint and St. Jerome omit bs altogether, as not
knowing what to make of it, and render TDn, in a bad sense, in
stead of in a good sense, dvopua, " wickedness," instead of "good
ness ;" thus,
Quid gloriaris in malitia, qui potens es in iniquitate ?
Tota die injustiam cogitavit lingua tua.
And these are thus followed by Dr. Geddes :
Why gloriest thou in evil ? thou shameless man !
Thy tongue is daily machinating mischief.
Dr. Horsley, without striking out the bN, alters its order,
changes the reading of TOn to Dan, and placing bN before it,
instead of after it, regards it as a preposition " in," or " for the
purpose of."
Why exultest thou in wickedness ?
0 thou that art mighty in injustice.
It is not necessary, as it appears to me, to alter either the read
ing or the order of the words, but merely the pause, which should
run thus : : ion -iisan nsns bbnnn nn
: -pit&b 3t»nn nnn nvn b3 bN
Under which division the terms -iia3 and 1t>n, are both used in a
bad, instead of in a good sense ; and bN is a negative particle,
giving an interrogative sense to the second member of the couplet :
Why boastest thou of maliciousness ? insolent minion !
Is not thy tongue daily plotting mischief ?
The primary sense of "133, or "1133, is bold:— and the ramifica
tions like that of bold in English, run in opposite directions ; in a

220 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LII.
4 Thou lovest all the glosses of inveigling ;
The language of knavery.
5 But God shall destroy thee utterly :
He shall demolish thee :
Yea, he shall sweep thee away from home,
And extirpate thee from the land of the living. (Selah.)
6 Then shall the righteous gaze, and be amazed,
And shall make a mock at him :
7 " Behold the man that made not God his strength ;
" But trusted in the multitude of his riches ;
" And fortified himself in his substance."
8 While, in the house of God, I shall flourish like a
palm-tree.
In the loving-kindness of God will I trust for ever
more.
9 For ever will I praise thee, for thou art working on.
I will hope in thy name, for it is the chief good of thy
saints.
good sense importing " courageous, or warlike," and in a bad
sense " insolent or arrogant." It is here used in the latter. The
primary sense of IDn, is " turgid : " and, like the English term,
this also takes two opposite directions : in a good sense importing
" bounty, affluence, kindness, favour ; " and in a bad sense,
" bloatedness, pampering, favouritism ; " and hence personally, as
in the present case, " a pampered person, favourite, or minion."
Verse 4. " Thou lovest all the glosses of inveigling."] — That
"ingulf," "overwhelm," or "like a whirlpool suck" men into
perdition — 2r73 "HST. So the Septuagint, 'pipiara Karaitovripia v.
So Hayward, " Whether they prevail or not, we ingulf ourselves
into assured danger."
Verse 7. " In hisi substance."] — So the margin of our Bibles,
instead of wickedness, which is the textual, but less proper reading,
though the Hebrew will allow of either,
Verse 8. " While in the house of God I shall flourish like a
palm-tree."]— pVI "ON for pjriN "ON : when the personal pro
noun is used, the verb may drop its personal sign, as in Psalm
xxii. 9, ^n2 nns, " thou hast brought me up."

PSALM LIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 221

LIIL*
ON THE SUPREME.
For the Flutes.
AN INSTRUCTIVE OF DAVID.
1 "No God ! " — saith the profligate in his heart.
They are corrupters : they practise abominable iniquity :
Not one doeth good.
2 God looked down upon mankind from heaven, .
To see if there were any that had understanding
To seek after God. —
3 They are all drawn aside —
They are altogether contaminated —
Not one doeth good— not even one.
This is a distinct edition, or various copy of Psalm xiv. The
variations, however, are but few, and they do not seem to be
improvements. The title is fuller: for besides its being called b^JPE, " a mas-
chil, — a didactic or instructive," we are told it was composed
nbna bv, " for Mahalath : " a term derived from btl, and which
does not seem essentially to differ from nib^na, a ramification
from the same root. Both import music on hollow or wind instru
ments. The first however seems rather to apply to some specific
instrument than the last, which is more generic, and may denote
wind-instruments generally. Tet while the strict meaning of
nbnJS, or nibn!3> is " pipes or flutes," it is sometimes rendered
in our established Bible version, tabrets or timbrels ; and some
times — by a metonymy, in which the effect is put for the cause, —
dances or dancings. See note on the title to Psalm v.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 163.

222 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LIII.
4 Have the dealers in iniquity no sense,
Devouring my people as they devour bread ? —
They call not upon God.
5 Fearfully, therefore, shall they fear who were fear
less.
Behold, God shall shiver the bones of the froward.
Thou shalt put them to shame ! —
Behold, God shall reject them,
6 Who shall give forth from Zion salvation to Israel.
Then shall God reverse the bondage of his people :
Jacob shall exult — Israel shall leap for joy.
Verse 5. " Of the froward."] — The Hebrew term has puzzled
all the critics. In the Masora it is written correctly enough -pn,
for which the lexicons give no other meaning, than as a verb, " to
train up," " initiate," " dedicate : " which affords no sense
whatever. Hence Geddes affirms that " the present text is un
intelligible ; '' and Houbigant exchanges -pn f°r *pn> and Bishop
Horsley for -pan' The Septuagint give dvBgavapeo-Kav, " men-
pleasers," " fawners," " flatterers ; " which, with different modi
fications, is adopted, by the Vulgate, Dathe, Doederlein, and
Geddes ; the last of whom renders the passage,
Por God will scatter the bones of the profligate.
Junius and Tremellius give " cujusque castra habentis contra te,"
which is altogether paraphrastic, and seems to be derived from
the same emendation as that proposed by Bishop Horsley.
No emendation, however, is necessary : for the term, rightly
understood, is as clear as crystal. ~f2n imports " froward,"
" malevolent." It occurs very generally in this sense in the cog
nate Arabic term ; and is poetically borrowed from the Arabic
•iis» (henek) as a verb " male velle," " vexare, irascere, pro-
tervus esse : " and, as a noun, ^i-, (henek) plur. «U>-
(henak) " hi furabund& vehemens," '" protervitas," " pervicacia :"
— " malevolence, burning rage, fretfulness, pervicacity, froward-
ness in every shape."

PSALM LIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 223
LIV.*
TO THE SUPREME.
For the stringed-instruments.
AN INSTRUCTIVE OF DAVID :
WHEN THE ZIPHITES WENT AND SAID TO SAUL, " DOTH NOT DAVID HIDE
HIMSELF AMONGST US ? "
1 0 God, deliver me in thy name,
And award to me by thy might.
2 Hear my prayer, 0 God,
Give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For the aliens have uprisen against me ;
And peace-breakers seek after my life. —
They set not God before them. (Selah.)
The subject seems to be correctly indicated in the title, and is
particularly described in 1 Sam. xxiii. 19. The inhabitants of
Mount Ziph, which was in the neighbourhood of Keilah, who must
have known the courage and kindness David had displayed towards
that city, in rescuing it from the assault of the Philistines,
instead of honouring him for this noble act, conducted themselves
towards him with the same baseness as the Keilites had done, and
betrayed his retreat to his bitter enemy Saul, at a time when it
appears, from ver. 3, that they professed to be on terms of special
amity with him. Saul yielded to the advice of the perjured moun
taineers, and pursued David, and endeavoured to surround and cut
him off with a superior force. But God still protected him, and
suddenly called his adversary to repel an invasion on the part of
that very foe, whom David had so recently discomfited at Keilah.
" But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee and
come, for the Philistines have invaded the land. Wherefore Saul
returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines."
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 88.

224 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LIV.
4 Behold, God is my help ;
The Lord is with my life-guards ;
5 He shall repay the malice to mine oppressors.
Cut them off, in thy faithfulness. —
6 I will liberally sacrifice to thee.
Thy name will I praise,
0 Jehovah, — for it is good.
7 Behold, he hath rescued me from every strait ;
Yea, thou hast banqueted mine eyes on mine enemies.
I Sam. xxiii. 27, 28. It was during this fearful attempt to cut
him off, that David seems to have composed the present ode, as he
composed Ps. xiii. when betrayed by the Keilites. And his pro
phetic contemplation of his providential delivery, by the sudden
retreat of his enemy, is told with a sudden burst of poetic enthu
siasm in ver. 7.
Verse 4. " My life-guards."] — In the original, which is here
rendered literally, >t»Q3"1,313D ; " my life-upholders " or " main
tained." " God is my help, and the help of my adherents."
Verse 7. " Behold, he hath rescued."] — A forcible poetic use of
the present for the future tense, produced by the full confidence, or
more probably by a direct prophetic vision, of what was about to
take place, as already noticed. Of this figure the Psalmist is
peculiarly fond ; of which we have a striking example in Ps. xxii.
21 — 24; with which compare Ps. xxxi. 21, as well as various
, others. Id. " Tea, thou hast banqueted mine eyes."] — The passage is
here rendered literally, nnNI being in the second person, and
used in the Arabic sense of " to inebriate, intoxicate, or feast
upon." cfl, " ebrius." See the author's note on Job x. 15.
Our common version has given the general sense, though in a
circumlocution, " and mine eye hath seen his desire ; " the two
last words having no correspondent terms in the original ; while
the verb is here transformed from the second to the third person.
Geddes gives —
" And I have seen mine enemies punished."
But this puts the verb into the first instead of into the second
person; and alters the text from ]iy without authority or any
occasion whatever.

PSALM LV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 225

LV.*
TO THE SUPREME.
For the stringed-instruments.
AN INSTRUCTIVE OF DAVID.
1 Give ear, 0 God, to my prayer,
And hide not thyself from my supplication :
There is no difficulty in determining on what occasion this beau
tiful piece of poetry was composed, for the internal evidence is
sufficiently clear ; and there is, hence, little or no discrepancy of
opinion among the critics. It seems distinctly to allude to the
rebellion of Absalom, as narrated in 2 Sam. xv. " The consternation
and distress," observes Bishop Horsley, " expressed in ver. 4 — 6,
describe the king's state of mind when he fled from Jerusalem,
and marched weeping up the Mount of Olives. The iniquity cast
upon the Psalmist answers to the complaints artfully raised against
the king by bis son, of a negligent administration of justice, and to
the reproach of cruelty cast upon him by Shimei, 2 Sam. xv. 2, 4,
and xvi. 7, 8." The equal, the close and acknowledged friend we
find in Achitophel, the confidential counsellor, first of David, after
wards of Absalom ; the " looks smoother than butter, while re
bellion was in his heart ; " and " the words softer than oil," while
they concealed daggers, — describe the insidious character both of
Absalom and Achitophel, and particularly of the former, as, deline
ated by the historian in 2 Sam. xv. 5, 9, and of whose unruly spirit
David seems to have been so much afraid, that he obliged him to
enter into a special covenant to live retired from the court and the
people, when he granted him permission to retm'n from his exile to
Jerusalem. It is the breach of this covenant or compact that is
specially alluded to in ver. 20. Psalm lxiii. appears to have been
written upon the same subject. It is at the same time easy, as
Bishop Horsley has observed, for believers to transfer this pri-
* Historical Outline &c. p. 182.
Q

226 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LV.
2 0, listen to me and answer me.
I am borne down with mine anxiety ;
3 Yea, I wail aloud at the outcry of the enemy ;
At the daring oppression of the wicked.
For they insinuate wrongfulness against me,
And persecute me with rancour.
4 My heart is pricked within me,
And the terrors op death have fallen upon me ;
5 Dread and trepidation have beset me ;
Yea, horror hath overwhelmed me.
6 0 give me, say I, wings like a dove,
Away would I flee, and be at rest ;
7 Far off would I wander : —
I would lodge in the wilderness : (Selah.)
8 I would hurry to a shelter for me
From the whirlwind, from the tempest.
9 Confound, 0 Lord, dissever their speech ;
For I see the violence and strife of the city.
mary description from David himself to his great descendant, who
endured a baser treachery and a deeper anguish.
Verse 3. " At the daring oppression."] — Literally " at the
effrontery of the oppression," npV *0D».
Id. " They insinuate."]— lta1^ Hiphil. " They slide in ini
quity against me : " " they expose my character and accuse me of
wrong by artful insinuations." And to the same effect Bishop
Horsley. Verse 6. "0 give me, say I, the wings of a dove,
Away would I flee, and be at rest."] — Such is the
literal rendering ; or more closely, " O, who will give me the
wings," &c. The 1 is here exclamatory.
The expression appears to have been proverbial ; and was doubt
less derived from the history of the dove let forth from the ark on
the subsidence of the waters of the deluge, who on the first trial
could find " no rest for the sole of her foot," but being afterwards
sent forth " returned not again any more." Gen. viii. 9, 12.
Verse 9. " Confound, 0 Lord, dissever their speech."] — The

PSALM LV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 227
1 0 Day and night is there a stir about her walls ;
Yea, wrong and mischief are in the midst of her J
11 In the midst of her, depravity ;
And deceit and guile depart not from her breadth.
12 Lo, it is not an enemy that hath reviled me ;
That could I have borne.
Nor a slanderer that hath triumphed over me ;
For against him would I have protected myself.
13 But thou ! — a man, as it were, of mine own rank ;
My close friend, and acknowledged by me. —
14 Together we made privacy sweet ;
In company we walked to the house of God.
15 Let death seize upon them !
Let them go down alive into the grave :
For destructions are in their very texture.
16 As for me — upon God will I call,
And Jehovah shall rescue me.
17 Evening, and morning, and noon-tide,
Will I bow down and wail aloud ;
And he shall hear my bemoaning.
18 He shall deliver my soul in peace
From the onset against me ;
Though so many are there upon me.
reference is to the confusion of tongues wrought upon the builders
of the tower of Babel.
Verse 10. " Is there a stir."]— Or " a bustle :" n331D'> in
which the text, as here rendered, is given impersonally. Most of
the versions, however, and our established translation among the
rest, render it actively and with a plural verb : " they go about,"
or " are they busy about " — i. e. the preceding antecedents " vio
lence and strife." In this case, however, the Hebrew should be
ni33D\ Verse 18. " Though so many are there upon me."] — The pass
age is rendered literally, and in the. order of the original. Our
Q 2

228 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM LV.
1 9 God shall hear —and humble them,
Yea, he who abideth for ever ; (Selah.)
With whom are no variations. —
Yet for, this will they not fear God.
20 He hath put forth his hand against those at peace
with him ;
, He hath broken his covenant.
21 His looks were smoother than butter ;
But rebellion was in his heart.
His words were softer than oil ;
Yet were they daggers.

common version takes no notice of the Hebrew 3 in O'O-Q — when
it imports, " tarn multi," " tarn numerosi." -rfi9 is always a
particle of approximation, but is used in opposite senses ; for it
may equally mean " close against," or " close in favour of." It is
here employed in the former sense, as in Gen. xx. 9. Exod. xvii. 2.
Job x. 17, and alibi.
Verse 19. " With whom are no variations."] — The verse has been
wrongly divided, the present passage evidently referring to God,
instead of to the enemies of the Psalmist, in perfect unison with,
and perhaps as giving rise to the parallel passage in St. James,
i. 17, " with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
Id. " Tet for this will they not fear God."] — In the exact order
of the Hebrew text : —
" Por this even will they not fear God."
Verse 2 J . " His looks were smoother than butter." Por " look "
or "looks" we might read "mouth," as is commonly done: but
then we must gratuitously supply " the words of," which is unne
cessary. This present part of the verse describes the hypocrisy of
the address, as the ensuing does that of the speech or words. Por
" butter " the original gives nN»n contracted from niNan, as it
occurs in the Complutensian, and most of the copies, literally
" buttery things ; " having a glossy exterior put upon them, or a
general suppleness communicated by an illination with butter.
Id. " But rebellion."]— See for this meaning of 3np Ps. xxxii.
9, note on.

PSALM LVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 229
22 0, cast thy care upon Jehovah,
And he shall sustain thee :
He will not suffer the upright to give way for ever.
23 But them, 0 God, wilt thou put down,
Into the pit of perdition ; —
The men of blood and deceit : —
Not half their days shall they live out.
Whilst as for me —
Upon thee do I rely.
Id. " Tet were they daggers.] — mnnQ from nns a sharp
. cutting or indenting instrument ; an engraver's stile ; and hence a
stiletto, poniard, or dagger.

LVI.*
to the supreme.
ON THE OPPKESSION OF THE BAND OF EXILES : i GOLDEN SONG OF
DAVID, WHEN HIS PEBSON WAS IN THE POSSESSION OF THE PHILIS
TINES AT GATH.
1 Have pity upon me, 0 God !
For man is gasping for me.
Every day would the foe trample upon me :
In the present version the whole of the title is rendered literally;
and the subject seems therefore to be nearly the same as that of
Psalm xi., namely, the cruel taunts and threatenings sustained by
king David in the country of the Philistines, in which he took refuge
from the fury of Saul. Achish, indeed, the Philistine prince, seems
to have conducted himself with great kindness and liberality towards
him ; but the jealous herd of his courtiers rendered his residence at
* Historical Outliue, &c. p. 9S.

230 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LVI.
2 Every day are my complotters gasping.
How numerous are my foes, out of pride !
3 Daily am I in dread :
Yet on thee will I rely.
Gath so painful that he was obliged to request permission of the
king to retire to Ziklag, where however they still followed him up
with their persecutions. The words of the title intimate that the
present Psalm was composed in Gath, and consequently before his
retirement. The words of the title are rendered differently by different critics,
but the sense now offered is both the plainest and the most literal ;
and is nearly that adopted by Cocceius, Houbigant, Penwick and other
interpreters of authority. QbN or nabs pi. O^abN and niabM
import, according to Cocceius, " band or bundle," in this place, as
in Gen. xxxvii. 7, and hence in a bad sense, " party or faction," as
in Psalm lviii. 1.
Verse 1. "Is gasping for me."] — In Hebrew P]NtP " to pant,
gasp, draw, or suck in one's breath;" and hence "to suck in or
swallow any other fluid :" whence in our established and most other
versions, " swaUoweth me." Dr. Horsley, after the Septuagint, ren
ders it, " trampleth-me-under-foot," but the original will not justify
this meaning. The same word is repeated in the ensuing verse.
, Verse 2. " My complotters."] — "Hilt? " my insidious or over-
watching enemies," — way-layers or spies.
Id. "Out of pride."] — There is no example, if we except the
present, in which Qlia imports " most high," which is elsewhere
expressed by fvbv. Aquila, however, so understood it, and he
has been followed by our national translators and many others.
Geddes omits the word entirely, as it is omitted in the Septuagint
unless diro Sij/ovs be supposed to allude to it ; which is rather how
ever an interpolation as it stands, " mine enemies trample upon
me daily — from the uprisings of the day." Houbigant therefore
proposes to read Q1"1J213 " from on high," and is followed by
Bishop Horsley — meaning " wickedness in high places." As now
rendered, there is no need of the slightest alteration, while the sense
is so clear that it cannot be mistaken.
The 1 at the beginning of the line, commonly translated for,
means rather how, as in various other places*
Verse 3. "Daily."]— Hebrew DV for Q»v, but the translators

PSALM LVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 231
4 In God will I glory : — the cause is his :
In God do I place reliance :
I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
5 Every day do they scrutinize my conduct :
All their thoughts about me are very mischief.
6 They gather together ; they secrete themselves ;
They pry into my footsteps :
So long they for my life.
7 Shall there be a refuge for them in iniquity ?
In wrath bring thou down the peoples, 0 God.
8 Thou numberest my wanderings :
0, put my tears into thy bottle :
Nay,into thy bo ok.
have generally altered it to CVS " when," " what time," or " in
the day that," — very much to the weakening of the idea ; as the
Psalmist has just before stated, that the evils he was exposed to
were daily or continual.
Verse 4. " The cause is his."] — The passage has been a stum
bling-block to all the critics, most of whom have in consequence
altered the text in order to extract a meaning. It does not seem
to have been clearly understood. As now rendered, the version is
as literal as it is beautiful and forcible. In verse 1 0 the same ex
clamation is elegantly and strikingly iterated, and the present ver
sion, with the slight variation intended, equally applies. Geddes
gives, " whatever me befall ; " Bishop Horsley " he-hath-passed his
word; " Houbigant " for his promise." 13T imports very gene
rally " word or promise," " work, cause, business, undertaking,
concern, or conduct."
Verse 5. " Very mischief."] — The b is here not a preposition
but a noun of intensity " mere, sheer, actual, very," as in 1 Sam.
xvi. 7, " Jehovah surveyeth," 33bb " the very heart." As a pre
position it imports through or thorough, and " thorough " also as
a noun. Verse 8. " O put my tears into thy bottle : —
" Nay, into thy book."] — The tears shed over departed
friends were by the Bomans collected in urns — which were placed

232 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LVI.
9 In the day when I shall cry aloud,
Shall mine enemies be turned back.
This I know— for God is with me.
10 In God will I exult :— he hath the cause :
In Jehovah will I exult :— he hath the cause.
II In God do I place reliance :
I will not fear what man can do unto me.
12 Thy vows are upon me, 0 God !
Unto thee will I offer praises.
by the monument or sarcophagus of the deceased, and held sacred.
Something of the same kind appears to have been common among
the Jews, if we may judge by this verse : in which the Psalmist
implores God to put his own tears into the sacred urn or bottle,
and to have them in perpetual memorial.
The Nbn is not here a direct negative with an interrogative
sense given to the passage " are they not ? " — but" an indirect
negative, importing an affirmative: "nay," "not so — but more
than this." " O measure and collect my tears : nay, rather record
them in the judgment-book of the day of final account ; that they
may appear in my favour." It is used in the same sense, verse 13
of the present Psalm.
Verse 10. " He hath the cause."] — This is a beautiful anaphora
or iteration of verse 4 : in which the word "m is repeated in a
verbal instead of in a substantive form, and without the pronoun 1
or his : and hence for " the cause is his," we must translate " he
hath the cause : " or for "the concern," or "the undertaking is
his " — " he hath the concern," or " is concerned," " he hath the
undertaking " or " hath undertaken."
Verse 13. "Nay."] — sbn is here a negative, importing more
instead of less, as in verse 8, " Thou hast delivered my soul from
death — nay, more than this, thou hast even kept me from actual
danger, and upheld me from falling."
Id. "Behold, thou hast delivered, &c."] — This is a frequent
mode of conclusion in the Psalms, and peculiarly establishes the
present power of the spirit of prophecy. Bapt into future times,
the sacred bard contemplates as realised that which is about to be,
gnd already triumphs in the realization.

PSALM LVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 233
13 Behold, thou hast delivered my soul from death ;
Nay, my feet- from falling :
So will I walk before God,
In the land of the living.

LVII*
TO THE SUPREME,
The God of frustration.
A GOLDEN SONG OF DAVID.
ON HIS ESCAPE FROM BEFORE SAUL IN THE CAVE.
1 Pity me, 0 God, pity me !
For in thee my soul taketh shelter :
And in the shadow of thy wings will I take shelter,
Through the over-passing of calamities.
The subject itself is sufficiently expressed in the title ; and several
parts of the Psalm, particularly verses 4 and 6, support its correct
ness. The phrase in the title fint»n bN (Al-Taschith) has not
been understood by any of the translators, who, however, have
rendered it " destroy not," without being able to conceive what
such a detached phrase can apply to, unless it might be the begin
ning of some other Psalm, the music of which was applicable to
this. bN is here a noun, if I mistake not, instead of a negative
particle, importing God as in numerous other places ; while nn&H
is a noun also governed of bN and importing " destruction, dis
persion, spoiling, marring, frustration, overthrow " — and hence as
here rendered, " The God of frustration, disconcertion, dispersion,
or overthrow," in reference to his having frustrated, disconcerted,
-destroyed or overthrown, the scheme again planned against David,
' - . * Historical Outline, &c. p. 91.

234 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LVII.
2 I will call unto God the most High,
Unto God who is working on for me.
3 He shall send from heaven and save me ;
He shall put to disgrace them that gasp for me. (Selah.)
God shall send forth his tender-mercy, and his truth.
4 My soul was amongst lions.
I crouched amongst incendiaries —
The ground-born, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a sharpened sword.
to get possession of his person. On David's escape, it is highly
probable that he went to Samuel at Bamah ; and at Naioth joined
the college of the prophets in their vocal and instrumental music,
and other acts of devotion ; when it is not unlikely that this cele
brated Psalm was first set to music, and formed a part of their
devotional service. See 1. Samuel xix. 18—22.
Verse 1. "Through the overpassing of calamities."] — The figure
is highly beautiful, " through the transit or eclipse " — as when the
sun is obscured by the transit of the moon or of an opaque cloud
over his disk, "ny» is here evidently a noun with a formative i
unless the i be the last letter of i"$ the preceding word, as a para- ,
gogic appendage (according to Bishop Horsley's conjecture) which
will make not the slightest difference whatever. The common read
ing " until these calamities be overpassed," is entirely untrue to the
original, as the verb is in the singular masculine, while the antece
dent is in the plural feminine, and these does not occur. The text,
indeed, has been altered in various ways in the codices, and the
emendations of modern critics to meet this rendering, or rather to *
make sense of some kind, as the proper meaning, and that now
offered, does not seem to have occurred to any of them.
Verse 3. " Them that gasp for me."] — "»SNB? for which see note
on Psalm lvi. 1 .
Verse 4. " The ground-born whose teeth, &c."] — The whole has
a reference to the danger he ran in entering into the cave where
Saul was asleep. Q1N "03 is here as in the ensuing Psalm, verse
1, used by way of contempt, and is rather " ground-bom," or
" sons of the ground," " terrigense," which is its literal meaning,
than " sons of man." See note on Psalm xlix. 2. It is synony-

PSALM LVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 235
5 Extolled be thou, 0 God ! throughout the heavens ;
Thy glory throughout all the earth.
6 A net had they prepared for my steps ;
My soul was down-sinking, —
A pit had they delved before me : —
They are fallen into the midst of it. (Selah.)
7 My heart is prepared, 0 God !
My heart is prepared :
I will sing of it and celebrate it.
8 Awake ! 0, my Glory !
Awake psaltery and harp !
The dawn will I awaken.
9 I will praise thee, 0 Lord, among the peoples ;
I will celebrate thee among the nations :
10 For magnified is thy tender-mercy to the heavens ;
And thy faithfulness to the skies.
11 Extolled be thou, 0 God ; throughout the heavens ;
Thy glory throughout all the earth.
mous with " groundlings," " grovellers," or base-born. The figure
of their being beasts of prey is continued in the ensuing part of
the verse, where they are represented as fighting with their teeth.
Verse 7. " I will sing of it and celebrate it."] — In the original
miDTNl m^tON in both which terms the n is not paragogic, but
the pronoun it, directly referring to the deliverance declared in the
preceding verse, though probably paragogic in Psalm cviii. 1, where
the verbs are neuters.
Verse 8. " The dawn will I awaken."] — So Geddes circuitously,
I will awake the early morning.
who refers to the elegant parallelism in Milton, —
Cheerly rouse the slumbering morn.

236 BOOK OF psalms. [psalm lviii.

LVIIL*
TO THE supreme,
The God of Frustration.
A GOLDEN SONG OF DAVID.
1 Fabricators of a faction ! do ye administer justice?
Sons of the ground ! do ye award equitably ?
2 How much rather work ye up iniquity from the heart!
The rapine of your hands mete ye out through the
land.
The general title is the same as that to the preceding Psalm ;
and refers to a deliverance quite as marvellous, the subject of which
is sufficiently pointed at by the Psalm itself, when cleared of the
difficulties that have been supposed to belong to it. This subject
is the confederacy of Absalom and his adherents, which at length
broke out into open treason, and had nearly subverted the reign of
David. The history of this ambitious prince, as contained in the
second book of Samuel, informs us that after his recal from banish
ment and restoration to favour, he succeeded by his insinuating
address and the beauty of his person, in alienating the hearts of the
king's subjects from his father, and enlisted into his treacherous
design, not only the most daring characters among the disaffected,
but many individuals of high rank and authority, and especially
Achithophel, the confidential counsellor and bosom-friend of king
David, who, however, was not in the least suspected by his master,
till the rebellion had actually broken out. One of the first and
most effectual persuasives made use of by this band of confederates
was a pretence of compassion for the poor and the injured, whose
grievances, it was affirmed, were scandalously neglected by the
existing government, but who would be sure to obtain redress, pro
vided Absalom were declared king. It is with an allusion to this
treasonable insinuation that the Psalm opens. David appears fully
* Historical Outlin% &c. p. 167.

PSALM LVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 237
3 The wicked are strangers to compassion.
They are deceitful to the core ; dealers in fraud.
sensible of the existence of this confederacy, and, in the ninth
verse, contemplates the possibility that it would ultimately lead on
to an open rebellion : but from the infirmity of increasing years, or
a prodigal love for Absalom notwithstanding his unworthiness, or
from a consciousness of the strength which the traitorous faction
had already obtained, he seems to have been afraid to take those
urgent steps which the danger demanded, and quell them by a
sudden exercise of military power, and a signal punishment of its
leaders. He applies himself, therefore, as in all former difficulties
to Jehovah for assistance, denounces the mischievous designs of the
conspiracy, and prays for its subversion, and the destruction of
those who were engaged in it.
Verse 1. "Pabricatqrs of a faction."] — obN as already ob
served in explaining the title of Ps. lvi, imports " a band, or
bundle, or party " — and hence in a bad sense " a faction," by which
term it is correctly rendered by Bishop Horsley.
Q31DN is here not an adverb importing " indeed," as in our
common version, but a noun plural importing " fabricators,"
builders or workmen, as in Cant. vii. 1, "the work of a cunning
workman." The passage is evidently a phrase of utter contempt.
Id. " Sons of the ground ! "] — Por which see note on Psalm
lvii. 4 ; xlix. 2, the language of contempt being still continued.
And it is highly probable that many of David's most violent and
active enemies were persons raised into power from a very subordi
nate station, in consequence of their fawning servility to Saul.
Verse 2. " How much rather."] — In the Hebrew ?]« "quanto
magis," "how much more or rather" as in 1 Samuel xxiii. 3:
Job ix. 14, and iv. 19.
Verse 3. " Strangers to compassion."] — So Green and Geddes
correctly. Id. "Deceitful to the core."]— nvn imports "to err or go
astray," and "to seduce or bewilder," i.e. "make to go astray,"
and hence "to deceive." )va signifies "the inmost, deepest, or
most central part or organ of a man or thing," and hence " the
belly, heart, or core." — It is on this account it has also the signifi
cation of " the womb," which is generally given to it, but less
correctly, in the present place.

238 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM LVIII.
4 Their venom is like the venom of the serpent.
They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth his ear :
5 That will not hearken to the sound of charms ;
To the skilful chanter of enchantment.
6 0 God, break thou their teeth in their mouths :
Shiver, 0 Jehovah, the grinders of the young lions.
7 Let them come to nothing, like water that is exhaled :
Thus let it happen : — in this wise let their own wea
pons make an end of them.
8 As putrefieth the slug,
As goeth off the abortion of a woman,
Never more let them see the sun.
Verse 7. " Let them come to nothing, &c."] — There is supposed
to be an unconquerable difficulty in the original of these two verses :
and they have hence been arranged, and even altered in almost
every form the fancy can suggest. They are here at least given
verbally, yet as I trust perspicuously.
Verse 8. " As putrefieth the slug."] — The image is peculiarly
forcible : the slug or earth-worm that never quitteth or riseth above
corruption ; and whose existence is as brief as it is sordid. He
had before called the traitorous band, " sons of the ground," and
he now imprecates that, as such, as slugs, earth-worms, or sons of
the ground, they may putrefy. The image, however, in both its
ramifications is common to the Hebrew poets as already observed
in note to Psalm viii. 4, and in various other places.
Thus Job xxv. 6 : How much less man, a worm,
Tea, the son of the ground, a grub.
Psalm xxii. 6 : But I am a worm, and not a man.
And Isa. xii. 14 : Pear not, thou worm Jacob.
Id. " Never more."] — Such is the intensity of the negative b3
which imports utter abolition or negation, without a possibility of
change. Thus Isaiah xxvi. 14, speaking of the idols whose worship
the Jews had now abjured,
They are dead1— never more shall they live,
They are deceased — never more shall they arise.

PSALM LV1II.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 239
9 Before they can breed revolt, set thorns in the midst
of them ;
As with force, as with fury,
Let them be scattered with a whirlwind.
Verse 9. " Before they can breed revolt, set thorns in the midst
of them."] — This verse has, also, been regarded as altogether in
tractable to the translators ; and nothing can more clearly show its
real difficulty than a comparison of our common Psalter with our
common Bible rendering ; and both these again with the marginal
reading of our Bibles. Hence all the critics have suspected an
error in the Masoretic text, and have altered it in a great variety of
ways, according to their own imaginations. St. Jerome, Houbigant,
Doederlein, Bosenmuller, Lowth, Horsley, and Geddes.
Humbly venturing to differ from all these, I conceive that the
only error of importance is the want of a division of QS^m^D
which, as it appears, to me, should be Q^n T^D making "revolt
m the midst of them," instead of " your pots." And with this
slight alteration the original text is verbally as now rendered ; for
the obvious error of the us for them in 13n37BT " let us be scat
tered," need not be dwelt upon for a moment, being so plain, that,
in our common English versions as well as in all others, it has been
necessarily corrected.
This verse compared with the first seems very clearly to point at
the precise period in which the Psalm was composed, as already
explained. David appears to have been aware of the disloyalty of
his son, and the low and fawning faction he had raised around him,
and which was now become so powerful as to form an object of
serious apprehension to him, though he did not exert himself with
the activity he ought to have done, and would have done in earlier
life to suppress it. He pours out his fears, however, and his im
precations in prayer, and implores God, in a variety of images, to
subvert the confederates, and destroy the confederacy ; and in the
present verse, to choke up their way with a stumbling-block of
thorns before they should break out into actual rebellion, to disor
ganize their league, and to scatter them as with a whirlwind.
Id; " They can breed."] — The Hebrew lJi^ should be derived
from n33 "to build up," whether a house, or a family ; and hence
also " to breed, hatch, procreate : " but it has in every instance, I
believe, hitherto, been derived from p " to discern or distinguish ;"

240 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LVIII.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when they see the ven
geance :
His feet shall he wash in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then shall man exclaim, "Verily, there is a reward
for the righteous :
" Verily, there is a God that judgeth in the earth."
and has, hence, with no small degree of violence been understood to
import, not mental feeling only, but the figurative feeling of heat by
a pot ; though it is strictly a mental or moral term, and has never
that I know of in any other instance, been applied to gross or cor
poreal sensation.
Id. " Eevolt."] — the Hebrew "ID imports primarily " to turn out
of the way or seduce," whence its derivatives niD. "T'D or "11D
mean " revolt or apostacy," and " revolters or apostatizers." The
terms are generally n"lD and niD ; but many of the codices have
T'D occasionally instead of "I1D, so that there is no reason to make
a change of a single letter in this term, as the 1 and ^ are con
vertible. Id. " Set thorns."] — In the Hebrew ItON. If this were a noun
it would be here most probably in the plural. Its meaning in the
verbal form is as now expressed : " to grow, set, or plant thoms,''
and the sense is clear and without constraint, and in strict conso
nance with the figurative language of the Scriptures. Thus Hosea
ii. 6, "Behold I will hedge up thy way with thorns ; " and Prov.
xv. 19, " The way of the slothful is an hedge of thorns." Hence,
too, the proverbial expression, Numb, xxxiii. 55 ; Josh, xxiii. 13,
" They shall be thorns in your sides," or " in your eyes."
Id. " As with."] — Of this meaning of 1S3 we have various ex
amples ; see especially Zech. x. 7, " and their heart shall rejoice as
with wine."
Id. " Let them be scattered with the whirlwind."] — The origi
nal term is evidently wrong, I3*i3>t&\ " let us be scattered : " the
two last letters however, are merely misplaced, for by changing
them the text becomes as now understood. It has been more
common, however, among the critics to alter the letters, and for
in»t»\ or 'jl-]Et»\ to read l»n»B>\ in which way it is amended
by St. Jerome, who is followed by the Vulgate and our Bible ver
sion, " he shall scatter, or take them away." But the former
mode of amendment gives a clearer sense, while it does less violence
to the text.

PSALM LIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 241
LIX.*
TO THE SUPREME. j
The God of frustration.
A GOLDEN SONG OF DAVID ;
ON THE SENDING OF SAUL, WHEN THEY WATCHED ABOUT THE HOUSE TO
KILL HIM.
1 Deliver me, 0 God, from mine enemies ;
From them that would spring upon me, defend me.
2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
0, save me from the men of blood.
3 For, lo, they lie in wait for my life :
The violent are mustered against me.
Nothing is my crime, yea, nothing my transgression ;
4 Without an offence they prowl about and keep alert.
5 0, arouse to my succour and behold !
Even thou, 0 Jehovah ! God of hosts ! — the God of
Israel !
Who art vigilant to punish all the heathen,
0, be not thou merciful to any that harbour evil.
Verse 2. " O save me from the men of blood,
Por lo ! they lie in wait for my life."] — " Saul also
sent messengers to David's house to watch him, and to slay him
in the morning." 1 Sam. xix. 11.
Verse 5. " Who art vigilant to punish all the heathen."] — The
argument is peculiarly forcible with the text thus rendered, which,
in truth, is its proper rendering : and one of the chief difficulties
of regarding the Psalm as composed according to the statement in
the' Masoretic title, instantly vanishes.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 72.
R

242 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LIX.
6 Let them go about in the dark ;
Let them foam like a dog ;
Let them ransack the city ;
7 Let them bluster with their mouths ;
Let swords be in their lips ; — yet, what is there heard of?
8 Thus of them, 0 Jehovah, make thou a mock :
Shouldst thou make derision of the heathen, they are
strengthened.
Verse 6. " Let them go about in the dark."] — Their command
was to watch or lie in wait all night, and to murder him on his
first appearance in the morning. See note on ver. 2.
Verse 7. " Tet what is there heard of?"] — " What, in every
quarter, to which their search is directed, but of my marvellous
escape from their bands by thy gracious interposition ? " When a
wicked tyrant is determined to carry any iniquitous purpose into
effect, he is never in want of abettors and auxiliaries amongst
those that are about him: and there can be no doubt that the
wonderful success with which God had crowned the battles of
David against the Philistines, and from which he was now just re
turned, had excited a deep sense of jealousy among the courtiers of
Saul, as well as in Saul's own breast. David in this passage evi
dently alludes to the vanity of the search of his enemies after him, as
it here appears, from house to house, wherever they suspected he
might be concealed. But the passage has not hitherto been clearly
understood, and ha3 hence been interpreted in very different ways,
and generally eked out by gratuitous words.
Verse 8. " Of them, 0 Jehovah, make a mock,
Shouldst thou make derision of the heathen," &c.] —
David was just returned from a successful war against the Philis
tines, whom Jehovah had made a mock of by his hands, and. had
thus strengthened the power of Saul. He here supplicates Je
hovah to reverse his favour ; to withdraw his vengeance from the
heathen and pour it upon those who, in defiance of the most solemn
oaths, were pursuing his life instead of crowning him with rewards
and honours. The passage evidently refers to 1 Sam. xix. 8,
compared with the same chapter, ver. 10, 11.
The verses, however, have from a very early period been im
properly divided : and hence yfs, " they are strengthened," in-

PSALM LIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 243
9 With thee shall I be safe : for God is my fortress :
10 The God of my mercy shall go before me :
God shall watch over me in the midst of mine op
pressors.
11 Slay them not — lest my people grow unmindful :
In thy might make them vagrants ;
Yea, prostrate them, 0 Lord our defence.
12 Let their mouth be a pit-fall— the words of their
lips :
Yea, let them be snared with their own haughtiness,
And in the cursing and lying they utter.
13 Waste them in anger — waste till there be nothing
of them ;
Till they know that God ruleth in Jacob,
Unto the ends of the earth. (Selah.)
stead of closing ver. 8, has been made to begin ver. 9, as a new
sentence, and regarded as a noun with a pronoun suffix instead of
as a verb plural. No critic, however, has been able to make any
sense of it in this form, its strict interpretation being " his
strength, or their strength," and hence gratuitous terms have been
introduced into the text to give it a meaning according to the
imagination of the individual ; or the letters of the text have been
altered, the actual reading being suspected of corruption. Our
established version gives an example of the former, " because of his
strength : " the Septuagint, St. Jerome, Bishop Horsley, and
various other interpreters, of the latter, all of whom by changing
1T9 into ifs, translate " O my strength ! " It will, I think, be ob
vious, from the present rendering, that the Masoretic text is cor
rect, and requires no amendment, and that the term, as given in
this text, is wanted to complete the eighth verse, while it is not
required in the ninth.
Verse 12. " Let their mouth be apit-fall."] — The noun nNtsn.
imports here " fall, down-fall, pit-fall," rather than " sin," as
usually rendered ; " lapsus, lapsatio, laqueus," rather than " pec-
catum," as it does in Prov. xxi. 4, and various other places.
R 2

244 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LX.
14 Thus let them go about in the dark ;
Let them foam like a dog ;
Let them ransack the city ;
15 Let them noisily wander for spoil,
And growl if they do not satisfy themselves.
16 Whilst, as for me— I will sing of thy power :
Yea, at the dawn will I exult in thy loving-kindness :
For a refuge hast thou been unto me,
Even a fortress in the day of my distress.
17 0 my strength ! unto thee will I chant ;
For God is my fortress, the God of my mercy.
Verse 14. " Thus let them go about in the dark," &e.] — A
playful iteration of ver. 6. Such anaphoras are common to poets
of all ages and countries, and are particularly common to those of
Judea; sometimes in the same, sometimes in different Psalms.
Verse 15. "Noisily."] — nnn seems here to be an adverb,
rather than an expletive pronoun " they."

LX.*
TO THE SUPREME.
A memorial for the hexachord.
A GOLDEN PSALM OF DAVID ;
AS A KECOKD OF HIS CONFLICT WITH THE STKIANS OF 'THE KIVEKS, AND
THE SYRIANS OF ZOBAH ; WHEN JOAB TURNED BACK, AND SMOTE OF
EDOM, IN THE VALLEY OF SALT, TWELVE THOUSAND.
1 0 God, thou hast cast us off;
Thou hast broken us : — thou art angry :
0, turn thyself unto us again.
The facts adverted to in the body of the Psalm are said by many
critics to have little or no reference whatever to* the bearing of the
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 144.

PSALM LX.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 245
2 Thou hast made the land quake ;
Thou hast cloven it.
Heal its breaches, for it is sundering.
3 Thou hast shown severity to thy people :
Thou hast made us to drink the wine of staggering :
4 Thou hast given up to flight those that fear thee,
So as to become signalized for the truth. (Selah.)
title ; but a close attention to the history of David will, I think,
easily make the one harmonize with the other ; and fully justify the
claim, which the title confers on the Psalm, of being a national me
morial, or standard testimony, (for such seems to be the real meaning
of IVilV eduth, in the orthography of our established version of
the title,) of the special interposition of Jehovah in a period of
great danger to the Jewish throne and government, which had now
been fixed at Jerusalem for about six years. And how completely
it was regarded as entitled to this character is obvious, from its
being inserted into the Psalter a second time in a modified form
in Psalm cviii., as though the Jewish nation were determined to
keep it in full sight, and to give it the entire claim, which it de
serves, to their attention. The title to this Psalm informs us, in
like manner, that it is a composition of David : and it is, in truth,
a sacred ode, designed to celebrate the national success adverted to
in the Psalm before us, by uniting a part of Psalm lvii., which
rehearses a preceding and marvellous deliverance, with a part of
the present : a practice of which, on particular occasions, the Psalter
offers us several examples, as observed abeady. The narrative to
which the Psalm relates has been abundantly given in the Historical
Outline, and to that the reader is referred.
Verse 2. " Por it is sundering."] — Bather than " for it shaketh,"
as better applying to the term breaches. The whole image is de
rived from the characteristics of an earthquake — the trembling of
the ground, and the yawning gulfs produced by its disruptions.
Verse 4. " Thou hast given up to flight those that fear thee."] —
The Hebrew D3 imports primarily "to fly or flee;" and as a
noun, " flight, or fleeing away." It imports secondarily, " flying
about," " flickering," or " streaming:" and hence, " a streamer,"
" flag," or " banner." The primary sense seems to be that here

246 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LX.
5 That thy beloved may be set free,
0, let thy right hand work deliverance, and answer us.
6 God hath spoken. —
In his holiness will I rejoice.
I will compensate Shechem,
And re-measure the valley of Succoth.
intended ; though the secondary is more commonly employed, and
has been so in our established version.
Id. " Por the truth."]— Propter veritatem Bt»p "OQa. " So
as to become signalized for their fidelity or adherence to thee ; "
they are thus suffering in thy cause, and still continue faithful.
The argument is used as a plea for the petition in the next verse,
" 0 let thy right hand work deliverance and answer us." A like
plea is used, and with equal force, in Ps. xliv. 22 :
" Lo, for thy sake are we slain every day ;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."
The wording of the Masora text is sufficiently correct, and its
meaning clear when thus explained : but at an early age, the sense
was misunderstood, and supposed to be so incomprehensible, that
an error in the text was suspected, and aitfp " truth," was ex
changed for HWp " a bow : " an alteration that occurs in the
Septuagint, and consequently in St. Jerome, who translates the
passage thus : " ut fugiant a facie arcus, " that they may fly," or
" so that they may fly from the face of the bow."
Verse 6. " God hath spoken. In his holiness will I rejoice."] —
The common division of the verse is, I think, manifestly wrong,
which puts the period after holiness, instead of after spoken. As
the Psalm, according to its title, was written just at the time when
Joab, with his detachment from the main army, had come up with
the invading Edomites, and obtained a victory over them, it is
probable that the reviving news of this success had just reached
David, when he had advanced thus far in the composition of the
Psalm. He received the news with gratitude, and regarded it as the
voice of God, in answer to the petition he had just put up. He ex
presses his rejoicing on the occasion, and exults in all those attri
butes of veracity, justice, and love of order, which constitute the
holiness of God, and offer to his people a rock of reliance. The

PSALM LX.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 247
7 Gilead is with me, and Manasseh is with me,
And Ephraim is the crest of my head.
Judah is my sceptre,
strain of the composition is immediately changed ; and the plaintive
notes of fear give way to an unrestrained burst of triumph.
Id. " I will compensate Shechem, and re-measure the valley of
Succoth."] — The Hebrew pbn in a remote sense means " to
divide ; " but its prior sense is " to equalize, level, or make equi
valent," " to apportion." nn is a reduplicate verb, from ia
" to measure," and consequently means " to re-measure," " mea
sure back, or over again." The verse evidently imports that the
cities of Shechem and Succoth were at that time in the hands of
the enemy, or had greatly suffered from their invasion ; and is a
declaration that David would amply recompense their losses, take
vengeance of the usurping foe, and either destroy him utterly, or
compel him to tread back his steps through the districts he had
over-run. And how far he succeeded in various instances is clear
from 2 Sam. viii. 2 : "He smote Moab, and measured them with
a line, casting them down to the ground ; even with two lines
measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive."
So that he thoroughly fulfilled his threat.
Succoth and Shechem were the two stations at which Jacob first
rested with his family, in his flight from Padan-aram. The first
was a city belonging to the tribe of Gad, on the eastern side of the
Jordan ; and the second was situated in Mount Ephraim, on- the
western side, about forty miles from Jerusalem. And we may
hence see how widely the enemy had over-run the kingdom of Israel,
even in its most warlike departments, and how nearly they had
approached its capital on the north, as the Edomites were endea
vouring to do on the south ; and consequently what great cause
there was at first for a general dismay on the part of David and his
government. Verse 7. " Gilead is with me, Manasseh is with me."] — Mount
Gilead was the boundary line of Gad ; and the Psalmist is here
alluding to all the tribes or provinces that were at this time suf
fering from invasion, and which were chiefly those who had shown
a more decided attachment to the cause of David, and from whom
he drew the most celebrated leaders. Por if Succoth and Shechem
were in the hands of the enemy, it is clear that they must have

248 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LX.
8 Moab shall be my washing-pot :
Over Edom will I throw out my shoe :
Over Philistia shall be my triumph.
9 Who will master for me the rampired city ?
Who will lead me into Edom ?
scaled Mount Gilead, and have over-run a considerable part of Gad,
Manasseh, and Ephraim, on the north-east ; whilst Judah was
suffering in like manner in the south, by the incursions of the
Edomites, Amalekites, and Philistines. The other tribes are not
noticed, as being less disturbed by invasion. See also Ps. lxxx. 2.
Id. " And Ephraim is the crest of my head :
Judah is my sceptre."] — They were both powerful
tribes, especially the first, the most warlike of the whole ; while David,
who held the sceptre, was himself of the tribe of Judah. But there
is probably a higher reference to their spiritual distinction. Though
the ark was removed, the altar of God was still seated at the city
of Shiloh in the tribe of Ephraim, where, in consequence, was daily
offered up an expiation for sin, and a national supplication for the
Divine favour and protection against the enemies of Israel : and in
this sense more especially might Ephraim be called " the crest or
helmet of his head : " while the sceptre, which was now in the
tribe of Judah, was, in the language and prophecy of Jacob, not to
depart from it, till the mighty Prince, sumamed also Shiloh, should
" cdme into the world." And hence Judah was in a spiritual, as
well as a temporal sense, " the sceptre of the house of David."
Verse 8. " Moab shall be my washing-pot,
Over Edom will I throw out my shoe,
Over Philistia, &c."] — He already condemns them to
the meanest subjection and servitude. Moab shall be the bath to
wash his feet in ; over Edom he will trample ; Philistia shall be
dragged in chains at the chariot wheels of an ovation. The term
''VVini is here as rightly conjectm-ed by Bishop Horsley and
Bishop Home, a noun with a pronoun suffix, " shall be my
triumph," or " triumphal shout," and not as usually rendered,
" triumph thou over me."
Verse 9. " Who will master for me the rampired city ?
Who will lead me into Edom ? "]— This call did not
long remain unanswered : for Abishai, the brother of Joab, who

PSALM LX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 249
10 Thou, 0 God, hast not cast us off ;
Although, 0 God, thou wouldest not go forth with
our armies.
11 0, grant us help in distress,
For vain is the deliverance of men.
12 Through God we shall do valiantly :
For he himself shall tread down our enemies.
took the command of the southern army, on his return to David,
after his destruction of twelve thousand of the Edomites in the
valley of salt, followed up the success which had hereby been ob
tained, with so much effect that though the enemy rallied and
ventured a second battle, he obtained a still more decisive victory,
and smote not less than eighteen thousand of them, and obtained
an entire subjugation of the country. "Bozrah," observes Bishop
Home, " the capital of Idumea or Edom, was a fortified town, situ
ated on a rock, deemed impregnable." See Obad. verse 3. How
correctly therefore is this denominated " the rampired city : " — or
" difficult to be mastered." In truth, the whole of the conquests
which the Psalmist here foretells, together with various others, he
was enabled to verify ; subduing each of the confederate nations
in its turn, putting garrisons in all their strongholds and maintain
ing them in a state of vassalage. And nothing can more clearly
show the close connexion that subsisted between the allied powers,
than the fact that, while in the first book of Chronicles, the troops
which were slain in the valley of Salt by Abishai, are called Edom
ites, chap, xviii. 12 — in the second book of Samuel, chap. viii. 13,
they are called Syrians. The army, no doubt, consisted of both
nations. Verse 10. " Thou, O God, hast not cast us off."]— There is
here a designed reference to the opening of the Psalm, in which,
surveying with a trembling heart, the threatening scenes before
him, David sorrowfully exclaims, " Thou, 0 God, hast cast us off ! "
But urged by a prophetic view of the glorious triumphs in reserve
for him, and the tide of prosperity which had already set in upon
his side, he retracts his gloomy fears and exclamation, and abruptly
shouts aloud, " Thou, 0 God, hast not cast us off ! " — The passage
is here rendered literally — but it has not been thoroughly seized by
former translators.

250 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXI.

LXL*
TO THE SUPREME.
For the stringed instruments.

] Hear thou my cry, 0 God ! ,
0, listen to my prayer :
From the outskirt of the land will I call unto thee.
2 Utterly overwhelmed is my heart ;
0, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
This elegant ode gives intrinsic evidence of its having been com
posed after the call of David to the throne of Israel : and during
some severe calamity in which he seems to have been driven to a
remote part of the country. As in many of the preceding Psalms,
he appears, in the progress of the composition, to have been either
blessed with a prophetic view of speedy success and restoration, of
with the cheering intelligence of success already obtained. It is
generally regarded as having been written on the glorious success
vouchsafed to the royal forces during Absalom's rebellion : and the
conjecture is probably correct.
Verse 1. "Prom the outskirt of the land."] — He was at this
time on the farther side of Jordan, in the land of Gilead, and
appears to have contemplated crossing the extreme barrier of Gilead
itself. Verse 2. " Utterly overwhelmed."] — f]EE3. The 3 seems here
to be a part of the verb, rendering it an intensive compound, in
stead of a distinct adverb — ^erculsus.
Id. "O lead me to the rock."] — The terms "rock, shelter,
bulwark," — show evidently that the Psalmist's eye was directed to
that peculiar kind of protection which God had formerly manifested
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 190.

PSALM LXI.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 251
3 Verily, thou hast been a shelter unto me ;
A mighty bulwark, in the face of. the enemy.
4 For evermore would I dwell in thy tabernacle ;
I would take shelter in the covert of thy wings.
5 Behold, 0 God, thou hast listened to my vows :
Thou hast vouchsafed unto me the inheritance of
those that fear thy name.
6 Days upon days mayst thou add unto the king :
May his years be from generation to generation :
7 For ever may he abide in the presence of God :
0, grant that loving-kindness and truth may watch
over him.
8 So will I celebrate thy name continually,
Day after day, in the performances of my vows.
towards him, when obliged to hide himself from the pursuit of
Saul — and the ridgy rocks and fastnesses of Ziph and Engedi,
formed his shelter, and offered him security. See especially Psalm
xviii. 1, 2, and lxii. 2, 5, 7 — in which the same natural munitions
and securities are still more explicitly referred to.
Verse 5. "Thou hast vouchsafed unto me."] — The me (¦») is
properly supplied in most of the versions, and most probably existed
in the original copy, having since been dropped, as the next word
commences with the same letter, either by apocope or negligence.
Verse 7. " O grant that."] — In the Hebrew )a from ma to
" allot, grant, or assign." The translators who render it " pre
pare " seem to have altered fa very unnecessarily to ]3. This verse
in a figurative and poetical use of the terms may apply to David,
and the line of David, but in their strict sense can apply only to
the great Son of David, whose reign alone " abideth for ever," and
his sceptre " from generation to generation."

252 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LX1L

LXIL*
ON THE SUPREME,
Upon his Dispensation.
A PSALM OP DAVID.
1 Alone resteth my soul on God :
From him is my salvation.
2 He alone is my rock, and my salvation ;
My tower : — not long shall I give way.
3 How far will ye rush forward on your man ?
Ye shall all of you be broken in pieces ;
As a bending wall — a tumbling rampart.
Verse 2. "Not long."] — The adverb n3~l or n31 from the verb
n3T " to increase or multiply," is sometimes used in respect of
quantity, and means " greatly ; " and sometimes in respect of time,
and means " long," as in Psalm cxx. 6, " My soul hath long- dwelt
with him that hateth peace." The latter seems the preferable sense
in the present place. . The first sense, indeed, is so feeble that Hou
bigant, apparently not calling to mind the second, has supposed
n3"l a verbal error for nVD, and Bishop Horsley has followed him,
and omitted it in the text.
Verse 3. " Ye shall all of you be broken in pieoes
As a bending wall, a tumbling rampart."] — The figure
is not given clearly in the common rendering, which is evidently
taken from the fall of a decayed and ruinous citadel, in which all
its parts are crushed one over another and broken into fragments.
rTUTi imports, in its general sense, to destroy or slaughter in any
way ; but in the Arabic it signifies emphatically " to crush or break
to pieces ; " and in this sense it is used, Ezek. xxi. 22, " to set
battering-rams (as rendered in the margin) to open a passage by a
breach, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering-rams
against the gates." * Historical Outline, &c. p, 86.

PSALM LXII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 253
4 They only plot how to hurl him from his eminence ;
They delight in fraud.
They greet with their mouths,
While they curse in their bosoms, (Selah.)
5 Alone, 0 my soul, rest thou on God :
For from him is my hope.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
My tower : — I shall never give way.
7 In God is my salvation and my glory,
The rock of my strength. —
My shelter is in God.
8 Trust in him, ye people at all times ;
0, pour out your heart before him. —
God is a shelter for us. (Selah.)
9 Surely, vanity are the sons of the ground :
A delusion the sons of substance.
For levity in the balance
They are alike less than vanity.
Verse 4. " They delight in fraud.
They greet with their mouths," &c] — It would seem
from this verse that David was beset by cajoling hypocrites, as well
as by open enemies ; by villains who were professing gratitude to
him for his late courageous assault, and triumph over the Philis
tines, while in their hearts they were plotting his downfall, and
plunder. All this is coincident with what is related as having oc
curred during his residence with the hypocrites of Keilah : for even
when Saul had concluded his negotiation with the emissaries of
these traitors, had acceded to their terms, and was marching with a
powerful force against him, he was still disposed to trust himself
to them ; and only knew of the conspiracy to surrender his person
to his enemy, by a special communication from heaven. 1 Sam.
xxiii. 10, 11.
Verse 9. "Sons of the ground —
Sons of substance."] — I have in numerous instances
had occasion to observe that whenever Q1S is used emphatically,

254 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXII.
10 Trust not in violence ;
And be not vain of plunder :
If the force should be increased —
Set not your heart upon it.
11 Once hath God spoken ? —
Repeatedly have I heard this —
That " power is of God." —
and especially whenever it is put in opposition to I913M or KPN
it is always employed in a derogatory sense, and imports the
ground or dust from which man was taken. See among others
the notes on Psalm viii. 4 ; xlix. 2, and lvii. 4. In our esta
blished version the terms " sons of Adam " and " sons of Aish "
are rendered " men of low degree " and " men of high degree; "
but in Psalm xlix. 2, where the same phrase occurs literally, the
translators have given it more briefly "low and high." Junius
and Tremellius substitute " nati plebeio homine," and " nati pree-
stante viro " — " sons of the plebeian," and " sons of the patri
cian : " Geddes " the vulgar of mankind," and " the men of note ;"
Bishop Horsley, " sons of men," and " sons of the great." The
derogatory sense of CHN is therefore admitted by all of them ; ^and
it would hence be better to render the passage literally. The pious,
but indignant monarch, seems clearly to allude to the infamous
treachery of all the ranks of the Keilites, as well high as low, who
were on the point of betraying him to his arch-enemy Saul, shortly
after his having proved himself their deliverer from the hands of the
Philistines, who had taken possession of the city.
Verse 10. " Trust not in violence ;
And be not vain in rapine ;
If the force should be increased," &c] — He seems
here again to refer to the secret and treacherous negotiation which
the infamous inhabitants of Keilah were planning with Saul for the
purpose of selling him into Saul's power ; as He, who is a greater
than David, was afterwards sold by the traitor Judas to the chief
priests. See 1 Sam. xxiii. 12. The force referred to is that with
which Saul was advancing, and with which, with the assistance of
the men of Keilah, he made sure of success, as see 1 Sam. xxiii. 8.
Verse 11. "Bepeatedly."] — This seems to be rather the proper
sense than twice ; and a sense common to the Hebrew Scriptures.

PSALM LXII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 255
12 With thee, also, 0 Lord, is loving-kindness :
For thou recompensest man according to his work.
DVIttJ, a contraction of QV13K? "doubly, over again, repeatedly,"
is an adverb from natP " to iterate or repeat;" whence in a second
ary sense the adverb implies " twice."

LXIIL*
A PSALM OF DAVID ;
WHEN HE WAS IN THE WILDERNESS OF JUDAH.
1 0 God, thou art my God !—
For thee will I outstrip the dawn.
My soul thirsteth for thee,
My flesh is consumed for thee,
In a land parched and faint without water ;
As we learn from the title that this Psalm was composed by
David when he was in the wilderness of Judah or Judea, and as
the Psalm itself shows that he was at this time in great trouble, but
emerging from it, and exercising a kingly prerogative, we have suf
ficient grounds for referring it to the date of Absalom's rebellion,
which now appears to have been quelled; in consequence of which,
however, David had been obliged to escape with all possible haste
from Jerusalem, to cross the brook Kidron, where he had promised
Zadok, whom he sent back to Jerusalem, to " tarry in the plain of
the wilderness until," says he, " there Come word from you to cer
tify me." 2 Sam. xv. 28. So that it appears to have been written
upon the same occasion as Psalm lv., but somewhat subsequently ;
when, in consequence of his victory over the rebellious army, he
was enabled to look forward to a near return to the sanctuary of
God at Jerusalem, where he had so often already beheld God's
"power and glory," and where " his lips should still praise him."
" Historical Outline, &c p. 192.

256 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXIII.
2 That I may behold thee in the Sanctuary
Amidst the displays of thy power and thy glory r
3 For better than life is thy loving-kindness.
My lips shall dwell upon thee ;
4 And, while I live, will I bless thee :
I will lift up my hands in thy name.
5 As with fat, yea marrow, shall my soul be feasted ;
My mouth shall shout with joyful lips.
6 Verily will I remember thee on my bed ;
And meditate on thee in the midnight-watches.
7 For to me hast thou been a succour ;
And in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
8 My soul cleaveth close to thee ;
Thy right hand sustaineth me.
9 While those that, in vain seek my life
Shall go down to the nether parts of the earth.
] 0 They shall melt away before the power of the sword ;
They shall be a portion for foxes.
As we have here no lamentation over the fall of Absalom intermixed
with his bursts of devotion, it is clear that the Psalm was composed
after he had tranquillized himself upon his death, on the remon
strance of Joab, and had resumed his station at the gate or tribunal
of justice, 2 Sam. xix 8, where it is probable that the oath of fealty
referred to in the closing verse, was tendered, and taken by those
who were anxious to return once more to a state of loyalty, and
abandon their treasonable project. We have nothing in the Psalm
before us but an ardent and earnest anticipation of a restoration to
the worship of God in his sanctuary, — a grateful recollection by
night as well as by day of God's special interposition in his favour,
and an entire trust in the continuance of his power and goodness to
destroy the relics of the rebellion which were still in existence, and
to restore peace and prosperity to his kingdom.
Verse 2. " That I may behold thee in the sanctuary."] — The
order of the original is here preserved, which is inverted in the
ordinary rendering. See also Kimchius in loc. and Noldius Anno-
tat. et Vindicise, § 1378.

PSALM LXIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 257
11 Thus shall the king be joyful in God :
Every one that taketh the oath to him shall triumph ;
While the mouth of those shall be stopped that speak
perfidy.
Verse 11. " Every one that taketh the oath to him shall triumph,
While" the mouth of those shall be stopped that speak
perfidy."] — The sense does not seem to have been
understood ; but from the apparent occasion on which this Psalm
was composed, as explained above, the passage clearly refers to an
oath of allegiance proposed, on the overthrow of the rebels under
the standard of Absalom, to be taken by all those who were anxious
to prove their loyalty, or perhaps to return to a state of loyalty
from their treasonable conduct. The second part of the verse
alludes to the same fact, and prophecies the fate of those who should
still refuse to do so, and continue to vent perfidy, or, in more mo
dern language, "to speak treason," as it might be rendered, were
not the phrase rather too colloquial.

LXIV.*

TO THE SUPREME.

A PSALM OF DAVID.

1 0 God, hear my cry in my down-casting :
Protect my life from the fear of the foe.
Verse 1. " In my down-casting."] — In the Hebrew •>n,,t2>3>
The primary sense of rW> is. " to be bent, or bowed down ; "
and hence, secondarily, " to bow down in supplication or prayer."
The former appears to be the sense here intended, though the
second is generally employed by the translators. Por examples of
the first, see Psalm xxxviii. 6 ; xliv. 25.
•* Historical Outline, &c. p. 70.
S

258 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXIV.
2 Hide me from the caballing of the Avicked,
From the onset of the dealers in violence ;
3 Who sharpen their tongues as a sword ;
Who shoot forth the arrows of malicious speech,
4 From their lurking-places, as charges against an up
right man :
Precipitately do they charge and have no dread.
5 They frame, among themselves, the tale of malice :
They calculate how to hide their stratagems :
They say, " who shall pry into them ? "
6 They scrutinize for faults :
Scrutinous is the scrutiny they execute :
Yea, one's bosom and heart are delved into.
7 But God shall charge the arrow against themselves ;
Unawares shall be their smitings ;
8 Even upon themselves shall their own tongue recoil.
All who behold shall be astonished at them :
9 Yea, all men shall stand in awe,
And acknowledge the work of God :
For they shall consider it of his doing.
10 The just shall rejoice in Jehovah and confide in
him ;
And all the upright of heart shall give him glory.
Verse 6. " Tea, one's bosom and heart," &c.J — Literally, "Yea,
a man's bosom and heart," &c ; but kjin is here used as an in
definite noun, of which we have numerous examples, and especially
in the Psalms. In the German tongue, mann is perpetuafly em
ployed in the same indefinite way ; and among ourselves we still
use men, or one, as synonymes; The ordinary application of the
term to the enemies of David cannot be sustained without a circum
locution, as is clear from the rendering in our established version.

PSALM LXV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 259

LXV.*
A PSALM OF THE MELODIOUS DAVID.
1 Praise waiteth for thee, 0 God, in Zion,
And to thee shall the vow be performed.
This noble and inimitable song of praise, which might well be
called " a Psalm of the melodious David," was evidently com
posed for one of the Jewish high feasts, and pretty certainly that
of Weeks, or Pentecost, corresponding with our own Whitsuntide,
shortly after the cessation of those violent storms and exundations
which so peculiarly mark the vernal equinox about the Mediter
ranean, and which are here so forcibly depicted.
Lucretius has admirably described, and ingeniously accounted
for these equinoctial tempests, and the rich treasure of clouds filled
with the water of heaven which they work up. Lib. vi. 356.
" Autumnoque magis, stellis fulgentibus alta,
Concutitur coeli domus undique, totaque tellus ;
Et quum tempora se veris plokentia pandunt.
Prima caloris enim pars, et postrema rigoris,
Tempus id est vernum ; qua re pugnare necesse est
Dissimiles inter sese, turbareque, mixtas.
Et calor extremus primo cum frigore mixtus
Volvitur, auctumni quod fertur nomine tempus.
Hie quoque confligunt hy ernes aestatibus acres.
Propterea, sunt hsec bella anni nominitanda :
Nee minim est, in eo si tempore plurima fiunt
Pulmina, tempestasque cietur turbida ccelo,
Ancipiti quoniam bello turbatur utrimque,
Hinc flammis, illinc ventis, humoreque mixto."
" But chief in autumn, and when spring expands
Her flowery carpet, earth with thunder shakes,
And heaven's high arch with trembling stars inlay'd.
For heat's first rise, and cold's ulterior verge
Bear the young spring : whence things with things diverse
Must meet, and, meeting, into wrath ferment:
* Historical Outline, &c p. 207.
S2

260 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXV.
2 0 thou that hearest prayer !
To thee shall all flesh come.
3 The burden of our iniquities overpowereth us :—
Our misdeeds :— do thou cover them over.
4 Blessed is he whom thou choosest and drawest
near to.
In thy courts shall he dwell ;
Eeplenished with the beauty of thy house,
The holiness of thy temple.
While cold's first chills, and heat's last lingering beams,
Mutual cCnvolv'd, create th' autumnal times,
Still summer striving with stern winter's rage.
Whence spring, whence autumn claim alike the term
Of wakbior-seasons, thus to fight attach'd.
Nor wondrous, then, that thunders here should rise,
And storms defile the concave by the war
Doubtful, disturb' d, of whirlwind, rain, and fire."
Verse 1. " Praise waiteth for thee, 0 God, in Zion,
And to thee shall the vow be performed."] — The
praise of the people now assembled in the temple to celebrate the
solemn festival of Pentecost or Peast of Weeks ; and to perform
the vow or offering of the first-fruits of the year. See the pre
ceding note ; as also the Historical Outline.
Verse 3. "The burden of iniquities."] — n319 "na«[. In the
common renderings, the word i-|3T " the burden, subject-matter,
or recital," is improperly omitted.
Id. "Cover them over."] — "133 is a synonyme of nD3 : both
mean " to overspread, or cover." So in Psalm xxxii. 1 . " Blessed
is he. . . . whose sin is covered," in which nD3 is employed. " To
purge away," is a remote sense, though the meaning is the same.
Verse 4. " Beplenished with the beauty of thy house,
The holiness of thy temple."] — n23K?3 is here the
participle benoni in Niphal, and not a verb plural in the first person,
" we shall be replenished," or " satisfied," as commonly tendered ;
while anp seems rather a substantive than an adjective, " holi
ness of," rather than " holy." Bishop Horsley, who takes it in
the same sense, translates it "the holy provender of;" but the
circumlocution is unnecessary.

PSALM LXV.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 261
5 Prodigies of what is right dost thou display to us,
0 God of our salvation !
The trust of all the borders of the earth,
Yea, of the remotest ocean :
6 Keeping fixed the mountains by thy strength,
Engirded with power.
7 Assuaging the roar of the seas,
The roar of their waves ;
Yea, the uproar of the nations.
8 The most distant settlers stand in awe of thy signals ;
Thou makest the outgoings of the morning
And of the evening to rejoice.
9 Thou visitest the earth and waterest it,
Thou enrichest it abundantly ;
Full of water is the river of God.
Thou preparest it for crops ;
Lo, thus dost thou prepare it.
10 Thou drenchest its furrows ;
Thou penetratest its glebe ;
Thou mellowest it with showjrs ;
Thou blessest its sprouting.
Verse 6. " Thy strength."]— So the Septuagint, and most
translators — so that the Hebrew should be ~[n3, instead of in3.
an error easily made in transcribing.
Verse 8. " The most distant settlers
 the outgoings of the morning,
And of the evening."] — The most unknown tribes
on the farthest vergings of the earth, when the sun either sets or
rises, equally behold thy power, and reverence thy majesty. So
Thomson in his beautiful hymn —
Should fate command me to the farthest verge
Of the green earth, to distant, barbarous climes,
Bivers unknown to song, where first the sun
Gilds Indian mountains, or his setting beam
Plames on th' Atlantic isles — I cannot go
Where universal love not smiles around.

262 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXVI.
11 Thou crownest the year with thy goodness,
And thy paths drop fatness.
12 They drop on the refreshing-plots of the desert,
And the hills are girdled with gladness.
1 3 The pastures are clothed with flocks,
And with corn are the vallies covered over ;
They shout for joy, they ardently sing.
Verse 11. " Thou crownest the year with thy goodness,
And thy paths drop fatness."] — Nothing can be
more sublime, or more correctly scientific. Jehovah is represented
as marching with peerless splendour and munificence, through the
ethereal paths of the zodiac, like the sun his glorious representa
tive, and allotting to every month its respective bounty, as he winds
his heavenly way, and encircles the entire year ; but especially as
crowning the year with his goodness in the season of spring. It
is then that his paths drop fatness, that they drop it even on the
oases or refreshing plots of the barren desert, while they girdle the
productive grounds with gladness.
Verse 12. " On the refreshing-plots." — In the Hebrew niN3.
literally, oases, " pleasant or refreshing plots" in the midst of
extensive barrenness.
Verse 13. "They ardently sing."] — Such is the real meaning
of ?)S ; primarily " heat, or warmth," thence " ardour, passion,
anger," and thence again " the nostrils," as the supposed seat of
this feeling.

LXVI*
TO THE SUPREME.
A MUSICAL PSALM.
1 Shout unto God, all the earth ;
We have nothing in the title of this Psalm respecting either its
author or the occasion on which it was written : but several pas-
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 194.

i i

PSALM LXVI.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 263
2 Chant forth the glory of his name ;
Make glorious his praise.
3 Say unto God, " how awful art thou in thy doings !
" Through the greatness of thy power shall thy foes
shrink before thee.
4 " All the earth shall pay homage to thee ;
" And shall celebrate thee.
" They shall celebrate thy name." (Selah.)
5 Come ye, and see the achievements of God :
,How awful their course among the children of men.
sages seem to refer us to the period of king David's triumphant
return from the flight to which he had been driven into the wilder
ness of Judea, and, indeed, across the Jordan, by Absalom's con
spiracy and rebellion ; and the general style and character of the
address sufficiently show him to have been the author. If this
be a correct view of its subject, it followed closely in order of time
upon Psalm lviii. written under an apprehension of such a calamity,
and Psalm lxiii. written immediately after the victory over the re
bellious forces, and almost upon the field of battle. In the pre
sent Psalm, the alarming state to which king David had been re
duced is sufficiently obvious from ver. 10, 11, 12 : and that this
state was produced by a rebel conspiracy, is more than hinted at
in ver. 7. That he had obtained a signal and decisive victory, and
had been enabled to put an end to the conflict, is obvious from the
first four verses : and that he had now returned to Jerusalem, and
was on the point of celebrating this joyful event in the temple,
seems sufficiently indicated in the 13th and following verses. And
hence it appears highly probable that this Psalm is a thanksgiving-
ode upon the above great deliverance ; expressly composed for the
purpose of being sung at the opening of the temple- service on
such occasion. The pious Christian will be easily led to see here
a type of the triumph of the evangelical Church, and the over
throw of the rebels against the divine mercy.
Verse 3. " In thy doings."] — Hebr. -pt&J7». the » is here a
preposition, and >K7J7, a participle, or substantive plural in the
masculine, as in Ezek. xl. 17. So occasionally >WV> doer, opera
tor, or maker, as in Isaiah liv. 5, -pE?3?> " tny maker ; " Job xxxv.
10. itBS, " my maker."

264 ' BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXVI.
6 He turned the sea into dry-land :
They went through the flood on foot. —
Upon this let us rejoice in him.
7 For ever doth he rule by his power ;
His eyes are observant of the nations :
Let not the rebellious lift up themselves. (Selah.)
8 Bless, 0 ye peoples, our God ;
Yea, sound forth the voice of his praise :
9 Who upholdeth our soul in being,
And suffereth not our foot to fall away.
10 Although, 0 God, thou didst try us ;
Thou didst prove us as silver is proved ;
11 Thou didst bring us into a snare ;
Thou didst lay heaviness upon our loins ;
Verse 6. " He turned the sea into dry land."] — This miraculous
display of God's power and love of justice is admirably and artfully
brought in, and made applicable to the time in which the Psalm
appears to have been written, when the broken band of revolters,
though scattered and humiliated, were perhaps still thinking of
some new mischief : the meaning of it is, " the God who de
stroyed the mighty power of the Egyptians will never suffer his
favoured land to be overcome by a rebellious faction."
Verse 9. " Poot to fall away."] — Bather than " to be moved;"
for taitiV imports either. " Moved " they had been, but they had
not been " moved beyond recovery ; " they had not " fallen away,"
or " lost themselves utterly."
Verse 10.]—" Although, O God, thou didst try us."]— "Didst
try us in every possible way of danger and extremity ; " for such
is the meaning of the present and two ensuing verses, in which the
most figurative and descriptive language is made use of, to give an
estimate of the perils they had encountered, comparatively rather
than actually, and still perhaps below the mark. The general
sense, however, has not hitherto, so far as I know, been accurately
caught.

PSALM LXVI. J BOOK OF PSALMS. 265
12 Men were made to ride over our head ;
We went through fire, and through water ; —
Yet hast thou brought us forth with replenishment.
13 I will go into thine house with burnt-offerings ;
I will fulfil my vows unto thee,
14 Which my lips uttered, and my mouth engaged for,
When the trouble was upon me.
15 I will offer fatlings to thee for a .burnt-offering,
Together with incense :
Rams, bullocks will I make ready,
Together with he-goats. (Selah.)
1 6 Come, hear ye, and I will rehearse
To all that fear God,
What he hath done for my soul.
Verse 12. "With replenishment."] — n1,l"lb- Houbigant for
this reads nni"lb, as though the text were erroneous : from n~i,
instead of from nil ; whence Bishop Horsley renders it " into a
place of ease," more literally " into a breathing-place : " and many
of the ancient versions seem to have given the same sense, and
consequently to have made the same alteration in the text. Such
change, however, is uncalled for: nil imports " to fill with re
freshing moisture of any kind," whether of rain, with respect to the
glebe-lands ; or with wine or other cordials, with respect to man.
So the Arabic ,_s*y" explevit, potavit," " ubertim expletus est."
Hence iTl") is here a noun feminine, " repletion, replenishment,
fulness, satiety," as in Ps. xxiii. 5, " My cup is replenishment
or superabundance." Our established version gives us, " into
a wealthy place ; " but in the margin we have the word " moist."
If the translators meant to take the word as it actually stands in
the text, it should rather have been " in a wealthy condition," " a
plump or well-favoured frame of body." If they meant the sense
proposed by Houbigant from the Chaldee and Septuagint, it should
rather have been " into an airy place," or " breathing-place," as
above. But the text, as it stands, gives a far more impressive idea.
The whole of this and the preceding verse has an evident refer
ence to the Egyptian bondage and the deliverance of the Israelites

266 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXVI I.
17 I cried unto him with my mouth,
And he was extolled with my tongue.
18 But had he beheld iniquity in my heart,
The Lord would not have listened to me.
19 Yet God hath listened,
He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God, who turned not my prayer aside ;
Nor his loving-kindness concerning me.
from it, already indeed glanced at in ver. 5 and 6 : a favourite,
and very common simile among the Hebrew poets through every
part of their history. There, assuredly, they were tried as silver is
tried ; they had heaviness laid on their loins ; they passed through
the furnace of affliction, and the waves of the Bed Sea ; and their
enemy drove speedily after them, and in imagination rode over
their heads ; yet were they brought forth with replenishment,
being loaded with the most costly spoils of Egypt, which had been
marvellously urged upon them when quitting it.

LXVIL*
TO THE SUPREME.
For the stringed-instruments.
A MUSICAL PSALM.
1 God be merciful to us, and bless us !
May he cause his face to shine upon us 1 (Selah.)
2 Well-known be thy providence throughout the earth ;
Among all the heathen thy saving-power.
Verse 2. " Well-known be thy providence."]— The term r\Vlb
is a compound in which the b is intensive, per or prorsus, instead of
being an adverb; " per nota," instead of " ut nota." -p7 im-
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 230.

PSALM LXVII.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 267
3 Let the people praise thee, 0 God ;
Let all the people praise thee ;
4 Let the nations rejoice, and shout aloud,
For duly art thou awarding to the people,
And comforting the nations of the earth. (Selah.)
5 Let the people praise thee, 0 God ;
Let all the people praise thee. —
6 The earth hath yielded her increase :
God is blessing us : — our own God.
ports " way," in even a wider sense than ever " way " will admit
in English, divergent as it is in its meanings : " way, custom,
manner, dealing, course, action, conduct." It denotes especially,
as Parkhurst observes, " the manner of God's acting or proceed
ing ; " aud hence, especially when relating, as in the present place,
to the course of nature, his " providence," which seems to be the
exact idea intended to be conveyed by it.
Id. " The heathen."] — The distinction between Qiia, EPfiV,
and Q^asb has not been duly attended to by any of the trans
lators. The first imports and is usually rendered " heathen, or
gentiles," though translated "nations," in our established version
of this passage : the second imports " people or community,"
" the crowds or multitudes of one and the same country," even
though sometimes written QJ? in the singular, " people or crowd : "
the third imports " nations," or " peoples of different countries,"
and is rendered " nations," in ver. 4 of our established version,
which thus confounds D"»ia and CS^HNb, the first and third. It
is necessary to make this distinction, because ?"'KlJ? " the people,"
means emphatically the peculiar people of God — the Israelites, as
distinguished from the rest of the world, when in opposition to
the other terms.
Verse 4. " Por duly art thou awarding."] — " Allotting or
dealing out their respective proportions of a bountiful harvest,"
and thus filling the nations with comfort.
Id. " Comforting."] — Bather than " governing, guiding, or
leading ; " as though Qron were derived from nro instead of
from pro as in our established version : in which case the literal
reading is —

268 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXVIII
7 God is blessing us : —
And may all the borders of the earth fear before him.
" And the nations of the earth — thou govemest them."
The pronoun, however, is superfluous ; and hence I cannot but
concur with Bishop Horsley in the latter derivation, Oro " to
console or comfort." It peculiarly alludes to the season of autumn,
the]harvest home — so full of comfort to every heart.

LXVIII*
TO THE SUPREME.
A MUSICAL PSALM.
1 Let God arise —
His enemies shall be scattered,
And his despisers flee before his face.
2 As smoke is driven away, drive them away :
As wax melteth at the presence of fire,
Let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
3 But let the righteous exult ;
In the presence of God let them be joyful :
Let them triumph in exultation.
4 Sing unto God, 0 celebrate his name ;
Strike ye up to him who rideth through the opaque,
By his name Jah ;
And leap for joy in his presence.
Verse 4. " Who rideth through the opaque."] — The passage has
evidently a reference to the same sublime figure in Deut. xxxiii. 26.
Who rideth upon the heavens, in thy help,
Yea, in his excellency on the skies.
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 127, 129.

PSALM LXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 269
5 The father of orphans,
And the arbiter of widows,
Is God in his holy habitation.
Prom whence probably Psalm xviii. 9,
And he bowed the heavens and came down,
And the massy dakk was under his feet ;
And upon a cherub he rode, yea, he flew,
Yea, he rushed on the wings of the wind ;
He made darkness his shrine round about him.
And that the passage has a reference to these is still clearer from
verses 32, 33, where the imagery is still more exactly maintained.
To him that rideth upon the heaven of heavens.
But in all these passages, whenever the word heaven occurs, the
Hebrew term is D^tP, while in the passage before us it is 3"1£. A
great difficulty in rendering the sentence has flowed from this cir
cumstance ; for 3")37 does not appear to mean heaven in any place
in which it is used, but " opacity " or " duskiness " and particu
larly that of the evening; and "a wilderness or desert," from its
natm-al gloom, or the difficulty of distinguishing one's path through
it. Whence 31~)37 imports " growing dark or darkening," in Judg.
xix. 9, " Behold the day groweth dark," for which our common
interpretation gives, " groweth to an end : " and hence n3"lJ7 as a
verb is rendered " darkened " in Isaiah xxiv. 1 1 :
 all joy is darkened.
The translators of our established version have, however, in the
passage before us, boldly rendered the term " heaven," with a devi
ation from 'the strictness of the original that very rarely indeed
occurs in them, and almost without any collateral support. The
Septuagint give o^oicoftjirare t$ I?ti£ eStjKOTt eni Iva-piw ; for which
the Vulgate gives, " Iter facite ei qui ascendit super oceasum."
Make ye a path to him who mounteth or rideth on the dusk.
But the greater number of translators, and especially those of modern
times, have understood 3"*i9 as importing " wilderness" rather than
" dusk or opacity ; " and by these the passage has been supposed
to have a reference to Isa. xl. 3, instead of to Deut. xxxiii. 26 :
Prepare ye the way 6f Jehovah,
Make straight in the desert a high-way for our God.
Hence Dr. Chandler gives the .passage —
Prepare the way for him who rideth through the deserts ;

270 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXVIII.
6 God is settling the desolate in a home ;
Is bringing forth the imprisoned with amends ;
While the rebellious are fixed on a barren rock.
who is followed by Bishop Lowth, Bishop Horsley, Mr. Merrick,
and various others in our own country ; and by Bosenmiiller and
other critics abroad, who allude to the passage of the ark through
the wilderness, the angel of the covenant riding over it above the
cherubim. I cannot accede to this view, because in verse 33 the original
figure that occurs in Deuteronomy is expressly adhered to, and
shows that such was present to the mind of the poet when com
posing this sublime song, or at least that the modification of it was
present, which is just referred to from Psalm xviii., where the opaque
here dwelt upou, is dwelt upon also, although not under precisely
the same word. The idea is peculiarly grand. The regions of
space are an illimitable field of opaque or intrinsic darkness, " the
opaque of nature " to use Dr. Young's expression, lighted up in a
few points only by suns, or system of suns, which bear no propor
tion to the whole : while even sun, moon, and stars are represented
by the Hebrew poets as veiling their faces when Jehovah rides
through the " heavens in his chariot," who thus, in the language of
the Psalmist, makes " darkness his shrine round about him." It
is in this manner the Almighty Jah is represented as pursuing his
dread course, in the passage before us, and executing his sovereign
will over the nations.
The difficulty is, I trust, removed by the rendering now offered,
while the text is literally adhered to.
Id. " By his name Jah."] — By that glorious, that peculiar and
exclusive name by which he has made himself known to the people
of Israel ; and by which they alone are permitted to address him ;
the import of which is " essential or necessary being."
Verse 5. "The father of orphans," &c] — The contrast between
this verse and the preceding is most touching. The great Former
and Governor of the world, who makes the clouds his chariot, and
before whom " all the nations of the earth are as nothing," is here
delineated as the domestic friend of the righteous, as ever present
to their private distresses, and ever ready to redress their wrongs.
In like manner is Psalm cxlvii. 3, 4, equally characterised by a like
mixture of genius and devotion, —

PSALM LXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 271
7 0 God, when thou wentest forth before thy people,
When thou marchedst through the wilderness, (Selah.)
8 The earth escaped, yea, the heavens were dissolved ;
Sinai itself at the presence of God,
At the presence of God, the God of Israel.

He healeth the broken in heart,
And bindeth up their wounds : —
He, who marshalleth the number of the stars,
Calleth over the names of them all.
Verse 6. "With amends."] — " Bighting them, and redressing
the injuries they have received." The rendering is a literal version
of ni~lt»133 from -it»3 "right, just, due, proper." A difficulty
however has very unnecessarily been felt about this word, and hence
the Septuagint has given kv avfipeta, " in fortitudiue," as St. Jerome
has rendered it ; for which, however, the original gives no authority.
Modern critics have hence tried another way and suspected an error
of the scribe ; whence Kimchi would read ni~)DlZ33, and most others
nnttflp3, either of which will give " with chains." It is well ob
served by Archbishop Seeker, that for such a variation there is no
authority, and the rendering now offered shows that there is no
necessity for it.
Verse 7. " O God when thou wentest forth."] — The passage in
this and the ensuing verse is a copy, with some variation, of the
introductory part of the exquisite triumphal ode rehearsed by De
borah and Barak, Judges v. 4, 5.
Verse 8. " Were dissolved."] — The primary meaning of F|t3 is
"to comminute" or "reduce to minute particles ; " " to decom
pose, resolve, or dissolve ; " whence, as a noun, it imports minia
tures of almost every thing " parvuli, or parvula : " as " children,"
or miniatures of man ; " drops, or miniatures of water or honey ; "
" short or miniature steps " as those. of children, and hence " trip
ping or tottering " in general. The verb is used in the same sense
as in the present passage in Judges v. 4, 5, from which, as just
observed, this passage is taken.
The earth trembled, and the heavens were dissolved,
Yea, the clouds were dissolved into water.
The mountains melted at the presence of Jehovah,
Sinai itself at the presence of Jehovah God of Israel.

272 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXVIII.
9 Raining down kindnesses, 0 God, didst thou move
onwards ;
Thou sustainedst thine inheritance when exhausted :
10 In this way was thy provision brought home :
Of thy goodness thou preparedst for the needy.
11 God the Lord gave the word :
Great was the host of those that were flesh-fed.
Both passages are founded upon the description of the tremendous
tempest, the dark dense clouds, the peals of thunder and sheets of
lightning, and, as we here learn, the headlong torrent of rain into
which the heavens were dissolved at the august and awful appear
ance of Jehovah on Mount Sinai ; together with the earthquake
with which the mountain shook, and the molten volcanic fire that
poured in streams down its sides, as given in Exod. xix. 16, 17, 18.
Verse 9. "Baining down kindnesses, &e."] — The entire passage
has an evident allusion to the provision of manna and quails fur
nished to the Israelites so plenteously in the desert, and is in per
fect unison with Psalm lxxviii. 24 — 27.
And he rained down manna upon them to eat —
He rained flesh also upon them as dust.
Verse 10. " In this way was thy provision."] — n3 is an adver
bial compound, literally " in it," but importing generally " herein,
or therein," " thus, or in this way." nTl is a derivative from n^rt
" to live," and imports, " livelihood, sustenance, food, victuals,
provision," or the means of life, as in Isa. Ivii. 10, " Thou hast
found the livelihood, sustenance, or provision of thy hand."
Verse 11. " God the Lord."] — According to the common punc
tuation, the word God closes the preceding verse, instead of opening
the present. The error seems obvious, from its rendering the one
line too long, and the other too short.
Id. "The Lord gave the word."]— So Psalm lxxviii. 23, 24.
He commanded the clouds from above — ¦
And rained down, &c.
Id. "Flesh-fed."]— So in Psalm lxxviii. 20, 27.
Can he provide flesh for his people ? 
And he rained flesh upon them as dust.
nn»3fi may, however, import " fleshed or feasted " in an active
sense ; an import occasionally given to flesh in our own tongue,

PSALM LXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 273
12 The kings of the armies were put to flight :
They were put to flight : —
And the matron at home partook of the spoil.
and of which Shakspeare was peculiarly fond. Thus, speaking of
Henry V. The wild dog
Shall flesh his tooth in every innocent.
And again, Full bravely hast thou fleshed
Thy maiden sword.
Hence, in the Hebrew Scriptures, flesh is used frequently to signify
a luxurious treat or banquet. Thus Isaiah xxii. 13.
And behold joy and gladness,
Slaying oxen and killing sheep,
Eating flesh, and drinking wine.
And hence again the same term *")tP3 (basar) was used in a deri-
¦ vative sense, to import " welcome," " gladness," " glad-tidings,"
— and sometimes " tidings " generally ; and thus " publishing or
proclaiming." Unfortunately the translators of the Hebrew text, in a stream
down to the present day, following the example of " the Seventy,"
have understood the term in this last sense, and rendered it " those
who proclaim or publish good tidings," thus deviating from
the historical fact referred to, and obscuring the entire passage.
As now rendered literally the whole will, I trust, be found clear
and consistent.
Verse 12. "And the matron at home partook of the spoil."] — This
may refer to the victories over the Amorite kings Sihon and Og ;
the whole of whose cattle and spoil we are expressly told, Deut. ii.
35, and iii. 7, was taken for a prey generally. But the letter of
the text more immediately applies to the confederate kings of
Midian, who had joined their forces with Balak, king of Moab,
and perished with him in one common overthrow. The spoil, as
well as all the inhabitants of these countries fell hereby into the
hands of the Israelites ; and the command of Moses, directly in
consonance with the words of the text, was " Divide the prey into
two parts, between them that took the war upon them, who went
out to the battle, and between all the congregation," Num.
xxxi. 27. T

274 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXVIII.
13 Prostrated as ye were amidst the burdens,
There were the wings of the dove, clad with silver,
Yea, her pinions with green-gleaming gold.
Verse 13. "Prostrated."] — 33ttf imports in Niphal " cumbo,"
" to lie down ; " in Hiphil, " succumbo " " to prostrate, or make
to lie down." In the latter sense it occurs nearly, if not quite as
often, as in the former, as 2 Kings iv. 32. Ezek. xxxii. 19, 32.
The present passage affords another example.
Id. " Amidst the burdens."] — "The burdens or impositions of
the Egyptian task -masters ; " asinExod.ii.il. " And it came
to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out
unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens." Here the term
for burdens is nb3D : but that this term forms a synonyme with
OVIStt? as used in the present text, or O^IQttfia as it is written
in other places, is clear from Gen. xlix. 14, " Issachar is a strong
ass, couching between burdens," in which the latter is the term
employed, as the word " burdens " is in our established version ;
meaning the heavy panniers with which the ass is usually burdened
or loaded. So in the bold and beautiful dithyrambie of Deborah,
Judges v. 1 6, alluding to the earnest longings for liberty, which
stirred within the hearts of the different divisions of the tribe of
Beuben, the tumultuous thoughts which they could not suppress,
while still they delayed to take up arms at her call, she thus
upbraids them, —
In the divisions of Beuben tumultuous were the thoughts of
the heart.
Why tarriedst thou amidst the burdens.
Merely listening to the bleatings of the flocks ?
In the divisions of Beuben tumultuous were the stirrings of
the heart.
Nothing can be finer : and the passage here rendered " in the midst
of the impositions or burdens," is literally the same as the above
in Gen. xlix. 14, where our translators have caught the true mean
ing. In few words nStP, in all its uses, imports " pono " or its
compounds " dispono" or " impono." In English, " to put," " put
in order," or as in the texts just quoted, " to put upon," or " im
pose upon." Thus Psalm xxii. 15, "Thou hast put me in the
dust of death." Isaiah xxvi. 12, "Thou, 0 Jehovah, wilt put
forth (order or arrange) peace for us." Ezek. xxiv. 3, " Put on

PSALM LXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 275
14 When the Almighty scattered the kings,
There was the snow-storm from Zalmon.
the pot; put on:" nSt» T'Dn nBtP. It is singular that this
last passage, even with this or a like rendering, should have induced
our national translators, and those who concur with them, to con
ceive that nStP may also import " a pot," whence the common
rendering of the present text is, " Though ye have lien amongst
the pots ; " although, in the verse thus appealed to, it is not nSEJ
that is translated pot, but "V<Q, while n2JP is "put on," or " set
on : " so that the verse does not afford the least shadow of colour
for such a rendering.
I do not know that nsttf, under any form, occurs in any other
part of the Hebrew Scriptures that requires to be noticed : and I
think it is pretty obvious from these remarks that its meaning is
always confined to pono, or some one of its compounds, importing
" to put," " put in order," or " put upon." And in the present
verse it does not deviate from its proper sense. The best comment
upon the verse, however, is in a parallel passage in Ps. lxxxi. 6.
I removed his shouldee, fkom the burden ;
His hands were delivered from the pots.
Bather, however, instead of pots, hod, hamper, or basket of bricks ;
for the term is singular, not TD but "in, and is rendered basket
by most of the translators, ancient as well as modern. See note
on Ps. lxxxi. 6.
Id. " There were the wings of the dove, clad with silver ;
Yea, her pinions with green-gleaming gold."] — The wings
or pinions of birds formed a variety of favourite and beautiful
images among the Hebrew poets ; but the birds chiefly selected for
this purpose were the dove or pigeon, the eagle, and the hen.
Where the. object was to flee away from strife, persecution, or
imprisonment, to a state of freedom, peace, and tranquillity, as in
the case before us, the wings of the dove or wood-pigeon, were
proverbially called for ; in allusion to the flight of the dove, from
her imprisonment in the ark after the deluge, to the peace and free
dom of her native shades, from which she returned no more. Thus
Psalm lv. 6, 0 give me, say I, wings like a dove ;
Away would I flee, and be at rest.
Par off would I wander—
I would lodge in the wilderness.
T 2

276 BOOK OF PSALMS, [PSALM LXVIII.
1 5 The hill of God is the hill, 0 Bashan !
The hill of heights, 0 hill of Bashan !
So Isaiah lx. 8,
Who are these that fly as a cloud,
Yea, as doves to their windows ?
And Jer. xlviii. 9,
Give wings unto Moab,
That she may flee and escape ;
For her cities shall be desolate,
Without any to dwell there.
And thus in the passage before us, " in the midst of your
burdens and oppressions, the wings of the dove were provided for
you ; ye were at liberty to escape from your persecutors ; yours
were the wings of the gaudiest of the dove-tribe ; whose feathers
are white and splendid as silver, with irridescent gleamings of the
chastest gold." Strikingly indicative of the wealth with which
they took their departure, and the unspotted purity of their religion.
It is singular that from an early age, and perhaps through every
age of the church, this image as it occurs in Ps. Iv. 6, should have
been interpreted in the manner now proposed, and yet that the
same interpretation should never, so far as I know, have been
extended to the same image in the passage before us. Thus that
excellent prelate, Gregory I, in the sixth century, in a letter to
Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch, as quoted by Mr. Milner in his
History of the Church, Vol. VI. " Why wish you for the wings
of a dove, which you have already ? The wings are the love of
God and our neighbour. By them the Church flies through the
earth : if you had not these wings, you would not come to me, by
your epistles, with so much affection."
When the wish was to advance vigorously and boldly in the
pursuit of any particular object, or in the way of prosperity or
triumph, the poet in like manner, turned his thoughts to the wings
of the eagle : and hence the peculiar force of the well-known
passage in Exodus xix. 4 ; "Ye have seen what I did to the Egyp
tians : how I bake you on eagles' wings, and brought you to
myself." To which may be added the foUowing from Isa. xl. 31.
" They that wait on Jehovah shall renew their strength :
They shall mount up with wings as eagles."
So Deut. xxxii. 1 1 , where the historical fact before us is again
expressly referred to.

PSALM LXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 277
16 Why start ye, ye hills of heights ?
This is the hill God wills to dwell in :
Verily, Jehovah shall dwell in it for ever.
" As an eagle exciteth her nestlings,
Fluttereth over her young,
Expandeth her pinions,
Taketh them up, beareth them on her wings,
So Jehovah alone led him,
For no strange God was with him."
In like manner, Jerem. xlix. 16 :
" 0 thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock,
That holdest the steeps of the hill,
Though thou make thy nest as high as the eagle,
I will bring thee down thence, saith Jehovah."
The parallel passages are very numerous.
Where cherishing defence and parental protection were sought for,
the tender hen was had recourse to for an image, and affords one of
the most affecting in the whole range of holy writ. King David
was particularly attached to its use. Thus in Ps. xvii. 8 : —
" 0, hide me under the shadow of thy wings
From the face of the wicked who would, destroy me."
And again in Ps. Ivii. 1, as another specimen —
" Pity me, O God, pity me ;
Por in thee my soul taketh shelter,
And in the shadow of thy wings will I take shelter."
And so in the impressive apostrophe of our Saviour, Matt, xxiii. 37,
" 0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and
stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings, and ye would not ! "
Id. "Green-gleaming."] — Not "yellow," as commonly rendered:
for the term p~)pT> imports the bright green of the grass when first
shooting forth in the spring, as it does also the bright green of
young leaves ; and is hence directly " virescent. " or " frond-
escent." Verse 14. " When the Almighty scattered the kings,
Then was the snow-storm from Zalmon."] — $bwn from
abt» " snow," as T»bn and Nllttbn (Talmid and Talmuda)
" a scholar, a body of learning," from tab " to teach." The

278 BOOK OF psalms. [psalm LXVIII.
1 7 Myriads are the chariots of God ;
Thousands in succession.
The Lord, 0 Sinai, is in the midst of them ;
Is in the midst of the sanctuary.
scattered kings are evidently the five kings of Canaan, whose rout,
capture, death, and the total overthrow of whose governments are
minutely related in Joshua, ch. x. The miracle is one of the most
striking and extraordinary in the whole chronology of the Jews ;
but it has already been detailed in the Historical Outline of the
Psalms, and to that detail the reader may turn at his leisure.
Verse 15. " The hill of God is the hill, O Bashan !
The hill of heights, 0 hill of Bashan ! "]— The en
raptured poet here returns to the subject immediately before him —
the consecration of the hill of Zion, and the bringing up the ark to
be deposited in the temple there prepared for its reception, agree
ably to the prediction in Deut. xii. 2, 5. " Ye shall utterly
destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess
served their gods upon the high mountains and upon the
hills. But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose
out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habi
tation SHALL YE SEEK, AND THITHER SHALT THOU COME."
Whence Ezek. xx. 40, " For in my holy mountain, in the moun
tain op the height of Israel, saith the Lord, there shall all
the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me." Zion was
now become holy ground, and consequently all the adjoining
heights, or towering eminences that stood on the same common
elevation, as Mount Acra, Mount Moriah, Mount Olivet, Mount
Carmel, Mount Calvary, and Mount Gihon. Hence the pure and sub
lime hill-worship, which was now established on this sacred spot,
is compared with the idolatrous hill-worship of the nations which
had been extirpated on first taking possession of the promised land,
and that of the Philistines, the Moabites, and other neighbouring
states, which were not yet cut off, nor even utterly subjugated.
Upon the nature of the hill-worship here referred to, see the in
troductory note to Ps. xi. Bashan is especially noticed as boasting
one of the most extensive hills for this purpose, with numerous
summits, or high places (ni»3), as they were called, for the
rites of Sabiism, or the worship of the heavenly hosts, which
were generally called Baalim (O^m) from Baal, supposed to be

PSALM LXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 279
18 Thou hast ascended on high ;
Thou hast led captivity captive ;
Thou hast borne off gifts for mankind ;
Even for the rebellious,
To be a dwelling-place for the Lord God.
the sun, the chief idol deity of all the East. It was, indeed, to the
high places of Baal (bj>3 nilD3) that Balak led Balaam to curse
the children of Israel, Num. xxii. 41 ; and it was at Baal-peor, or
the high place of the god Peor, in the adjoining kingdom of the
Amorites, that the Israelites were enticed to unite in the festival
that was made in honour of this idol. Num. xxv. 3.
The poet in the verse before us calls upon all these high places
to bow down before the heights, or high places, of the true God,
" the hills whence alone cometh salvation," and where alone he
would be worshipped for the future. He does not however use the
term niB2 commonly applied to them, because of its abomina
tion on this account ; but D^asa a word very nearly synonymous,
as importing "heights, curvatures, prominences, summits." And
he triumphantly derides the idolatrous high-places and their wor
shippers, on the alarm and envy, or jealousy, with which they
were now struck, and which they could no longer conceal : for
the real meaning of T21, is not to " leap " as with joy or
exultation, but " to start, or turn aside," or " look aside," as
with dread or dislike, or for some insidious purpose. It is in
truth an Arabic term, Jvta.. in which it imports " to leer, or look
askance," " to suspect," " to lurk for the purpose of springing
forward mischievously ; " " to start or shrink with abhorrence."
The Septuagint has rendered it in this sense imoXapitavere, and
most of the critics, from the time of Dr. Chandler, have given a
like meaning. The common Hebrew terms, and those used in
other parts of the Old Testament for " leaping, or bounding with
joy, or triumph," are nDD, as in Isaiah xxxv. 6 ; and I'.l, as in
Joel ii. 5 ; and the present is the only one in which 12"!, or ^jaj
is employed.Id. " Why start ye."] — See the note above towards its close.
Verse 17. " Thousands in succession."] — The passage is given
literally 1N327 ''SbN- In which ]WW, Arabic ^ij imports itera
tion, repetition, succession. I do not know whence the translators
get the word angels, unless they alter tflbN to ?)lbs. which will

280 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXVIII.
19 Blessed be the Lord daily,
Who daily undertaketh for us :
The God of our salvation. (Selah.)
give them chiefs or chieftains, but then they sacrifice the word
thousands ; so that they cannot have both. The terms seem to
express that this innumerable and glorious army of the God of
hosts is regularly marshalled in divisions of thousands, as our
Saviour represents it to be in those of legions, Matt. xxvi. 53 ; and
that thus arrayed, they advance when called upon, to accompany
his awful procession, as on the present occasion to make a display
of the mighty angelic powers by which Mount Zion was for the
future to be defended.
Id. " 0 Sinai."] — Alluding, as in ver. 8, to the majestic and
awful appearance of God on that mountain, and contrasting with
it his present glorious appearance on Mount Zion.
Verse 1 8. " Thou hast ascended on high,
Thou hast led captivity captive."] — The solemn
procession seems in this part of the triumphal ode to have as
cended Mount Zion, and the God of Israel to have fixed his mercy-
seat and taken his rest in the temple prepared for him. He has
triumphed over all his enemies ; and by a bold personification of
the power that has hitherto, in a multitude of ways, and on a
multitude of occasions, carried captive his people, he is here re
presented as carrying captivity himself captive, and consequently
as establishing the full reign of liberty to his people by the subju
gation of its antagonist ; in the same manner as Death and the
Grave are personified, and the destruction of these powers regarded
as the triumph of Life and Immortality. The figure is common to
the sacred scriptures, and is always to be understood in this highly
sublime and poetical way.
But the enraptured poet now becomes an enraptured prophet ;
and from the establishment of the ark upon Mount Zion, and the
triumph of God's peculiar people over their enemies under the
auspices of David, he boldly looks forward, and confidently pre
dicts the establishment of the gospel in the world ; the triumph of
the Church over all its enemies under the banner of the great Cap
tain of our salvation ; the total overthrow of idolatry of every kind ;
and the countless gifts of redemption, the spoils, as it were, wrung
from the enemy in the contest, borne off from the powers of dark-

PSALM LXVIII. BOOK OF PSALMS. 281
20 God was with us, the God of salvation ;
And from the Lord Jehovah,
Were the escapes from death.
21 Utterly shall God cleave the head of his enemies,
The hairy crest of him who persevereth in iniquity.
22 " I will deal again," saith the Lord, " as at Bashan,
" I will deal again, as in the depths of the sea ;
23 " Till thy foot be imbrued in blood ;
" Till thy dogs let loose the tongue upon the foe."
ness, and freely offered to every individual. St. Paul has distinctly
applied the present passage to the ascent of our Saviour into hea
ven, and the diffusion of his grace and Spirit ; and the relation is
so clear that it could hardly have been overlooked, even if it had
not been so authoritatively pointed out to us. Eph. iv. 8.
Verse 21. " Utterly."] — f^. Here, as in Prov. ix. 2, and
various other places, "thoroughly, utterly, prorsus, omnino,"
rather than " but," as often rendered.
Id. " The hairy crest."] — The proud helmet, nodding with a
stream of ornamental hair.
Verse 22. " I will deal again," saith the Lord, " as at Bashan."]
— Not, as in our established version, " I will bring again from : "
where the real sense does not seem to have been caught. The Q is
here " ad," secundum, " after the manner of," " according to : "
and is often " magis quam," " more than to, or at." 3tP imports
to " re-act," or " act over again," in any way. And the direct
.meaning is, " I will repeat all the wonders performed at Bashan,
and in the Bed Sea, the overthrow of Og and of Pharaoh, till every
enemy is subdued under thy feet."
Verse 23. " Till thy foot be imbrued in blood,
Till the tongue of thy dogs be let loose upon the foe."]
The exact order of the Hebrew text is here followed. A difficulty
however, has been felt in the passage, and the words " of, or upon
the foe, or enemy," which occur in the close of the second line of
the original, as in the present version, have been forcibly taken away
in most of the translations and put into the first.
That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies,
The tongue of thy dogs in the same.

282 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXVIII.
24 Visible are thy movements, 0 God,
The movements of my God, my king, in the sanctuary :
25 Strike the prelude, ye singers,
Ye minstrels behind,
Ye virgins with timbrels, in the midst.
26 Bless ye God before the congregations—
The Lord of the well-spring of Israel.
27 Stand forth, 0 Benjamin, youngest of the rulers ;
Ye princes of Judah, their bulwarks,
Ye princes of Zebulun, ye princes of Naphtali.
The Hebrew iroiD. instead of a pronoun, as here rendered " in
the same," is a verb concordant with the word dogs, and imports
" to deal out, distribute, let loose, dispense." So 1 Kings xxii.
38, " The dogs licked the blood of Ahab."
Verse 25. " Strike the prelude."]— imp, from Dip, " to come
first or foremost, to open or begin, to lead on, or prelude." And
hence in ver. 33, Dip is an adverb, " from the beginning."
Verse 26. " Of the well-spring of Israel."]—" The God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," the patriarchs and fount of Israel.
Verse 27. " Stand forth, O Benjamin, youngest of the rulers."]
— The Hebrew UW, has always hitherto, so far as I know, been
translated as an adverb " there," and hence a great obscurity has
been felt in this passage. Change it to a verb, as is here done, and
the obscurity vanishes ; and a bold and beautiful address strikes us
immediately. As a verb in the imperative, it imports " stand
forth, display, show, array thyself, take thy station." The tribes
here particularized are the two that lay in the southernmost, and .
the two that lay in the northernmost part of the promised land :
and hence the address is, " stand forth, ye tribes of Israel, from one
end of the land to the other." But, beyond this, Benjamin and
Judah were peculiarly linked together in their respective fortunes,
as were also Zebulun and Naphtali. When the ten tribes deserted
from the house of David, the two former continued true to the
sacred dynasty : while in the war of Barak against Sisera, Zebulun
and Naphtali took the lead, Judg. iv. 6, and were chiefly extolled
for their prowess, id. v. 18; and during the ministry of our Saviour
they had the advantage of hearing and seeing him by far the oftenest.
It is probable, however, that a due compliment may already have

PSALM LXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 283
28 Give command, 0 God, to thy power,
0 God, establish what thou art working out for us.
been felt as paid to the valorous tribes of Beuben, Manasseh, Gad,
and Ephraim, by the reference, in ver. 15, to the hill of Bashan,
and consequently to the arduous contest with the Moabite and
Amorite kings, in which these divisions took so prominent a part.
Id. "Their bulwarks."] — Benjamin and Judah were the two
royal tribes, and the only two that furnished a dynasty over the
whole house of Israel : but Judah was especially the bulwark in
power ; or, as it is called in Ps. Ix. 7, the sceptre or law-giver in
administration, as forming at this time the immediate source of
government, though Jerusalem itself was seated in the district of
Benjamin. " Verse 28. " Give command, 0 God, to "] — As in the Septu
agint, and many codices : CnbM instead of ~pnbN, which is the
Masora reading, and is rendered in our established version " Thy
God hath commanded."
Verse 30. " The wild beast of the reed-coast."] — In our esta
blished version, " the company of spear-men," but which, in the
margin, is made " the wild beasts of the reeds ; " in the Vulgate,
" ferse arundinis ; " but still more correctly, " fera arundineti,"
" wild beast of the reed-coast : " both being in the singular. There
can be little doubt, I think, that this is the famous Egyptian cro
codile, the Lacerta Crocodilus of Linnaeus, common to the oozy and
reedy coasts of Asia and Africa, but peculiarly so to the banks of
the Nile, where it has been sometimes found upwards of thirty feet
in length. The armour with which the upper part of its body is
covered, constitutes one of the most elaborate specimens of the
mechanism of nature ; and, in the full-grown animal it is so strong
and thick as easily to repel a musket-ball. This creature is appa
rently the same as the leviathan of the book of Job, so admirably
described in the whole of the forty-first chapter.
The idolatrous worship of this formidable animal by the Egyp
tians is well-known ; as it is also that the city of Tentyra, for some
reason no longer on record, threw off its homage, and apostatized.
In consequence of which a sort of holy war was commenced by the
adjoining cities, and especially by that of Ombos, to compel them
to return to the common worship of the country. The warfare is
particularly referred to by JElian, and especially the manner in

284 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXVIII.
29 At thy temple at Jerusalem,
May kings present offerings unto thee.
which the animal was trained up for public worship, Hist. Anim.
lib. i. cap. 21 : and the irreconcilable conflict of the people of these
two cities towards each other, on this account, is referred to by
Juvenal, Sat. xv. 34.
" Immortale odium, et nunquam sanabile vulnus
Ardet adhuc Ombos et Tentyra. Summus utrinque
Inde furor vulgo qudd Numina vicinorum
Odit uterque locus ; cum solos credat habendos
Esse Deos, quos ipse colit."
The text before us, however, is often referred to the hippopo
tamus, conceived to be an image of the king of Egypt, whose power
Jehovah is supplicated to restrain. The whole Context, never
theless, distinctly shows that the rage of idolatry, in all its monster
forms and abominations, and not that of political aggrandizement,
is the subject of the national prayer : an entire downfall of super
stition before the banner of the pure religion, now about to be esta
blished on Mount Zion.
Id. " The multitude of monsters,
With the calves of the peoples."] — " Monsters " generally,
rather than " bulls " specially ; for ?'H',3N is used in both senses.
See the note on Ps. xxii. 12. The meaning is, " the other mon
sters of idolatrous worship, besides the leviathan or crocodile ; as
bulls, lions, rams, dogs, and dog-faced idols; or as the anubes, ichneu
mons, or weasels, asps, ibises, hawks, and beetles ; " — all which
were worshipped in Egypt, and many of them in other countries ;
and to which St. Paul refers, Bom. i. 23, when speaking of heathen
nations generally, he observes that they " changed the glory of the
incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and
to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things."
Of all these, the bull, either in its full-grown or younger age, as
a calf, seems to have been the most general object of idolatry. In
Egypt the bull was worshipped as the representative of Osiris, the
cow as that of Isis ; while under the names of Apis and Mnevis
they had two calves to whom divine honours were paid in an especial
manner ; the former having its chief temple at Memphis, the latter
at Heliopolis. And that it was from this kind of idolatry, Aaron, at
the entreaty of the children of Israel, cast the golden calf, as an

PSALM LXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 285
30 Put down the wild-beast of the reed-coast,
The multitude of monsters,
With the calves of the peoples ;
Trampling upon the oblations of silver :
0, scatter thou the peoples that delight in idol-offer
ings.
idolatrous representation of the Supreme Being, St. Stephen has
distinctly informe'd us in his energetic address to the Jewish people,
Acts vii. 39, 40, 41. We see a reference to the same kind of
idolatry in the Jupiter Taurus of the Cretans, Greeks, and Bomans ;
and in the divine honours paid, in our own day, to the cow through
out India, where she is worshipped under distinct names, or rather
as possessed of distinct powers, as Bama-dhok, " the granter of
desires ; " Surabhi, " the cow of plenty," and many others ; and,
like Lackshmi, the consort of Vishnu, she is enumerated as one of
the Chawda-katna, or fourteen gems, produced by the ocean when
churned for the Amrita.
The worship of this animal, therefore, is of great extent, as well
as high antiquity : and, as in India, in the present day, it seems to
have multiplied into various family idols, each possessing its peculiar
power of benediction, or claim to divine honour ; for we find the
animal generally mentioned throughout the Old Testament in the
plural number calves ; as we find also that under some form or
other, and mostly under various forms, it was one of the most
seductive of all the abominations to which the Israelites were
exposed, and by which they were led astray. Probably something
of the kind was practised among the bold and blasphemous infidels
in the time of David, and at the very period when this beautiful
ode was composed. But we have the proof of holy writ, that
within less than half a century afterwards it became a popular
idolatry ¦ for no sooner had Jeroboam seduced the ten tribes from
their allegiance to the house of David, than, in imitation of the
Apis and Mnevis of Egypt, he set up two golden calves in his own
kingdom, the one at Dan, and the other at Bethel, 1 Kings xii.
28, 29 ; and we find that even Jehu, more than a century after
wards, when he broke to pieoes the image of Baal, and destroyed
all his prophets, still maintained the idolatrous worship of the
golden calves. The meaning of the Psalmist, therefore, in the text
before us, is sufficiently obvious : " the calf-idols of the nations or

286 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXVIII.
31 May potentates come forth out of Egypt ;
May Ethiopia * stretch her hands out to God.
32 Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth,
0 chant ye unto the Lord : (Selah).
To him, from the beginning,
peoples by whom the children of Israel were surrounded, and to
whose abominations they were exposed."
Id. " Trampling upon the oblations of silver."] — Bather than
" Till every one submit himself with pieces of silver," as in our
established version : which, as it gives no meaning, has rarely been
followed. DQT imports " to tread down or trample," and in
Hithpael might perhaps mean, " to submit or take a trampling,"
if it could elucidate a sense. 12*1 is literally " propitiations," or
" oblations," from n2~l " to propitiate " or " render acceptable by
good deeds or offerings," and hence " to accept or be propitiated."
So Isaiah xl. 2, TT2"\V n2*13 " her iniquity is propitiated," or
pardoned. It almost always, indeed, imports propitiation as an
act, or an oblation : and in the present place evidently the latter.
In our common version it is rendered " pieces," as though derived
from yi though I think the derivation incorrect. Gould it be
sustained, instead of pieces we should read " rations," " shares,"
" contributions : " — the proportions of silver furnished by the
different votaries for their molten images or shrines, in the same
way as every individual offered his contribution towards the forma
tion of the golden calf by Aaron : and by the expression of tramp
ling of these contributions or oblations under foot, there can be
little doubt that the inspired poet alludes to the grinding to powder
of the gold that formed the Israelitish calf as effected by Moses so
soon as he could get hold of it.
The images of the deities of pagan nations, and particularly
those of the deified calves, though sometimes of gold, were more
frequently made of silver. The statue of Diana at Ephesus was,
according to Pliny, made of ebony ; but we know from Acts
xix. 24, that her shrines were made of silver : and, in direct
consonance with the oblations or propitiations referred to in the
text before us, Thueydides tells us ,that all the lonians resorted
yearly to Ephesus with their families, when they solemnteed the
* Qy. Arabia?

PSALM LXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 287
33 Who rideth on the heaven of heavens.
There pealeth he with his voice —
The voice of strength.
34 Ascribe ye strength unto God ;
Over Israel is his majesty,
Though his strength is in the skies.
annual festival with great magnificence, making rich offerings both
to the goddess and her priests. Lib. iii. And that the idols of the
Canaanites, and even their deified calves were at times made of
silver as well as of gold, we know from Exod. xx. 23, in which
both these metals are made mention of, and prohibited for this
purpose ; and especially Hosea xiii. 2, " they have made them
molten images of their silver, — idols according to their own under
standing ; all of it the work of the craftsmen. They say concern
ing them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves."
Id. " Idol-offerings."]— ni31p from 3~lp whence the )5np
(Corban) "free-gift or offering" of Mark vii. 11. The primary
meaning of 3"lp is "to approach, come together, or be present
with : " and hence as a noun ]3"ip or fern, n^ip " a thing pre
sented," " a present or gift." And hence also 3"1p as a verb, oc
casionally denotes to offer a gift or make a present, as in Psalm
Ixxii. 10, " The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts," —
to'Hp''. This verse indeed, and the next, form a parallelism with
the present and two subsequent verses, and equally predict the
glorious reign of the Son of David, and his triumph over all his
enemies. But the verb also imports " to come together " in a bad
sense, and hence " to meet for a hostile purpose," " to advance or
come upon one as a foe," Psalm xxvii. 2 ; and hence again the
nouns, both masculine and feminine, 3~ip and n3Hp, import
" conflict, onset." The first in Psalm lv. 18, 22, and many other
places ; and the second, according to our common version, in the
present place ; for in this sense the translators have rendered it,
though erroneously.
Verse 33. " There pealeth he with his voice."]— )n is here a
contraction for ran " there " rather than " lo, or behold ! " The
roar of thunder is peculiarly the voice of God in Hebrew poetry,
see especially Job xxxvii. 2 — 5 : and Psalm xxix. 3.

288 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXIX.
35 Awful art thou, 0 God :
In thy sanctuary, the God of Israel.
He is giving strength and might to the peoples.
Blessed be God.
Verse 35. " In thy sanctuary."]— TTIfinpafi as the Syriac and
many MSS. rather than -panpOB " in thy sanctuaries," as ths
Masora has it.

LXIX.*
TO THE SUPREME.
For the Hexachord.

1 Save me, 0 God ;
For the waters are coming up to my soul.
2 I am sinking in the mire of a whirlpool,
And without stay.
I am come into the depths of waters,
And the floods are overflowing me.
3 I am spent by mine outcry :
Parched up is my throat ;
Mine eyes are worn out with watching for my God.
There are various passages in this Psalm, (so full of feeling and
plaintive expostulation,) that refer it to King David's sudden flight
into the wilderness on the rebellion of Absalom, and his residence.
at Mahanaim. In the course of the elegy he particularly alludes to
the powerful atheistical faction which had been so long making a
mock at his religion, and their unjust hatred of him, notwithstand
ing all the kindness he had uniformly displayed towards them ; and
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 187.

PSALM LXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 289
4 More numerous than the hairs of my head,
Without cause, are my revilers.
Mighty, through fraud,
Are the underminings of mine enemies.
more especially to the insolent and seditious language which, under
the influence of Absalom, and even by Absalom himself, had been
used in the courts of justice with a view of turning away the hearts
of the people from the king, as in 2 Sam. xv. 2 — 6 : of all this we
have sufficient proof in the passage from verse 4 to verse 12. But
though hunted and driven from his throne and kingdom, and dis
avowed by the nation, " an outcast and an alien," he still prays to
God that those who continued true to him might not suffer on his
account, and that on him alone might fall all the fury of his ene
mies, and the chastisement of the Divine hand, — verse 6 . The
Psalm opens with great despondency, describes the persecuted
monarch's state and sufferings and apprehensions in very forcible,
and occasionally in very figurative language ; proceeds to point out
prophetically the just judgments of God, and the dreadful calamities
that will overtake the rebellious people; and closes with an animating
address to the faithful and the humble still to depend on God and
wait for that triumph which is assuredly in reserve for them, and in
which all the world shall partake: Through the whole of which
the terms made use of are far more applicable to the humiliation
and sufferings of our Saviour, the judgments that overtook his. per
secutors, and the general triumph of the Christian church than to
the events to which they primarily related ; and which are in con
sequence thus applied with impressive weight in various parts of
the New Testament.
Verse 1. " For the waters are coming up."] — The image is
common to sacred poetry, and refers to the return of the waters of
the Bed Sea upon the Egyptians, and the utter destruction of the
latter by drowning, as in Exod. xv. 4 — 10.
Verse 4. " Mighty through fraud,
Are the underminings."] — n»2 " subruo," " everto,"
" to subvert or undermine ; " such is the literal rendering : and the
meaning is that the numerous and unprovoked enemies of king
David had by lies and malice worked up all the ruin in their power ;
subverting his authority, undermining or subverting the allegiance
of his subjects, undermining equally the laws of God and man, and
u

290 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXIX.
Yet gave I up what I never took away.
5 Q> God, thou knowest my folly ;
Yea, my trespasses are not hid from thee.
6 But let not them be confounded, on my account,
Who wait for thee, 0 Jehovah, Lord of Hosts :
Let not them, on my account, be put to shame,
Who seek for thee, 0 God of Israel.
7 Behold, for thy sake have I borne reproach :
Confusion hath covered my face.
8 I am become an outcast from my brethren,
Yea, an alien from the sons of my mother.
9 Behold, the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up,
And upon me have fallen the reproaches of thy re-
proachers.
turning national happiness and order into national misery and con
fusion. But the original will not very easily bear the rendering given in
our common version ; and hence another sense has been sought for
by deriving W»2B from TTD'H " a lock or tress of hair," with &
as a preposition, in which case it may be rendered, " More compact
than my tresses are mine enemies through fraud ; " but the idea is
less natural than that which runs through the common interpreta
tion, notwithstanding, the parallel it holds with the preceding line.
It is however supported by Hare, Lowth, and Horsley.
Id. " Yet."] — Bather than then, as in Job ix. 31, where TS is
thus rendered in most of the versions.
Verse 5. " O God, thou knowest my folly."] — The folly of this
mis-spent and prodigal kindness upon those who were unworthy of
it. Even my sins are naked to thine eye, and I desire to confess
them : but let not those who wait for thee suffer also, on my ac
count, or from their attachment to my cause.
Verse 8. " I am become an outcast from my brethren,
Yea, an alien."] — " I am hunted and driven from the
kingdom — from the commonwealth of Israel, disavowed by the
nation." But how much more frequently could this language have
been adopted by our Saviour.

PSALM LXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 291
10 When I wept to the pining away of my soul,
Even this was turned to a reproach against me.
11 When I made sackcloth my garment,
Then served I them for a by- word :
12 The magistrates at the gate cast contempt upon me,
And I was made the songs of the drunkards.
13 But for myself — to thee, 0 Jehovah, is my prayer j
Acceptable, 0 God, be the emergency.
In the abundance of thy loving-kindness answer me,
In the truth of thy salvation.
14 0, deliver me from the mire,
And let me not sink therein.
Let me escape from my revilers ;
Yea, from out of the depths of the waters.
15 Let not the rush of waters overwhelm me ;
Nor the whirlpool swallow me up ;
Nor the pit shut her mouth upon me.
16 Answer me, 0 Jehovah,
For gracious is thy loving-kindness :
According to the abundance of thy tender-mercies,
0, turn thou unto me,
17 And hide not thy face from thy servant.
Verse 12. " The magistrates at the gate," &c] — Literally " as
sessors at the gate," "judges sitting to determine causes." The
reference is to 2 Sam. xv. 2 — 4.
The popularity of Absalom united itself as well with these, as
with the idle and licentious revellers of the city ; and induced both
to vilify his father. So was our blessed Saviour openly and perpe
tually contemned by the Jewish magistrates, the members of the
Sanhedrim, as well as reviled by the populace, who were at last
instigated to ask for the life of a murderer, rather than for his own.
Verse 13. " Emergency."] — HV " A particular point of time or
season," an occasion, emergency or crisis : alluding to the strait to
which he was actually reduced.
U2

292 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXIX.
Lo, distress is upon me ;
Make haste to answer me.
18 Draw nigh to my soul ;— 0, redeem it ;
Deliver me because of mine enemies.
] 9 Thou knowest my reproach,
And my shame and my dishonour :
My persecutors are all before thee.
20 Reproach hath broken my heart :
And I am sinking.
Lo, I looked for condolers, but in vain :
For consolations, but none could I find.
21 They even dealt out gall for my meat,
And made me drink vinegar for my thirst.
22 Let their own table, in return to them, be a snare,
Yea, a trap, for a recompense.
23 Let their eyes become dim of sight ;
And their loins perpetually tremble.
24 Pour out thine indignation upon them ;
Yea, let loose upon them the heat of thy fury.
25 Let their citadel be laid waste ;
Let there be no inhabitant for their tents.
Verse 22. " Become a snare,
Yea, a trap."] — Let their own table in like manner
furnish them with " the wine of staggering," as in Psalm lx. 3, and
in their judicial intoxication let their sight grow dim and dizzy, and
their loins tremble, as in the ensuing verse. The whole is an exact
prophetic picture of our Saviour's sufferings, and of what literally
occurred to the Jews in the fall of Jerusalem under Titus. Then
indeed did their table furnish them with nothing else but the wine
of staggering, and in their fury and famine they fed upon the flesh
of their children.
Verse 24. " Yea, let loose upon them."] — Bather than " let
take hold : " the radical is here n2E> as I apprehend, and not 3(273.
Verse 25. " Let their citadel be laid waste,
Let there be no inhabitant for their tents."] — The'

PSALM LXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 293
26 For whom thou art smiting they persecute,
And reckon on the anguish of those pierced by thy
self.
27 Add thou iniquity to their iniquity ;
And let them never be admitted into thy justification.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living,
And never be recorded with the righteous.
29 • But for me, though humbled and in anguish,
Thy salvation, 0 God, shall lift me up.
30 I will laud the name of God with a song ;
With praise will I magnify him.
31 And more grateful shall it be to Jehovah than an ox,
Than the horned and hoofed heifer.
32 Behold, ye humble ! rejoice, ye inquirers after God !
And let your heart revive.
33 For Jehovah is hearkening to the destitute ;
And despiseth not those that are straitened for him.
whole prophecy was literally fulfilled at the fall of Jerusalem. The
fortress here referred to adjoined the temple by galleries, and was
the last part taken and laid waste, with the exception of the temple
itself. Josephus tells us it was expressly called the citadel, though
the name was afterwards changed to that of the tower of Antonia.
De Bell. Lib. I. cap. iii., Lib. VI. cap. i. ad fin. After the temple
itself was taken, or rather burned to ashes, the miserable remnant
of the Jewish people begged of Titus that he would permit them to
pass through the breaches of the wall with their wives and children
and go into the wilderness : — a request which he indignantly re
fused. Joseph. De Bell. Lib. VI. cap. vi. So that literally "there
was no inhabitant for their tents." The word here rendered " cita
del" is translated "habitation" in our common version, but erro
neously. The margin, however, gives " palace," but citadel is iit
this place the exact meaning of nT'tO.
Verse 32. "Behold, ye humble! rejoice, ye inquirers."] — The
apostrophe is obvious from the pronoun your in the next line ; but
it is not necessary to alter the text for this purpose, as Houbigant
and Bishop Horsley have done.

294 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXX.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him,
The sea, and all that in them moveth.
35 For God will deliver Zion ;
And re-establish the cities of Judah.
And they shall settle there ;
Yea, shall have it in possession.
36 Even the seed of his servants shall inherit it :
Even those that love his name shall settle therein.

LXX.*
TO THE SUPREME.
BY DAVID.
For a recollection.
1 Rescue Hie, 0 God ;
Hasten, 0 Jehovah, to my help.
2 Let them be confounded, and sink away,
That seek after my soul :
Let them be turned back and put to shame,
That covet my ruin :
3 Let them be repaid with utter disgrace,
That exclaim, " aha, aha ! "
4 All that seek thee shall exult and rejoice in thee ;
Yea, for ever shall they that love thy salvation say,
" God be magnified."
This short but beautiful Psalm is a re-edition of Psalm xl. from
ver. 13, with a few verbal alterations alone; and seems in this
form to have been composed as a manual or memento for ready use
upon all occasions in which the royal writer was in trouble. It
served to recal his attention to the still greater distresses into which
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 165.

PSALM LXX1.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 295
5 Thus, let me be afflicted and destitute,
God is making haste unto me.
Thou art my help and my deliverer :
0 Jehovah, thou wilt never delay.
he was plunged at the time when it was originally composed, and
the wonderful interposition of divine favour in his behalf : so as to
become a standard excitement to his faith, and a perpetual cordial
to his fears. And on this account apparently, it is entitled " For
a Eecollection." In many of the MS. copies, the ensuing Psalm
is made a continuation of it.

LXXL*
1 In thee, 0 Jehovah, do I take shelter,
Let me never be confounded.
2 Deliver me in thy righteousness, and set me free,
Incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
3 Be thou a stronghold unto me,
For a perpetual resort :
Thou art engaged to save me ;
0, my rock and my fortress be thou.
4 Rescue me, 0 my God, from the hand of the wicked ;
From the grasp of the perverse, and the cruel.
5 For thou art my trust, 0 Lord Jehovah,
My confidence from my childhood.
6 By thee have I been sustained from the womb ;
Thou hast taken me up from my mother's bowels ;
For ever shall my praise be of tbee.
7 I am as a miracle to multitudes ;
So much art thou my shelter of defence.
Verse 7. " So much art thou."]— A frequent signification of 1—
adeo, usque adeo : see Noldius in verb : as also Psalm cxix. 120.
Perhaps Job vii. 4, is rendered best in this way.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 256.

296 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXI.
8 My mouth shall be full of thy praise,
Of thy glory, every day.
9 0, cast me not off in old age,
Forsake me not as my strength faileth :
10 For mine enemies are haranguing against me ;
And the way-layers of my life are consulting together,
11 Saying, " God hath forsaken him ;
" Pursue and take him, for there is no rescue."
12 0 God, be not thou away from me,
Make haste, 0 my God, to my help.
1 3 Let them be confounded, let them consume away,
The adversaries of my soul :
Let reproach and confusion cover them,
The plotters of mischief against me,
14 So will I for ever hope on :
I will enlarge on the amount of thy praise :
15 My mouth shall recount thy just-dealings,
Thy deliverances every day,
Though the numbers I can never make known.
16 1 will enter on thy mighty deeds, 0 Lord Jehovah ;
I. will commemorate thy righteousness, thine alone.
17 0 God, from my childhood hast thou taught me ;
And thus far have I proclaimed thy marvels.
18 Now therefore, while old and grey-headed,
Do not thou forsake me, 0 God,
While yet I am proclaiming thy power,
Thy might to all the coming generation ;
19 Yea, thy righteousness, 0 God, while extolling.
Verse 13. " Cover them."] — iq^ for llt33?\ the second 1
being suppressed by apocope.
Verse 19. " While extolling."]— This line should, I think, be
long to the preceding verse QTia IV, for it is difficult to conceive
that the adverb IV is not purposely used as an iteration, and de
signed to be understood in the same sense here, that of while, as in

PSALM LXXI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 297
0 thou, who art working prodigies,
0 God, who is like unto thee ?
20 Thou, who hast shown me great and grievous troubles,
Thou shalt return, thou shalt revive me ;
From the depth of the earth shalt thou return, shalt
thou raise me up.
21 Thou shalt increase my greatness ;
Yea, thou shalt turn again, thou shalt comfort me.
22 0 then will I sing praise unto thee,
To thy truth, 0 God, on the swell of the psaltery :
I will chant unto thee on the harp,
0 THOU HOLT ONE OF ISRAEL.
23 My lips shall exult as I chant unto thee,
Yea, my soul, which thou hast redeemed.
24 0 then shall my tongue expatiate
On thy righteousness every day.
For they are confounded, for they have sunk away,
The plotters of mischief against me.
both the places in which while occurs immediately above ; though,
in our common translation, and indeed in most others it is rendered
in each of the three places differently ; in the first when, in the
second until, and in the third very. The sign of the first person is
no more necessary to be expressed before the verb extolling in
Hebrew than in English, being in both languages sufficiently un
derstood from its having been affixed to the preceding verb.
Verse 22. " On the swell of the psaltery."] — Such is the beau
tiful amplification of the original, b32 ^33. on " the shell or
swelling frame of the psaltery," though perhaps the " swelling
sound" is here intended. The marginal reading of our standard
version gives nearly the same.

298 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXII.

LXXIL*

FOE SOLOMON.

1 0 God, give thy judgments to the king,
Yea, to the son of a king thy righteousness :
2 May he sway thy people with equity,
Even thy poor with judgment.
3 By equity may the mountains and the hills
Maintain peace to the people.
The close of this Psalm seems to intimate that it was the last the
royal Psalmist ever composed : and the subject upon which it ap
pears to have been written, leads us to the same conclusion. From
the title, it was addressed to his son Solomon, and it forms there
fore the last public benediction he ever bestowed upon him, and
whom now, as king, and son of a king, he had invested with the
royal authority, and seated on the throne he had just resigned in his
favour. It is hence to be referred to that part of king David's
life which is given in 1 Kings ii. 1 — 4, with the addition contained
in I Chron. xxii- 6 — 19. It offers a solemn prayer to God for his
blessing on the newly-elected monarch, and takes a prophetic sur
vey of his propitious reign ; through the whole of which, however,
Solomon is but a type of the greater son of David, the Messiah.
Verse 1. "  the king,
Yea, the son of a king."] — Solomon was the first
among the Israelites who united both characters : being son of a
king, he was now also invested with the kingly power by his own
father. But the more important sense refers to the future son of
David, for one "greater than Solomon is here."
Verse 3. " By equity may the mountains and the hills
Maintain peace."] — May the natural defence, the
ramparts of our hills, be even less our security than our good
faith and sound morals. It may also refer to the princes and
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 259.

PSALM LXX1I.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 299
4 May he judge the poor of the people,
Give release to the sons of distress,
And demolish the oppressor.
5 May they fear thee as long as the sun ;
Yea, throughout the changes of the moon,
From generation to generation.
6 He shall descend as rain on the pasture ;
As showers, shall he moisten the earth.
7 In his days shall righteousness blossom,
And peace be abundant till the moon shall fail.
8 And he shall rule from sea to sea,
Yea, from the river to the ends of the earth :
9 The rangers of the desert shall bow before him,
And his adversaries shall lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and the isles shall bring pre
sents,
The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
magistrates of the people, of higher rank than the multitude, main
taining peace in their lofty stations by an equal administration of
justice. Verse 5. "Yea, throughout the changes of the moon,"] — "the
faithful witness in the heavens." The literal beauty of the passage
has been passed over for a general sense, ">3Sb is here, not a
compound preposition, but a preposition and a noun, ijQ-b.
" throughout the changes " — or still more strictly, " the faces or
phases of the moon;" the b being "usque ad," " dum," or
" usque dum," as in numerous other places. There seems no just
reason for suspecting the accuracy of the text, or for reading with
Houbigant, -flM,|l for -pNT<\
Verse 6. " Shall he moisten."] — P]T1T : this is in the singular,
and cannot, therefore, agree with Q'*3''3n, or showers. The sign
of the mood is omitted, as is often the case when it is given in a
preceding verb.
Verse 8. " Prom sea to sea,
Yea, from the river."] — "This points out the ex
tensive limits of Judea in the time of Solomon. The two seas are
the Mediterranean and the Bed Sea. The river is the Euphrates."
Geddes.

300 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXII.
11 Yea, all kings shall pay homage to him,
All nations shall serve him.
12 Behold, he shall deliver the poor man when he crieth,
And the afflicted who hath none to help him.
13 He shall have pity on the destitute, and the poor man,
Yea, the souls of the poor shall he save.
1 4 Their soul shall he ransom from guile and rapine,
And precious shall their blood be in his eyes.
] 5 Thus shall he live. 
And there shall be offered to him of the gold of Sheba,
And prayer shall be made for him continually :
Daily shall he be blessed.
1 6 Over the earth shall be a store for corn ;
Over the tops of the mountains shall it rustle.
Like Lebanon shall be its produce.
Through the city also shall they sprout up
As the herbage of the earth.
17 His name shall live for ever :
With the orb of the sun shall his name last ;
And men shall be blessed in him ;
All nations shall pronounce him happy.
1 8 Blessed be Jehovah-God, the God of Israel,
Who alone worketh marvels.
19 Yea, blessed be his glorious name for ever ;
And let his glory fill the whole earth.
Amen, and amen.
20 Thus close the supplications of David,
The son of Jesse.
Verse 16. " Over the tops of the mountains shall it rustle."]—
To the bleakest and most barren heights shall the harvest spread;
and so thick shall be its growth, that even here blade shall rustle
against blade with every whisper of the breeze.
Verse 17. " The orb of the sun."]— JS'aW "OS, "the disk or
phase of the sun," as in ver. 5, where the same is applied to the
moon in the plural, and imports her " changes," or " changing
faces."

PSALM LXXIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 301

LXXIII*
A PSALM OF ASAPH.
I Truly God is good to Israel :
To the pure of heart.
2 But as for me — my feet had nearly strayed,
My steps had well-nigh wandered ;
The third book, or division, of the Psalter begins here. Asaph,
as abeady observed in the introductory note to Psalm 1., was one
of the most celebrated poets in the reign of David, and appointed
with Heman and Ethan to preside over the sacred music and poetry
of the temple, apparently with the honorary name of Azrahite or
Laureate ; and by his poetical remains appears also to have been
one of the most highly gifted bards of his day ; possessing moreover
an admirable spirit of piety and devotion. He had the general
arrangement of the Levites ; and, in distributing them into three
bands, according to their descent from Kohath, Merari, and Gershon,
> he himself took the lead of the latter. One at least of his de
scendants seems to have retained his name, as well as his poetical
powers ; as we have other Psalms under the same name, of a date
much later than his own, apparently written about seventy years
afterwards, in the reign of Behoboam, on the invasion of Judea
and ransack of the temple by Shishak king of Egypt; The whole
number of Psalms ascribed to the name of Asaph are twelve ; and
they allude to domestic troubles under which the land laboured
from the atrocious and daring conduct of apostates and atheists in
high life ; or to foreign troubles from the threats or incursions of
heathen nations ; with the single exception of Ps. lxxviii., which
appears to have been a coronation-ode, composed on the accession
of David to the joint throne of Judah and Israel. The Psalms
of later date are lxxiv, lxxvii, and lxxix, and alike allude to
the dreadful calamity of a foreign invasion, the seizure of Jeru
salem, and the ransack of the temple ; facts which occurred, as
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 1 66.

302 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXIII.
3 So envious was I at the profligate,
While I beheld the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no struggles in their death,
And firm is their plumpness.
5 They suffer not from the misery of sickness,
And are not plagued after the manner of man.
already noticed, during the detestable reign of Behoboam, at which
time the elder Asaph could not have been less than ninety-eight or
ninety-nine years old, if at that time alive, and if these two Psalms
were of his composition, instead of being composed by a descendant.
See the Historical Outline, pp. 12, 279.
Ver. 3. " Profligate."] — Bather than foolish, as commonly ren
dered. The Hebrew has three terms to express want of under
standing ; but each of them has its peculiar sense from a reference
to the cause : bD3, which imports natural stupidity or feebleness
of mind, and is the common term for foolish, in the book of Pro
verbs ; blM. doltishness, or fatuousness, from a want of mental
cultivation, which is also occasionally used in the same book ; and
nbbin, madness, or distraction ; dissoluteness ; profligacy ; the
folly of intoxication, merriment, or insolence, or any passion what
ever. It is the last of these terms which is used in the present
verse ; and it is used in the same sense in Ps. cii. 8, where, in our
established version, it is translated mad ; as also in Prov. xxvi. 18,
where it is assigned the same sense. It is clear, therefore, that in
the present verse it should be madmen, frantic, dissolute, or revellers,
rather than foolish. It evidently refers to the band of revelling
and dissolute freethinkers of the day, who made a scoff at all re
ligion, and were resolved to have their full share in the profligacies
and pleasures of this world, let the consequences be what they
might. The Targum often renders it by the term "O^bnia
" scorners." Verse 4. " struggles."] — In the Hebrew ni3Sin " bands,
cords, knots, cramps, convulsions." So in Isa. lviii. 6, the only
place in which the word occurs elsewhere. Mr. Bate renders it
ingeniously " perplexing difficulties," but the present seems more to
the point.
Id. " And firm is their plumpness."]— They grow fat by their
iniquity. So Shakespeare makes Prince Henry describe Palstaff as
a " huge hill of flesh — a continent of sins."

PSALM LXXIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 303
6 Hence, pride is their girdle,
The robe of violence covereth them.
7 Their eyes start out from fatness,
They surpass the desires of the heart.
8 They contaminate, and talk of mischief;
They talk of oppression, and haughtiness.
9 They set their mouth against the heavens ;
And their tongue launcheth out against the earth.
10 Thus harboureth slandering amongst them,
And fear-floods in abundance are worked up by them.
1 1 And they say, " how should God know ? "
" Can there indeed be knowledge in the Most High ? "
12 Lo, these are the wicked, but the prosperous of the age :
They luxuriate in riches.
Verse 9. " Against the earth."] — The preposition 3 " against
the heavens," and " against the earth," is the same, and should be
rendered alike. They are equally against heaven and earth ; against
all the ordinances of God and man. Nothing that is honest, or
lovely, or of good report, can escape their ridicule.
Verse 10. " Harboureth slandering amongst them."] — ^W*
seems here a derivative, from 327'' " to dwell, make to dwell, or
harbour," rather than, as usually derived, from 32? " to return ; "
an,d Dbn seems rather a noun, " smiting, backbiting, slandering;"
or, as Bochart renders it in the present place, tusio, than an adverb,
" hither." And, thus rendered, all the supposed difficulties of this
much-contested passage are at an end : and there is no necessity for
suspecting any kind of error in the original text, or for trying at
any amendment.
Id. " Are worked up by them."] — Literally, are " eliminated "
or " elaborated by spirits : " are thrown forth by great effort or
exertion : — are " expressed or wrung out." Intimating the inde
fatigable pains they took to do mischief, as well as their unhappy
success, ijd or Q^a is so often used in the Psalms and Prophecies,
to import " floods of affliction," that there is no question as to the
meaning. See especially Ps. Ixix. 1, 2, 14, 15. The metaphor is
peculiarly bold and striking.
Verse 12. " They luxuriate in riches." — The passage is given
literally ; — they shoot out with exuberant plenty, like a luxuriant
tree.

304 BOOK OF PSALMS. [ PSALM LXXIII.
13 Verily have I cleansed my heart in vain,
And washed my hands in innocency.
14 For every day have I been plagued,
Yea, borne chastisement from the daybreak.
1 5 But should I talk, should I reason thus—
Behold, I should prove unfaithful to the race of thy
children.
16 When I studied to understand this,
It was a perplexity in mine eyes ;
17 Till I went into the sanctuaries of God,
Till I considered their latter end.
18 Surely thou dost set them up in slippery places ;
Thou castest them down to destruction.
19 How are they in desolation !
As in a moment they are swept away !
They are consumed, they are less than nothing.
20 As a dream when one waketh up,
0 Lord, when thou arousest
Thou makest contemptible their pageantry.
21 Thus peevish was my heart,
And goaded was I in my reins. •
22 So stupid was I, that I knew nothing :
I was as a brute before thee.
23 Yet before thee am I at all times :
Thou upholdest me by my right hand.
Verse 19. "Less than nothing."] — More literally, "less than
nothings or non-entities." Why the translators of our national ver
sion and various others should change the standard text mnb3
" nothings " to nibn3 " terrors," I do not know. St. Jerome
retains it, though circuitously, " quasi non sint." Bishop Horsley
gives " even more than the things that are not."
Verse 20. "Thou makest contemptible their pageantry."] —
Their empty and insubstantial show, which shall vanish like the
phantasms of a dream.

PSALM LXXIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 305
24 Thou shalt guide me by thy counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven  ?
Yea, nothing on earth do I long for but thee.
26 Let my flesh and my heart fail,
God shall be the strength of my heart,
Even my portion for ever.
27 How surely do they that withdraw from thee perish !
Thou destroyest all that prostitute themselves from
thee.
28 But as for me —
Good is it for me to keep close unto God.
In the Lord Jehovah do I fix my refuge,
That I may rehearse all thy doings.
Verse 28. " That I may rehearse all thy doings."] — To this is
added in the Septuagint, (and the Arabic and Vulgate versions have
copied it, as have various translators in recent times,)
In the gates of the daughter of Sion.

LXXIV*
AN INSTRUCTIVE OF ASAPH :
1 Why, O God, hast thou cast us off ?
Shall thy wrath smoke for ever
Against the flock of thy pasture ?
This Psalm in the title is ascribed to one of the Asaphs ; from
its subject-matter, perhaps a son or a grandson of the Asaph who
was contemporary with David, as already observed in the introduc
tory note to the preceding Psalm. The public calamity so feelingly
bewailed, is apparently the irruption of Shishak king of Egypt
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 280.
X

306 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM LXXIV.
2 0, remember thy congregation which thou didst once
purchase ;
The tribe of thine inheritance thou didst redeem :
This Mount Zion in which thou hast dwelt.
3 Stir up thy feet towards the utter desolation,
The total ruin of the enemy in the sanctuary.
into the land of Judaea, in the wicked reign of Behoboam, the son
and successor of Solomon. By comparing the narrative in 1 Kings
xiv. 22 — 26 with that in 2 Chron. xii. 1 — 9, we learn that this
grievous affliction was suffered to fall on the nation, because of the
abominable iniquity both of the people and the prince, who seem to
have vied with each other in drawing down upon themselves the
divine vengeance. We are told that " they provoked God to jea
lousy with their sins which they had committed above all that their
fathers had done ; for they also built them high places and images
and groves on every high hill, and under every green tree : and there
were also Sodomites in the land, and they did according to all the
abominations of the nations which the Lord had cast out before
the children of Israel." Hence, in the opening language of the pre
sent Psalm, " God cast them off, and his anger smoked against the
sheep of his pasture : " and he commissioned Shishak, the king of
Egypt, to invade them, unprepared, with an immense army drawn
from various quarters, which over-ran the country without resist
ance, seized possession of all its fortified cities, and at length entered
into Jerusalem itself, and would apparently have destroyed all its
palaces and its very temple, had not the king and the people hum
bled themselves deeply before God, and repented of their sins. In
consequence of which the prophet Shemaiah, who at first had no
other message to communicate to them, than that the whole was
an immediate judgment of the Almighty, was authorized to promise
that, though God was determined to punish them, he would not
entirely destroy them; and hence Shishak, after having, as Josephus
expressly tells us, spoiled the temple, and emptied the treasures of
God, and carred away the vessels and shields of gold, and even the
dedicated golden quivers that David had taken from the king of
Zobah, so that nothing was left behind him — was satisfied with his
plunder and returned home. Perhaps, in conjunction with the
pillage of the palaces, it formed the richest booty that was ever

PSALM LXXIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 307
4 Thine adversaries make a roaring in the midst of
thy service ;
They set up their own ensigns for banners.
5 Like an onset, doth it seem, for lifting axes
Against an impenetrable forest ;
seized, consisting of the accumulated treasure of the two successful
and glorious reigns of David and Solomon. From verses 4 — 8 the
enemy seem to have committed the grossest sacrilege while they
were in the possession of the temple ; erecting their own banners
instead of the golden shields and quivers and other trophies taken
in previous wars, breaking down all the carved work that was over
laid or inlaid with gold or silver, and setting fire to other parts for
the purpose of melting down the same precious metals — having pre
viously burned up the synagogues of the land as they passed by them.
The Psalm formed probably a part of the act of public repentance
and supplication just referred to, before the message of divine favour
communicated by the prophet Shemaiah in consequence hereof.
Verse 3. " Stir up thy feet."]—" March forward."
Verse 4. " Service."] — Bather than " congregation," which, as
in ver. 2, is HIS. It is here 1371a in the singular, from IV "to
ordain, constitute, or appoint," whence the noun should denote
"ordinance, constitution, appointment" — act of service or wor
ship : according to Geddes, " solemnities," which is a good ren
dering, but that the word is plural. Others translate it, place of
worship or service, and hence synagogue, tabernacle, or temple.
But service, or " act of worship," is better in the present place ;
though " place of worship," synagogue, or temple, may be often
right, when it occurs in the plural, as in ver. 8, of the present
Psalm. How atrocious the profanation of these heathen intruders, as here
described ! They rush contemptuously into the' temple, set up a
general roar or shout in the midst of the service, despoil the edifice
of its ancient banners and other consecrated trophies, and erect their
own pagan and idolatrous banners in their stead.
Verse 5. " Like an onset doth it seem."] — Well indeed might
Josephus say of Shishak and his followers that " they spoiled the
temple : " for there seems to be nothing which they were capable
of turning into gain, that they did not strip it of without scruple.
The simile to the hewing down of a wood is highly picturesque and
X 2

308 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXIV.
6 So already its carved work, in a body,
Have they demolished with hatchet and hammers.
7 They have set thy sanctuary on fire ;
The dwelling-place of thy name have they profaned
to the ground.
8 They have said in their hearts, " Let us utterly crush
them."
They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the
land.
forcible ; but the exact meaning of the passage has not hitherto
been caught by any of the translators ; and hence it has been sus
pected by almost all of them, and especially Houbigant, Hare,
Lowth, Horsley, and Dimock, that the text is corrupt ; which they
have in consequence attempted to mend in various ways. The
passage is here rendered literally, and almost in the order of the
words. Were the order given as well as the letter, it would be as
follows —
" It seemeth like an onset for lifting,
Against an impenetrable forest, axes :
So already its carved work, in a body,
With hatchet and hammers have they demolished."
V1V, with which the passage begins, is used impersonally : " it
seemeth," " it looketh," " it showeth," " " it manifesteth itself."
N"»3a is a noun from the verb S13, " to come on," or " go on."
Verse 7. " They have set thy sanctuary on fire."] — Doubtless
for the sacrilegious purpose of melting down the precious mouldings
and other ornaments of gold and silver.
Id. " They have profaned to the ground."] — To its foundation.
Verse 8. " They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the
land."] — Here, as already observed, ?'HJJia must imply " places
or assemblies of worship," rather than " acts or services." Such
places or assemblies were in the Greek tongue called synagogues.
To such Elisha seems to have regularly resorted, both on sabbath-
days and new moons, as we find it hinted in 2 Kings iv. 23 ; and to
such it seems all the Jews at Shushan were specially summoned for
prayer and fasting, on the vow of Esther to supplicate Ahasuerus
in favour of her people against the wicked stratagem of Haman ;
and such, indeed, seems to have been the mode by which the wor
ship of the God of Israel was chiefly maintained during the capti-

PSALM LXX1V.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 309
9 We see not our signs —
No more is there a prophet :
No — none amongst us that knoweth how long !
10 How long, 0 God, shall the oppressor plunder ?
Shall the adversary, without ceasing, blaspheme thy
name?
vity. Prom the passage before us, a house or assembly of this kind
seems to have been common to every city in the land, though pro
bably few of them had any attendants at this abandoned period.
And, indeed, as every city had its civil court of elders, and was per
haps always possessed of Levites, who had fulfilled their term in its
order at Jerusalem, — and the Jews had a special command given
them by Moses to treat such Levites with hospitality, — it is hardly
to be supposed that they had no public service on Sabbath and
other high days except at Jerusalem. It was the Levites, as we
are expressly told, 2 Chron. xxxv. 3, " that taught all Israel," — ;
and nothing could be better adapted than an itinerary life for
such a purpose. The colleges of their prophets may also be com
prehended under this term, and are alluded to in the ensuing
verse. Verse 9. " We see not our signs —
No more is there a prophet —
No — none amongst us that knoweth how long."] — •
Beligion was indeed at a very low ebb at this period ; but they had
one prophet, Shemaiah, to whom God occasionally communicated
his will. Yet we have no proof that this was done even to him
more than in three instances : — first, when Behoboam took pos
session of the throne ; secondly, on the present judgment, to an
nounce that it was an express visitation from God, on account of
their gross iniquity ; and thirdly, in consequence of the present
public act of humiliation and repentance. And hence, at the time
this despondent lamentation was uttered, it is certain that neither
Shemaiah nor any other person had any word of comfort, or even
of prophecy, respecting the extent of the calamity before us, or how
long it was to endure.
Verse 10. " How long shall the oppressor plunder?"] — Bather
than " shall the adversary reproach ? " "12 means expressly an op
pressor or tyrant ; and fpn, in its primary sense, imports to " strip

310 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXIV.
11 Why stayest thou thine hand— yea, thy right-hand ?
Why foldest it within thy bosom ?
12 For God was amongst the goers-forth of old,
Working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 By thy might thou dividedst the sea ;
Thou breakedst the heads of the monsters in the
waters :
14 Thou crushedst the heads of Leviathan ;
away," " to leave bare ; " and only secondarily signifies to re
proach, which is the " stripping or divesting of honour or a good
name." Verse 11." Why stayest thou thy hand ?
Why foldest it ? "]— 3"<tWl is from 3t£7i « to stay,
dwell, or mansion," rather than from ajp " to turn back, draw
back, or withdraw." I cannot find the word " pluck," as in our
common version, in any part of the text. The Hebrew term is
nb3 ; the sign of the second person, from the preceding"Verb, runs
into it, without being expressed, as is frequently the case : and its
meaning is " to contain, hold, or infold."
Verse 12, " Amongst the goers-forth."] — If i3ba be divided
thus, i"3ba, it signifies " my King " — which is the sense hitherto
given by all the translators, but a sense that has no direct connexion
with what follows : if divided thus, "Ob"a, it signifies " the goers-
forth," or exodists ; and then the word " of old," as well as all that .
ensues, has a direct connexion with it ; for the wonders related, com
mence with the exody or going forth from Egypt, and the miraculous
events that followed in the passage through the desert.
Verses 13, 14. "Thou breakedst the heads of the monsters in
the waters ;
Thou crushedst the heads of Leviathan.."] —
Leviathan or crocodile, and the other monsters here alluded to, are
evidently Pharaoh and his chosen captains : as in Exodus xv. 4.
Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea ;
Yea, his chosen captains are drowned in the Bed Sea.
The reference is peculiarly forcible, now that the Israelites were at
the mercy of this very people once more, and their capital and temple
threatened with total destruction.
Verse 14. " Thou gavest him for food to the people,
Even the rangers of the wilderness."] — It would be

PSALM LXXIV.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 311
Thou gavest him for food to the people,
Even the rangers of the wilderness.
15 Thou causedst the spring and the torrent to burst
forth :
Thou madest impetuous rivers dry.
16 Thine is the day, the night also is thine ;
Thou hast arranged the light and the sun.
1 7 Thou hast determined the boundaries of the earth ;
Thou hast assigned them summer and winter.
18 Remember this, 0 Jehovah ! the adversary is plun
dering :
Yea, the miscreant people are blaspheming thy name.
19 0, deliver not to the beast of prey the soul of thy
turtle-dove.
The beast of prey ! — thine afflicted ! —
0, do not forget for ever.
natural to suppose, even without this declaration, that the wild
tribes of the desert, bordering on the Bed Sea, and, as icthyophagi,
living on its productions, would derive a rich booty from this mighty
overthrow. "? in Q^sb may be regarded as an adverb, " To the
rangers," but is more obviously an intensive particle as in Num.
xvi. 22, " 0 God, the God of the spirits 1273 bsb even of all
flesh." Verse 15. "Thou causedst," &c.J — Evidently alluding to the
smiting of the rock in Horeb, Exod. xvii. 6, and that in the wilder
ness of Zin, Num. xx. 11, and the conversion of the bed of the
Jordan into dry land, Josh. iii. 17.
Verse 18. " The miscreant people."] — b33 Q37 : and so verse
22. b33 "OB " miscreant multitude." b33 does not properly
speaking mean " foolish," though so rendered in our national version ;
but rather " infamous, flagitious, vile, contemptible, corrupt in body
and mind :" and as applied at the same time to heathens or infidels,
" miscreant." Por the ordinary terms in the Hebrew tongue im
porting " foolish," see the note on Psalm lxxiii. 3.
Verse 19. "0 deliver not to the beast-of-prey the soul of thy
turtle-dove,"] — Such is the interpretation of the Arabic, of Seeker,
Kennicott, and most of the critics ; and the image is hereby ren-

312 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXIV.
20 Have respect unto the covenant :
For the dark places of the earth,
Are filled with the precious pillage.
dered complete. The beast-of-prey, or wild-beast, is the Leviathan
or crocodile spoken of in verse 14, as a personification of the king
of Egypt, into the hands of one of whose successors the city and
the temple had now most marvellously fallen. .Tn, here rendered
wild-beast, or beast-of-prey, occurs in precisely the same sense in
Ps. Ixviii. 30.
" Put down the wild-beast ftrn) of the reed-coast"— alluding to
the worship of the Leviathan or crocodile. Troop or " multitude,"
as the passage is commonly rendered, would be n^n rather than
n^n, as in 2 Sam. xxiii. 11, 13 et alibi.
Id. " The beast-of-prey ! — thine afflicted ! —
O, do not forget for ever."] — Bemember them both equally
— to punish the one, and to have mercy on the other.
To remember the enemy, God is invoked again in verse 22 :
Bemember that the miscreant multitude is robbing thee daily.
The " beast-of-prey " typifies Egypt again under the figure of its
own enormous crocodile, to whom it paid divine honours. Por
which see Psalm Ixviii. 30, and the note thereupon. The " turtle
dove " in like manner typifies Israel when in a state of rest and
liberty. See also Psalm Ixviii. 13, and the note on the passage.
If the term n^n be rightly interpreted in the preceding line, the
same interpretation must follow in the present ; for it is the same
word and obviously repeated in the same sense. Yet this has not
been attended to by the translators ; for even those who have ren
dered the first " wild-beast " or " beast-of-prey," have rendered the
second " troop," or " company," or " people," or in some such
way. Thus Geddes :
Deliver not thy turtle-dove to the bird-of-prey ;
Forget not for ever thine oppressed people.
Our established version renders the first n^n " multitude ; " and
the second " congregation ; " but apparently without authority.
Verse 20. "The precious pillage."] — Parkhurst, "choice plun
der ; " which seems to be the real meaning ; since niS3 is, I be
lieve, uniformly used in the sense of " pleasant, desirable, choice,
gratifying : " as in Psalm lxv. 12, " the pleasant, gratifying, or re
freshing spots " of the desert.

PSALM LXXV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 313
21 0, let not the oppressed sit down abashed.
Let the wretched and the miserable praise thy name.
22 Arise, 0 God, contend with thy contenders :
Remember that the miscreant multitude are robbing
thee daily.
23 Forget not the uproar of thine assailants ;
The havoc of thine uprisers is towering continually.
• Bishop Horsley gives, ingeniously, but wider from the mark,
Have regard unto the covenant. Por glutted are
The base ones of the earth with the gratifications of violence.
The Psalmist seems to have his eye immediately directed to the
sacrilegious robbery of the temple of God, and the partition of all
its holy vessels and furniture among the blaspheming heathen.

LXXV.*
TO THE SUPREME,
The God of Frustration.
A PSALM OF THE MELODIOUS ASAPH.
1 We praise thee, 0 God, we praise thee ;
For that thy name is near,
Thy wondrous works declare.
This Psalm is entitled " to the Supreme, the God of Frustration ; "
for which, see note on the title to Psalm Ivii. The present, which
is an inaugural ode, was written by " the melodious Asaph," for
the purpose of David's coronation, after so many of the stratagems
of those who opposed his pretensions, had been completely discon
certed. See the Historical Outline.
Verse 1. " Por that thy name is near."] — Bather more closely —
" Eight near is thy name ;
Behearsed are thy wondrous works."
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 103.

314 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXV.
2 When I shall have accepted of the constitution,
I will administer uprightly.
3 The land, and all its inhabitants were dissolved :
I have re-established its pillars. (Selah.)
4 I have said unto the boasters, " Boast not ! "
To the overbearing, " Lift not up the horn ;
5 " Lift not up your horn with haughtiness :
" Speak ye with a bending neck.
Verse 2. " When I shall have accepted of the constitution."] —
The royal Psalmist means " by taking of the coronation-oath, and
becoming sovereign of the united kingdom of Judah and Israel,
which was now about to be tendered to him : for which see the in
troductory note.
Verse 4. " Lift not up the horn."] — Por the nature of this or
namental part of easteriMbess, see the Author's note on Job xvi. 15.
Verse 5. " Speak with a bending neck."] — The passage is here
rendered literally : but the Septuagint, which has given the entire
verse very loosely, has introduced a negative into the second clause
as well as into the first, and has been followed, so far as re
spects the negative, by almost all the translators. It proposes as
follows — " Lift not up your horn on high,
Speak not iniquity against God."
Most of the versions, however, instead of " iniquity against God,"
have " with a stiff neck : " rendering the Hebrew pr\V by the noun
" stiff," which, to make sense of, requires a negative, though, as
just observed, no negative occurs in the Hebrew text.
Now I am persuaded a little attention will show that the Hebrew
text is correct in itself, and ought not to undergo any change what
ever. The terms " stiff neck," and " stiff-necked " are common
and even proverbial in the Hebrew Scriptures ; but it does not
appear to me that the word phV can strictly in any place be ren
dered " stiff," and especially in the place before us ; nor is it the
term ever made use of in any other part of the Scriptures, where the
expression " stiff neck" or "stiff-necked" occurs; for this is uni
formly, without the slightest deviation, Fp37 nB7p instead of
pr\V ~)H12 ; so that neither of the ordinary terms that enter into
the proverbial expression is here employed. The words f]1V HWp

PSALM LXXV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 315
6 " For neither from the east, nor from the west,
" Nor from the south, is there promotion.

run regularly in the sense " stiff neck " or " stiff-necked," from
Exodus xxxii. 9, in which book it occurs four times, through
Deuteronomy, Nehemiah, Chronicles, and Jeremiah, — the only
books in the Old Testament in which the phrase, either in Hebrew
or English occurs, with the exception of this before us ; and there
can hence be no question, that, if the Psalmist had intended to
give the proverbial image, he would have given it in the proverbial
words, which, in every language, contain half its force, as being col
loquially familiar to the public ear.
But I have said that the word pnV cannot strictly be used even
as a synonyme for TlWp, or rendered " stiff." Its primary sense is
" to move, turn off, or bend, from a given point or place." It
hence imports, Gen. xxvi. 22, " to remove or bend one's course to
a different dwelling : " " And he (Isaac) removed thence, and
digged another well." Job xiv. 18, " to bend, or yield, or sink
with age, to be removed by age," as applied to a crumbling rock ;
and hence it is occasionally used in the sense of veterasco, " to grow
old, or moulder," or " sink in years."
' The same idea is intended to be conveyed in the present place,
that of " moveable, yielding, bending," as being directly opposed
to the proverbial phrase, by which it is commonly rendered, instead
of being parallel with it, " a moveable, yielding, bending, or in
clining neck," rather than " a stiff neck." And in this sense it is
obvious that the word not, so unjustifiably introduced into the
text, is not wanted : which at once, indeed, shows us the real
meaning. " To bend," however, is sometimes "to distort or make crooked;"
and hence pnV is occasionally used in a bad sense, for " froward
or perverse," as in Ps. xxxi. 18 ; xciv. 4. Mr. Parkhurst, indeed,
imagines that it is in such a sense the word is employed in the
passage before us : and he therefore renders it " with a retorted
neck" — and Bishop Horsley has followed him. We have here
indeed the primary idea of " bending or turning ; " and there could
be no objection to the term, if it made sense with the text, as it has
descended to us. But in order to make use of " retorted," we are
still under the necessity of gratuitously altering the words of the

316 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXV.
7 " Behold, God is the arbiter :
" It is he that putteth down, and he that exalteth.
8 " Behold, in the hand of Jehovah is a cup ;
" And turbid is the wine, drenched with seasoning.
" He dealeth it about — but its dregs
" All the wicked of the earth shall drain out and
swallow."
9 While as for me —
For ever will I celebrate, —
Will I sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 And I will cut off all the horns of the wicked —
But the horns of the Just one shall be exalted.
text, and introducing the word " not," for which, as now rendered,
there is no reason, and which by all means ought to be avoided.
Verse 6. " For neither from the east, nor from the west, '
Nor from the south is there promotion."] — This may
have been indited in the spirit of prophecy ; but if not, it gives a
clear proof of political sagacity on the part of king David, to have
foreseen, many months before the storm broke forth, the points
from which it would arise simultaneously ; and the quarters to
which the disaffected would apply themselves, with a hope of ob
taining confederates in their cause. The application was highly
successful ; and we have already seen in the historical outline of
Psalm xlviii. that the newly-established kingdom was suddenly and
simultaneously attacked on the east by the conjoint forces of the
Syrians, Ammonites, and Moabites ; on the west by the Philistines
and the kings of Tarshish ; and on the south by the Edomites,
Ishmaelites, Hagarenes, and Amalekites : over the whole of which
formidable leagues, he was enabled by the special favour of Jeho
vah to triumph.

PSALM LXXVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 317

LXXVI*
TO THE SUPREME.
For the stringed instruments.
A PSALM OP THE MELODIOUS ASAPH.
1 In Judah is God known ;
Great is his name in Israel :
2 Yea, in Salem is his tabernacle,
And his dwelling-place in Zion :
0 thou, more illustrious,
3 More glorious than the mountains of rapine.
4 There brake he the twangings of the bow,
The shield, and the sword, and the battle-axe. (Selah.)
This Psalm appears to have been written by the same Asaph,
and upon the same subject as Psalm lx. viz. the triumph of David
over the extensive confederacy against him on the east, the north
and the south, by a union of the Philistines with the Ammonites,
Moabites, Edomites, and Syrians of various tribes.
Verse 3. "0 thou — more illustrious,
More glorious than the mountains of rapine."] — " 0
thou mountain of Zion, more illustrious, more glorious than the
mountains of the tribes that would have despoiled and plundered
us ; meaning mount Gilead, Mount Hermon and the hills of Bashan
which had been carried by a sudden assault, and made the seat of
the formidable incursion that struck a panic into the very centre of
the Israelitish kingdom, and even threatened Mount Zion itself with
destruction. Such is the actual sense, and as generally understood ;
but as the passage stands in its ordinary reading, there is a difficulty
in coupling the pronoun thou with the word Zion, which is not
expressed ; to overcome which, various schemes have been devised,
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 147.

318 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXVI.
5 The stout-hearted are become a prey :
They are set fast in their sleep ;
And none of the men of might shall find their hands.
6 At thy rebuke, 0 God of Jacob,
Both the horseman and the horse are laid dead-asleep.
7 Thou, 0 thou art to be feared ;
And who may stand in thy sight,
In the time of thine anger ?
8 From heaven didst thou proclaim the doom ;
The earth stood in awe, and was still,
9 As God rose up to judgment,
To save all the meek of the earth. (Selah.)
and among the rest, that of altering the text. It appears to me
that the verses have been merely misplaced in transcribing — au
error which we have clearly traced in one or two of the preceding
Psalms. And hence by making them change places again, the
difficulty or abruptness of the transition is immediately conquered,
and both seem to be restored to their proper order ; for at present
not one of them only, but each stands in the other's way.
Verse 4. "The twangings of the bow."]— nwp "'DtPl "the
vibratory flashings, or coruscations of the bow." But this term
does not seem to import its " arrows," as often rendered, but rather
as the Septuagint has rendered it, ra. Kpdry rav ro^av, and St. Je
rome, "potentias arcuum," — "the powers or strength of the bow."
Michaelis and Geddes translate, " the wings of the bow ; " but this
is as wide as our common version.
Verse 5. "Are become a prey."] — We have here a palpable Chal-
daism : lbbin27N for lbbinK7n ; but Chaldaisms were occasion
ally indulged in by way of grace during the reign of David, as Arab-
isms were during that of Solomon.
Verse 6. " At thy rebuke, 0 God of Jacob,
Both the horseman and the horse are dead asleep."]
—So Psalm xlviii. 6 : " Pear took hold of them," &c. ; whence it
is probable that multitudes of them died of terror alone.
Verse 10. "The ferment of wrath."]— The Hebrew lStt7 im
ports both " remnant," which is the word commonly used, and
" ferment, or leaven," which seems to be the word that ought to be
used. And so Bishop Horsley.

PSALM LXXVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 319
10 Thus doth the wrath of man praise thee ;
The ferment of wrath dost thou restrain.
11. Vow ye, and perform to Jehovah your God ;
Let all around him bring the offerings of pure awe.
] 2 He shall repress the spirit of the puissant ;
He is awful to the kings of the earth.
Verse 11. "The offerings of pure awe."]— A difficulty has been
felt respecting MllJlb ''fi? — and it is a difficulty which must remain
so long as b is regarded as an unconnected preposition " to ; " for,
in this case, "<B7 ought to be Q"1^ ; but if ^ be an intensive prepo
sition forming part of rfniab, the whole becomes immediately clear,
" dona vel vota permetus " the " offerings of true, pure, thorough,
perfect awe or reverence."

LXXVII.*
TO THE SUPREME,
Upon his Dispensation.
A PSALM OF ASAPH.
1 To God was my cry ; yea, I called aloud :
To God was my cry ; and he hearkened unto me.
Probably the same subject as Psalms lxxiv, and lxxxix. In the
midst of his despondency, Asaph takes comfort, as all the saints of
old did, in a review of God's gracious dealing with his people at all
times ; and especially in his miraculous interposition in their favour
from the moment he led them forth from the land of Egyptian bon
dage, and overwhelmed their enemies in the Bed Sea ; whose de
struction, according to the accounts at .that time extant, was com
pleted by the auxiliary fury of a tempest, which is here described in
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 281.

320 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXVII.
2 In the day of my distress I sought the Lord,
My hand was stretched forth through the night, and
relaxed not ;
My soul refused to be comforted.
3 I called God to mind, yet was I troubled ;
I ruminated, yet was my spirit overwhelmed. (Selah.)
terms that may challenge any representation that has ever been
offered to the world ; and which is only equalled by the magnificent
picture given in Job xxxvi. 26 — 33 ; xxxvii. 1 — 5.
Verse 2. " My hand was stretched forth through the night."]—
" My hand," as in the margin of our Bibles, and not " my sore."
And to the same effect, Symmachus, St. Jerome, and most of the
modern critics. 133 is a direct synonyme of E71D, and imports " to
stretch forth, out, or abroad," " to spread or expand." The ex
pression is repeated in Ps. cxliii. 6, " I stretch forth my hands
unto thee; " where, however, the latter of these verbs is employed
instead of the former, distinctly proving their parallelism.
Verse 4. " Wakeful were the lids of mine eyes "] — A great diffi
culty has been found by the critics in this passage. Our common ren
dering is, " Thou holdest mine eyes waking." "O^E m*l!227 ntnN
in which ntnN is derived from tnN " to catch or lay hold of;"
but the incorrectness of applying this verb to m~ii027 ; and particu
larly of applying ni~)13££7 " waking," or rather " wakeful," a femi
nine adjective, to D^P, a masculine noun, has been felt by every
one : and hence St. Jerome has altered the verb from the second to
the first person, and the Septuagint has attempted another change
of the text. Bishop Horsley renders it —
" Watchfulness seizes fast upon mine eyes " —
which the text may bear, understanding ni"ia27 as a noun femi
nine singular, though its ordinary construction should render it a
noun feminine plural, as it is understood in our common version.
Geddes altogether paraphrases, and gives us —
" Mine eyes are kept constantly awake.'-'
It appears clear to me that nms is a noun feminine plural, with
a formative S from ntn " to fix or fasten," — and especially " to
fix or fasten the eyes upon ; " and that hence TnS or ntnN im
ports " a fastening or obstruction," of any kind, whether door,
portal, loop-hole, window, or lid ; all which are equally by the poet
applied to the eye. Thus Lucretius, De Ber. Nat. iii. 360.

PSALM LXXVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 321
4 Wakeful were the lids of mine eyes ;
I trembled so that I could not find utterance.
5 I mused on the days of yore,
The years that are by-gone ;
6 I called to remembrance. my songs of the night ;
I communed with my heart, yea, my spirit expatiated,
7 " Will the Lord cast off for ever ?
" Nor renew his loving-kindness any more ?
8 " Hath his tender-mercy ceased utterly ?
" His word failed from generation to generation ?
9 " Hath God forgotten to be gracious ?
" Hath he, then, in anger shut up his compassions ?
(Selah.)
10 " But can this, my calamity, speak
" A change in the right hand of the Most High ?
" Dicere porro oculos nullam rem cernere posse,
Sed per eos animum ut foribus spectare reclusis
Difficile est."
" To deem the eyes, then, of themselves survey
Nought in existence, while th' interior mind
Looks at all nature through them, as alone
Through loopholes, is to trifle."
So Bichmond, in Shakspeare's Bichard III.
" To thee I do commend my watchful soul,
Ere I let fall the windows of mine eyes."
Verse 6. " Songs of the night."] — A most beautiful and striking
image for " songs of mental gloom and affliction." For which see
the Author's explanation of Job xxxv. 10 ; from which it is highly
probable the passage is taken.
" O where is God my Creator,
Who giveth songs in the night ? "
Verse 10. "But can this my calamity speak
A change in the right hand, &c."] — The passage is
rendered literally, and I trust clearly, notwithstanding the obscurity
which has been supposed to hang over it. Our established version
sufficiently shows that it has not given a literal sense, by being
obliged to introduce gratuitously the sentence " but I will remem
ber," for which there is not a word in the original. And hence
Y

322 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXVII.
J 1 " I will recal to mind the dealings of Jehovah,
" Earnestly will I recal to mind thy wonders of old.
12 " Yea, I will muse on all thy works ;
" And talk of thine achievements."
13 Thy way, 0 God, is in holiness.
. What God is there so great as our God ?
14 Thou art the God that workest wonders ;
Thou hast shown forth thy power among the peoples.
15 By might didst thou redeem thy people,
The sons of Jacob and of Joseph. (Selah.)
16 The waters saw thee, 0 God, the waters saw thee;
They were panic-struck :
Yea, startled were the depths.
Seeker observes, that whatever rendering is right, this must be
wrong. The word ni3t£7 may be either a plural noun importing
years, or a singular noun importing " change." Our established
version has chosen the first. The Septuagint, Vulgate, and Chaldee
have followed the second : as have most modern translators. The
second is clearly, I think, the true meaning ; by merely adopting
this signification, regarding "iaN as a verb in the third, instead of
the first person, and giving the passage an interrogative bearing,
the present translation is obtained without the smallest constraint.
Verse 13. " In holiness."] — Bather than " in the sanctuary" —
as it is ££71p3 and not C£71pa3 : and so Seeker, Lowth, Horsley,
Geddes, and most of the critics; Thy visitation is for the purpose
of showing thine own holiness, and of making me holy as thou
art. It is a chastisment in mercy, for purifying and sanctifying
my soul.
Verse 16. " The waters saw thee, 0 God."] — The Psalmist ad
verts with exultation to the first of the many miracles which Jehovah
wrought, before the surrounding peoples, in behalf of Israel, in their
going forth from Egypt to the promised land, under " the hand of
Moses and Aaron." And he here adds to the historical account of
the passage of the Bed Sea and its deep waters, the description of a
tremendous tempest, which concurred with the return of the waters,
in overwhelming their enemies ; this most probably is not a mere

PSALM LXXVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 323
] 7 The clouds poured down water ;
The skies sent forth a roar :
Hotly abroad sped thy bolts ;
18 Through the heaven roared thy thunder :
The lightnings dazzled the world :
The earth tottered and quaked.
19 Thy way was in the sea,
Thy paths in the deep waters,
And thy footsteps were inscrutable.
20 Thou leddest thy people, like a flock,
By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
poetical exaggeration, but an actual fact, though not particularly
recorded by Moses himself.
We have hints indeed of the same in other parts of the Sacred
writings, though here only a full and explicit description of it : for
in the song of Moses, immediately after the victory, we are told,
" thou didst blow with thy wind," Exod. xv. 10 : and in Joshua's
allusion to the same event, Josh. xxiv. 7, we are expressly told of
the darkness that covered the heavens — " he put darkness between
you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them:" It is
still further alluded to in Ps. cxliv. 5 — 7.
Verse 17. " Hotly" — ] — *]N is here not a mere conjunction,
" also," as usually rendered, but a term indicative of heat, vehe
mence, or indignation, as in Job xxxvii. 1 ; where the same term
occurs in the same sense, and in a like description of a thunder
storm ; and has ordinarily been misunderstood in the same way.
See the Author's note on this passage. In ver. 11 above, it has
an approach to the same ; " vehemently, earnestly."
Verse 19. " Were inscrutable."] — The Hebrew 137T13"Nb may
be a compound — " were inscrutable or imperceptible," as well as
two words, " were not scrutable," or " not perceptible " — as
niB'Nb contrasted with Q^n (life) in Prov. xii. 28, imports
immortality rather than no death.

Y 2

324 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXVIII.

LXXVIII.*
AN INSTRUCTIVE OF ASAPH.
1 Attend, 0 my people, to my charge ;
Bend your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth with a parable ;
I will enlarge on the descants of old.
3 Such as we have heard of, and known,
And our fathers have rehearsed to us,
4 0, let us not conceal from their children.
Let us recount to the coming generation
The praises of Jehovah, and his might,
And the wonderful works he hath done.
5 For he established an ordinance in Jacob,
Yea, set up a statute in Israel,
Which he inculcated upon our fathers,
For making them known to their children ;
This beautiful historical Psalm, as we leam from the title, was
composed by Asaph ; and the body of the Psalm itself is sufficient
to prove that it was written not long after the commencement of
the reign of king David ; for in the progress of its narration, it
descends to this important fact, but does not enlarge upon any of the
events that signalized it, tempting as many of them must have
been from their glorious and triumphant issue. It appears to have
been expressly designed for one of the three great annual festivals,
at which every male was commanded to be present at the national
sanctuary, probably the feast of tabernacles ; and nothing could be
more appropriate than, on such an occasion, to take a survey of
the special mercies of Jehovah towards them, and of their own un
grateful return. The delicate compliment to the reigning monarch,
with which the Psalm concludes, is introduced with peculiar ele
gance and appropriateness. * Historical Outline, &c. p. 225.

PSALM LXXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 325
6 That the coming generation might understand,
The offspring that should be born might rise up,
And to their own children enumerate them.
7 That they might place their reliance on God,
And not forget God's dealings,
But be watchful of his commandments :
8 And not be, as their fathers,
A perverse and rebellious generation ;
A generation that kept not their heart stedfast,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God :
9 As the children of Ephraim, armed with the shafts of
the bow,
Who turned back in the day of battle.
Verse 9. " As the children of Ephraim
Who turned back in the day of battle."] — 13Sn, is
here an elision for 133nn. The reference appears to be, as Mr.
Henry has well observed, to the shameful flight of this tribe and
their confederates before the Philistines, as recorded in 1 Sam, iv.
3 — 10. The battle was fought in their borders, and to insure
success they had brought forth the ark of the covenant from Shiloh,
their capital, and placed it in their ranks ; and so panic-struck
were the Philistines on the occasion, that they looked forward to a
certain defeat. The Ephraimites opened the engagement with a
shout of triumph, but they soon fled with cowardice from the field,
and perfidiously abandoned the ark (the Protection and Glory of
Jehovah, ver. 61.) to the enemy. This was only about forty years
before the time in which it is probable the present Psalm was com
posed, and the fact must have been fresh in the memory of every
one. The Psalmist however, returns to it with great force, ver.
59 — 62, and there intimates that on this account God in his turn
abandoned the tribe of Ephraim for his future visible residence, and
chose that of Judah. The same fact is also hinted at, with a like
reproach, in Psalm cxxxii. 6, where, adverting to the ark, the
Psalmist says,
" We have heard concerning it at Ephratah."
We had been informed of its entire history, and especially of its
shameful and perfidious abandonment by the Ephrathites on their
own ground."

326 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXVIII.
10 They kept not the covenant of God,
And refused to walk in his law ;
11 And forgot his works, yea, the wonders he had shown
them,
12 The marvels he had wrought before their fathers,
In the land of Egypt, the region of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass
through,
Yea, made the waters stand firm as an heap :
14 And led them with a cloud by day,
And all the night with a pillar of fire.
15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness,
And gave drink as from the mighty deep.
16 Yea, he brought forth streams from the rift,
And made the waters flow down like rivers.
] 7 Yet did they still go on to sin against him,
By provoking the Most High in the wilderness :
18 For they tempted God in their hearts,
By demanding meat for their lustings.
19 Yea, they spake out against God — "Is God/' said
they, " able,
" To furnish a table in the wilderness ? —
Verse 12. " The region of Zoan."] — This was a chief city of
Egypt, where many of the princes resided, and Pharaoh often held
a court ; most probably, indeed, during the series of the miracles
performed by Moses. Numb. xiii. 22 ; Isaiah xxx. 4.
Verse 16. "From the rift."] — From the rent or cloven part ;
37boa. Arabic wXmi the fissure, craggy or broken part of a
mountain ; as also the name of a craggy mountain itself. The
Hebrew term in ver. 15 and ver. 20 is nu, " rock " properly so
called, though all the three passages are rendered alike in our na
tional version. The whole of this part of the country constitutes
the valley of Enbayn ; and the particular part of it here referred to
is called El Ledja — ( 5 Lslil ) ; and here the inhabitants show a
block of granite as the identical rock out of which the water issued
when struck by the rod of Moses. See Burckhardt's Travels in
Syria, 4to. p. 578.

PSALM LXXVIII. J BOOK OF PSALMS. 327
20 " He smote, indeed, the rock, and the waters gushed
out,
" And overflowed the channels,
" But is he able to give bread ?
" And can he provide flesh for his people ? "
21 So Jehovah heard, and was wrathful ;
And a fire was kindled against Jacob ;
And high rose the wrath against Israel :
22 Since they believed not in God,
Nor relied on his saving-power ;
23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above,
And had opened the doors of heaven ;
24 And had rained upon them manna for food,
And had given them of the corn of heaven :
Verse 20. " But is he able to give bread ?
Can he indeed provide flesh for his people ? "] —
" Can he give us, not this manna (which they pretended to de
spise, Numb, xi. 6.) but corn-bread? Can he satisfy us with
flesh-meat ? " This last, indeed, he did upon one occasion, and for
a, single evening (Exod. xvi. 13.) about a year ago: — "but can
he give it us for a constancy ? — can he punctually furnish a table
with it in the wilderness ? " The proof that God had done it,
ought to have prevented them from questioning his power, if all
his other miracles had not sufficed. But the whole proceeded from
a spirit of rebellion ; and was best answered by the plan actually
pursued in the wisdom of the Almighty, that of glutting their lusts
till they were surfeited, and punishing them with death while
eating. Numb. xi. 32, 33.
Verse 21. "And a fire was kindled against Jacob."] — The
reference is to Numb. xi. 1, 2. where the fire and its deadly effects
are described.
Verse 24. " And had rained upon them manna for food."] —
How nearly the manna thus miraculously supplied resembled the
manna of the same quarter of the world iu the present day, it is
difficult to determine : but the Bedouins obtain still a large quan
tity of the concrete juice of the tarfa, or tamarisk tree, which they
continue to denominate mann (V|*) and which in its form and

328 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXVIII.
25 Though man had eaten the bread of vigour,
Though he had sent them provision to satiety.
26 He drove away the east-wind from the heavens,
And in its force led on the south-wind.
27 Then rained he flesh upon them as dust,
Yea, feathered fowls as the sand of the sea ;
consistency closely resembles that of the Scriptures. It drops in
the month of June from the thorns of the tarfa upon the fallen
twigs, leaves and thorns which cover the ground beneath the tree,
in its natural state, from all which it is carefully separated. This
concrete juice hardens into minute cakes during the chill of the
night, but dissolves in the heat of the sun. A few other trees
secrete something of the same kind, but in less abundance.
Verse 25. " The bread of vigour."] — In the original Qnb
?''"TON, more strictly " the bread of vigours ; " literally " panis
virium." The margin of our national version gives " the bread of
the mighty," or " vigorous ones : " and to the same effect Tre
mellius and Junius " panis robustissimorum." " Bread of vigour
or energy," however, seems better ; and the phrase is apparently
intended as the converse of the proverbial term "1337 Qnb.
" bread of affliction," Deut. xvi. 3, and various other places, as
importing the rich and invigorating fare which was prepared for
them. The Septuagint, for " panis virium " seem to have under
stood it in the sense of "panis potestatum," — " bread of powers,"
" powers above," and have hence rendered it apros ayysXav, —
" bread of angels," in which they have been followed by our na
tional text. Most of the commentators, however, have pointed out
the error of this rendering ; for angels are no where spoken of in the
Hebrew text under the name of QVT<3N : nor can it for a moment
be supposed that the Psalmist meant to affirm that angels fed
upon manna, or any other material substance.
Verse 27. " Yea, feathered fowls as the sand of the sea."] — The
quail here referred to is a species of partridge, the tetrao alhatta of
the naturalists, found in large flocks in every part of Syria in the
months of May and June. See Bussell's Aleppo, vol. ii. p. 194.
It is the Salona (s ^X*.) of the natives ; the Batta of various
Arab tribes, who follow up its eggs which they find laid in the
steeps and rocks of the country.

PSALM LXXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 329
28 And let them fall in the midst of their camp,
Round about their habitations.
29 So they ate, and were utterly glutted,
For he brought upon them their own coveting :
30 In their coveting they were not stinted.
• But while their meat was in their mouths,
31 Lo ! the wrath of God came upon them,
And made havoc of the plumpest of them,
And prostrated the choice men of Israel.
32 Through all which they still sinned,
Nor believed in the midst of his wonderful deeds.
33 So he consumed their days in disappointment,
And their years in vexation.
34 After he had slain them, then they sought him,
Yea, early did they seek unto God :
35 And called to mind that God was their Rock,
Even the Most High God their Redeemer. '
36 Yet they beguiled him with their mouths,
And lied to him with their lips :
37 For their heart was not stedfast with him,
Nor were they true to his covenant.
38 Yet he, yearning with loving-kindness,
Overcovered the iniquity, and destroyed not.
Yea, often did he turn away his anger,
And roused not the fulness of his wrath :
Verse 30. " Were not stinted."] — The Hebrew nt, is here
derived from It " to squeeze, compress, strait or straiten ;" rather
than from nit, " to estrange or disperse," as it is commonly
rendered. Verse 31. " Behold, the wrath of God."]— The particle 1 is en
tirely omitted in our common version and in many others, as though
an interpolation. Its meaning here is- " see," " lo," or " behold,"
as in Psalm xlv. 12, Gen. xxiv. 21, and various other places. See
Noldius in verb, § 17.
Id. " Made havoc of."] — Tin imports " to slay, slaughter, or
butcher," with 3 following, as in the present instance, " to make
slaughter or havoc of."

330 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXVIII.
39 For he remembered that they were flesh,
A breath that passeth away and abideth not.
40 How often did they vex him in the desert !
Grieve him in the wilderness !
41 Yea, revolt, and tempt God,
And challenge the Holy One of Israel !
42 They were unmindful of his power ;
Of the time when he delivered them from the op
pressor ;
43 When he displayed his signs in Egypt,
Yea, his wonders in the region of Zoan :
44 And turned their rivers into blood,
So that they could not drink of their streams :
45 Sent the zimb-fly amongst them that devoured them,
And frogs that bred them corruption :
46 Gave their produce to the caterpillar,
And their labour to the locust :
Verse 39. "And abideth not."]— Bather than "cometh not
again," as usually rendered : the root being 3tt7"> " to abide or
stay," rather than 3B7 " to return or come again."
Verse 41. "Challenge."] — linn and so in Job xxxi. 35, to
which, perhaps, the present passage alludes, ijin, " my pledge,"
or " engagement for a challenge," — as we should now say, "my
glove." And the passage is thus rendered by Bate, Parkhurst and
Horsley. Verse 45. " The zimb-fly."]— The 3137 or oreb of Exodus viii.
21, and the present place, seems clearly to be the zimb-fly or tsal-
salya, as described by Bruce— Travels, Vol. I. 388, V. 188, where
we meet with a particular account of this tremendous scourge. It
is again adverted to Psalm cv. 31.
Verse 46. " The caterpillar —
The locust."]— Of the locust-tribe or arbeh (n3"lM)
Moses enumerates four species in Levit. xi. 22 : the proper arbeh,
the salam (OJ?bD), the ehargol (bl2"in), and the chagab (32n)>
all which were allowed to the Israelites as food, and were probably
the gryllus cristatus, g. migratorius, g. dux, and g. viridissimus, of
the Linneean system. The migratory gryllus, or locust, is most pro-

PSALM LXXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 331
47 Destroyed their vines with hail,
And their sycamores with frost ;
48 And to the hail gave up their cattle,
And their flocks to thunder-bolts :
49 Cast upon them the fierceness of his wrath —
Vexation, and destruction, and desolation,
By the ministry of evil agents :
50 Smoothed a path for his anger ;
bably meant in the present text — whose immense swarms, and whose
utter destruction of all fresh vegetables, are still often felt as tremen
dous scourges in the East ; and have occasionally been experienced
by the roving of a few straggling swarms in Europe, and at times
even in our own country, particularly in 1693, and 1748: for
which see Phil. Trans. Vol. xviii.
It appears to be the djerad dsakhaf (,  s'U-i ^W=?-) or devour
ing locust, as opposed to the djerad teyan (X)h iil«»-) or flying-
locust of modern Syria. Mr. Burckhardt tells us that these animals
" devour whatever vegetation they meet with, and are the terror of
the husbandman ; while the djerad teyan attack only the produce of
the gardener or the wild herbs of the desert. I was told, however,"
he continues, " that the offspring of the djerad teyan produced in
Syria, partake of the voracity of the djerad dsakhaf, and, like them,
prey upon the crops of grain." Travels in Syria, &c, p. 238.
The chesil (V>Dn), here rendered caterpillar is more doubtful
it is not enumerated in the catalogue of the locust-tribe by Moses
but occurs in various other parts of Scripture, as Isa. xxxiii. 4
1 Kings viii. 37 ; Joel i. 4 ; ii. 25, and is usually translated cater
pillar ; it is mentioned in connexion with grubs or worms, as well
as with locusts, and hence was probably the larva or caterpillar of
the migratory locust. The parent-insect deposits its eggs in holes
of dung, straw, or earth, in the autumn, which in the ensuing June
become larvrn of the size and appearance of grasshoppers, and
commit a second depredation almost as ruinous as that of the
parent-stock of the year before.
Verse 49. " By the ministry of evil agents."] — Often rendered,
" of evil angels," — but Q3Nba may mean not angels, but " agents
of any kind ; " and probably the agents here alluded to are the
magicians of Pharaoh, who greatly contributed to harden his heart.

332 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXVIII.
Pitied not their soul in the midst of death ;
But gave them up to a bosom-pestilence,
51 And smote all the first-born of Egypt,
The prime of their desires in the dwellings of Ham :
52 But made his own people to go forth like sheep,
And led them amidst the wilderness like a flock ;
53 And conducted them in safety, so that they feared not,
For the sea had overwhelmed their enemies :
54 And brought them to the border of his sanctuary,
To this hill which his right hand acquired :
Verse 50. " Pitied not their soul in the midst of death,
But gave them up to a bosom-pestilence."] — Not
" in the midst of their own death," — for there was no such plague
as this ; but " in the midst of that of their fiest bokn," — alluding
to this last and heaviest scourge inflicted on the Egyptians : — this
bosom-pestilence, or pestilence op the bosom, as it is most
forcibly and feelingly called : — a plague that came home to their
own hearts, and wrought the deliverance which nothing else could
wring from them, and which is further explained in the ensuing
verse. The passage is here rendered literally and ordinally ; which
it is not by any means in our established version. The real mean
ing, indeed, of "TODn does not seem to have been fairly caught : it
does not strictly import either life as given by our national transla
tors in the present passage, or heart as rendered by them in Hosea
xiii. 8, under the parallel form of 1130. Its primary and verbal
sense is " to enclose or shut up ; " and hence, as a noun it imports
" an enclosure, or place of confinement," or any hollow or cavity
fenced or walled on every side ; on which account it is applied em
phatically in both these passages to the cavity of the bosom or
thorax, walled as it is on all sides by the ribs, spine, and breast
bone. Whence Hosea xiii. 8, should be more strictly —
I will attack them as a bereaved bear :
I will rend the caul of their bosom, —
meaning possibly the membrane of the pericardium which envelopes
the heart, according to the common interpretation ; but far more
probably the membrane of the pleura that lines the cavity of the
bosom, and doubles over the lungs.
Verse 51. "Of their desires."] — Q^IN from niN " to desire,
or long for."

PSALM LXXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 333
55 And drove out the heathen before them ;
And assigned them an inheritance by line :
And gave the tribes of Israel to dwell in their abodes.
56 Still tempted they and provoked the Most High
God,
And kept not his testimonies ;
57 But turned away, and dissembled like their fathers ;
Started aside like a deceiving bow ;
58 Provoked him to anger with their high places ;
And made him jealous with their graven images.
59 God observed this, and was wrathful ;
And utterly abhorred Israel :
60 And forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
The tent of his residence amongst men ;
61 And gave up his strength to captivity,
His glory to' the hands of the enemy ;
Verse 61. "His strength."]— W "His Honour, Benown,
Triumph," as coincident with the Arabic v (oz or ozz), or in its
reduplicate form icbe (ozaz) -. for which see the note on Ps. viii.
2; in classical language, "his aegis, &c." or, as it is given in Ps.
cxxxii. 8, " the ark op his strength : " the symbol of his Divine
presence, and hence called, in the ensuing line, his Glory — which
was abandoned by the Ephraimites, after they had taken it from
Shiloh, to head the Israelitish army, and ensure them a victory ;
and which consequently fell into the hands of the Philistines. See
Ps. cv. 4. Here were two crimes committed of an equally atrocious
nature : their presumption in removing the ark from Shiloh without
the Divine permission, which it does not appear they ever sought ;
and a traitorous and cowardly abandonment of it in the midst of
the battle, instead of perishing in its defence. Justly was Je
hovah enraged by so infamous a conduct ; and so much enraged
was he, that, as we learn from the ensuing verse, he abandoned the
Ephraimites in their turn, and chose the tribe of Judah, instead of
their own, to have the future custody of this sacred symbol of his
presence.

334 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXVIII.
62 Yea, committed his people to the sword,
And was wrathful against his inheritance.
63 The fire consumed their young men,
And their virgins had no nuptial greetings ;
64 Their priests by the sword were laid low,
And their widows made no lamentation.
65 At length awoke the Lord as from sleep,
As a champion exulting with wine,
66 And hindwards smote he his enemies,
Putting upon them an endless reproach.
67 Then'refused he the tabernacle of Joseph,
Yea, chose not the tribe of Ephraim ;
68 But made choice of the tribe of Judah,
This Mount Zion which he loveth ;
69 And, like the heights, reared his sanctuary,
Like the earth that he hath founded for ever :
70 And chose David his servant,
Yea, took him from the sheep-folds.
71 From tending the suckling ewes he advanced him,
To feed Jacob his people,
And Israel his inheritance.
Verse 64. " Their priests -by the sword were laid low."] — Evi
dently alluding to the fall of Hophni and Phineas, the sons of Eli,
who accompanied the ark.
Verse 66. " And hindwards smote he his enemies,
Putting upon them an endless reproach."] — "iinS,
retrorsum, as O'OQb, entrorsum. The reference is obviously to the
plague of emerods, or haemorrhoids, with which the Philistines of
Gath and Edom were so grievously afflicted, by the special interpo
sition of God while the ark was among them, 1 Sam. v. 9, 12.
Verse 70. " Yea, took him from the sheep-folds, —
71. To feed Jacob his* people, &c."] — David was pro
verbially the shepherd-king ; and he so far ennobled the occu
pation from which he was taken, as from that time to render it a
common as well as most beautiful metaphor, in describing not only
his own relative character, and that of the people entrusted to him,

PSALM LXXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 335
72 So he fed them in the integrity of his heart ;
And led them by the skilfulness of his hands.
as the royal pastor of a flock, but the character of Jehovah himself,
in his own government of the same : for before this event, al
though the same metaphor is once or twice glanced at in the Mo
saic writings, it does not occur oftener ; while from the era before
us, there is perhaps no metaphor so common, or so fondly dwelt
upon.

LXXIX.*
A PSALM OF ASAPH.
1 0 God, the heathen are come into thine inherit
ance :
They have defiled thy holy temple :
They have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the dead bodies of thy servants
For food to the fowls of the heavens ;
The flesh of thy saints to the beasts of the earth.
3 All about Jerusalem
They have shed their blood like water :
And no interment.
4 We are become a reproach to our invaders,
A scorn and derision to our borderers.
This sacred elegy was evidently written upon the same occasion
as Psalm Ixxiv, when Jerusalem was in the hands of Shishak, king
of Egypt, in the reign of Behoboam ; and consequently the Asaph
alluded to in the title, as its composer, was probably a descendant
of the contemporary of David, rather than the elder Asaph himself.
Verse 4. " Our invaders."]— 12T13E7, " Our inmates or in-
dwellers," in a good sense : " our invaders or intruders," in a bad
sense. SeePs. xliv. 13.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 283.

336 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXIX.
5 How long, 0 Lord, wilt thou be angry ?
Shall thine indignation for ever burn like fire ?
6 0, pour out thy wrath upon the nations that do not
own thee ;
Yea, upon the kingdoms that call not upon thy name.
7 For they are devouring Jacob,
And laying waste his habitation.
8 0, remember not against us the sins of former
times :
Speedily let thy tender-mercies appear unto us,
For we are utterly reduced.
9 Help us, 0 God of our salvation,
To the promotion of the glory of thy name :
And deliver us, and overcover,
For thy name's sake, our transgressions.
10 Why should the heathen exclaim, " Where is their
God?"
Let him be known to the heathen, before our eyes,
In the avenging of the blood-shed of thy servants.
11 Let the sighing of the captive come before thee :
By the might of thine arms,
0, rescue those that are sentenced to death.
Verse 5. " Por ever."] — TODb, from n23, " to be supreme or
superior ; " and hence a common title to the Psalms — n23Qb " To
the Supreme." It imports also, from the same root, " invincibly,
unconquerably, insurmountably, surprisingly, thoroughly, utterly;"
and hence " perseveringly," and perhaps " for ever " — though this
last must be a very remote sense. See the introductory note to
Psalm iv.
Verse 7. " They are devouring."] —In the Masora b3N, which,
if rendered literally, would make the passage " for Jacob is meat or
food ; " but there can be little doubt that the terminal 1 has been
dropped, and that the proper reading should be lb3N, " they are
devouring," or have devoured ; " as, with the addition, it is found
in not less than twelve of Kennicott's MSS. ; and the Septuagint,
Vulgate, and most of the versions have thus rendered it.

PSALM LXXX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 337
12 Thus recompense to our invaders,
Seven-fold into their own bosom,
The reproach, 0 Lord, wherewith they have re
proached thyself,
13 So we thy people, even the flock of thy pasture,
Will land thee for ever.
From generation to generation,
Will we tell forth thy praise.

LXXX*
TO THE SUPREME.
A Memorial for the Hexachord.
A PSALM OP ASAPH.
1 Give ear, 0 shepherd of Israel !
Thou that leddest Joseph like a flock !
Thou that dwellest between the cherubim ! — shine
1 forth.
This Psalm, which has Asaph for its author, is entitled as Ps. Ix.
nilV EP1WV3 bN " Por the Hexachord, a Memorial." See the
introductory note to Ps. Ix. And few Psalms contain any subject
that calls more loudly for a memorial, whether we take into consider
ation the reversed condition to which the nation was reduced, or the
marvellous assistance God vouchsafed, upon their prayer to him.
The Psalm opens with the same pastoral image as that with which
the preceding closes.
The history of the present irruption is contained in 2 Sam. v.
17 — 21, compared with 1 Chron. xi. 13 — 19. And Josephfts tells
us that it was three times as numerous as those which preceded it ;
for the war seems to have lasted a considerable time, and the
enemy, though repelled, often rallied, and returned with additional
force. * Historical Outline, &c p. 107.
Z

338 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXX.
2 Before Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh,
Stir up thy power and come for our deliverance.
The treaty between David and Hiram is placed before this trans
action, both in I Chron. xiv. and in Josephus (Ant. bk. I. ch. 3) but
without any date. Yet it is clear from both, that the present war
occurred first ; as we are told, 1 Chron. xiv. 8, that the attack of the
Philistines occurred as soon as ever they had heard that David was
anointed king over all Israel ; which is echoed by Josephus, (Ant. bk.
I. ch. 4) whilst both tell us that the treaty with Hiram only took
place after David had built the city of David, and apparently con
veyed the ark to its own sanctuary there. So that 1 Chron. xiv. 8
— 17, is only to be regarded as a postscript or appendix to the
preceding part of the history, for the purpose of narrating what had
been omitted.
It is to the beautiful allegory of a vine and a vineyard planted in
Canaan by the right hand of Jehovah, that our Saviour expressly
alludes, in Matt. xxi. 33 — 41 ; having this very Psalm, as is highly
probable, before his eye at the time.
Verse 2. " Before Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh."] —
While Judah was the most statistic tribe, " the oracle or law
giver," as in Ps. Ix. 7, Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh were
the most celebrated for prowess. Ephraim gave birth to Joshua,
had the guardianship of the ark at this moment, and was of so
much importance, as to include the whole of the ten tribes under
its own name from the time of their separation. Benjamin had on
one occasion been bold enough to dare the attack of the whole of
the other tribes, and conquered in two battles out of three :. and the
half-tribe of Manasseh, on the eastern side of Jordan, had volun-
tarily offered, with the half-tribe of Beuben, and had kept to then-
engagement, to cross the river Jordan, and take the lead in clearing
the land of the Canaanites, for the use of the other tribes : while
the other half had often signalized itself by its warriors, as espe
cially in the case of Gideon, who was of this district. Of the tribe
of Berrjamin, however, there were but few that, at this time, had
joined themselves to David.: the book of Chronicles makes them only
three thousand, 1 Chron. xii. 29 ; and Josephus (Ant. bk. I. ch. 2}
not more than four thousand ; the rest of the tribe, says he, con
tinuing to expect that some one of the house of Saul wouldyet
reign over them. The Benjamites who had joined the standard of

PSALM LXXX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 339
3 Turn us again, 0 God,
And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
4 How long, 0 Jehovah, God of hosts !
Wilt thou be angry at the prayer of thy people ? .
5 Thou feedest them with the bread of tears,
Yea, makest them drink of tears in abundance.
6 Thou hast set us up as a brand to t>ur invaders ;
Yea, our enemies make a mock among themselves.
7 Turn us again, 0 God of hosts !
And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
8 Thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt ;
Thou expelledst the nations, and plantedst it.
9 Thou preparedst for its shootings :
And gavest root to its roots,
Till it filled the land.
10 Its shadow covered the hills,
And its tendrils the cedars of God :
11 Its branches it spread abroad to the sea ;
Yea, its clusters to the river.

David, nevertheless, were amongst the most devoted of his adherents;
so that the compliment here paid to them is not more pertinent than
politic. We are told, I Chron. ix. 3, that those who chiefly occu
pied Jerusalem when David first took it, were the children of Judah,
of Benjamin, of Ephraim, and of Manasseh.
Verse 3. " Turn us again, 0 God,
And cause thy face to shine, &c."] — This, which is
the burden of the Psalm, and is repeated ver. 7, and ver. 19, evi
dently alludes to the disgraceful retreat of the Israelitish army be
fore the Philistines, and the derision which they had thereby encoun
tered from the enemy, ver. 6.
Verse 11. Its branches it spread abroad to the sea,"
Yea, its clusters to the river."] — The Mediterranean
sea, and the river Jordan, forming the western and eastern boun
daries of the land of Canaan. Z 2

340 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXX.
12 0, why hast thou broken down its fences,
So that all the wayfarers pluck it ?
13 The boar from the forest layeth it waste,
And the wild-beast of the field devoureth it.
14 Return, 0 God of hosts ! we beseech thee :
Look down from heaven ;
And behold, and visit this vine ;
15 Even the growth which thy right-hand transplanted ;
Yea, the scion thou strengthenedst for thyself,
16 Burned with fire, like refuse. —
They are perishing at the rebuke of thy countenance.
1 7 Let thy power be with the man of thy right-hand,
With the son of man thou hast strengthened for
thyself.
18 So will we not depart from thee :
0, revive us, and we will call upon thy name.
19 Turn us, again, 0 Jehovah, God of hosts !
Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
Verse 13. " The boar from the forest layeth it waste,
And the wild beast, &c."] — The whole allegory is
admirably kept up : and it is clear that the Philistine power is here
intended, together with that of the Amalekites, Edomites, or what
ever other nation had joined with them in this formidable and
successful incursion.
Verse 1 6. Burnt with fire like refuse."] — The Hebrew nniD3
instead of one word — " cut down," is regarded, in the Septuagint
and Vulgate as two— nniD"3, " as refuse or dung," and Bishop
Horsley, and most modern critics, have concurred in this under
standing — us Kov}la, " quasi stercus."

PSALM LXXXI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 341

LXXXI*
TO THE SUPREME.
At wine-press-tide.
A PSALM OP ASAPH.
1 Shout ye unto God our strength :
Reverberate to the God of Jacob
2 Strike up the chant, bring forth the timbrel,
The dulcet harp, with the psaltery.
The author of this Psalm is Asaph. Like Psalm viii. it appears
from verses 3, 4, to have been an anniversary ode for the Peast of
Trumpets or the new civil year, which was celebrated with great
pomp on the first of Tizri, or September, a fortnight before the
Feast of Tabernacles, or Ingathering. The command is given in
Levit. xxiii. 24, and repeated Num. xxix. 1 — 4 ; and especially
that it should be opened with " a blowing or sound of trumpets,"
and accompanied " with a holy convocation." A solemn holocaust
was to be offered in the name of the whole nation ; but it does not
appear that the males from every part of the country were com
pelled, as on the three great festivals, to attend, or constitute a
grand assembly ; it being sufficient that a convocation was held at
their respective synagogues.
The season is sjpecially noticed in the title, being n>m bv or at
"wine-press-tide," from n2 "a wine-press" — this part of the harvest
being now commenced, as it was terminated by the fifteenth of the
same month, when the still grander festival of Ingathering, or Peast
of Tabernacles, was celebrated by the great congregation ; the
whole of the males through every part of the kingdom being then
compelled to appear before the Lord at the place of the national
altar. See note on Psalm viii.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 215.

342 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXXI.
3 Blow the trumpet on the new moon,
In the season, on the day of our festivities.
4 Lo ! this was a statute in Israel ;
A law of the God of Jacob :
5 A testimony of his ordaining in Joseph,
On his going-forth from the land of Egypt,
" Would I listen to a language I did not own ?
6 " I removed his shoulder from the burden ;
" His hands were set free from the hod.

It is singular that while Bishop Horsley conjectures this Psalm
to be " of the highest antiquity ; " and affirms that " it is certainly
older than to be of David's time," Geddes should write as follows :
" I conjecture that this Psalm was written also by a bard of Israel
during the reign of Joash." See 2 Kings xiii. 25.
Verse 3. " Of our festivities.] — la^n. Prom the noun being
plural it is probable the approaching Peast of Tabernacles is alluded
to as well as the Peast of Trumpets, to which the last indeed was
but a harbinger, occurring only a fortnight earlier.
Verse 4. " Lo ! this was a statute."] — It is given, as already
observed, in Levit. xxiii. 24, and repeated Num. xxix. 1 — 4.
Verse 5. " Would I listen to a language I did not own?"] —
This sudden and animated change of person, which is continued to
the end of the Psalm, is, in the opinion of most of the critics, refer
able to Jehovah, who is thus represented, not only as bowing down
his ear to the address, but as personally engaging in it, and taking
the narrative out of the mouth of the sacred poet. Great difficulty
however has been felt in the common way of rendering the passage,
"where I heard a language that I understood not*' Michaelis has
referred it to the voice of God himself speaking to Moses, and of
course conceives the verse to be feigned as spoken by the descend
ants of Joseph adverted to in the preceding hemistich. Dimock,
Geddes and others, have made alterations in the text in order to
obtain a meaning ; it is not necessary to examine them. The in
terrogatory construction here given, removes, if I mistake not, every
obscurity, and preserves the text entire.
Verse 6. " Prom the hod."] — The Hebrew TIT is in the singu-

PSALM LXXXI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 343
7 " Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee :
" I answered thee from the recess of thunder ;
" I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. (Selah.)
8 " ' Hearken, 0 my people ! and I will avouch for thee ;
" ' If to me, 0 Israel ! thou wilt hearken.
9 " ' No strange god shall be amongst thee :
" ' Yea, no foreign god shalt thou worship.
10 " ' I, Jehovah, am thy God ;
" ' Who led thee forth from the land of Egypt,
" ' Open wide thy mouth, and I will fill it ! '
11 " But my people would not hearken to my voice ;
" Yea, Israel would not yield to me.
12 "So I gave them up to the guidings of their own
heart :
" They walked in their own conceits.
lar, and signifies the hod of bricks or mortar with which the children
of Israel were perpetually loaded like slaves or oppressed labourers,
in order to supply the Egyptian builders with materials for their
national works. Pots is improper, which is QH^D, as already
observed in the note on Psalm Ixviii. 13. in imports a hamper,
basket, or any like contrivance for carrying burdens on the arm or
shoulder ; (and it is the shoulder on which the hod is lodged that is
here particularly referred to). See 2 Kings x. 7 ; Jerem. xxiv. 2.
And, in the present place, therefore, it evidently means the hod or
trough for the conveyance of bricks or mortar.
Verse 7. " I answered thee from the recess of thunder."] — Prom
the " dense cloud " on Mount Sinai, Exod. xix. 9, 1 6 : " And it
came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thun
ders and lightnings, and the dense cloud upon the mount, and
the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud ; so that all the people
that was in the camp trembled."
Id. " The waters of Meribah."] — Exod. xvii. 7, " And he called
the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding
of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, say
ing, Is the Lord among us, or not ? "
Verse 8. " Hearken, 0 my people."] — This address to the close
of verse 10, is a copy of that spoken by Jehovah at the time re
ferred to, and should be included in inverted commas.

344 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXXII.
13 "0, that my people had hearkened unto me !
" That Israel had walked in my ways !
14 " Right soon would I have humbled their foes,
" And turned my hand against their oppressors.
15 " The despisers of Jehovah should have shrunk before
him ;
" But their season should have been for ever.
16 " And with the prime of wheat would he have fed
them :
" Yea, with honey from the rock would I have filled
thee."

LXXXII.1

A PSALM OF ASAPH.

1 God standeth in the assembly :
Shall not God be a judge of the bosom ?
This is a composition of Asaph's, and refers to the corruption of
many of the judges of the people, and others in the highest ranks
of society, which took place so conspicuously in a part of the life of
king David, and of which his treacherous son Absalom took ad
vantage to alienate the hearts of the people from his father, and
induce them to favour his ambitious views. It was this corrupt and
infidel, as well as seditious faction, that chiefly, however, joined
him in his rebellion ; to whom also a distinct reference is made,
and who are equally upbraided by king David himself in Psalm
lviii, which see, as also the introductory note to the same.
Verse 1 . " God standeth in the assembly,
Should not God be a judge of the bosom ? "] — The
passage is rendered very differently by different interpreters and
critics. It appears to me that bs, in our common version trans
lated " of the mighty " — and in many others " of God " — is a
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 166.

PSALM LXXXII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 345
2 How long will ye give judgment unjustly ?
And respect the persons of the wicked ?
3 Adjudge to the needy and the orphan :
Do justice to the afflicted and the desolate :
4 Rescue the needy and the miserable :
From the hand of the wicked deliver them.
5 They will not be informed ; they will not under
stand :
They walk on wilfully in darkness :
All the pillars of the earth are giving way.
6 I have said, ye yourselves are Gods ;
Yea, all of you sons of the Most High.
negative particle, which, instead of terminating the first line, should
begin the second interrogatively : and that 3"1p, here as well as in
Psalm Ixii. 4, and lxiv. 6, imports " bosom " as a noun, instead
of being merely a preposition ; and the passage is then literally as
now rendered. Bishop Horsley gives it —
God standeth in the assembly,
God, in the midst of the gods, giveth sentence.
But it is not worth while to follow up the different renderings.
The eye of the Psalmist is obviously directed to that perversion of
all justice, which at the time when he wrote, too often took
place in the bench of the Israelitish magistrates, whom he endea
vours to alarm by the thought that God was present to them in the
midst of their unrighteous decrees, penetrating their inmost bo
soms, and judging of their scandalous and dishonest conduct.
Verse 5. " They walk on wilfully."] — 13bnn> in Hithpael.
Not " they walk on," but " they put or lead themselves forward"
into darkness. " They walk on wilfully in it."
Verse 6. " I have said ye are gods."] — The term gods was often
applied among all ancient nations to kings, princes, and patricians,
as emblematical of their exalted rank and power. Horace in his
first ode applies it to the successful competitors in the Olympic
games : palmaque nobilis
Terrarum Dominos evehit ad Deos.

346 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXXIII.
7 But as men shall ye die ;
Yea, equally perish, ye magistrates.
8 Arise, 0 God, judge thou the earth :
For thou canst lay claim to every nation.
And in our own country, so late as the reign of Elizabeth, the
same term is applied to herself by Spenser in the introductory lines
to his Paerie Queene : 0 Goddesse heavenly bright,
Mirrour of grace, and majestie divine,
Great ladie of the greatest isle, whose light
Like Phoebus' lampe throughout the world doth shine,
Shed thy faire beams into my feeble eyne,
And raise my thoughtes, too humble and too vile.
Verse 7. "Equally."] — Not " like one of," as rendered in our
national version : "inN3, is " seque, ex sequo, pariter." See Nol-
dius in verbo. E3'ntt7n is in the vocative, " 0 ye princes ! " or
rather, " 0 ye magistrates ! " And so Gattaker, Horslev, and
others.

LXXXIII.*

A MUSICAL PSALM OF ASAPH.

1 Let not peace be withthee, 0 God !
Keep not silent, 0 God ! be not thou at rest ;
2 For, lo, thine enemies are grown turbulent ;
And thy revilers have lifted up the head.
3 They have devised a plot against thy people ;
And consulted against those thou hast treasured up.
Verse 3. " Those thou hast treasured up."] — -paiBS, literally,
" those treasured up of thee ; " or as Mudge has rendered it, " thy
treasured ones." * Historical Outline, &c. p. 111.

PSALM LXXXIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 347
4 They have said " Come, and let us raze them from
the world ;
" That the name of Israel may no more be remem
bered."
5 Lo, they are held in counsel ; they are cordially
combined :
They are sworn in confederacy against thyself :
6 The camps of Edom, and the Ishmaelites ;
Of Moab, and the Hagarenes ;
7 Of Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek ;
Philistia, with the inhabitants of Tyre.
8 Ashur, also, hath united with them ;
They are become an auxiliary to the children of Lot.
(Selah.)
Verse 6. " Of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Of Moab and the Hagarenes,
Gebal and Ammon."] — Constituting the whole of
the countries that surrounded the Israelites on their southern and
western boundary : all those who were collaterally related to each
other, as being the immediate descendants of Esau, Ishmael, and
Lot. The Hagarenes are evidently thus denominated from Ha-
gar, and were only, therefore, branches of Ishmaelites. Gebal does
not occur elsewhere : but the Chaldee and Samaritan use Gebla
and Mount Seir synonymously, and hence make the Gebalites like
many of the rest, Edomite Arabs.
Verse 7. " Amalek,
Philistia, with the inhabitants of Tyre."] — Thus
uniting all the bordering nations on the west and north, with those
on the east and south in one grand confederacy against the Israel
ites ; so that the latter were surrounded on every side.
Verse 8. " Ashur also has united with them,
They are become an auxiliary to the children of Lot."
•^-This seems to have been the severest blow to the whole ; as
breaking up the national compact of the twelve tribes. Ashur,
(lltPN) however, or the Ashurim or Ashurites, (?'niffiN) as they
are called 2 Sam. ii. 9, the descendants of Asher, lay very remote
from the immediate seat of the Jewish government on the north-

348 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXXIII.
9 Deal thou with them as with Midian ;
As with Sisera, as with Jabin, at the brook Kishon :
10 Demolished at Endor they became dung for the
ground.
eastern extremity of the nation, and were peculiarly interwoven
with the Tyrians and Sidonians, not less in maritime pursuits than
in proximity of situation ; and hence they also were decoyed into
the general league. They were an important part of the tribes that
adhered to the fortunes of the family of Saul after his fall, had
sworn fealty to Ishbosheth his son, and adhered to him till his
death. They then, in conjunction with the other tribes, joined the
standard of David, though, as it here appears, only for a short
time, before they were induced to break off from him, by a more
alluring prospect.
It is singular that all the commentators, so far as I know, have
regarded the Ashur or Ashurites, here spoken of, as the nation of
Assyrians, whose Hebrew name is, indeed, the very same; but
who as a nation were not known, as we have already had occasion
to observe, till some centuries after the commencement of the reign
of king David ; and who formed far too mighty an empire to be en
gaged as an auxiliary with the comparatively petty powers of the
descendants of Lot. Calmet, and other critics, indeed, suppose this
Psalm to have been composed after the reign of David, and in that
of Jehoshaphat. But, even here, we have no account whatever of
the Assyrians having taken any part in the confederacy alluded to :
which at the same time seems to have been entirely confined to the
states that immediately bordered on the southern and eastern line of
the Jewish territory on the hither side even of Syria, much less of
Assyria, and which by no means extended to any of the western
or north-western states ; for though the narrative is given with
minute circumstantiality in 2 Chron. xx. 1 — 25, we have no ac
count whatever, of any assistance rendered to the invaders by the
Amalekites, Philistines, or Tyrians, all of whom are particularly
mentioned in the Psalm before us ; nor have we in the present
Psalm any mention made of the assembling of the great congrega
tion at Jerusalem in prayer and fasting, (as is particularly noticed
in the time -of the attack upon Jehoshaphat) : leading us directly to
conclude that the ark was not then removed to Mount Zion, nor
the place of general worship appointed there.

PSALM LXXXIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 349
,11 0, treat their chieftains as Oreb, and as Zeeb ;
Yea, as Zeba, and as Zalmunna, all their princes ;
12 Who exclaimed, "Let us possess ourselves of the
pleasure-grounds of God." *
13 Make them, 0 my God, as gossamer,
As chaff, before the wind.
14 As fire devoureth the forest,
Yea, as flame setteth the mountains on a blaze,
15 So pursue them with thy storm ;
And terrify them with thy whirlwind.
16 Let ignominy fill their faces,
That they may have experience of thy name, 0
Jehovah.
17 Let them be confounded, yea, dismayed ;
Let them sink away and perish for ever ;
18 That they may know that thou,
Whose name alone is Jehovah,
Art the Most High God over all the earth.
Verse 9. " Deal thou with them as with Midian.
11. Tea, as. Zeba and as Zalmunna."] — All the victories
here referred to are among the latest antecedently to the sera of
David : they all took place under the Judges, and in truth under
the government of Barak and Gideon ; the former of whom cut off
Jabin and Sisera ; and the latter Oreb, Zeeb, Zeba and Zalmunna.
And had the date of the poem been later than the sera of David, it
seems incredible that^ some of his victories also should not have
been noticed, and especially the capture of Jerusalem and the citadel
of Mount Zion.
Verse 12. " The pleasure-grounds of God."] — The passage is
rendered literally Q^nbN H1N3 — " the delectable places or retreats
of God." * Or rather, " pastures of God ; " see Psalm xxiii. 2.— Ed.

350 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXXIV.

LXXXIV.*
TO THE SUPREME.
At wine-press-tide.
A PSALM OF THE SONS OF KOKAH.
1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, 0 Lord of hosts !
2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of
Jehovah :
My heart and my flesh cry aloud for the living God.
3 Even the swift hath found a house ;
And the swallow a nest,
Where she may lay her young ;
Near thine altars, 0 Lord of hosts, my King and my
God.
4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house :
They are praising thee for ever. (Selah.)
The title to this Psalm is the same in respect to its season as that
of Psalm viii. and lxxxi. This season was the wine-press-tide, or
the Peast of Trumpets.
Of the period in which it was written, there can be no doubt.
Prom verse 7 we learn that the sanctuary of God was at the time
in Mount Zion ; and from verse 1, we find also that it was not a
permanent temple, but a temporary house, or building of taber
nacles, which was the precise state of the house of God during the
reign of David, after the removal of the ark from Shiloh — the
permanent temple not having been commenced till the reign of
Solomon. Verse 3. " Even the swift."] — See note on Psalm xi. 1. The
sparrow does not build on the sides of houses, unless occasionally in
thatch.t * Historical Outline, &c. p. 217.
+ The last clause of this verse is more commonly, and I think more correctly
regarded as referable to David himself, and not to the swift or swallow. The
force of his remark seems to be, " as these birds find for themselves a home, so
have 1 a chosen home, even the altars of God." — Ed.

PSALM LXXXIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 351
5. Blessed are' the men whose strength is in thee ;
The towerihgs of their heart.
6 Passing through the vale of weeping,
They make it answer for a well ;
Yea, for pools that the rain overfloweth.
7 They shall go on from strength to strength :
They shall be noticed by God in Sion.
8 Jehovah ! God of hosts ! hear my prayer :
Give ear, 0 God of Jacob ! (Selah.)
9 Behold, 0 God, our shield !
Yea, look upon the face of thy Messiah.
Verse 5. " Blessed are the men."] — Bather than " the man " —
as D1S is here used in a collective or plural sense, and has plural
verbs and pronouns connected with it in the subsequent verses.
Id. "The towerings of their heart."] — The passage is rendered
strictly, mbDB from nbo " to exalt, elevate or lift up," can only
mean " way," as rendered in our common version, in the sense of
high-ways or ascents." But this does not give the proper idea in
the present place. It imports " heights, towerings, elations, or
extollings of heart." And it is in this mental sense that the term
is at times applied to musical instruments, as in Psalm Ixviii. 4,
" extol or strike te up to him that rideth through the heavens."
The supposed difficulty of the passage hereby vanishes at once.
Verse 6. " Passing through the vale of weeping."] — In the ori
ginal, the vale of Baca, which imports weeping. The name is still
retained in Palestine, where the term Wady el Baka (IG.JI t5^U)
is common to several places in it. See Burckhardt's Travels in
Syria, p. 619.
Id. " They make it answer for a well,
Yea, for pools that the rain overfloweth."] — The passage
is rendered strictly ; and the figure is exquisitely beautiful. Even
afiiiction shall be a blessing to them ; the tears which they shed in
the vale of weeping shall become a refreshing fountain, pools of fer
tilization, watering a good soil, and bringing forth an abundant
harvest. The commentators do not seem to have hit upon the
proper meaning ; and hence every one has given a different and
circuitous interpretation.
Verse 9. " Behold, 0 God, our shield,
Yea, look upon the face of thy Messiah."] — Such is

352 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXXV.
10 For better than a thousand is a day in' thy courts ;
I would rather keep the threshold of the house of my
God,
Than dwell within the tabernacles of wickedness.
11 For the God Jehovah is a sun and a shield ;
Jehovah will give grace and glory :
Never will he withhold good from those that walk
uprightly.
12 0 Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in
thee.
the literal rendering, or rather the Hebrew term itself n^tPE which
therefore ought to be retained as the characteristic name under which
the Son of God was promised to the world, and who is here as dis
tinctly to be understood, as by the title of " My Lord" in Psalm ex.
— for it cannot without some degree of constraint be applied to
David or any other individual than the promised Saviour.

LXXXV*
TO THE SUPREME.
A PSALM OF THE SONS OF KORAH.
1 Gracious art thou, 0 Jehovah, to thy land :
Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob :
This is another beautiful composition by the sons of Korah,
written, as we learn from the first verse, after their return to Jeru
salem from the Babylonish captivity under Zerubbabel, and while,
as we learn from verse 8, they were yet waiting for counsel from
Jehovah concerning their future proceedings as a people. Prom
ver. 12, we may, also, collect that it was written on account of the
first assembling of the great congregation of the people at the
Peast of Tabernacles or of Ingathering ; and the exact period and
state of the people is probably given by Ezra, in ch. iii. 3, 4, " And
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 317.

PSALM LXXXV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 353
2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people :
Thou hast covered all their transgression. (Selah.)
3 The whole of thy wrath hast thou withdrawn :
Thou hast reversed the fierceness of thine anger.
4 Turn thou us, 0 God of our salvation ;
And let thy provocation towards us die away.
5 Ah ! couldst thou be angry for ever ?
Could thy wrath reach from generation to generation ?
6 Wilt thou not return ? wilt thou not revive us.
That thy people may rejoice in thee ?
7 Show us thy loving-kindness, 0 Jehovah !
And grant us thy salvation.
8 I will listen to what God Jehovah shall speak :
For peace will he speak to his people ;
Assuredly to his saints :
But never let them return unto folly.
they set the altar upon its bases (for fear was upon them because
pf the people of those countries,) and they offered burnt-offerings
thereon unto the Lord, burnt-offerings morning and evening ; and
kept the feast of tabernacles."
Verse 1. " Gracious art thou."] — The verb is in Hiphil, " thou
art showing favour," " thou art gracious," rather than " thou hast
been favourable." The time present is aEuded to.
Verse 3. " Thou hast reversed the fierceness."] — flina m^JPn
The a seems here to be merely formative, instead of the preposition
from; " the fierceness," rather than " from the fierceness."
Verse 5. " Ah ! couldst thou."] — The Hebrew n a tender and
expressive particle, with which the verse commences in the original,
is strangely dropped in all the translations, as though it were a re
dundant letter. As now rendered, the pleading is far more gentle
and humble.
Verse 8. " I will listen."] — Each of the congregation is supposed
to say this for himself, with earnest but submissive waiting.
Id. "Assuredly to his saints."] — The 1 is here something
more than and; importing rather " certe, profecto, insuper, prse-
sertim, in summa," — " above all, moreover, over and above;" a
2A

354 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXXVI.
9 Truly, is his salvation approaching them that fear him,
That glory may re-inhabit our land.
10 Loving-kindness and Truth have met together ;
Righteousness and Peace have embraced each other.
11 Truth shall sprout up from the earth ;
And Righteousness shall glance down from the hea
vens.
12 Yea, Jehovah shall give forth prosperity ;
And our land shall yield its increase.
13 Righteousness shall march before him ;
And prepare a path for his steps.
very common meaning. See Isa. xliv. 8; Ezek. xxxiii. 18; 1 Sam.
xxviii. 19; 2 Kings xxi. 16.
Verse 13. " And prepare a path for his steps."] — Not " set us
in the way or path " — for us does not occur in the Hebrew. The
description is exquisitely beautiful ; " if we would have God abide
among us, righteousness must take the lead, and prepare a path
for his steps." The whole passage is to the same effect. They re
solve admirably — could they but have stood firm to their purpose.
A new Jerusalem is planned — the garden of Eden is to be regained^
— and God is in very deed to dwell with men upon earth.

LXXXVI.*
A PRATER OF DAVID.
1 Bow down thine ear, 0 Jehovah !
Yea; hear me, for I am forlorn and destitute.
2 Preserve my soul, for I am godly ;
0 thou, my God, 'save thy servant,
Who placeth his reliance on thee.

3 Have mercy upon me, 0 Lord :
For to thee do I cry all the day.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 81.

PSALM LXXXVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 355
4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant,
For to thee, 0 Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For. thou, 0 Lord, art good, and forbearing,
And plenteous in tenderness to all that call upon thee.
6 Give ear, 0 Jehovah, to my prayer,
And listen to the voice of my supplication.
7 In the day of my distress do I call upon thee,
For thou wilt vouchsafe me an answer.
8 None is there like thee, 0 Lord, among the Gods ;
Yea, nothing like thy doings.
9 All the nations, whom thou hast made,
Shall come and worship before thee, 0 Lord,
And shall glorify thy name.
10 For thou art great, and workest wonders ;
Thou art God — thyself alone.
11 Teach me, 0 Jehovah, thy way ;
In thy truth would I walk ;
Keep firm my heart in the fear of thy name.
12 I will celebrate thee with my whole heart, 0 Jehovah,
my God ;
Yea, thy name will I glorify for ever :
13 For great is thy loving-kindness towards me ;
Thou hast, even, rescued my soul from the nethermost
hell.
14 The proud, 0 God, are uprisen against me,
Yea, the assemblage of overbearers are seeking my life,
And set not thee before them.
15 But thou, 0 Lord, art a God of compassion and
kindness,
Long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth :
16 Look thou towards me, and have mercy upon me ;
Give forth thy strength unto thy servant,
And save the son of thy faithfulness.
Verse 16. " Of thy faithfulness."]— -jn»N from n»N, " truth,
2A2

356 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXXVII.
17 Display some auspice of success,
That they who hate me, may see and be ashamed.
Behold, thou art helping me ;
Yea, thou art consoling me, 0 Jehovah.
faithfulness," as in ver. 15, in which the same word occurs in the
same sense — and not from nZ3S, " a hand-maid ; " as justly ob
served by Bishop Horsley. David was the son of promise ; the
promise was faithfully accomplished, and hence David was, in a
peculiar manner, " a son of faithfulness."

LXXXVII*
A MUSICAL TSALM OF THE SONS OF ASAPH.
I On the lofty hills is his settlement :
2 Jehovah loveth the gates of Zion
Above all the dwellings of Jacob.
This Psalm was obviously composed in a period of great tem
poral, and more especially great spiritual prosperity — when the
blessing of Jehovah was peculiarly resting on the church of Zion :
and it is highly probable that it followed soon after the miraculous
destruction of the Assyrian army, in the reign of Hezekiah. It
could not have been much, if any, earlier, from the introduction of
the word Babylon, admitting, as is generally admitted, that the
Hebrew bi2 (Babel), in ver. 4, means the empire of Babylon,
rather than the old kingdom of Babel under the descendants , of
Nimrod ; since this term occurs first of all in the reign of Heze
kiah, and just at this period of his reign when an embassy was sent
to him from the king of Babylon, to congratulate him on his reco
very. 2 Kings xx. 12.
Verse 1. "On the holy hills is his settlement."] — That is, the
hills that more immediately surrounded Jerusalem, or formed a part
of its precincts, as Mount Sion itself, Mount Gihon, Mount Calvary,
Mount Moriah, Mount Olivet : for here the temple of God was
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 299.

PSALM LXXXVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 357
3 Glorious things hath he purposed
For thee, 0 city of God. (Selah.)
erected, and consequently he had his settlement or establishment ;
though, in a looser sense, even the remoter hills, as constituting a
distinct part of the promised land, were also held sacred ; as Mount
Tabor, Mount Carmel, Mount Lebanon, Mount Hermon.
Verse 3. " Hath he undertaken."] — I follow Dr. Kennicott, in
rendering the Masora text literally, which is in the singular. The
translators of our common version have, in this instance, deviated
from it, which they rarely do, and have followed the Vulgate and
several other versions, which seem to have read, in the plural,
nvma. " are spoken," or " are undertaken," instead of -G*TQ,
" is speaking," or " hath undertaken." The alteration of the text
is not called for. The poet chiefly perhaps alludes to the destruction
of Sennacherib's mighty army, and to God's delivering and enriching
his own people. Bishop Horsley understands "12113 as importing
wilderness, and hence his version is —
" The glories of the wilderness are in thee, 0 city of God."
Verse 4. " Among those distinguished for endowment."] —
Great difficulty has been felt by the critics throughout almost the
whole of this Psalm, but especially from the present verse to its
close. It is here rendered strictly, with the alteration of n2n
for ron a mistake easily made, from the close resemblance of the
n and n, and a change of the common punctuation, by putting the
ordinary stop after it, instead of before it, and thus throwing it into
the preceding sentence, and consequently for ron I ""jn^b reading
J nsn ^Tb, which makes the difference of " among those noted
or distinguished by me, Behold ! " — and " among those noted or
distinguished by endowment, grace, or favour."
The object of the Psalmist seems very clearly, from the opening
of the Psalm, to be that of holding up his country and countrymen
as peculiarly distinguished by the favour of God : and the latter
are here, represented as so highly gifted or endowed with grace or
favour, that the most celebrated individuals of the most celebrated
nations around are not to be compared with them.
Id. " Arabia."] — In our common version, and many others,
" Ethiopia." The Hebrew text is t»13 (Cush), which ordinarily
means a part of Arabia, peopled by Cush the son of Shem, lying on
the borders of Midian, whence Zipporah, the wife of Moses, is called

358 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXXVII.
4 I may say of Egypt or of Babylon,
Concerning those distinguished for endowment,
Of Philistia, or Tyre, as also Arabia,
" This man was born there."
5 But of Zion it shall be said,
Man after man — " in her was he born : "
So much shall the Highest himself establish her.
6 Jehovah shall repeat, as he enrolleth the peoples,
" This man was born there." (Selah.)
7 Whether songs or melodies,
In thee are all my well-springs.
a Cushite, in our version an Ethiopian, Num. xii, 1. And to the
Arabian country of Cush (tOlD) the topaz is referred in Job xxviii.
19. Ethiopia, however, is not an improper name, as the same
country was often so called by ancient, though not by Hebrew,
writers, of which we have an example in Acts viii. 27 ; but it is
apt to be confounded, and especially in the present day, with the
very different region of Ethiopia or Negroland in Africa ; and on
this account most modern biblical critics have rendered tPID (Cush)
in the present text by the term Arabia, rather than that of Ethiopia.
}E713 is rendered Cushan, instead of Ethiopia, in our common ver
sion, in Habak. iii, where it is expressly united with Midian.
All the nations here referred to were celebrated for their wisdom
in arts, or in learning, or both ; and especially Arabia, with which
the list emphatically closes. Arabia was renowned for its scientific
pursuits as early as the age of Job, who was himself of this
country; and Dedan and Teman, in which cities two of Job's friends
resided, were equally celebrated through all the ages of theprophetsy
and are occasionally referred to on this account ; see especially Jer.
xlix. 7, 8.
Verse 5. " So much."] — Such appears to be the meaning of 1
here, as in Ps. lxxxviii. 5 ; cxix. 120 ; and also Job vii. 4.
Verse 7. " In thee are all my well-springs."] — In thee, " 0
city of God ! " as in ver. 3, above. Thou alone art the theme of
my muse — thou alone of my lyre : all the powers of my soul are
dedicated to thy praise." The passage has been rendered in ah
almost infinite variety of ways. That in our. national version is not
clear, but it is the nearest to the original of any of them, and re
quires but little alteration to render it as it should be.

PSALM LXXXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 359

LXXXVIII.*
TO THE SUPREME.
For the Flutes.
AN INSTRUCTIVE OF HEMAN THE LAUREATE ; IN AFFLICTION.
1 0 Jehovah, God of my salvation,
Day and night do I cry before thee.
This Psalm, like the greater number in the entire collection, is
dedicated " To the Supreme ; " but it is confused by what is evi
dently a mistake of some ancient cqpyist of the titles, who has added
that of the preceding Psalm to the present, and has let it take the
lead. So that we have in fact two titles — the first stating it to be " A
melodious Psalm of the sons of Korah ; " and the second, that it is
" An Instruction of Heman the Ezrahite, during afiiiction." And
the mistake is still further obvious, from the name of the sons of
Korah being made to take the lead of the dedication " To the Su
preme," instead of being placed afterwards, as in every other in
stance. Taking this first title away, the whole becomes clear and
in order.
Heman, the author of this Psalm, and Ethan the author of the
ensuing, are both said to have been Ezrahites, the real meaning of
which seems to be " engirdled about the waist or temples," with
some badge of honour bestowed by the sovereign, and hence
precisely corresponding to our term Laureate, as applied to our
royal bards or minstrels. The Hebrew term is iniTNn from
"ITS " to gird, surround, enwreathe, encircle," " invest," — and
as a noun, " a girdle, cincture, wreath, zone, investment : "
and the term must not be confounded with that of Ezra the priest,
which in Hebrew is formed of very different letters as S1TJ7, and
signifies " a helper or assistant."
That Ezrahite or Azrahite is not a family name is clear, since we
' Historical Outline, &c. pp. 184.

360 BOOK OF psalms, [psalm lxxxviii.
2 Let my prayer come into thy presence ;
Incline thine ear to my call.
3 For my soul is overcharged with afflictions :
Yea, my life draweth nigh to the grave.
4 I am counted among those gone down to the pit :
I am as a man without power :
have a correct pedigree of both Heman and Ethan up to Levi, in
1 Chron. vi. 33 — 47 ; and on neither side does it contain a single
ancestor with a name making even an approach to it. And that
it does import the sense now offered is, I think, equally clear,
from 1 Chron. xv. 16, 17, where we are told, that on forming his
magnificent plan for the future service of the temple, David ap
pointed three chiefs to preside over the departments of psalmody
and music — all of whom, together with the choristers in general,
had a uniform of fine linen robes of the same kind as that worn by
David himself in carrying up the ark into the city of Zion (ver. 27).
These distinguished individuals were Heman, Asaph, and Ethan —
all descendants of Levi, and representatives of the three families to
which he gave birth ; Heman issuing from the line of Kohath, the
grandfather of Korah ; Asaph from that of Gershom ; and Ethan
from that of Merari: by which means all jealousy was effectually
suppressed; 1 Chron. vi. 33 — 47. These dignities seem to have
been of very great importance : the respective chiefs presiding over
the entire college of sacred poets, singers, and musicians, and regu
lating every thing that related to the vocal and instrumental har
mony of the temple. They were all composers of odes for the
temple-service ; though the only specimens of Heman and Ethan
which have reached our own times are contained in the present
and the ensuing Psalm. Those of Asaph are well known to be
numerous. Their names were hence highly celebrated, and seem to have
been propagated to succeeding generations, some of whom like
themselves were deservedly renowned as men of general learning
and science ; for we find the wisdom of Solomon, on the com
mencement of his reign, put in competition with that of Ethan the
Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, sons of Mahol, or
the musical choir or college, 1 Kings iv. 31. Heman is here
mentioned without any dignity of office, while Ethan is duly dis
tinguished. And we may hence learn, that the Heman referred

PSALM LXXXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 361
5 Put away amongst the dead ;
Like the battle-slain, laid prostrate in the grave ;
Whom no more thou takest thought for,
So much are they cut off by thy hand.
6 Thou hast laid me in the nethermost pit,
In darknesses, in the shades.
to was not the Azrahite or Laureate, but a descendant of his, and
may conclude that the elder Heman, or the Azrahite, and probably
also Asaph the Azrahite had followed the track. of David, and were
gathered to their forefathers. It is a singular fact that the four
names here referred to, at least with a trivial change in one of
them, should be found as brothers in a very early period of the
Jewish history ; for we are told 1 Chron. ii. 6, that " the sons of
Zerah (the grandsons of Judah) were Zimri, and Ethan, and He-
man, and Calcol, and Dara." But that these last are not the in
dividuals with whom Solomon is compared, is obvious, because the
Ethan and Heman of his own age were, as we have just observed,
descendants from Levi, instead of from Judah, and the first is ex
pressly characterized as holding the Azrahite or Laureate office.
It is not difficult, 1 think, to point out the precise subject of this
deep lamentation. On a first examination it appears to be a pri
vate calamity : .but the calamities of the church are as much private
as public calamities with good men ; and there are various parts of
it, and particularly towards the close, that show it to have been
composed during the short triumph of Absalom's rebellion, when the
writer was himself shut up or imprisoned in the temple or some
other place, and incapable of escaping from the prying eye of the
traitorous hands who were set to watch him ; while all his asso
ciates and his friends were wandering afar off in the wilderness of
Judea, themselves, as he expresses it, involved in darkness, — and,
as he was fearful, throwing contempt upon him and hating him,
not joining them, ver. 8 : —
Thou hast put far from me mine associates,
Thou hast made me an abomination unto them,
I am shut up, and I cannot get loose.
And to the same effect, ver. 17, 18; while from ver. 15, he seems
to have been a close adherent to king David in the early as well as
the latter part of his life, and to have shared in all his adversities
from the first.

362 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXXVIII.
7 Thy wrath presseth upon me ;
Thou pliest all thy billows. (Selah.)
8 Thou hast put. far from me mine associates ;
Thou hast made me an abomination unto them.
I am shut up, and I cannot get loose :
9 My sight faileth amidst the misery.
To thee, 0 Jehovah, I call daily :
I stretch forth my hands unto thee.
10 0, work thou wonders among the dead ;
Let even the sepulchred rise up and praise thee. (Selah.)
Verse 6. " In darknesses, in the shades."] — The passage is ren
dered strictly : it imports the shade or shadow of death, nilibjj —
the term before us being mbSD : and betrays a resemblance to
the umbrae of the Greeks and Bomans, as in Psalm cxliii. 3.
Verse 8. " Thou hast put far from me my associates,
Thou hast made me an abomination to them,
I am shut up — I cannot get loose."1 — The idea of his
being as one dead and buried, and as an offensive corpse, is still
continued, with great force and impressiveness, and it runs through
the address in the succeeding verses. But the literal allusion is
most probably to his being shut up or imprisoned as a suspected
person by the traitors who possessed Jerusalem during the rebel
lion of Absalom, and would not allow him to follow his royal
master, who, he fears, will ascribe his absence from him to defection
from his cause, and hence hate and abominate him.
Verse 10. " O, work thou wonders among the dead,
Let even the sepulchred rise up and praise thee." —
The Psalmist is still comparing himself to those that are dead and
in the grave, as in ver. 4, 5 : and here pours forth his supplication
to God, that, prostrate as he lies, like those in the sepulchre, with
out life or power and in the realm of dissolution, he would still
stretch forth, and work a new wonder in his behalf, and restore
him to the land of the living. Psalm cxv. 1 7, offers a parallel
figure, and the following prophecy of Ezekiel in the valley of dry
bones forms another, chap, xxxvii. 12 :
Therefore prophesy and say unto them,
Thus saith Jehovah your God,
" Behold, O my people, I will open your graves,

PSALM LXXXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 363
11 Let thy loving-kindness be rehearsed in the grave,
Thy faithfulness amidst dissolution.
12 Let thy wonders be displayed in the dark ;
Yea, thy righteousness in the land of oblivion.
13 Thus exclaim I to thee, 0 Jehovah ;
Thus, in the midst of gloom, doth my prayer come
before thee.
14 Why, 0 Jehovah, wilt thou cast off my soul ?
Why hide thy face from me ?
15 I am sinking, and ready to die :
From my youth have I borne thy terrors.
16 I am distracted : — thine indignations overwhelm me ;
Thy dismayings utterly consume me.
17 They encompass me like water :
They press wholly upon me every day.
" And will cause you to arise from your graves,
" And bring you into the land of Israel.
" And ye shall know that I am Jehovah,
" When I have opened your graves, O my people,
" And have brought you up out of your graves."
The passage, however, may be rendered interrogatively, " Wilt
thou work wonders? shall the dead arise?" or affirmatively,
" Thou wilt work wonders : — the dead shall arise ; " or supplica-
tively, " Mayst thou work wonders ! — let the dead or sepulchred
arise." The first is the most common. The Syriac takes the
second sense. The third seems to the present writer to be the
truest. Verse 13. " In the midst of gloom."] — The Hebrew -|pa, im
ports gloom of mind, or gloom of nature ; and from the second
sense, the early part of the morning, while the gloom of darkness
is still hovering in the heavens. In the present passage the first
sense is that which the Psalmist seems rather to refer to, though
the second is most commonly given by the translators.
Verse 15. " Prom my youth have I borne thy terrors."] — Prom
this passage he seems to have -been a faithful adherent to David
from an early period, and to have shared in all his adversities.

364 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXXIX.
18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me :
In darkness are mine associates.
Verse 18. " In darkness are my associates.*'] — They had saved
themselves by flight, and were wanderers, in the deepest gloom and
dejection of mind in the wilderness of Judea: — surrounded by a
horrible darkness as to the future.

LXXXIX*
AN INSTRUCTIVE OF ETHAN, THE LAUREATE.
1 Of the tender-mercies of Jehovah for ever will I sing :
With my mouth, from generation to generation,
Will I chant forth thy faithfulness.
2 For mercy, I have said, shall be built up for ever ;
Thou hast established the heavens — thy faithfulness is
like them.
The writer of this beautiful expostulation or instructive, as we
learn from the prefixed title, was Ethan ; who, like Heman, the
writer of the preceding Psalm, was appointed in conjunction with
Asaph, to preside over the sacred poetry and music of the
temple, 1 Kings iv. 31 ; and hence apparently denominated
''niTSn, or Laureate, as was also Heman, while Asaph was
DNin or chief. The immediate subject-matter of the poem is
the state of dreadful depression to which the kingdom was reduced
at the time, ver. 38 — 45 : cast off and abhorred by Jehovah, its
fences broken down, its strong-holds brought to ruin, overrun by
all the adjoining nations, and the spoil of its open adversary. The
theme therefore is the same as that of Psalm Ixxiv. and lxxix, as
is also much of the imagery, and even the very language ; see
especially ver. 40, 41, and 46, and compare with Psalm lxxix. 5.
In the magnitude of his terror, indeed, the Psalmist in one or two
places describes all as lost : regards himself and every living in-
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 283.

PSALM LXXXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 365
3 "I have made a covenant with my chosen ;
" I have sworn unto David my servant,
4 " Thy seed will I establish for ever,
" And build up thy throne from generation to genera
tion." (Selah.)
5 And the heavens, 0 Jehovah, have celebrated thy
wonder-working ;
Yea, thy faithfulness to the congregation of the saints.
6 But who, in the skies, can do justice to Jehovah ?
Among the sons of the Godhead, with Jehovah can
keep pace ? —
7 The God held in awe amidst the council of the saints :
Magnified and reverenced by every one about him.
dividual of his country as about to be cut off, and' contemplates the
career of the kingdom of God's anointed, and all his glorious pro
mises concerning it as brought to an end, and sinking under the
taunting exultations of the enemy, ver. 47 — 51.
Now the only period in the history of the Jews, during the life
of Ethan the Azrahite or Laureate, to which it can refer must be
the victorious invasion and seizure of Jerusalem by Shishak, king of
Egypt, in the reign of Behoboam, the grandson of David ; at which
period Ethan could not be less than ninety-eight years of age,
supposing him to have been twenty-one at the time when David
succeeded Saul in the government of a part of the tribes, in the
thirtieth year of his own age ; and to this advanced age he seems
to allude in ver. 1, and 47.
Verse 3. " I have made a covenant with my chosen,
I have sworn," &c] — The Psalmist here refers to,
and substantially repeats God's gracious promise to David, and the
covenant he made with him, as recorded in 2 Sam. vii. 1 1 — 1 6.
Verse 5. " Thy wonder-working."] — Bather than " wonders,"
for the noun is singular, "j^bs-
Verse 6. " But who in the skies can do justice to Jehovah ?
Among the sons of the Godhead with Jehovah can
keep pace?"] —
" But however his wonders may have been celebrated, who is, there
in heaven that can frame a song equal to the occasion, and rise up

366 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXXIX.
8 0 Jehovah, God of hosts !
Who, 0 Lord, is mighty like thyself,
Or thy faithfulness surrounding thee ?
9 Thou, who rulest the raging of the sea ;
Amidst the swell of its billows, thou who stillest
them.
10 The proud dost thou bring down like the battle-slain ;
With thy puissant arm thou crushest thy foes.
11 The heavens are thine ; thine, also, is the earth ;
The world and its fulness — them didst thou found.
12 The north and the south — thou createdst them ;
Tabor and Hermon exult at thy name.

to the majesty of his wonder-working power ? " Exquisitely sublime,
but not hitherto seized by the critics.
Verse 7. " The council."] — The Hebrew HD, in every instance
imports privacy, secrecy ; — " a secret or counsel," as applied to
things ; " a council or cabinet," as applied to persons : — but never
a general meeting, assembly, or congregation ; in Latin arcanum,
or adytum.
Verse 10. " The proud."] — Eahab (2m) as a proper name may
import Egypt ; or as a common term " the proud or haughty."
The last seems to be its meaning in the present place, as there is
nothing in connexion with it leading us particularly to Egypt.
Verse 12. "Tabor and Hermon."] — A more graphical illustra
tion of the preceding line, " the north and the south." These
mountains were opposed to each other in this direction. Mount
Tabor was a picturesque and beautiful mountain in Galilee, prover
bial for its fertility, situate towards the north of Palestine. The
lower or western Mount Hermon lay opposite to it on the southern
side of the valley of Jezreel which dipped between them ; and was
as proverbial for its sterility : the higher or western Mount Hermon
lay far to the north, making Tabor the representative of the south.
They are the Djebel Tor and Djebel el Sheikh of the present day.
There is some difficulty, however, in determining which of the
two Hermons is referred to ; but the antagonism is equally pre
served in either case.

PSALM LXXXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 367
13 Thine is an arm of very strength ;
Mighty thy hand, high thy right-hand.
14 Justice and equity are the basis of thy throne ;
Loving-kindness and truth announce thy presence.
1 5 Blessed are the people who hail the glad shout ;
They shall walk, 0 Jehovah, in the light of thy coun
tenance.
16 In thy name shall they rejoice every day ;
Yea, in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
17 When thou wast the glory of our strength,
And through thy favour our horn was exalted ;
18 When with Jehovah was our defence,
And our king was after the Holy One of Israel ;
19 Then spakest thou to thy saint, and saidst,
" I have laid help upon a champion ;
" I have exalted a man chosen of the people ;
Verse 13. " Of very strength."] — miUS OS7, prae-validitas,
prse-potentia. &J7 is here an augmentative adverb or preposition.
Verse 14. " Justice and equity are the basis of thy throne."] —
a verse copied from David in Psalm xcvii. 2, which see.
Verse 15. "Who hail."] — WV " who recognize, avow, own,
acknowledge," as with joy and gladness. Jehovah is represented in
the preceding and present verses as riding triumphantly in his cha
riot through the confines of creation, amidst the joyous shout of
bands of attendant cherubim and seraphim — ushering his approach
as he advances with a proclamation of loving-kindness and truth, of
justice and judgment, or the award of right, to all.
Verse 17. " When."]— " When," rather than " for," seems to
be the meaning of "O in this place, as in Exod. iii. 21, and various
other places. See Noldius in verbo, § 22, and so rendered by
Geddes. Verse 19. "To thy saint."] — The saint here meant is Samuel.;
and the general drift of Jehovah's address to him concerning David
will be found, as already noticed, in 2 Sam. vii. 11 — 16. The term
here used is ~PDn— " saint," rather than " holy one,"' as in the
preceding verse, which is tSMp. The Septuagint, and many MSS.
read the noun in the plural ; and the rendering in such case is " to
thy saints."

368 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXXIX.
20 " I have pitched upon my servant David ;
" With my holy oil have I anointed him :
21 " Whom my hand, hard by him, shall establish ;
" Whom my arm shall surely invigorate.
22 " The enemy shall not oppress him ;
" Nor the son of violence afflict him.
23 " But I will beat down his foes before his face,
" And smite those that hate him.
24 " And my faithfulness and my loving-kindness shall
be with him,
" And, in my name, shall his horn be exalted.
25 " And I will put forth his left-hand to the sea,
" And his right-hand to the rivers.
26 " He shall exclaim to me, ' Thou art my father !
" My God, and the Rock of my salvation ! '
27 " And I will make him the first-born,
" The highest of the kings of the earth.
28 " My loving-kindness will I keep with him for ever,
" And my covenant with him shall be immoveable :
29 " And his seed will I establish to perpetuity ;
" Yea, his throne as the days of heaven.
30 " If his children shall forsake my law,
" And will not walk in my judgments ;
31 " If they shall profane my statutes,
" And will not observe my commandments :
32 " Then will I visit their transgression with a rod,
" And their iniquity with stripes :
33 " But my loving-kindness I will not withdraw from
him ;
" Nor prove untrue to my faithfulness.
Verse 25. " His left hand to the sea,
And his right hand to the rivers.",] — His power
shall spread from the Mediterranean, which alone shall be his west
ern boundary, to the rivers Tigris and Euphrates which shall form
his northern and eastern limits ; constituting also the outline of
Mesopotamia, His conquest of the territories reaching to these
rivers is described at large in 1 Chron. xix. xx.

PSALM LXXXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 369
34 " My covenant will I not violate,
" Nor alter what has fallen from my lips.
35 " Indissolubly have I sworn by my holiness :
" Surely, David I will not deceive. —
36 " His seed shall endure for ever,
" And his throne as the sun before me.
37 " For ever shall it be established as the moon ;
" As the faithful witness in the sky." (Selah.)
38 But thou hast cast off and abhorred,
Thou hast stirred up thyself against thine anointed.
39 Thou hast abolished the covenant with thy servant ;
Thou hast shivered his crown on the ground.
40 Thou hast broken down all his fences ;
Thou hast laid his ramparts in ruins.
41 All the way-farers plunder him ;
He is a reproach to his invaders.
42 Thou hast exalted the right-hand of his adversaries ;
Thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
'43 Thou hast even blunted the edge of his sword,
And dost not let him stand in the battle.
44 How hast thou reversed his splendour !
And cast his throne down to the ground !
45 The days of his youth hast thou cut short,
And heaped upon him disgrace. (Selah.)
46 How long, 0 Jehovah, wilt thou hide thyself ?
Shall thy wrath for ever burn like fire ?
Verse 35. " Indissolubly."]— nns from in"1 " to unite." As
an adverb in the present place, as in many others, " wholly, utterly,
indissolubly, altogether, fully," rather than " once," as commonly
rendered. Verse 40. " Thou hast broken down all his fences —
41. All the way-farers plunder him :
He is a reproach to his invaders."] — These lines are
copied from, or have given rise to, Psalm lxxx. 6, 12, and concur
in proving that both relate to the same national calamity.
2 B

370 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM LXXXIX,
47 0, remember how fleeting I am !
For what vanity hast thou created all the sons of
Adam !
48 Where is the man living that shall not see death 1
That can rescue his soul from the grasp of the grave ?
(Selah.)
49 Where, 0 Lord, are thy loving-kindnesses of past
times ?
To David hast thou sworn by thy faithfulness.
50 Remember, 0 Lord, the reproach of thy servant : —
The whole do I bear in my bosom : —
The multitudinous outrages wherewith
51 Thine enemies, 0 Jehovah, reproach,
Wherewith they reproach the upshot of thine anointed.
Verse 46. " How long, [0 Jehovah ! "] — The verse is directly
parallel and almost verbally so with Psalm lxxix. 5.
Verse 47. " 0, remember how fleeting I am ! "] — He seems to
allude in this verse to his advanced age, and is almost hopeless of
seeing an end put to the calamity.
Verse 48. " Where is the man living that shall not see death,
That can rescue his soul from the grasp of the grave?]
— In the warmth of his feelings he regards the destruction about to
follow as universal — so that not an individual shall escape from the
sword. Verse 50. " The whole do I bear in my bosom :
The multitudinous outrages wherewith
5 1 . Thine enemies, 0 Jehovah, reproach —
Wherewith they reproach the upshot of thine
anointed".] — The passage is rendered literally
and in the order of the original, but the punctuation appears to
have been misplaced, and should, I think, be as follows :
: ba ip^na ^nxw
-it»N cptss cm
nm* -pa-oN la-in
: Tn^a rnnps is-in -i»m
It will thus appear obvious that D">aj> instead of " peoples or mul
titudes," is an adjective " multitudinous," agreeing with C2T
" outrages," from m, instead of " mighty," from Till.

PSALM XC.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 371
52 Blessed be Jehovah for evermore :
Amen, and amen.
niap» imports " upshot, end, consummation," rather than " foot
steps," — a far remoter sense of the term. The meaning of the
Psalmist is, that the career of God's anointed seems now brought
to an inglorious end, and the enemy is taunting them on the subject.

XC*
THE PRAYER OF MOSES,
THE MAN OF GOD.
1 0 Lord, thou art our dwelling-place,
From generation to generation.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or thou hadst formed the earth or the world,
From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
3 Thou turnest man to dust, as thou sayest,
" Return, ye sons of the ground ! "
4 While, in thy view, a thousand years are as a day,
A yesterday, when it is by-gone,
Or a watch in the night : —
With this Psalm commences the fourth book or division of the
Psalter according to the Masoretic arrangement. The title ascribes
it to Moses; and the subject-matter seems to point out pretty clearly
the occasion on which the elegy was composed. But as this expla
nation is already given in full in the Historical Outline, it is need
less to repeat it in the present place.
Verse 3. "Thou turnest man to dust, as thou sayest,
Beturn, ye ^sons of the ground."] —See the note on
Ps. viii. 4. The phrase is here, as well as in various other Psalms,
used with a direct reference to Gen. iii. 19. The Hebrew H37
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 33.
2 B 2

372 BOOK OF'PSALMS. [PSALM XC.
5 Thou overwhelmest them with a look.
In the morning they were like grass, they were
fresh.
Parkhurst, in verbo, has correctly rendered dust ; and observes
that Michaelis has so rendered it before him, and affirmed that it
has this meaning in Arabic. This is so true, that he might have
added that the Arabic term has a like meaning in all its forms
and compounds. In the Arabie characters it is -. Jj,} (decah) which
is distinctly rendered terra, pulvis, by Golius, Mininski, and all
the lexicographers. The verb is J»\ (dec) the common origin of
the Hebrew and Arabic deca and decah, and like the Hebrew H31
imports " to crumble, pulverize, or reduce to dust." So ^\
(decaik) signifies " subtilitas or farina ; " and in a medical form
" macies " " febris hectica." The use of this term in an Arabic
sense gives support to the title of the Psalm in ascribing it to
Moses, who was an Arab by long residence in Arabia, married into
an Arab family, and has made a free use of Arabic terms in the
book of Job. See note on verse 6.
The term thus employed powerfully illustrates the suddenness
and extent of the mortality that ensued from the fatal bite of the
serpents, recorded Num. xxi. 6.
The entire sentiment is very forcible ; " Thou turnest man to
dust while speaking, or by a word ; " — but the force is awfully
augmented by the preceding and succeeding lines which contrast
the brevity and feebleness of man's life with the might and eternity
of Jehovah.
Verse 4. " Are as a day,
A yesterday when it is by-gone,
Or a watch in the night."] — The passage is rendered
strictly and literally : and I am surprised that the words nT1
blbnM " a day, a yesterday," should have been blended or rather
jumbled together to make up one idea, as though "yester-day" —
while in every other passage of the Old Testament they are used
distinctly the one for day, and the other for yesterday, as now
rendered. Verse 5. " Thou overwhelmest them with a look."] — QnOlt
n2E7 literally " obruis-eos intuendo." The English reader will
be surprised to find that from these two words alone, (or three,

PSALM XC.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 373
6 In the morning it was flourishing and fresh :
By the evening it is cut down and withered. —
including the pronoun,) our translators have been able to extract the
following ; " Thou carriest them away as a flood — as a sleep."
But a difficulty has been felt in rendering the passage by all the
critics ; not so much from the meaning of the first as of the second
term : and hence it has been very differently given by most of
them, and always, I believe, till now, with a considerable degree of
cii-cumlocution. Q-|j imports " to overwhelm, to overflow, to
exundate : " and henee the diffuseness of our English version,
" Thou carriest them away as with a flood;" Houbigant renders the
entire phrase " decursus vita eorum somnus est," which Geddes
gives in his English version, " Their flux of days is like a sleep."
But naiT is a verb and not a substantive. Horsley, though he
employs the verbal forms, wanders farther from the mark, " Thou
sheddest over them the dew of sleep." But ~iat always denotes
force and violence, and the context demands such an idea. The
literal sense is as rendered above " Thou overwhelmest or over-
flowest them." In all the renderings thus far noticed rati; is
derived from ]jtfi " to sleep ; " and here seems to be the radical
error. In the Septuagint and the Vulgate it is derived, and in my
judgment far more correctly, from TOttJ the primary sense of which
is " to iterate, repeat, revolve ; " whence, as a noun or adverb, it
imports iteration of number, '' two, twice, again, or repeatedly ; "
iteration of time, or '* a year " from its revolution ; iteration of
action, and hence " to whet, sharpen or polish, or to twang or
vibrate as a bow ; " and in Arabic, in which it occurs in all these
senses, it denotes also iteration of the eye, and hence " to glance
or twinkle ; " and, with the #. or s duplicated, to look attentively as
though with an iterated view — as c3« continub intueri ; while
annus or a year is &x*i spelt precisely as the Hebrew. It is to the
second of these senses that the Septuagint refers the Hebrew
TftW, and consequently renders it " year " instead of " sleep ; "
while the first term or DnaiT is rendered very loosely, the trans
lation being ra i^ovlev&piara dvrav iri[ eaovrai, for which the Vulgate'
gives " qua? pro nihilo habentur, eorum anni erunt." " Worthless
things are their years." They seem to have supposed that the
Psalmist by the verb Olt meant to indicate the filth and offscour-
ing which the exundation of a river carries with it and pours abroad.

374 BOOK OF psalms. [psalm XC.
7 So are we consumed by thine anger !
And hurried away by thy wrath !
8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee ;
Our secret lusting in the light of thy countenance.
9 How utterly are our days changed by thine ire !
We run through our years as a tale.
10 The days of our years are seventy years alt their
utmost ;
Yet, after the above general explanation, I cannot but think that
most readers will be disposed with me to adopt the third rather
than the second of the above senses, and to give to Bit the mean
ing of iteration of -sight rather than of time, " a look or glance "
rather than " a year : " thus rendering the passage literally, as
already observed " obruis-eos intuendo," "glancing or looking on
thou overwhelmest them," or "thou overwhelmest them with a
glance or look." The idea is exquisitely forcible and beautiful, and
in keepmg with the entire description : and its being an Arabic
sense, like the term SDT in verse 3, only strengthens the assertion
in the title, that the Psalm was composed by Moses.
Verse 7. " Hurried away."] — I give the primary sense of brQ,
of which " to trouble," as in our common version, is a very remote
sense. The whole of the description alludes to the rapid as well
as extensive mortality that was befalling them.
Verse 8. " Our secret lusting."] — Perhaps copied from Job xx.
11, where the same word occurs in the same sense,
His secret lusts shall follow his bones.
The Psalmist evidently alludes to the lurking desire after other
food than that they were miraculously supplied with, which had for
some time haunted them and now broke out into refractory com
plaint. Verse 9. " How utterly changed."] — 15Q b3 "O " turned " as
in the margin of our Bibles, " changed or altered," rather than
" passed away," as in our Bible-text : evidently alluding to the
abbreviation of a man's life at this time.
Verse 10. " At their utmost."] — In the Hebrew Qnn " usque
ad eos " — " ad summum eorum " — " throughout them " or " at
their utmost." Wrhy this word should be omitted, as it appears

PSALM XC.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 375
And if, by dint of strength, they be eighty years,
Yet is their recruiting weariness and vanity ;
So soon is it cut down, and we are gone.
11 But who regardeth the power of thine anger ?
With a reverence of thee, thine indignation ?
12 So teach us to number our days,
That we may apply our heart to wisdom.
13 Return, 0 Jehovah !— how long first ?
And relent thou concerning thy people.
14 0, soon let thy loving-kindness replenish us,
That we may exult and rejoice all our days.
15 Let us rejoice according to the days thou hast af
flicted us ;
The years we have seen of adversity.
16 Let thy dealing be displayed to thy servants ;
And thy glory to their children.
And let the pleasure of the Lord our God be upon us ;
And establish thou the work we take in hand.
Yea, the work we take in hand — that do thou
establish.
to be in all the renderings, as though redundant, I cannot tell. It
has surely a very forcible meaning.
Verse 11. "But."] — The n which terminates nD3?3 "we are
gone" in the preceding verse, does not belong to it, and should
commence the present ia"n instead of "a alone, importing an
verb "but, nevertheless," "yet."
Id. " With a reverence of thee."] — 3 is here not " secundum "
but " in," not " according to," but " in or with," as in various
other places, for which see Noldius in loco.

376 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XCI,

XCL*
1 He that dwelleth in the covert of the Most High,
May repose himself under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 He exclaimeth concerning Jehovah,
" My refuge ! — yea, my fortress !
" My God ! on whom I will rely."
3 Verily, shall he deliver thee from the snare of the
fowler ;
From the grievous pestilence.
4 With his pinions shall he cover thee ;
And under his wings shalt thou take shelter.
A shield and buckler shall be his truth.
This fine address is without a title : but it has been very gene
rally ascribed to Moses from an early period of the Jewish church :
and a little critical attention to its subject-matter will offer a pro
bable foundation for such an opinion. Like the preceding Psalm,
also, it is peculiarly distinguished by an introduction of Arabisms,
leading us by another line of reasoning to the same conclusion.
After the explanation abeady given of its origin, in the Historical
Outline, it is unnecessary to enter further upon the subject at
present. Verse 2. " He exclaimeth."] — "lttN. In strict writing the'third
person, present tense, as here rendered, and as rendered also by
the Septuagint and Vulgate iph r$ Kvpla, or " Dicet Domino."
But it may also be regarded as a contraction for *iaMN, and in this
case will become, as in most of the versions, the first person fu
ture, " I will say." The sense now offered seems to be the sim
plest and clearest. * Historical Outline, &c. p. 37.

PSALM XC1.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 377
5 Thou shalt not be afraid of the Terror by night ;
Of the arrow that flieth by day ;
6 Of the pestilence that stalketh in darkness ;
Of the destruction that wasteth at noon-tide.
7 At thy side shall fall a thousand ;
Yea, ten thousand, on thy right-hand ;
But nothing shall touch thee. —
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold,
And mark the reward of the wicked.
9 Because Jehovah, my fefuge,^-
The Most High, thou hast made thy dwelling-place,
Verse 5. " The terror by night,
The arrow by day."] — Neither lurking dangers, nor
open and undisguised enemies, shall assault, or even excite alarm.
Verse 6. " The pestilence that stalketh in darkness,
The destruction that wasteth at noon-day."] — The
description is equally forcible and correct. The diseases of all hot
climates, and especially where vegetation is highly luxuriant, and
marshes and miry swamps are abundant, as in the wilderness here
referred to, proceed from the accumulating vapours of the night, or
from the violence of the sun's rays at mid-day. The Beriberi of
Ceylon, the spasmodic cholera and . jungle-fever of India, and the
greater part of the fevers of inter-tropical climates, especially that
called the yellow fever, chiefly originate from the first of these —
" the pestilence that stalketh in darkness ; " while sun-strokes or
coups de soleil, apoplexies, inflammations of the brain, and liver-
complaints of most kinds, proceed from the second, " the destruc
tion that wasteth at noon-day." And it is in allusion to this
double source of mischief that the Psalmist exclaims most beau*
tifully on another occasion, cxxi. 6 :
The sun shall not smite thee by day,
Nor the moon by night.
And hence the Israelites were miraculously defended against both
during their passage through the wilderness by the pillar of a cloud
in the day-time, to ward off the solar rays ; and by the pillar of
fire by night, to dissipate the collecting vapours, and preserve the
atmosphere clear, dry, and healthy.

378 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XCI.
] 0 Evil shall not befal thee ;
Nor the plague come nigh thy tent.
1 1 Behold, he shall give his angels charge over tbee
To guard thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall sustain thee with their hands,
Lest thou strike thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread down the lion and the serpent,
On the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample.
14 " Because he hath set his love on me,
" Therefore will I deliver him.
" I will protect him because he avoweth my name.
15 " He shall call upon me, and I will answer him:
" I will be with him in distress :
" I will liberate him and honour him.
16 " With length of days will I replenish him,
" And gladden him with my salvation."
Verse 13. " Thou shalt tread down the lion and the serpent,
On the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample."]
— So in Deut. viii. 15 ; " That great and terrible wilderness
wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought ; where
there was no water." This seems to be the scene of the poem, and
concurs in pointing out Moses as the author. That lions as
well as other beasts of prey existed, and very largely in the same
quarter of the world, we know from frequent reference to them in
various parts of Scripture : as, for instance, the narrative which
David gives of his encounter with both a lion and a bear, 1 Sam.
xvii. 34, 35 ; and especially the destruction by lions of the foreign
tribes which were sent by Tiglath-pilezer to succeed the Israelites,
when he had carried the latter away captive from the cities of
Samaria, 2 Kings xvii. 24 — 26.
Verse 16. " Gladden him with my salvation."] — The versions in
general leave out the preposition 1, or " with," in consequence of
giving to nNHN the idea of sight, display, or manifestation ; as in
our standard version, " and show him my salvation." But nS"l,
from the very use of the preposition a, or " with," after it, apr

PSALM XCII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 379
pears here to be rather employed in its Arabic sense of " to glad
den, rejoice, exhilarate, intoxicate, or incite with wine, evBova-ia^a,
to incite with enthusiasm." ( . whence _. , " the soul, spirit,
thinking, or perceiving principle','") as in Job x. 15 ; for which see
the author's note on this passage. And we have hence a collateral
mark that the poem was written by Moses, who is well known to
have used Arabisms very frequently in his compositions, of which
the preceding Psalm furnishes us with two examples. Solomon,
from the peculiar advantages of his education, was addicted to the
same display of elegant learning, but we meet with nothing of the
kind in David, not even in his most figurative and finished excur
sions, though occasionally with Chaldaisms.
As the passage is now rendered, it runs precisely parallel with
the closing verse of Psalm xvi., in which I may further observe,
that the verb " to show," is not, as in the present instance, nNI,
but VT- Thou wilt show me the path of life,
The fulness of the joys in thy presence,
The pleasures at thy right hand for evermore.

XCII*

A MUSICAL PSALM, FOB THE SABBATH-DAY.
1 Sweet is it to give thanks to Jehovah,
And to chant forth thy name, 0 Most High :
2 To celebrate thy loving-kindness in the morning,
And at night thy faithfulness,
The title and subject require no explanation. The writer seems
pretty clearly to have been David, from ver. 10, 11, the first of
which, * Historical Outline, &c. p,. 161.

380 BOOK OF PSALMS. [ PSALM XCII.
3 Upon the ten-stringed shell, yea, upon the psaltery ;
Upon the solemn chord of the harp.
4 For thou, 0 Lord, hast rejoiced me by thine achieving
I will exult in the works of thy hands.
5 How mighty are thy works, 0 Jehovah !
How transcendantly deep are thy purposes !
6 The brutish man heedeth not,
And the fool discerneth not this ;
7 Though the springing of the wicked be as grass,
And the workers of iniquity all flourish,
A sure destruction is theirs for ever.
But my horn shalt thou exalt as the buffalo's,
With fresh oil am I imbued,
points out that it was composed shortly after his installation to be
king over all the tribes, on which occasion the ceremony of anoint
ing with holy oil was most probably repeated ; and at which time
he had every prospect of subduing all his enemies. Jerusalem,
however, is not here referred to, nor Zion, nor the other holy hills,
as not being at this time in his possession.
Verse 3. " Upon the ten- stringed shell, yea, upon the psaltery."]
— That these are but one and the same instrument, is clear from
Psalm xxxiii. 2, and cxliv. 9, where both are described as " the
ten-stringed psaltery," or psaltery of ten strings. The lyre had
rarely more than seven, and in its rudest state was a dichord, or
had only two. The Septuagint and Vulgate in the passage before
us, employ the term decachord — which is literally a ten-stringed
frame or shell. The harp was a still more complicated instrument,
of larger size and much richer in strings, which seem sometimes to
have amounted to ninety or upwards. The psaltery, b^S, and
harp, *"03 (cinyra) seem both to have been struck by a plectrum
or bow.
Verse 7. " A sure destruction is theirs."] — Or " their sure
destruction is" — . The b in I'awnb is not a simple preposition,
but a part of the word giving it intensity, as per in Latin com
pounds, of which we have already had numerous examples in the
book of Psalms ; it is hence strictly per-ditio, per-clades, per-ruina,
" sure, thorough, utter ruin, or destruction."

PSALM XCII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 381
8 Whilst thou, 0 Jehovah, for evermore shalt be ex
tolled.
9 Lo, thus, 0 Jehovah, shall thine enemies,
Lo, thus, shall thine enemies perish ;
The workers of iniquity shall all be scattered.
10 But my horn shalt thou exalt as the buffalo's ;
With fresh oil am I imbued :
11 And mine eye shall have its longing on mine oppres
sors;
Mine ear shall catch the fame thereof,
On the uprising of the wicked against me.
12 The just man shall flourish as the palm-tree ;
He shall branch out as a cedar of Lebanon^
13 The plants of the house of Jehovah,
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 Even in old age shall they bear fruit ;
Succulent shall they be and thriving :
15 To show that Jehovah is just ;
My rock ! — no swerving is there in him.
Verse 10. " With fresh oil am I embued."] — Possibly alluding,
as already observed, to a repetition of the ceremony of the holy
anointing, in his being elected king over all the tribes. The phrase.
is not " am I anointed ; " VintPa : but ">nb2 " imbutus sum "
— " perfusus sum : " apparently in reference to the abundance of
perfume employed on the occasion, as indicative of the greater popu
larity of the act, or the higher measure of Jehovah's blessing on his
people. The difference, indeed, between the first anointing of David
and that of Saul, as performed by Samuel, is well worthy of notice
on the present occasion.. When Samuel was commanded to anoint
Saul, he " took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head," in pri
vate, 1. Sam. x. 1 ; but when he was commanded to anoint David, he
" took a horn df oil, and anointed him in the midst of his breth
ren," 1 Sam. xvi. 13. Here we find the horn again made use of,
and apparently full to the brim — " David was soaked or imbued
with it."

382 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XCIII.

XCIIL*
] Jehovah is king : — majestically is he arrayed1:
The array of Jehovah is a girdle of strength.
Hence established is the world,
It can never be moved.
2 Thy throne is established of old :
From everlasting thou art.
3 The floods, 0 Jehovah, have uplifted,
The floods have uplifted their voice ;
The floods have uplifted their billows ;
4 The uproar of multitudinous seas.
Mighty are the waves of the deep ;
Mightier is Jehovah, on high.
5 Most true are thine ordinances :
In thy house shall be the beauty of holiness,
Through the remnant of days, 0 Jehovah
This Psalm is without a title to indicate either its author or its
chronology. It is very much in the style of the royal lyrist, and
was probably composed by him. It is evidently a national ode,
and appears to have been written for general rehearsal, at one of the
festivals of the great congregation ; and, from its having no
reference to Mount Zion or Jerusalem, may have been penned at
the commencement of his reign, when he was so formidably threat
ened by foreign confederacies. The phrase O^a"* ~J~lNb " through
the remnant of days," is a characteristic index. It occurs in Psalm
xxiii. 6, and concurs in identifying the writer.
Verse 1. " Is a girdle of strength."] — The verb is in Hithpael ;<
"llSnn more literally, " becometh a girdle," or " maketh itself a
girdle — of strength."
Verse 5. " Bemnant of days."] — That is, " for ever."
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 150.

PSALM XCIV.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 383

XCIV*
1 0 God of vengeance !
Jehovah, God of vengeance !— shine forth.
2 Display thyself, thou judge of the earth !
Return to the arrogant a recompense.
3 How long, 0 Jehovah, shall the wicked,
How long shall the wicked triumph ?
4 How long shall they vaunt ? shall they talk froward-
ness?
Shall all the workers of iniquity set forth themselves ?
5 They would crush thy people, 0 Jehovah !
They would oppress thine inheritance.
6 They would make havoc of the widow and the
stranger ;
And murder the fatherless.
7 And would exclaim, " The Lord will not look on ;
[ Nor the God of Jacob take notice.'

8

Take ye notice, ye brutish among the people !
0 ye fools ! when will ye understand ? —

Though we have here also no title whatever, there can be little
doubt, from the matter of the Psalm, that it was composed by king
David, and about the time and on the same subject as Psalm lv.
Verse 1. " Of vengeance."] — Hebr. map3 " of vengeances."
Verse 4. " Shall all the workers of iniquity set forth them
selves ? "] — The device conceived by Absalom and his confederates
had long been that of vilifying David and the magistrates he had
appointed to judge the people, as unfit to wield the sceptre or pre
side at the tribunal, and of representing how much better justice
would be administered, if they were in power. See 2 Sam. xv. 3 — 6,
to which fact the present passage probably refers. Their real cha
racter is forcibly displayed and contrasted in the ensuing verse.
Verse 8. " Take ye notice."] — The repetition of the term used
in verse 7 is copied from the original.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 183. •

384 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XCIV.
9 He that planted the ear, shall not he hear ?
He that formed the eye, shall not he behold ?
10 He that chasteneth the heathen, shall not he smite ?
He that teacheth man knowledge —
11 Jehovah— he knoweth man's devices ; —
Altogether a jumble of vanity.
12 Blessed, 0 Lord, is the man whom thou chastenest ;
Yea, out of thy law whom thou teachest ;
13 To keep him at rest through the days of disturbance,
While the pit is digging for the wicked.
14 For Jehovah will never forsake his people,
Nor abandon his inheritance.
15 But justice shall still be rendered to the Just man,
And all shall adhere to the upright of heart.
16 Who could rise up for me against the flagitious 1
Who could make head for me against the workers of
iniquity ?
1 7 Unless Jehovah had been a help unto me,
Already had my soul dwelt in the land of silence.
18 When I exclaimed, " My foot is falling ! "
Thy tender-mercy, 0 Jehovah, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me,
Thy consolations delight my soul.
Verse 11. " Altogether a jumble of vanity."] — In the original —
bnn nan 'o
which is here rendered literally, nan imports, as a noun, a
" confused mixture," " a disordered heap or mass — a jumble : "
in which sense it is here rendered. But it is also a pronoun im
porting " they ; " and in this sense it is ordinarily, but as it appears
to me, less effectively and justly rendered, in our common version, •
and most others.
Verse 19. « Delight."]— Hebr., 13H&3W— which is something
stronger than "delight" — and more strictly "exhilarate;" but the
ordinary rendering is too beautiful to be changed, and sufficiently
true to the original.

PSALM XCV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 385
20 Shall the throne of perfidy connect itself with thee ?
Deliberating mischief rather than law ?
21 They would muster against the life of the Just One,
And attaint the blood of the innocent :
22 But Jehovah is a bulwark unto me ;
Yea, my God is a rock of refuge ;
23 And he shall turn upon them their own guiltiness ;
And shall cut them off in their own iniquity :
Jehovah our God shall cut them off.
Verse 20. " Shall the throne of perfidy."]— Evidently alluding
to the standard and throne of treason which the seditious faction in
league with Absalom had now erected, upon the temporary over
throw of those of David. The whole of the remainder of the Psalm
is almost an historical transcript of their misconduct.

XCV.*
1 0 COME, let us shout unto Jehovah :
Let us re-echo to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving :
Let us shout unto him with carols.
3 For Jehovah is God supreme ;
Yea, king supreme over all Gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth :
And his are the heights of the hills.
5 The sea is his — for he made it ;
And his hands traced out the dry land.
6 0 come, let us worship and bow down :
Let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker.
For he himself is our God ;
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 100.
2 C

386 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XCV.
7 And we are the people of his pasture ;
Yea, the flock of his charge.
To-day, then, 0, listen to his voice.
8 " Harden not your heart as at Meribah ;
" As in the day of Massah, in the wilderness,
9 " When your fore-fathers tempted me.
" They tried me after they had beheld mine achieve
ments.
10 " Forty years was I wearied with the generation ;
" So that I said, They are a people that transgress with
the heart,
" And who will not know my ways.
Verse 7. "Of his charge."] — The Hebrew T> imports equally
"hand, power, charge, or custody." Thus Prov. xviii. 21, )lti>b Y>
is commonly translated " the power of the tongue," though the
primary rendering would be " the hand of the tongue." And so
Psalm lxiii. 10, 3~in "'T is properly " the power, hand, or charge
of the sword," though the word "H"1 is entirely dropped, in our
common version.
Verse 8. "At Meribah,
As in the day of Massah in the wilderness."] — The
reference is to Exod. xvii. 7, " And he called the name of the place
Massah and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of
Israel, and because they tempted Jehovah, saying, " Is Jehovah
amongst us or not ? " And that the same words ought to be re
tained as names of places, instead of being interpreted after their
primary meaning, is obvious from their being so retained in all the
places from which the Psalmist has here copied them. Thus Num.
xx. 13, "This is the water of Meribah; because the children of
Israel strove with Jehovah, and he was sanctified in them ; " Deut.
vi. 16, " Ye shall not tempt Jehovah your God, as ye tempted him
in Massah ; " ix. 22, " And at Massah ye provoked Jehovah to
wrath ;" xxxiii. 8, " Whom thou didst prove at Massah, whom thou
didst strive with at the waters of Meribah."
Verse 8. " Harden not," &c] — This, to the end, is probably an
extract from some other popular poem at that time extant, and with
which every one was well acquainted.

PSALM XCVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 387
11 "Wherefore I swore, in my wrath,
" They shall never enter into my rest."
Verse 11. "Wherefore."] — "ltPN, Ideo, as rendered by Noldius.
See § in verbo.

XCVI.*
1 0, sing unto Jehovah a new song !
Sing unto Jehovah all the earth !
2 Sing unto Jehovah ; bless ye his name ;
Tell forth his salvation from day to day :
3 Declare his glory among the heathen ;
Among all the nations his prodigies.
4 For great is Jehovah ;
And supremely to be praised :
Fearful is he above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols ;
But Jehovah made the heavens.
6 Honour and majesty are in his presence ;
Power and beauty in his sanctuary. .
7 Give unto Jehovah, 0 ye families of nations,
Give unto Jehovah the glory and the power.
Verse 7. " Give unto Jehovah, 0 ye families of nations."] — He
urges as an argument that they are all derived from one stock —
however distinct as nations, only families of a common origin —
children of a common parent, who is wishing to receive them all into
his favour, and to accept their offerings, verse 8. So St. Paul, in
a like invitation, Acts xvii. 26, " And hath made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth." This is,
indeed, to declare his glory among the heathen," as stated in ver. 3:
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 123.
2 C 2

388 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XCVI.
8 Give unto Jehovah the glory of his name :
Bring ye an offering, and come into, his courts.
9 0, bow to Jehovah, with holy reverence ;
Fear before him all the earth.
10 Proclaim among the heathen " Jehovah is king."
Established, therefore, is the world ;
It can never be moved :
He shall rule the nations with equity.
1 1 Let the heavens rejoice ;
Let the earth be glad ;
Let the sea resound, and its multitude :
and doubtless is the true meaning of the passage. In our common
version, however, and in most others, ?"'as is here, and in verse 3,
rendered "people," while the very same word is rendered " nations"
in verse 5. There can be no question that the same sense should
be given to all these passages ; and in verse 3 it is manifestly used
as a synonyme for " the heathen." It is the same word that occurs
in verse 10 and verse 13, and evidently in the same sense.
Verse 9. " 0 bow to Jehovah with holy reverence."]— See the
note on Psalm xxix. 2, from which or from 1 Chron. xvi. 29, the
passage is taken, min may mean " beauty " as well as " respect
or reverence," but the latter sense best coincides with the second
stanza of the verse. Independently of which, the Psalmist has just
before, verse 6, employed another word to express beauty, which is
niSD ; and hence obviously designed some other idea by the pre
sent word. Bishop Horsley is not true to himself in his different
renderings of the phrase before us; for in Psalm xxix. 2, he gives
us " with holy pomp ; " while, for the very same words he here
gives us " in the beauties of holiness : " referring us, in confirma
tion, to Psalm ex. 3, which makes against him, instead of in his
favour, the term being there an unequivocal plural masculine, in
stead of a feminine ; and rather a singular than a plural feminine
in the passage before us.
Verse 10. " Jehovah is king,
Therefore established."] — This verse is a copy from
Psalm xciii, ] , with variations, and admirably introduced, as it was
probably a favourite distich of the day, and therefore on the tongue
of every one.

PSALM XCV11.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 389
12 Let the field exult, and all that is in it ;
Yea, let all the trees of the forest
Leap for joy before Jehovah :
13 For he cometh — for he cometh to judge the earth ;
With righteousness shall he judge the world ;
Yea, the nations with his truth.
Id. " The nations."] — See note on verse 7.
Verses 11, 12. "Let the sea resound —
Let the field exult."] — A truly noble and strictly
oriental image, and thus paralleled by a Persian poet of great excel
lence in later times :
The rivers murmured and the branches bent
To adore their Creator.

XCVII.
] Jehovah is king — let the earth be glad :
Let the multitude of the isles rejoice.
There is no title to this Psalm ; but in the Septuagint copy it is
called, " A Psalm of David, when his territories were restored."
Verse 1. "Let the multitude of isles rejoice."] — The isles of
Tarshish, or in the borders of old Tyre, with whom David had
safely entered into a state of peace and harmony ; and to which he
appears to have conducted himself with great liberality. The
phrase might be more specifically rendered " the clustering isles,"
instead of " the numerous, or multitude of, isles." But both are
allowable — and the wider import of the last forms the best contrast
with the continental surface of the earth, denoted in the first stanza,
and is best fitted for general use. Some critics render aii^ "re
gions," instead of " isles " — and affirm that this is its uniform
meaning. The old versions, however, are unanimous in giving it the
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 159.

390 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XCVI I.
2 Clouds and massy darkness encompass him :
Justice and equity are the basis of his throne.
3 Before him issueth a fire,
And consumeth his adversaries on every side.
4 His lightnings enkindle the world ;
The earth beholdeth and quaketh.
5 The mountains melt like wax, at the presence of
Jehovah,
At the presence of the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness ;
And all the nations behold his glory.
sense of " insular regions," or " islands ; " and the term so fre
quently occurs, and with so much beauty in Isaiah and Jeremiah,
that to render it otherwise would be greatly to disturb the settled
expositions of these books. And, in the present place, there can be
little doubt, I think, that its primary reference is to the clustering
islands of Tarshish.
The English reader may observe that the words " be glad " and
" rejoice," are made to change places, as compared with the same in
our common version. The fact is they are direct synonymes and
commutable ; and I have only placed them as they now stand, be
cause in the preceding Psalm, where they occur together, the ori
ginal verbs are thus rendered in our common version ; so that the
change of place or of rendering is not with the present author, but
with the writers of that version. It is singular that these writers
return to their first rendering in verse 8.
Verse 2. " Massy darkness."] — This and the four following
verses have a striking resemblance to the awful pomp of the march
of God, as described Ps. xviii. 8, 9, and Ixviii. 8. All the dread
phenomena and meteoric array of nature are in attendance ; thunder
and lightning, and earthquakes and volcanos, with streams of melt
ing lava, like streams of melting wax. Tet all is justice and equity,
joy, exultation, and glory ; and the wicked alone — the adversaries
of Jehovah feel his judgments — the host of idols and their brutish
worshippers. Id. " Justice and equity are the basis of his throne."] — A verse
afterwards copied by Ethan in Ps. lxxxix. 14.

PSALM XCVIII.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 391
7 The worshippers of graven-imagery are confounded ;
They that make a boast of their mummeries.
All the gods cast themselves down before him.
8 Zion perceived and was glad ;
And the daughters of Judah rejoiced,
On account of thy judgments, 0 Jehovah.
9 For thou, 0 Jehovah, art most high over all the earth ;
Over all the gods supremely exalted.
10 0 ye that love Jehovah ! hate evil. —
He preserveth the souls of his saints ;
He delivereth them from the hands of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the just man ;
And gladness for the upright of heart.
12 Be glad in Jehovah, 0 ye righteous,
And celebrate, in commemoration, his holiness.
Verse 7. " Of their mummeries."] — Heb. C^b"^^ " of their
vanities " — " their nullities." It is in this sense only it means
" idols." Verse 12. " And celebrate in commemoration his holiness."] —
Paralleled in Ps. xxx. 4.

XCVIII.* A PSALM.
1 0 sura unto Jehovah a new song :
For prodigies hath he performed.
His right hand and his holy arm
By themselves have wrought deliverance.
No illustrative, title: but the subject apparently the same as
Ps. xcvi., as is also much of the phraseology. It was therefore, pro
bably composed, like Ps. xcvi., by David, and afterwards re-adapted
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 122.

392 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XCVIII.
2 Jehovah hath displayed his salvation.
His righteousness hath he manifested in the sight of
the heathen.
3 His loving-kindness and his truth
Hath he remembered toward the house of Israel.
All the boundaries of the earth
Have beheld the salvation of our God.
4 Shout unto Jehovah, all the earth :
Strike aloud, yea, re-echo, and praise him.
5 Praise ye Jehovah, with the harp ;
With the harp and the pealing of praise.
6 With trumpets and the peal of the cornet,
0, shout before Jehovah, the King.
7 Let the sea resound, and its multitude :
The world, and its inhabitants.
8 Let the floods clap their hands ; — let the hills
Re-echo, in concert, before Jehovah ;
9 For he cometh to judge the earth.
With righteousness shall he judge the world,
Yea, the nations with equity.
when God " had remembered his mercy and truth towards the
house of Israel," by restoring them from captivity ; had given them
favour with the king and kingdom of Babylon ; had, in this manner,
gotten him the victory over their spiritual, as well as their temporal
enemies ; had exalted his name over all the earth ; had opened the
temple afresh, and put into their mouths " a new song." Like
Ps. xcvi., it is admirably typical of the Christian Church.

PSALM XCIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 393

XCIX.*
1 Jehovah is King : — let the nations tremble :
He is seated between the cherubim ; — prostrate be the
earth.
2 Great is Jehovah in Zion ;
Yea, high is he over all the nations.
3 Let them praise thy great and awful name :
Holy is it and powerful ;
4 0 thou king that lovest equity !
Thou, that decreest justice !
Thou, that executest equity,
Yea, righteousness throughout Jacob !
Verse 2. " He is seated between the cherubim."] — The preposi
tion ^2 does not occur, but was distinctly understood by the Jews,
from its introduction into the text to which the passage refers,
Exod. xxv. 22 ; the awful seat or tribunal of God, denominated the
mercy-seat, placed over the law, Q^nsn 'OK? 'pS " between the
two cherubim," from which he vouchsafed to commune with the
priests and prophets of old — and especially Moses, and Aaron, and
Samuel, as stated in ver. 6 of the present Psalm.
Id. " Let the earth be prostrate."] — ai3H is commonly derived
from a3 " to totter, or slide, or fall ; " in our common version " to'
be moved : " but it is rather a derivative from nn3 " to sink,
fall down, or be prostrate." Parkhurst hence renders it, " Let the
earth, i. e. its inhabitants, bow," — and Horsley, " Let the earth
bow down."
Verse 3. "And powerful."] — According to the ordinary punctua
tion and division, these words begin ver. 4, and open an entirely
new paragraph : they answer to the words " strength also " in our
common translation. Houbigant has ably restored the proper
punctuation and division, and he has been followed, as in the present
instance, by most of his successors.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 212.

394 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM XCIX.
5 Extol ye Jehovah, our God,
And worship at his footstool.
6 This did Moses, the saint ;
And Aaron, among his priests ;
And Samuel, among the invokers of his name,
The invokers of Jehovah, — yea, whom he answered.
7 He spake unto them from the cloudy pillar :
They kept his testimonies ;
And the ordinance he gave them.
8 Thou answeredst them, 0 Jehovah our God :
Thou wert a God that upheldest them :
And tookest vengeance for their wrongs.
Verse 6. " This did Moses the saint."] — The last clause of ver.
5, in the ordinary rendering, should commence at ver. 6, and Nin
be rendered hoc instead of hie — this instead of he — hoc, idem, tale,
being a very common meaning of it. " This did holy Moses," or
" Moses the saint " — instead of " He is holy. — Moses." In like
manner, the Psalmist speaks, in Ps. cvi, of " Aaron the saint," em
ploying the same term (itfllp) to express the same idea. It is sin
gular that this simple change of punctuation has not occurred to the
critics, with a view of getting rid of difficulties which all of them
have felt. Por, according tp the ordinary division, ver. 6 wants
connexion with what precedes it, and puts Moses into the family of
the priesthood, to which he did not belong, his office having been
that of a legislator, and not a priest.
Verse 8. " That upheldest them,
And avengedst them of their injuries."] — The real
sense has been strangely misunderstood. The Psalmist is speaking
of God's gracious communion with these holy servants of his in
their appeals to him concerning the obstinacy and refractory spirit
of the people, to whom they had set an example, not " of wicked
inventions that stood in need of forgiveness," according to the
ordinary interpretation, but of an exact " observance of his testi
monies and ordinances," in the midst of the rebellious multitude,
and the wrongs and contumelies that were heaped upon themselves.
And he then adds, that God upheld and supported them under all
these, and took vengeance for their sufferings or injuries. The

PSALM C.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 395
9 Extol ye Jehovah, our God,
And worship at his holy hill :
For holy is Je.hovah our God.
passage as now given is rendered strictly. Sttf3 imports primarily
" to bear up, sustain, or uphold " — which, is its proper sense here.
It means also more remotely " to bear away, take away," and hence
" to forgive " — which is the ordinary sense ascribed to it. But the
former meaning not having been hit upon, a difficulty has been
found, and the text has been supposed by some critics to be corrupt,
and by others has been altere'd in various ways. The misdeeds
alluded to, are probably among others, the matter of Nadab and
Abihu ; of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram ; the general chiding of
Moses at Meribah ; and the demand of a king in the stead of
Samuel at Bamah.

G*
A. THANKSGIVING PSALM.
1 Shout unto Jehovah, all the earth !
2 Serve ye Jehovah with gladness ;
Come into his presence with a symphony.
3 Acknowledge that Jehovah himself is God :
The name of the author is here again suppressed ; but it is
entitled " a thanksgiving Psalm " or " Psalm for thanksgiving."
Our common version gives " a Psalm of praise," which is correct
enough; but as the word mm, here rendered praise, occurs twice
in verse 4, and in the same version is rendered " thanksgiving,"
and "thankful,"*— it is better to employ the same term here.
Verse 1. " AH the earth."]— As in Psalm xcviii. 4, rather than
"all ye lands," as commonly rendered ; -for the terms are alike in
the Hebrew.
Verse 3. "Por ourselves are a nothing."]— «b is here, as in Job
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 232.

396 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CI.
It was he that made us, for ourselves are a nothing :
We are his people, yea the flock of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving ;
Into his courts with praise :
Be thankful to him, 0 bless ye his name.
5 For gracious is Jehovah ;
Everlasting his tender-mercy ;
And his truth from generation to generation.
vi. 21, and various other places, a noun, rather than an adverb :
and imports the absolute creation of mankind out of non-entity.
The common interpretation, importing a belief at the time that
man had created himself, has appeared so difficult of comprehension
that the critics have endeavoured to avoid it even by altering the
text. It is hence changed to lb in various MSS. and rendered by
Lowth, Horsley, Street, Geddes, and most of the moderns, " his
we are." As now interpreted, and that strictly, there is no necessity
for interfering with the text in any way. The Septuagint, Syriac,
and St. Jerome, however, give it as it occurs in our own Bible
translation.

CL*
A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 Of tender-mercy and judgment will I sing :
I will sing unto thee, 0 Jehovah.
This Psalm is stated to have been composed by David, and is
manifestly an inaugural ode, composed immediately on his being
elected king of Judah at Hebron; and consequently before Jeru
salem was taken, Mount Zion consecrated, or the ark translated
there : on which account we have no reference to these facts. It
* Historical Outline, &c, p. 99.

PSALM CI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 397
2 I will rule, in the way of integrity,
The men thou shalt place under me.
In the uprightness of my heart will I walk
In the midst of my household.
3 No misdeed will I suffer before mine eyes ;
The conduct of transgressors will I abominate :
Never shall it lay hold upon me.
4 The froward heart shall turn askance from me ;
I will not acknowledge an evil-doer.
5 The secret slanderer of his neighbour,
Him will I put down.
The scornful in look, and the proud of heart,
Them will I not endure.
is a solemn and beautiful dedication of himself to the service of
God and his country, in all uprightness of heart. The subject is
an illustration of the royal virtues of clemency and justice, or as
they are here called, in scriptural terms, " tender-mercy and judg
ment:" and a detail of the manner in which he was resolved,
under God, to exemplify them. Venema, Seiler, Dathe and
Geddes, fix it at the time when the ark was removed ; but in this
case some notice must have been taken of that solemnity.
Verse 2. " I will rule in the way of integrity,
The men thou shalt place under me."] — The verse
may be rendered strictly in this form, or in that of our common
version, " I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when
wilt thou come unto me ? " But the present makes the best open
ing. nVoJCN may import " I will behave-myself-wisely," or "I
will rale, order, or instruct ; " and ^nti, which makes the chief
difference, may be an adverb importing " when, or O when," or a
noun denoting "men." Street renders it thus, which is also
strict to the original —
I will instruct in the path of virtue,
The men thou shalt place under me.
Luther gives us " Ich handele vorsichtig und redlich bey denen,
die mir zugehoren : " which does not essentially differ from the
rendering now offered.

398 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CH.
6 Mine eye shall be upon the faithful of the land,
For a stay to sustain me :
Whoso walketh in the path of integrity,
He shall wait upon me.
7 Whoso dealeth in deceit,
Shall never dwell within my house :
Whoso uttereth falsehoods,
Shall never have a post before mine eyes.
8 Right soon will I put down all the evils of the land,
By cutting off all the workers of wickedness,
From the city of Jehovah.

CIL*

THE PRAYER OP THE AFFLICTED, WHEN HE WAS OVERWHELMED, AND
POURED FORTH HIS PLAINT BEFORE JEHOVAH.
1 Hear my prayer, 0 Jehovah,
And let my cry come unto thee.
The title personifies the Jewish Church under the character of an
afflicted individual overwhelmed and supplicating Jehovah.
There is no difficulty in assigning the time or the subject-matter
of this beautiful threnic elegy. From verse 13 to verse 22 it is
obvious, that it was composed about the time of the return from
captivity and the rebuilding of the city. It seems manifest, also,
from verse 22, that there was at least an expectation that the two
tribes now generally returned from Babylon, would be also joined
by multitudes of the ten tribes scattered throughout other king
doms, to whom an invitation is here given. And from verses 8, 9,
10, as weU as from various others, it is not less obvious that at the
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 321.

PSALM CII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 399
2 Hide not thy face from me,
In the day of my distress ;
Incline thine ear unto me,
In the day when I call. —
0, speedily answer me.
3 Behold, my days are wasted as smoke ;
And my bones are burned up as fire-wood.
4 My heart is parched and withered as grass.
5 Behold, amidst the voice of my wailing,
I forget the repast of my food.
My bones stick out through my flesh.
6 I am like a pelican in the wilderness :
I am as the owl of the waste.
date of the composition, the glorious prospects before the restored
tribes were obstructed ; that they were surrounded by enemies who
were perpetually taunting and provoking them, and who had suc
ceeded in putting a stop to the great work which was begun. And
hence the mournful posture assumed,and the lamentation before God,
with a ray of hope still darting through the whole, a belief that
Jehovah would yet interfere, and " their seed be established .before
him." The whole of which, the reader will find historically exem
plified and fulfilled in Ezra iv. v. vi. to verse 15. The picturesque
force and beauty of the images derived from natural history, the
pelican, owl, and swift, are peculiarly striking ; and must have been
still more so to those to whom they were immediately addressed, as
having just witnessed the habits of the birds referred to, in passing
through a part of the wilderness, and on arriving at the ruins of
Judaea. See the notes on verses 6 and 7.
The male and female choristers at this time amounted to at least
200, (Ezra ii. 65,) and it is probable, therefore, that the Psalm
was composed by one of the sons of Korah, as all the others of
this period seem to have been.
Verse 5. "Behold, amidst the voice of my wailing,
I forget the repast of my food."]— The passage has
not been properly pointed ; and therefore not properly understood.
•O is here an iteration in sense as well as in sound of "O in verse 3,

400 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CH.
7 I keep watch— and am as a swift
Left alone on the house-top.
and in both places should be rendered lo ! or behold! But in the
common version the first is rendered for, and the second so
that. The latter part of verse 4, in the ordinary division should
be connected with the ensuing verse, a full pause following
" grass : " •>anb brjsa \nnap "o
: n-itoh bipa
Id. " My bones stick out through my flesh."] — The passage is
copied from Job xix. 20.
" My bones stick out through my skin and my flesh."
In both cases C2V, though a noun singular, is used plurally or
collectively for the whole frame or mass of bones. And that, in
both places also, the verb np2T imports "to cleave through, or
stick through " instead of " to cleave or stick together," is obvious
from the parallel figure in Job xxxiii. 21 :
His flesh is consumed that it cannot be seen,
And his bones, that were not seen, stick out ;
in which lDttf " was grown sharp or craggy " is employed instead
of lp2"T- See the author's note on Job xix. 20.
Verse 6. "lam like a pelican in the wilderness."] — Like a pe
lican on the banks of the Bed Sea or the Jordan that has strayed
from its flock, has lost its course, and is wandering solitarily, and
without food, in the wilderness. The species here referred to is the
Pelicanus Onocrotalus of Linnaeus, and is rendered onocrotalus in
some parts of the Septuagint, — the white pelican with a pouched
gullet, without teeth, inhabiting Asia, Africa, and South America,
on the sea-coast and banks of deep rivers, feeding on fish which it
catches by dipping its bill in the water, and devouring them on
some neighbouring rock. It makes its nest on the banks of rivers,
and lays two white eggs, which it sometimes, like the ostrich, de
posits in dry deserts into which it wanders, when it carries water
in its pouch to its young. It is about five feet long, and gregarious.
The image is a very forcible one ; for being fond of society, it is a
melancholy bird when in solitude, and separated from its kind ;
and especially when, as here represented, it is also starving for
want of food.
Id. " I am as the owl of the waste."] — A still more striking

PSALM CII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 401
8 Day after day mine adversaries revile me ;
Mine overbearers are sworn against me.

similitude, if possible, than the preceding. The Psalmist refers to
the great owl, Strix Bubo of Linnaeus, of which there are several
varieties. It is usually an inhabitant of Europe, Asia, and South
America. It Lives in caverns, waste ruins, and mountainous rocks ;
and preys on hares, rabbits, moles, rats, mice, and sometimes bats
and reptiles. It is often found in solitude, and its hoot or voice
is proverbially melancholy in the night-season, when only it flies
abroad, for its eyes are too weak to bear the light of the day.
The waste here referred to is not the waste of the desert or wil
derness, but the region about Jerusalem found in ruins on the
return of the captivity — the haunt, among other animals, of the
moping owl here referred to.
Verse 7. "I keep watch, and am as a swift
Left alone on the house-top."] — The swift, hirundo
apus, Linn., a gregarious bird of passage, inhabiting most countries
in particular seasons of the year, frequenting quiet and especially
ruinous houses, and usually building under the roof or in the chim
ney; It leaves England about the time of the swallow, in Septem
ber, and perhaps Palestine six weeks or two months later ; and
previous to its departure assembles in vast flocks on the tops of
houses, churches, and other high buildings. Its feet are so small
that it rises from the ground, and even walks, with great difficulty;
and is hence mostly on the wing, and usually rests by clinging to
some wall or other steep. It sometimes happens that one or more
are left behind from illness ; and it is to a bird thus unfortunate,
deserted, moaning in solitude and without food, wishfully looking
around it for help but in vain, that the Psalmist forcibly resembles
the Jewish church at the time of writing.
The word is often rendered sparrow ; but the habits of the sparrow
do not apply. See the note on Psalm xi. 1, as also the author's
note to his translation of Proverbs xxvi. 2, where he has ob
served on the difference between the "1122, or swift, and the im,
or swallow.
Verse 8. "Mine over-bearers are sworn against me."] — Alluding
to the memorial they had subscribed and presented to Artaxerxes,
and the success it had obtained at his court.
2 D

402 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CI I.
9 Behold, I am eating ashes for bread,
And mingling my drink with tears,
10 On account of thine indignation and thy wrath :
For thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.
11 My days are as a declining shadow :
Yea, t am withered as grass.
12 But thou, 0 Jehovah, shalt endure for ever :
And thy memorial from generation to generation.
13 Thou shalt arise, thou shalt have compassion on Zion ;
For the time to pity her,
For the set time is come.
1 4 Lo, thy servants take a pleasure in her very stones ;
Yea, over her very dust do they yearn.
15 So shall the heathen fear thy name, 0 Jehovah ;
And all the kings of the earth thy glory.
16 Behold, Jehovah is rebuilding Zion :
In his glory is he manifesting himself.
1 7 He is attending to the prayer of the desolate :
Verily, their prayer he doth not despise.
1 8 Let this be recorded for the coming generation ;
That the people to be born may glorify him.
19 Behold, he is espying from the height of his
sanctuary ;
From heaven is Jehovah looking down on the earth,
20 To listen to the sighing of the captive,
To set at liberty the children of destruction :
Verse 12. " And thy memorial from generation to generation."]
— This is the character God was graciously pleased to give of him
self from Mount Horeb, Exod. iii. 15, in precisely the same words ;
which are again copied in Psalm cxxxv. 13.
Verse 20. " The sighing of the captive—
The children of destruction."] — The passage is ren
dered literally, and alludes to the state of bondage they were lately
in, and to which they seem almost to have been thrown back by the
heart-rending decree against them.

PSALM CII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 403
21 To celebrate in Zion the name of Jehovah ;
Yea, his triumph in Jerusalem :
22 What time the peoples shall have gathered together,
Even from the kingdoms, to serve Jehovah.
23 Let him weaken one's strength in proceeding ;
Let him cut down my days :
24 Still will I exclaim—" 0, my God,
" In the midst of my days do not take me off.
" Thy years are from generation to generation :
25 " Of old hast thou founded the earth ;
" And the heavens are the work of thy hands.
26 " These shall perish, but thou shalt remain :
" Yea, all of them shall wear out as a garment ;
" As a vesture shalt thou put them off,
" For off must they be put ;
Verse 22. " Even from the kingdoms."]— nisbaai. The
preposition has been strangely omitted in most of the versions. The
Psalmist refers to his countrymen — the ten tribes as well as the
two — still dispersed over various parts of the globe, and many of
them now eager to return home.
Verse 23. " One's strength."] — Such is the standard reading,
(ins) ; but various manuscripts read, " my strength," ''TO. The
alteration is allowable, but hardly necessary, for either will do. The
figure is that of a plant weakened and partially withered by the
blast around, and which requires to be cut down that it may shoot
forth more vigorously.
Verse 24. " I will still exclaim, — Take me not off."] — Another
and still higher act of faith on the part of the personified Church,
rising to the holy boldness of Job, xiii. 15. I will repeat the tri
umphant song I have just uttered ; — for what follows is only a
variation of the exalted hope expressed from verse 12 to verse 22.
"IBM is here the usual elision for "iaNN. Even in this extremity
will I still address him — will I still trust in his faithfulness — and the
close of my prayer shall be, as in verse 28,
O, let the children of thy servants have a home,
And their seed be established before thee.
2 D J

404 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CIII.
27 " But thou art the Eternal ;
" And thy years shall never fail.
28 " 0, let the children of thy servants have a home,
" And their seed be established before thee."
Verse 27. "The Eternal."]— The unchanging Hu (Nin): the
Self-existent or Eternal. That this is a proper meaning of Nin
see Deut. xxxii. 39 ; Isaiah xliii. 10, 13, " I am the Self- existent,"
or " the Eternal," rather than " 1 am He," as usually rendered.
In the present place the passage is usually translated, " I am the
SAME"-^-that is, "the unchangeable," which is not widely
different, as all the senses import " essential being." See upon
this subject more at large the author's note on Job viii. 1 9.

CIII*

BY DAVID.

1 Bless Jehovah, 0 my soul !
Yea, all within me, his holy name.
2 Bless Jehovah, 0 my soul !
And forget not any of his benefits :
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities ;
Who healeth all thy diseases :
• This fine composition is, according to the title, from the pen of
the royal Psalmist, and is in every respect worthy of his muse. It
was no doubt composed as a temple-service for one of the great
festivals ; and from various parts appears to have been especially
designed for the great feast of the month Tizri, or that of Taber
nacles, or Ingathering, which formed the beginning of the civil
year. It takes a splendid retrospect of the gracious dealings of
Jehovah with his people through the preceding periods of their
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 232.

PSALM CIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 405
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction,
Crowning thee, with loving-kindness and tender-
mercies :
5 Replete with goodness towards thee,
So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 Jehovah executeth righteousness,
And judgment for all that are oppressed.
7 He 'made known his ways unto Moses,
His acts unto the children of Israel.
8 Compassionate and piteous is Jehovah ;
Slow to anger, and abundant in tender-mercy.
history from the time of Moses to the hour before them ; his for
giveness of their iniquities, his deliverance of them from public
calamities of various kinds, and especially public as well as private
diseases ; his crowning them, at the existing new year, with
loving-kindness, and his renewal of their strength ; while its opening
and close are full of ascriptions of praise. It is a noble new-year's
hymn for the church in every age.
Verse 5. " Towards thee."]  pIV. There is a doubt whether
ilV ever signifies " mouth," as here rendered in our common ver
sion : for the few places in which it can possibly be supposed to
occur, admit of another sense. Geddes renders the term aliments ;
others, ornaments. It is rather a preposition joined to the pro
noun "f, or thee, usque or usque in — upon, or towards: as in
Psalm xxxii. 9, and Job xxxii. 12. See the note upon the former
of these.
Id. " So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's."]—
The renewal of the vigour and plumage of birds, whereby, after
the sickly season of moulting, they seem to have recovered all the
joy and sprightliness of juvenility, is a beautiful image of the res
toration of a good man, or of the church generally, to the favour of
God, after a visitation of affliction. But the figure is rendered far
more powerful by making choice of the eagle rather than any other
bird — which is so generally celebrated for its longevity, and which
affords numerous instances of its thus renewing its juvenile powers
annually for upwards of a hundred years.

406 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CHI.
9 He doth not perpetually chide,
Neither is he for ever on the watch.
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins ;
Nor requited us after our iniquities.
11 For high as are the heavens above the earth,
So great is his tender-mercy to them that fear him.
12 Far away as is the east from the west,
So far away hath he put our transgressions.
13 Like as a father is tender to his children,
So tender is Jehovah to them that fear him :
1 4 For he knoweth our frame —
He remembereth that we are dust :
15 That man, in his days, is as grass ;
That, as the flower of the field, so he flowereth :
J 6 For the blast sweepeth over him, and he is gone ;
And his place knoweth nothing more of him.
1 7 But the loving-kindness of Jehovah is from ever
lasting
To everlasting, upon them that fear him ;
And his righteousness to children's children :
18 To those that observe his covenant,
And are mindful to practise his precepts.
19 Jehovah hath fixed his throne in the heavens,
But his kingdom ruleth over all.
20 Bless Jehovah, ye his angels !
Mighty in power, fulfilling his word ;
To the voice of his word who listen.
21 Bless Jehovah, all his hosts !
0, ye his ministers ! that execute his will.
22 Bless Jehovah, all his works !
In every place of his dominion.
Bless Jehovah, 0 my soul !
Verse 9. " Neither is he for ever on the watch."] — I have ren
dered this familiar but forcible phrase, literally. The italics of our
common version show sufficiently that the words his anger, intro
duced into it, are not in the original. The obvious meaning is,
" he is not eager to find fault."

PSALM CIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 407

CIV*
1 Bless Jehovah, 0 my soul.
0 Jehovah, my God, thou art supremely great ;
With glory and majesty art thou arrayed.
2 Enrobed is he with light, as a vesture ;
Spreading abroad the heavens, as a canopy ;
3 Laying the floor of his chambers in the waters ;
Appointing the clouds his chariot ;
Moving upon the wings of the wind :
This noble piece of psalmody is without a title. In the Sep
tuagint version it is ascribed to king David : it appears to be im
bued with all his elevated spirit ; and was probably composed upon
the same occasion as the preceding.
Verse 2. " A canopy."] — Bather than " a curtain :" nsni.—
The drawn out and convex curtain or covering of a tent.
Verse 4. " Making winds of his angels,
Of his ministers a flaming fire."] — These are per
haps the two most common forms under which the messengers of
God, and often God himself, have appeared. The wind has some
times been an emblem of mercy, as in the " small, still voice,"
1 Kings xix. 12, and sometimes of judgment, as " the wind of
Jehovah from the wilderness," that destroyed every thing, Hosea
xiii. 15. And the flaming fire has assumed the same offices. Thus
Exod. iii. 2. " The angel of Jehovah appeared unto him in a flame
of fire out of the midst of the bush ; and he looked and behold the
bush was not burned," and again, Judges xiii. 20 ; on the contrary,
Nahum i. 6, " Who can stand before his indignation ? yea, who
can abide the fierceness of his anger ? his fury is poured out like
fire." The Holy Ghost in his descent on the apostles appeared
under both figures — for there was " a sound as of a rushing mighty
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 234.

408 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CIV.
4 Making winds of his angels ;
Of his ministers a flaming fire :
5 Fixing the earth on her foundations ;
So that she is immoveable for ever.
6 The deep thou once didst spread over it as a garment :
The waters were stationary above the mountains.
7 At thy rebuke they fled :
At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
8 They rushed over the mountains,
They poured down the vallies,
To the place -thou hadst established for them.
9 Thou fixedst a boundary, that they might not repass;
That they return not to cover the earth.
10 It is he who sendeth forth the rivers into the vallies,
That wind amongst the mountains.^
11 They give drink to all the beasts of the field ;
There quench the wild-asses their thirst.
12 Hard by, haunt the birds of the heavens :
They give voice to the thickets.
13 He watereth the hills from his chambers :
With fruits, — thine is the work ! — is the earth re
plenished.
wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting ; and there
appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon
each of them," Acts ii. 2, 3.
That the word usually rendered spirits, should be winds, is, I
think, clear, not only from the idea of winds being more congruous
with flaming fire than that of spirits, but because the very same
word ninn is, in the singular, rendered wind in the very line
preceding. In truth, the Hebrew commentators are pretty well
agreed upon this subject : for Jarchius, Aben-Ezra, and Kimchi,
have all thus rendered it ; whom Bosenmilller has noticed and fol
lowed, as he himself has been since followed by most of the trans
lators.

PSALM CIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 409
14 He maketh the grass to grow for cattle,
And herbage for the use of mankind :
Wide-pouring provision from the ground ;
15 Even wine that gladdeneth man's heart,
Oil, that blandisheth the countenance,
And bread, man's heart that sustaineth.
16 Magnifical are the trees of Jehovah :
The cedars of Lebanon which he hath planted.'
17 There build the small-birds their nests :
The stork houseth herself amidsbthe firs.
18 For the wild-goats, are the towering hills ;
The cliffs are a refuge for the marmots.
19 He hath ordained the moon for seasons ;
The sun understandeth his setting.
Verse 14. " Wide-pouring."] — The b in N^Slrib, is an inten
sive adjunct, as pro or per in Latin compounds — literally profun-
dens, " lavishing, wide-pouring, spreading profusely."
Verse 17. " The stork houses herself amidst the firs."] — The
Hebrew nn^i, is a verb in Hiphil, and is here literally rendered.
The Ardea Ciconia. Linn, or white stork, of a size between the crane
and the heron, with a fine red-hued bill, legs and thighs of the
same colour, and naked ; plumage bright-white except the quills.
She builds in high situations on the summits of rocky cliffs, or the
tops of lofty trees, constructing her nest of dry sticks, twigs, and
aquatic plants : and no doubt in the country before us, preferring
the fir-tree to every other. She lays from two to four eggs of the
size and colour of those of a goose. The male and female sit on
them alternately, and are singularly attentive to their young, both
never quitting them at the same time. It is hence this bird has
justly received from the Hebrews the name of -pDn, (hesid) or
" the yearner." It is a gregarious bird of passage, that visits
Europe, Asia, and Africa, and has been found, though rarely, in
our own country.
Verse 18. " Por the marmots."] — The Hebrew saphan (^QtP)
is not a rabbit or cony, but an arctomys, or marmot, being the
Arctomys Bobac, or Asiatic marmot of Linnaeus. See the author's
note on Prov. xxx. 26.

410 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CIV,
20 The darkness thou assignest, and it is night,
When roam all the beasts of the forest :
21 The young lions roaring for prey,
And the gain of food from God.
22 The sun is abroad— they retreat,
And lay them down in their lairs :
23 While man goeth forth to his labour,
And to his calling, until the evening. —
24 How manifold, 0 Jehovah, are thy works !
In wisdom hast thou devised them all !
Replenished is the earth with thy store.
25 So is this great and capacious sea,
Wherein are moving tribes, yea, innumerable ;
Animals small as well as huge.
26 There traverse the ships : Leviathan is there ;
Thou hast ordained him therein to take pastime.
27 All of them look up to thee,
For assigning their food in its season.
28 Thou assignest — they collect it : —
Thou openest thy hands — they are filled with good.
29 Thou hidest thy face — they tremble ;
Thou withdrawest their breath— they expire,
And return unto their dust.
30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit — they are created ;
And thou renewest the face of the world.
31 For ever shall live the glory of Jehovah :
Jehovah shall rejoice in his works.
32 Lo, he looketh at the earth — and it trembleth ;
He toucheth the mountains, and they smoke.
Verse 26. " Leviathan is there."]— The crocodile of the Medi
terranean coast. See the author's note on Job xii. 1 ; and on
Psalm Ixviii. 30.
Verse 32. " Lo, he looketh."] — In the original, tt'Ofin. The
n is here a particle of exclamation, as often in other places : pro-
fecto! ecce! See the author's note on Job xxii. 15. In this case
it is probably a contraction of Nn.

PSALM CV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 411
33 Throughout my life, will I sing unto Jehovah ;
I will chant unto my God throughout my duration.
34 Sweet shall be my meditation upon him ;
In Jehovah will I exult.
35 Let transgressors be put an end to on earth ;
And the wicked — let there be nothing more of them :
0 my soul, bless thou Jehovah. —
Hallelujah.
Verse 33. " Throughout my life, —
— Throughout my duration."] — The passages are
given literally, and seem to import "'the life that now is, and that
which is to come." " Through time and through eternity." Our
common rendering " as long as I live," and " while I have my
being," is less literal, and does not so well preserve the contrast.

CV*
1 0 give thanks to Jehovah, call upon his name,
Make known his deeds among the peoples ;
There can be no doubt that this, which is strictly a national song
of praise, was composed for some one of the grand festivals of the Is-
raelitish church ; and that Psalm cvi. is only a continuation or second
part of the same common subject. The conjecture of Dathe is there
fore most probably correct, that the first of these two Psalms was
chanted at the dedication of the second temple ; in which case the
second must have formed a subsequent part of the same service.
We have no hint who was the author : but there can be little
danger of error in ascribing it to one of the sons of Korah. In the
Septuagint, it commences with the words of the preceding Psalm,
Hallelujah, which are here transplanted by mistake. Its real com
mencement, which is very forcible and animated, is taken, with
great taste, from king David's triumphal song on the removal of
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 326, 327.

412 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CV.
2 Sing unto him, 0 celebrate him ;
Dwell ye upon all his achievements ;
3 Triumph in his holy name.
Let the heart of those rebound that seek Jehovah ;
4 Search out Jehovah, and his strength ;
Seek ye his countenance for ever.
5 Call to mind the achievements he hath wrought,
His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
6 0 ye seed of Abraham his servant !
Ye children of Jacob his chosen !
7 He, Jehovah, is our Cod :
Before all the earth are his judgments.
8 For ever is he mindful of his covenant ;
The engagement he held out to the thousandth gene
ration ;
9 Which he contracted with Abraham,
Yea, with Isaac, by his oath :
1 0 And confirmed to Jacob for a statute ;
To Israel for a covenant to perpetuity ;
the ark, 1 Chron. xvi. 8 — 22, and is by far the highest wrought
part of the whole. There are passages which are pretty closely
copied, not merely in subject, but in collocation, and identic words
with Asaph's beautiful ode, constituting Ps. lxxviii, as especially
verses 29, 30, 31, 34, 36, compared with Ps. lxxviii. 44, 45,
•46, 51.
Verse 4. " His strength."] — lt$. Arab. "js. (oz or ozz.)
His " glory, honour, triumph." See note on Psalm viii. 2, and
lxxviii. 61. In classical language, his aegis, or protection, his ark,
the symbol of the divine presence. It might indeed be rendered
after Houbigant and Bishop Horsley, " and be ye strong ; " but as
the first is the clear and only sense in Psalm lxxviii. 61, where the
same phrase occurs, there can be no doubt, that it is also the sense
in the original draught of the present Psalm, as it occurs in 1 Chron.
xvi. 1 1, from which the passage before us is brought, and which
ought therefore to be regarded in the same sense here ; since the
two odes, in Ps. lxxviii. and 1 Chron. xvi., formed but different'
parts of one and the same service.

PSALM C V.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 413
11 Saying, " To thee will I give the land of Canaan."
It was the outline of their inheritance,
12 When they were few in number ;
Of no account, and strangers in it.
13 As they travelled from nation to nation,
From kingdom to people in succession,
14 He allowed not man to injure them ;
Yea, for their sakes he reproved kings :
15 " Touch ye not mine anointed,
" And do my prophets no harm."
16 When he called for a famine upon the earth,
When he brake the whole staff of bread,
17 He sent before them Joseph,
The man sold for a slave.
1 8 His feet were galled with the chain ;
The iron went into his soul,
19 Till the time that his word came to pass,
Till the purpose of Jehovah cleared him.
Verse 11. "Of their inheritance."] — Not " of your," as ordi
narily rendered, to make sense of the passage. The sense is suffi
ciently clear, as now rendered, with a different punctuation, without
violating the text. " Line or outline " is better than " lot," which
is not the meaning of b^tl- The marginal reading is " cord " —
but " line or outline " is better.
Verse 14. " Tea, for their sakes he reproved kings."] — The cases
immediately referred to are those of Abraham when in Egypt and at
Gerar.Gen. xii. 17, and xx. 3.
Verse 18. " His feet were galled with the chain,
The iron went into his soul."] — The passage is ren
dered literally. The word soul (tt?Q3 ) is as often used in Hebrew
as in English , for the person ; " the bondage went to his heart."
Verse 19. " Till the time that his word came to pass ;
Till the purpose of Jehovah cleared him."] — Till he
showed by his predictions concerning the chief officers of Pharaoh,
which were accomplished, and by his announcement of the famine

414 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CV.
20 The king sent and laid a charge upon him ;
The ruler of the people even set him free.
21 He made him governor of his house,
And director of all his means :
22 To control his nobles at pleasure,
And to teach his senators wisdom.
23 Then went Israel into Egypt,
And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham :
24 And he increased his people exceedingly,
And made them stronger than their oppressors.
25 Their heart was turned to hate his people,
To deal with his servants deceitfully.
26 So he sent his servant Moses,
And Aaron, whom he chose with him.
27 They displayed to them his foreboding words,
And his wonders, in the land of Ham.
28 He sent the dark, and it was darkness :
Yet they changed not their measures.
which was about to commence, that he was in especial favour with Je
hovah, who had thus communicated his purposes to him, and
hereby proved him guiltless of the eharge that had been laid against
him. Verse 20. " Laid a charge upon him."] — The verb lnTn^ is
I think, in this place, rather derived from ril^ " to direct, com
mand, or charge," and hence in Hithpael, " to give a charge to"
— " to put or lay a charge or command upon," than from in3 " to
loosen," to which it is usually referred.
Verse 27. " His foreboding words."] — The passage is rendered
literally — VninN "HST, or may be turned, as in the margin of
our Bibles, " the words of his signs, tokens, or forebodings," — the
messages that preceded, and were signs, omens, or portents of the
plagues to follow.
Verse 28. " Yet they changed not their measures."]— The
common rendering " And they rebelled not at his words," is unin
telligible : and most of the critics have correctly derived na from

PSALM CV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 415
29 He turned their waters into blood,
And. their fishes he destroyed.
30 Their land was loaded with frogs,
Even to the chambers of their kings.
31 He spake, and the zimb-fly came ;
Great swarms, through all their borders.
32 He made their rain hail ;
A flashing fire throughout their land :
33 And smote their vines and their fig-trees,
Yea, scathed the trees throughout their borders.
34 He spake, and the locust came,
And the canker-worm, without number ;
-la1" " to change or alter," rather than from nilD " to resist or
rebel." VQT imports " words," but also " acts, deeds, measures,
or conduct " generally. " Words," however, might stand as re
ferring to their obstinate determination of keeping their word, Exod.
v. 2, " I know not Jehovah, neither will I let Israel go ; " — but
" measures," as a more general term, is better.
Verse 31. " The zimb-fly came."] — See note on Ps. lxxviii. 45.
Verse 33. And smote their vines and their fig-trees ;
Tea, scathed the trees throughout their borders."] —
Alluding to the horrible destruction of the storm of lightning, or
" flashing fire," in the preceding verse. So Milton —
" As when heaven's fire
Hath scathed the forest-oaks or mountain-pines,
With singed top, their stately growth, though bare,
Stands on the blasted heath."
Verse 34. " The locust came,
And the canker-worm."] — The n^TlN or arbeh is
very clearly the gryllus migratorius, or migratory locust of Lin
naeus, flying from country to country in prodigious swarms, and
perhaps the most destructive insect known. See the note on Ps.
lxxviii. 46 ; in which passage it is connected with the b^Dn or
chesel, which is translated in our common version, and perhaps,
rightly enough, caterpillar ; for it may be the larva or grub of the
migratory locust, as it may also be a common terra for the larvae or
grubs of any destructive insect whatever.

416 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CV.
35 And devoured all the herbage of the land,
Yea, devoured the fruits of their ground.
36 And he smote all the first-born throughout their land,
The prime of all their desire.
37 And he brought them forth with silver and gold,
Nor was there a feeble person among their tribes.
38 Egypt rejoiced at their departure,
For their terror had fallen upon them.
39 He spread out a cloud for a canopy,
And fire for a luminary at night.
40 He was besought, and brought quails ;
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock, and forth gushed the waters ;
They flowed through the deserts as a river :
In the verse before us, we have connected with the arbeh ano
ther insect or insect-larve, the pb^ or ilec, and this also our common
translators have rendered caterpillar. To prevent confusion,it is better
to change the term, and to render it canker-worm. It is probably
the larva of the gryllus gryllotalpa, or mole-cricket, of Linnaeus,
found in the gardens of our country and Europe generally, as well
as in Asia and America. It burrows beneath the surface of the
ground like a mole, is two inches in length, and makes terrible de
vastation among the young roots and shoots of grasses and esculent
productions in general, so as completely to sweep off what the
migratory locust leaves : this depredation continues from June to
the beginning of winter, when they burrow beneath the surface of
the earth, and enter into their aurelian state, emerging from it into
that of a winged insect, something like the appearance of a blatta
or cock -roach in the ensuing spring, precisely corresponding to the
character of the ilec as given in Nahum iii. 16, " the canker-worm
spoileth and fleeth away."
Verse 36. " And he smote all the first-born of their land,
The prime of all their desire."] — Nearly the same
as Ps. lxxviii. 51.
" And smote all the first-born of Egypt,
The prime of .their desires in the dwellings of Ham."

PSALM CVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 417
42 For he remembered his holy promise,
Unto Abraham his servant.
43 Thus led he forth his people with rejoicing ;
His chosen with triumph :
44 And gave them the lands of the heathen ;
Yea, the labour of the nations whom they succeeded ;
45 On condition that they should keep his statutes,
And observe his laws.
Hallelujah.

CVI*
I Hallelujah.
0 give thanks to Jehovah, for he is good ;
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
2 Who can rehearse the master-deeds of Jehovah ?
Who can sound forth all his praise ?
Upon this, see introductory note to Psalm cv., as to subject
and author.
Verse 1. '* 0 give thanks to Jehovah, for he is good,
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting."] — The fa
vourite national doxology, devised by David, on his first planning
the musical service of the temple, and prescribed by him for daily
use. See 1 Chron. xvi. 41. We hence find the same couplet in
troduced into several of the Psalms, as Ps. cvii. 1 ; cxviii. 1.
Verse 2. " The master-deeds of Jehovah."]— Heb. nm"1 niliaa.
So Ps. xxi. 13.
" Let us sing forth and celebrate thy masterdom."
And so Exod. xxxii. 18, " it is not the voice of them that shout for
mastery." The. real meaning is "prowess, puissance, heroism,
mastery, masterdom, master-deed," and hence " victory."
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 326, 327.
2E

418 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CVI.
3 Blessed are they that keep the commandment ;
The doer of righteousness at all times.
4 Think thou on me, 0 Jehovah,
With the benediction of thy people :
0 visit me with thy salvation :
5 That I may behold the prosperity of thy chosen ;
May joy with the joy of thy nation ;
May triumph together with thine inheritance.
6 We have turned aside, like our fathers :
We have sinned, we have done wickedly.
7 Our fathers in Egypt considered not thy wonders ;
Were unmindful of the multitude of thy tender-mer
cies,
And at the Sea, the Red-Sea, gave provocation.
8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake,
That he might manifest his masterdom;
9 So he rebuked the Red-Sea, and it was dried up ;
And led them through the deeps as through the desert ;
10 And saved them from the hand of the despiteful ;
Yea, redeemed them from the hand of the persecutor.;
11 And the waters covered their oppressors :
Not one of them was left.
12 Then believed they in his words ;
They sang his praise.
13 Yet they went headlong, they forgat his works ;
They waited not for his design ;
14 But covetously coveted in the wilderness,
And tempted God in the desert.
15 So he granted their request,
But sent devastation among their persons.
Verse 15. " But sent devastation among their persons."] — Ba
ther than " sent leanness into their souls." jm imports " a
falling away, consumption, waste, or devastation of any kind."
The fact referred to is particularly stated, Num. xi. 33 ; " And

PSALM CVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 419
16 Then were they envious against Moses in the camp,
Against Aaron, the saint of Jehovah.
17 The earth opened, and swallowed up Dathan,
And overcovered the company of Abiram :
18 And a fire amidst their company burst forth,
The flame burned up the offenders.
19 At Horeb made they a calf,
And worshipped before the shrine ;
20 And thus transformed their glory
Into the shape of a grass-grazing ox.
21 They forgat the God who had saved them,
The great things he had done in Egypt,
22 The marvels in the land of Ham,
The prodigies by the Red-Sea.
23 So he purposed to demolish them, but that Moses,
His chosen, stood before him in the breach,
To turn aside his wrath from destruction.
24 They, also, despised the delectable land ;
They trusted not his promise ;
25 But murmured in their tents.
The voice of Jehovah they heeded not.
26 Then lifted he up his hand against them,
To overthrow them in the wilderness ;
27 Yea, to overthrow their seed among the nations,
And scatter them throughout the lands.
28 They had even joined themselves to Baal-Peor,
And eaten of the sacrifices of the dead.
while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the
wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people ; and the Lord
smote the people with a very great plague." And to the same
effect, Ps. lxxviii. 31.
Verse 28. "They had joined themselves to Baal-Peor,
And eaten of the sacrifices of the dead."] — Baal-Peor
2E2

420 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CVI.
29 Thus they provoked him by their courses,
And the plague broke in upon them.
30 But Phinehas stood up and took vengeance,
And the plague was stayed :
31 And it was accounted to him for righteousness,
From generation to generation for ever.
32 They caused wrath, also, at the waters of Meribah ;
Where it went hard with Moses on their account :
33 For they so provoked his spirit,
That he spake amiss with his lips.
34 They did not destroy the nations,
As Jehovah had given them command ;
35 But allied themselves with the heathen,
And were instructed in their rites.
36 They even worshipped their idols,
Which were made a snare unto them.
37 Yea, their sons and their daughters,
Did they sacrifice to devils ;
and Chemosh were the two principal deities of the Midianites, as
Moloch was of the Ammonites. The first was peculiarly celebrated
for the unblushing obscenities which accompanied his worship ; and
the last for the cruelties he demanded of his votaries, in the sacri
fices of their children by fire. These two nations, which bordered
on each other, were often united in interest, and appear to have
been united in idolatries. It was a joint embassy from them that
induced Balaam to undertake his journey for the purpose of cursing
the Israelites. And when he could not avoid having his curse
turned into a blessing, he counselled Balak to entice the Israelites
to the libidinous feasts of Baal-peor, and to overcome them by
debauchery. The stratagem took effect, and both Midianitish and
Moabitish women concurred in leading them astray. And so in
toxicated were they with their career of pleasure, that they not only
" committed whoredom," as Moses expressly tells us, " with the
daughters of Moab," — but those who were thus entertained " called
the people generally to the sacrifices of their gods " — (human vic
tims — Moabitish children passed through fire) — " and the people

PSALM CVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 421
38 And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their own sons, and their own daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
So that the land was defiled with blood.
39 Thus did they pollute themselves by their deeds,
And wax wanton in their courses.
40 Therefore was the wrath of Jehovah
Enkindled against his people ;
So that he abhorred his own heritage ;
41 And gave them up into the hand of the heathen,
And their despiters ruled over them.
42 When their adversaries trampled upon them,
Or they were bowed down under their hand,
43 Many a time did he deliver them.
But they caused wrath by their conceits,
And were humbled for their iniquity.
did eat, and bowed down to their gods. Thus Israel joined him
self to Baal-Peor ; and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against
Israel." Num. xxv. 1 — 4.
It is to this passage the Psalmist alludes : and we have hence a
pretty clear interpretation of the meaning of the phrase " the sacri
fices of the dead" — the immolation of children by fire to the gods
of the Moabites, and especially to their chief deity the bloody
Moloch. So that the Israelites were led on from one crime to
another ; and having first become intoxicated, they next became
abandoned debauchees, then idolaters, and at length cannibals.
There are various commentators who endeavour to soften the
passage, and will not allow that the children that were thus passed
through the fire were really burned on the occasion : but many of
the passages in the Bible are too strong to admit of any other in
terpretation ; not only in the narrative of Moses, referring to the
present time and the present sacrifices, but long afterwards, in the
history of the idolatrous kings of both Israel and Judah, when they
were again led astray in the same manner ; as especially 2 Kings
xvii. 31 ; Isa. Ivii. 5 ; Ezek. xvi. 20, 21 ; xxiii. 37, 39. The slaying
by fire, the sacrificing and the eating or devouring, are here so fully
set forth, as to leave no doubt whatever.

422 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CVII.
44 Yet when he heard their outcry,
He regarded the pressure upon them ;
45 And called to mind his covenant with them,
And relented in his great tender-mercy :
46 And made them to be pitied
By all those that led them captive.
47 Save us, 0 Jehovah, our God ;
Yea, gather us from among the heathen,
To give thanks to thy holy name ;
To dwell upon thy praise.
48 Blessed be Jehovah, God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting ;
And let all the people say, Amen.
Hallelujah.
Verse 47. " Save us, O Jehovah our God ;
Tea, gather us from among the heathen."] — Thave
already observed, in the introductory note on Psalm cv., that both
these Psalms appear to have been composed on the opening of the
second temple : and the present verse alludes to the numerous
enemies by which the rising walls were still beset ; and to the pros
pect of a return of great numbers of the ten tribes, which had- been
scattered over all the world sometime before the fall of Jerusalem
and the deportation of the two tribes of the kingdom of Judah to
Babylon ; or of those who, being left at Jerusalem, wandered
ABOUT INTO EGYPT or other parts, and found " no city to
dwell in."

CVIL*
1 0 give thanks to Jehovah, for he is good ;
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
The fifth division of the Psalter arrangement commences here.
We have no author's name, and nothing in the Psalm to indicate
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 328.

l'SALM CVII. J BOOK OF PSALMS. 423
2 Let them speak — the redeemed of Jehovah —
Whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the op
pressor ;
3 Yea, gathered them out of the lands,
From the east, and from the west,
From the north, and from the south.
4 They wandered in the wilderness, in a desert-route ;
They could find no city to dwell in.
5 Hungry were they, yea, thirsty ;
Their soul fainted within them.
6 Then cried they unto Jehovah, in their distress,
And he delivered them out of their troubles :
7 And led them, with right leading,
In the road to a city to dwell in.
8 0, let them celebrate, before Jehovah,
His tender-mercies, and his marvels towards the chil
dren of men :
9 For the pining soul he hath replenished,
And filled the hungry soul with good.
10 The inmates of darkness and death-shade,
The captives of misery and iron, —
11 Because they disobey the commands of God,
And contemn the counsel of the Most High,
12 He humbleth their heart with hardships ;
They sink down, and are helpless.
him. But it is sufficiently clear from the second and third verses
that the ode was composed subsequently to the return from the Baby.
lonish captivity ; and, as it opens with a reference to this fact, it
was most probably written very near, if not immediately on account
of it. Prom ver. 32, there can be little doubt that it was designed
for the temple service on one of the three great annual festivals, or
assemblies of the whole " congregation of the people ; " and from
the equinoctial storm so forcibly delineated from ver. 23 to 30,
there can be almost as little donbt that this festival was the feast of
Tabernacles, held in the month Tizri, or from the 1 5th to the 23rd
of September, and consequently at the time of the autumnal equinox.

424 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CVII.
13 Then they cry unto Jehovah in their distress ;
And he saveth them out of their troubles.
14 Out of the darkness, and the death-shade he bringeth
them,
And breaketh their fetters asunder.
1 5 0, let them celebrate, before Jehovah,
His tender-mercy, and his marvels towards the chil
dren of men.
16 For he teareth open the doors of brass,
And snappeth the bars of iron in pieces.
1 7 The brutish, in the course of their transgression,
And of their iniquities, become afflicted.
18 Every kind of" food their soul loatheth ;
And they draw nigh to the gates of death.
19 Then they cry unto Jehovah, in their distress ;
And he saveth them out of their troubles.
20 He sendeth his word and healeth them ;
And setteth them free from their destructions.
21 0, let them celebrate, before Jehovah,
His tender-mercy, and his marvels towards the chil
dren of men.
22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving ;
And rehearse his deeds with exultation.
23 The sojourners on the sea in ships,
The transacters of business on the mighty waters—
24 These behold the works of Jehovah,
And his marvels in the deep.
25 For he commandeth, and the stormy wind setteth in,
And raiseth its billows amain.
26 They mount up to the heavens;
They sink down to the abyss :
Their soul melteth away amidst the uproar.
Verse 17, "The brutish."]-Q.blM-« stupid, doltish, be
sotted fatuous." Prom blN, " to be gross, thick, heavy." Pools,
is O^DS. In the book of Proverbs the distinction is particularly
preserved.

PSALM CVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 425
27 They are whirled about, and stagger like a drunkard ;
And all their skill is overwhelmed.
28 Then they cry unto Jehovah in their distress,
And he bringeth them out of their troubles.
29 He settleth the storm into a calm ;
And hushed are the billows of the sea.
30 Then do they rejoice, for they are at ease ;
And he guideth them to their desired haven.
31 0, let them celebrate, before Jehovah,
His tender-mercy, and his marvels towards the chil
dren of men.
32 Yea, let them exalt him in the congregation of the
people ;
And glorify him in the assembly of the elders.
33 He turneth rivers into a desert,
And water-springs into droughty ground ;
34 A fruitful land into sterile salt,
For the wickedness of those that inhabit it.
35 He turneth the desert into a pool of water,
And the parched ground into water-springs ;
36 And there he settleth the hunger-bitten,
That they may prepare themselves an abiding city ;
Verse 29. " The billows of the sea."] — In our common version,
" the billows or waves thereof" — i. e. " of them ; " for the pro
noun is in the plural. But there is nothing with which such a
pronoun plural can agree : and it is hence clear that Qn^bn, " the
billows of them " should be O^n ibi ; " the billows or waves of
the sea ; the i having been accidentally dropped, and the two terms
hence made to coalesce. Such is, in truth, the rendering of the
Syriac ; which is followed by Bishops Hare and Horsley, as well as
by Houbigant.
Verse 34. " Into sterile salt."] — So the marginal reading, "into
saltness." The reference in this and the preceding verse is to the
awful fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, the whole of whose land " is
brimstone, and salt, and burning ; so that it is not sown, nor
beareth, nor any grass groweth thereon ; — which the Lord over
threw in his anger and in his wrath." Deut. xxix. 23.

426 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CVII1.
37 And sow fields, and plant vineyards ;
And possess the fruits of harvest.
38 And he blesseth them, so that they greatly multiply ;
Yea, not less thrifty doth he make their cattle.
39 And should they become unthrifty, and be bowed
down
By oppression, violence, and misery,
40 He poureth disgrace on the leaders,
And maketh them vagrants in a pathless waste ;
41 While he raiseth up the impoverished from his dis
tress,
And displayeth his families as a flock.
42 The righteous look on, and rejoice ;
And all iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
43 Whoso is wise, and will treasure up these things,
Verily, shall he have proof of the tender-mercies of
Jehovah.

CVIIL*
A MUSICAL TSALM : BY DAVID.
1 Mt heart, 0 God, is prepared :
I will sing of it and celebrate it,
Ardently with my glory.
2 Awake — Psaltery and Harp !
The Dawn will I awaken.
The subject is precisely the same as that celebrated in Psalm lx,
— the marvellous deliverance of David out of the wide and powerful
confederacy of foreign foes, by whom his throne was threatened on
its first establishment. The language indeed is the same also ; with
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 147.

PSALM CVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 427
3 I will praise thee, 0 Jehovah, among the peoples ;
Yea, I will celebrate thee among the nations :
4 For magnified is thy tender-mercy to the heavens ;
And thy faithfulness to the skies.
5 Extolled be thou, 0 God ! throughout the heavens ;
And thy glory throughout all the earth.
6 That thy beloved may be set free,
0, let thy right hand work deliverance, and answer us.
7 God hath spoken —
In his holiness will I rejoice.
I will compensate Shechem, .and re-measure the valley
of Succoth.
8 Gilead is with me ; Manasseh is with me :
And Ephraim is the crest of my head.
Judah is my sceptre.
9 Moab shall be my washing-pot :
Over Edom will I throw out my shoe :
Over Philistia shall be my triumph.
10 Who will master for me the rampired city ?
Who will lead me into Edom ?
11 Thou, 0 God, hast not cast us off ;
Although, 0 God, thou wouldst not gov forth with our
armies.
12 0, grant us help in distress,
For vain is the deliverance of man.
13 Through God we shall do valiantly ;
For he himself shall tread down our enemies.
the exception that, by way of change, it opens with four verses from
Psalm Ivii, instead of the four proper verses of Psalm lx : and con
tains a few verbal variations.
There can hence be little doubt that it formed a solemn iteration
with which to close the service specially performed at the time of
composing Psalm lx, or was sung, as a memorial of the great series
of national triumphs then in the act of taking place, on the first
general festival afterwards.

428 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CIX.
CIX*
TO THE SUPREME.
A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 0 God of my praise ! be not thou silent :
2 For the mouth of wickedness,
Yea, the mouth of treachery is opened against me :
They speak concerning me with a lying tongue ;
3 And circumvent me with tales of malice ;
And take arms against me without a cause.
That this most earnest supplication is from the pen of David
we know, not only from the title, but from Acts i. 1 6, 20, in which
it is expressly ascribed to him by St. Peter. It is generally sup
posed to have been written during the rebellion of Absalom, and
that the imprecations from ver. 6 to ver. 19, were particularly
vented against Achithophel, whose infamous treacheries he here
feels, like a sword in his bosom. St. Peter applies a part of the
imprecation to the traitor Judas in Acts i. 20 — and with the great
est force and propriety : for as David was a striking type of our
blessed Lord, and especially in the treachery and humiliation before
us, (to whom indeed the Psalm seems clearly to refer in its secondary
sense,) Achithophel was a striking type of Judas Iscariot, the bosom
friend and companion of his master, — whom he had selected from the
world to be of his privy council, — who was acquainted with his most
secret designs, — had the honour of carrying the bag, or as we should
now call it, port-folio, or of being treasurer to the infant church, —
and, like Achithophel, went and hung himself when the act of
treachery had been committed.
Dr. Kennicott and a few other critics regard these imprecations
as the words of the enemies of David directed against himself : but
it is clear that St. Peter ¦'understood them otherwise ; which is
sufficient to settle the question.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 182.

PSALM CIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 429
4 In return for my kindness they are warring with
me ;
Though I myself was intercession.
5 Verily, they have given me evil in return for good ;
And malice in return for my kindness.
6 With Him let the Wicked One have dealings :
Yea, let Satan stand at his right hand.
7 At his trial let him go forth guilty ;
And let his pleading be counted for an offence.
8 Few be his days, let another take his post :
9 Fatherless be his children 
And his wife a widow and a vagrant.
10 Let his children be vagrants, and beg about ;
Let them crave amidst the ruins he hath laid waste.
Verse 4. " Though I myself was intercession."] — Bather than
" I give myself unto prayer," as in our established version, which
is too circuitous a rendering. The passage seems immediately to
refer to his favourite but unworthy son Absalom ; and the pains he
took on perceiving, as he must have done, a part of his misconduct,
even so as to plead with him and beseech him to return to a sense
of duty. Though it may import also intercession on his behalf at
the throne of grace.
Verse 9, 10. " Patherless be his children —
And his wife a widow and a vagrant :
Let his children be vagrants and beg about ;
Let them crave amidst the ruins he hath laid waste."]
An obscurity has been felt in these verses on account of their not
being properly divided, which they should be as follows :
: caw van iw
: nviai naabs wb?ni
: ibNt&i van lins1*
: cni manna wm
The ni?131, which here closes the second line is commonly made
to form the beginning of the third, and written $131, and thus bids
defiance to all translation and grammar : for 27131 agrees neither
with wife, nor widow, feminines singular ; nor with children, a
masculine plural ; and must therefore be either r?l>131 or ET»J>12V
I have preferred the former, as the copulative 1 directly connects

430 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CIX.
1 1 Let the creditor seize on all that is his ;
And strangers plunder his revenue.
12 Let no one be moved with compassion towards him :
Yea, let no one take pity on his orphans.
13 Let his posterity be utterly cut off :
Their name be abolished amidst the coming race.
14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by
Jehovah ;
Yea, the sin of his mother — let it never be blotted out.
15 Before Jehovah let them be in perpetuity,
That he may cut off their memory from the earth ;
16 Since he never bethought himself to show pity ;
But would pursue a man afflicted and forlorn,
Even broken-hearted, to very murder.
it with the preceding, rather than with the subsequent part of the
sentence. Our common version, and indeed most others, as though
despairing of a literal sense, merges the passage in a paraphrase.
" Let his children be continually vagabonds." But 3713, ad
mitting that it imports intensity of wandering, is not an adverb ;
while the 1 is entirely dropped. Bishop Horsley gives, " Let his
children be mere vagabonds." — The l, or the J713, may be allowed
to import this intensity — but let the reader take which he will for
this, the other term is here sunk or omitted. Geddes reads, " May
his sons be vagabonds and beggars ; " but this is both to alter the
order of the words, and to change 57131 into Q1J7131 ; while in the
sense now given, the order is exactly preserved.
For 127TH, many of the versions read 1B7~)31, " let them be
driven :" an alteration which is totally uncalled for ; and all of
them read Onwmna, as one word, instead of Dn^ mmnO.
as two ; with a sort of double plural, and producing a great ob
scurity ; while the whole, by the present rendering is perfectly clear,
and highly forcible. " Let them crave throughout the ruinous and
desolate track of that civil war into which his counsels have plunged
the country."
Verse 13. *' Be utterly cut off."] — The b in nnnnb is an in
tensive preposition, as in the compound term aJscindo, or />erscindo,
instead of scindo.
Verse 16. " To very murder."]— nmab, " to utter slaying,"

PSALM CIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 431
17 As he cherished cursing — verily let it come upon
him :
As he yielded not to blessing — verily let it be far
from him.
18 As he put on cursing, like his garment,
Verily let it enter into his bowels like water,
Or, like oil, into his bones.
19 Let it be unto him as a body-dress,
Yea, for a girdle, that may swathe him for ever.
20 Be this the pay of mine adversaries from Jehovah,
Even of the holders forth of evil against my life.
21 But thou, 0 Lord Jehovah !
Work thou on for me, for thy name's sake,
Since gracious is thy tender-mercy, 0 deliver me.
22 Behold, I am afflicted and forlorn ;
And my heart is transpierced within me.
23 I am going off as the shadow in its decline :
I am tossed about as a locust.
24 My knees shake from fasting ;
And my flesh faileth in firmness.
25 Therefore am I become a scoff amongst them ;
They make a spectacle of me — they wag their heads.
26 Help me, 0 Jehovah, my God !
0 deliver me in thy tender-mercy :
or " very murder ; " the reduplicate form demands an intensive
particle. The allusion is evidently to the bloody counsel given by
Achithophel in 2 Sam. xvii. 1, 2. " Moreover Achithophel said unto
Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will
arise and pursue after David this night : and will come upon him
while he is paint and feeble-handed ; and all the people that
are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king alone."
Verse 25. " Therefore am I become a scoff among them."] — It
was the burden of Achithophel's argument that David was " faint
and feeble-handed " — or as it is in our common version, " weary
and weak-handed." See the preceding note.

432 BOOK OF PSALMS. [_PSALM cx<
27 And let them know that this is thy hand ;
That thou, 0 Jehovah, hast wrought it.
28 Let them curse, but bless thou.
Let them advance, but let them be confounded ;
While thy servant shall be joyful.
29 Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame :
Let them ever be covered with their own confusion as
a mantle.
30 Zealously will I celebrate Jehovah with my mouth ;
Yea, amidst the multitudes will I glorify him.
31 For he standeth with salvation at the right hand of
the forlorn,
In the face of those that pass sentence against his
life.

CX*
A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 Jehovah hath proclaimed to my Lord,
" Be thou seated on my right-hand,
" Until I make thine enemies thy footstool."
2 From Zion shall Jehovah stretch forth
That this Psalm was composed by David, and that the phrase
" My Lord," in the first verse, and consequently that its general
scope, refers to our blessed Saviour, and the triumph of his glorious
sceptre over his enemies, we know, from his own interpretation of
it, as preserved by three of the evangelists, who have been pecu
liarly careful to communicate this interpretation. Matt. xxii. 43 ;
Mark xii. 36 ; Luke xx. 42.
Verse 2. " Triumphing."] — ntl seems to have been a participle,
with the usual omission of the \ rather than a verb in the imperative
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 201.

PSALM CX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 433
The sceptre of thy might ;
Triumphing in the midst of thine enemies.
3 Exuberant shall be thy people,
In the day of thy power ;
In the glories of holiness.
Beyond the womb of the morning,
Shall flow forth the dew of thine increase.
mood, — " ruling or triumphing," rather than *' rule or triumph
thou." Verse 3. " Exuberant."] — J1313 " Profuse, copious, plenteous,
exuberant," as the same term is ordinarily rendered in Ps. Ixviii. 9,
" Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain ; " rather than
morally applied, " liberal, willing, or free." The Psalmist is re
presenting the " multitude which no man can number," that were
to constitute the Eedeemer's kingdom. The sense of the verse is
immediately in unison with that of the preceding and following.
Verse 3. " In the glories of holiness."] — " In the glorious reign
of holiness." I copy the forcible and exact rendering of the Sepr
tuagint and Vulgate, iv rats "Kapvaportiai, " in splendoribus." — Tin
imports equally " glory, majesty, splendour, decoration, and hence
beauty : " and is rendered by almost all these terms in different
parts of our common version. In the present verse it is rendered
" beauty " — " the beauties of holiness " — which must not, how
ever, be supposed the same phrase as in Ps. xxix. 2, and xcvi. 9,
also rendered " the beauty of holiness ; " for the Hebrew terms in
the two last, though derived from a common root, are not the same,
being H"nn instead of Tin as in the present place. Indepen
dently of which, "splendour, majesty, glory," are more appro
priate in the passage before us than " beauty," as being the
attributes of a mighty conqueror, carrying forward his empire over
every part of the earth. And in this sense the translators of our
common version have uniformly rendered it, except in the present
place, when united with a kingly or triumphant character. Thus,
in the Psalm from which we have just quoted, xcvi. 6, —
" Honour and majesty (nm) are before him."
And again, civ. 1, —
" Thou art clothed with honour and majesty (Tin)"
And again, cxi. 3, — 2 F

434 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CX.
4 Jehovah hath sworn, and he will not repent,
" For evermore art thou a priest,
" After the order of Melchisedec."
" His work is honourable and glorious."
Majesty or glory, therefore, is the appropriate sense on the pre
sent occasion, and must have been adopted by our established
translators, had they been uniform, which, however, for the most
part they are, in their own interpretation. And I have only pre
ferred " glories," as making a better plural than " majesties," and
because it is the idea conveyed in the Septuagint.
Id. " Beyond the womb of the morning
Shall flow forth the dew of thine increase."] — " The dew
of increase ; " how simple, but how beautiful ! " The dew of
birth, of progeny, or youth," are to the same effect : and the reader
may take whatever term he may prefer.
" Beyond the womb of the morning, pouring forth the count
less birth of spangling dew-drops, shall be the fertilizing dew of
thine increase ; fuller of living spangles, and giving a fairer pro
mise of plenteousness." It is not necessary, so far as I see, to
alter the text in any way, although no verse throughout the Bible
has been so tortured with emendations as the present, as well in
ancient as modern renderings and codices. To run over these dif
ferent senses, would take up pages, which it would be a very thrift
less trouble for the reader to wade through. I am, however, much
surprised that the word -jb " shall issue or flow forth," should
have been given up so generally, altered by some, and proscribed
by others. It is almost as much wanted as any word ; and those
who have given it up have been obliged to supply gratuitously the
verb is or has or shall be. The term itself, indeed, appears to have
been universally mistaken, and to have been regarded as a preposi
tion with a suffixed pronoun "r-b, instead of as a verb from "jbn
" to come forth, go forth, issue, or pass in any way, whether on or
off." In this sense of a pronoun, it is certainly superfluous : and
though it is rendered as such in the Septuagint, and a few other
versions, it has been dropped by the rest on this very account.
This is the more extraordinary, as in two or three other places it
occurs in the very same phrasing, and is uniformly rendered as a
verb : especially in Hosea vi. 4, and xiii. 3. "[bn Q'OtPO btt3
" as the dew of the morning it goeth off." I have already ob-

PSALM CX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 435
5 At thy right-hand shall my Lord
Strike through kings in the day of his wrath :
served that "fbn imports motion of any kind, " to come or go in
any direction," whether on or off.
The figure is exquisitely beautiful and expressive, and Isaiah has
not forgotten to avail himself of it ; having copied it with great
force, to represent the womb of the grave, or of the extinct king
dom of the Jews, as reviving hereafter under the same prolific in
fluence, and pouring forth an increase in the same manner, ch.
xxvi. 19 : —
" Thy dead men shaU live,
With my dead body shall they arise.
Awake and sing, ye tenants of the dust !
Por thy dew is as the dew of herbs,
And the earth shall cast forth her mighty dead."
Verse 4. " After the order of Melchizedec."] — More strictly,
after the orders, rites, or ordinances," as the Hebrew noun is plural.
The parallel is most striking, and has been fully enlarged upon by
St. Paul, in allusion to this very passage, Heb. vii. 1 — 24, compared
with v. 6, and vi. 20.
Verse 5. " At thy right hand shall my Lord,"] — The term " my
Lord" OaiN) is here precisely the same as in ver. 1, evidently
spoken in the same sense and by the same person : and hence if
"OIK import " my Lord " in the former case, it must also in the
latter. There is an abruptness in the use of thy — and it has been
a matter of controversy to whom it is addressed. But the whole
scope of the context shows that it can only be addressed to Je
hovah, with whose solemn adjuration the preceding verse, spoken
in his own person, is occupied. The word Jehovah is hence hardly
called for by an attentive ear, which must at once explain it — " At
thy right hand, who hast thus sworn, shall my Lord, &c." And
this, notwithstanding that in the preceding verses the same pronoun
applies to Messiah. Such abruptness of style is common to the
eastern poets, and especially to those of Judea : and even their
prose-writers are not free from it, of which we have a striking ex
ample in 1 Kings i. 2, " Let there be sought for my lord the
king " (here also 131s) " a young virgin, and let her stand before
the king, and let her cherish him. And let her lie in thy bosom,
that my lord the king may get heat." The turn is precisely of
2 F 2

436 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CX.
6 He shall give judgment among the heathen. —
The chief glutted with carnage,
Shall he smite throughout the wide earth.
the same kind — and every one must understand " in thy bosom, 0
king!" Verse 6. "The chief glutted with carnage."] — In the order of
the words " glutted with carnage, he shall smite the chief," — i. e.
" the chief who is thus glutted ; " for that is the reason of his
smiting him. But the word, glutted, or filled with carnage, or
dead-bodies, as in our established version, has, by a common mis
understanding, been applied to Messiah the smiter : and hence has
arisen an inextricable confusion, which has led to all manner of
alterations of the text, or the most unsatisfactory circumlocution in
the interpretation. The rendering " throughout the wide earth,"
is strictly literal — rDi yns bv the ordinary term for earth, and
in the singular. And hence the reader will see that our established
rendering, " over many countries," is unnecessarily loose and peri
phrastic. Verse 7. " The occupier on the way shall he set on high;
So that he shall be exalted a king."] — I have pur
posely rendered this passage in the exact order and letter of the
original, though a little rounding might have given it more smooth
ness to the ear. It forms an exact and beautiful contrast with the
preceding verse ; and one of the best paraphrases that can be given
upon both is in Ezek. xxi. 26, written probably with an eye directed
to the passage before us. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, " remove
the diadem, yea, take away the crown : — what is shall not continue
what is : — lift up the low, and abase the high : I will overturn, I
will overturn, I will overturn."
The English reader will be surprised at seeing that the same
passage can be rendered, and especially the first line of the couplet,
in two such different manners as the present compared with the
ordinary version, He shall drink of the brook in the way.
A version, however, which nobody has been able to make any clear
meaning of, and which has hence been turned about in every
possible manner, till nearly twenty different senses have been
assigned to it, and not one that has given general satisfaction. The
word " he shall drink," has by some critics been applied to Jehovah ;

PSALM CX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 437
7 The occupier on the way shall he set on high ;
So that he shall be exalted a chief.
especially by Mudge, who, however, is obliged to understand it,
" he shall make or give to drink " — i.e. his warriors ; by others,
and especially. Geddes, to the chief or head, spoken of in the pre
ceding verse ; but by most commentators, to our blessed Lord in
his state of humiliation. As a full answer to which, however, it
may be observed that the present Psalm is entirely devoted not to
his state of humiliation, but of his exaltation. Its scene does not
open till after the period of his humiliation has been completed.
The great sacrifice has been offered up, " the high-priest of our
profession " has been installed, he has sat down for ever at the
right-hand of the Most High ; his mighty kingdom has com
menced ; his triumphs are advancing ; his subjects are flocking,
thick as dew-drops, to offer homage ; the kings of the earth are
falling before him ; he is abasing the proud and exalting the
humble. This is a brief epitome of the entire Psalm. And nothing
could be more incongruous than to represent him as again returning
to his sufferings and his cross.
It is hence clear that whatever the sense may be, the common
rendering cannot be its import. And I may here observe that this
rendering makes no more use of the word bv after " he shall
drink," or as it is here " he shall set " — than it does of ^b in verse
3, upon which I have already remarked. It might denote "of"
as applied to "the brook," though it would be strangely out of
place, but that "of" has been already expressed by the preceding
preposition a in bn3a and, therefore, we have here again an
entirely lost word in the common rendering, and which must alone
be sufficient to prove that there is some mistake.
This mistake consists, then, if I do not myself greatly err, in a
wrong understanding of two words, which alone being set right
will at once give the version now offered, bnsa, instead of mean
ing " from or of the brook " as two words, is the Hiphil or Huphal
participle of bn3, " to inherit, occupy, possess ; " and in this
form it becomes bn3a the actual word in the text, and implies " a
possessor or occupier," its ordinary rendering in other parts of the
Hebrew Scriptures. "P"Q bn3a is, therefore, expressly " an
occupier in the way," or " an occupant of the way ; " making a
near approach to "j~n "jbn " a plodder on the way," or " way-

438 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXI.
faring man " in Isaiah xxxv. 8, who is regarded as of a low rank
or capacity, and hence farther described as being simple or foolish,
— " the way-faring man, though a fool, shall not err." The Hebrew
writers had many expressions for this common idea, although they
are all equally rendered " way-faring-man " in our established
version, as n"lN 2 Sam. xii. 4, and Jer. ix. 2, literally "a road
ster;" niS 12V Isaiah xxxiii. 8, "A traveller or passenger on
the way ; " nnNn BPH Job xxxi. 32, " a way-man, or man of the
way ; " and as just quoted, Isaiah xxxv. 8, " a goer on the way."
The present phrase, however, differs from all these as importing
permanent occupancy of the way, or occupation on it, as by family
descent or inheritance ; generation after generation following the
same employment, " way-labourer " rather " than way-farer ; " as
the hewers of wood, or drawers of water, husbandmen, hedgers or
ditchers. — "He shall lift up the low, and abase the high."
The next word whose meaning has been apparently misappre
hended is nnE7'> ; which, instead of being derived from ni"IE7 " to
drink," should, I rather think, be taken from r\Q), the n being
paragogic, " to set, place, appoint ; " and here it is that we as
much want the bj7> as under the other version we findiit an incum
brance ; its import being " supra, alte, excelse " — " up, on high,
above" — "he shall set up or on high." The rest requires no
remark. WH.1 may equally imply head or chief; but whatever
meaning we assign to it in the one verse, should be continued to it
in the other.

CXI.*
Hallelujah.
1 S I will give thanks to Jehovah with my whole
heart ;
a In the communion of the upright, and in the con
gregation.
Verse 1. " I will give thanks."] — The proper Psalm opens
with this ; the word Hallelujah, or praise-ye-the-Lord, forming a
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 237, 238.

PSALM CXI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 439
2 a Magnificent are the works of Jehovah ;
1 1nvestigated by all who delight in them.
3 n Honourable and glorious is his dealing :
1 And his justice immoveable for ever.
4 t His achievements he hath ordained to be com
memorated.
n Gracious is Jehovah, and compassionate : —
5 a He hath provided meat for those that fear him :
i He will for ever be mindful of his covenant.
6 3 The power of his works hath he displayed to his
people,
b By giving them the heritage of the heathen.
7 a The works of his hands are truth and equity :
3 Faithful are all his commandments :
8 D They are established for ever and ever ;
37 Being ordained in truth and uprightness.
9 5 He hath sent redemption unto his people :
2 For ever hath he instituted his covenant.
p Holy and reverend is his name.
10-i A reverence of Jehovah is the beginning of
wisdom.
general introduction or prelude. Our translators have rendered it,
" I will praise : " but in so doing they do not keep pace either with
themselves or with the original ; for the word praise in " Praise ye
the Lord," and that in " I will praise," are different terms in the
Hebrew, and hence should be rendered differently in English :
while in verse 1 of Psalms cv., Cvi., and cvii., where the very same
word occurs which they here render, " I will praise/' they render
in all these sentences, " give thanks." It is merely to harmonize
the whole of these passages, and to follow the original in giving
two separate terms instead of a repetition of one common term,
that the present author has preferred, " I will give thanks," to " I
will praise : " for the act is the same, and the word will bear
both interpretations. In Psalm cxiii. 1, the Word "praise" is
properly repeated, for there the Hebrew term itself is repeated.
Verse 10. "A reverence."] — The word is from .the same root as

440 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXII.
W A good understanding is in all who thus act.
n Their praise shall endure for ever.
" reverend" in the preceding line ; and the repetition of the term
forms the connecting link between the two verses.

CXII*
Hallelujah.
1 M Blessed is the man that feareth Jehovah ;
a That delighteth in his statutes supremely.
2 3 Powerful on earth shall be his seed ;
1 The generation of the upright shall be blessed.
3 n Wealth and affluence shall be in his house ;
1 And his justification shall be sure for ever.
4 x Light breaketh forth in the midst of darkness to
the upright ;
n To the pitiful, and the compassionate, and the just.
5 a Prosperous shall be the man who is pitiful and
lendeth ;
> He shall maintain his cause at the tribunal.
6 D Surely neVer shall he fall ;
b The righteous shall be had in remembrance for ever.
7 a Of no evil tidings shall he be afraid :
3 Firm is his heart) confiding in Jehovah,
Verse 4. " To the tender-hearted, and the compassionate, and
the just."] — Our established version renders " he is gracious," &c.
It should rather be, " to the gracious, and the compassionate," &c.
— the preposition b before " upright " being understood, though
not expressed. It is in truth thus given by most critics and trans
lators of later times. * Historical Outline, &c. p. 239.

PSALM CXIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 44 1.
8 D Established is his heart, he shall never be afraid,
37 Till he have made afraid his enemies.
9 D Diffusely hath he given to the poor :
2 His justification shall be sure for ever :
p His horn shall be exalted in glory.
10 1 The wicked shall look on, and be indignant ;
W He shall gnash with his teeth, and consume away ;
n The desire of the wicked shall bring perdition.
Verse 8. " Till he have made afraid, his enemies."] — The verb
nST1 is usually derived from nS") " to see ; " but in this sense it
affords no meaning ; and hence every translator is obliged to supply
gratuitously some other idea. Thus our established version, " until
he see his desire upon his enemies. And thus Dr. Geddes, " until
he see his enemies punished." Let the derivative be NT* " to be
afraid," as in the preceding line, and the whole is clear. The alli
teration is intentional, as in the word heart, and is common with the
Hebrew poets. In this case the n is paragogic, and the future "> is
suppressed purposely as in the English, " he have made," for, " he
shall have made."
Verse 10. " Shall bring perdition."] — "T31Nn is here to be un
derstood in Hiphil, as in Psalm i. 6 : on which see the note.

CXIIL*
1 Hallelujah !
Praise, 0 ye servants of Jehovah,
Praise ye the name of Jehovah.
2 Blessed be the name of Jehovah,
From this time forth even for ever.
We have here again no title or author's name. The Psalm was
evidently composed for the temple service ; and from verses 6 — 9
seems to have a retrospective eye to the miraculous power of Jehovah
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 324.

442 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXIII.
3 From the rising of the sun to his going down,
Praised be the name of Jehovah.
4 High is Jehovah above all nations :
Above the heavens is his glory.
5 Who is like unto Jehovah our God ?
So high in habitation !
6 So condescending in survey !
Throughout the heavens and throughout the earth :
7 Uplifting the impoverished from the dust.
He raiseth up the needy from the dunghill
8 To seat him among princes ;
Among the princes of his people :
9 Settling the barren woman at home,
A joyful mother of children.
Hallelujah.
in delivering the children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt or of
Babylon ; and was probably sung on the festival of the passover.
It commences with the same exordium of praise as the two pre
ceding, but is without an alphabetical notation.
Verse 5. "So high in habitation!
6. So condescending in survey !"] — The passage has been
felt difficult, but the difficulty is removed by regarding the prefix n
as an emphatic adverb instead of as a relative pronoun. It is here
rendered literally, and in the order of the original.
Verse 9. " Settling the barren woman at home,
A joyful mother of children."] — A most beautiful
personification of Jerusalem, or of the Jewish nation, on returning
from captivity ; obtaining a political and independent establishment,
and perpetually fructifying in numbers.

PSALM CXIV.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 443

CXIV.*
] When Israel went forth out of Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a people of a strange language,
2 Judah was his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
3 The sea beheld, and fled ;
The Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains bounded like rams,
Like lambs, the little hills.
5 What was in thee, 0 sea ! that thou fleddest ?
0 Jordan ! that thou turnedst back ?
6 Ye mountains ! that ye bounded like rams ?
Like lambs, ye little hills ?
In the Septuagint, Arabic, iEthiopic, and Vulgate, the term Hal
lelujah, or Praise ye the Lord, which closes the preceding Psalm, is
transferred to the opening of the present ; and perhaps correctly,
since it gives an antecedent to verse 2, which is wanted ; •' Judah
was his sanctuary."
Verse 1. " A people of a strange language."] — So Psalm lxxxi.
5, alluding to the same people :
" Would I listen to a language that I did not own ? "
Verse 2. "His sanctuary."] — Not simply Wlp or " sanctuary,"
but Wlpb strictly " high-sanctuary," sanctum-sanctorum : — the b
being here, as in various other places, an intensive preposition to
the compound, like the Latin per in jjer-sanctus, is hence a more
emphatic term than E71pa. The direct reference is to the house of
David from which sprang our blessed Lord; and upon which, there
fore, in every preceding age the eye of Jehovah rested with peculiar
favour. Hence, while the entire dominion of Israel was holy, the
house of Judah was the holy of holies ; it was the sacred fane of
Messiah. * Historical Outline, &c. p. 213.

444 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXV.
7 The earth trembled at the presence of the Lord ;
At the presence of the God of Jacob ;
8 Who turned the rock into a water-pool,
The flint-bed into a fountain of waters.
Verse 7. " The earth trembled."] — So Kennicott, Geddes, and
most modern critics : and so, in truth, the sense requires as an
answer to the question that precedes, ">bin, however, is not in
common usage, and Kennicott corrects it by bin or nbin ; but
the "> is here, perhaps, paragogic ; as it is allowed to be in "OQnn in
the ensuing verse, " who turned," and as occurs in various places
in the preceding Psalm ; not less than twice, indeed, in two succes
sive lines — namely, the last in the fifth verse, and the first in the
sixth.

CXV.*
(House of Israel or Chorus of the People.)
1 Not unto us, 0 Jehovah, not unto ourselves,
But unto thy name be ascribed the glory ;
According to thy tender-mercy, according to thy truth.
This Psalm has no title, and its author is unknown. It is ob
viously, however, a thanksgiving ode for some special and splendid
victory which God hads graciously enabled the house of Israel to
obtain over its enemies. It draws a striking comparison between
the power he had thus manifested in having " remembered, or been
mindful of them " even in their low estate, in which, with the
utmost boldness of language, they are represented as having been
dead and in the silence of the grave, incapable of praising Jehovah,
(verses 12, 17,) — and the utter worthlessness of the idol gods
around them, whose service they now resolve to abjure, and to put
their trust in the Lord. The assembled congregation consists of
the house of Israel, and the house of Aaron : in other words, one
body politic, and one priesthood ; there is no allusion to Mount
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 40.

PSALM CXV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 445
(House of Aaron or Choir of Priests.)
2 On what can the heathen exclaim,
" Where now is their God ? "

Zion, Jerusalem, the holy hills around, an established throne, or an
anointed king. And it is hence, clear, that the events alluded to
must have occurred, not only before the division of the Jewish
people into the two houses or kingdoms of Israel and Judah, but
before the possession of Jerusalem or even the establishment of a
kingdom of any kind : for in all the subsequent Psalms of triumph,
one or more of these circumstances is constantly referred to. And I
hence cannot coincide with Bishop Horsley and Dr. Geddes in sup
posing that the Psalm alludes to the deliverance of Jerusalem from
Sennacherib's army in the reign of Hezekiah.
But if we turn back to the time of the prophet Samuel, and the
glorious victory obtained over the Philistines at Mizpeh, we shall
meet with a concurrence of facts that apply directly to every part
of the Psalm. The Philistines were at this time and had long been
exercising a grinding tyranny over the dejected Israelites ; ever
since, indeed, the decisive victory near Shiloh, in which they had
taken the ark of God captive ; for though it was shortly afterwards
sent back, and lodged in Kirjath-jearim, it seems to have been
generally neglected and forgotten ; while Ashtaroth or Astarte, and
the other gods of the conquerors, were worshipped in preference ;
for that Ashtaroth was one of the chief gods of the Philistines, we
learn from 1 Sam. xxxi. 10.
In this humiliated state of the people, Samuel is authorized to
address them with a message of grace and a promise of God's
delivering them from their present bondage. " If," says he, 1 Sam.
vii. 3, &c. " ye will return unto the Lord with all your hearts, — put
away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare
your hearts unto the Lord and serve him only, then will he deliver
you out of the hands of the Philistines. And the children of
Israel put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.
And Samuel said, " Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for
you unto the Lord. And they gathered together to Mizpeh. — And
as Samuel was offering up the burnt-offering, the Philistines drew
• near to battle against Israel ; but the Lord thundered with a great
thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them,

446 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXV.
(House of Israel.)
3 Behold, our God is in the heavens ;
He hath performed all that he listed.
and they were smitten before Israel. And Samuel took a stone and
set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-
ezer, saying, * Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.' — So the Philis
tines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of
Israel." If we suppose the present Psalm to have been rehearsed on this
occasion, every part of it corresponds with the history ; and we
are able at once to account for the silence respecting Jerusalem,
and Mount Zion, and the throne and the sceptre of God's servant ;
as also for the use of the terms, house of Israel, and house of Aaron,
while no notice is taken of the family of Judah. It was, therefore,
probably composed by Samuel himself, who was leader of the
college of the prophets, and united with them in both vocal and
instrumental music. And we may form some judgment of the
extent and perfection with which sacred poetry was even in that
day carried forward, from the beautiful hymn of Hannah which she
poured forth on her revisiting Shiloh, 1 Sam. ii. 1 — 10.
The structure of the poem is clearly dramatic, like that of Psalm
xx : the different divisions of the congregation taking their res
pective parts, and responding to each other. These divisions seem
to be the three following — the whole congregation or house of
Israel in full chorus : the choir of priests or house of Aaron ; each
of which make evident appeals to each other : and a third party,
that seems to appeal to both in verses 9, 10, 11, probably consist
ing of the choir of prophets led by Samuel : for which see 1 Sam.
xix. 20.
Verse 2. " On what can the heathen exclaim,
Where now is their God ?"] — Intimating that they
had thus exclaimed antecedently, and apparently with reason, as
God had withdrawn himself from his people on account of their
idolatry. Verse 3. " Behold ! "] — Por this meaning of l see note on Ps.
lxxviii. 31, as also Noldius in re, § 17.
Id. " He hath performed all that he listed."] — In allusion to
the complete overthrow of the Philistines, whose downfall is here

PSALM CXV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 447
(House of Aaron.)
4 Their idols are silver and gold —
The work of men's hands.
5 A mouth is theirs, but they cannot speak.
Eyes are theirs, but they cannot see.
6 Ears are theirs, but they cannot hear.
A nose is theirs, but they cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but they cannot feel ;
Feet, but they cannot walk,
Nor give utterance from their throat.
(House of Israel.)
8 Like themselves are those that make them.
Every one that putteth trust in them.
(House of Aaron.)
9 0 Israel ! trust thou in Jehovah.
(Choir of Prophets.)
Their help shall he be, and their shield.
(House of Israel.)
10 0 house of Aaron ! trust ye in Jehovah.
(Choir of Prophets.)
Their help shall he be, and their shield.
(House of Aaron.)
11 Ye that fear Jehovah ! trust ye in Jehovah.
celebrated, together with the utter inefficiency of their idol-worship,
1 Samuel vii. 10, 13.
Verse 8. " Like themselves are those that make them :
Every one that putteth his trust in them."] — They
here consent to abjure the worship of the false gods they had
hitherto served, in compliance with Samuel's exhortation, 1 Sam.
vii. 3, and abundantly admit the folly and impiety of their past
conduct.

448 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXV.
(Choir of Prophets.)
Their help shall he be, and their shield.
(House of Israel.)
12 Jehovah hath remembered us.
(House of Aaron.)
He will bless— he will surely bless the house of
Israel. (House of Israel.)
He will surely bless the house of Aaron.
(House of Aaron.)
1 3 He will bless them that fear Jehovah ;
Alike the small and the great.
(Choir of Prophets.)
14 Jehovah shall superabound towards you :
Towards you, and towards your children.
(House of Israel.)
15 Blessed be ye of Jehovah !
The maker of heaven and earth.
(Choir of Prophets.)
16 The heavenly heaven is for Jehovah ;
The earth hath he given to the sons of men.
(House of Aaron.)
1 7 The dead have no Hallelujah :
Yea, none that are put down into the land of silence.
Verse 12. " Jehovah hath remembered us."] — By raising them
up from a state of bondage to a state of freedom, and giving a com
plete overthrow to the Philistines their enemies. 1 Sam. vii. 10,
13, 14.
Verse 17. " The dead have no hallelujah."] — This most striking
and energetic passage I have rendered literally. The sacred poet,

PSALM CXVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 449
(House of Israel.)
18 But we will bless Jehovah,
From this time forth, and for ever.
Hallelujah.
with an allowable boldness of imagination, contemplates the whole
congregation before him as having been till now dead and forgotten
of Jehovah : — dead, indeed, of themselves in trespasses and sins,
and in dismay of mind ; without songs of praise, in the silence of
utter despondency : but as now raised from the grave, and singing
the hallelujahs of their resurrection. The reader may find a some
what similar figure in Ps. lxxxviii. 10, 1 1, 12.

CXVI.*
1 I am gladdened ; — for Jehovah hath listened
To the outcries of my supplications.
2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me,
Therefore, throughout my days, will I call upon him.
3 The snares of death had encompassed me ;
The cords of the grave laid hold upon me ;
By distress and anguish was I laid hold of.
There is no title to this Psalm, but it is generally, and with good
reason, supposed to have been composed for Hezekiah upon his
miraculous recovery, as recorded Isaiah xxxviii.
In the Septuagint and Vulgate, this Psalm constitutes Ps. cxiv.
and cxv., being divided into two : the former reaching to and in
cluding verse 9 : and the latter comprising the remainder.
Verse ]. "I am gladdened, for Jehovah hath listened."] —
VW< "O VlinN Our Psalter-version "is far more correct than our
Bible-version, " I am well-pleased that the Lord," &c. — instead
of "I love the Lord because he hath," &c.
. Verse 3. " The cords of the grave laid hold upon me ;
By distress and anguish was I laid hold of."] — The
same verb is thus repeated in the original >31S2a and N2a«-
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 294.
2 G

450 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM CXVI.
4 But I called upon the name of Jehovah ; —
" Vouchsafe, 0 Jehovah ! to deliver my soul."
5 Gracious is Jehovah and righteous ;
Yea, commiserating is our God.
6 Jehovah watcheth over the unthinking. —
I was brought low, but he saved me.
7 Eeturn to thine ease, 0 my soul !
For Jehovah hath been favourable unto thee.
8 Behold, thou hast delivered my soul from death ;
Mine eyes from tears ;
My feet from falling.
9 I shall walk before Jehovah
In the land of the living.
10 I confided ; — although I may affirm
I was grievously afflicted :
11 Although I said, in my urgency,
Every man is a phantom.
Verse 6. " The unthinking."] — ?"'SnQ- Unthinking, incon
siderate, thoughtless, heedless, precipitate. — " Simple," in a good
sense, as commonly given to the passage, is E^nQ and Q>V12.
The distinction is well maintained throughout the book of Pro
verbs. Hezekiah seems here to reflect upon his not having pro
perly estimated or thought upon the power and providence of
God in various parts of his life : perhaps in withholding, without
sufficient cause, from the Assyrian monarch the tribute he was
under an engagement to pay him, which first of all plunged him
into the present extremity : but especially in having, soon'after-
wards, endeavoured to pacify him and to induce him to withdraw
his army, by stripping the temple of its wealth for a peace-offering
instead of asking counsel of God, which was not done till Senna
cherib had accepted of the present ; who then, instead of peaceably
returning home, perfidiously advanced his army against Jerusalem,
and besieged it in despite of his engagement.
Verse 11. " Although I said in my urgency,
Every man is a phantom."] — The particle "O
(although) in the preceding verse, is here understood in the original,

PSALM CXVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 451.
12 What shall I render to Jehovah
For all his benefits towards me ? —
13 The cup of salvation will I take,
And call upon the name of Jehovah
14 To Jehovah will I now pay my vows,
In the presence of all his people.
15 Chary, in the sight of Jehovah,
Is the death of his saints.
16 Truly, 0 Jehovah, as I am thy servant,
As I am thy servant, the son of thy faithfulness,
As thou hast loosened my fetters,
J 7 I will sacrifice to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call upon the name of Jehovah.
and had better be expressed in translation. 2t2 imports " a phan
tom or delusion," as in Ps. lxii. 9. " Life is a delusion, or vain
show— a phantom or shadow — mere deceit and disappointment ; "
see Ps. xxxix. 6.
Verse 13. " The cup of salvation will I take."] — " The cup of
deliverance will I accept," Bishop Horsley. — " The cup of salva
tion or of blessing " here referred to, is evidently the blessing of
restoration to health : though it may have a reference to some part
of the Jewish sacrifice ; and possibly be typical of the higher " cup
of blessing" — the cup of salvation in the Christian Church.
Verse 15. " Chary."] — lp> " charus, cams : " " made much of,
choice, highly- valued ; " and hence "rare, frugal, — not pervul-
gated." And, hence again, never permitted but on extraordinary
occasions, or in cases of extreme necessity. Our more common
term " precious " scarcely expresses this idea.
Verse 16. "The son of thy faithfulness."]— naS from ps,
" truth, faithfulness," rather than from naM, "a hand-maid ; " as
in Psalm lxxxvi. 16. — It is singular that Bishop Horsley under
stands the first of these two passages in this manner ; and the
second in the ordinary manner ; and refers to his interpretation of
the first in proof of his second rendering.
Id. " As thou hast loosed my fetters."] — The Hebrew 'O, as
is understood in the original, though not expressed. The fetters
referred to are those described in ver. 3 : " the snares of death—
the cords of the grave." 2 G 2 '

452 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXVII.
18 To Jehovah will I now pay my vows,
In the presence of all his people :
19 In the courts of Jehovah's house ;
In the midst of thee, 0 Jerusalem !
Hallelujah.

CXVII.*
1 0 praise Jehovah, all ye nations !
Glorify him all ye peoples !
2 For surpassing is his loving-kindness towards us ;
And the faithfulness of Jehovah is for ever.
Hallelujah.
We have here also no title, indicating the name of the author, or
the period for which the ode was composed. But as all the na
tions of the earth are called upon to join in its general chorus of
praise, there can be little doubt that it formed an introductory
hymn to the temple-service on the anniversary of the feast of in
gathering; and it constitutes a beautiful type of the sound of the
gospel-trumpet to all the world.

CXVIILf
(General Chorus, or House of Israel.)
1 0 give thanks to Jehovah, for he is good :
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
Though this Psalm is not ascribed to David, its entire scope
shows that it had a reference to him, and that he was a principal
party in its rehearsal ; and henee there can be no doubt that he is
its author. It is an ode of general thanksgiving, like Psalm xviii,
* Historical Outline &c. p. 240. f Historical Outline &c. p. 197.

PSALM CXVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 453
(Chorus of Priests, or House of Aaron.)
2 Let Israel now declare,
That his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(General Chorus.)
3 Let the house of Aaron now declare, '
That his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Chorus of Priests.)
4 Let them, now, that fear Jehovah, declare,
That his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(King David.)
5 I called upon Jehovah in distress ;
Jehovah answered me at large.
6 Let Jehovah be for me, I will not fear,
Whatever man may do unto me. —
7 Let Jehovah be for me, be with my succours ;
And of mine adversaries I will never be afraid.
(Chorus of Priests.)
8 It is better to trust in Jehovah,
Than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in Jehovah,
Than to put confidence in princes.
for a series of victories over all his enemies, in one encounter with
whom, as we learn from ver. 13, 18, he was exposed to imminent
personal danger. And we are hence led directly to his narrow
escape from death by the sword of the gigantic chief of the Philis
tines, Ishbi-benob, from which he was providentially delivered by
Abishai, 2 Sam. xxi. 16, 17, in the commencement of his war with
this people shortly after the rebellion of Absalom ; as we are, also,
to the rebellion of Sheba which followed hard upon it, and which at
one time looked still more threatening, inasmuch as this last leader
had actually succeeded in drawing the whole of the ten tribes to
his standard, Judah alone with Benjamin which was so closely in
terwoven with it as to form in a manner but one tribe, continuing
true to his government. The history is related in 2 Sam. xx.. It

454 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXVIII.
(King David.)
10 Let all the nations beset me round about,
In the name of Jehovah, behold, I would destroy them.
1 1 Let them beset me, yea, round about let them beset me,
In the name of Jehovah, behold, I would destroy them.
12 They have beset me as bees ;
They are quenched as the blaze of thorns.
In the name of Jehovah, behold, I have destroyed them.
13 Forcibly didst thou thrust at me ;
But Jehovah succoured me in the assault.
1 4 Jehovah is my strength and my song :
Verily, he is become my salvation.
(Chorus of Priests.)
15 Let the voice of triumph and salvation,
Be in the tabernacles of the righteous.
The right-hand of Jehovah hath displayed prowess.
is probable that it is to both these rebellions he refers in ver. 22,
23, of the present Psalm — " the stone which the builders rejected
is become the head-stone of the corner — this hath proceeded from
Jehovah, it is marvellous in our eyes."
This Psalm was probably performed on one of the great festi
vals immediately after these events, perhaps that of the passover ;
and from ver. 27, the great congregation appears to have assembled
at the high-place of sacrifice at Gibeon, instead of at Mount Zion ;
for here the altar was still left till the building of Solomon's tem
ple ; and here the people were accustomed to assemble on all grand
occasions, as did Solomon himself, indeed, on his first great sacri
fice after being seated on the throne. See 1 Kings iii. 4.
This is one of the most composite of all the Psalms in its struc
ture. It was evidently performed in parts — and consists of an
alternating solo by king David, whose preservation and victories it
is chiefly designed to celebrate ; an alternating chorus of priests ;
and an alternating general chorus of the Levites and whole con
gregation. As far as to yer. 19, seems to have been performed
abroad in the court before the tabernacle. At ver. 20, the gates
of the tabernacle or temple are thrown open. At ver., 27, the whole

PSALM CXVI1I.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 45.5
(General Chorus.)
16 The right-hand of Jehovah is exalted :
The right-hand of Jehovah hath displayed prowess.
(King David.)
17 I shall not die ; but live,
And tell forth the deeds of Jehovah.
] 8 Correctly did Jehovah correct me ;
But he gave me not up unto death.
19 Open to me the gates of Righteousness :
I will enter them ; — I will give thanks unto Jehovah.
(Chorus of Priests opening the gate ; before which the
congregation had been hitherto standing.)
20 This is the gate of Jehovah :
Into it let the righteous enter.
(King David having entered with the congregation.)
21 I will give thanks unto thee, for thou hast answered
me ;
And art become my salvation.
congregation call out for the sacrifice ; and the metrical service is
speedily brought to a close.
Verse 1. " O give thanks to Jehovah, for he is good,
Por his tender-mercy is to everlasting."] — This ex
cellent couplet is the form of a doxology devised by David when he
first planned the musical service of the temple, and was prescribed
by him to be made use of daily ; on which account it enters into
various other Psalms, as Psalm cvi. 1 ; cvii. 1 ; cxxxvi. 1, and was
often employed on high festivals, as on the dedication of the temple
by Solomon, 2 Chron. v. 13. The original order occurs 1 Chron.
xvi. 41.
Verse 12. " I have destroyed them."] — The verb is literally
subjunctive here, as well as in ver. 1 0, and 1 1 ; but, as on other
occasions, possesses a past sense as being connected with preceding
verbs in the past sense, " have beset," and " are extinct," and being
governed by them.

456 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXVIII,
(Chorus of Priests.)
22 The stone which the builders rejected,
Is become the head-stone of the corner.
23 From Jehovah hath this proceeded:
It is marvellous in our eyes.
(General Chorus.)
24 This is a day Jehovah hath made :
Let us exult and rejoice in it.
(King David.)
25 Save, now, I beseech thee, 0 Jehovah !
Jehovah, I beseech thee, be thou now propitious !
(Chorus of Priests.)
26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of Jehovah:
From the house of Jehovah we give you blessing.
Verse 13. " Porcibly didst thou thrust at me,
But Jehovah helped me in the assault."] — The
Hebrew bD3b, " in the assault," or, as in our common version,
" to make me fall," belongs to the second division of the couplet,
as here rendered. The fact referred to appears to be the sudden
attack of the Philistine giant Ishbi-benob, who was providentially
struck down by a rapid movement of Abishai, and killed on the
spot as his drawn sword was in the act of falling on David. It was
in consequence of this extreme peril that the army sware that he
should no more go out to battle, that he might not " quench the
light of Israel." 2 Sam. xxi. 16, 17.
Verse 15, 16. "' The right-hand of Jehovah hath displayed
prowess."] — Hebrew b^ni " prowess or valour," rather than
" valiantly," as in our common version : but the original is pecu
liarly forcible, " hath wrought out, substantiated or realized, prow
ess or valour."
Verse 22. " The stone which the builders rejected."] — By the
builders are meant the chief men of the city in the rebellion of Ab
salom ; and those of the ten tribes who afterwards favoured the
treason of Sheba. See the introductory note to the present Psalm.

PSALM CXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 457
(General Chorus.)
27 Jehovah is God : — and he is shining upon us.
Bind the victim with cords up to the horns of the
altar. (King David.)
28 Thou art my God, and I will give thanks unto thee :
Thou art my God, and I will exalt thee.
(General Chorus.)
29 0 give thanks to Jehovah, for he is good ;
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.

CXIX.* N
1 Blessed are the uncorrupt in conduct,
Who walk after the law of Jehovah.
2 Blessed are the observers of his testimonies :
With the whole heart do they search them out.
This Psalm is also without name or title. There is, however,
little chance of mistake in ascribing it to king David, either as an
original composition of his own, or a selection of valuable
apophthegms at that period floating in the world as the occasional
production of the devotional poets of former times. These embrace
almost every variety of situation in which man can be placed ; and
by the alphabetical arrangement which is assigned to them in the
original, were easily committed to memory, so as to be of imme
diate use on every emergency. But we have already so fully ex
plained the general nature and comprehensive scope of this beau
tiful composite poem in the Historical Outline, that it is unnecessary
to tread over the same ground again.
Verse 2. " Search them out."] — Bather than " seek him," as
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 247.

458 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXIX.
3 Assuredly they commit no evil :
They walk on in his ways.
4 Thou hast given commandment,
To keep thy precepts perfectly.
5 0 that my ways were consistent,
With the keeping of thy statutes.
6 Then shall I never be ashamed,
When I have respect to all thy commandments.
7 I will laud thee with uprightness of heart,
When I shall have learned the ordinances of thy
righteousness.
8 Should I keep thy statutes,
Thou wilt never forsake me utterly.
9 Wherewith shall a young man purify his conduct 1
By taking heed according to thy word.
10 With my whole heart do I make search for thee :
0, let me not wander from thy commandments.
11 Thine oracles have I treasured up in my heart,
That I may never transgress against thee.
commonly rendered, in is here plural, and W11 imports " to ana
lyze, search out or into ; " " to investigate," rather than simply
" to seek."
Verse 11. "Thine oracles."] — Our translators have employed
the term word for two distinct terms in the original, 131 and n"ll3S
or in regimen n~iaN. The Septuagint, while it very properly ren
ders the first of these by word, renders the last by " oracle," or
" oracles;" in two instances verse 11 and verse 162 employing
the plural ra. \oyid a-ov, as though in these places their copies had
read "pmaN instead of "jmaN, and in all the rest the singular,
to Xoytiv : and the Vulgate has followed this example, giving us,
instead of verbum, " eloquium," or "eloquia." The writers of
the New Testament have distinctly understood maN in the same
sense, and have uniformly rendered it plural, as though a noun of
number from its comprising all inspired scripture : whence we have

PSALM CXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 459
12 Blessed art thou, 0 Jehovah :
0, teach me thy commandments.
13 With my lips have I counted over
All the ordinances of thy mouth.
14 I rejoice in the way of thy testimonies,
As above every thing of wealth.
15 I will meditate on thy precepts,
And have respect to thy paths.
16 I will take delight in thy statutes :
I will not forget thy word. a
17 0, be thou bountiful unto thy servant :
May I live and give heed to thy word.
18 Unveil thou mine eyes,
That I may behold the wonders of thy law.
19 I am a stranger upon earth ;
Hide not thy commandments from me.
Acts vii. 38, Xoyia Zfivra " lively oracles ;" Bom. iii. 2, ra. Xoyia tou
&tov, " the oracles of God;" Heb. v. 12, t^; dpxns rSy Xoylav rSv
&(ov, "the first principles of the oracles of God;" and 1 Peter iv.
11, ei tij JiaXei «; Xoyia ®eov, " if any man speak, let him speak as
the oracles of God." Bishop Horsley is correct, therefore, in sug
gesting a like term in the translated Psalter.
Verse 14. " As above every thing of gain."] — Kennicott, dissa
tisfied with the common rendering " as much as in all riches," pro
poses for bVD to read bl7a " more than in." But the alteration
is unnecessary ; for bv is here not in, but super, above or beyond,
which gives us the meaning now offered, and a meaning supported
by the Syriac. In would be 3, as at the beginning of the verse,
" In the way of thy testimonies."
Verse 18. " Unveil thou."] — Such is the literal and forcible ren
dering of nbj — which signifies " to uncover or remove a veil from,"
rather than to open :
" He from thick films shall purge the visual ray,
And on the sightless eye-ball pour the day."
Verse 19. " I am a stranger upon earth."] — " Heaven is my

460 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXIX.
20 My soul languisheth with desire
For thine ordinances in every state.
21 Thou chastisest the arrogant,
The accursed that run astray from thy commandments.
22 Take away from me reproach and contempt ;
For I have treasured up thy testimonies.
23 Though princes should sit, should debate against me,
Thy servant shall meditate on thy statutes.
home — 0, take not from me its directory." Such was the common
language of the patriarchs; and hence St. Paul, Heb. xi. 13, 14,
" These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but
having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and em
braced them ; and confessed that they were strangeks, and pil
grims on the earth. Por they that say such things declare
plainly that they seek a country."
Verse 20. " Por thine ordinances."] — In the original "pl3SE7B
which is almost uniformly rendered in our common version, " thy
judgments," but which far more frequently means, " thine ordi
nances, dicta or decrees," as a rule of life. See especially verse 106,
" I will keep the ordinances of thy righteousness." aDE7l2 is, in
truth, a word of very general meaning, and its particular sense occa
sionally varies according to the context, and ought to be expressed
by different terms, as we have no one that will parallel it in all its
bearings. Of this our established translators have given one example
inverse 132, where instead of saying, " after the judgment of those
that love thy name," which would be only to follow their own uni
formity, they have given circuitously, " as thou usest to do unto
those, &c." The direct rendering is " after the ordinance or manner
of those," &c, which is very nearly that given in our marginal
reading. Verse 22. " I have treasured up."] — Bather than "I have kept,"
for the word is not here "iati7 as in verses 4, 5, 8, which is properly
- rendered " keep ; " but "123 of the same general import, but of
more energy, " to keep in store, to reserve, or treasure up." So
Bishop Horsley. And thus verses 69, 129, and Various other
places.

PSALM CXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 461
24 Yea, thy testimonies shall be my rejoicing,
The members of my council. 1
25 My soul is laid hold of by the dust ;
0, quicken me according to thy word.
26 I have rehearsed thy ways — and wilt thou afflict me ?
0, teach me thy statutes.
27 The way of thy visitations let me understand,
That I may dwell upon thy wonders.
28 My soul wasteth away with distress ;
0, strengthen me according to thy word.
29 Remove from me the way of deceit ;
And vouchsafe unto me thy law.
30 The way of truth do I long for :
I have pondered thine ordinances.
31 Thy testimonies have I laid hold of,
0 Jehovah, put me not to shame.
32 I will run the way of thy commandments,
If thou give enlargement to my heart.
n
33 Guide me, 0 Jehovah, in the way of thy statutes,
And I will hold it unto the end.
34 Instruct me, and I will retain thy law ;
Yea, with my whole heart will I keep it.
35 0, lead me in the path of thy commandments,
For therein do I delight.
36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,
Verse 24. " The members of my council."] — See the marginal
reading of our established version — "the men of my council" —
in237 SU73M. The ordinary meaning of H73N is " a man," or
" member of society."
Verse 26. "And wilt thou afflict me ? "] — The passage is rendered
literally. n3S7 seems here rather, " to afflict," than " to answer ; "
and the passage should be given interrogatively, as the verb is in
the future tense.

462 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXIX.
And not unto lucre.
37 0, turn mine eyes from the sight of vanity ;
Quicken thou me in thy way.
38 Confirm thine oracles unto thy servant ;
I would walk in thy fear.
39 0, remove my reproach, which I dread ;
For gracious are thine ordinances.
40 Behold, I am longing for thy precepts ;
0, quicken me in thy righteousness. 1
41 Let thy tender-mercy come, indeed, unto me, 0
Jehovah ;
Thy salvation, according to thine oracles.
42 So will I make the word effective on my reproacher,
For in thy word do I trust.
43 0, take not the word of truth away from my mouth,
For yet have I wholly relied in thine ordinances :
Verse 38. " Confirm thine oracles —
I would walk in thy fear."] — Por " oracles " see the
note on verse 1 1 . IWtf may be a pronoun relative, or a verb. Our
common version and most writers take it in the first sense, and
render " who ; " but, in order to make sense, they are obliged to
supply quite gratuitously the word, " is devoted." Houbigant and
Kennicott understand it, and in my opinion with more judgment,
in the second sense ; and the passage then becomes, as now ren
dered, " I would walk in," or it might be without the intervention
of a preposition, " I would hail," " I would cultivate thy fear."
Verse 41. " Thine oracles."] ---See note on verse 1 1.
Verse 42. " So will I make the word effective :
For in thy word  "] — The rendering is literal.
The term is here not niDS, but "131- Our marginal reading for
word has " thing ; " this is not only to lose the exact sense, but
also the iteration which the term word here bears with the same in
the ensuing line of the couplet. The word is the saint's weapon
of war ; and hence St. Paul exhorts us to " take the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God."
Verse 43. " Yet have I wholly."] — The words TSa 127 com-

PSALM CXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 4G3
44 And thy law would I keep,
Perpetually, for evermore :
45 And at large would I walk on ;
For I am searching out thy precepts :
46 And will talk of thy testimonies
Before kings, and not be ashamed.
47 Yea, I will exhilarate myself,
In thy commandments which I delight in :
48 And to thy commandments which I delight in, raise
my hands,
And meditate on thy statutes.
49 Remember the promise to thy servant,
Upon which thou hast caused me to rely.
50 This is my comfort in mine affliction ;
For thine oracles revive me.
51 Let the proud scoff at me to the utmost,
Never do I decline from thy law.
52 I remember, 0 Jehovah, thy judgments of old,
And give myself comfort.
53 A smoulder-blast seizeth me,
On account of the wicked, the forsakers of thy law.
monly rendered " utterly," and connected with the first line of the
couplet, belong rather, as here placed, to the second, and should
signify " yet wholly." Other critics, not knowing what to make of
them, have omitted them entirely, or carried them gratuitously to
some other verse.
Verse 49. " The promise."] — This seems to be the meaning of
"13T here, as in Ps. cv. 42 — " he remembered his holy pro
mise " ^31).
Verse 50. " Oracles."] — See note on ver. 11.
Verse 53. "A smoulder-blast."]— nSEbt a Samiel, or "scorch
ing and sulphureous choke-damp," that so often sweeps with fatal
violence over the east, suffocating in a moment everything that has
breath within its range. See Ps. xi. 6, and the note thereon. So
Lament, v. 10, " Our skin was black-burnt as an oven, because of

464 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXIX.
54 Thy statutes are my carols,
In the house of my pilgrimage.
55 I think on thy name, 0 Jehovah, in the night,
And thy precepts will I keep.
56 This have I [for a comfort],
That I have treasured up thy precepts.
n
57 Thou art my portion, 0 Jehovah ;
I have avouched that I will keep thy words.
58 With my whole heart do I long for thy countenance,
0, be thou gracious unto me according to thine oracles :
59 I contemplated thy dealings,
And turned my feet to thy testimonies.
60 I hastened and made no delay,
In the keeping of thy commandments.
61 The bands of the wicked have plundered me,
Yet have I not neglected thy law.
62 At midnight do I arise to give thanks unto thee,
Because of the ordinances of thy righteousness.
63 I am a companion of all that fear thee,
And of those that keep thy precepts.
64 Thy loving-kindness, 0 Jehovah, filleth the earth,
Teach thou me thy statutes. a
65 Graciously hast thou dealt with thy servant,
0 Jehovah, according unto thy word.
the smoulder-blasts of famine : " which in the margin is rendered
" because of the terrors or storms of famine."
Verse 56. " This have I."] — Such is the imperfect line in the
Masora and the common renderings, evidently showing, as Dr.
Kennicott has remarked, that a word is wanting. The ancient
Syriac has preserved this word, which Kennicott thus introduces
into the passage, naTO ">b nn^n nST literally, as given in the
present text, " This have I fob, a comport."
Verse 58. " Thine oracles."] — See note on ver. 11.

PSALM CXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 465
66 Grace, prudence, and knowledge, do thou teach me,
For on thy commandments do I rely.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now do I keep thine oracles.
68 Thou art good, and doest good ;
0, teach me thy statutes.
69 Let the proud string falsehoods against me,
With my whole heart will I treasure up thy precepts.
70 Let their heart be as unctuous as fat,
For me, in thy law will I rejoice.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
Since thereby have I learned thy statutes.
72 Good unto me is the law of thy mouth,
Beyond thousands of gold and of silver.
i
73 Thy hands made me and fashioned me :
0, give me understanding that I may learn thy com
mandments.
74 They that fear thee will be glad when they see me,
Because I relied on thy word.
75 I know, 0 Lord, that it was right ;
In thine ordinances and truth didst thou afflict me.
Verse 67. " Thine oracles."] — See note on ver. 11.
Verse 70. " Let their heart be as unctuous as fat."] — Let them
have all the prosperity they covet, — I envy them not — my rejoicing
is in thy law.
Verse 75. " That it was right ;
In thine ordinances and truth — "] — The Hebrew is
here rendered strictly. To meet the usual versions the text must
be altered ; for they give us —
" Thy judgments (or dispensations) are right,
And that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me."
But right and judgments cannot agree, for the first (pis) is in the
singular, and the second — -paQE7a or -paBE> is in the plural :
while in, before faithfulness, is altogether gratuitous. In the sense
2 H

466 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXIX.
76 0, grant that thy loving-kindness may be for my
comfort,
According to thine oracles unto thy servant :
77 That thy tender-mercy may come unto me, and I may
revive ;
For thy law is my rejoicing.
78 Let the proud be confounded, for deceitfully have
they wronged me ;
But for me— let me meditate in thy precepts.
79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me,
Yea, those that own thy name.
80 Sound be my heart in thy statutes ;
So that I may never be confounded. 3
81 My soul languisheth for thy salvation :
I stay myself on thy word.
82 Mine eyes languish for thine oracles.
Exclaiming, " When wilt thou comfort me ? "
83 Though I am parched as a skin-bottle in the smoke,
Thy statutes I do not forget.
84 How long shall be the days of thy servant ?
Why executest thou not judgment on my persecutors ?
85 The proud have delved for me pit-falls,
Assuredly not after thy law.
86 Faithful are all thy commandments :
They persecute me wrongfully : 0, succour me.
87 Well nigh have they consumed me from the. earth;
But thy precepts I do not forsake.
now offered, the a prefixed to "pt2Qtt7a is evidently regarded as a
preposition, the noun itself being ^taDD.
Verse 85. " Assuredly not."] — "1B7N seems here rather an ad
verb, than a relative pronoun, " which," as usually rendered. In
this form it occurs not unfrequently, as in Zech. viii. 23 ; Eccles.
i. 10. See Nold. in verb. § 2. The general passage is a copy of
Ps. Ivii. 6.

PSALM CXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 467
88 0, quicken me according to thy loving-kindness,
That I may keep the testimony of thy mouth.
b
89 For ever, 0 Jehovah, hath thy word
Given array to the heavens.
90 From generation to generation is thy faithfulness,
Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
91 According to thine ordinances do they hold on,
Daily, for all are thy servants.
92 Unless thy law were my rejoicings,
Even now should I perish in mine afflictions.
93 Never will I forget thy precepts,
For with them dost thou quicken me.
94 I am thine ;— 0, save me,
For thy precepts do I search into.
95 Let the wicked lurk for me to destroy me,
I will dwell upon thy precepts.
96 To every perfection I see a limit ;
Immeasurably broad is thy commandment.
a
97 0, how do I delight in thy law,
It is my meditation all the day.
Verse 89. " Given array to the heavens."] — The Hebrew 323
is a military term, and applies to arraying or martialling the
divisions of an army in their proper stations when taking the field.
The hosts of heaven are here supposed to be arrayed or martialled
with a like exact order : and to maintain for ever the relative
duties imposed on them : while the earth, like the heavens, has as
established a march prescribed to it, which it equally fulfils, for all
are the servants of the great Creator ; and hence, as they change,
produce the beautiful regularity of the seasons, the rich returns of
harvest, and daily declare the glory of the Lord. .
Verse 91. " According to thine ordinances do they hold on •
Dmry "  ] — The whole verse is here given in the
literal order of the words in the original. The term >aDtt7a, which,
in the present version, has been generally rendered " ordinances,"
is here rendered the same in our established translation, and in
most others.
2 H 2

468 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXIX.
98 Through thy commandments hast thou given me wis
dom
Above my foes, for it is ever with me.
99 Above all my teachers have I understanding,
For thy testimonies are my meditation.
100 Above the ancients have I discernment, ¦
For thy precepts have I treasured up.
101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
In order that I might keep thy word.
102 From thine ordinances have I not departed,
For thou hast instructed me.
103 How sweet to my palate are thine oracles !
Beyond honey to my mouth.
104 Through thy precepts gain I discernment,
So as to hate every false way.
3
105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
Yea, a luminary to my path.
106 1 have sworn, and will perform it,
That I will keep the ordinances of thy righteousness.
1 07 Very grievously was I afflicted ;
Revive me, O Jehovah, according to thy word.
1 08 The oblations of my mouth deign, O Jehovah, to
accept,
And teach me thine ordinances.
109 My life is perpetually in my hand,
But never do I forget thy law.
110 The wicked laid a snare for me ;
Yet did I not go astray from thy precepts.
1 1 1 For ever have I made a heritage of thy testimonies ;
For these are the joy of my heart.
Verse 98. " Por it is."]— Bather than " they are," sfl. That
is, " wisdom, or the gift is." — See the marginal reading in our
common version.

PSALM CXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 469
112 I have inclined my heart to the performance
Of thy statutes continually unto the end.
D
113 I hate the turbulent ;
But thy law do I delight in.
114 Thou art my shelter and my shield ;
I stay myself on thy word.
115 Depart from me, ye evil-doers ;
For I will hold to the commandments of my God.
116 Upbear me according to thy oracles, that I may
revive ;
And let me not be ashamed of my hope.
117 Do thou uphold me, and I shall be safe,
And will ever have respect to thy statutes.
118 Thou prostratest all the strayers from thy statutes,
So that their cunning is self-delusive.
119 All the wicked of the earth thou accountest dross ;
Therefore do I delight in thy testimonies.
Verse 113. " The turbulent."] — O^DSD from f\Vt) " to rend
or rive, to distract or disturb : " whence St. Jerome, " tumultu-
osus," which is its proper sense. It is nearly synonymous with
CB37B7 in Job iv. 13 ; xx. 2, which should be rendered as of the
same meaning. See the author's notes in these passages appended
to his translation of the book of Job. Bishop Horsley has, in like
manner followed St. Jerome's version : and the Septuagint and
Vulgate are not widely different, vaoavopiovs — iniquos : " the im
pious or wicked," applied to persons rather than things.
Verse 119. " Thou accountest dross."]— The Masora is n3t£>n
" thou puttest away." But many of the codices and versions have
n^E7n " thou accountest." The Septuagint employs the same
verb, but in the first instead of the second person : i\oywdpu)v, " I
account." There is hence little doubt that the Masora is here
erroneous ; and Houbigant, Kennicott, and Hare have adopted the
emendation ; with which the word, like, not found in the Hebrew,
is not wanted.

470 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXIX.
120 My flesh trembleth with the fear of thee,
So much do I stand in awe of thy judgments.
37
121 Judgment and justice have I executed ;
0, leave me not to mine oppressors.
122 Assure thy servant of good ;
Let not the arrogant oppress me.
123 Mine eyes languish for thy salvation,
And for the oracles of thy righteousness.
1 24 According to thy tender-mercy deal thou with thy
servant,
And teach me thy testimonies.
125 I am thy servant : 0, give me understanding,
That I may know thy testimonies.
126 Now for execution from Jehovah : —
They have violated thy law.
127 Thus far love I thy commandments,
Above gold, yea, above fine gold.
128 Thus far count I all thy precepts to be all right,
That I abhor every dishonest way.
s
129 Wonderful are thy testimonies :
Therefore my soul treasureth them up.
130 The entrance of thy words giveth light;
It giveth understanding to the simple.
131 I stretched out my mouth that I might inhale them;
So longed I for thy commandments.
132 0, behold me, and be gracious unto me,
After the manner of those that love thy name.
Verse 127. " Thus far."] — p"bS7, " hactenus, hue usque,"
" thus far," " thus highly."
Verse 132. " After the manner."] — The passage is rendered
literally : " according to the ordinance of." The word is aSBD,
as in ver. 84, and 106 : the same as is in many other places ren
dered " judgment," which would be here highly improper. The

PSALM CXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 471
133 Confirm my footing in thine oracles ;
And let not any iniquity overpower me.
134 Set me free from the oppression of man,
And I will hold to thy precepts.
] 35 Let thy face shine upon thy servant,
And teach me thy statutes.
136 Rivers of waters run down mine eyes,
Because men keep not thy law.
137 Righteous art thou, 0 Jehovah,
And equitable are thy judgments.
138 Thou hast established the righteousness of thy tes
timonies,
Yea, the faithfulness, transcendently.
1 39 My zeal wasteth me away ;
While my despiters are neglectful of thy words.
140 Thoroughly tried are thine oracles ;
Therefore doth thy servant delight in them.
141 Though little am I and rejected,
I am not forgetful of thy precepts.
142 Thy righteousness is righteousness for ever,
And thy law verity.
143 Distress and anguish have lighted upon me,
But thy commandments are my rejoicing.
marginal reading of our Bible gives " according to the custom
towards those," &c.
Verse 138. " Thou hast established the righteousness."] —
The whole couplet is here given after the letter and order of the
original. A difficulty, however, has been often thought to accom
pany it, and hence the different senses offered in our common and
marginal versions. Seeker has objected to the first, and correctly ;
and Hare to both, and has proposed an emendation of the text.
The present rendering will, I trust, show that this is not necessary.
A parallel passage occurs in ver. 144.

472 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXIX.
144 The righteousness of thy testimonies is for ever ;
0, give me understanding, and I shall revive.
P
145 Unto thee do I cry with my whole heart ;
Hearken unto me, 0 Jehovah, and I will hold to
thy statutes.
146 I cry unto thee, 0 save me,
And I will keep thy testimonies.
147 I outstrip the dawn, and implore,
I stay myself on thy promises.
148 Mine eyes outstrip the night-watches,
That I may meditate on thine oracles.
149 Hear thou my voice according to thy loving-kindness;
Revive me, 0 Jehovah, according to thine ordin
ances.
150 The plotters of mischief draw near,
They that are far off from thy law.
151 Thou thyself, 0 Jehovah, drawest nearer,
And all thy commandments are truth.
152 Long since have I known, concerning thy testimonies,
That to everlasting thou hast founded them.
153 Look upon mine affliction and release me ;
For I do not forget thy law.
154 Contend thou with my intruders, and deliver me ;
O, quicken me according to thine oracles.
155 Far off is salvation from the wicked,
For they consult not thy statutes.
156 Numerous are thy tender-mercies, 0 Jehovah,
According to thine ordinances, revive me.
157 Numerous are my persecutors and my foes ;
Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.
158 I look at hypocrites, and am heart-sick,
That they should give no heed to thine oracles.

PSALM CXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 473
159 Behold, how I delight in thy precepts ;
Quicken me, 0 Jehovah, according to thy loving-
kindness.
160 Truth is the principle of thy word,
And every ordinance of thy righteousness is for ever.
B7
161 The princes have causelessly persecuted me,
But my heart hath a reverence for thy promises.
162 In thine oracles do I rejoice,
More than he that findeth great spoil.
163 Deceit I hate, and abominate ;
Thy law do I delight in.
164 Seven times a day do I praise thee,
Because of the ordinances of thy righteousness.
165 Great peace have they that love thy law,
And nothing shall offend them.
166 I am waiting, 0 Jehovah, for thy salvation,
For I have done thy commandments.
167 My soul hath kept thy testimonies,
And I love them supremely.
168 I have kept thy precepts, and thy testimonies,
Yea, all my ways are before thee.
n
169 Let my cry approach thy presence, 0 Jehovah,
Give me understanding according to thy word.
170 Let my supplication come into thy presence ;
Deliver thou me according to thine oracles.
171 My lips shall pour forth praise,
When thou shalt teach me thy statutes.
172 My tongue shall rehearse thine oracles,
For all thy commandments are righteousness.
173 Let thy hand be a help unto me,
For I have made choice of thy precepts.
Verse 162. " Oracles."]— See note on ver. 11.

474 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXX.
174 I long for thy salvation, 0 Jehovah,
Yea, thy law are my rejoicings.
175 Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee ;
Yea, let thine ordinances succour me.
176 I am wandering as a lost sheep ;
0, seek thy servant, for I forget not thy command
ments.

CXX.*

A MARCH-SONG.

1 Unto Jehovah, when distress was upon me,
I cried, and he answered me.
This and the next fourteen Psalms are denominated in their
respective titles, " Songs of steps, or progressions." nibs?an 1>W,
or, as in Psalm cxxi. mb37ab "Vtt7, Progressionary, or March-
songs ; or what we should call in modern language Sacred
Marches ; songs sung while taking steps or in progression. The
subjects of these marches are of various kinds, being sometimes
carols of the Jewish multitudes that flocked from remote kingdoms,
or the extreme parts of their own territory, to keep some one of the
three grand festivals at Jerusalem on their annual return. And
that this is the real meaning of the term in its present place is per
fectly clear from its being employed, as a verb, to express this very
act of marching forward, progressing or advancing to Jerusalem
to join the great congregation on one of those occasions, in Psalm
cxxii. 4, which has the same title.
Thither are marching forward the tribes,
The tribes of the Lord, the congregations of Israel —
where " marching forward," " advancing," going up," is ex
pressed by "\bv ; from whence the noun ntbj7a in the title — '
here rendered " progression," as its immediate and general mean-
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 17, 79.

PSALM CXX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 475
2 Deliver my soul, 0 Jehovah,
From lying lips, from a tongue of guile.
3 What shall be dispensed unto thee,
Yea, what provided for thee, thou tongue of guile ?.
4 Arrows of the valiant man,
Tipped with torches of juniper.
ing. Psalm cxxii. is therefore manifestly a march-song of this
description ; as is also Psalm cxxi, and cxxiii. Psalm cxxiv refers
to David's triumphant procession to Jerusalem after Absalom's re
bellion. Psalm cxxvii, and cxxviii, are sacred marches, sung ap
parently during the procession that took place on the marriage of
king Solomon. Psalm cxxvi, a sacred march composed against
the joyous return from the Babylonian captivity under Ezra ; and
Psalm cxxiii, on the less joyous removal from one station of labour
to another, while under the scourge of their Babylonian task-mas
ters. Psalm cxxix, cxxx, cxxxi, seem to refer to the rebuilding of
Jerusalem, and take a survey of its desolate condition, and the
opposition of the bordering people. Psalm cxxxiv, which closes the
whole, is a most beautiful little march of the watchman of the night,
as making his circuit about the temple. It is a holy salutation of
the priests who were keeping watch within, and who, in the last
verse, sing a sacred response.
There can be no doubt, I think, that the Psalm immediately be
fore us refers to the same subject as Psalm Iii, and consequently
that the " lying lips and tongue of guile," in ver. 2, refer to the
perfidious Doeg ; and hence again, that it was composed by David
in his rapid and melancholy march from his native country to a
land of heathenism and strangers, owing to the unjust suspicions
and fury of Saul. It is highly probable, however, that it afterwards
became a sacred national march, and was rehearsed by many on their
anniversary journeyings to Jerusalem, who had statedly resided
among heathen nations, and been upbraided and ill-treated by
them on account of their religion.
Verse 3. " Thou tongue of guile."] — Evidently, as observed
above, referring to the perfidious Doeg, and in very nearly the same
words as are more fully applied to him in Psalm Iii. 1 — 4.
Verse 4. " Tipped with torches of juniper."]— The entire
verse is rendered literally and in the order of the original. The
Hebrew term am. is still preserved in the Arabic Jj and has

476 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXX.
5 Woe is me ! that I sojourn in Meshech ;
That I dwell in the tents of Kedar.
6 Yet a long time have I dwelt
With him that hateth peace.
7 I myself am for peace,
But, whatever I may speak, they are for war.
been communicated from the Arabic to the Spanish, from the in
fluence of the former over the' latter tongue during the period of
the Western Caliphat in the Spanish territories, where we still meet
with it under the form of retdma, applied generally to those plants
that are comprehended in modern botany under the names of
spartium, genista, ulex, as jumper, Spanish-broom, furze, and va
rious others. Many of these, and especially the juniper, are strongly
impregnated with turpentine, and hence burn with great readiness
and violence : and a more appalling or destructive weapon can
scarcely be conceived than that of arrows tipped with burning
torches of this kind, and shot from a powerful and dextrous hand.
It is in truth, a weapon that makes an approach to the formidable
burning rockets employed irresistibly by our own artillery during
the late war.
See the author's note on his translation of the book of Job,
chapter xxx. 4.
Verse 5. " Woe is me that I sojourn in Meshech,
That I dwell in the tents of Kedar."]— These
phrases seem to have been proverbially expressive of an outcast life,
among wandering and barbarous hordes : — banished from the dear
haunts of home, and friendship, and especially from the house and
ordinances of God. Meshech was a son of Japhet ; and his descen
dants, here referred to, were notorious for having led a barbarous
and predatory life, in scattered tribes about the southern sides of
the Caucasus. The Kedareens, or Bedouin Arabs, or Kaflirs, as
they are now named, continue to this hour to lead a desultory and
wandering existence, still dwelling in tents which they call dow-
arrah, covered over with the dark-coloured and shaggy skins of
their goats, and moving onward from one verdant patch of ground
to -another, athwart the sandy desert they inhabit.
Verse 6. " Tet long have I dwelt with him that hateth peace."]
— There can be little doubt that this applies to Saul, with whom,
from the jealousy and fuiy of his temper, it was impossible for
David to preserve peace on any terms.

PSALM CXXI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 477

CXXL*

A MARCH-SONG.

(Company of Pilgrims,
Advancing to Jerusalem to keep one of the three great
Annual Festivals.)
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,
From whence cometh my help.
2 My help is from Jehovah,
The Maker of heaven and earth.
(Chorus of accompanying Priests or Levites.)
3 He will not suffer thy foot to give way :
He that guardeth thee will not slumber.
(Pilgrim-voice as above.)
4 Behold the Guardian of Israel,
Will never slumber nor ever sleep.
Another progressionary Psalm, for which see the introductory
note to Psalm cxx.
Verse 1. "I will lift up mine eyes to the hills."] — The hills
here referred to are the holy hills that surrounded Jerusalem,
Mount Zion, Mount Olivet, Mount Moriah, Mount Calvary, and,
farther off, Mount Tabor, Mount Carmel, Mount Hermon : which
were held up by the people of Israel in opposition to the moun
tains of heathen idolatry; a contrast which is common to the
sacred poets. See especially notes on Psalm xi. 1, and Ixviii. 15,
16 ; and so in Psalm cxxv. 2.
Around Jerusalem are its mountains ;
, And around his people is Jehovah.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 242.

478 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXI.
(Chorus as above.)
5 Jehovah is thy guardian :
Jehovah is thy shade on thy right-hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 Jehovah shall guard thee from every evil :
He shall guard thy soul.
8 Jehovah shall guard thy going-forth and thy return,
From this time even for ever.
Verse 6. " The sun shall not smite thee by day,
Nor the moon by night."] — Thou shalt be equally
guarded against insolation or sun-stroke, in medical language
cephalitis, inflammation or other affections of the brain from the
direct rays of the sun, during the noon ; and from bilious or other
fevers produced by the pestilential damp of the vapours that rise
in such abundance during the night ; which form the two chief dan
gers of tropical climates. In the Eeport of the Medical Committee
appointed by the Church Missionary Society in 1825, to examine
into the cause of the dreadful mortality that had for many years
taken place among the missionaries and other residents in Western
Africa, both these causes are specially alluded to, as main sources
of the loss sustained ; and in Psalm xci. 6, they are again strongly
figured under the imagery of
The Pestilence that stalketh in darkness,
The Destruction that wasteth at noon-tide.
And we may hence see something of the benevolence of that mi
raculous care which the God of Israel took for his people while
travelling through the wilderness, by affording them in the day
time a canopy, or pillar of a cloud, to shade them from the one
danger, and in the night a pillar of fire to dissipate the deadly
damp. See the note on Psalm xci. 6.

PSALM CXXII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 479

CXXIL*
A MARCH SONG : BY DAVID.
(Company of Pilgrims,
Advancing to Jerusalem to keep one of the three great
Annual Festivals.)
1 I was glad when they said unto me —
" Let us go up to the house of Jehovah :
2 " Let our feet stand within thy gates, 0 Jerusalem."
(Chorus of accompanying Priests or Levites.)
3 Jerusalem is built as a city,
That is altogether compact in itself.
4 Thither are marching forward the tribes,
The tribes of Jah, the congregations of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of Jehovah.
The subject of this Psalm, entitled also a processionary song, or
sacred march, is precisely of the same kind as the preceding ; and
proves itself so through the whole context. We learn moreover,
by the title, that it was composed for this occasion by king David
himself. Verse 3. " That is compact."] — n~l2nti7 : in which the 27 is a
relative, being a contraction for "1H7N, a form by no means com
mon, but found once or twice afterwards in the progressionary
songs before us, as a relative or a conjunction, as Psalm cxxiii. 2,;
cxxiv. 1, 2.
Verse 4. " Thither are marching forward the tribes,
The tribes of Jah, the congregations of Israel."] — -
The whole verse evidently confirming the occasion of this sacred
march, as stated in the introductory note. n"nS7 should here be
congregations, in the plural, for it is a plural noun, as already noticed
by Bishop Horsley, rather than testimony : and we do not then
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 245.

480 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXIII.
(Pilgrim-voice as above.)
5 Lo, there are founded the thrones of equity :
The thrones of the house of David.
(Chorus as above.)
6 0 pray ye for the peace of Jerusalem !
They shall prosper that love thee.
(Pilgrim- voice as above.)
7 Peace be within thy walls !
Prosperity within thy palaces !
8 For my brethren and companions' sake,
Again will I exclaim, Peace be within thee !
9 For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God,
I will seek thy success.
stand in need of the preposition "unto the testimony," as in our
common translation, and which is not found in the original.

CXXIII.*
A. MARCH- SONG.
1 Unto thee do I lift up mine eyes,
0, thou that dwellest in the heavens !
We have here no author's name : but from the title we learn
that it was another progressionary song, or sacred march : and the
general subject seems to show that it was composed during the
trial of the Babylonian captivity, and sung by one or more heart
broken companies on their march from one station of labour to
another under the uplifted rod of cruel task-masters, for the purpose
apparently of accomplishing some of those great national works,
and especially public canals, which are well known to have been
carried on during this period.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 305.

PSALM CXXIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 481
2 Behold as the eyes of punished servants,
Are upon the hand, of their masters :
As the eyes of a maiden,
Are upon the hand of her mistress ;
So are our eyes upon Jehovah our God,
Until he have mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, 0 Jehovah, have mercy upon us,
For grievously are we filled with contempt.

Verse 2. " As the eyes of servants."] — The Jewish servants or
slaves were of two kinds — domestic and foreign. The last were
generally prisoners of war, or bought out of the nations around
them. The first were of their own nation, sold by their fathers in
a state of poverty ; insolvent debtors claimed as property by their
creditors ; or thieves not able to make restitution for the thefts they
had committed, and condemned to sale by the law. Over all these
the master or mistress had an absolute control, though numerous
laws were enacted for their comfort and instruction. They might
sell them again, as their own property, change them, judge them,
punish them, and, under certain circumstances, put them to death.
With regard to foreign slaves the law had no cognizance whatever
over the masters. But in respect to native slaves it interfered in
the case of death on the spot, as appears from Exod. xxi. 20, 21.
" If a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die
under his hand, he shall be surely punished ; notwithstanding
if he continue a uay or two, he shall not be punished, for he
is his money." '
It is very probable that this sort of punishment had been exer
cised with peculiar severity on many of the Israelitish captives,
during the Babylonian bondage : and the force of the present ap
peal and comparison is therefore peculiarly striking. The suffering
servant was accustomed to turn an eye that pleaded for mercy, on
the fall of every stroke, to the hand of his master, or his master's
deputy ; in hope of hearing the cheering sound, " I forgive the
rest." And in this manner, says the Psalmist, under the repeated
strokes of affliction himself and his brethren were suffering, are our
eyes fixed upon Jehovah till he have mercy upon us.
Id. " Until he have mercy."]— In the original 133^127 IV,
21

482 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXIV.
4 Grievously is our soul filled,
With the scoffing of the confident,
With the contempt of the proud.
" until that he have mercy upon us :" but the contracted conjunc
tion W from -IE7N, is here redundant, as it is also in Psalm cxxiv.
1,2.

CXXIV*

A MARCH-SONG : BY DAVID.

1 Unless Jehovah had been with us,
May Israel soothly say,
2 Unless Jehovah had been with us,
When the men uprose against us,
The title informs us that this sacred march was composed by
king David ; and we learn very clearly from the subject, that the
progression referred to, was the triumphant return of the king and
his loyal army to Jerusalem, upon the overthrow of the dangerous
rebellion to which the great mass of the people had been excited by
Absalom and his powerful band of confederates. It is very pro
bable that this also was sung in parts ; the priests giving the first
five verses in recitation ; and the general chorus of the people the
sixth ; the priests then singing the seventh ; and the people in full
chorus the eighth : but as such a division is not necessary to a
clear comprehension of the Psalm, I have not introduced it into
the text.
Verse 1 . " Unless Jehovah."] — Literally, " Unless that Jehovah
had been " — n^nttf ; but the conjunction W is here redundant as
in Psalm cxxiii. 2.
Id. " Soothly."]— " With truth and joyful feeling "—" sooth
ly," which is the precise meaning of the very expression, N3.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 193.

PSALM CXXV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 483
3 Instantly had they swallowed us up alive :
For wrath had inflamed them against us.
4 Instantly had the waters overwhelmed us ;
The torrent had swept over our soul. —
5 Instantly over our soul,
Had swept the swelling waters.
6 Blessed be Jehovah, who hath not given us up,
As a prey into their teeth.
7 Our soul, like a bird, is escaped
Out of the snare of the fowlers :
The snare is broken, and we are escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of Jehovah,
The Maker of heaven and earth.

CXXV.*

A MAKCH-SONG.

1 They that put their trust in Jehovah,
Shall be as Mount Zion.
It cannot be moved ; — it abideth for ever.
This sacred march appears to have been written on the trium
phant procession of Jehoshaphat to Jerusalem, after the miraculous
victory which Jehovah had given him over the combined forces of
the Moabites and Ammonites, who had threatened him with in
stant destruction ; while ver. 5, probably refers to the idolatries
from which he had just purged the land, and warns backsliders
against the vengeance that would overtake them. See 2 Chron.
xx. 27—29, and xvii. 6—9.
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 287, 290.
2 12

484 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXV.
2 Around Jerusalem are its mountains :
And around his people is Jehovah,
From henceforth even for evermore.
3 Therefore shall the rod of the aggressor,
Never settle on the lot of the righteous ;
Lest the righteous put forth
Their hands to evil-doing.
4 To the good, do thou good, 0 Jehovah,
Yea, to the upright in their hearts.
5 While such as relapse into their perversities,
Jehovah shall make them depart
With the workers of iniquity. —
0 let peace be upon Israel.
Verse 3. " Shall not settle on the lot of the righteous."] — The
visitations which God permits, may touch and correct and purify
his people, but it shall not rest upon them or be their heritage.
When they have accomplished their purpose, they shall cease. God
shall say, It is enough. They may be ordained as a trial, but
never as an overthrow : for God will in every instance, in his own
time, find some way for his people to escape, that they may be able
to bear them. In the instance here apparently referred to, that of
the deliverance of Jehoshaphat, as noticed in the introductory re
mark, he did so in a signal and most miraculous manner.
Verse 5. " While such as relapse into their perversities."] —
Jehoshaphat had taken the most effectual means to clear the land
of idolatry, and to re-instruct the people in the knowledge of the
true God. See 2 Chron. xvii. 6 — 9 ; and here is intimated a dis
position in some of them to backslide, and a warning against. so
heinous a crime. Q^taSin, means rather " such as relapse or
backslide," than " turn aside."

PSALM CXXVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 4-9,5

CXXVL*
A MARCH-SONG.
1 When Jehovah turned back the captivity of Zion,
We seemed as though dreaming.
2 Then did laughter fill our mouth,
And our tongue acclamation.
Then said they among the heathen,
Jehovah hath magnified himself,
In the dealings towards them.
3 Jehovah hath magnified himself,
In the dealings we are welcoming towards us.
Another song of steps or progressions. The subject of the sacred
march is manifestly the return of the first congregation of Hebrews
from their captivity at Babylon. It was indeed a joyous occasion,
and well worthy of being celebrated by vocal and instrumental
music on their setting forth ; for under the auspices of Cyrus, the
banners of Zerubbabel, and the countenance- of Joshua the high-
priest, they set forward with a general congratulation, a restoration
of all their holy vessels and other treasure, and free-gifts innu
merable. The history is given in Ezra i. and ii ; the whole con
gregation amounted to forty-two thousand three hundred and
sixty ; besides seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven
men-servants and maid-servants : the chorus of male and female
singers being not less than two hundred.
Verse 1. " The captivity of Zion."] — Zion here personifies the
whole people of the captivity, whose home was the holy mountain.
Verse 2. " Jehovah hath magnified himself,
In the dealings towards them."] — The passage is
rendered literally. bl3 means, and especially in the Hiphil con
jugation, " to magnify oneself, to glory, to triumph," for which see
our common version, Psalm xxxviii. 16; lv. 12; and especially
exxxviii. 2. * Historical Outline, &c. p. 308.

486 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXVI.
4 ¦ Turn back, 0 Jehovah, our captivity,
As the streams in the South.
5 They that sow in tears,
Shall reap with shouting.
6 He that goeth forth and weepeth,
Bearing the productive seed,
Verse 4. " As the streams in the south."] — The fact here re
ferred to is specially noticed by Lucretius as belonging to the Nile ;
and he might have added, to all rivers which have either their
origin or channel within the tropics. Their common current is
towards the ocean, but the northern monsoon, or Etesian wind of
Lucretius, acts equally upon all of them in the month of June ;
and blowing fully in the "mouth of then streams, obstructs their
passage to the sea, drives back their waters, and produces their
exundation or overflow. The obstruction is moreover increased by
its forcing upwards into the channel immense heaps of sand ; while
clouds blown in a perpetual drift towards the mountains of Upper
Ethiopia, where the Nile springs from its cradle, descend in sheets
of rain, and add prodigiously to the general excess. While, in
addition, as Lucretius observes from Anaxagoras, the snows on the
summits of the Mountains of the Moon, as they are called, which
are situated in Upper Egypt, are dissolved at the same time, and
largely contribute to the spread of the backward flood. SeeDe
Ber. Nat. vi. 712, and the author's note upon the same.
The image is here forcibly made use of in the prayer that a like
turn of the stream might be given to the Jewish captives, and that
they might flow homewards in equal rapidity and multitude.
Verse 6. " The productive seed."] — Our common version gives
precious seed : for which, however, the marginal reading, uniting
the two words, offers " seed-basket." I am not acquainted with
any one passage in which ~\Wa has been, or could well be trans
lated precious. Its ordinary sense is '* traho, duco, produco," —
" to draw forth, lead forth, bring forth," See Amos ix. 13, in
which the sense is " produced, or drawn forth."
Prom the rudeness of the implements of husbandry in Abyssinia
at the present day, and probably in Syria at the time here alluded
to, the labour of preparing the ground for sowing is extreme, and
the luxuriance of the soil produces weeds in such abundance, that

PSALM CXXVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 487
Shall surely come again,
Bearing his sheaves with shouting.
the clearing of them away is one of the most irksome toils of the na
tives ; and it is necessary that they should be twice cleared. But
the harvest at length arrives, when females are chiefly the reapers,
who uniformly at that time greet every passenger with a sharp,
shrill cry of joy, like hali, li li li li li li li, which is the ziraleeh of
the women of Syria, as described by Mr. Bussell. See Lord Va
leria's Travels, vol. iii. p. 232.

CXXVII*
A MARCH-SONG FOK SOLOMON.
I Unless Jehovah build up the house,
Needlessly do they labour that would build it.
Unless Jehovah watch the city,
Needlessly is the watchman wakeful.
2 Needless is it for you to rise early,
To put off resting,
To eat the bread of anxiety,
If he vouchsafe repose to his beloved.
Prom the title we learn that this and Psalm cxxviii. are also sacred
marches ; and the subject shows them to be epithalamia, apparently
composed on the same occasion as Psalm xlv, and most probably
by the sons of Korah, as this last was. They were, therefore,
doubtless rehearsed during the nuptial procession of king Solomon,
which there can be no question was very splendid, and drew to
gether the whole body of the people.
Verse 1 . " Unless Jehovah build up the house,
Needlessly do they labour who would build it."] —
See the explanation "given in the Historical Outline.
Verse 2. " Bepose."] — Bather than " sleep." This is not an
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 264.

488 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXVIII.
3 Lo, children are an heritage of Jehovah :
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 As arrows in the hand of a champion,
So are the children of the youthful.
Happy the champion who herewith filleth his quiver.
5 They shall not be put to shame ;
But shall subdue the opponents in the gate.
unfrequent meaning of N3E7- Thus Deut. iv. 25, when " ye have
reposed, or obtained quiet in the land," — Sn2K7131.
Id. " His beloved."] — In the original ITT. (Jedid-u, his
beloved) specially alluding to 2 Sam. xii. 25, in which at the im
mediate command of God, Solomon was named by his father,
mTT, (Jedid-iah) " The beloved of Jah, or Jehovah."
Verse 5. " They shall not be put to shame,
But shall subdue the opponents in the gate."] — The
pronoun they refers to the children who are to maintain the cause
of their fathers, and who thus strengthened, shall maintain it in the
gate, or in every civil contest, as the champion maintains his cause
and proves triumphant in the field, or in every foreign encounter.
At the gate of the city was usually situated the court of justice.
VlUT is here better rendered " shall subdue," as given in our
marginal reading, and as it is rendered Psalm xviii. 47, andxlvii.
3, than " shall speak with," as introduced into our common text.

CXXVIII*
A MAHCH-SOSG.
(Chorus of Priests )
1 Blessed is every one that feareth Jehovah ;
That walketh in his ways.
Por the subject and title, see the preceding Psalm. This sacred
march was evidently rehearsed in parts. The last may have been
so, but the divisions are here too clear to escape the eye of any one.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 271.

PSALM CXXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 489
(General Chorus.)
2 Therefore shalt thou eat the produce of thy hands.
(High-Priest, solo.)
Blessings be upon thee !
Prosperity be with thee !
3 Thy wife be as a fruitful vine,
By the sides of thy house !
As olive-plants thy children
Round about thy table !
(General Chorus.)
4 Lo, thus shall the man be blessed,
That feareth Jehovah. (Chorus of Priests.)
5 Jehovah bless thee out of Zion !
And show Jerusalem prosperity
All the days of thy life !
6 Yea, to the children of thy children,
Show peace upon Israel !
Verse 5. " Show Jerusalem,
6. Show peace."] — The verb (nN"l) is not in the
second person in either of these cases as given in bur common ver
sion, but in the third ; and in the conjugation, Hiphil, importing
" to show," or " cause to see."

CXXIX*
A MARCH-SONG.
(General Chorus.')
1 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth,
May Israel soothly say,
Another sacred march, and probably rehearsed by the escort, or
companions of Ezra, as they journeyed to Jenisalem with powers
* Historical Outline, &c, p. 312.

490 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXIX.
2 Many a time from my youth have they afflicted me,
Yet have they not overcome me.
3 Along my back ploughed the ploughers,
They lengthened out their furrows.
(Chorus of Levites or Priests.)
4 Just is Jehovah. —
He hath cut asunder the sinews of the wicked.
5 Let all that hate Zion,
Be put to shame, and turn the back.
from Artaxerxes to complete the rebuilding of the temple and the city,
and produced the king's letters and commission to the utter confusion
of the enemies by whom they were surrounded, (see Ezra vii. 11 — 26),
who were commanded, instead of obstructing him, to furnish him
with all necessary materials out of the royal treasury. See Neh.
ii. 6 — 20. Here also there seems to have been a colloquy, which
the present version has endeavoured to catch and follow up.
Verse 1. " May Israel soothly say,
Many a time."] — This turn of expression, and, to a
certain extent, the terms themselves are copied from king David's
similar ode, Psalm cxxiv. 1, 2.
Verse 3. " Along my back ploughed the ploughers,
They lengthened out their furrows."] — "They
bowed me down, and scourged, or trampled upon me ; " yea, the
furrows of their scourge, or their treading, were like those of the
plough, driven to the field's limit. Apparently alluding to Isaiah
li. 23. " And I will put it (the cup of anger) into the hand of them
that afflict thee ;
Who say unto thy soul, " bow down, that we may pass over."
And thou didst lay down thy back as the ground ;
Yea, as the street, to the over-treaders."
Verse 4. " The sinews."] — niV, " cord, rope, ligament of any
kind," may import the scourge or thong of the enemy. But it ap
pears to me rather to import sinew, — " the cords of a man," as we
have it in Hos. xi. 4. nsnN mrOS DIN "»Van, " the cords of
a man, the bands of love."

PSALM CXXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 491
(General Chorus.)
6 Let them be as the grass on the house-tops,
Which withereth before it is sprung up :
7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his grasp,
Nor the sheaf-binder his bosom :
8 Nor the by-passers cry out,
" Jehovah's blessing be upon you !
" We bless you in the name of Jehovah."
Verse 7. " His grasp."] — His grasp, 1D3, rather than " his
hand," which would have been *n\ Perhaps also the term
mower should rather be reaper, unless employed in a looser sense
than ordinary ; for in Palestine formerly, and even to the present
day, they cut their grass, only in small quantity, and give it to their
cattle green, as fast as it springs up : and rarely or never mow it
or make it into hay ; and hence the critics have observed that the
term hay, as it occasionally occurs in our common version, is not
quite correct. It is rarely, indeed, that grass in the east will re
main long enough without being parched at its roots for the pur
pose of being mown ; so rapid is it in its growth, and so transient
in its duration. And hence the peculiar impression of the image
which it affords of the brevity and fleeting appearance of man's life,
and which is so often made choice of, and with so much effect, in
the Scriptures.
Verse 8. " Jehovah's blessing be upon you !
We bless you in the name of Jehovah."] — For alike
salutation, see Psalm cxxxiv. It is still common in the east,
especially in Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, where the usual greeting is
salam aleihum, " Peace be with you ! " to which the reply is
" aleihum essalam," " with yourselves be peace ! " It was un
questionably common in the time of our Saviour, and too often
uttered with unbecoming levity : and hence the peculiar force of
his own impressive farewell to his disciples in nearly the same
terms, John xiv. 27 : "Peace I leave with you: my peace I give
unto you ! Not as the world giveth, do I give it unto you. Let
not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

492 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXX.

CXXX.

A MARCH-SONG.

(General Chorus.)
1 Fkom out of the depths
Unto thee, 0 Jehovah, do I cry :
2 Hearken, 0 Lord, unto my voice ;
To the voice of my prayer let thine ears be attentive.
(Chorus of Levites or Priests.)
3 If thou, 0 Jehovah, shouldst mark iniquities,
Who, 0 Lord, could endure ?
4 But with thee is forgiveness
To the end thou mayst be feared.
(General Chorus.)
5 I long for Jehovah — my soul longeth —
And on his word do I rely.
6 My soul watcheth for the Lord more than the watch
men for the dawn,
Than even the watchmen for the dawn.
Another progressional or march song. It is, in truth, a peni
tential march probably rehearsed by the bands that flocked to
Jerusalem on the great day of expiation or atonement, as they called
it, Qi~nD3n DV, which returned annually on the tenth of the
month Tizri, answering to our September, and hence only ten days
before the festival of Tents or Tabernacles.
Verse 1. "Prom the depths."] — From the overwhelming
depths, as it were, of the Bed Sea — or of the flood in the days of
Noah, whose billows, at thy command, swallowed up the astonished
multitudes ; from the abyss of ruin to which my countless sins have
exposed me.
Verse 5. "I long for Jehovah —
6. " My soul watcheth for the Lord."] — " For the favour
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 222.

PSALM CXXXI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 493
(Chorus of Levites or Priests.)
7 Let Israel stay himself on Jehovah,
For with Jehovah is tender-mercy ;
Yea, with him is plenteous redemption :
8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
and countenance of Jehovah," more than the watchmen on the
city-walls — more than the watchers in the temple, who passed the
night there in devotional exercises, anxious to catch the first beams
of the morning on the hallowed day of atonement I

CXXXI.*
A MAKCH-SONG : BT DAVID.
1 My heart, 0 Jehovah, is not ambitious,
Nor mine eyes haughty.
Neither am I marching after honours.
Or achievements beyond myself.
The title informs us that this is a sacred march composed by David: ¦
and the subject seems to refer to that trying period of his life, in
which, after having been permitted to marry one of Saul's daugh
ters, and after having acquired a degree of popularity which opened to
nim a way to supreme power on the death of Saul, the jealousy of
the latter dashed from his lips the cup of hope in a moment, made
him an outlaw from the kingdom, and put his life in jeopardy. —
The noble-hearted Jonathan, however, still continued true to him ;
and, having failed in his strenuous endeavour to justify his friend
before his father, and to obtain a reconciliation for him, met him in
secret by a pre-arrangement, and communicated the melancholy
tidings to him, narrated 1 Sam. xx. 41, 42. " And as soon as the
lad was gone, David arose out of a place towards the south, and
fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 76.

494 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXXIL
2 Surely, have I allayed and quieted my soul,
As a child that is weaned of its mother.
My soul is even as a weaned child.
3 Let Israel stay himself on Jehovah,
From this time forth and for ever.
And they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until
David was overpowered. And Jonathan said to David, Go in
peace, for as much as we have sworn both of us in the name of
the Lord, saying, The Lord be between me and thee, and between
my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed."
He took his way, with the little band that immediately joined him,
towards Ahimelech the priest, in quest of food and weapons,
humbly, as it should seem, seeking only for quiet, renouncing every
political expectation, and throwing himself entirely on the care of
that God who had never forsaken him. In his progress, the sacred
march before us seems to have been rehearsed.

CXXXII*
A MARCH-SONG.
(General Chorus.)
1 0 Jehovah, remember thou David,
Another sacred march : the occasion of which seems pretty clear
from the Psalm itself. It appears to have been composed for, and
rehearsed during, the magnificent procession of king Solomon,
" and the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chiefs
of the families of the children of Israel," who were assembled for
the purpose of bringing up " the ark of the covenant of Jehovah,
out of the city of David, which is Zion," in order to its being
assigned a permanent dwelling-place in the new and august temple
at Jerusalem, which was now just completed. The history of this
grand festival is given at length in 2 Chron. v., which contains a
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 261, 272.

PSALM CXXXII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 495
2 Amidst all his troubles who sware unto Jehovah,
Who vowed unto the Potentate of Jacob,
3 " I will not enter into the tent of my house,
" I will not take a step towards the bed of my couch,
4 " I will not allow sleep to mine eyes,
" Nor drowsiness to mine eye-lids,
particular account of the number of the singers and musicians who
were employed on the occasion.
The Psalm may have been composed by Asaph or Heman, who
seem to have been present on the occasion, 2 Chron. v. 12, or by
Solomon himself, who so largely engaged in and superintended the
service. But that it was composed on this occasion appears pro
bable, from verse 10, where " the face of thine anointed " seems to
refer to the son of David rather than to David himself, as also in
verse 1 7 ; and still more so as verses 8, and 9, as well as verse 1 0,
are copied as an intentional iteration, by Solomon himself, into the
close of his sublime prayer with which the service concluded ; for
which see 2 Chron. vi. 41, 42. So verses 10, 11, 12, have an
equal reference to the same chapter, verses 16 and 17 : and nothing
can be more parallel than the general subject and spirit of the two.
Verse 2. " The Potentate of Jacob."] — Abir Jacob (apjji TON)
" the Mighty One or Potentate of Jacob " — and not " the mighty
God " — for the word God does not occur in the original. In the
language of St. Paul, 1 Tim. vi. 1 5, " the blessed and only Poten
tate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords."
Verse 3. " I will not take a step."] — nbj7N ON— " I will
instantly search out — without allowing myself a moment's rest."
" I will not take a step," rather than " I will not go up." And
hence TlbVT2 imports " a step or degree " — and is the noun em
ployed in the title of the present and many of the adjoining Psalms
" a song of steps, degrees, progressions, or marchings," as already
explained. King Solomon is only following up the command given by Moses,
Deut. xii. 9 — 11, "For ye are not as yet come to your rest, and
to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you. But when
ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God
giveth you to inherit ; and when he giveth you rest from all your
enemies round about you, so that ye dwell in safety : then there
shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose, to cause his

496 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXXII.
5 " Till I find a dwelling-place for Jehovah,
" An habitation for the Potentate of Jacob."
(Chorus of Priests and Levites, superintending the Ark.)
6 Behold, we heard concerning it at Ephratah ;
We found it within the precincts of Jair.
name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command
you, your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices," &c.
Verse 5. "Potentate of Jacob."] — See note on verse 2.
Verse 6. " We heard concerning it at Ephratah,
We found it in the precincts of Jair."] — Ephratah
is not Bethlehem-Ephratah, or Bethlehem of Judah, Micah v. 2,
as commonly imagined, but the whole district or country allotted to
the Ephrathites or Ephraimites, for they are called by both names,
containing Shiloh, the celebrated city in which the ark was for a
long time deposited, and the seat of that disastrous battle with the
Philistines, in which the ark, having been irreverently brought out
into the field, was shamefully abandoned, and fell into the hands of
the enemy ; when, as the Psalmist says, with a just reproach of
their conduct, lxxviii. 9 : —
" The children of Ephraim, armed with the shafts of the bow,
Turned back in the day of battle."
The region of Jair imports evidently the country surrounding
Kirjath-jairim — which is literally "the city of Jair or Jairim,"
where the ark was deposited, on its being sent back with oblations
by the Philistines, and where it continued to reside till the present
grand ceremony for its removal to a more permanent abode. The
original terms nyi >1& may be rendered, as in our common ver
sion, " fields of the wood," or " regions, precincts, districts, or
territories of Jair ; " but it is obvious that the former gives no ex
plicit meaning, while the latter is clear and precise.
" We were well informed of the history of the ark during its re
sidence in Ephratah — the solemn services performed before it at
Shiloh, and its cowardly desertion afterwards by the Ephrathites
themselves in the field of battle — we traced it up to its return from
the captivity of the Philistines, where it had manifested its divine
power, and had compelled them not only to set it free, but to send
it home with peace-offerings — and we hailed its presence in the

PSALM CXXXII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 497
7 We have brought it into his tabernacle ;
We have set it down at his footstool.
(General Chorus.)
8 Arise, 0 Jehovah, into thy rest,
Thou, and the ark of thy strength.
precincts of Jair, — in the hospitable and pious charge of Abin-
adab." The general history, in few words, is as follows. The ark, or
visible emblem of the presence and strength of Jehovah, was set up
by Joshua in Shiloh, in the territory of the Ephraimites, in the year
of the world 2560, Joshua himself being of this tribe. It remained
here till the year of the world 2888, or before Christ 1116 ; when,
being carried into the field of battle, it was taken by the Philistines,
under the administration of the high-priest Eli. After the return
of the ark from the country of the Philistines, instead of fixing
itself again at Shiloh, it passed forward to Jair, Jairim, or Kirjath-
Jairim, literally " the City of the Woods," and placed itself under
the care of Abinadab, a Levite, whose son Eleazar was consecrated
and peculiarly appointed to the office of keeping it. In this family
it continued 71 years, from a.m. 2888 to a.m. 2959 : when David
went forth, as stated in the present Psalm, to bring it up to Jeru
salem ; though the solemnity was suddenly broken off upon the
death of Uzzah, and the ark was lodged for some months in the
house of Obed-edom.
Verse 7. " We have brought it,
We have set it down."] — Both these verbs are dis
tinctly in Hiphil, and followed by the pronoun it, as clearly as it
occurs in our common version, after " we have heard of Or con
cerning." The pronoun, however, is generally but most incorrectly
omitted ; and the verbs, instead of being " let us go — let us wor
ship or bow down," should therefore be " we caused it to go " —
"we caused to bring it " — and " we caused it to bow down" — " we
bowed it, or set it down." The verse continues the historical ac
count of the transaction from the preceding, and closes the part that
David had to do with it : the ensuing stanza beginning with the
part now before them superintended by Solomon.
Verse 8. " Arise, 0 Jehovah, into thy rest."] — This and the
two succeeding verses form the close of the magnificent prayer of
2 K

498 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXXII.
9 Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness ;
And let thy saints shout for joy.
10 For thy servant David's sake,
Reject not the face of thine anointed.
(Chorus of Priests.)
11 Faithfully did Jehovah swear unto David,
Never will he depart from it,
" Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.
12 "If thy children keep my covenant,
" And my testimonies, which I shall teach them,
" Even their children shall sit on thy throne for ever
more.
13 " For Jehovah hath made choice of Zion,
" He is pleased with her for his habitation :
14 " This shall be my rest for ever ;
" Here will I dwell, for I take a pleasure in her.
15 "Abundantly will I bless her provision,
" I will fulfill her poor with bread.
16 " Yea, her priests will I clothe with salvation,
" And her saints shall shout forth a shout of joy.
17 " There will I make the horn of David to branch forth,
" I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed :
18 " His enemies will I cover with shame,
" But upon himself shall his crown flourish."
Solomon on the opening of the temple, with which that solemn and
national festival concluded ; as though a copy of the service with
which it may be said to have opened, and which seems to fix this
festival as the occasion of its composition ; 2 Chron. vi. 41, "Arise,
O Lord God, into thy resting-place : thou and the ark of thy
strength : let thy priests, O Lord God, be arrayed with salvation,
and let thy saints rejoice in goodness. 0 Lord God, reject not
the face of thine anointed : remember the mercies of David thy
servant." Verse 16. " Shall shout forth a shout of joy."] — The verse is an
iteration of verse 9, but with an intentional variation or two. The
repetition of shout is here copied from the original — i33Tt p-j.

PSALM CXXXIII.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 499

CXXXIIL*
A MARCH-SONG : BY DAVID.
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant
Is the dwelling together of brethren in unity.
2 Like precious oil is it upon the head,
Flowing down unto the beard,
The beard of Aaron, down-reaching
To the borders of his garments.
3 Like the dew of Hermon, down-reaching
To the mountains of Zion.
The author of this sacred march, as we learn from the title, was
David. It appears to have been intended for rehearsal by the dif
ferent companies of the Jewish people, that advanced from every
quarter to Jerusalem, to attend one of its three great yearly festi
vals: and the delightful subject on which it dwells is the very
appropriate one of the great benefit and blessing of the communion
of saints.
Verse 3. " The dew of Hermon."] — There were two Mount Her
mons, as well as two Mount Zions, or Sions, belonging to the Jewish
kingdom at this time ; and the Mount Zion, or Sion, was, in each
instance, only one of the hills of the general mountainous chain that,
in each case, was called Hermon. One of these branches of hills lay
towards the north, on the farther side of the Jordan ; and, before
its subjugation, formed a part of the territory of the king of Bashan :
and it is noticed, together with the Mount Sion that sprang from it,
Deut. iv. 48, and which, though spelt indifferently Zion or Sion,
ought only to be spelt Sion, as being in the original fWWr and
thus distinguished from Mount Zion, or the city of David, and
which in Hebrew is written ^iS- The other Hermon consisted of
the branch or rather cluster of hills that springs from the foot of
Jerusalem, of which the city of David, on the Mount' Zion so called,
formed one. Its general peak or summit was far less lofty than
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 245.
2 K 2

500 BOOK OF PSA.LMS. [PSALM CXXXIV.
Lo, there hath Jehovah ordained
The blessing of life for evermore.
that of the northern Hermon ; but the dews which at night collected
upon it, and spread downwards over the mountains by which its
sides were studded, were so heavy that Maundrell affirms, on his
sleeping there, that his " tents were as wet with it as if it had
rained all night ; " and he adjoins, " we were sufficiently instructed
as to what the Psalmist means by the dews of Hermon."
Id. " Lo, there hath Jehovah ordained."] — This is usually re
garded as a blessing on the communion of saints : but it seems
rather to refer to the spiritual endowments of the holy city to which
the marching companies were travelling, where were the ark, and
the mercy-seat, and the other symbols of the divine presence.

CXXXIV.*
A MARCH-SONG.
(Watchman without the Temple in his midnight walk.)
1 Lo, bless ye Jehovah,
All ye servants of Jehovah,
In the house of Jehovah who are stationed by night.
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary,
And bless ye Jehovah.
(Chorus of Priests within.)
3 Jehovah, the Maker of heaven and earth,
Bless thee out of Zion.
This beautiful little march consists of the benedictory address of
one of the temple-watchmen, on walking his round at night, to the
priests, who in their turn were keeping the temple within ; and their
benedictory response to his good wishes.
Verse 3. " Hands in the sanctuary."] — The Masora gives DDT
Wip which would be literally " your hand of holiness." But the
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 246.

PSALM CXXXV.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 501
first word is thus corrected by various manuscripts EWT, and the
second thus by the Septuagint Wlpb ; which have been justly copied
in our common version, and afford the translation here offered : — a
correction, indeed, approved by various acute critics, as Houbigant,
Bishop Hare and Bishop Horsley.

cxxxv.*
(Priests and Levites to' the assembled congregation.)
1 Hallelujah ! —
Praise ye the name of Jehovah.
(General Chorus of the Congregation.)
2 Praise him, 0 ye servants of Jehovah 1
Ye that stand in the house of Jehovah ;
In the courts of the house of our God.
This Psalm has no title, and in verses 15 — 18 it is a copy of
Psalm cxv. 4 — 8, which I have already ascribed to the era of
Samuel. Like that Psalm, the present, also, appears to have been
written on a great national deliverance from the hands of an op
pressive foe, who had presumed to hold up their idol deities as
supreme over Jehovah, for which see verse 14, and the four ensuing.
But it is obvious from verses 2 and 3, and still more from verse 22,
that the present Psalm was composed after the possession of Jeru
salem, and the building of the house or temple of Jehovah there,
and the regular performance of the temple-service by the priests
within, and the Levites without the walls of the temple, or in its
courts. And it is hence highly probable that it was specially com
posed to celebrate the triumph of the house of Israel, or rather of
Judah, over the boasting and blaspheming army of the Assyrians
in the reign of Hezekiah, after Jehovah had been intreated in their
behalf by a most solemn service. See 2 Kings xix. 22, 32, 35 ;
2 Chron. xxxii. 23.
Verse 2. " Praise him, O ye servants of Jehovah."] — The great
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 793.

502 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXXV.
(Priests and Levites.)
3 Hallelujah !—
For Jehovah is gracious.
Hymn ye to his name, for it is pleasant.
4 For Jah hath chosen Jacob unto himself ;
Israel, for his peculiar treasure.
(High Priest.)
5 Behold, I avouch that Jehevah is supreme ;
That our Lord is above all the gods.
6 Whatsoever Jehovah listeth, that doeth he,
In heaven and on earth ;
In the seas and all the depths :
7 From the surface of the earth raising the vapours ;
Forming lightnings amidst the rain ;
Bringing forth the wind out of his treasuries.
(Priests and Levites.)
8 Who smote the first-born of Egypt,
From man even unto beast :
congregation, having been called upon to praise the name of Jehovah,
here re-echo the call to those who had addressed them ; — the official
servants of Jehovah, who were of two descriptions, and both of
whom are here appealed to ; — the priests, who were stationed by
prerogative in the interior of the house or temple of Jehovah, and
the Levites, whose station was in its courts.
Verse 7. "Prom the surface of the earth."]— The whole descrip
tion is beautifully exact and picturesque. Not " the ends," or even
" the summits " or extreme mountains," for the original is in the
singular number (H2p) but from the whole of the extreme layer,
the superficies or surface of the earth : from every point of
which the great process of exhalation is perpetually going on to
supply the firmament with refreshing and fruitful clouds.
Verse 8. " Who smote the first-born of Egypt."] — the transi
tion is strikingly fine. The high-priest has just described Jehovah
as the only God of Nature, supreme, and above all gods. The
priests pass on to his character as the God of grace : as the pecu-

PSALM CXXXV.] BOOK OF PSkLMS. 503
9 Sending signs and wonders,
0 Egypt, into thy bosom,
Upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.
(General Congregation.)
10 Who smote great nations ;
And slew mighty kings :
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
And Og, king of Bashan ;
And all the kingdoms of Canaan ;
12 And gave tljeir land for an heritage,
An heritage unto his people Israel.
(High-Priest.)
13 For ever, 0 Jehovah, shall be thy name :
Thy memorial, 0 Jehovah, from generation to genera
tion.
14 Behold, Jehovah shall take the rule of his people ;
He shall relent towards his servants.
(Priests and Levites.)
15 The idols of the heathen are silver and gold,
The work of men's hands.
16 A mouth is theirs, but they cannot speak ;
, Eyes are their 's, but they cannot see :
17 Ears are their's, but they cannot hear :
Yea, they have no breath in their mouths.
(General Congregation.)
18 Like themselves are those that make them -.
Every one that trusteth in them.
(Priests and Levites.)
19 0 house of Israel, bless ye Jehovah.
liar God of the assembled nation, paying him worship in his chosen
temple. Verse 15. " The idols of the heathen are .silver and gold."] —
Copied, with a few slight alterations, from this verse to the end of
verse 18, from Psalm cxv. 4 — 8.

504 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXXVI.
(General Congregation.)
20 Bless ye, Jehovah, 0 house of Aaron ;
Bless ye, Jehovah, 0 house of Levi.
(Priests and Levites.)
Ye that fear Jehovah, bless ye Jehovah.
(General Chorus.)
21 Blessed be Jehovah out of Zion,
Who dwelleth at Jerusalem.
Hallelujah.

CXXXVI.*
(Choir of Priests.)
1 0 give thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
2 0 give thanks unto the God of gods :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
3 0 give thanks unto the Lord of lords :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
We have here no title or author's name. In some of its verses
it has a considerable resemblance to the preceding ; but is evidently
of far later date, as well as of a different structure. Nothing is
clearer than that it was sung in parts or courses, the former half of
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 319.

PSALM CXXXVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 505
(Choir of Priests.)
4 To him who alone worketh great wonders :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
5 To him who in wisdom formed the heavens :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
6 To him who spread forth the earth above the
waters :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
7 To him who made the great luminaries *
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
8 The sun for dominion by day :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
9 The moon and stars for dominion by night :
each verse forming the theme, and the latter a general chorus ; and
by attending to verses 23 and 24, we shall perceive that it was
written after some very severe national degradation, and the delivery
of the people from the yoke thereby imposed upon them : most pro
bably, indeed, upon their return from the Babylonian captivity.

506 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXXVI.
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
10 To him that smote Egypt in their first-born :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
1 1 And brought forth Israel from amongst them :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
12 With a strong hand, yea, an outstretched arm :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
13 To him into parts who disparted the Red Sea :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
14 And gave Israel to march through the midst of it :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
Keeping these hints in view, if we turn to Ezra iii. 10, 11, we
shall be gratified in finding what appears to be the precise period
and occasion of its composition, together with a seeming reference.
to the Psalm itself. We shall perceive that the whole assembled.
nation, being now liberated from captivity, had thronged to the
holy service of the temple to assist in the dedication of its founda
tion ; and that, following the example which had been set them on

PSALM CXXXVI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 507
(Choir of Priests.)
15 But routed Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
16 To him who led his people through the wilderness :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
1 7 To him who smote great kings :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender -mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
18 And slew renowned kings :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
20 And Og, king of Bashan :
the dedication of the first temple after its erection by Solomon,
2 Chron. v. 13, 14, they ha<J taken the favourite doxology of David
as a part of their service, and had even made it the ground-work of
the dedication ode. They sang together, says Ezra, in courses
or parts, praising and " giving thanks to Jehovah, for he is good;

508 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXXVI.
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
21 And gave their land for an heritage :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
22 An heritage unto Israel his servant :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
23 Who remembered us in our low estate :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
24 And delivered us from our enemies :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
25 Who giveth food to all flesh : ,
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
(Choir of Priests.)
26 0 give thanks to the God of heaven :
(Chorus of Levites and Congregation.)
For his tender-mercy is to everlasting.
for his tender-mercy is to everlasting " towards Israel. And all the
people shouted with a great shout, as they praised Jehovah ; for
the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid. In other words,
they shouted the burden of the song here written down, and from
the first prescribed by David, in full chorus, and with an universal
peal of joy.

PSALM CXXXVII.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 509

CXXXVIL*
1 By the rivers of Babylon, where we were stationed,
0, how did we weep, as we thought upon Zion !
2 Our harps, in the midst thereof, we hung up on the
willows.
3 Yet there called our enslavers upon us for the
words of a song ;
Yea, our despoilers for joyance.
" Sing us out of the Songs of Zion."
Though this Psalm has no title, the subject is sufficiently obvious.
It was composed as a threnody, shortly after the captivity at
Babylon, to which it refers with so much acute feeling, as a suffering
recently endured, but now over. Perhaps during the journey home
wards at one of the stations of rest, or on the fearful news after
their return to Jerusalem, that they should proceed no farther with
rebuilding the city. There is something peculiarly touching in the
scenery where it seems to have been rehearsed — the banks of the
Euphrates hung over with willows, from which their sleeping harps
were now suspended. The poet, doubtless one of the sons of
Korah, touches, glances at, and anticipates, with a natural feeling
of exultation, the retaliation which, according to the books of the
Jewish prophets, the enemies of his country were speedily about
to suffer. The particulars are given in Zech. i. 12 — 17 ; x. 11 ;
with which compare Obad. 8 — 16.
Verse 2. " O how."] — Q3 is a general particle of redundancy —
" quantum ! — quinimo," as well as " imp," or " yea," simply.
Id. " In the midst thereof."] — Clearly " in the midst of our
weeping." Bishop Horsley, misconceiving its meaning, has ren
dered it loosely " in the midst of the spot ; " for he tells us that
" thereof can rehearse nothing but Babylon." It is unnecessary
to offer an argument in support of the common and literal ren
dering. * Historical Outline, &c. p. 307.

510 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXXV1I.
4 How could we sing the song of Jehovah
In the land of the stranger ?
5 If I become insensible to thee, 0 Jerusalem !
May my right hand become insensible.
6 If I do not remember thee,
May my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.
If I set not up Jerusalem
At the head of my joyance.
7 Remember, 0 Jehovah, upon the children of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,— who exclaimed, " Demolish
her !
" Demolish her to her very foundation : "
Verse 5. " If I become insensible."] — The Hebrew n3t27, by
being applied to the organs of the body, as the right hand, as well
as to the faculties of the mind, shows that it means something
more than " to forget," in the ordinary sense of that term : it is
" to become loose or powerless," " unnerved," " insensible,"
" irretentive," — and hence " oblivious or forgetfhT: " mdpetos,
" laxatus." Verse 6. " If I set not up Jerusalem,
At the head of my joyance."] — The passage is thus
rendered literally. See our marginal rendering ; but Tlbv imports
" to advance, lift, or set up," rather than to prefer, which is only a
very figurative and remote meaning.
There is also a peculiar emphasis in the term ni!31£7 or "joy
ance " as here used, and designed to be a repetition of the same
word from verse 3 : intimating that the only joyance the poet could
engage in, was that of Jerusalem itself, and not that of its enemies
on its downfall.
Verse 7. " Upon the children of Edom,
The day of Jerusalem."] — Their unnatural confede
racy with Babylon in the day when Jerusalem was ransacked and
her children made bondsmen : or, as the prophet Obadiah has it,
when describing this very fact, " in the day that thou stoodest (i.e.
Edom) on the other side ; in the day that the strangers earned
away captive his forces ; and foreigners entered into his gates, and
cast lots upon Jerusalem — even thou wast as one of them. Behold,

>¦! i

PSALM CXXXVII.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 511
8 0, daughter of Babylon ! who art to be utterly de
stroyed,
Success be to him who shall return upon thyself,
For thine own requital, what thou hast requited us.
9 Success be to him who shall snatch up,
And dash thine own little ones against the pavement.
the day of Jehovah is near upon all the heathen :"as thou hast
done, it shall be done unto thee ; thy reward shall return upon
thine own head," verses 11, 15.
Verse 8. " 0 daughter of Babylon, who art to be utterly laid
waste."] — The destruction of Babylon is common to the prophetic
writings, for which see particularly Isaiah xiii. 1 9 — 22 : but it
belonged especially to Zechariah to re-assure the afflicted captives
of this, as well as of the immediate approach of their deliverance,
a short time before this last event occurred ; which he did at the
direct command of Jehovah through his angel ; " Cry thou, saying,
Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem, and for
Zion with a great jealousy — and I am sore displeased with the
heathen. I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies : my house
shall be rebuilt there, saith the Lord of hosts. — The Lord shall yet
comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem. And the pride of
Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall
depart away," ch. i. 14 — 17 ; x. 11.
Verse 9. " Who shall snatch up,
And dash thy little ones against the pavement."] —
" Upon the stony or rocky ground," J7bon bs- See the mar
ginal reading of our common version. Under the galling yoke of
the Babylonians the children of Israel often endured the bitterest
cruelties, and their lives were never safe, notwithstanding that
many of them found the means of flourishing, and a few were
advanced occasionally by the providence of God, to the highest
position in the state. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the
punishment here wished for in the Way of retaliation, had been often
perpetrated. And Isaiah, probably in allusion to the same fact,
alludes also to the same retribution on the downfall of the Baby
lonian empire, ch. xiii. 16, "their children also shall be dashed to
pieces before their eyes."

512 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXXVI II.

CXXXVIIL*

BY DAVID.

1 With my whole heart will I praise thee ;
Before the gods will I celebrate thee :
2 I will worship towards thy holy temple ;
Yea, thy name will I praise
For thy loving-kindness and thy truth :
For thy name, thine engagement,
Hast thou magnified before every one.
A thanksgiving Psalm composed by David on a glorious victory
obtained over his enemies ; — apparently that achieved against the
mighty confederacy by which he was threatened on his first obtain
ing possession of Jerusalem, since we have no mention of Mount
Zion or any of those local features of the holy city in which he
was subsequently so fond of indulging : for " the holy temple " in
the second verse, standing alone, and unidentified with any thing
relating to the metropolis, imports most probably the talwrnacle at
Shiloh, as in 1 Sam. i. 9, " Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by
a post of THE TEMPLE OP THE LORD."
Verse 2. " Por thy name, thine engagement,
Hast thou magnified before every one."] — The com
mon rendering of this passage " for thou hast magnified thy word
above all thy name," is so obscure that no one is satisfied, and yet
the critics have found a great difficulty in obtaining any clearer
sense. The verse has on this account been wofully altered and
disfigured in various ways for a meaning ; Bishop Horsley asserts
it to be " certainly corrupt," and proposes to improve it by in
troducing a 3 before "jn"lJ3N, making it, —
Truly thou hast magnified thy name above all according
to thy promise.
Bishop Hare takes a still greater liberty, omitting an entire word
in one place, and introducing a letter in another : and the chief
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 100.

PSALM CXXXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 513
3 In the day when I called, thou answeredst me ;
Thou quickenedst me with strength in my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, 0 Jehovah,
For they shall hear of the words of thy mouth :
5 Yea, they shall sing of the ways of Jehovah ;
For the glory of Jehovah is magnified.
6 Though Jehovah be high, yet doth he notice , the
lowly,
While the proud he regardeth at a distance.
7 Though I walked in the midst of distress, thou didst
revive me ;
Thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath
of my foes ;
Yea, thy right hand shall deliver me :
8 Jehovah shall perfect my cause.
Thy loving-kindness, 0 Jehovah, is for ever ;
Forsake not thou the work of thy hands.
part of this alteration is approved by Durell and Street. The
version now offered gives the passage literally, and, as I trust, with
sufficient perspicuity.

CXXXIX*
TO THE SUPREME.
A PSALM OP DAVID.
1 0 Jehovah, thou hast searched and must know me ;
Por the title and subject, see the Historical Outline.
Verse 1. " Thou searchest, and must know me."] — The chauge
of tense is here followed which occurs in the original.
Verse 2. " My thought afar off."]—" My most distant thought."
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 57.
2L

514 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXXIX.
2 Thou knowest. my resting, and my rising :
Thou explorest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my bed,
And storest up all my goings.
4 When the word is not yet on my tongue,
Thou, 0 Jehovah, knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast enclosed me behind and before,
Yea, thine hand hast thou settled upon me..
6 O knowledge, too marvellous for me !
0 height, that I never can reach to !
7 Whither could I tread from thy spirit ?
Or whither could I flee from thy presence ?
8 If I ascend into heaven, thou art there ;
If I roam into hell, behold thou art there-
9 Should I take the wings of the morning,
Should I sojourn in the outskirts of the sea,
10 Even there would thy hand go with me,
Yea, thy right hand would have hold of me.
11 Or should I say, " Surely the darkness shall over
shadow me,"
Even the night would be light round about me.
J 2 Yea, the darkness would not be dark before thee ;
But the night would shine forth as the day.
Whatever the darkness, such would be the light.
Verse 8. " If I should roam into hell."]— The Hebrew T1V2
means in its primary sense " to spread abroad, or go abroad at
large ; " and this idea runs through all its senses, the more common
of which are " to range, roam, wander, or travel ; " for which see
especially Isa. Ixiii. 1 ; Jer. xlviii. 12. It means more remotely
" to spread out a bed or mattrass ; " but I cannot find any instance
in which it imports to lie down on a bed, as signified in our Bible-
version : upon which passage, therefore, the Psalter- version is pre
ferable, " if I go down into hell." Bishop Horsley renders it " if
I throw myself down into hell ; " but the primary sense, as here
preserved, is by far the simplest and best.

PSALM CXXXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 515
13 Verily thou possessest my reins ;
In my mother's womb didst thou enfold me.
14 Supremely will I praise thee,
For fearfully am I organized.
Marvellous are thy works ;
And well doth my soul know it.
Verse 14. "Supremely."] — This expressive adverb (bj7) "highly
or supremely," is dropped in all the versions, as though a mere re
dundant expletive upon "O which immediately follows. It is here
restored to its due meaning.
Id. " For fearfully am I organized."]— The original is supposed
to be accompanied with great difficulty, and attempts have been
made by various translators and critics to amend the text. The
passage is here rendered strictly, and at the same time, as I trust,
clearly and most forcibly. n^Q imports in all its senses " to
divide, distribute, or apportion ; " and, in the present instance, very
obviously " to put into parts, portions, members, or organs" — " to
compart, comportion, or organize." It has a direct reference to
the harmonious distribution of members that constitutes the living
frame. But the precise sense not having been caught hold of, nbs
has mostly been transformed into sVq importing " to do wonder
fully, marvellously, or magnificently ; and hence the Septuagint
gives US i£opuikoyr\<ropial aoi 'in pofiepas iBavpiaaraBtis- " I will
confess thee, for fearfully hast thou magnified thyself:" in which
not only is nbs changed into sbo, but in^bsi to nsb23, a ver
sion closely copied by the Vulgate. Our common translation has
adopted the same principal emendation, but has preferred the sense
of wonderful to that of magnificent. " I will praise thee, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made : " which is a very circuitous ren
dering, even allowing the alteration in the text. Houbigant, on
the authority of the Arabic and Syriac, would read Ylb^QS " fear
fully am I wrought out." But I think it will be manifest from the
present rendering, that no alteration whatever is required in the
original. Bishop Horsley, as the literal rendering, gives " for I
am curiously distinguished," preserving the term without a change :
while in his version he renders it " for wonderfully am I composed"
— adopting a change in the text, or rather rendering the whole by
a periphrasis. 2 L 2

516 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXXXIX.
1 5 Not from thee was concealed my substance,
When in secret I was formed, was modulated
Of the lowest particles of the earth.
16 Thine eyes surveyed my rudiments,
And in thy book were they all sketched out,
The times they should take shape,
When there was nothing of them together.
1 7 How unparalleled, also, are thy thoughts towards
me !
0 God, how surpassing their numbers !
Verse 15. " When I was secretly formed, was modulated."] —
An outline of the entire and mysterious process of generation is
here drawn with masterly hand : and the term ''napl " was con
figured," " modulated," or '< harmoniously variegated with organs
of different textures and powers," immediately following upon
WK757 " I was formed," or " first developed," is peculiarly strik
ing : nor is it adequately rendered by our Bible version " curiously
wrought." Id. " Of the lowest particles of the earth."]— VIS nvnnna
Particles rather than parts. It is a phrase of ancient and even
eastern physiology ; literally, in the language of the Latin schools,
" ultima rerum, (either) naturae or terra? : " — the lowest or primordial
atoms to which visible matter is capable of reduction, its ultimates
or primary elements : and evidently refers to the creation of man
when " the Lord God formed him of the dust of the ground," Gen.
ii. 7 ; or his punishment, when he said to him, " for dust thou art,
and unto dust shalt thou return," Gen. iii. 19.
Verse 16. " Thine eyes surveyed my rudiments,
And in thy book were they all sketched out,
The times they should take shape."] — The whole
of this verse is rendered literally. It is clear that >ftbi is plural,
from the verbs with which it is joined, being a contraction for
"'"'fiba " my rudiments ; " and the translators of our Bible-version,
though they have given the passage circuitously, have thus under
stood it. Por the last line, " the times they should take or assume
shape," see the marginal reading. Why the last word in the verse,
ins " together," should have been omitted in our Bible-version, it
is difficult to say.

PSALM CXXXIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 517
18 Should I count them, they multiply beyond the sand.
When I awake, still with thee is my continuance.
19 Surely, 0 God, thou wilt cut off the wicked. —
Depart from me, therefore, ye bloody men.
20 Though craftily they oppose thee,
In vain do thine enemies lift up themselves.
21 Do not I hate those, 0 Jehovah, that hate thee ?
Yea, have I not a loathing towards those that with
stand thee ?
Verse 18. " Still with thee is my continuance."] — Inthe Hebrew
I TJ337 "HISl. The term ny is here a noun, and not an adverb, as
commonly rendered, " continuance, duration," as in Ps. civ. 33 ;
cxlvi. 2. The adverb " still " is imported by the prefix 1.
Verse 20. " Though craftily they oppose thee,
In vain do thine enemies lift up themselves."] — In
our common version : —
" Por they speak against thee wickedly,
And thine enemies take thy name in vain."
Prom the gratuitous additions here expressed in italics, it must be
obvious to the English reader that the original text is not strictly
adhered to. The passage has indeed been supposed to be very
perplexed and incorrect : a remark that Bishop Horsley extends to
the preceding as well as the present verse ; for " these two verses,"
,says he, " are unintelligible as they stand." And hence he has
transposed various words in both of them. The only change which
the text really calls for, is that of 1SE73 for S1tt73 as occurs in
numerous codices ; or of -pj7 for "plj? ; for as they stand in the
Masora the noun is in the plural number, while the verb is in the
singular — " thine enemies lift up themselves," or " thine enemy
lifteth up himself." This is a common sense of NEW and occurs
especially in Ps. xciii. 3 :
"The floods, O Jehovah, have lifted up,
The floods have lifted up their voice,
The floods have lifted up their biUows."
The same term imports, indeed, " to take " simply, as well as " to
take up, or lift up," after the sense given in our common version ;

518 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXL.
22 With thorough hatred do I hate them ;
As enemies theyare to me.
23 Search me, 0 God, and know my heart ;
Try me, and know my thoughts ;
24 And see if there be any evil way in me ;
And lead me in the way everlasting.
but to make such a sense intelligible, some noun must be added
gratuitously, as that of " thy name," for which there i3 no authority
or even call. 127S commonly rendered in the present place for, at
the opening of the verse, imports rather " though, or although," as
in Ecclesiastes viii. 12.
Verse 22. " They are my very enemies."] — The passage is ren
dered strictly. The b in ?"'S^isb is an intensive prefix rather
than a preposition.

CXL*
TO THE SUPREME.
A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 Deliver me, 0 Jehovah, from the man of wrong ;
From the man of assaults preserve me ;
2 At the heart who devise outrages ;
Who would stir up contentions every day.
3 They sharpen their tongues like a serpent ;
The venom of the viper is under their lips. (Selah.)
4 Guard me, 0 Jehovah, from the hands of the wicked ;
From the man of assaults do thou preserve me,
Who are plotting for the down-fall of my career.
Por title and subject see the Historical Outline.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 74.

PSALM CXL.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 519
5 The proud have laid down a snare for me ;
Yea, cords have they stretched out ;
A net on the side of the high- way ;
Toils have they prepared for me. (Selah.)
6 But I exclaim to Jehovah, " thou art my God !
" Give ear, 0 Jehovah, to the voice of my entreaty.
7 " 0 Lord Jehovah, the strength of my salvation,
" Thou protectedst my head in the day of battle ;
8 " Yield not, 0 Jehovah, to the desires of the wicked ;
" Further not thou his machination." (Selah.)
9 Let them that lift up the head round about me —
0, let the mischief of their own lips cover themselves.
1 0 Let fire-bolts fall upon them. —
Let him plunge them into gulf-clefts : —
Let them never rise again.
Verse 9. " Let them that lift up."} — This word is by mistake
united in the Masoretic reading, with the preceding verse, and has
Selah after it, instead of before it. To show the error, it is only
necessary to observe that the verb is plural, while the substantive
with which it should agree, if placed in ver. 8, is singular ; and
even then the sense must Tie eked out by a gratuitous negative as
lest, which is introduced into our common text, or not, as sug
gested in the marginal reading. The simple change of place of
the two successive words, " let them that lift up," and " Selah,"
(1B1T1 and nbD) removes every difficulty. There is indeed an
abruptness in the passage as it stands at present ; but an abrupt
ness quite natural to the feeling pourtrayed, and hence still further
proving that the change is correct. Bishop Horsley, who need
lessly rejects the Selab altogether, has seen the necessity of putting
the pause where it stands under this correction.
Verse 10. " Let fire-bolts fall upon them,
Let him plunge them into gulf- clefts,
Let them never rise again."] — Let the earth open
and swallow them, 'as it did the families of Korah, Dathan, and
Abiram, Numb. xvi. 31 — 35. Let fire consume them as it did
their two hundred and fifty confederates that blasphemously offered
incense on the same occasion. E7S)2 cbna. is literally " bolts,

520 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXLI.
11 Let not the braving man,
The man of outrage be upheld in the earth :
Let evil hunt him down headlong.
1 2 I know that Jehovah will establish
The suit of the afflicted,
The cause of the helpless :
13 So that the righteous shall give thanks unto thy
name ;
The upright shall dwell in thy presence.
or meteors of fire," and occurs in nearly the same sense in Psalm
xviii. 12, 13. If obD'' be the proper reading, the strict sense is
" let him cast or plunge them ; " but our Bible-translators seem
to have altered the Masoretic text, for they give us " let them be
cast into." It is not necessary to make such a deviation. The
abruptness of passing from one number or person to another, here
evinced, is natural to a state of vehement feeling.
Verse 11. " Let not the braving man."] — Literally, " the man
of tongue," "the tongue- valiant man," }"|27b t^S: which Bishop
Horsley renders " the braggart " — correctly enough, but too
colloquially. Id. " Headlong."] — Literally, " with precipitancy," nsmob :
from f)n"T> " to hurry, hasten, or be precipitate," " to go on
headlong."

CXLI*

A PSALM Of DAVID.

0 Jehovah, unto thee do I cry,
Hasten thou unto me.
While I cry unto thee, 0 listen to my voice.
Let my supplication prove incense before thee ;
The uplifting of my hands an evening-oblation.
* Historical Outline, &c. pp. 75.

PSALM CXLI.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 521
3 Set a watch, 0 Jehovah, before my mouth ;
A guard at the door of my lips.
4' Incline not my heart to an evil course ;
To exult in profligacies, by transgressing
With men that are dealers in iniquity.
0, let me not eat of their dainties.
5 Let the righteous smite me kindly, and he shall
correct me :
Let not the oil for the head bruise my head.
Then would I ever make supplication in their own
troubles.
Verse 4. " O, let me not eat of their dainties."] — 1 is here a
particle of exclamation, rather than a conjunction, as in Numb.
xx. 3. lb-1, " 0, would to God ; " Buth iii. 9, " 0, spread thy
skirt over me." The dainties or banquet referred to is probably
the feast of the new moon given by Saul to his courtiers, at which
David was expected to be present, but which Jonathan purposely
excused him from attending, in the apprehension that some plot
might be laid for him. 1 Sam. xx. 18, 19.
Verse 5. " Let the righteous smite me kindly,
And he shall."] — The passage is rendered literally,
and nearly after the manner of our marginal version, which is far
preferable to that of the common text.
Id. " Let not the oil for the head bruise the head."] — This is
also rendered literally, and in the order of the words : but the He
brew word head, (tt7S"l) where it first occurs, is commonly trans
lated figuratively in the sense of " capital, costly, precious, excel
lent," instead of by the name of the organ itself: so that the
repetition or alliteration of the term, as it occurs in the original, is
totally lost ; as is also much of the spirit of the very beautiful
metaphor. Kind and judicious discipline is to the organ of the
understanding what the oil or perfume of the head, such as that
which flowed down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, is to the
head itself; it gives it brightness and refreshment, and makes it
shine forth with redoubled lustre. But discipline applied harshly
and hostilely, wounds and bruises the head instead of benefiting it.
It is a poison, instead of a balsam.

522 BOOK OF PSALMS. [ PSALM CXLI.
6 Should their rulers fall by the hands of violence,
They should still listen to my words, — for they would
be soothing.
7 Like a lopping and chopping over the ground
Our bones lie strewed at the mouth of the grave.
8 But unto thee are mine eyes, 0 Lord Jehovah :
In thee is my refuge ; leave not my soul desolate.
9 Preserve me from the snare-plots they have laid
for me ;
From the traps of the dealers in iniquity.
10 Let the wicked fall together into their own toils ;
Let me, in the meanwhile, escape.
Id. " Then would I ever make supplication in their own trou
bles."]— Had the discipline applied to me, been of a kind and
gentle character ; had it refreshed instead of bruised my head, I
would have felt grateful for it for ever ; they shjauld have had my
prayers in their behalf in every calamity ; and my words should
have soothed them in every trouble.
Here, however, the word ^nbDni should probably be inbsnn,
as rendered in the present text ; though I find no other change
necessary, notwithstanding all that have been proposed by different
commentators and critics.
Verse 6. " By the hands of violence."] — The words 37bD ">TO
may undoubtedly be rendered, "in the places of a cragg, cliff, or
stone ; " — but vbt) only imports cragg, or stone, from its sharp
ness, roughness, or power to injure, the idea of " injuring, wound
ing, or acting violently," being the primary sense ; while ill is
far more frequently used for " hands or means," than for " places."

PSALM CXLII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 523

CXLIL*

AN INSTRUCTIVE OP DAVID :
A Prayer during his continuance in the Cave.
1 To Jehovah will I lift up my voice ;
With my voice I will make supplication to Jehovah.
2 I will pour out before him my complaint ;
Before him will I give vent to my distress ;
3 For overwhelmed is my spirit within me.
But thou art acquainted with my path.
In the way wherein I would go
Have they concealed a snare for me.
4 0, look thou on the right-hand and behold !
For no one acknowledgeth me :
Refuge hath abandoned me ;
No one careth for my life.
Verse 1. "To Jehovah will I lift up my voice — I will make."] —
These verbs should be rendered strictly, in an optative rather than
in a past sense. " I cried with my voice — I did make " — as in our
common, and indeed most other versions, deviates equally from the
preciseness of the text, and the actual situation in which the psalmist
was placed at the time.
Verse 4. " 0 look thou on the right hand."] — It was on this
hand most probably that the enemy lay. The Seventy seem to have
changed El^n and nS"l into fiiaN and nNIN or intaa and
VinNT. " I looked — and I beheld ; " and our common version,
as well as most others, have adopted the change. It is, however,
not only totally uncalled for, but injurious to the sense. See the
margin of our Bibles. * Historical Outline, &c. p. 91 .

524 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXLIIl.
5 Unto thee do I cry, 0 Jehovah",
I will exclaim, Be thou my shelter,
My portion in the land of the living.
6 0, hearken unto my call,
For I am utterly worn down.
Deliver me from my persecutors,
For they are stronger than I.
7 0, bring forth my soul out of prison,
That I may glorify thy name.
The righteous shall surround me,
When thou hast retaliated unto me.

CXLIIL*
A TSALM OF DAVID.
1 Hear thou my prayer, 0 Jehovah ;
Give ear to my supplication ;
In thy truth, thy righteousness answer me :
2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant,
For before thee can no man living be justified.
3 Behold, the enemy hath persecuted my soul :
He hath smitten my life to the ground ;
He hath made me to dwell in the shades,
Like the dead of Olden time.
4 But though my spirit is overwhelmed within me,
My heart in my bosom is desolate,
5 I call to mind the days that are by-gone ;
I meditate on all thine achieving ;
I muse on the work of thy hands.
See for Title and Subject the Historical Outline.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 74,

PSALM CXLIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 525
6 My hands, my soul, I stretch forth after thee ;
After thee, as an exhausted soil. (Selah.)
7 0 Jehovah, hear me speedily :
Consumed is my spirit :
Hide not thou thy face from me ;
For I am among the goers-down, into the pit.
8 Give me to hear thy loving-kindness right early ;
For on thee do I rely.
Give me to know the way wherein I should walk ;
For I lift up my soul unto thee.
9 Deliver me, 0 Jehovah, from mine enemies :
With thee would I take shelter.
10 Teach me to do thy will,
For thou art my God.
Let thy good Spirit guide me
Into a land of equity.
1 1 For thy name's sake, 0 Jehovah, revive me :
Through thy righteousness bring my soul out of
trouble.
12 And, of thy loving-kindness, cut off mine enemies ;
And destroy all the oppressors of my soul ;
For I am thy servant.

CXLIV.*
A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 Blessed be Jehovah, my rock,
Who teacheth my hands to war,
This triumphal ode appears to have been composed entirely at the
same time as Psalm xlviii., but to have preceded it a little ; and to
¦* Historical Outline, &c. p. 118.

526 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXLIV.
My fingers to fight :
2 My succour, and my stronghold,
My high tower, and my deliverer.
Yerily, on him do I rely,
Who subdueth my people under me.
3 0 Jehovah, what is man that thou noticest him ?
The child of frailty, that thou makest account of
him?
4 Man, the image of vanity,
Whose days are as the passing shadow.
5 Bow thine heavens, 0 Jehovah, and descend :
Light on the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 Flash forth the thunder-flash and scatter them,
Shoot out thine arrows, and demolish them.
7 Send down thy forces from above ;
be grounded upon the holy confidence David felt of obtaining a
victory over the great confederacy of nations by whom he was op
posed, on his first uniting the crown of Judah with that of Israel,
before the removal of the ark, and probably before the building of
the city of David. See the Introductory note on Psalm xlviii.
Verse 2. " Subdueth my people under me."] — In the confederacy
here referred to, multitudes from several of the tribes who had
vowed allegiance to king David, had broken their faith, and joined
the standard of the alien powers, consisting of the Syrians, Ammon
ites, Moabites, Edomites, Hagarenes, Philistines, and the petty
kings of Tarshish. This was particularly the case with the tribe
of Ashur, as peculiarly noticed in Psalm lxxxiii. 8.
Verse 5. "Bow thine heavens, 0 Jehovah, and descend."] —
" Save me with the same miraculous interposition, with which thou
savedst thy people the children of Israel, when pursued by the
Egyptians behind, and panic-struck with the Bed-Sea in front of
them." The nature of the miraculous descent on that occasion ;
the separation of the waters to afford the Israelites a passage ; and
the tremendous storm of thunder and lightning, with the sudden
and overwhelming return of the waters of the Bed-Sea upon their
enemies, is given at full length in Psalm lxxvii. 16 — 20.

PSALM CXLIV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 527
Rescue me, yea snatch me from the mighty waters ;
From the hand of the sons of the alien ;
8 Whose mouth speaketh vanity,
And whose right-hand is a right-hand of falsehood.
9 A new song, 0 God, shall I sing unto thee ;
I shall chant unto thee upon the ten- stringed psaltery :
10 The giver of victory to kings ;
The rescuer of his servant David from the wrongful
sword.
11 0, rescue me, yea snatch me
From the hand of the sons of the alien ;
Whose mouth speaketh vanity,
And whose right-hand is a right-hand of falsehood.
12 That our sons, in their youth, may be as vigorous
plants ;
Our daughters as carved corner-stones,
A model for a palace :
13 Our garners full, flowing with store upon store;
Our sheep by thousands, by ten thousands ;
14 Our oxen in our suburbs, laborious ;
No irruption, no emigration ;
Yea, no complaining in our resorts.
15 Blessed is the people that can answer to this :
Blessed is the people who have Jehovah for their God.
Verse 8. " Whose mouth speaketh vanity,
And their right-hand is a right-hand of falsehood."]
— David appears to have been on good terms with the Philistines,
during the reign of Achish, who had shown so great a regard for
him in his adversity. But the league is here broken, apparently
on the death of Achish, as we hear nothing more of him; the Philis
tines are no longer true to their bond of friendship ; their promises
have proved vanity ; and their right-hand is a right-hand of false
hood. The same remark may also apply to several of the foreign
powers, and especially that of Tyre.
Verse 9. " Upon the ten-stringed psaltery."] — See Psalm xxxiii.
2 ; xcii. 3 ; and the notes upon these verses.

528 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXLV.

CXLV.*
AN EXALTATION : BY DAVID.
N
1 I will extol thee, my God, 0 king,
And will bless thy name for ever and ever.
a
2 Throughout every day will I bless thee
And will glorify thy name for ever and ever.
a
3 Great is Jehovah, yea, supremely to be praised,
For his greatness is unsearchable. 1
4 Generation to generation shall declare thy works,
And rehearse thy master-deeds. n
5 The splendour, the glory of thy majesty,
And thy marvellous exploits shall they dwell upon.
This beautiful exaltation, or hymn of praise, is a production of
David ; and was apparently written for the temple-service on one
of the three grand annual festivals, most probably that of Taberna
cles or the Peast of Ingathering, as the rich bounty of God's pro
vidence is so generally referred to. . Its form in the original is
alphabetical — every verse in succession beginning with the successive
letter of the alphabet. The letter 3 however, with the verse that
should belong to it, has been lost ; and consequently we have only
twenty-one verses to the Psalm, while the letters of the Hebrew
alphabet are twenty-two. There seems also to be another error in
the text in verses 5 and 6, though of no great moment, in which
the verbs employed are abruptly and somewhat obscurely inter
changed from the third person to the first : but which has been
corrected in the Septuagint version.
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 241.

PSALM CXLV.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 529
1
6 Yea, they shall talk of the might of thy prodigies ;
Thy greatness shall they celebrate.
t
7 They shall enlarge on the memorial of thine abun
dant goodness ;
And shout aloud of thy righteousness.
n
8 Gracious and compassionate is Jehovah ;
Slow to anger, but rich in loving-kindness.
9 Jehovah is good unto all ;
Yea, over all his works are his tender-mercies.
i
10 All thy works shall praise thee, 0 Jehovah,
And thy saints shall bless thee.
a
11 They shall discourse of the glory of thy kingdom,
And talk of thy power : b
12 To display his master -deeds to the sons of men ;
And the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
a
13 Thy kingdom is a kingdom throughout all ages ;
• Yea, thy dominion throughout generation upon gene
ration.
Verse 5. " Shall they dwell upon —
Verse 6. Shall they celebrate."] — In the Masora nn'WN and
naiBDM, " will I dwell upon," will I celebrate." But there is an
awkwardness and abruptness in such a change of the person, which
seems to betray an error in the copying, and which is not followed
by the Septuagint, nor by many other old versions, which by render
ing the passage as now given appear to have restored the correctness
of the text, and are followed by Dr. Kennicott and Bishop Hare.
Such a correction may the more readily be allowed, as we have full
proof that this Psalm has descended to us in an imperfect state, from
the total loss of the couplet that should begin with the letter a, as
already noticed.
J 2 M

530 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXLVI.
D
14 Jehovah giveth support to all that are falling ;
And upraiseth all that are bowed down.
V
15 The eyes of all are turned unto thee ;
And thou providest them their food in its season.
a
16 Thou openest thy hand, and satisfiest
The desire of every living creature.
1 7 Jehovah is righteous in all his ways ;
And bounteous in all his dealings.
P
18 Jehovah is nigh unto all that call upon him ;
Unto all that call upon him in truth.
, 1
19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him ;
He shall, also, hear their cry, and deliver them.
B7
20 Jehovah guardeth all that love him ;
But all the wicked will he destroy.
n
21 My mouth shall speak forth the praise of Jehovah ;
Yea, all flesh shall bless his holy name for ever and
ever.

CXLVL*
1 Hallelujah ! —
Praise Jehovah, 0 my soul.
There is no title to the present or the four following Psalms ; and
we are, hence, without any knowledge of their author or era. They
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 323.

PSALM CXLVI.J BOOK OF PSALMS. 531
2 While I live will I praise Jehovah ;
I will chant unto Jehovah throughout my being.
3 0, trust not in princes —
In the earth-born, in whom is no safety.
4 His breath passeth away,
To his earth he returneth :
In that very day his schemes perish.
5 Blessed is he that hath the God of Jacob for his
succour ;
Whose hope is in Jehovah his God,
6 The Maker of heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that therein is ;
Who keepeth truth for ever ;
7 Who executeth judgment for the oppressed ;
Who giveth food to the famished.
have all, however, a great similarity of subject and structure, and
were probably written about the same period of time. They are all
, exaltations, or hymns of praise or glory, apparently composed by
the sons of Korah for the temple-service during one or other of their
grand festivals. Most of them have a direct reference to the hill or
city of Zion, and henee prove them to have been written subse
quently to the foundation of Jerusalem ; and two of them, as Psalm
cxlvi. and cxlvii. have a reference to God's special interference in
executing judgment for his oppressed and bowed down or subju
gated people, whom he had released from captivity (cxlvi. 7, 8,)
and his rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, and gathering together
the outcasts of Israel, (cxlvii. 2, 13,) and hence naturally bring us
down to the return home of the tribes from the Babylonian capti
vity ; shortly after which period it is probable that they were com
posed, and consequently for the use of the second temple. The
last may also be regarded as an epilogue of praise to the entire
book. The Psalm immediately before us seems, from verses 3, 4, to have
been composed, indeed, while this second temple was erecting, and
at the moment when a stop had been attempted to be put to it by
the prohibitory edict of Artaxerxes, Ezra iv. 18, &c. : and affords a
noble proof of the full reliance which the faithful placed, even in
2 M 2

532 BOOK OF PSALMS. [pSALM CXLVI.
Jehovah hath set free the captives ;
8 Jehovah hath given sight to the blind :
Jehovah hath upraised the bowed down :
Jehovah loveth the righteous.
9 Jehovah hath preserved the homeless ;
Jehovah shall sustain the fatherless and the widow ;
But the way of the wicked shall he overthrow.
10 Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever ;
Thy God, 0 Zion, from generation to generation.
Hallelujah.
that period of persecution, upon the promises of Jehovah : a reliance
which, in fact, inspirited them still to continue their work, though
more covertly, notwithstanding the king's menaces, Ezra v. 2, 5.
This fickleness of human princes is finely contrasted, in verse 6,
with the unchangeable nature and veracity of Jehovah, " who keep-
eth truth for ever."
Verse 3. " O, trust not in princes."] — Probably in allusion to
the prohibitory decree of Artaxerxes respecting the building of the
temple, so soon after the full permission of Cyrus.
Id. " In the earth-born."] — The passage is rendered literally
Q1S (adam) in this verse, has a direct reference to, and should
have the same, or nearly the same meaning as naiS (adamet) in
the ensuing ; but by rendering the first man, and the second earth,
or ground, the translators in general have lost sight of the identity
of the term, and have very considerably destroyed the force of the
general image. See the note on Psalm viii. 4.
Verse 9. " Hath preserved the homeless."] — Bather than " the
strangers," as commonly rendered. The reference is to the captive
state of the Hebrews when at Babylon — sojourners and without a
home, which is the real meaning of Q'na.

PSALM CXLVII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 533

CXLVII.*
] Hallelujah ! —
Right good is it to glorify our God :
Right pleasant ; — the praise is becoming.
2 Jehovah is rebuilding Jerusalem :
He is gathering together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He is healing the broken in heart ;
And binding up their wounds. —
4 He, who marshalleth the number of the stars,
Calleth over the names of them all.
Por the subject, see the introductory note to Ps. cxlvi. ; and com
pare the present Psalm, ver. 2, and ver. 13. It is a most beautiful
hymn of praise to Jehovah, as the God of grace and of providence.
The whole of the seasons are brought before us ; but, from the gen
eral character of ver. 7, 8, 9, it seems more probable that it was
meant for the temple-service, at the feast of weeks or Pentecost,
than at any one of the other grand festivals of the year ; and is per
haps expressly referred to in Nehem. viii. 14 — 16.
Verse 2. " Jehovah is rebuilding Jerusalem,
He is gathering together the outcasts of Israel."] —
This verse seems to have a direct reference to the restoration of
Jerusalem from its state of ruin, under the superintendence of
Nehemiah, as related Nehem. ii. 17, and following; and of course
fixes the period in which the Psalm was composed.
Verse 4. " He who marshalleth the number of the stars,
Calleth over the names of them all."] — In what sub
lime language is the special providence of God, and his fatherly care
for each of his children, here described ! The same almighty power
that arrangeth the host of the heavens, inspecteth the host of his
people on earth : the same sovereign voice that giveth command to
the mustered armies of the skies, calleth over by name the muster-
roll of his saints below, and examineth into all their wants. But
the passage does not seem to have been hitherto sufficiently under
stood. * Historical Outline, &c. p. 333.

534 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXLVII.
5 Great is our Lord, and mighty his power :
To his understanding no limit.
6 Jehovah giveth support to the lowly ;
He prostrateth the wicked to the ground.
7 Strike ye up to Jehovah with thanksgiving ;
Chant forth, on the harp, to Jehovah :
8 Who overspreadeth the heaven with clouds ;
Who prepareth rain for the earth ;
Who causeth the hills to bring forth grass.
9 To the cattle he dealeth out food :
To the young ravens that cry.
10 He doteth not on the strength of the horse ;
He taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 Jehovah taketh pleasure in them that fear him ;
In them that wait for his tender-mercy.
12 Acclaim to Jehovah, 0 Jerusalem ;
Praise thou thy God, 0 Zion.
13 For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates :
He hath blessed thy children within thee.
14 He maketh peaceful thy borders ;
With the prime of wheat he replenisheth thee.
15 He sendeth forth his commandment on earth :
His word speedeth amain.
1 6 He ordaineth snow like wool ;
He spreadeth abroad the hoar-frost like ashes :
17 He casteth forth his ice like incrustations ;
Who can stand before his cold ? —
Verse 13. " He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates."] — In
allusion to the completion of the works and walls around Jerusalem,
and the opposition encountered from Sanballat, Tobiah, and Ge-
shem, Nehem. vi. 9 ; " for they all made us afraid, saying, Their
hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now
therefore, 0 God, strengthen my hands."

PSALM CXLVIII.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 535
18 He sendeth out his word, and dissolveth them :
He changeth his wind, and the waters flow.
19 His word hath he displayed unto Jacob :
His statutes and his ordinances unto Israel.
20 He hath not dealt so with any nation :
Yea, his ordinances — they know nothing of them.
Hallelujah.

CXLVIII*
1 Hallelujah !
Praise ye Jehovah from the heavens !
Praise ye him in the heights !
2 Praise him, all ye his angels !
Praise him, all ye his hosts !
3 Praise ye him, sun and moon !
Praise him, all ye stars of light !
4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens !
And ye waters that are above the heavens !
5 Let them praise the name of Jehovah :
For he commanded, and they were created ;
6 And hath stationed them for ever and ever ;
And assigned a course which they cannot transgress.
7 Praise ye Jehovah from the earthy ;
Ye dragons ! and all ye abysses i
8 Fire and hail ! snow and vapour !
Stormy wind, fulfilling his word !
A noble song of universal praise, probably composed shortly
after the two preceding Psalms, at the dedication of the wall of the
city, as described Nehem. xii. 27 — 43. Its division is most regu-
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 336.

536 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CXLIX.
9 Mountains ! and all hills !
Fruitful trees ! and all cedars !
10 Savage-beasts ! and all cattle !
Reptiles ! and birds of the wing !

11 Kings of the earth ! and all peoples !
Chieftains ! and all judges of the earth !
12 Both young men and damsels !
Ancients, and children !
13 Let them praise the name of Jehovah :
For his name alone is supreme :
His Majesty transcends the earth and the heaven.
1 4 Verily shall he exalt the horn of his people.
Praise be from all his saints :
From the children of Israel,
The people near unto him.
Hallelujah.
lar : for the poet commences with calling for praise upon every thing
in heaven, enumerating the chief productions of the Almighty
Creator, as he proceeds ; he then makes the same call upon every
thing on earth, with an equally detailed enumeration ; and closes
with calling especially upon Jehovah's favoured people, upon the
saints of his church, whose prosperity he describes as certain.

CXLIX*
1 Hallelujah !
Sing ye unto Jehovah a new song.
Let his praise be in the congregation of the saints.
Like several of the preceding, a Psalm of praise for the special
favour of Jehovah, on the occasion of the return to Jerusalem from
the Babylonish captivity. This is peculiarly alluded to in ver. 4,
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 332.

PSALM CXLIX.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 537
2 Let Israel rejoice in his Creator :
Let the children of Zion exult in their king.
3 Let them praise his name on the flute :
Let them chant to him with the timbrel and harp.
4 For Jehovah hath pleasure in his people :
The humiliated will he adorn with salvation.
5 Let the saints be triumphant in glory :
Let them shout aloud on their beds.
6 Let exaltations of God be in their mouth,
And a two-edged-sword in their hand ;
7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen ;
Upon the people chastisements :
8 To bind their kings in chains ;
Their nobles in fetters of iron ;
9 To execute upon them the judgment recorded :
An honour belonging to all his saints.
Hallelujah.
where their late humiliated condition is noticed in conjunction with
their present glory : while, in ver. 6, we have reference to the per
petual skirmish which it was necessary for the builders of the
wall to maintain against their indefatigable enemies, even while they
were at work, as recorded in Nehem. iv. 14 — 18 ; and the traitorous
correspondence entered into between many of the higher ranks of
the people and one of their chief foes Tobiah, as noticed Nehem.
vi. 1 7 : probably, with a reference, at the same time, to the irre
gular intermarriages which had previously taken place between the
Jewish people and the surrounding idolatrous nations, recorded
Ezra ix. x.
Verse 6. " And a two-edged sword in their hand."] — In this
manner was the wall of Jerusalem rebuilt under the superintend
ence of Nehemiah, amid the daily attacks of their enemies. See the
Historical Outline, and Nehem. iv. 14 — 18.
Verse 7. "To execute vengeance upon the heathen,
And upon the people chastisements."] — Upon their
grand enemies Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite,
and Geshem the Arabian ; and upon those traitors among the higher
ranks of the children of Israel who had maintained a secret cor
respondence with them. See the introductory note, as also Nehem.
ii. 1 9 ; and vi. 1 7.

538 BOOK OF PSALMS. [PSALM CL,

CL.*
1 Hallelujah !
Praise ye God in his sanctuary :
Praise him in the expanse of his power :
2 Praise him for his master-deeds :
Praise him for his supreme excellence.
3 Praise him with the peal of the cornet :
Praise him with the psaltery and harp :
4 Praise him with the timbrel and flute :
Praise him with flowing-numbers, and the pipe :
This Psalm probably formed a part of the dedication-service re
ferred to in Psalm cxlviii : but it constitutes also a general close or
epilogue to the Psalter : and thus the Qibnn 13D, or Book of
Praises — as the collection is called in the original — concludes
with calling for praise from everything that has breath or sound
— praise to the glory of the great Creator and Lord of all —
Hallelujah. Verse 3. " Peal of the cornet."] — 13112; — " cornet," as in Ps.
xcviii. 6, where it is thus commonly rendered, rather than " trum
pet," which, in the same place, is nn!J2n.
Verse 4. " Plowing numbers."] — Q'oa literally as here ren
dered; from roa " to number, measure, or mete out" — whence
" poetical numbers, measures, or metres." It is rendered by the
Septuagint xoplais, and hence the common versions give us for its
meaning " stringed instruments." But " stringed instruments " is
in Hebrew poetry ni^M or negmoth, which is a common term in
the titles of the present book of Psalms. Independently of which,
unless we give the present interpretation, the voice of man is not
called upon to assist in the general chorus.
Id. " The pipe."] — In the original 2237 which, in the Septua
gint, is commonly rendered agyavov, and in modern versions organ ;
but the modern organ gives no idea of the real instrument referred
* Historical Outline, &c. p. 338.

PSALM CL.] BOOK OF PSALMS. 539
5 Praise him with the clanging cymbals :
Praise him with the cymbals of symphony.
6 Let all that breathe praise Jah.
Hallelujah.
to under these names, which there is little doubt was a kind of
syrinx or Pan's pipe, composed of several tubes of unequal thick
ness and length, now common to our own streets — the rural fistula
of Theocritus, Lucretius, and Virgil. See the author's note to his
translation of the book of Job, xxi. 12, — as also his note to his
translation of Lucretius, iv. 605. In the hundred-and-fifty-first, or
supplementary Psalm in the Septuagint version, David represents
himself therefore as having constructed the organ while in the
fields watching his father's flock. The complicated modern instru
ment of this name was altogether unknown to the Hebrews ; and
although, in a rude form, attributed to the Greeks, was never,
perhaps, applied to sacred music, till the ninth or tenth century of
the Christian era.

the end.

L. SEELEY,
PRINTER,
THAMES DJTTON,
SURREY.