Ethan the Ezrahite). This might be accepted, save so far as the pilgrim songs assigned to David (Pss. exxii., exxiv. cxsxi.,mon (Ps. cxxvii.)are concerned, the older ones of David and Solomon being the models after which the Levities] singers composed their later productions. Still further he regards Pss. cv., exxxv. and cx>cxvi. : rxlv.— cl. and xxxiii., at from the same author. Now Ps. cxlv. is assigned to David, and Ps. xxxiii. is closely connected with Ps. xxxii. He di niej the authority of the title of the former and the connection of the latter, but his error in this respect does not overthr m his arguments for the same author. Hengstenberg finds six unknown authors : one of Pss. xci. — c., another of Pss. civ.— cvii., a third of Pss. cxi.— cxix., a fourth of the 10 pilgrim songs which are without titles, a fifth of Pss. exxxv. — exxxvii., and Ps. cxlvi., a sixth of Pss. cxlvii.— &. From these attempts of Ewald and HengstenbTg to group t> e Psalms under various unknown authors we may, whilst doubting some of their concIusions.be guided to more satisfactory results. A more careful comparative study of the Psalms as to their theological and ethical ideas, their figurative expressions, and INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. § 3. HISTORY OF THE COMPOSITION OF PSALMS. The present collection of Psalms was intended for use in the Divine service of the congre- gation of Israel ($ 1 and 5) ; yet this does not imply that all the particular Psalms were com- posed with this directly in view. This is undoubtedly the case with some of them ; but with others we can scarcely imagine any other origin than that they originally sounded forth from the heart in the very times and circumstances referred to in the superscription, and that they were afterwards put into their present poetical form, and indeed by " their authors actually becoming absorbed in these circumstances, and with the definite purpose of affording to the entire church of the Lord, and especially to those who were afflicted and in need of consola- tion, a share in the grace which they had then received." (Otto Von Gerlach : Das A. T. mit Einleitungen und erkldrenden Anmerkungen herausgegeben, Bd. iii., p. xii. 3 Ausg., 1854). Yet it seems to be inadmissible with Hengstenberg to extend this reference to the congrega- tion, which is true of all the Psalms with respect to their liturgical use and their devotional application, likewise to their origin. At the other extreme of one-sidedness De Wette, fol- lowing Eichhorn, attempts to explain almost everything from external events, historic occur- rences and personal situations, and by this means frequently falls into wholly untenable re- ferences to later times and to the conflicts of Israel with heathen nations. In the search for occasions, however, the particular circumstances of the poet are worthy of all consideration. So likewise for the purposes of exposition, the historical surroundings and associations of in- dividual Psalms deserve all attention. Even though sharp-sighted ingenuity in discovering and pointing out these circumstances may be carried to excess, as with Hitzig, they are yet of great importance for the understanding of the Psalms as even Hupfeld admits. Poetical endowment and religious vitality are to be brought into consideration as conditions of the ori- gin of these spiritual songs, just as other kinds of poetical and musical productions are pre- supposed as the general historic basis of their poetical form. The proper source of their ori- gin, however, is in the fructification of a poetically gifted Israelite by the Spirit of Jehovah. The generic conception of the Psalm therefore implies three things : 1. That it belongs to the lyric poetry of the Hebrews ; 2. That it originated from a member of the Church of God in Israel. 3. That it be composed under the positive influence of the Spirit of Jehovah. Thus David de- signates his Psalms as songs of Israel, 2 Sam. xxiii. 1. Thus the Psalmist described his poem as a song of Jehovah, Ps. xlii. 9, and himself, xlix. 5, as a man who must first attend to that which is unfolded to him, before he can venture to instruct ; for the laying open, that is, reve- lation of the word of Jehovah, has a power of illumination, Ps. cxix. 130. The Psalms are therefore to be regarded as sacred poetry not simply on account of their religious character, but especially on account of their theopneustic origin. This peculiarity alone entitles them to a place in the canon of sacred scriptures ; for while the second named peculiarity renders pos- sible their use in the Divine service of the Church, the first secures for them their peculiar po- sition in the canon, and that particular character of which we shall speak more fully here- after. Two things, however, need to be emphasized here : first, that the degree of the Spirit's influence upon the soul of the Psalmist may be very various without destroying its inspira- tional character ; and secondly, that inspiration, as likewise in the case of the prophets, doea not at all exclude the imitation of models, or the use of the works of their predecessors. These remarks are derived from the facts which reflect the historic course of their compo- sition. Their historical origin synchronizes neither with the beginning of revelation nor of religious lyrics. Both are older than the establishment of the Israelitish Church. First among them resounds that most ancient of Psalms, " the prayer of Moses, the man of God," as yet without strophaic members, yet striding with threatening tread above all the heights, and above all the depths of life. The Church shows itself to be the birth-place of the Psalter ; its founder was the first who interpreted her emotions.* But his powerful and dread-inspi- their lyrical and strophaic forms, as well as their grammatical and etymological peculiarities will enable us to discern the authors of many of the Psalms without titles, and thus the number of the Psalms of David, and Solomon, and Asaph, and the songs of Korah, and Ethan may be increased rather than diminished. — C. A. B.] * ["The time of Moses was the time of Israel's birth as a nation, and also of its national lyric. The Israelites brought instruments with them out of Egypt, and these were the accompaniments of their first song (Ex. xv.) — the oldest hymn, §3. HISTORY OF THE COMPOSITION OF PSALMS. ring voice still remained for centuries solitary within its domain. Not until after the centu- ries of severe conflicts and comjdications which succeeded the entrance of the covenant peo- ple into the land of promise ; not until the reformatory lahors of Samuel, and indeed not without the influence of the Schools of the Prophets founded hy him, with their exercises in music and in song ; not until the establishment of the kingdom, when Israel had gained through rich experiences a new position in the world; and then in equally great strength, abundance and beauty, the sacred song resounded from David's harp, and in this king of pro- mise the singing and composition of Psalms found a master and a patron. Four thousand Levites, the entire fourth division of them, exercised their official functions as singers and musicians under his direction in the service of God ; now in the tabernacle upon Zion, now in Gibeon, the place of the Mosaic tabernacle of the covenant, 1 Chron. xv. 16. So like- wise an organized culture was maintained under the choristers Asaph, Heman and Ethan, (identical probably with Jeduthun), 1 Chron. xxiv. No wonder, then, that the Davidic type of Psalms invited others to imitation, down to the latest times, nor that incited partly by the stimulus of new forms of culture, types so strongly characteristic, as those of Asaph and Korah should have arisen. Let us add to that which has already been remarked in \ 2 con- cerning the character of these groups of Psalms, that both manifest their adaptation to the Church and to the worship at Jerusalem, associated with definite historic events. In the Psalms of Asaph, however, God appears predominant as the judge of His enemies, and repeatedly as speaking, whilst He is presented in the songs of Korah rather as the King who watches over Jerusalem. Comp. J. J. Stahelin, Zur Einleitung in die Psalmen, 1859, S. 14 f. Spezielle Einleitung in die Kanon.Biicher des A. T., 1862, S. 881, 391. But we see from the history of Solomon how insufficient mere poetical endowments were to make a Psalmist. For this king was celebrated for his wisdom, and highly praised as a writer and a poet, even if the assertion of 1 Kings v. 12, (iv. 32) be not, that he composed 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs, but that he simply spake them. In any case the superscrip- tion to the Song of Solomon refers, according to Semitic usage (Ewald) to still other songs of Solomon. Among the Psalms, however, there are but two which bear his name. This striking circumstance is explained by the character of the other Solomonic writings and by the statement of 1 Kings v. 13 (iv. 33) that he spake of trees, cattle, birds, creeping things and fishes. Whether this is an allusion to his acquaintance with natural history (Keil in llavcrnick's Einl.) or to secular poetry (Hengst.) or to proverbs and fables, classi- fied according to the animal kingdom (Hupf.), in either case nature and human life were the subjects of which he chiefly treated, and proverbial wisdom [chokhma] especially in the form of sentences (maschal) is associated with his name, as the Psalms are with that of his father David, and both with good historic reasons. According to a statement in the Septuag. appended to 1 Kings viii. 53, the matter there narrated, had been made the subject of a song. The influence of David was so strongly felt still later acording to Amos vi. 5, that the secular poetry and music bore traces of it. There the reference is to those who practiced tricks with the accompaniment of the harp, and believed themselves to equal David in their musical performances, or, according to another view devised for themselves similar things to those of David. But although prophetic discourse was now being powerfully developed, and although in the period of the Kings we have evidence of the exercise of the poetic art, we possess but two Psalms of the days of Solomon, those of the Ezrahites, Heman and Ethan. During the entire period of the division of the kingdom we have but two revivals of the composition of Psalms of the Asaphic and Kohrite types. For such Psalm-like fragments as Jonah ii., Is. xii., Habakkuk iii., are but transformations or free renderings of older songs. As such truly they are important witnesses both of the presence and of the vitality of the Psalms in the hearts of pious Israelites. Both of these revivals, however, fall precisely which re-ochoes through all the hymns of the following ages, and also through the Psalter If we add to this Ps. xc. and xxxii., we then have the prototypes of all Psalms, the hymnic, elegiac and prophetico-didactic. All three classes of songs are still wanting in the strophic symmetry which characterizes the later art. But even Deborah's song of victory — a song of triumph composod eight centuries before Pindar, and far outstripping him — exhibits to us the strophic art ap- proximating to its perfect development." Delitzsch's Com. Introd., p. 8. — J. B. H.J INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. within the period of the restoration and purification of the worsliip of Jehovah, first under Jehoshaphat, then under Hezekiah, both times immediately following great deeds of judgment and deliverances of the Lord. Jehoshaphat had the education of the people especially in view 2 Chron. xvii. 7sq., Hezekiah [" the Pisistratus of Israelitish literature." Delitzsch. — J. B. H.J, the preservation of the remains of their literature and the restoration of their ancient sacred music and the liturgical use of the Psalms, 2 Chron. xxix. 25 sq. He was himself also a poet, intimately familiar with the Book of Job, as is clear from Is. xxxviii. Entirely in harmony with this is the fact that during the exile the composition of Psalms was not entirely suspended. Ps. cii. certainly belongs to this period, and others readily remind us of the prophet Jeremiah, although not to such an extent as Hitzig assumes, (Begrijf der Kritik, S. 03 f£) But their harps still hung upon the willows, Ps. cxxxvii. 2, and a full and fresh stream of new Psalms burst forth from the heart of the Church, only when led back to their native land by the hand of God, and permitted to pray in the restored temple. The most of the Psalms in the last two books belong to this period of the second temple. The question now arises whether the religious exaltation of the Jewish people in the time of the Maccabees caused a new harvest of sacred song to sprout forth. Hitzig, von Lengerke and Olshausen, believe this to have been extensively the case, as Rudinger, Venema, Bengel, et at. had pre- viously maintained. The reasons for an opposite opinion are very fully developed by Ewald (Jahrb. der bibl. Wissenschaft, ii. 20 f.) and by E. Meyer, Geschichte der poet. Naiionalliter- atur der Heb. 1856, S. 496 sq.,.571 sq. It is going too far, however, to afiirrn the impossibility of such being the case. The Psalm-like passages 1 Mac. vii. 37 sq., ix. 21 ; 2 Mac. i. 24 sq., xiv. 35 sq., xv. 22 sq., have, it is true a very prosaic character, and various opinions may be held concerning Sirach 1. 22-24, from which Martin Binkart drew our hymn, " Nun danket alle Gott." Thenius (Studien und Krit. 1854, Heft. 3), regards these words as the only proof of a temple Psalm of this period. Delitzsch (Zur Geschichte der nachbibl. J'udischen Poesie, 1836, S. 182) regards it as a pithy fragment of a liturgical thanksgiving hymn of the Church. D. F. Fritzsche [Exeg. Handbuch zu den Apokryph., v. 303) however, regards it as the epi- logue to the praise of the Father, a summons to the reader to give thanks. A prophetico-lyri- cal exaltation cannot but be recognized, however, in the pseudo-epigraphic Psalter of Solomon, consisting of eighteen Psalms, translated from the Aramaic into Greek, in Fabricius God. pseudoepigr. V. T. 1, 917, which Ewald Jahrbuch xi. 215 ; Geschichte, 3 Aufl. iv. 392, and Dillmann, in Herzog, Real-Encycl. xii. 305, place in the period of the Maccabees ; Movers, in Kathol. Kirchenlexikon von Wetze and Welter i. 340, and Delitzsch, Comment, ii. 381, still later in the Herodian period, while Gratz, Geschichte der Juden iii. 3, 491, even regards it as Chris- tian. We may also allude to the lyrical additions which have found their way from the Septuag. into the German Bible, as Apocryphal fragments belonging to Daniel and Chron. But all this furnishes no decisive answer to the question as to the existence of Maccabean Psalms in the canonical Psalter. Against such a supposition in general stands the circum- stance, which even Hupfeld regards as decisive, that the Psalter was known as such as early as the time of the Chronicles ( Vid. \ 4,) and the assumption of later interpolations is a pure hypothesis. Nevertheless, our decision in concreto must depend upon the result of our inves- tigations in individual Psalms. I 4. THE COLLECTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE PSALMS. The Psalter begins in its present form with a pair of anonymous Psalms of a didactic and prophetic character, which were regarded, as early as the Jerusalem Talmud, Tract, taa- nith 2, 2, as one Psalm commencing and ending with beatitudes. The Psalter closes also with four anonymous Psalms (cxlvi. — cxlix.) which similarly begin and end with hal- lelujahs. For Ps. cl. is simply an amplified doxology, similar to the shorter ones found at the end of each of the four preceding groups of Psalms. These doxologies, however, so like the liturgical beracha of the second temple, are not of the same date as the Psalms which imme- diately precede them. They were subsequently added for liturgical use, especially for public reading (Delitzsch, Symbolce, p. 19). In this way five books arose, constituted as follows:"* * [Hilary (likewise Cassiodorus, Jerome, and Augustine) mentions this division, but feels bound, on the authority of St §4. THE COLLECTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE PSALMS. The bulk of the first book, which closes with Ps. xli., consists of thirty-seven Davidic Psalms, among which, exclusive of the two introductory Psalms, only two are anonymous, (x., xxxiii.j* Jehovah is the prevailing name of God. The second book (Ps. xlii. — lxxii.) begins with seven Kohrite Psalms, their succession uninterrupted except by one (xliii.) ano- nymous Psalm. [This is without doubt a part of Ps. xlii. — C. A. B.] Then follows an Asaphic Psalm (lix.) followed by a succession of eighteen Davidic Psalms, interrupted by two (lxvi., lxvii.), anonymous [these are likewise Davidic, vid. in loco. — C. A. B.], concluding after Ps. lxxi. (anonymous) [Ps. lxxi. belongs to Ps. lxx., vid. in loco. — C. A. B.], with a Psalm of Solomon (lxxii.) The prevailing name of God in this group is Elohim. The third book (Pss. lxxiii. — lxxix.) begins with eleven Psalms of Asaph, followed by four Kohrite Psalms, with one Davidic Psalm interposed (lxxxvi.), closing with the Messianic Psalm of Ethan. Here the name of God is sometimes Jehovah and sometimes Elohim. The super- scriptions frequently contain, not so often however as in the second book, brief historic refe- rences to the occasion of their composition, often, moreover, musical references. The fourth book (Pss. xc. — cvi.) begins with the prayer of Moses, and then, with the exception of two Psalms of David (ci., ciii.) introduces only anonymous Psalms, with now and then a brief notice of the purpose of their composition. The only name of God in this collection is Je- hovah.f The fifth book, finally, (Ps. cvii. — cl.) begins with a Psalm without superscription introducing then, three Davidic Psalms, three hallelujah Psalms, six without superscriptions, followed by fifteen Psalms of degrees, among which one (exxvii.) bears the name of Solomon, and two (exxi., exxxiii.) the name of David; — then again one hallelujah Psalm, two without superscriptions, seven Davidic, and finally the four hallelujah Psalms, introducing the closing doxology. Here also Jehovah is the prevailing name of Deity. It appears, even in this general sketch, that the arrangement is not a confused mixture of an accidental or opportune aggregation, and that no classification, either by the order of their composition, their subject matter, or their authorship, is consistently carried out. Tins fact is confirmed in considering the contents, origin, and date of particular Psalms. Now, although a very early liturgical use of the Psalms may be proven (vid. %5), yet apart from the above-mentioned division into five books, by concluding doxologies, no liturgical or dogmatic principle of arrangement is manifest. Hippolytus states that this fivefold division (Ed. de La- garde, p. 193) was made with reference to the Pentateuch. The entire rejection of such a mo- tive by Jahn and De Wette, is without grounds. We may say with Delitzsch, "The Psalter is also a Pentateuch, — the echo of the books of Moses, from the heart of Israel ; — it is the five books of the Church to Jehovah, as the Thorah is the five books of Jehovah to the Church." But while this reference was in the mind of the Jewish church, and actuated the fiedac- teur, who added the doxologies, probably with reference also to the symbolical significance of the number five (Stahelin, Spez. Einl., S. 379 f.) it allows no parallelization of the sepa- rate books, and explains, neither their connection nor their sequence. With still less pro- priety can we adopt the language of the Midrash on Ps. i.: "Moses gave to the Israelites the five books of the Thorah, corresponding to which David gave them the five books of Psalms." It can hardly be supposed that the present sequence and division of the whole col- lection was independent of preceding arrangements. It cannot certainly be shown that the first book was the oldest collection (Bengel),* and that the four other books, originating from repeated gleanings, were successively added, (Jahn, De Wette, Hupfeld). Other combina- tions may be suggested, and attempts may be made at the discovery of special collections, with possible additions and supplements [vid. Berthold, Einl. V. 2020 f., Ewald, Poet. Paul (Acts i. 20) to reject it. No allusion to it is found in many of the English Commentaries, and it is mentioned by Al- exander only to be rejected, although fully recognized by Iiengstenberg (Com., Vol. IV., p. 596 I., 1852) upon whoso labors his work is chiefly based. It is now, however, generally recognized, e.g., Perowne, Barnes, Wordsworth, etui. The latter even discovers a harmony of arrangement, and a progressive development of Chiistolugical restores, in the successive books, which, at least, in the form in which be presents them, appear more ingenious than well grounded. — J. 1$. II.] *[Antl these really belong to David, Ps. x. being the second part of Ps. ix., and Ps. xxxiii. in close connection with Ps. xxxii., aid. in h>c.n.—C. A. B.] •f- [According to Ewald there is no reason why Ps. cvi. should have been separated from Pa. cvii. It appears to have been so sundered by the last compiler or Hedacteur to make up the five-fold division. — J. B. H.] { [Perowne introduces strong reasons in support of this view in his Introd., p. 75 f., 2 Ed., 1870. — J. B. IT.] 10 INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. Bucher L, 187 f., Neue Ausarbeitung L; 242 ff. ; Jahrb IV, 252 f., VI. 20 f., and Delitzsch in Herzog's Real-Encyhl. XII., 267, who also alludes to Hofmann's hypothesis of nine sepa- rate collections). Moreover it cannot be denied after the profound investigations of De- Htzsch [Symboloz, etc.) that it is more natural to ascribe to the hand of the last Redacteur the grouping in the second and third books of kindred Psalrns of an earlier and later date, than to refer the rise of separate collections exclusively to later times or to assume a fre- quently repeated interpolation. Although a classification of Psalms containing noticeably similar thoughts, or strikingly similar passages, especially at the beginning and close, has been proven in many series of Psalms, and rendered probable in others, yet we must admit that the last compiler (whom there is no reason for distinguishing from a Redacteur Herzfeld, III., 5, 6), arranged the entire material at his command according to certain points of view, and frequently violated the order of time in favor of an arrangement with reference to the subject matter. But this, however, could not have occurred except upon the basis of older collections, and in connection with classifications already existing. Such a view is especially favored from the circumstance, that the second book concludes, after the doxology, with these words, " The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended." This sentence cannot have originated with the last compiler, for many Davidic Psalms are scattered through all the following books, singly, and in little groups. This sentence, then, points to another collection. There can also be no doubt that a collection of the Psalms of David, was begun soon after the death of the great royal singer (vid. Ewald's Geschichte 3, Aufi. iii. 360.*) This expression, no longer applicable, was still retained, and for proof that this is not without a parallel vid. Stahelin, Zur Einl. S. 12, in opposition to Hengstenberg, iv. 2, S. 267, and Keil in Havernick, iii. 295. The doxology was naturally placed before this closing sentence, and gives to God the name of Jehovah Elohim, in conformity with the character of the second book, and in contrast with that of the first. Since these doxologies are of later origin and have simply a liturgical significance, they furnish nothing conclusive in regard to the age and origin of the individual collections. But it had not escaped the notice of the ancient Jewish teachers, that this collection, expressly characterized as Davidic, not only contains Psalms of unknown authorship, several Asaphic and Kohrite Psalms (and among the latter, some which unquestionably belong to a very late period) ; but that the con- cluding sentence which we are considering, is found at the end of a Psalm of Solomon. The enio-ma thus presented to the Jews is exemplified by the narrative in the Midrasch, on Ps. iii. : " When Joshua Ben Levi undertook to revise the arrangement of the Psalms, an echo from heaven cried to him, ' Wake not the slumberer !' " Many of the Psalms, doubtless, received their present position from the final redaction, although it is conjectural that indi- vidual transpositions and insertions were made at each succeeding addition of new groups, to the original stem, which we have sufficient reason to regard in general as the first, (Ewald) or the first and second books (Delitzsch). Hitzig (ii. p. xii.) finds an intentional reference to the Sanhedrists and the purported number of interpreters, and the days occupied in their labor, in the number of the Ps. (72) with which the second book ends. (Josephus, Archdol. xii. 2, 6, 10.) After the time of Solomon, that of Jehoshaphat or, with still more likelihood that of Hezelciah, may be regarded as the probable period of such a compilation and revision. For we read not only that the men of Hezekiah made a copy of the proverbs of Solomon (Prov. xxv. 1,) but that he restored the use of the Psalms of David and of Asaph, 2 Chron. xxix. 30 sq. Carpzov, Introd. ii. 106 sq. The majority of the latter, however, are contained in the third book of the Psalms. A subsequent collection of sacred literature took place under the direction of Nehemiah, 2 Mac. ii. 13, in which the writings of David are especially alluded to, while in Zech. vii. 12, they are closely associated with the Law and the Prophets; and Ecclesiastes xii. * [This labor is believed by Perowne to have been executed by Solomon, who would naturally provide for the preserva- tion and transmission of his father's poetry, as he is also known to have provided for the rendering of the musi al ser- vices of the Temple in the utmost magnificence.— J. B. H.] \ 4. THE COLLECTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE PSALMS. 11 12, in contrast to profane literature, refers to a collection of genuine wisdom. Similar col- lections occurred finally under Judas Maccabxus, 2 Mac. ii. 14. This must also have been the period of the final collection. For, contrary to the assumption of Olshausen, et al., that we must come down to the times of Simon, the Hasmonean prince (143 to 135 B. c.) or to the time of John Hyrcanus (135-107 B.C.) this circumstance seems conclusive; that the Psalter was known as such, to the author of Chronicles, who wrote in the fourth century B. c, towards the end of the Persian rule, and was accepted into the canon, at the latest, in the times of Judas Maccabseus (Ewald, Geschichte vii. 428 sq.) It follows, moreover, from 1 Chron. xvi. 35, that the liturgical doxology which precedes Ps. cvi. was also associated with it at that period. Hitzig naturally enough, reverses this relation, and supposes that the Psalmist drew from the Chronicles. He regards the High Priest, Alex. Jannceos, as the author of the pre- sent arrangement and the composer of Psalms i. and ii., as well as Ps. cl. and several others besides, and as having determined also the acceptance, the sequence and the division of the Psalms into five books.* Were the time of the Alexandrian translation of the Psalms definitely known, this would furnish a fixed starting-point. But even if we reject Herzfeld's assumption ( Geschichte iii. 470, who believes we have Maccabean Psalms in the Psalter) of a piecemeal translation not com- pleted until a very late period, the time of the translation of the Psalms still remains very in- definite, if we suppose the translation of the Pentateuch — the oldest of all — to have begun under Ptolemaus Philadelphus (284-247.) The statement of the Talmud given by Frankel ( Vorstu- dien zu der Septuaginta, 1841, S. 25 ff. ) is not decisive. We can only say that the threefold divi- sion of the canonical Scriptures was in existence when the grandson of Sirach in Alexandria wrote the Prologue to his Greek translation of the book of Proverbs. But this would lead to no new result, even if the investigations of Gratz (in Frankel's Monatschrift 1875, S. 4G f., with whom Fuerst agrees, Geschichte des Kar der i hums, 1862, S. 132,) had established the fact that the Book of Proverbs was collected in the beginning of the third century B. c, or according to Horowitz, {Das Buch Jesus Sirach, 18G5), about 250 B. c. For the word grandson must not be taken too precisely. The author of the Prologue states that he arrived in Egypt in the thirty-eighth year of Euergetes. Now since Ptolemy iii. Euergetes ruled only twenty-five years, (246-221), we are obliged to think of Ptolemy vii., Euergetes ii., who was associate regent 170 B. c, so that Jesus the Siracide could not have arrived in Egypt until the year 132. If we assume, on the other hand, that his own grandfather compiled the Book of Pro- verbs, its compilation could not have occurred earlier than between 180 and 170 B. c. ; * [The division into five books was certainly the work of the last editor. The first three books were ready to his hand in essentially their present form. The last two books were formed by collecting various groups of Psalms then existing in separate collections. The division of the 4th and 5th books is not clear except from the arbitrary division of the doxo- logy, for Pss. cvi. and evil, really belong together as reciprocal to one another as Ewald shows (Die Dichter ii. 405.) These two latter books contain then the following groups with some intermediate Psalms of whose position it is difficult to see the reason. (1.) Beginning with a Psalm of Moses (Ps. xc), one similar to it in many respects is added. Then follows a group of 7 Psalms (Ps. xcii.-c.) of the same author as Ewald shows. DelitzscU regards this group as beginning with Ps. xci. and calls it the " Rrihe deuterojusaianischen Psalmen." "In them all is that mild elevation, sunny cheerfulness, serene spirituality and New Testament breadth of view, wThich we admire in the second part of the hook of Isaiah, and they are likewise connected together by the use of the anadiplosis and many similarities in feeling and sound," (Comm. 5S8.) This same group is called by Binnie (Tlie Psalms; their history, teachings and use, 1S70, p. 9G) the songs of the Mil- lennium. (2.) Another group is formed by Pss. ciii. — cvii. Delitzsch regards Pss. civ.— cvii. as a tetralogy. "Ps. civ. de- rives its material from the history of creation, Ps. cv. from the period before aud at the beginning of the history of Israel, Ps. cvi. from the history of Israel in Egypt, in the wilderness, in the land of promise until the exile, Ps. cvii. from the time of the Restoration." These Psalms follow Ps. ciii. ascribed to David, of which Ewald (Dichter ii. 487,) says that it is iu a reciprocal connection with Ps. civ. This group is followed by three Psalms ascribed to David, of which Ps. cviii. may belong to the previous group as a song of praise (although the latter half of the Psalm is found in Ps. lx. of the 2d Book). (3.) A third group is formed by Pss. cxi.— cxviii. of which Pss. cxiii.— cxviii. is the Hallel. Delitzsch supposes that it fol- lows Ps. ex., "because it puts the Q 7ljr? of Ps. ex. 4, in a more extended historical light, in that it adds one series of praises to another in praising the work3 and institutions of Jehovah." Then follows the long alphabetical Psalm cxix. A fourth group is made up of the pilgrim songs Pss. cxx.— exxxiv., which are followed by Ps. exxxv. (which is sometimes regarded as a part of the previous Psalm, vid. Delitzsch in loco), and Ps. exxxvi. the great Hallel. Delitzsch (Comm. p. 731) informs us that the entire group Pss. cxix. — exxxvi. was called the great Hallel in its widest significance; but that Ps. exxxvi. ordiuarily bore this name, whilst the ordinary Hallel was Pss. cxiii. — cxviii. We now have a song of the cap- tivity and a group of Davidic Psalms (Ps. exxxviii.— cxlv.), the last of which, Ps. cxlv., begins the final group of doxologies (Ps. cxlv.— cl.) which Ewald ascribes to the same author.— C. A. B.] 12 INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTEE. (Fritzsclie, et al.) Nor does the fact that the book of Proverbs contains distinct references to individual Psalms bring us any nearer a result (vid. Beitrdge zur Einleltung in das A. T. von H. Gelbe, 1866, S. 4). This circumstance, however, is significant, that the Septuagint concludes with the apocryphal Psalm (cli.) on the victory of David over Goliath, which is designated in the superscription as, " A Psalm of David written with his own hand, not of the number of the Psalms ascribed to him." The number of the canonical Psalms (150) was therefore fixed before the addition of this apocryphal Psalm. "And yet the translator finding it in existence, clearly proves that between his time and the conclusion of the Psalter, as found in the canon, a considerable period must have elapsed" (Ewald, i. 266, Neu. Ausar- beit.). Now the liturgical use of the Psalms encourages the assumption of a very early trans- lation, while Hitzig's conjecture that it was made after the translation of the prophets, has no other motive than the interest of his hypothesis. The Septuag. itself assumes that the time of Nehemiah was the period of the cessation of the composition of Psalms, vid. Dill- mann {Jahrb.fur deutsche Theol. 1858, S. 457). The numbering of the Psalms is variously given.* Many Hebrew manuscripts unite Pss. i. and ii., and likewise Pss. xlii. and xliii. and cxvi. and cxvii. Ps. cxviii. is on the other hand, divided sometimes in two and sometimes in three. In many cases the entire number is set down at 149. Delitzsch, in fact, refers to a numbering found in a Hagadabook in which there are but 147 Psalms, corresponding to the years of Jacob's life. The Septuag. like- wise originally united the first two Psalms, and still like the Vulgate unites Pss. ix. and x., so that from Ps. x. to cxlvii. the numbering of the Septuagint remains one Psalm less than the Hebrew text, until it reaches the latter Ps. which it divides. By another variation Pss. cxiv. and cxv. are united, while Ps. cxvi. is divided. Attention must be paid to this in the citations of the Church fathers.f I 5. THE LITURGICAL USE OF THE PSALMS IN ISRAEL. All the Psalms were not originally composed for liturgical use, nor with direct reference to the Church of God, as has been assumed from various grounds, by Dursch, Hengstenb. and Olshausen. They are adapted, however, by their contents and form, to such an application, and they served that liturgical purpose in part in the first temple, but especially in the second temple. Some Psalms, moreover, were destined from the first for the divine service of the temple. This will be more specifically set forth, hereafter, in its connection. At pre- sent we confine ourselves to a general survey. Whatever our conclusion respecting the use of Ps. cvi. in 1 Chron. xvi., it, at least, estab- lishes the custom of that period to sing Psalms in the temple on festal occasions (Heng- stenb. iv. 1, 168). But the Chronicler must have been a contemporary of Ezra, or Nehemiah, in which case his labors fall between 536 and 400 b. c. (Havernick, Keil, Movers, et al.) or he must have lived (from the genealogy 1 Chron. iii. 18 f.), in the latter days of the Per- * [" The many divergencies in the numbering of the Psalms may be easily accounted for, if we remember that the origi- nal MSS. employed no other means of marking the beginning of a new Psalm, than a short space, or at most, the begin- ning of a new line, except in the case of those Psalms which were separated by superscriptions and these latter were doubtless many of them of late date. The noticeably similar contents of many of the Psalms and the sudden transitions of thought or feeling so natural to this kind of poetry, would render the copyist all the more likely to unite two Psalms in one, or to divide one Psalm in two quite unconsciously." Perowne. — J. B. H.] f [We add to this section some appropriate remarks of Perowne. " It is plain, then, that these ancient Hebrew songs and hymns must have suffered a variety of changes in the course of time, similar to those which may be traced in the older religious poetry of the Christian Church, where this has been adapted by any means to the object of some later compiler. Thus, hymns once intended for private use became adapted to public. Words and expressions applicable to the original circumstances of the writer, but not applicable to the new purpose to which the hymn was to be put, were omitted or altered. It is only in a critical age that any anxiety is manifested to ascertain the original form in which a poem appeared. The practical use of hymns in the Christian Church, and of the Psalms in the Jewish, far outweighed all considerations oj a critical kind; or rather, these last never occurred. Hence it has become a more difficult task than it otherwise would have been to ascertain the historical circumstances under which certain Psalms were written. Some traces we find lead- ing us to one period of Jewish history ; others which lead to another. Often there is a want of cohesion between the parts of a Psalm; often an abruptness of transition which we can hardly account for, except on the hypothesis that we no longer read the Psalm in its original form." — C. A. B.] $5. THE LITURGICAL USE OF THE PSALMS IN ISRAEL. 13 sian rule, or at the latest early in the Grecian period (Zunz, Ewald, Bertheau, Dillmann, Bleek, Stahelin). Now, in spite of the appearance of a didactic and parenectical treatment in his style, and the controversy concerning some of his statements, especially in our present text ; his accounts are still regarded by our modern critics as essentially historical notwithstanding the opinions of De Wette and Gramberg to the contrary, (Stahelin, Spezielle Eint. in die kanon. Bucher des A. T., 18G2, S. 155). This is especially true of David's regu- lations for worship, so that we may safely infer from the information given by the Chronicler, that the Psalms were in liturgical use during the period of the first temple. This is favored also by the vow of King Hezekiah to sing his songs in the house of the Lord, Is. xxxviii. 20, and apart from the prophet Jonah, by the remark in Jer. xxxiii. 11, that the voice should be heard again of those who say, " Praise the Lord of Hosts, for the Lord is good, for His mercy endureth forever," and of those who should bring the sacrifice of praise to the house of the Lord. Even P. H. Graf (Die geschichtl. Bucher des A. T., 1866, S. 245), whose general opinion of the Book of Chronicles, as a source of historical information, is so unfavorable, admits that they approach nearer to history in referring many of the regulations of the tem- ple service to Hezekiah and Josiah than in ascribing them to David. Aside from the conclusion to be drawn from 1 Chron. xvi. the formula employed in 1 Chron. xvi. 41, and reappearing 2 Chron. v. 13; vii. 13; xx. 21 ; Ezra iii. 11, taken probably from Ps. exxxvi., favors the view that the Psalms were liturgically employed during the period of the second temple, as songs for festal occasions. The same is true of the formula, " To sing with praise and thanksgiving," which occurs frequently in connection with Ezra and Nehemiah, and which is certainly not without reference to the Hallelujah Psalms, and the "praise" in Psalms cv. — cvii., cxv., exxxvi. (comp. Stahelin, Zur Einleit. in die Psalmcn, \ 3). Furthermore, the agreement of many Psalms, especially in the fourth and fifth books, with the prayers of Ezra ix. and Nehemiah ix. ; and finally the musical and liturgical re- marks in the Psalms themselves, which are found, although in a somewhat enlarged and extended form, in the Septuag., which was composed during the period of the second temple, prove that the Psalms were at that time liturgically employed. From the Talmud (Mischna, Tract, thamid ; Gemara Tr. Kidduschim in Lud. deDieu,Ani- madv. p. 3S9,) we learn more particularly, that on the first day of the week, at the morning sacrifice, Levites were appointed to sing Ps. xxiv. ; on the second day Ts. xlviii. ; on the third day Ps. lxxxii. ; on the fourth day Ps. xcii. ; on the fifth day Ps. lxxxi. ; on the sixth day Ps. xciii. ; on the seventh day Ps. xcii. Respecting the ritual cf. g 11. For the chief and the intermediate feast days there were other Psalms prescribed concerning which tradi- tion is partly at variance and partly silent. While, for example, at the present day, Ps. lxv. is sung at the close of the feast of Tabernacles (schemini azereth) and the xxix. on the feast of Pentecost, the Septuag. designates Ps. xxix. for the close of the former festival, and the Talmud gives no account at all of the liturgy for the latter day, while the commentators are divided between Pss. vi. and xii. Pss. xxix.; 1. 16; xciv. 16 ; xciv. 8 ; lxxxi. 7 ; lxxxii. 5 b., are assigned for the intervening days of the feast of Tabernacles. Ps. xxx. was appointed to be sung on the presentation of the firstlings. Eighteen times in the year, viz., on the first two days of the Passover, on the eight days of Succoth, i. e., the feast of Tabernacles, and on the eight days of the chanuka or festival of the dedication of the Temple, introduced by Jud. Maccab., the hallel Pss. cxiii. — cxviii. was a part of the festal service. Even as early as the Alexandr. version, they bore the superscription, 'A/.A^/.owa. This hallel, likewise called the Egyptian (hallel hammizri), was afterwards called the great hallel to distinguish it from the little hallel, in which Ps. cxv. 1-12 ; Ps. cxvi. 1-11 were omitted. In the ancient ritual only Ps. exxxvi., with its refrain repeated twenty-six times, " For his mercy endureth for- ever," was called hallel haggadol. In the Talmud and Midrash this title was also applied to Ps. exxxv. 4 — exxxvi., and to Ps. cxx. — exxxvi. On the feast of the Passover the hallel was so divided, that Pss. cxiii. and cxiv. were sung before the meal, before taking the second fes- tal cup ; Pss. cxv — cxviii. after the meal, after filling the fourth cup. At the time of the full moon, the hallel was customarily sung, although not legally prescribed (Tr. Soferim.) As examples of the standing use of single verses of the Psalms at that period Delitzsch 14 INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. (Zur Oeschichte, \ 179), adduces, 1. ) The hosanna which was sung by the priests, in march- ing around the altar of burnt offering, shaded with willow twigs, on the seven days of the Passover, the last day thereby receiving the name of the great hosanna; 2.) Ps. xliv. 24, as a daily cry of the Levites in times of need and apostasy; 3.) Ps. cxxvii. 1, which verse the nobles of Jerusalem used on the night preceding the day of atonement, in calling out to the High Priest repeatedly, lest sleep should overpower him. After the destruction of the temple, prayer came to occupy more and more the place of sacrifice, and the synagogue service became the vital centre of Jewish life, " the only bearer and banner of their nationality, in the ruin of all their other institutions " (Zunz, Die gottes- dienstl. Vortrdge, S. 1). Its two parts consisted in the reading of the Scriptures and singing of Psalms and other psalm-like passages. The reading was conducted by the teachers, and those versed in the Scriptures, the "wise men," and it was connected with expositions, (Midrash). The singing was conducted by the leaders in prayer, " the representatives of the assembly," who delivered in a singing style, Psalms or songs of a psalm-like character which were in- troduced gradually, and grew up out of free renderings of passages from the Psalms and other biblical sentences. This poetry (pint) was like that series of exclamations and praises resembling litanies used on the day of atonement, or those declarations of Divine pardon composed of passages of Scripture which were connected with penitential prayers, and which were called selicha, and were accompanied with hymns in rhyme (pismon) in the recitation of which the congregation united, answering with passages from the Bible or other responses, (Zunz, Diesynag. Poesie, S. 89). This poetry was originally composed of fragments without rhyme and metre, usually with an alphabetical arrangement of the lines or sentences. As it gradually became richer in contents, so it became more artistic in form and more difficult of expression, and finally as a whole was reduced to definite technical rules, (I. c. S. 60,) in which, however, the grand culmination of the strophe was in the biblical passage with which it concluded, (I. c. S. 95), which was selected with special reference to the significance of the day, or its striking effect upon the ear or mind. There was, however, for centuries, no fixed arrangement of prayers, and no prayer-book to which the leaders in prayer were restricted. They exercised, in fact, the greatest freedom in the choice of Psalms and hymns for divine service, and in the manner of their delivery, and not unfrequently appeared themselves in the character of poets or singers, with original productions. They were generally confined, however, to local usage (Minhag.), (Zunz, Die Hitus des synag. Gottesdienstes geschichtl. entwickelt, 1859, S. 2), until the middle of the ninth century (I. c. S. 7), when a prevailing type of festal poetry had been formed for the entire year. The usage of the West (Palestine) extended itself over the hymns of Christians, particularly German nations, whilst the usage of the East (Babylon) established itself in the countries of Islam and in Spain. For the Psalms at present used by the Jews, in family devotions and the worship of the synagogue, vid. in J. F. Schrceder, Satzungen und Gebrauche des talmudisch. rabinischen Judenthums 1851, S. 25, ff. Among the Karseans the cxix. Ps. is read in seven divisions on the Sabbaths preceding the feast of weeks, and is used as a prayer in the month Tebet, on Monday and Thursday nights (Zunz, Die Bitus, S. 159). § 6. LITURGICAL SUPERSCRIPTIONS OP PARTICULAR PSALMS. The following indications of the special liturgical use of individual Psalms may be drawn from their superscriptions. 1. Psalm xcii. was designed for the Sabbath. The Sept. represents other Psalms as de- signed for other days of the week. 2. The statement, Ps. xxx., "A Psalm sung at the dedication of the house of David," is referred by Venema, Hengstenb., Keil and Tholuck, to the consecration of the site selected for the future temple, upon which an altar had been erected provisionally, whence it was called the house of Jehovah, 1 Chron. xxii. 1. But David himself was not taken sick with the plague, which was visited upon the people as a punishment for the numbering, men- tioned 2 Sam. xxiv. 17, and which was the occasion of the erection of the altar, v. 18isq. The Psalmist, however, speaks of his personal deliverance from a sickness which threatened 1 6. LITURGICAL SUPERSCRIPTIONS OF PARTICULAR PSALMS. 15 his life. Such a reference, is therefore inappropriate. Calvin, Clauss, et al. take it as referring to a consecration of the palace, which had been desecrated by Absalom, on David's return. The word house, used absolutely, certainly may signify " palace," as is clearly proved by the official title of the major domo, ascher al-labajith ; but the Psalm does not speak of deliverance from the hand of an enemy, but of recovery from sickness. Most commentators, therefore, take it as a reference to the re-built citadel on Mount Zion, and call attention to the fact that David regarded this structure as a pledge of the firmness and greatness of his kingdom, (2 Sam. v. 12), the immediate occupation of which was prevented by a severe sickness. De Wettc's assumption that there was in general use a song appropriated to the consecra- tion of houses (Deut. xx. 5), and that this Psalm was to be sung to the melody of that song, is without foundation. Ewald regards it as an ancient song of thanksgiving, which was afterwards sung at the consecration of the second temple. The later superscription then says that this Psalm should be sung again at each anniversary of that day. 3. The statement, Pss. xxxviii. and Ixx., lchaz/:ir=to bring to remembrance, Septuag. e'ig avafivr;cLv nepl (tov) aafi^dvov. This, according to some, refers to the sufferings in remembrance of which David is said to have composed this Psalm. Others apply the expression to the person of David himself, who brings himself in remembrance to Jehovah. Thus Gesenius in the Thesaurus. Olshausen regards it in general as a liturgical designation equivalent to "prayer" Michaelis {Krit.Colleg., S. 419), on the contrary, gives it a more specific appli- cation=at the sacrifice ; Ewald, with reference to Isa. lxvi. 3, still more particularly=at the offering of incense; cf. Ps. cxli. 2; Kev. viii. 4, as a supplicatory prayer in contrast with lethodah, Ps. c.=for the thank-offering. Delitzsch conjectures that the expression is not em- ployed in a symbolic but in a proper liturgical sense— at the presentation of the a&k&rah, and remarks (Comment. I. 297), "At the presentation of the meat offering (minchot) a portion, viz., a handful of meal mingled with oil and all of the incense, was consumed upon the altar ; this portion was called ""P3TN dvd/xvr/atg, because the ascending fragrance served to bring the offerer in remembrance with God." Delitzch also regards the Hiphil as denominative, and believes that the Chronicler refers to the hazkir yvith. the hodu and hallelujah Psalms, 1 Chron. xvi. 4. Concerning the later ritual, vid. \ 11. 4. The superscription of Ps. c, "A Psalm of praise," is regarded by Mendelssohn, Ewald and Delitzsch as apjjropriate especially to the thanks-offering. 5. The superscription of Pss. cxx. — exxxiv., shir hammaaloth ; Septuag. tffi tuv avaftadjiuv; Vulgate : cantica graduum, from which they have received the liturgical title, " Psalms of de- grees," signifies according to Luther, " songs in the higher choir," which refers, according to Bake, to the singers who stood upon an elevated position. According to an uncertain tradi- tion the opinion had prevailed that these fifteen Psalms were sung upon the fifteen steps, which led from the court of the women to that of the men of Israel, thus, according to Lyra one for every step. This, however, is not the statement of the Talmud. It simply compares the fifteen songs with those fifteen steps on which the music of the priests sounded on the first day of the feast of the Tabernacles, vid. I 11. The comparison does not justify the in- ference that the Psalms were sung on these steps or that the title, "Psalms of degrees" was taken from this locality. No more can we base on the Syriac the supposition that there is here a metrical designation (J. D. Michaelis, Zu Loivth, De sacra poesi, etc., prozlect. 25 nach Assemani), and that it indicates a rhythm advancing by degrees (Gesenius, zu Jes. xvii. 13; xxvi. 1). Dietrich (in Delitzsch's Comment, ii. 451, f.) has shown the error of this sup- position and remarks that the Syriac sebletho (or, according to an easier pronunciation sebelto, plural scbloto) simply indicates the division of a greater whole, and occurs, therefore, with reference to the division of the Psalms for the use of the church (cf. I 13). E. Meier, {Form der hebr. Poesie, 1853, S. 31), understands by maalah, the simplest and smallest strophe, consisting of four members, and supposes these Psalms to have been designated from this, the prevailing form in this group. According to Herder, Eichhorn, Hengstenb., Reuss et al., these Psalms were composed at different times and for different purposes, but were afterwards appointed to be sung in the pilgrimages towards Jerusalem, for which they were especially adapted by their rapid rhythm and their contents referring mainly to Jerusalem and the sane- 16 INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. tuary. The Syrian church and many of the fathers think especially of the return from Babylon (Ezra vii. 9); Ewald (Jahrb. vi., 105 f.), with essentially the same view, trans- lates, " Songs of the homeward marches." He refers the plural, however, to the different journeys of those who returned from the exile, and designates them as their ancient and new pilgrim songs. Pss. cxx., cxxii. and cxxvi. do not in the least harmonize with this view. The explanation of Thenius (Stud. u. Krit., 1854, Heft. 3, and Deutscher Psalter, 1859, S. 177 f.) is at present the most generally accepted ; that maaloth, which is not used in the meaning of pilgrimage, refers to the different stations, or halting-places, where those who journeyed to the feast used to rest, in their upward march towards Jerusalem. We know, indeed, that the pilgrims moved up with music and song towards Jerusalem, Ps. xxx. 29. Yet whether just the cxx. Ps. was sung on setting out from foreign lands ; the cxxi. at the first sight of their native hills ; the cxxii. on their first entrance to the holy land ; whether Pss. cxxiii. — cxxxi. express the recollections and feelings which were called forth by the fall and the restoration of the city of God ; and Ps. cxxxii. resounded at the first view of the city ; Ps. cxxxiii. on their entrance and Ps. cxxxiv. as they went up into the temple ; all this is very uncertain. § 7. THE ESSENTIAL CONTEXTS OF THE PSALMS. Some attempts have been made to characterize and group the Psalms with reference to their subject matter. These efforts have, however, only served to show the incompleteness as well as the inappropriateness of such classifications. They lose sight of the essential thing, viz., the lyrical religious, Hebraic character of this portion of the sacred Scriptures. Their lyrical character implies that the subjects treated are not mere matters of objective contem- plation, but- reflections rather of their influence upon the Psalmist's soul. Inseparable from their religious character, is the thorough-going reference of all experience, knowledge and feeling to the Providence of God in the world, and the harmony of the Psalmist therewith in his station and in the frames of his soul. The Hebraic character of the Psalter secures the adherence of the Psalmist, although advancing with the historic progress of revelation, to the foundation of the Mosaic law, on the one side ; on the other, their continual reference to the holiness of God, and to the destiny which was thereby presented to the entire covenant people, Lev. xix. 2. Hence the Theocratic energy ; the apprehension of Israel's world-wide mission, and the prophetic glance of the Psalmist. Hence it occurs that the subjects treated of in particular Psalms are drawn from all the domains of nature and of history, of public and of private life ; affecting the whole people, or one of its individual members only ; per- taining to worship or doctrine and to life. But a formal division into doctrinal poems, tem- ple hymns, national songs, royal Psalms, songs of joy or of mourning, can only lead to dis- torted representations, as several commentators, especially De Wette, have shown. We may with more propriety distinguish three principal groups, according as the prevail- ing tone is one of joy, praise and thanksgiving to God, or of lamentation and petition, or indeed contemplative, narrative and didactic. Such divisions, with reference to the prevailing tenor of the Psalms, have been made by Hengstenb. and Hitzig, and, in part, also by G. Baur and Hupfeld. This is something quite different from the classification attempted by Augusti (Prakt.Einleit. indie Ps., S. 11), according to sesthetical categories, into odes, elegies, &c. Such classifications can be only formal, and the frequent mixture of emotions, and sudden transitions, in many Psalms, from one to another, present many difficulties to such attempts. They would be, perhaps, as Hupfeld remarks, more suitable as subdivisions of the above mentioned classes, than as independent classes. He divides them, however, into four lead- ing classes, according to the subject matter : 1. Those Psalms which refer immediately to God and Divine things (godliness, worship, Divine order and government) ; 2. Those which refer to the King and the kingdom ; 3. Those referring to the people and their lot ; 4 Those referring to the poet and his circumstances. With respect to the latter point, we cannot overlook the fact, that the circumstances of the Psalmist are occasionally alluded to in the superscriptions. That such statements are simply scholia, added by a later hand, is neither proven by the analogies of Arabic writings (Sta- helin), nor from their apparent want of agreement in many cases, with the contents of the |7. THE ESSENTIAL CONTENTS OF THE PSALMS. 17 Psalms with which they are associated (Hitzig, et al.). The latter circumstance is rather against the hypothesis that the superscriptions were inferences drawn from the text. The subject of such Psalms is not the personal fortunes of the poet, but rather his religious experi- ences in the midst of those circumstances, and the religious hopes, fears and the desires cher- ished by him. For this reason Hilarius sees every where in the Psalms the tendency to educate the soul in the knowledge of God ; to awaken fear and love towards Him, to call forth the praise of His glory. He therefore considers a believing heart (Prolegg. 21) essential to understand them, whilst to the worldly sense they are sealed with seven seals (Prolegg. 5, S. 9). The cir- cumstances of the Psalmist, were simply the occasion of their utterance, and furnish no better ground for a division than the other categories mentioned above. For they never treat of God, His word, being, providence and government, merely in abstracto ; never for their own sake as objects of theoretical contemplation, or general praise. They always spring from some special occasion, even though not expressly mentioned, and have particular reference to the experience of the people of God, their King, or other members. Hence their contents, in other respects so similar, possess a richness of individual application which renders them so inexhaustible in their use for edification. The contents which pervade the Psalter, notwithstanding the diversity of particular portions in motive and treatment, are thus described by Zunz (Die synag. Poesie, 1855, S. 3), who regards the Psalter as essentially a manifest of the oppressed people of Israel : The poet begins with a cry of pain, a call to prayer and song ; he portrays the sad condition of his people, their necessities, persecutions, bloodshed and grief; the contrast of the pious sufferers with their haughty oppressors and national enemies with their power, prosperity, wickedness, and dissimulation ; with them are the rebellious ; Israel is an object of scorn, Szc. Now there is a retrospect of former times connected with considerations of national history, and they call to mind the covenant of God. Then there is a transition to the sense of guilt ; confession, remorse and the power of prayer ; castigatory discourse ; the contrast of sinful, law-offending man with the Almighty, All-knowing, but also just and merciful God, who recompenses all. The praises of God, the Creator ; His law ; His people of Israel as the elect, held in remem- brance ; Zion and the sanctuary. Longings for the sanctuary, love of its teachings, confi- dence in the promises of God, humble dependence and trust are described. The value of a g< » id moral life and walk, and the strength of prayer which is of more value than sacrifice. Desire for the humiliation of enemies ; imprecations ; the powerlessness of idols. God is with the oppressed ; hopes, deliverance, victory, thanks, praise, summons to adore God. The con- clusion is formed now of lamentation and now with rejoicing ; now with thoughts of Israel, and now of the nations who all, one day, shall know God. We miss three things especially in this description, the addition of which is of highest importance to the understanding and the use of the Psalms. We demand in the first place, a distinct recognition of the theocratic element in the national education of the Israelites. Only thus can we understand the much-discussed antagonism between the people of Israel and other nations, or appreciate the language threatening them with divine judgments and cursings in the so-called imprecatory Psalms, (vid., striking remarks of Hengstenberg and Tholuck.)* Only thus can we understand the actual progress in the earnest introduction into life of theocratic requirements and institutions ; and not by seeking to resolve them into general religious ideas. De Wette (Ueber die erbauliche Erklarung der Psalmen, 1836), is particularly instructive on this point. Connected with this is our second desideratum, namely, the distinct reference of the righteousness often so strongly emphasized by the Psalmist, to an equal energy of theocratic action, rooted indeed in the revealed law, not sup- posing, however, that righteousness consists in legal acts, rites and ceremonies, but in fulfilling * [B. B. Edwards on the Imprecations in the Scriptures in his Life and Writings, by E. A. Park, ii. 364 ff. ; Prof. .T. Owen, Imprecatory Psalms in the liihl. Sacra, xiii. 561-563. Bev. Alb. Barnes' Commentary on the Psalms. Introd. j}6, (1869). Vid. especially the articles of Prof. E. A. Park, in Smith's Bible Diet. (Hackett and AbboO, 1870, 2625 f., and Imprecatory Psalms in the Bibl. Sacra, xix. 165-210, by the same author. A very satisfactory train of thought is suggested, if not ful'y developed, for the solution of the difficulties of the Imprecations in the Psalms, in Perowne's Introduction to the Psalms, p. 61 sq., 2 Ed. 1870. Yid. also hia fuller discussion in his note on the xxxv. Ps. Charles Taylor, The Gospel in the Law*— J. B. H.l 2 18 INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. the will of God, and in striving against all merely external service, unfolding in its expres- sions concerning sacrifice, prayer, retribution and eternal life the germs of evangelical views. And precisely for this reason, we cannot dispense, thirdly, with the express recognition of the prophetical, Messianic feature in the Psalms. We say designedly feature, not features. For we are not now concerned with the exposition of individual passages of the Psalms and their — to a certain extent — controvertible application to the historic events of the life of Christ ; but only with the recognition of the fact ; that the Psalms, like the ejitire old Testament, are pervaded with the expectation of a coming kingdom and man of God's good pleasure, and that this expectation was not an indefinite and general hope of better times, but a hope of faith founded upon definite promises of God, confirmed by His repeated assurances, gradually unfolded in its particular features by prophetic witnesses, prefigured and made manifest histori- cally by definite persons and relations, and led victoriously to its fulfilment by special divine acts of revelation. The Psalms, on the one side, furnish evidence of the depth to which the Messianic hope had penetrated the life of the Israelites, and the power with which it had moved their hearts. On the other hand they have essentially contributed partly towards its preservation and extension, and in part also to its development, in its double form as typico- Messianic and as prop hetico- Messianic (Sack, Christl. Apologetik, 2 Ausg. S. 278, f. ; Keil in Havernick's EM. iii. 101 f., Hengst. iv. 647 f.). The important distinction between the fyjo ('co-Messianic and prophctico-Messiamc passages which opens the way to a correct understanding of them, still needs to be more accurately defined. Thus if we regard as typico-Messianic those passages in which historic events are treated in such a way that they appear as a divinely-wrought type of Messianic relations ; as prophetico-Messianic, on the other hand, such as arising from historical circumstances- and in general from historical grounds (which factor was for the most part overlooked by the older Orthodox interpreters), yet are Messianic as such (which element was mistaken by the ration- alist interpreters, who made a false use of history) : then there arises the frequently neglected question which remains, whether the Messianic meaning was originally in the consciousness of the Psalmist, or was only afterward discovered in his words. In the first case, the type is itself prophetic in the narrow sense, and the prophetic word of the Psalmist is a direct Messianic prophecy, and the further question arises : — Are his words simply the comforting and warn- ing repetitions of prophecies previously received and made public, or has the poet actually become a seer, the Psalmist a prophet, thus positively carrying the Messianic prophecies to a higher development. In the latter case, the general question arises as to the conscious or unconscious Messianic reference of the Psalmist's words in a concrete and individual form. If, for instance, it is recognized that in certain passages the Messianic meaning was not discovered until afterwards and was not intended by the Psalmist, it does not follow that it was first discovered by Jewish or Christian Theologians, or was attached to it by the authors of the New Testament, with subjective honesty but in actual error, and in consequence of methods of interpretation then prevailing in the schools. Nor is the supposition of Herm. Shultz, ( Theol. Stud, und Krit., 1866, Heft, i.), that the Messianic meaning as a second sense essentially different from the grammatico-historical sense had previously arisen in the hearts of the be- lieving congregation which understood the revelation of their God satisfactorily. That would show an earlier Messianic interpretation of those passages, and would transfer the introduc- tion of this change in understanding and interpreting them from the schools of the Rabbins to the faith of the congregation. A transformation of their original sense, however, would still be admitted, which could hardly be as a factor of Revelation, but, at most, only an element in the historical process of development of Israel's believing consciousness. We would then have an explanation which might, it is true, be connected with the passages in question, yet had changed their original meaning. We must, however, deal as earnestly with the idea of Revelation as with the supposition which is incontestably correct, of a historical progress therein. For there is no occasion to recognize in the Psalms the mere echo of the prophetic word and their Messianic promises like those of the law, and to exclude the prophetic utter- ance proper from them, and to put the Messianic interpretation of particular passages into an entirely different period of Revelation from that of the origin of these passages themselves, §7. THE ESSENTIAL CONTENTS OF THE PSALMS. 19 (Schultz, I. c. S. 41). We may confidently assume that the spirit of revelation wrought pro- phetically in the Psalmists and gave their words occasionally such a, form of expression as must have driven their reflection to search for the sense intended by the Spirit of God. This is quite different from the subordinate or parallel sense, which Rud. Stier assumes along-side of the original and proper sense. But there is no double sense at all in them. On the contrary, the words in question give only one grammatical and historical sense which can be derived from them. Yet this is so constituted that, properly and strictly taken, it breaks through the limits of its association with the merely present events, and admits of no intelligible applica- tion to the circumstances, opinions and prospects of the speaker, and if such a restriction wore attempted, it would lead to such assumptions of obscurity, exaggeration and hyperbole, as are found in no species of poetry, and in no language under heaven. It is under the influ- ence of such views that Schultz says : " We may call this the hidden sense of the Holy Ghost, because it comes not so much through the will of its author, as it is involved from the power of the contents which dwell in his words, reaching far beyond the present, and thus from the Spirit, from whom the Psalm was born, and whose impress it bears." So much the more forcibly docs the question still press upon us, why the Messianic sense, which is as different from its parenetic and practical application, as from its typical use, should only have arisen after the Psalm had become a song of the church, and had been employed in its public wor- ship ; after the king had died by whom, or concerning whom the Psalm had been composed, and the occasion of its composition had been forgotten (I. c. S. 39). In this connection, we must say of the Psalms of suffering, what was recognized by Schultz : that they must contain that which not simply renders their later Messianic application possible, but fully justifies it. He says, S. 48, " Only those Psalms of suffering can be prophetic, in which the sufferings of the righteous are the basis of the highest triumph, of the conversion of the heathen, of the instruction of all nations, — in short, stand as a door of entrance to Messianic hopes and thoughts." In such cases, however, the Messianic reference cannot be called a change in its interpretation, but is an explanation of its original sense. When this, however, occurs in obscure passages, or such as require searching investigations, this might be referable some- times even to the Psalmist himself. For a searching of revelations received by the prophets, is alluded to as nothing extraordinary, 1 Peter iv. sq. Such searching hud, at all events, not always immediately attained its end. On the contrary, it is well established, that the under- standing of what the Spirit signified, Hebrews ix. 8, was disclosed, frequently, only a long time afterwards and sometimes only after its fulfilment. But it must not be overlooked that the understanding of prophecy, like prophecy itself, has its degrees as well as modes, and that the former are not of necessity widely apart as the latter are not necessarily separate. Thus it might happen, under certain circumstances, that many of the same kind might be found together, not only in the same age, but in the life of one and the same person. If now, a Psalmist Avere at the same time a prophet, and we are especially informed that this was the case with David (2 Sam. xxiii. 2; Acts ii. 30) ; and if the same person had, moreover, received Messianic prophecies from other prophets, which also occurred to David (2 Sam. vii.), we have then not only a historic foundation in Revelation for the appearance of Messianic pro- phecies in the Psalms, but a development upon this basis is provided for, not only through human reflection and the comparison and connection of various prophecies, but especially through an act of Revelation itself. The products of his own prophetic conception may therefore become for the prophet himself an impulse to reflection, by the fact that it tran- scends the contents of his previous consciousness. The word which gave this impulse appears no more to himself as a poetical production, but as the word of God, and thereby receives for his own consciousness, a deeper significance, not recognized at the time of its production. Under these circumstances, if we would faithfully recognize the actual germination and growth of Messianic prophecy and the Messianic hope founded thereon, and likewise under- stand the concrete form, color and relation of individual passages of the Psalms, explained as Messianic, it is absolutely necessary to survey them closely in their historical situation and rhetorical connection. So long as this was neglected by the orthodoxy of the church as well as the Synagogue, they might indeed hold fast to the certainty of the Messianic prophecies 20 INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. in the Psalms, and affirm their right to do so ; but they were unable to establish that certainty on sufficient grounds, and to show that their right was worthy of belief. They were also forced either to treat the prophecies as immediate, separate predictions without historical basis, occurring most wonderfully in the midst of expressions of an entirely different charac- ter ; or else to refer whole Psalms, and series of Psalms, and even entire statements about prominent persons and relations of the Old Testament, directly to the person of Christ, His work, kingdom and history, in opposition to the original signification of the words and simply for the sake of some individual expressions and sentences.* Thus Thomas Aquinas regards the first Psalm as directly Messianic. Here there is no other resource than earnestly to explore the connection of sacred Scripture, and the organism of Revelation and its his- tory, that we may discover, in the difference between the economy of the old and the new covenant, the paths and threads which conduct from one to the other and recognize the pre- figuration of the latter in the former. Especially may " The entire Psalter be compared to a great and beautiful city, with many and various structures, whose doors are each locked with a key of its own " (HUsu-ius, Prolegg. 24). And as Origen (Be la Pice ii. 525) says that the holy Scriptures are locked with the key of David, and sealed with the power of God, so Hilarius also remarks (Prolegg. 5-7) : " the key of David is the theanthropic person of Jesus Christ, whose type is the Psalmist both in his inward and external experience, (vid. on Ps. cxxxiv.) ever speaking by the Holy Ghost (vid. on Ps. i.) to which the prophetic tone of his discourse and his figurative language, frequently point" (vid. on Ps. cxix. 1). Such a type was David himself, especially, whose fortunes in life were conducted and ordered by God's appointment with particular reference to Christ. David stands as a fruitful, evergreen olive- tree, in the house of God, both in the Law and in the Gospel, and is like an Apostle of the Evangelic faith (vid. on Ps. Ii. 22), and had himself a prophetical consciousness of the typical character of his sufferings (vid. on Ps. lviii. 1). It is in fact the form of the theocra- tic king, typified in David, Messianically announced in David's son (Ps. ii.) who is propheti- cally contemplated as the ruler of a priestly kingdom, as a royal priest, (Ps. ex.), which forms the central point of the prophetic descriptions in Pss. xlv. and lxxii., supported by ear- lier prophecies of the blessed and peaceful dominion of a righteous king, extending his sway over the whole earth, excelling all the might and glory of the world, who appears also in indi- vidual Psalms, Pss. xxii., cix., as a sufferer without an equal, whose conflict leads to an all- embracing victory, spreading abroad salvation everywhere! (comp. Havernick, Vorlesungen iiber die Theologie des A. T., 2 Ausg. durch Herm. Schultz, 1863 ; Riehm, Zur Gharakteristik der mess. Weissagung und Hires Verhdltnisses zu der Erfihllung, Theol. Stud, und Krit., 1865, Heft 1-3). * [An able discussion of the Messianic element in the Psalms, as well as other matters considered in this section may be found in Perowne's Introd., Chap. iii. 2 Ed., 1870.— J. B. H.] f [" The interpreter of the Psalms," says Delitzsch, " may establish himself either on the stand-point of the poet or the stand-point of the congregation of the Old Testament or on the stand-point of the church— a fundamental condition of progress in interpretation is the keeping of these three stand-points separate, and accordingly the distinction of the two Testaments and the different stages of revelation and the knowledge of redemption in general. For as salvation itself, so has its revelation and the knowledge of it, an advancing history which extends from paradise through all time even to eternity." The congregation of Israel and especially the Christian church afterwards under the guidance of the Spirit, brought many of the different lines of development together, which in the Old Testament and to the inspired writers were entirely separate and apparently parallel, as it saw them converge in the person and life of Jesus Christ. Now from the stand-point of the poets we have to distinguish in Messianic prophecy two parallel lines of development, as Delitzsch shows : " The one has as its end the anointed of Jehovah, who rules from Zion over all nations, the other the Lord Himself enthroned above the cherubim to whom the whole world does homage. And of these two lines the Divine is predominant in the Psalms ; hope is directed especially after the cessation of the kingdom of Israel, far beyond human mediation, at once to Jehovah, the author of salvation. The fundamental article of the faith of the Old Testament was HliT/ PIA^HSf'. The Messiah is not yet recognized as the God-man. Therefore the Psalmist knows of no prayer to Him or in His name. But prayer to Jehovah and for Jehovah's sake is essentially the same. For Jehovah has Jesus in Himself. Jehovah is the Redeemer. The Redeemer, when He appears, is no other than the nyil^' of this God in bodily manifestation, Is. xlix. 6 " The human line of Messianic prophecy in the Psalms is based upon Nathan's prophecy, 2 Sam. vii. The Messiah is usually regarded as a king, but in Ps. ex. the unity of the prophetic, priestly and royal offices in one person after the order of Melchlzedek is distinctly brought into view. In close connection with this Messianic king is His everlasting rule and His kingdom extending itself to the ends of the earth. But along-side of this conquering and glorious king there is still another distinct figure in the Psalms, the suffering servant of God (Pss. xxii., lxix., &c). These two figures are likewise g7. THE ESSENTIAL CONTENTS OF THE PSALMS. 21 We cannot therefore be surprised, that as Luther in his preface to the Psalms says, many- holy fathers have praised and loved the Psalms more than the other books of the sacred Scrip- tures. It might well be called a little Bible, embracing like a manual in the shortest and finest way, all the rest of the Bible; so that it seems as if the Holy Ghost had taken pains to set together a little Bible, a sample book of the whole of Christianity, or of all the saints, in order that he who cannot read the whole Bible, might have here almost the whole substance of it, in one little book. But more than all, the noble virtue and art of the Psalms consists in this, that while other books have much to tell about the works of the saints, they give us few of their words. In this respect the Psalter is a pattern. And there is no nobler or more powerful work in man than discourse. Besides the Psalter does still more, in that it does not Bet before us the poor, common-place discourse of the saints ; but the very best, even those which they held with God Himself, in the greatest earnestness, and on the most important matters. By this means, it lays before us, not simply their words and works, but their hearts and the deep treasures of their souls, so that we may look upon the foundation and fountain of their words and works, that we can see in their hearts, what noble thoughts they had, and how their hearts were affected in all kinds of affairs, dangers and necessities. For a human heart is like a ship upon a wild sea, driven by the storm winds from the four quarters of the earth. — But what else is the Psalter, chiefly, than earnest discourse in all such storm-winds? Where do we find finer words of joy than the Psalms of praise and thanksgiving contain ? There you see in the hearts of all the saints, as in beautiful and pleasant gardens, yes, as in heaven — what delicate, loving, cheerful flowers of all kinds of beautiful joyous thoughts of God and His kindness grow there. Again, where do you find more plaintive, pitiful, words of sadness than the Psalms of lamentation contain ? There you look into the hearts of all the saints, at times, as into death, yea, into hell itself. How dark is it there, with all kinds of troubled views of the wrath of God. Hence, when they discourse of fear and hope, they em- ploy such words that no painter could paint the fear and hope for you, no Cicero, or any other orator, could represent them. And (as was said) the best of all is that they speak such words to God and with God as give them a two-fold earnestness and life. For when a man discourses with men in such matters, it does not come so strongly from the heart, does not buru, is not so lively or so urgent. Hence it is, that the Psalter is the book of all the saints, and each, in whatever station he is, finds in it, Psalms and expressions, which are suited to his condition and which seem as if they were put there for his own particular use, alone, in so much that he could neither put them better himself, nor find them better put elsewhere, or kept distinct, they do not blend, although they approximate in the world-wide preaching of the delivered one and the uni- versal significance of His redemption. There is likewise a reference to the Messianic offering in Ps. xl. which is, however, not farther developed. Now with reference to these Messianic Psalms which have Jelmvah and His salvation in view, we have a form of prophecy which differs very little from ordinary direct prophecy, save in its lyrical dress. But in those Psalms which have the royal and suffering Messiah iu view, we have no direct prophecies except so far as the Psalmist < it> is a Divine decree as in Ps. ii., and an oath of promise, as in Ps. ex., not elsewhere mentioned, which, however, are there nsed as the basis of the Psalm which then passes over to the ordinary form. All these Psalms are typical in their charac- ter, yet we must distinguish between those that are simply typical, that is, where the expressions have a direct historical referenco and are covered by the experience of the poet ; and those that are more than typical, the type expanding, and breaking, and becoming transformed and transfigured in attempting to express that which is more than historical and which is beyond the poet's experience. Hence the distinction between the typical and the prophetico- typical. This is beautifully expressed by Perowne with reference to the king: " In all, some Jewish monarch, either on his accession or at ujiue critical period of his reign, is the immediate object before the eyes of the inspired poet. But in all, the monarch grows larger and fairer than the sous of men. He is seen ever in the light of the promise made to David, and in that light he is transfigured. Human he is, no doubt: many words spoken of him pertain only to a human king; but many also are higher; many cannot, except by force of exaggeration, be made to apply to one who wears the frailty, together with the form of man." We may add with reference to the suffering Messiah that these Psalms are typical in that they are based upon the life and experience of David, and yet they are more than this, approaching at times to the direct pro- phecy in that they describe sufferings which transcend anything in David's experience, and with a minuteness of exact detail which forbids anything like a figurative generalization or poetical hyperbolical expression of facts and experiences in David's life or that of any other historic person than Jesus of Nazareth. We see the type as it is rooted in the experience and sorrow of David, expanding and bursting asunder, and growing up as a mighty tree towering above the earth, wrapt in the horror of a great darkness, and that tree is the tree of the cross. We can only understand these Psalms from the experience of David, and yet we cannot but feel that mingled with the experience of the Psalmist, entwined at times in an inextricable intricacy there is likewise the experience of our blessed Saviour. And of them all, we can say that on the New Testament stand-point, we see them uuited in the Messiah of the cross and the throne, the Divine and the human, the prince of suffering and the prince of glory. — C. A. B.] 22 INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. yet desire to do so. And what is also excellent, when such expressions please him, and suit his estate, he is sure that he belongs to the company of the saints, and that what has happened to him, has happened to all the saints, because they all sing the same song with him ; and, wonderfully he can also discourse with God, as they did, which must be done by faith, for an ungodly man has no taste for them. And lastly, there is in the Psalter a security and a well assured safeguard that we may follow all the saints with safety. For other examples, and legends of dumb saints give us many a work which we cannot, and many a one which it were not safe to follow, and usually produce sects and divisions, and lead away or tear away from the society of the saints. But the Psalter keeps you from divisions within the society of the saints; for it teaches you to think and discourse, in joy, fear, hope and sadness, as all the saints have thought and discoursed. In short, would you see the holy Christian Church painted in living form and color, in a little picture, then lay the Psalter before you, and you have a mirror, fine, pure and bright, which will show you what Christianity is. Yes, you will find yourself, therein, and the true knowledge of yourself as well as of God and all crea- tures." Luther had previously remarked in the same preface: "There have in times past, been many legends of the saints composed, and people have carried them about and filled the world with passional books of exemplars, and histories, and the Psalter the while, has lain under the bench, and in such darkness, that one could not understand a single Psalm aright, and yet it gave forth such an excellent savor, that all pious hearts have found devotion and strength from the words they did not comprehend, and have therefore loved the little book. But I hold that no finer book of Exemplars, or legends of the saints, has appeared or will appear on earth than the Psalter. And if one wished that the best out of all legends, exem- plars and histories should be called out, set in order and presented in the best way ; it could be none other than our present Psalter. For we find here, not what one or two saints have done, but what the chief of all saints himself has done, and what all the saints still do ; — how they stand towards God, towards friends, and enemies ; how they act in all dangers and suf- fering and besides this, we find therein all kinds of wholesome doctrines and commands. And the Psalter should be dear and cherished on this account, that it so clearly foretells Christ's death and resurrection, and typifies His kingdom, and the whole estate and nature of Christianity, so that we may well call it a little Bible," etc. [We will add here the words of the other great Reformer, Calvin, from the preface to his Commentary. " This book, not unreasonably, am I wont to style an anatomy of all parts of the soul for no one will discover in himself a single feeling whereof the image is not reflected in this mirror. Nay, all griefs, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, and anxieties — in short, all those tumultuous agitations wherewith the minds of men are wont to be tossed — the Holy Ghost hath here represented to the life. The rest of Scripture contains the commands which God gave to His servants to be delivered unto us. But here the Prophets themselves, hold- ing converse with God, inasmuch as they lay bare all their inmost feelings, invite or impel every one of us to self-examination, that of all the infirmities to which we are liable, and all the sins of which we are so full, none may remain hidden. It is a rare and singular advan- tage when every hiding-place having been laid bare, the heart is cleansed from hypocrisy, that foulest of plagues, and is brought forth to the light. Lastly, if calling upon God be the greatest safeguard of our salvation, seeing that no better and surer rule thereof can be found anywhere than in this Book, the further any man shall have advanced in the understanding of it, the greater will be his attainment in the school of God. Earnest prayer springs first from a feelinc of our necessity, and then from faith in the promise. Here the readers will both best be awakened to a due sense of their own evils, and warned to seek the proper reme- dies for them."*— C. A. B.] The contents of individual Psalms are briefly condensed, and often with great senten- tiousness, in a superscription of two words by J. H. Alsted, Thcologia casuum 1630, in part also * [Isaac Taylor, in his "Spirit of the Hebrew Poetry," shows very clearly and forcibly " the relation of the Hebrew- poetry to the religious purposes it subserves," " the commixture of the Divine and the human element," in it, and the pe- culiar adaptation of the HolyLand to be the birth-place of a poetry which touches the hearts of all races, from all lands and climes, by a natural imagery clothing celestial truth in such a form that they are intelligible and familiar to all.— 0. A. U.J {8. SUPERSCRIPTIONS INDICATING THE POETICAL FORM OF THE PSALMS. 23 by Georg. Christoph. Renschel, Citharwdus mysticus, 1GG5, and 66, 2 Vols, in 4. The Biblical S'um?n., particularly that of Wurtemberg, are especially worthy of consideration. §8. THE SUPERSCRIPTIONS WHICH INDICATE THE POETICAL FORM OF THE PSALMS. 1. Shir, standing alone or in connection with other statements as to their purpose, con- tents, origin, or their liturgical and musical treatment. This word gives prominence, in gene- ral, to their lyrical character, which the Septuag. renders by w<5//; Comp. Is. v. 1, Song of Sol. i. 1. It is more specifically, not so much a joyful song of praise (Hengstenberg) as a "song," a piece for singing (Delitzsch) in distinction from mizmor with which it is connected at times, (Pss. lxvi. lxvii. lxviii. lxxxiii. lxxxviii. xcii. cviii.) 2. Mizmor (Septuag. VaV"f) is the technical designation, originating probably with David, for a song intended for musical accompaniment (fie?.og). It is found in this form, in only fifty-seven psalms, ascribed to David, or belonging to the Davidic group. The deriva- tion of the word is controverted. With reference to the Piel of "IDI, it is established that it embraces the two significations "to sing" and "to play" like the Latin canare. Its radical meaning was formally assumed to be "to cut," thence "to divide," and thence referred to rhythmical divisions, or caesura, whence it was transferred to the delivery itself, or the singing. Ewald, however, starts with the meaning, " to prune the vine," Lev. xxv. 3, and derives therefore, like the Latin, putare, computare, the sense of pure, arranged, — i. e., to play and sing in definite numbers, in rhythm and time. Hengstenberg adopts the meaning to dress in the sense of to adorn, to ornament, and since the verb stands sometimes with the dative and sometimes with the accusative, and is fre- quently connected with the sentence, To the Lord, and His honor, strength and names, he assumes the signification to sing praises in ornate discourse; to sing artistically in dis- tinction from an artless, simple manner. Keil translates it, "Song of Praise." Hupfeld formerly supposed the original signification to be "to pluck." Thus also B6ttcher and Gesenius in the Thesaur. Hupfeld at present [Zcitschrift der deutschen morgenl. Gcsellschoft iii. 394 f. ; iv. 139 f.) starts with the primitive meaning, "to hum." The application of the verb to music and song in praise of God, is found as early as Exodus xv. 1 ; Judges v. 3 sq.; referring to music in general, Amos v. 23 ; in Aramaic form, Dan. iii. 5. In Ps. c. the noun is connected Avith the word lethodah (t'c 6/ioMy^aiv, Sept.),=to the praise; in other cases the lamed of the author follows, occasionally the beth of the instrument, generally the cither (Pss. iv., vi., lxvii. and lxxvi.). The verb in its double meaning, Ps. xcviii. 5 is, sound with the cither and with the voice of song. Musical playing, in distinction from singing, is made especially prominent in Pss. xxvii. 6, ci. 1, civ. 33, cv. 2, cviii. 2. 3. Maskil (Septuag. aweaeuc or «c cvvemv), Luther, " an instruction." It is the superscrip- tion of thirteen Psalms. Michaelis explains it, following the Arabic as " a discourse in verse ;" De Wette prefers " an intricate figurative discourse," and refers us to other oriental languages in which the idea of poem is developed from the meaning, " wisdom," " insight," " doctrine." Gesenius in the Thesaurus, refers the expression to the purpose of the song, to produce insight, wisdom (and piety), whence every carmen sacrum ad res divinas spectans might have been thus named. Calvin, Keil, et al, interpret the word as a "didactic poem," referring us to Pss. xxxii. 8; xlvii. 8. Hengstenberg understands it specifically of "instruct- ing the church," but this is appropriate only to the contents of two Psalms, (xxxii. and lxxviii.). Ps. xlv. connects it with the leading title of Psalms shir jedidoth, " song of love," and Ps. cxlii. as tcfillah, "prayer." It is, however, decisive that masiil in Ps. xlvii. 8, is in the accusative, the object of the singing, (Hupfeld who is inclined rather to the view of Gesenius and De Wette). Ewald regaids it as a closer definition of its musical recitation and thinks of a skillfully rendered song, because a clever, melodious song is equivalent to a finely artistic one. He defines it more exactly in the Jahrb. viii. 65, as a song with cheerful music, to be accompanied by clear sounding cymbals, keeping time. This is certainly pre- ferable to the former interpretation, against which Pss. liv. and cxlii. are especially opposed. Ps. xlvii. 8, however, is unfavorable even to this latter opinion. Delitzsch, referring to the Hiphil signification, interprets it as " reflective contemplation," pia meditatio, Ps. cvi. 7, cf. 24 INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. xli. 2 ; Song of Sol. xvi. 20, because the word occurs almost always with reference to per- sons, and in 2 Chron. xxx. 22, praises the Levite musicians. According to Hitzig, the word cannot possibly be a participle, and scarcely an object to which the meaning " insight " could be given ; but signifies, according to an Arabic derivation, " form," something " formed," in general, " a poem." 4. Mikhtam occurs in the superscriptions of six Psalms (xvi., lvi. — lx.), sometimes pre- ceding and sometimes following the words, " of David." Jerome and the oldest Eabbins, to the time of Isaki resolve it into two expressions, according to Aquil. rov ra-n-ecvd^povog km a-vlov tov Aavid. According to Symmach. i. and ii. toot, nal a/uu/iov. The Hollander Vorstman alone, of recent commentators, (in his Comm. in Ps. xvi., 1829), adopts a similar interpretation, " the unfortunate, delivered." Since Isaki, most of the Eabbins, and the older Christian ex- positors, suppose the word to be allied to ketem=go\d. and to signify either a golden poem, i. e., a treasure=a priceless poem, (Luther and Geier), like the sayings of Pythagoras, AH, et al., or " written in golden letters," like the moallaMt of the Arabs. Others derive the idea of a treasure from the Arabic "tohide"=to preserve carefully (Grot. Simon et al.). Hitzig, following the Arabic, points to the meaning "to keep for one's self,"—'' not to make known," an avtudoTov, or a hitherto unknown poem, which the compiler had for the first time added to the canon of Davidic Psalms then existing. Ewald in the Jahrb. viii. 6, 7, ex- plains it as " a song accompanied with the dull music, with roaring, dull-sounding music of the cymbals." Most of the recent commentators since Eosenmuller and Gesenius follow the translation of the Septuag.: ctTfooypatpia or ek GTT}kaypa$iav; Vulg.: Tltuli inscriptio ; Chald.: Seulptura recta, and regard mihhtam=mihhtab in the superscription of the song of Jeremiah xxxviii. 9. It means then either "Inscription," (F. H. Michael), now "Tomb inscription," again, "memorial of victory," or, writing=song, (De Wette), or "Song of Inscription," or better still, catch- word poem, (Delitzsch), because in these Psalms two features are promi- nent, which are found united in the Psalms of Hezekiah. This is partly the prominence given to memorial words Pss. xvi. 2, lviii. 12, lx. 8 (of. Is. xxxviii. 10, 11), and partly the repeti- tion of such words, in a sort of refrain, Pss. lvi., lvii. and lxx. It must be considered, how- ever, that the change of m into b never occurs elsewhere in the roots of these words. Heng- stenberg assumes an intentional change of these letters by David, in order to give, through the superscription, a deeper sense to the song, — to announce a secret. In Ps. lx., the super- scription has the additional expression lelammed (Septuag. hg didaxqv) to teach. It is gene- rally referred to the instruction imparted by the Levitical precentor, by De Wette and Delitzsch, on the contrary, it is referred especially to 2 Sam. i. 18, according to which it was to be sung, during instruction in the use of the bow. 5. Schiggajon (Septuag. tpa/ifi6g)) only as superscription of Ps. vii. and in the plural, Habak. iii. 1. Since it is preceded in the latter passage by the preposition *V the older Eabbis, and even Kimchi applied it to an instrument, some sort of string instrument, and others to the kind of tone, or the style of playing upon it. But the expression " which he sang" refers to a song. De Wette, following the Arabic, adopts the meaning, " a song of lamentation," Paulus, " a responsive song," Gesenius, a " song of Praise." Hengstenberg finds an indication of its contents, referring to the confession of Saul to David, 1 Sam. xxvi. 21, and as likewise Aquil., Symmach., Chald., and following them, Jerome and many Eabbis, state that " Error, confusions, forgiveness," is its meaning and they associate it with historical allusions. The majority translate it, " dithyrambus " (the wandering poem, ode erratiea of ancient poetry), and explain the plural in Hab. from the manifold and confessedly mingled rhymes. Hupfeld offers the conjecture that the word is a cognate form, — a play upon the similarly formed higgajon ix. 17=" Poem," " song." Hitzig points to the Arabic " exact Thythmical discourse in contrast with prose." I 9. THE ARTISTIC STRUCTURE OF THE PSALMS. The poetical form of the Psalms stands in opposition neither with their religious nor their theopneustic character, when rightly understood. The influence of the Spirit of God upon the soul of the Israelitish poet, brings his poetical endowments rather, into their proper current, § 9. THE ARTISTIC STRUCTURE OF THE PSALMS. 25 and controls the pulsations of feeling in his aroused soul. These pulsations, however, find a natural expression in the vibrations of his discourse, the regularity of which is sufficiently expressed in the parallelism of members, as the swelling of his thought is in general expressed in the characteristic choice of language, cf. Lowth, De Sacra Poesie Hebrazorum prailect. cum notis, J. D. Michaelis, Ed. Rosenmullcr 1815, whose observations in laying the founda- tion of the correct view have been more fully developed by Herder, Gesenius, De Wette, Raster, Ewald and Hupfeld. For a collection of older opinions cf. Oarpzov (Introd., p. 3 f.) and Saalschiitz, Von der Form der hebr. Poesie nebst einer Abhandlung iibcr die Musik der. Hebr., 1825. The matter is excellently presented by De Wette, Comm. g 7, with the remarks of G, Baur, g 78, f. Independent investigations, worthy of mention, are Bellerman, Versuch einer hebr. Metrik., 1813. Saalschutz, Form und Geist der hebr. Poesie, 1853. E. Meyer, die Form der hebr. Poesie, 1853.* It is self-evident, that the sounds of the words, as they are brighter or gloomier, and the shading of the tone in general, stand connected with the feeling expressed in them. The same is true of the rhythm, the movement of the thought, or the pulsations of feeling, expressed in the more tardy or more rapid sequence of syllables and words. And the He- brew language is particularly adapted, by its pregnant brevity and dignified simplicity, to indicate the writer's feelings, by sound and emphasis. This allows the conjecture, that the employment of similarly sounding expressions, such a3 are frecpuently found in the prophets, associated with the language of ordinary discourse, in satirical addresses, and in pithy con- nections of thought (Knobel, Prophetismus der Heb. i. 406 f.), was not confined to this species of writings. This is true also of those similarities of sound which frequently occur in the prophetic writings, on the last syllable of the verse. Sommer {Bibl. Abhandl. i. 85 f.) has actually proven, an intentional rhyme (in a wider sense) in many passages of the Old Testament, while Van Till {Dicht-Sing-und Spielkunst der Hebr. ii. 6, g4), Carpzov [In- trod. 18), Saalschutz ( Von der Formu. 8. w., \ 61) and Ewald (Poet.Bucher i. 104, und .269 der Ncuen Ausarb.) ascribe such appearances merely to accident. But Sommer has restricted this intentional rhyme, which moreover seldom occurs, to the songs of the common people, to the prophetic expressions of earlier times, and to epigrammatic rules of life, which had orally come down to the time of the authors and compilers, preserved only in single passages, per- haps, not in their original form. This limitation was directed against the opinion of older writers, who following the example of Clericus regarded rhyme as the essential form of all poetry, and sought to discover it in the Old Testament, as Schindler [De accentu Hebr. p. 81 f.) and Leutwein, Versuch einer richtigen Theorie der bibl. Verskunst, 1775, golf. The simi- larity of sound which frequently occurs in the Psalms, is not regarded by Sommer as inten- tional rhyme, from the fact that the similarity of suffixes and of nominal and verbal endings, might very easily produce, undesignedly, something similar to rhyme, in the parallel sentence of Hebrew poetry. Jul. Ley {Die metrische Form der hebr. Poesie systematise^ dargestellt 1866) has attempted to prove, unsuccessfully, that alliteration, was the formal means of bind- ing together the individual series. A metrical significance in the syllables can be as little inferred from this, as from the fact^ that the Psalms were sung with a musical accompaniment (Van Till, p. 24). For the song was recitative singing, vid. § 10. This musical delivery, therefore, does not point to a rhythm, dependent upon quantity and number of syllables, but only to a general rhythmical movement in which the rising or falling, the more rapid or more tardy movement of the voice, was de- pendent partly upon the quality and partly upon the position of the words. The lack of metre, properly so called, is not however to be ascribed as De Wette says, to their rudeness, as songs of the common people. It is a peculiarity of the Hebrew songs, just as in genuine German verse (Meier, Form u. s. w. S. 24 ff.) a free rising of the voice concludes with one or more falling passages. It is the breathing of the pulsating breast, which finds its simplest rhythmical expression in a single line, whose sense is complete in itself; and frequently consti- tutes the beginning of the Psalm, but becomes dismembered in connection with the parallel- * [Isaac T:ivlor. The Spirit nf Hebrew Poetry. Amor, ed., 1862. W. A. Wright, Art. Hebrew Poetry in Smith's Did. of the Bible. W. Binnic, The Psalms, their history, teachings and tise. — C. A. B.] 26 INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. ism of thought and passes over to a parallelism of sentences, and thereby becomes enlarged into the verse of two lines. But although this rhythmical progression, presupposes a correspondence of members, it does not follow that this division of the members of the verse into two which rests upon the parallelismus sententiarum, is the original and essential rhythm of the poetry, in general (Herder, et al.) which, is at the basis of the structure of the Psalms (Hupfeld, Zeitschrift der d. morg. Gesellschaft, 1852, S. 53 f.). For the rising and falling in the line of thought consti- tutes the necessary movement for the members of the sentence, just as syllabic feet mark the progression for words. Syllabic metre must not be smuggled in on the other side from this remark. For all attempts which have been made, and repeated from the time of Philo and Josephus, to discover a metre, analogous to that of the Greeks and Eomans, either in the number of syllables (Buxtorf ) or their quantity (Franc. Gormarus, Davidis lyra, 1637), have been as fruitless as the attempt of Jones, (Poeseos Asiaticce comment, p. 72 f.), to apply the rules of Arabic metre to the poetry of the Hebrews. In the most intelligent attempts of this sort, we find only a certain numbering and "difference of syllables, brought out by emphasis, and according to Bellermann, a prevailing iambic emphasis, placing the accent upon the last syllable ; while according to Saalschiitz, there is a prevailing trochaic, with an occasional spondaico-dactylio -rhythm, in which the penultimate is emphasized. In either case, the divi- sions of the words are brought by accentuation into rhythmical movement, without possessing a strictly metrical character. This is true also of the divisions of the sentences, where the ac- cent is determined by the sense of the words, the position of which in the sentence is of im- portance to the rhythm. The frequent assertion of the Rabbis that in Hebrew poetry, there is only a rhythm of sentences, and not of syllables, is by this fact more definitely established ; and also their other statement, that the rhythmical quantity is originally and essentially de- termined by the contents, i. e., partly by the repetition of the same thought, in similar or allied expression, and, in part by the prominence which is imparted to them by antithetic and synthetic terms of expression. We do not infer from this with Hupfeld, that the rhythm was purely an internal one, i. e. a parallelism, of thought or of logical sentences. In the structure of Hebrew Psalms, there is not only a measure of thought, but also a relation of form, and a parallelism, which arises from an evenness of language, which De Wette (Comm. p. 52) calls rhythmical, and Weinrich (De poeseos hebr. et arab. origine, indole nutuoque consensu atque discrimine, 1843), syntactical, to which G. Baur also has called attention. Sommer in his proof of the development (Bibl. Abh. i. 93 f.) of a formal principle in different kinds of verses and strophes, proceeds from the alphabetical songs. Sommer is right in seeing in the alphabetical songs, not mere play words, nor the signs of a degenerate taste, (De Wette), nor evidence of a late date (Ewald) ; but, in part, helps for the memory, and in part, symbolic reference to their completeness, and wholeness, since only instructive poems and Psalms of lamentation present this alphabetic arrangement. Their more definite consideration belongs to the exposition of the particular Psalms. Here the general remark suffices, that an alphabet is formed by the initial letters of the lines Pss. cxi. cxii. by double lined strophes in Pss. xxv. xxxiv. cxlv., by four lined strophes in Pss. ix. x. xxxvii., by the longer strophes of Ps. cxix., in which every two lined verse begins with the same letter, which is eight times repeated.* How particular verses are to be divided, and joined together in strophes, is in individual cases, questionable. For the particular members are not always easily distinguished, as, e. g., in the graded rhythm of Pss. cxxi. and cxxiii. and partly in Ps. cxxxvi., where a prominent expression is repeated in the following verse while the thought is still further developed. The logical parallelism of the strophes of which Ps. 1. may be taken as an example, is not al- ways clearly discernible, nor always carried through consistently, so as to render the stro- phaic parallelism a safe guide, as Koster assumes. Yet the fact is incontestable, that the Psalms are not poetic prose, but they possess, a poetical structure, of rhythmical members, though not always thoroughly carried out. In the different editions of Luther's translation * [Unsuccessful attempts have been made to preserve the acrostic form in German by Delitzsch, in English by Dalman Hapstone (Z7ie Ancient Psalms, in Appropriate Metres: a strictly literal translation from the Hebrew, Edin., 1867). — C.A.B.] §9. THE ARTISTIC STRUCTURE OF THE PSALMS. 27 accordingly, this feature is no longer to "be perceived (with the exception of Hommel's edition arranged in 1859, for song and recommended for evangelical family devotions, in which the parallelism, at least, is made apparent) ; nor has it been restored in the numerous earlier and later versified paraphrases. In the Latin Psalters, arranged for public worship, the individual verses have been, as a general rule, written consecutively. In order to restore as far as possible their poetic structure, which is important to the un- derstanding of the Psalms, and their impression upon us, and which is essential to their musi- cal rendering, — we must not be confined to the masoretic division of the verses as an immovable foundation as Peters demands (Psalmen in der Urgestalt, in the Zeitschr. der d. morg. Geselhch. xi. 533). The so-called masoretic division of the verses, is certainly older than the pointings of the Masora (Hupfeld), but not always correct, as Ewald has proved (in Jahrb. iii. 128; viii. 68) from the structure of the turns of expression in the Psalms. Neither do the Hebrew manuscripts furnish anything decisive. They generally hrcak the verses arbitrarily, without determined rules, or reference to the sense, usually into two parts so that the line in space (orlxor) is entirely indifferent to the line in sense (k&Xqv) • and by thus mutilating the text, the meaning is often much obscured, cp. Ear ii. f. quoted by Delitzsch in his Coram, ii. 452 f., who introduces passages from the Talmud and the Rabbis which require that the three so called poetic books should be written in a song style, with short lines, and even in herni- stichs. He remarks that such a division of the Psalter is no longer to be found in the Masora, and shows by examples, the irregular procedure of the manuscripts. He for this reason, in his masoretic, critical, edition of the Psalms abandoned the division by verses, and reproduced the usual masoretic form, only in Ps. xviii. The number of verses in the Psalter is also variously stated. They are generally put at 1G12. But from a statement of Bar which Delitzsch quotes in his Comm. ii. 474, in the 19, sedarim, i. e., classes and series, into which the Psalms were divided, the number of pesuhim or verses is given at 2527, the middle verse being Ps. lxxviii. 36. The restoration of the members of the so called verses, is most easily accomplished on the basis of their parallelism. To discover their "strophaic structure, the only recourse left, is to proceed from the unify of the thought, in a greater num- ber of lines of sense, taking care not to be led astray, by our failure always to find a regular and homogeneous structure. It is quite reasonable to suppose, that changes from short lined to long lined verses, may occasionally appear, as characteristic of the Hebrew lyrics, such as we may recognize in the different groupings of strophes in the same Psalm.* The method of procedure, here proposed, harmonizes with the little which we know of the manner of rendering the Psalms. * [Since the time of Lowth the parallelism of Hebrew poetry has been generally regarded as of three kinds : the synonymous, the antithetical and the synthetical or constructive. But since the first two kinds are rare in their occurrence and many of them do not differ to any appreciable degree in some of their phases from those of the third class, and since it is very generally admitted that almost all Hebrew poetry belongs to the third class and some of the poetry cannot without difficulty be brought under either of the three classes, I do not see what advantage there is in the classification. The true idea of Hebrew poetry is that the rythmical flow of thought finds its natu- ral expression, and is not checked by the external form, except in the acrostic. The thought ebbs and flows, and the expression ebbs and flows with it, both as regards the lines and the strophes. The lines are often of even length, bat not unfrequently very uneven, and the strophes are but seldom uniform in their number of lines. There is no guidance for divi- sion iuto lines and strophes, except in the greater or lesser ebb and flow of the thought. As Dr. Binnie says (77ic Psalms, their history, teachings, and use, p. 137, 1870). "The pause in the progress of thought determines the point at which the verse or line must end. The poetical structure fits so closely to the thought, that a Hebrew poem can bo reproduced in any other language, verse for verse and line for line." Dr Wright (Art. Hebrew Poetry, Smith's Diet, of the BihU) cites from Bishop Jebb (Sacr. Lit. p. 20) with approval the following: " Hebrew poetry is universal poetry; the poetry of all lan- guages and of all peoples : collocation of words ... is primarily directed so as to secure the best possible announcement and discrimination of the sense; let then, a translator only bo literal, and so far as the genius of the language will permit, let him preserve the original order of the words, and he will infallibly put the reader in possession of all or nearly all that the Hebrew text can give to the best Hebrew scholar of the present day." Says Dr. Binnie, p. 152, " The Hebrew poems stand alone in all literature in this respect that, with the partial exception of the acrostics they can be transferred, in their farm, as well as their substance, in a literal translation, into any other language One may well trace in this the overruling . hand and wisdom of Him who designed the Scriptures to be the fountain of spiritual light, and the rule of faith and man- ners to all nations. Suppose the poetry of the Bible had been metrical, what would have been the effect? Why, one half of the Old Te-tament would have been to the Gentiles a fountain sealed. The Paradise lost turned into prose is the Paradise lost no more. There are literal translations of Homer and of Horace into fair English prose; but, except for certain school- boy purposes, they are utterly useless. They convey no idea of the Greek and Latin originals. Had the Prophecies of 28 INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. §10. THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PSALMS WERE RENDERED. The Psalms were not simply poems, originally thought out, and intended to be read, ac- cording to Hupfeld's appropriate remarks, Comm. iv. 439. They were rather sung, or intended to be sung, and that with musical accompaniment. This is manifest not merely from " the analogy of all the most ancient poetry," but from their liturgical purpose and use (vid. $ 5). The delivery of the Psalms however was not so much a singing as " an oriental style of de- clamation, with a lively modulation of the voice (Saalschutz, Archdologie I. 287) and depended on the accents. Simon Durau even alludes (Delitzsch's Comm. II. 479) to three styles of delivery for the Bible, one for the Pentateuch, one for the Prophets, and one for the metrical booka (Psalms, Proverbs and Job). He remarks, however, that the melodies alluded to have not been preserved. In ancient ritual books, two styles of singing, are indicated by the accents (Zunz, Die synagogale Poesie des Mittelalters i. 1855, §115), but we have no definite know- ledge in regard to them, and the entire theory of accentuation, is obscure and open to contro- versy. We are only sure, that the accent did not simply indicate the emphasis and division of sentences ; but referred also to the tones in which they were to be delivered, and further- more that the metrical accents were from the most ancient time, different in figure and posi- tion from those of the other twenty-one sacred books. A representation of the later system is given by Heydenheim, in the Hebrew book, Mischpete ha-Tedmim, 1808, full of impor- tant information drawn from Jewish grammarians. S. Bar, rendered a similar service with reference to metrical accentuation in the Hebrew work, Thorath Emeth, 1852. He has furnished also an independent treatise, important on all questions of accentuation, in an appendix to Delitzsch's Comm. ii. 477 f. But while we may infer from the names of the several accents, which refer for the most part to their intonation, yet sometimes to both this, and the figure, their musical significance, yet the ancient metrical modulation is still unknown, and the in- vestigation of original sources, gives us but a fragmentary knowledge of the intonation of a few metrical accents. To this connection belongs, the distinction referred to the Eabbis Acha and Mocha, between the Babylonian and Tiberian systems of accentuation, which although referring to but a few points, have yet been connected with other differences Detween Oriental and Occidental Jews. Upon these matters the influence of the Sect of the Karceans becomes more and more apparent. Cf. besides the references to later discoveries in Delitzsch's Comm. ii. §519f., especially J. Furst's Geschichte des Kardrthums bis 900 der gewohnlichtn Zeitrech- nung, 1862. Jost {Geschichte des Judenthums und seiner Sekten, 1858, ii. 3o6) had previously pointed out the peculiar methods of employing these accents, in singing the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Sol. It is still uncertain, however, whether the Occidental chanting of the German and Polish Jews, or the Oriental style of the Jews of Italy and Spain, have preserved most accurately their original character. The assumption of Haupt (iSechs A/ttes- tam. Psalmen mit ihren aus den Accenten enzifferien Singweisen, 1854) that the accents are nu- merical signs to be combined with the Hebrew letters, furnishing in the series of tones thus given, the original melody, is highly improbable. It is, moreover questionable, if the present accentuation represents any more than the style of delivery at the period of the Herodian temple; not to speak of the earlier method. It may be conjectured, that the style of singing was formerly more diversified, than that which is indicated by the present accentuation. The Jewish traveller Petachia, of Regensburg, in the 12th century states (Literaturblatt des Ori- ents iv. 541) that in Bagdad (where Benjamin of Tudela in the same century, also found a peculiar style of singing Psalms with musical accompaniment) there were several traditional melodies, yes several for particular Psalms. The Eabbis, also, frequently refer the numeri- cal references contained in several superscriptions, e. g., Pss. vi. xii. xcii. to the number of its melody. The conjecture of Gerberti (De cantu et musica sacra, 2 vols., 1174), et al., is especially worthy of attention, comp. Saalschutz (Geschichte und Wilrdigung der MusiJc, 1829, S. 121) Isaiah or the Psalms of David been written in the classical measure or our modern rhymes, they would have fared as ill at the hands of the translators. They must have remained untranslated till some man of genius arose to execute a metrical ver- sion, which would have been but a paraphrase after all. As the case stands, David and Isaiah may be translerred. without material loss, into any language by any scholarly pen. Not only their sense, but their manner and the characteristic felici- ties of their style, are reproduced, not unfairly, in our Authorized English Version."— C. A. B.] |11. THE LITURGICAL RENDERING OF THE PSALMS WITH MUSIC. 29 and Ferd. Wolf ( Ueber die Lais, Sequenzen und Leiche, 1841, S. 285), that the eight so-called Church tones of the Gregorian chants, have preserved the remnants of the ancient temple song. The Jewish tradition, was simply a further development, under the influence of Gre- cian musical instruction, cf. \ 13. Not only are eight musical accents frequently alluded to, hy the Rabbis (neginoth), hut the eight Church tones, arc to be found in the Armenian Church (Pctermann in Zeitschrift fur die d. morg. Gesellsch. V. 3G8 f.), and a kindred style of singing also in the Greek Church. Ewald and Hupfeld, in their praiseworthy efforts to represent scientifically, the difficult and obscure doctrine of accentuation, and to deduce it from one leading principle, are agreed in this ; — that the accentuation was neither purely logical nor purely musical, but of a rhythmical character, every masoretic verse forming a rhythmical period, whose members were marked by a rising and falling inflection. They disagree how- ever in this, that Hupfeld regards the rhythmical period as double, i.e., consisting of a rising and falling inflection, and proceeding from this basis to a still farther dichotomy, while Ewald regards them as progressing in three movements, each growing more difficult than the pre- ceding, until the course is ended. Ewald suggests a special scheme of poetical accentuation in which the falling inflection occurs in the middle of the verse. § 11. THE LITURGICAL RENDERING OP TIIE PSALMS "WITH MUSIC. The frequent use in the Psalms of words signifying to play (often with the name of the instrument) points, apart from the testimony of the superscriptions, [cf. g 12), to the fact that the rendering of the Fsalms was with musical accompaniment. The frequent occur- rence of strophaic members, with refrains, points in like manner to their rendering by choruses or even with the dance (Hupf. iv. 440). The oldest reference of this kind is found in Exodus xv. 20, Judges xi. 34. The division of entire Psalms, however, into responsive choruses by Nachtigall (Gcsdnge Davids und seiner Zeitgenossen, 1797), and others, is un- historical. The chorus repeated only the refrain, vid. Pss. xlii., xliii. It appears, neverthe- less, from the description of the Book of Chronicles, associated with isolated statements in the Psalms themselves that the liturgical singing was antiphonal, even during the period of the first temple, cultivated by persons specially appointed to that office, and led, if not exclu- sively conducted by the Levitical singers, accompanied by the music of the priests. These arrangements were based essentially upon usages introduced by David, 1 Ch. xxv. 2; which were preceded only by the regulations in Num. x., for the use of two silver trumpets to be sounded by the priests. The leading instrument which marked the time was the cymbal, zalzal in the Talmud zelazal, referred to in 2 Sam. vi. 5, as one of the sacred instruments. These can scarcely have been the clapping castanets (Pfeifer, Ueber die Music, p. 54), but the ringing cymbals (Septuag. n'vuftalov) of which there were two kinds, Ps. el. 5, the clear-sound- ing and the dull-sounding (Ewald, Jahrb. viii., 67 f.). Harp-playing was often employed minnim, Ps. cL 4; perhaps also xlv. 9. The highest part was led by the ncbel [v&/3Xa, vav/Ka, il>al-f/piov) indicating, it may be, the lyre, xcii. 4, which Josephus tells as, in his Jewish Anti- quities, had twelve strings, and was played with an ivory plectrum, in distinction from nebelf asor, or simply asor, the harp of ten strings, which was played with the hand, 1 Sam. xvi. 23, xviii. 10, xix. 9. The lower part was played upon the cither, kinnor (Kivi'pa,KidTI07,I? by 11. ' Al-ajjeleth haschachar. This the superscription of Ps. xxii. cannot possibly designate an instrument (Maurer). Its sense is (upon or) " to the tune of the hind of the dawn.'* The translation of the Septuagint vnep rijg avn/.^ipeuc rf/c kudivijQ, Vulgate, pro susceptione matutina, rests upon its having been confounded with filTK, v. 20. The Midrash discovers in it a symbolic reference, and points to the Song of Solomon ii. 8, and also the Chald. Targum, which refers it to the " lamb of the morning sacrifice," when the watcher, mounted to the pinnacle of the temple and cried " the first beams of the morning shine." Luther also gives it a symbolic interpretation (of the hind which is early hunted) and refers it to Jesus, who was taken in the night and led before the high council. Hengstenberg also discovers in the hind, the picture of persecuted innocence, and in the dawn finds an allusion referring us to v. 20, and- v. 2, as figurative of the prosperity which follows immediately after adversity ; — in this case to the resurrection of Christ at early dawn. Most of the expositors, nevertheless, follow- ing Aben Ezra and Calvin, assume that it referred either to the name of a certain kind of tone or to the first word, or, at least, the catch-word of a song, to the melody and rhythm of which the Psalm was to be sung and which may have been selected on account of a correspondence with its contents or expression. Nevertheless, the " hind of the dawn," is not the " hind Daxvn " which is chased, like a frightened deer by the sun, the huntsman (Olshausen) ; nor " the morning star," (Kimchi) but the dawn which precedes the early light, whose first beams are compared to the horns of a hind. Comp. David Lowy's Wurterbuch des talmud. Eebr., 1845, S. 33. 12. ThewordsofthesuperscriptiontoPs.ini. al machalath, (to which are added in Ps. lxxxviii. the words leannoth=to sing, Ex. xxii. 18; Is xxvii. 21), are not to be explained by altering the pointing, "upon flutes" (the majority) ; nor, following the Arabic, "a song for stringed instruments " (Gesen.) ; rather likewise after the Arabic, " in a tardy manner "= piano (Hitzig). Delitzsch, appealing to Ex. xv. 26, regards machalath, as either the name of an elegiac tone, or the first word of a popular song of lamentation (according to Ewald, a very ancient song of contrition). Keil also supposes it to be the designation of a song, of which Ps. liii is the translation, " concerning sickness," with the addition, in Ps. lxxxviii. §12. THE CONTROVERTED MUSICAL EXPRESSIONS IN THE PSALMS. 35 referring to the trial. Hengstenberg gives the same translation, (and the etymology allows of itj.but refers the superscriptions not to the catch-word of other songs, but to the contents of the Psalms themselves. He regards the expression "sickness " in Pa. liii. as symbolical of spiritual sickness, Ps. lxxxviii. ( to be closely associated, in his view, with Psalm lxxxix.j as a designation of severe suffering, in which comfort was secured, through the praise of God- No use can be made of the Septuag. translation v-ep M.at?.ed tov d-oKpilif/vai. 13. The superscription dl Shoshannim of Pss. xlv., and lxix., likeaJ shushan'eduth of Ps. Ix. and el schoshannim'eduth of Ps. lxxx. is referred by many to a lily -shaped instrument (De Wette) ; by others to a hexachord, of the shape of a turtle (Eichhoin, in Simon Lex.hebr.). The recent expositors however, refer it to well known songs designated by catch-words — thus to "the song of the lilies," "the lily of the testimony ;" and " lilies are witnesses." Ewald translates it " like lilies," — i. e., pure, and innocent is the Law. Hengstenberg finds here a Bymbolic designation of the lovely bride, alluded to in Ps. xlv. This, however, does not ac- cord with the contents of other Psalms thus designated, and is also, unnecessary, from the feet, that Ps. xlv., is also designated shir jedidolh, i. e., " the song of loveliness " ( Aquil. gcfia trpoa alloLuOrjaofikvuv, departing entirely from the text), which the superscription under consideration, does not touch at all. Luther puts always erroneously " roses " in place of lilies. His translation of Ps. Ix. however, " of a golden band of roses to instruct " refers to a rose-shaped ornament for the head, which patrician women and maidens (noble women) wore (vid. Bake), and which David is supposed to have employed as a symbol of his well organized government. In Ps. lxxx. the words are separated by athnach ; and instead of i$ we have 7X. Hupfeld and Hitzig therefore join redu1 h=test\mony, with the following words " of Asaph." Hengstenberg thinks of the Law, as the way of attaining salvation, the loveliness of which is referred to in the preceding words. 14. 'Aljonath elem rccholim. This superscription of Ps. lvi. has been generally regarded, since the time of Aben Ezra, as the beginning of a song, to the melody of which the Psalm was sung and has been translated to the (song) " the dove of silence " (dumb dove) among the distant ones ; namely : either men or places ; but with a change of pointing as proposed by Bochart, to the song of " the dove of the distant Terebinth." Many, however, from the earliest times, have referred these words symbolically to the contents of the Psalm, and un- derstood them either of David (Aquil., Jerome, Kimchi, Calvin) with reference to his flight before the Philistines ; or of his despised race (Symmach.) ; or of the exiled Israelitish people (Alex., Chald.). Knapp refers the words to the contents, but departs from the original in his translation: "On the oppression of foreign princes." He reads dim Ex. xv. 11. Hitzig adopts the pointing b?X taking it as a transposition of Dio, and translates: "Dove of people in the distance." Septuag. bnep tov "knob tov (anb tuv dy/wi>) /le/iaKpvpuivov. 15. Finally the words al taschcheth=" spoil not" are found in three DavidicPss. Ivii., lviii., lix., and in the Asaphic Psalm Ixxv. They are taken by most commentators, since the time of Aben Ezra, as the beginning of a song, in the key of which, or after the melody of which, it was to be sung. Still in that case, we should have to assume that al or hi was omitted, for the sake of euphony, or syntactic smoothness. Others, following the Chald. understand the words, either as the motto or the epitome of the Psalm and regard it as a maxim, which David had at this time especially laid to heart. Cocceius adds also, that David, when he af- terwards wrote out this Psalm left it to the Church and believers of all times, that they also might employ it in the midst of opposition and persecution. Hengstenberg finds the basis of this maxim in Deut. ix. 26, and its echo in 1 Sam. xxvi. 9. Hitzig supposes the author of the superscriptions to have referred directly to the latter passage. J. H. Michaelis asso- ciates as also parallel to this, Ex. xviii. 28 ; Is. lxv. 8. But the occurrence of the same words INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. decides nothing. It must be admitted, on the other hand, that the opinion which hasbecome current under the sanction of Aben Ezra, is with this, as in the case of other superscriptions, nothing but hypothesis. \ 13. THE LITURGICAL USE OF THE PSALMS IN THE CHRISTIAN" CHURCH. As in general the Divine service of the temple and the synagogue were the models of the earliest ordinances and usages of the Christian Church (comp. Vitringa De synagoga vetere) so with respect to the singing of Psalms this is especially clear. The transition was all the more natural, since the example of Christ and His apostles, Matt. xxvi. 30 ; Acts xvi. 25 ; Eom. xv. 16 ; 1 Cor. xiv. 15 sq. 26 ; Eph. v. 19 ; Col. iii. 16 ; James v. 13 ; to which Augus- tine appeals expressly (Epist. 119) to prove the necessity of Psalm singing, must have already prepared the way for it. In the responsive chants of the Christians to which Pliny alludes [Ep. x. 98), and the songs of praise and spiritual hymns to which the older church writers frequently refer, in connection with Psalms (as Paul had done, Eph. v. 19 ; Col. iii. 16), we are, at all events, to recognize an allusion to newly composed songs, simply resembling the Psalms — the models and beginnings of the later church songs. Cp. Eusebius, H. E., v. 28. Apart from the ques- tion whether such hymns are alluded to in Eph. v. 14; 1 Tim. iii. 16; 2 Tim. ii. 11; Eev. iv. 11; v. 9, 10; vii. 12; xi. 15-19, there are frequent allusions to original hymns, called hhuTLKol 7palfioif which are by some (Rheinwald, Kirch Archdologie, 1830, $270, Anm. 8) de- clared equivalent to apocryphal Psalms. They designate, at any rate, songs which had come to be used in public worship, but were not entirely free from suspicion, since the council of Laodicea, Can. 59, in the year 365, prohibited their further use in the church, and later councils also at least limited and regulated their use. This was particularly the case at the fourth council of Toledo, A. D. 633, Can. 13, in opposition to the rigorism of the Cone. Bracarens.i., A. D. 563, Can. 12, which had ordained "ut extra psalmos vel canonicarum scrip- turarum, N. and V. T. nihil poeiiee compositum in ecclesia psallatur." Cp. Fr. Armknecht, Dieheilige Psalmodie, 1855, S. 60 f. Zacharias' song of praise, Luke i. 68 f., on the contrary, continued to be used in public worship, as likewise that of Mary, Luke i. 46 sq., that of the heavenly host, Luke ii. 14 ; the angelic greeting Luke i. 28 ; and Simeon's words of leave- taking, Luke ii. 29 ; likewise the Trishagion, Is. vi. 3 ; the song of Moses, Deut. xxxii. ; his song of praise, Ex. xv. ; Hannah's song of praise, 1 Sam. ii. ; the song of thanksgiving, Is. xii. ; Hezekiah's song of praise, Is. xxxvii. ; Habakkuk's prayer, Hab. iii., and the song of the three men, Dan. iii. Cp. Bona, Dedivina psalmodia ej usque causis, my steriiset disciplinis, 1643, cxvi., 1 13. It is, however, quite as certain, that individual Psalms were not only so exten- sively in private use, that psalm-singing could be heard everywhere from the laborers in the field and garden (Jerome, Ep. ad Marcell.), in the house (Tertul. Ad uxor. ii. 9) ; at meal-times (Cyprian, Ep. ad Donat.; Clemens Alex., Peed. ii. 4; Chrysost. in Ps. xli.) ; at morning and evening prayer (Ambros., Hsexsem., v. 12; De jejun., 15; Clemens Alex., Pwdag. ii. 41; Chrysost., Horn. 1 de precant.), and from the lips of martyrs (Augustin, De civ. dei 18, 52 ; Puifin., Hist. eccl. 1, 35 ; Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 4, 10) ; but their use in public worship was regulated from an early period, and they were employed to a wide extent. Cp. Th. Harnack, Der Christliche Gemeindegottesdienst, 1854, S. 221 sq., and Ludw. Schoberlein, Ueber den liturg. Ausbau des Oemeindegottesdienstes, 1859, S. 22-29. Even in the Peschito there are found liturgically marked passages, six of which corres- pond to the masoretic Sedarim, that is, arrangements, series, of which there . are nineteen in all. According to these, the whole Psalter, " the heart of God " was sung through during the vigils preceding the festivals by the Syrian Church, which began almost all its public ser- vices with Ps. 41 (Fr. Dietrich, De psalterii usu publico et divisione in ecclesia syriaca, 1862, p. 3). To break the monotony of the singing, a decree of the Cone. Laodic. A. D. 365, Can. 17, ordained that prayers and the reading of the Scriptures should be introduced between the Psalms. Later, among the Nestorians, songs also were introduced. References to the prayers appropriated to the several Psalms are found in the manuscripts. The first prayer which preceded the Psalms with which the service began, was called the " foundation prayer." The §13. THE LITURGICAL USB OF THE PSALMS IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 37 same name was thence transferred to every prayer preceding a new series of Psalms. In the recitation of the entire Psalter, such a prayer preceded each of the fifteen customary divisions. From this fact the division itself received the appellation marmitho—" founding." Each marmitho was again separated into four sub-divisions or subhe (sing, subho), thus making, in all, sixty sub-divisions. Cp. Dietrich, in Delitzsch, Comm. ii. 475 f. Among some of the Syrian clergy, the custom had formerly prevailed of praying through the entire Psalter daily; as also among certain Egyptian monks. The time afterwards established for this devotional exercise was the week. In the Greek Church likewise, the entire Psalter was prayed through every week, and was divided for this jmrpose into twenty Kadio/iara, that is, sections, after which the congregation was seated. Each of these again fell into three otmeic, that is, subdivisions, during the reci- tation of which the congregation was standing. In this case, likewise, sixty divisions arose, ,each one of which ended with the doxology after Rev. i. 6. This is manifestly modelled after the Syrian custom alluded to. At the beginning of the third century, twelve Psalms were usually sung at each public service. According to Athanasius (De virginit.), this began with the singing of the 63d Psalm, after each one present had offered a silent prayer of confession, whereupon the recital of Psalms proceeded, beginning at the point where it had ended at the previous service. Then followed biblical readings, originally without definite order, alternating from the Old and the New Testament. It was only afterwards that readings were first from the Epistles, and then afterwards from the Evangelists. Between these readings, a Psalm was sung (Constit. apod. ii. 57), usually a hallelujah psalm, and most frequently the 150th (comp. Alt, Der christliche Kulius i. 18-1 f, 210 f; Daniel, Codex liturg. i. 4). In the JEthiopic Church the employment of the Psalms prevailed so extensively, that emi- nent women not only learned to repeat the whole by heart, but the instruction of youth was begun in it, and in Amharic the primary scholars are called pueri psalmorum (comp. Ludolf, Comment, ad hist. ^Eihiop., 1691, p. 352 ; Dora, Be psalt. jEthiop., p. 10). In the Latin Church, Jerome, in his charge to the priest Damasus, divided the Psalms into seven parts, one for each day in the week, to be used in the horis canonicis, which were also symbolically divided by the number seven, or perhaps eight, with reference to the divi- sion of the days into three times eight hours. In the breviary arranged for the daily use of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church, the leading feature was the distribution of the Psalms throughout the week, connected however with hymns, and the reading of Scripture, and prayers. The restriction to the priests and friars is connected, on the one side, with the fact, that in the earlier vigils, which were participated in with animation by persons of all stations, the women were excluded by the Council of Elvira, A. D. 305, to avoid offence and abuse (vid. Calvoer, Rituale eccl. ii. 640). But by the Council of Laodicea, Can. 16, the obli- gatory and active participation was limited strictly to the singers belonging to the clergy. Cp. Aug. Neander's Church History, ii. 679. The service which Jerome rendered in prescribing the hours in which the Psalms were to be sung was supplemented by Gregory the Great (t 604) with reference to the chief ser- vices of public worship, which had already been opened with the singing of one or more Psalms, from the time of Pope Celestin. For the difference in practice of the oriental and occidental churches, comp. J. Bingham, Origin, ecclcs., 1722 sq., vi. 12, 34. With reference to the employment of passages from the Psalms in the mass of the Roman Catholic Church, be- ginning with Ps. xlii., vid. in Daniel, Codex lifurgicus i. 48 sq. Gregory selected from each of the Psalms which had been previously employed two- verses which he associated with the Epistles and Gospels already prescribed to be read. These initiatory verses, connected with the Psalms from which they were taken, and with the Gregorian melodies for the use of the Church, are given in Reithardts, Psalmrn fur den evang. Hauptgottesdienst, Berlin, 1856, and have still retained their original Latin names, for the Sabbaths preceding and following Easter, Esto mihi, from Ps. xxxi. 3; Invocavit from Ps. xci. 15; Reminigcere from Ps. xxv. 6; Oculi from Ps. xxv. 15, 16 ; Lo?tare from Is. lxvi. 10 ; Judica from Ps. xliii. 1 ; Domini ne longe (usually Palmarum) from Ps. xxii. 19 ; Dies viridium (Maunday Thursday) from Ps. xxiii. 2 (on Good Friday the introit us, intonations and doxologies were omitted; at Easter, the newiy INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. baptized catechumens, clothed in white garments, were frequently received by the assembled church with Ps. cxviii.) ; Quasimodogeniti, referring to 1 Peter ii. 2, followed by Ps. lxxxi. ; Miser ecord. Domini, from Ps. xxxiii. 5 ; Jubilate, from Ps. lxvi. 1 ; Cantate, from Ps. xcviii. 1, 2 ; Rogate, from Is. xlviii. 20 ; Exaudi, from Ps. xxvii. 7. Cp. Fr. Strauss {Das evang. Kir- chenjahr in scinem Zusammenhange, 1850). Gregory, in a similar manner, abbreviated and arranged the Graduate, that is, the verses of the Psalms which were sung upon the steps of the reading desk, after the reading of the epistle, followed usually with the hallelujah ; like- wise the offertorium and the communio, that is, the Psalms which were sung during the pre- sentation of the offerings by the church between the credo and the prayer of thanksgiving, as also during the communion. He retained, however, for the secondary services the use of the unabbreviated Psalter, regulating however more precisely its use. The customary morning song was here also Ps. lxiii., the evening song, Ps. cxli., or the nunc dimittis, Luke ii. 29. The division of the Psalms for the week days, according to the regulations of the Benedic- tines, associated with explanations of certain passages, is given by Carrier in the Psalmodix ecclesiastical delucidatio, 1734. On their suitability to the present time vid. Armknecht, Die Haupt=und Neben=Gottcsdienste der evang. hither. Kirche vom liturgischen Standpunlrte 1854; L. Schoberlein, Der evang. HauptgoUesdienst in Formularen fur das game Kirchen- jahr, 1855 ; and the information imparted by the Evang. kirchlichen Anzeiger of Berlin. A division of the Psalms for use as a prayer-book is given also by O. Thenius, Der Psalter, 1859, p. xi. — xii., and G. Chr. Dieffenbach, Ev. Hausagende, 2 Aufl., 1859, p. 840. Gregory labored no less sedulously with reference, to the manner of rendering the Psalms. The singing constantly alluded to, was at first, simply the transfer to the Church of the chanting of the synagogue, with its responses (Isidor. Hispal.,Z>e ecclesiast. offic. i. 5), which was neither an invention of the Therapeutse (Philo), nor an institution of the Emperor Con- stantine, and the monks Diodor. and Flavian of Antioch (Theodoret, H.E. ii. 24; Suidas, s. v. X°P°c)- These can only have been the cultivators of this style. Ignatius even, had introduced the responsive style of singing into Antioch, (Socrates H.E. vi. 8, prompted by a vision) and Basil the Great (f 379) refers {Ep. 96 ad Christian.) to the agreement of all the Churches in this custom. But partly in connection with the effort to counteract the errors in doctrine, which had been introduced among the people by means of attractive melodies and pleasant songs, especially by the Arians (Sozomen. H.E. viii. 8) ; there was the song proper, already preva- lent in the Orient, and although the TpaXrdc} the appointed Church choristers, had from the middle of the fourth century Cone. Laod. Can. 15, chiefly to do with the leading of the cus- tomary Psalm-singing ; there was nevertheless rapidly developed a more artistic song, in part affected and theatrical, in part passing over into a sweec and tender style, which called forth the censures of Jerome (Ad Eph. v. 19) and Chrysost. {Opp. vi. 97). References and warnings, occasioned by such phenomena are found in Augustine {Confess, x. 33) associated with the lively recognition of the great influence and rich blessings, which he had personally experienced {I. c. ix, 633) in Milan, from the melodious Church songs, introduced there by Ambrose, and from thence scattered throughout the entire Occident. He did not learn to sing Psalms, properly so called, until later (Proem.in Ps. xxi.), probably in Africa. In con- trast with this artificial alternating style of Church music, abounding in rhythm and metre ; but, secundum morem orientalium partium {I. c. ix. 7) which afterwards fell into disuse, and became greatly deteriorated (Forkel ii. 164), Gregory returned to a uniform and somewhat monotonous, though severe and earnest Psalmody. He selected, from the earnest and digni- fied tones of the ancient Greeks, four, from which he derived by changing the position of the fundamental tone, four other tones. These are the so-called eight Church tones. From each of these Gregory arranged one of the melodies of the Psalms of the Old Testament, still i:i existence, and in use, to which he added for the remaining songs, of the Old Testament and the Psalms of the New Testament a ninth, the so-called "foreign tone" {Of. Bona, Dediv. Psalm, x viii . \ 4 ; Gerbert, De can t. lib. ii. P. I. p. 250 ; Antony , Lehrbuch des Grcgor. Kirchenge- sangs, S. 4). " The melody rests essentially upon one tone, the first as the second half of the verse concludes with a cadence of from two to five tones, under which an equal number of closing syllables were put, while all the preceding syllables were upon the chief tone of the $13. THE LITURGICAL USE OF THE PSALMS IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 39 melody, only the first verse, begins with three or four ascending tones. The length of par- ticular notes, was determined by the value of individual syllables. (O. Strauss, Ueber d< „ Psalter ate Gesang=und Gebetbuch, 1869, S. 19). These nine Psalm tones are also given by Fr. Ad. Strauss {Liturg. Andachten der Kon. Hof=und Domkirche, Berlin, 3 Aufl., 1856) and by Armknecht {Die heil. Psalmodie, 18551 in the present style of musical notation, ac- cording to the Psalmody of Lukas Lossius, the enthusiastic advocate of the Gregorian song in the Lutheran Church. The tonus peregrinus was originally intended only for Ps. cxiib (Hebrew numbering cxiv. and cxv.) and was transferred on the part of the Protestants to the Bencdictus, and the Magnificat. By numerous deviations in the cadences which gradually became familiar, the nine chief tones were extended, to more than fifty melodies; but the power of the parallelism of numbers passed out of view since the ninth century, because from that period, as at present in the Anglican as well as in the Roman Church, the changes were made in accordance with entire verses. Against the assertion of E.Naumann ( Ueber Einfuhrung des Psalmengesanges in der evang. Kirche, 1856, S. 17 f.) that this was the original arrangement vid. O. Strauss, Ueber den Psalter, S. 30 f. Gradually a solemn style of chanting for the feast days separated itself from the ferials of the week days. The voice of the congregation, whose active participation is alluded to as late as the time of Basilius and Chrysostom, was gradually silenced first in the vigils, then restricted in public service, to the cry of Kyrie eleison since the ninth century, from which the softlies so-called, in the courses of prayer, and the like were gradually brought to silence. The clergy, it is true, were instructed, in their own singing- schools, whose rules descended to the most minute prescriptions, as to the inward frame, and outward delivery of the songs (Gerbert, Scriptores eccles. de mus. sacra, 1784, i. 5 ; Antony, Lehrbuch, S. 150), but they soon however, dispatched their business, with a rapidity, con- trary to all purposes of edification, which Luther styles " a howling and a sounding " (" Loren and Tonen"). On the relation of the Gregorian to the Ambrosian singing vid. Wackernagel, Das deutsche Kirchenlied, S. xxiv. In the Anglican Church, the Psalter is distributed through the month for daily morning and evening service without the distinction of hours. It is delivered partly according to the Gre- gorian tones, partly according to numerous yet similar melodies, cither by a double choir, or alternately by the clergy and the congregation, or simply by the congregation, sometimes with and sometimes without the support of the organ {cf O. Strauss, l. c. S. 25). The list of Psalms appropriate in part for daily morning and evening prayers, in part for the higher fes- tivals, is printed from the Common Prayer Book by Em. Ohly {Evang. Ha»s=und Handbuch fur gate und bose Tage, 1866). On the peculiarity of the Psalm tunes employed in the Church of England, vid. Herin. Oesterley ( Der Gottesdienst der eng/ischen und der deutscken Kirche, 1863, S. 73). [Comp. also the Psalter and Canticles with the Ancient Church Tones as pointed in the Book of Common Prayer with Ritual Song. Ed. Richard Redhead. — C. A. B.] In the Evangelical Churches of the Continent the liturgical use of the Psalter was still more limited and rightly confined to the subordinate service, in which, after the general shipwreck of the eighteenth century, it begins again to be revived. For the chief Divine services, Luther himself had especially abbreviated the graduate in the Eormulamissa', and assigned the longer forms to private use. This thorough-going change was wrought, however, by the introduction of congregational singing to which the German Hymn Book at present so fully appreciated, was adapted. This was not simply a restoration of the old hymnology, but an enlargement and deepening of its evangelical tone, rendering it suitable for systematic employment in public service. In the Lutheran Church several Psalms were added, — the following by Luther himself, Pss. xii., xiv., xlvi., lxvii., exxiv., exxviii., exxx. They were entirely transformed, however, into new songs, adapted to music, partly to songs already exist- ing, and partly to melodies newly composed. In the Reformed Church, on the other hand, the Psalter itself was employed as the Church Hymn Booh, translated into rhymed verses in the languages of different countries {vid. 1 14), and provided with melodies. It is howevi r to be noted, that the latter system has not been entirely foreign to the Lutheran Church. But it acquired only a local prevalence, and gradually disappeared as out of harmony with the fundamental view mentioned above. The churches of the reformed confession, on the 40 INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. other hand, frequently recurred to the use of hymns, properly so called. According to the records of the chief Lutheran Church of St. Maria at Elbing, the Lobwasser version had ceased to be sung in the year 1655, cf. G. Boring, Choralkunde, 1865, S. 52, Anm.* % 14. TRANSLATIONS OF THE PSALMS. Among the numerous translations of the Psalms, we can here allude to those only which have acquired an importance, either from their extensive employment in Divine worship, or from their scientific value in understanding the Psalms. Sometimes they are of value in both respects. This is conspicuously true, of the oldest, the Alexandrian version of the Psalms. For this translation, which, at the earliest arose, not before the middle of the third century B. c. (vid. I 4), among the Hellenic Jews of Egypt, has enjoyed the highest estimation, not only among the Alexandrian Jews, but also among those of Palestine, and it is of special sig- nificance to the Christian Church also, from the fact that by far the greater part of the cita- tions from the Psalms in the New Testament are from the text of the Septuagint ; partly on this account also, that it has been the basis of the most celebrated of the ancient translations in the Church. It was made from a Hebrew text which cannot have deviated in many pas- sages, from the readings of the present well-known texts, which it renders with essential truthfulness, and often most happily; sometimes, however, lacking in clearness, even to the point of being unintelligible from being too literal. Since the latter had, however, not yet been pointed, we find here and there renderings which do not harmonize with the text estab- lished by the Masora. Occasionally there are slight interpolations, and sometimes again, we find slight omissions. Its poetical character has entirely disappeared. We must add to this the fact, that a very early (Frenkel, Vorstudien, S. 62 f.) and continually increasing corruption of the text had arisen, which could be prevented neither by the gigantic labors of Origen in the Hexapla (preserved to us only in fragments), nor by the labors of the Presbyter Lucianus of Antioch, which are entirely lost to us, nor by those of the Egyptian Bishop Kesychius. And this has become all the more important, since from this Alexandrian version, — and in fact, after the kowti} the old Latin translation, the so-called Itala has sprung, to the text of which, the expositions of the Latin fathers refer, viz., Augustine, Hilar., Ambros., Prosper, and Cassiodor. As revised by Jerome, it formed the Psalterium Romanum which again revised in Bethelem, after the Hexapla text of the Septuag. became the Psalterium Gallicanum, and has remained as the text of the Vulgate. For, while the independent translation of Jerome of the other books of the Old Testament, from the Hebrew text, became about two hundred years after his death, the Vulgata of the church ; his translation of the Psalter, of so much scientific importance, juxta hebraicam veritatem (printed Opp. ed. Vallarsi ix. 3), was ex- cluded, because the general liturgical use of the text already in existence, constituted an in- separable obstacle. The Alexandrian Version, was followed with more or less faithfulness (the Hexaplian Recension, in part) in the fourth century, by the Lower Egyptian, or ( Coptic) Memphitic ; the Upper Egyptian or Sahidic and the Ethiopian translations ; in the fifth century by the Armenian; in the sixth by the Gregorian or Grusinian, and likewise by the Syrian of Poly- carp, in the seventh by a Syrian translation made by a Monophysite which is identical according to Pococke's translation from Abulfaragii hist, dynast, 1663, p. 100, with the commonly called versio figurata (vid. Keil, Lehrbuch der histor. Jcritisch. Einl., S. 551), still later by sev- eral Arabic translations and the Gothic translations of Ulfilas. Yet we must remark that both ttie Coptic (M. G. Schwartze, Psalterium in dialect.copt. ling, memphiticam translatum, 1843, p. xlii.) as well as the ^Ethiopic version (Dorn, De Psalt. JEth., 1825, p. 17 sq.), do not follow, as is generally affirmed the Cod. Alex., but frequently the Cod. Vatic, and sometimes a text deviating entirely from that of the Septuagint, containing sometimes also, matter quite peculiar to itself. * [Binnie: "The Psalms retain to this day something of their ancient prominence in the Genevan and French churches. —In Holland, a numerous party in the Reformed Church scruple, like the primitive African Church, to employ in public worship any hymns but those of the Psalter ; and it is well known that the same scruple is somewhat extensively prevalent in Scotland and the United States of America. In the course of last century, the use of Watts' Adaptations of the Psalnia led the way to a general introduction of modern hymns among the English Nonconformists, to the exclusion of the Bible psalmody, and a similar change took place, contemporaneously, in the greater part of the American churches."— C. A. B.J §14. TRANSLATIONS OF THE PSALMS. 41 Originating in the second century, we have the Peschito, independently translated how- ever from an unpointed text, although, frequently drawing from the Septuag. and sometimes from a Chald. paraphrase. This was the prevailing translation of the Syrian Church, and several Arabic translations have directly originated from it. Tropical expressions it frequently changes, and aims generally at expositions, and the removal of difficulties. It omits the his- torical and musical references in the superscriptions, substituting others occasionally, which originated with the Church fathers, and contains many departures from the Hebrew text besides its peculiar division of the verses. A translation, likewise independent, and following a text sometimes differently vocalized from our present text, was made in the first half of the second century, by the Jewish prose- lyte, A quila of Pontus, exceedingly well versed in the Greek and Hebrew. The work was done for the benefit of the Jewish brethren and enjoyed among them an estimation above that of the Septuag. Jerome also, occasionally, conforms to it, although he censures it severely, for its opposition to the interpretation of the Church. He endeavors to render the Hebrew with the greatest possible faithfulness, and as much as possible to adhere to the etymology, in his translation. Another Jewish proselyte, Theodotion of Ephesus, attempted soon afterwards with the assistance of Aquila, an improvement of the text of the Septuag. From this, the book of Daniel was actually taken into the Greek Bible, in place of the previous translation. The Hcxapla of Origen has preserved to us of this translation, the book of Psalms, like the other books, only in fragments. This is also true of the freer translation of Symmachns the Ebionite of somewhat later date, who attempts to give the sense simply of the original ; and of the anonymous Greek translations, which Origen could only designate as quinta, sexia, septima. How the Psalms were understood by the Synagogue, in the first centuries of the present era, we can learn from the text of the Targum, i. e. the Chaldaic translation of the Psalms, which is known unfortunately only in a very much neglected form of the text. This was less paraphrased, than the other books of the Old Testament. This translation, the Aramaic idiom of which resembles that of the Syriac, belongs to the group of Jerusalem Targums (Geiger, Urschrift und Uebers. der Bibel in Hirer Abhangigkeit von der innern Entwickelung des Judenthums, 1857, S. 166 £), but is under the influence of earlier traditions, since we may safely say " there were written Aramaic translations of the greater part of the books of the Bible as early as the time of the Hasmonaeans " (Zunz, Die gottesdiemtlichen Vortrdge der Juden 1832, S. 61.) Luther's German translation, does not, it is true, give us the Hebrew text, in its rhyth- mical numbers, and it is defective from some misinterpretations unavoidable in the state of Hebrew philology of his days, but it is written with such a spiritual experience, and theologi- cal insight drawn from the understanding of the heart that it breathes the original spirit and life of the text. By its side also, in the Lutheran Church, the Psalter is especially esteemed as published by Joh. Magdeburgius, Frankfort, 1565, with a preface by Tileman Heshusius "In the Form of Songs in German Bhyme," and also in the Latin paraphrase and versified form, composed partly under the influence of Melanchthon, e. g., by Eobon Hesse, Joh. Major, Jak. Micyllus, Joh. Stigel et al. The Psalms by Hesse, which Veit Dietrich anno- tated, attained such an appreciation, that they went through forty editions in seventy years, serving, however, like all the paraphrases simply the uses of private edification, or aesthetic and literary ends. In the Reformed Church on the other hand " The entire Psalter of David" was arranged in the form of hymns, and furnished with tunes, and was intended, in a narrow sense from the beginning, for use in the Church, and obtained even in the Lutheran Church to the time of crypto-Calvinistic controversies extensive use and approval. Then the Psalter of Burcard Waldis, who after similar efforts by Joh. Zwick, 1536, Jak. Dachser, 1538, Hans Gamersfei- der, 1542, brought out the Psalms in 1553, " With New Tunes and Artistic Rhymes in order to banhh oppressive thoughts and devilish trials," with for the most part excellent tunes in spite of its songs of from nine to twelve lines, (von Tucher, Schatz des evang. Kirchengesan- 42 INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. ges TJi. 2, S. 318). Then still more the French Psalter in verses begun by Clemens Marot, finished by Theodore Beza (1562) with melodies by Claude Goudimcl (1565), the teacher of Palestrina, prepared in a German translation by Ambrosius Lobwasser, 1565, but first issued in 1573 (comp. A. Ebrard, Ausgewahlte Ps. Davids naoh GoudhneVs Weise, 1852). As Hymn Booh of the Evangelical Churches, outside of Germany, there appeared during the period of the Eeformation, various books of Psalms, in the languages of different coun- tries. (Comp. G. Doring, Chloralkunde, 1865, S. 57 f.) Thus in the Flemish tongue, in 1540, with 159 tunes ; 1562 in English ;* 1567 in Dutch (as a translation from the French). The year 1579 brought out the first Dutch translation of the Lutheran Psalter; 1578 an Italian ; 1580, a Polish translation, still in use, by Joh. Kochanowski, after the appearance in the same language in 155-4-5 of a metrical translation by Nicol. Rey (Doring, S. 434) ; 1582 a Danish translation in which the previously published "Beautiful great Psalm Book by Hans Thomisen," was alluded to ; 1585 a Swedish. More philological and literary interest than theological importance, is attached to the Psalms, verse by verse, with brief expositions from Augustine and Cassiodor., by Notker Labeo (tl022) in St. Gall (vid. H. Hattemar, Denkmale des Mittelalters, 1844 f. Bd. 2). The same is true of the German interlinear versions from manuscripts of the twelfth and thirteenth cen- turies, published by C. G. Graff, 1839. Apart from the translations added, by almost all the commentators, to the Psalms or in- terwoven in their works, a considerable number of translations, mostly of a poetical or met- rical character have been published, since the middle of the eighteenth century with short introductions and expository remarks, partly for the purpose of rendering them more thoroughly understood, partly to extend to a wider circle, a more correct appreciation of the Psalms. Among them, we refer to the following: Die [poet) Uebers. von J. A. Cramer with (instructive) treatises, 1763 f. 4 Theile ; J. D. Michaelis with remarks for the unlearned (6 Th. des. A. T.), 2 Ausg. 1771; Gotth. Frang. Zacharia (free and explanatory), 1773; J. G. Hasse (in his Idiognomik Davids), 1784; G. C Knapp (with learned remarks, 1778, 3 Ausg. 1789; Mos. Mendelssohn (metrical in close dependence upon Luther's version^, 2 Ausg. 1788; Chr. Gotth. Kuhnol (metrical), 1799; J. Chr. Casp. Nachtigall, 1797; J. Pud. Scharer, 1812 ; Stuhlmann, 1812 : Franz Volkmar Reinhard, 1813 ; K. W. Justi [Nationalgesange der Heb., 1803-18, 3 Bde ; Blumen althebr. Dichtkunst, 1809 ; Sionitische Harfenkldnge, 1829) ; J. G. Eichhorn (after his death by E. G. von Hieronym.),1834; Mich. Sachs, 1835; J. B. Koster (in accordance with their strophical arrangement with introduction and remarks), 1837 ; W. Krahmer (metrical with expositions), 2 Bde. 1837 ; J. G. Vaihinger (rhythmical with expositions), 1845; 2 (Title) Ausg., 1856; G. Meier, 1850 ; Camphausen (as part of Bun- sen's Bibelwerk, retaining the Lutheran version as far as possible and with great skill), 1863. J. Maurer 1838 issued a Latin translation with grammatical remarks.! I 15. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS. The expositions of the Church fathers, including those of Origen himself, who was not unacquainted with Hebrew, are based entirely upon the text of the Septuagint, and from the translations originating from it. They do not give expositions of the passages in a strict sense, but simply devotional, and frequently very practical and valuable observations, based upon them. They were frequently also sermons, with partly a dogmatic, but more frequently an ethical development of the thoughts which were called forth by them ; but written from a * [Wordsworth : "The English Version in our Book of Common Prayer was made in A. D. 1535 and revised A. D. 1 539 It was not formed from the original Hebrew, but, for the most part from that Latin version which is called the Galilean Psalter, and which was derived mainly from the Septuagint and was due to St. Jerome {circa A. D. 390), and is in substance the Vulgate, or commonly received Version of the Psalms in the Latin Church. St. Jerome afterwards executed a transla- tion of the Psalter from the Hebrew text; but, on account of the previous general reception of the Gallican Psalter in the musical services of the Church, this more correct translation has never obtained that popularity to which, on account of its greater accuracy, It was justly entitled. The same may be said of our own English Version of the Psalter, in our authorized Translation of the Bible, which was made by command of King James I. in A. D. 1610, from the original Hebrew. Inferior to the Prayer Book version in rhythmical beauty and musical applicability, but much superior to it in critical accuracy, it will never supercede that Version in the choral service of the Church." — C. A. B.] f [The English translations will be mentioned in connection with the Coinin. at the end of the next section.— C. A. BL §15. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS. 43 New Testament stand-point, and without historical discrimination, full of allegorical and mys- tical references, continually misunderstanding the economy of the old covenant. We possess, moreover, only fragments of Origen's expositions of the Psalms, translated hy Rufinus, and nothing hut translations of Jerome (vid. \ 14), for the Breviarium in Psalterium in his Opp., Ed. Vallarsi viii. 2 is not genuine. The commentary of Eusebius Pamphilii (on Ps. i.-cxiv. hebr.) alluded to by Montfaucon ( Collectio nova Pair, et Script. Grxc. T. I.), is of special impor- tance, on account of its citations from the Hexapla. The short expositions of Athanasius are entirely dependent upon Philo, in their references to Hebrew names and words : his letter to Marcellinus, however, ecg ttjv ipfiveiav tuv tfiaX/tav translated into Latin by Jos. Reuchlin, and into German by J. Spalatin, gives some statements on the use of the Psalms, classified accord- ing to certain points of view, and with reference to the riches of their contents, and their manifold adaptations to the various conditions of life and frames of mind. Most highly prized by the Greek Church, of all the works of Chrysostom, was his very comprehensive commentary on the Psalms, of which we possess little more than the third part. It is all homiletical, occasionally introducing the Hebrew text from Origen's Hexapla, and comparing it with the various Greek translations. Comparisons with the latter were contained also in the Comm. of Theodoret, forming the much needed beginnings of grammatical and historical exposition. Little profit can be derived from Euthymius Zigabenus in the twelfth century. Compilations from all the Greek fathers, and from some whom we know only by name, are contained in the Catena of which the most complete collection was published in 1643 at Antwerp in 3 Vols, by the Jesuit Corderius. From the Latin Church, we must allude to the strongly allegorical Tractatus super Psalmos of Hilarius Piktav., drawn from Origen and Eusebius, also to the Enarrationes in Ps. of Ambrosius drawn partly from dictation, partly from notes of sermons, full of warmth, enthusiasm and vivacity, and finally to the Enarra- tiones of Augustine, likewise taken from sermons (Sermones) from which Cassiodorus drew chiefly his Expositiones in omnes Ps. Schliiter in 1865 drew from them " apothegms " and translated them into German. The younger Arnobius, the semi-Pelagian, based his para- phrastic Commentary, not on the Bala but upon the translation of Jerome. In the middle ages, the labor on the Psalms did not cease. But being entirely ignorant of the Hebrew, wholly dependent upon the letter of the Vulgate, lost in mystical and alle- gorical references, given up to dogmatical views, (in which some independence was exhibited, as in the labors of Thomas Aquinas, Alexander of Hales, Bonaventura and Albertus Magnus), they could not really advance the proper understanding of the Psalms. They nevertheless in such labors as these of Alcuin, Haymo of Halberstadt, and Remigius of Auxerre of the ninth century, and of Bishop Bruno of Wurzburg in the eleventh, and of Peter Lombard in the twelfth century, as compilations and Catena, preserved the treasures of the older in- terpretations of the Church, drawn as they were chiefly from Augustine, and a few others among his predecessors. The samples ofSyriac Expositions of the Psalms, by GregorBarhe- brajus of the thirteenth century, are quite similar in their character. The great prevalence of an allegorical tendency, is particularly manifest in additions of Paul. Burgensis to Postilles of the Franciscan, Nicol.of Lyra, whose expositions were of a more historical character. It was quite prominent also in the twelfth century in the words of Rupert of Deitz ; less so in Hugo of St. Victor who uses the ascetic element and the popular and practical application especially in his exposition of the Psalms. We have similar expositions also from the Synagogue which labored more upon the Midrash on the Psalms than with the text itself, carrying to still greater extremes the fancies and trivialities of the Talmud and the Rabbis (vid. Zunz, Ghttesdienstl. Vorfr., S. 266, on the Midrasch, Schochar thob, which according to Delitzsch ii. 442 the poet Jedaja Penini ex- plained in the thirteenth century; and the Midrasch-catena under the title of jalkutk). But from the beginning of the tenth century, especially under Arabic influence, the grammatical and lexicographical studies of the Jews have gradually contributed to the explanation of the Psalms. We know but little, however, of the Arabic translation and expositions of the Saadia Gaon except from the selections by Haneberg (1840) and Ewald (1844) ; the same is true of the commentary of the Karaer Jefeth of Boszra known through the Abbot Barges (1846) 44 INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. (coinp. Delitzsch, Anekdota zur mittelalterlichen Scholastik unter Juden und Moslemen, S. 314). But the first expositions of the Church, which were founded upon the knowledge of the Hebrew, and have since been extensively used, were based upon the commentaries of the follow- ing distinguished Rabbis. — 1. R. Salomon, ben Isaac (since the time of Zunz, cited as Isaki, but earlier erroneously cited as Jarchi; and even Raschi), f 1105; rich in correct explanation of words, but richer still in Judaistic frivolities, with traditions from the Midrash and the Tal- mud scattered through it in great profusion. 2. R. Abraham ben Meier, ben Ezra, usually Aben Ezra, f 1167, especially important for his citations from older commentators' philologi- cal investigations, whose works are lost, but more ingenious than happy in his own inferences. 3. R. David Kimchi, f 1250, chiefly grammatical and historical in his expositions but con- sciously opposed to the Church, and especially to Messianic interpretations. Among the latter expositors, Delitzsch praises the conciseness and clearness of the commentary of Obadia Sforno, f 1550, the teacher of Reuchlin. The value of the newly acquired philological helps to exposition, were in the Roman Catholic Church especially recognized in the sixteenth century by Aug. Justiniani, in selec- tions from the Midrash and Sohar, by Pagnini and Felix Pratensis in reference to the text and translation, and by Genebrardus, with reference to their exposition ; in the seventeenth century especially by Anton Agellius, De Muys, M. Este, and Bellarmin while by Cornel, a Lapide, and Job. Maldonat, the usual views of their most eminent predecessors were trea- sured up : in the Analysis of the Jesuit Le Blanc and in the Commentarius in ps. in 6 folios, by John Lorinus, exposition was swallowed up in Scholasticism. In the eighteenth century the current turned in favor of the practical and religious tendency through the expositions of De Lacy, Berthier, and La Harpe, but especially in the Comment. Literalis of Calmet, the Benedictine, a learned and reflective method was again realized, which in the nineteenth century acquired a profounder and fresher tone, under the stimulus of Protestant exegesis. This is apparent in the translations of the Old Testament, began by Brentano and continued by Dereser and Scholtz ; and particularly in the exposition of the Messianic Psalms by Job. Bade (1851), and Laur. Reinke (1857); in Peter Schegg (1857 f.j, Translations and Ex- position of the Psalms for the "Information and Consideration " of a large circle of readers ; and in the "Theologie der Psalmen." by J. Konig (1857). As "Beitrag zum erbaulichcn tichriftstudium " and as "Trost und Erbauungsbuch " there appeared the metrical translation of the Songs of David, Joh. Bapt., Konig, 5 Bde., 1830, and W. von Gulick, 1858, described " das Psalterium nach seinem Hauptinhalte in seiner wissensch. undprakt. Bedcutung". There appeared in the period of the Reformation, important for all subsequent times, in this domain, the expositions of Luther (since 1519), especially on the penitential Psalms, and those of Calvin (1564), edited by Tholuck (1836). The former whose whole heart was in the Psalter was distinguished especially for his grasp of the unity of both testaments, although Messianic and at times allegorizing in opposition to the principles which he himself so energetically announced; the latter historical and psychological in prevailing typi- cal exposition ; and both were executed with warm appreciation of their religious and ethical contents. A spirit kindred to that of Luther's exposition of the Psalms, speaks forth from the Interpretatio in Librium Ps. (1524), by Joh. Bugenhagen, with a preface and commendatory notice by Luther. It has for two centuries fructified this field of labor. Upon it was based the commentary of Joh. Brenz ( Opp. 1578 sq.), the Hijpomnemata of Victorin. Strigel, 1563 ; the Brevis ac perspicua explicatio in the Biblia of Luc. Osiander 1588 sq. (many times also in German) ; the Comment, in Ps. passionales ; decern prior es ; graduuni;paznitentiales of Joh. Tarnow since 1621 ; and the Adnotationes also of John Quistorp 1648, contributed by learned exegesis towards understanding the Psalms, whilst on their foundation, such comprehensive labors as "Per ganze Psalter," by Selnecker in fol. (1565) 1581 ; the Enar ratio Pss. by Moller in 3 vols. 1573 originating from lectures ; "Auslegung allcr Psalmen," by Hieron. Menzel, 1594 ; the Commentary of Gesner in fol. 1609 ; along with his Meditatio generalis Psalterii, 1597 ; the Comment, aureus, by Erp. Schnepf, 1619 ; the Psalter, of Eckhard in fol. 1624 ; the Cith- arosdus mysticus by G. Chr. Renschel, 2 Bde. 4, 1665 ; the Labores psalteriales theoretico-prao- § 15. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS. 45 tici, by Christ. Dauderstadt, in fol. 1679 ; and especially the Comment, exeget. practi. by Eeinhard Bake, full of rich and interesting information (lGG-i) 1683, explained their religious value, although at times very dogmatically and schemingly, and were the means of their practical valuation until finally Abrah. Calov in the Biblia illwtrata 1672 sq. and Mart. Geier in the Comm. in Pss. (1688), 1709 fol.., employed the contributions of their predecessors in learned independent labors written from the stand-point of the dogmatics of the church, and Joh. Arndt expounded and explained "J)en ganzen Psalter Davids, des Konigs und Pro- pheten," in 451 sermons, 1686 fol. We must also here allude to Valer. Herbergers "Paradies- blumblein" from the pleasure garden of the 150 Psalms (2nd Aufl. mit Vorwort von C. M. Otto 1862) brought by the author only down to Ps. xxiii. 3, and after his death in 1867, continued by his son Zacharias. In the Reformed Church before the time of Calvin, the Pss. Libri V ad Ebr. veritatem versi et elucidati by Martin Bucer, originally published in 1526 in fol. under the name of Aretius Felinus, deserves a special mention ; and also the Comment, of Conr. Pellicanus, 1532 ; after Calvin, besides the compilation of Aug. Marloratus 1562, and that of Wolfg. Musculus 1550, and Joh. Piscator, f 1626, in the Comment, in nmnes TAbros V. T. 1646, that of Mos. Amy- raldus, Paraphras.in Pss. cum annott. etargum, 1662, is particularly valuable, on account of its careful presentation of the contents and their connection. Principally derived from Cal- vin, and appearing contemporaneously, (1556), is that of Rob. Stephanus, generally cited under the title of Vatabulus, and with an annotated translation of the Liber Pss. Davidis ; afterwards republished with notes from Grotius by G. J. L. Vogel 1767. By false use of his- tory and parallel expressions of heathen writers, the theological understanding of the Psalms does not receive its just value from Grotius {Annntfat. 1644) ; while in spite of his linguistic attainments, the historical exposition of Joh. Coccejus {Comm. in Pss. Davidis, 1660) is spoiled by his false typology. Hence the judgment of former times, that Grotius finds Christ nowhere, Coccejus, everywhere in the sacred Scriptures. Richly suggestive, very peculiar but too much given to historizing is the Latin paraphrase with an Introduction and notes by Ezron Riidinger (1580 and 81 in 4), first a pupil with Melanchthon at Wittenberg, and after- wards Prof, among the Bohemian brethren. Of permanent importance are the three vols, of the Critici sacri, and two vols, of Synopsis criiicor., of Matthew Polus, expositions compiled from learned investigators of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The learned side of the Ps. was represented in the eighteenth century, by Joh. Clericus, in the style of Grotius, but with still greater theological shallowness (Libr. hagiograph. edited after his death by J. Barbayrac 1731) ; by Herm. Venema {Comment, in Pss. 6 vols. 4to, 1762 sq.), critical, but without taste; by J. H. Michaelis {Annott. ubei-ior., 17 20), with comparison of dialects and many selections from his predecessors ; by J. A. Dietelmair (1755) in vol. 6 of the so-called English Biblework, predominantly practical and popular in its purposes ; it acquired a deeper theological character in the style of Bengel through Phil. Dav. Burk ( Gnomon 2 vol. 4, 1760) and Chr. Aug. Crusius {Hypomncmata, 1764), which was lost again in mere verbal exposition, with numerous untenable citations from the dialects, which Gottl. Ringeltaube, in his translation, with notes, 1790, of the first fifty Psalms, made use of in a more judicious manner. Among the interpretations in Germany intended especially for edification, the most prominent are those of Aug. Herm. Francke, published by his son, G. A. Francke, in two vols. 4to. Erkldrungen der Psalmen Davids (1730) and Introductio in Psalfcrium generalis et, spe- cial is (1734 in 1 vol. 4); Joachim Lange, Davidisch-Salomonisches Licht und Recht 4 (1735) ; Sigm. Baumgarten, Erbauliche Erklarung 2 Bde. 4 (1759) ; Joh. Dav. Frisch, Keu- klingende Harfe Davids (3 Aufl. 1731); C. Herm. Rieger, Kurze Betrachtungen (2 Aufl. 1859) ; Fr. Chr. Oetinger, Die Psalmen Davids nach den 7 Bitten des Gebets des Herm, neue verbess. Aufl, 1776 (also in the Sdmmtlichen theosophisch. Schriften Oetingera P>d. iii., newly edited by Ehmann). Valuable hints may be also found in the Beit rage zu J. A. Bevgels Schrifterkldrung, issued by Osc. Wachter, 1805. The Berlenburger Bible (1772 ff.), 2 Ausg. 1756 f. is to be used with even greater caution for the Old Testament than for the New ; like- wise Emanuel Swedenborg's Condensed Exposition of the inner sense of the Prophetical Books of the Old Testament, and the Psalms of David, 1852. 46 INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER. The Scholia of E. F. C. Rosenmuller, especially in the 2d ed, 1821 sq., 3 vols, (condensed into 1vol. 1831) have acquired a lasting'value in the nineteenth century, on account of their selections from the ancient translations and Rabbis and rare treatises. De Wette 1811 (5 Aufl. by G. Baur 1856) gave a new impulse to the exposition of the Psalms, in representing them after Herder as the national poetry of the Hebrews; likewise J. B. Koster 1837, by empha- sizing their strophic arrangement; H. Ewald also 1836, (3 Aufl. 1866 as the 2d part of" Die Dichter des A. B," the 1st part of which, 1839, 2 Aufl. I860, contains the important General Introduction to Hebrew Poetry), by his remarks respecting the origin and contents of the poetry of the Psalms, their turns of expression and the like; F. Hit- zig in the Historical Commentary, 1836, attached to his Uebersetzung der Psalmen, 1836 (both fully revised 1863, '65), by his ingenious, although sometimes far-fetched philo- logical, critical, and historical remarks, which aimed to establish a positive criticism, in the place of the mostly negative criticism of De Wette ; J. Olshausen, 1853, by philological minuteness and severity, which yet is accompanied with many complaints as to the corruption of the text, and a conjectural criticism, just as extended as in the spinning out of assumptions of Hitzig of Maccabean Psalms, falling into a groundless historical criticism; H. Hupfeld, 1855 to 1862 (4 Bde.) [II. Aufl. herausgegeben von Ed. Riehm, 1869 sqq. with many valuable notes by the editor. — C.A.B.], by his thoroughness as to the language and history with attempts at bibli- cal and theological-exposition, which, however, are frequently disturbed, and diverted from the rio-ht track by his opposition to Hengstenberg, which is carried out even to bitterness. The commentary of the latter is far richer in its contributions of every sort (4 Bde., 1842-47. II. Aufl., 1849-52) [Eng. translation, 3 vols., Edinburgh, 1857, J. B. H.], and is more judicious than L. Clauss {Beitrdge 1831) and R. Stier (70 ausgewdhlte Psalmen, 1834-36, 2 Bde.), and has again decidedly resumed the path of the views of the Church. This, in connection with the Commentary of Fr. Delitzsch (2 Bde., 1859, '60) [Neue Ausarbeitung mit Beitrdgen von Prof. Fleischer und Wetzstein, 1867, in connection with the series of Comm. on the Old Testament by Keil and Delitzsch, English Translation, 3 vols. Edin. 1871. — C. A. B.] rich in spiritual perception and rabbinical learning, is especially to be commended to students. The Ausle- gung of C. von Lengerke (2 Bde. 1847), is a worthless compilation from Hitzig and Heng- stenbero-. G. Ph. Kaiser, Zusammenhangende historische Erkldrung, 1827, is unimportant. Worthy of consideration, however, is the commentary of C. Bohl (12 Messian. Psalmen, 1862), and Kurtz, Zur Theologie der Psalmen, 1865; likewise Fr. Bottcher, Neue exegetisch-kritische Aehrenlese, Abtheil. 2, 1864, published after the author's death by Ferd. Miihlau. In addition to several translations with notes alluded to at the end of \ 14, the following occupy the middle ground between the learned and practical exposition of the Psalms : Tholuck " Uebersetzung und Auslegung der Psalmen fur Ceistliche und Laien " 1843 [Eng. Translation, Phila., 1858] ; Fr. C. Umbreit, " Christ liche Erbanung aus dem Psalter," 2 Ausg. 1S48 ; with which we have to compare the same author's " Orundtone des A. T.,n 1843, " Neue Poesie aus dem A. T." 1848. Appropriate remarks and practical bints are found not only in the works of the Old Testament by Lisco and O. von Gerlach but also in H. and W. Richter, Erkldrte Hausbibel, 1834-40. From the number of works on the Psalms for practical use, the following are specially worthy of mention : Christ. Gottf. Koster, " Die Psalmen, mit Einl. und Anmerk. als Hand- bicch der Erbauung fur fromme Cemuther," 1832 ; Erich Stiller, " Die Psalmen als Er- bauungsbuch" (1852), 3 Aufl. 1862 ff; Fr. J. Guntber, " Christliche Andachten uber die Psal- men 1856 ; G. J. L. Reuss, Die Psalmen sum Qebrauch in den sogenannten Betstunden " 1860; F. Schaubach, " Ausgewdhlte Psalmen im Anschluss an die Evangel, des Kirchenjah- r-s" 1863; P. Diedrich, Die Psalmen kurz erklart fur heilsbegierige, aufmerksame Bibellese, 1862-64; E. Taube, Kurze Auslegung, 1858 ff. (for the present 4 Hefte embracing 25 Psalms each). We have finally to mention in this connection Irmler, Die Psalmen als Choralgesdnge 1^35 ; M. M. Zille, Die Psalmen meist nach kirchl. Sangweisen iibersetzt, 1844; E. Mflller, Davidsharfe, Fur Kirche, Schule und Haus, 1844 ; Hofferichte, Deutsche Akkorde auf der davidischen Harfe, 1845 ; Fr. Aug. Kothe, Die Psalmen in Kirchenmelodien ubergetragen, 1845; S. F. G. Schneider, Die Psalmen Davids in Kirchenliedern fiir die hdusliche Andacht I 15. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS. 47 1854; Chr. Blumhardt, Psalmlieder, oder die Psalmen in singbare Lieder umgesetzt (1848) , 2 Aufl. 1864 ; H. von Sydow, Sabbathweihe, Bearbeitung der Psalmen Davids von frommen deutschen Dichtern, 1859 ; H. Eytel, Der Psaiier im moderncn Oewande, 1862 ; Jos. Hammer Die Psalmen der He'd. Schrift in Dichtungen, nebst Einleitung und Erlduterungcn, 1861. [English literature is rich in expositions of individual1 Psalms. The Puritan divines es- pecially expounded them at length in sermons, often with judicious explanations and applica- tions, but not unfrequently transcending the proper sphere of the text. These are mentioned and cited in Spurgeon's Treasury of David (1870-72). The prince of devotional commenta- tors is Matth. Henry, whose work on the Psalms is a model of its kind. Scott is likewise useful. Bishop Home's Devotional Comm. first ed., 1771, 2 vols, (often republished), with an introduction by Edward Irving (Glasgow ed., in 3 vols.), has found a wide circulation and appreciation. Among the translations and critical commentaries we may mention Ham- mond's Paraphrase with notes (first ed., 1653, new ed., 1845) ; Bishop Horsley's Translation and Notes (1815, posthumous) ; Dr. Mason Good's Historical Outline and also his Translation with notes; J. Jebb's Literal translation and dissertations (1846); Phillips' Psalms in Hebrew text, with exeg. and phi!, commentary for Hebrew students; J.Addison Alexander, The Psalms tran- slated and explained (N.Y.,1S50, 3 vols., mainly based upon Hengstenberg, yet with original and valuable suggestions and a thorough digestion of Hengstenberg's views and a rejection of much that is inappropriate) ; Noyes' New Translation with an Introduction (1851, Sd ed., 1867) ; B. Weiss, New Translation and chronological arrangement with critical notes on the Hebrew text (1858). Among the more recent works we may mention : Thrrpp's Emendations (Journal of Class, and Sacred Phil. 1850) ; J. M. Neale, Comm. on the Psalms from Primitive and Mediae- val Writers and from the Various Office-books and Hymns of the Roman, Mozarabic, Ambro- sian, Galilean, Greek, Coptic, Armenian, and Syrian rites, 3 vols. (London, 1oo(l)7rov Ti~]c yf/c. According 10 our exegesis the verse does not treat of a sudden, still less of a premature, but rather of an inevitable ruin of the ungodly, bearing the character of just pun- ishment brought on by Divine judgment; and the closing verse contains not only an expression embracing both sides of the fundamental thought, rounding off the Psalm, but it directs its glance to the inevitable and endless destruction of the wickejl. [Delitzsch: " This same fearful "l-^il closes Ps. cxii., which begins with '"Jl^K." — C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. For ethical and religious consideration there is only one, yet a decided contrast among men, before which all other differences retire, that is: the contrast between the ungodly and the righteous. Their lot in time aud eternity corresponds with their disposition towards God. 2. The ungodly, even, partially and for a while unite with one another, come together in socie- ties, in which they converse about evil things to their heart's desire, plunge ever deeper into sin, and mutually strengthen one another in their wickedness by evil counsels, bad examples, and cunning wiles. Yet only the righteous form a congregation, that is: a people of God, organized according to Divine order, based on Divine in- stitutions, governed according to the word of God. 3. As long as the congregation of God remains in this world it is opposed not only by external bands of the wicked, but it has sinners in its own midst, partly because its true and living members are not yet perfect and sinless saints, partly be- cause there are false brethren, hypocrites, apos- tate and wicked men mingled with the congre- gation in its external appearance, as it presents itself in moral and human forms under the in- fluence of its relations to this world. 4. On this account the external society, con- nections, and points of contact are more extensive than the internal membership relations and in- fluences. Yet this does not cause a perplexity of conscience, or a suppression of the righteous, or an equality in the lots of the evil and the good. But there are characteristics which mark the ungodly and the righteous, as well as a Divine saving and sifting judgment, and a reward cor- responding with the moral and religious conduct of men. 5. The marks of the righteous are negatively, principally, their turning away from the counsels, the walk, and the companionship of the wicked; positively, their joy in the revealed word and will of God, and their occupation in meditating upon the testimony of the Lord given as the rule and guidance for our faith and life, and this without PSALM I. 53 regard to the changes of the hours. Contrasted with this are the counsels of the wicked, wherein they disclose the thoughts of their heart, as their walk is opposed to the manner of life ordained by the law of the holy God, and their assembly is the opposite of the assembly for the worship of God. They are to be earnestly avoided ; for it is much easier and more frequent, for men, when in the circle of the scorner. to be ruled by the prevailing tone of the company, and even to be carried away witli it, than to withstand it, and witness against it, and confess the Lord as those who love His word and His way. G. The ungodly are not always, and especially not. immediately at the beginning, in the lowest grade of wickedness, in which the scorner is, who cannot be taught or improved, but in the over- flow of haughty presumption (Prov. xxi. 24 ; comp. i. 22; ix. 7, 8; xiii. 1; xv. 12, etc. ) hates correction, and scorns discipline, ami replies with scoff and persecution, and in the intoxication of boasting, treats everything except himself with petulance, and especially makes sport and scorn of holy things. But the gradations of evil pass ever into one another, and often tread close/// upon one another. Even the first steps are al- ready in opposition to the will of God, and evil thoughts are no less worthy of condemnation and dangerous than evil deeds. Those only can be called happy who do not associate in any way with the ungodly, or their practices, devices, or efforts. 7. Piety gives the righteous the poiver to with- draw from the society of the wicked, and to with- stand their temptations. It nourishes him in the marrow of his life, and strengthens him by the supply of heavenly nourishment; whilst by his absorption in the holy law of God, it sinks the roots of his life into the revealed ground of salvation, and by his delight in the instruction of the Lord, affords the constant supply of the streams of grace, which make the man who be- longs to God to grow and mature in fruits of righteousness. 8. Consequently man is righteous, not by birth, or nature, or through his own power, skill, or activity, but by the Divine agency, through the means of grace which Divine mercy has estab- lished for us; as a tree planted by an abundant and flowing brook, if he, like the tree, take up into his own life from the means afforded him by God, that which is necessary to his life ami growth. Then he has the experience described in 1 Tim. iv. 8, of the blessings of righteousness. 9. Although the ungoJly are in similar cir- cumstances with the righteous, yet they derive no profit from this favorable circumstance. They are spiritually dead and withered. That which has matured in them has faded prematurely; for they have not appropriated to themselves the nourishment of lite, and they have not forme. 1 in themselves the faculty for this appropriation. Without root and without sap they have not at- tained any vigor, nor brought forth any fruit, (Matth. xxi. 1(J). Thus they have ripened only for d struction ; unsubstantial ami worthless as chaff; the sport of the wind, until scattered by the storm they go to destruction, and leave no trace behind but the way on which they are whirled away to a ruin whose misery is in- conceivable ; for the way proves itself a " lost way." 1(1. This sad condition of the ungodly, as well as their terrible fate, may be for some time con- cealed from themselves and ot hers, but both will be disclosed by the divine judgment, which has its foundations in the ever ruling righteousness of the Almighty, its execution in the judgment of the. world; yet its operation already appears in history, judging and sifting in theocratic acts, yea, according to the threatening (Lev. xx. 2) with respect to certain kinds of wickedness, al- ready vindicates itself in bitter earnest, in the re- gular administration of justice. "If the Scrip- tures speak of the ungodly, then see to it that you do not refer it to the Jews, or the Heathen, or any other people, but tremble yourselves at this word, for it concerns you and means you." (Luther). 11. There is here a strong encouragement on the one side to turn away from all kinds of ini- quity, and on the other to continue in righteous- ness by a conscientious use of the means of grace in the possession of the congregation. For God desires a pure and holy congregation (Lev. xi. 44; Eph. vi. 27), and He knows the way of the righteous. There is no reference here to the well- known heathen maxim: that it must fare well with the good, and ill with the wicked; but the; emphasis is upon this fact that Jehovah, the God of historical revelation, who has ordained and called His people to be a righteous congregation, is also the experienced Guardian of the purity of this congregation, and the infallible Judge and Rewarder. There is a striking parallel in the New Testament, 2 Tim. ii. 19. Now, since no one except Jesus Christ is perfectly righteous, the most of the ancient interpreters have by di- rect Messianic interpretation, referred the first strophe to Him, as the ever green tree of life; and since no one is justified by fulfilling the law in his own strength but by faith in Jesus Christ, many, especially of the Evangelical interpreters (Calov. Bib. lllust.) have referred to the close connection between the first Psalm, the summa legis, with the second Psalm, the summa evangclii. IIOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. Either blessed or lost — so God's word declares, so (iod's judgment warns. — The pious and the wicked are together in the world ; but their ways are entirely different from beginning to end. — Man's lot is not determined by chance, but by righteous and infallible judgment. — It is not enough to avoid this or that single sin, we must walk in the way of life. — The Divine law shows the way in which the pious walk, and keeps Go 1 Himself in view as knowing that way. — He who would remain in the congregation of the righteous must avoid the society of the wicked, whilst he must use diligently the means of grace entrusted to the congregation of God. All things finally redound to the salvation of the righteous and the destruction of the wicked. He who is planted where the waters of life flow, should appropri- ate them in order that he may grow as a tree of life, and bring forth fruit in iiis season. — The lot of the pious is as delightful as that of the wicked is terrible.— Tell me the way in which you walk 54 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. and the company you keep, and I will declare to you the end which you will attain. — The things ia which you delight will either make you blessed or destroy you. — Divine judgment comes certainly, strikes surely, judges righteously, and decides our everlasting weal or woe. — He who diligently seeks communion with God, will ear- nestly avoid intercourse with the ungodly. — How Bhall we distinguish between the righteous and the wicked ? The one keeps God's law with de- light, the other transgresses it with contempt: the one associates with scorners, the other re- mains in the congregation; the one prospers with God's assistance, the other perishes by God's judgment. — True fear of God receives the no- blest praise, the best blessing. Starke: A Christian is not only to avoid the commission of sin, but as far as possible is to avoid temptation. — Sin grows constantly: At first we pass it by, then we stand still, then we sit with scorners. Blessed are those who shun the beginning (Sir. xxi. 2; Job iv. G). — It is true, believers have their greatest pleasure in the Gospel, yet the law is likewise agreeable to them in Christ, for they are freed from its curse, and it is their joy by it to know God's will, and to fulfil it with the power given unto them. — Among other characteristics of a state of grace is this: that, we have a heartfelt desire for the word of God, and indeed that we are no more tired of it than a sound body is of its daily bread. As with a palm tree, all that is in it is profitable, leaves, wood, and fruit, so also with the Chris- tian, all that he does is to redound to the honor of the Divine name, and the benefit of his neigh- bors.— It is as foolish to rely upon the ungodly as to fear them — they are like chaff. — Choose in time, and prudently, the society in which you wish to remain forever. — Luk. Osiander: To e?r and fall i3 human, but to continue in error and sin is the work of the devil. — One thing is necessary; to hear and learn the word of God (Luke x. 42; Rom. i. 16; 2 Tim. iii. 10).— Sel- nekker : Piety and the fear of God mean: (1) to avoid false doctrine and a scandalous life; (2) to desire the law of the Lord; (3) to freely and openly confess and speak of it. — No one can kno w the nature and the will of God without the Di- vine word. — Where there is no fear of God nor truth, talent and intellect are mere poison. — AVe must, as the fig and palm trees, show the fruit before the leaves. — Four promises are given to those who desire and love the word of God: 1) The grace of God ; 2) fruitfulness and usefulness in their calling; 3) a sure and constant employ- ment; 4) blessing and success. — Geier: We all naturally seek happiness; but only those attain it, who seek it in the revealed word of God. All depends upon the way we choose (Matth. vii. 13). — Rensohel: Avoid evil and keep God's word, then you will be happy in this world and the next. — Frisch: Thou standest between two ways which lead to everlasting weal or woe. Open your eyes and choose the best. — The Psalm be- gins with blessing and glory, but it ends with woe, in order that where the hope of blessedness is not strong enough to encourage us to the ser- vice of God and piety, the fear of the unhappi- ness and misery to be endured may deter us from wickedness. — Rieoer : The fear of God teaches the righteous to avoid evil, whether quiet as a counsel, or common as a way, or fixed as a seat. — Without attachment to the good the hate of wickedness is not constant. — What is there in an ungodly man ? A counsel and trust in his de- ceit; a way and a defiance of the crowd which travel in it; a seat from which he will not be driven. But what will become of him ? Be- cause he has no weight of truth from the Divine word in himself, he will be driven away as chaff. Since he has made so light of it in his mockery, he will be obliged to experience how incapable he is of standing in the judgment. Since he has ever sought only the society of sinners he will not then remain in the congregation of the right- eous when he most desires to retain a place with them. So long as they are in the way many may think that they are as good as those who are called righteous, who likewise have their faults; but the issue will be different from what they expect — Otto von Gerlach: The ungodly main- tain their position by chance because it is calm, and outward circumstances are favorable to them ; but since they have no vital power, no support in God, the first misfortune drives them away. — Tholuck : He who has nothing sure in heaven can have nothing firm on earth. — Taube: He who has pleasure iu God's word, exercises himself therein without ceasing. [Matt. Henry: The ungodly are forward to give their advice against religion ; and it is managed so artfully that we have reasons to bless ourselves from it, and to think ourselves hapjty if we escape being tainted and ensnared by it. — We must not only set ourselves to meditate upon God's word, morning and evening, at the entrance of the day and the night, but these thoughts should be in- terwoven with the business and converse of every day, and with the repose and slumbers of every night. — Barnes: If a man desires permanent prosperity and happiness, it is to be found only in the ways of virtue and religion. — Spurgeon : Our worst things are often our best things. As there is a curse wrapped up in the wicked man's mercies, so there is a blessing concealed in the righteous man's crosses, losses, and sorrows. The trials of the saint are a di- vine husbandry, by which he grows and brings forth abundant fruit.— The righteous man ploughs the furrows of earth, and sows a harvest there, which shall never be fully reaped till he enters the enjoyments of eternity ; but as for the wicked he ploughs the sea, and though there may seem to be a shining trail behind his keel, yet the waves pass over it, and the place that knew him shall know him no more forever. The very " way-" of the ungodly shall perish. — C. A. B.] PSALM II. PSALM II. 1 "Why do the heathen rage, And the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord, and against his Anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their bauds asunder, And cast away their cords from us. 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: The Lord shall have them in derision. 5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, And vex them in his sore displeasure. 6 Yet have I set my King Upon my holy hill of Zion. 7 I will declare the decree : The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son ; This day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron ; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. 10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings : Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, When his wrath is kindled but a little. BLssed are all they that, put their trust in him. JCXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Character and Composition. The 1st, Psalm first declares the truly pious servant of Jehovah blessed, without deciding whether the description is only an ideal one, or there is truly such an ever green tree of life; and then draws the counterpart without intimating the possibility or way of salvation of those who walk in wrong ways to destruction. The 2d Psalm, which in isolated expressions reminds us of the 1st Psalm, begins with a description of the world rebellious against God and His government, which passes over into a dramatic tone (vers. 1-3) ; describes over against this the action of Jehovah likewise running out into a dramatic mode of expression (vers. 4-fi); then, without naming Him, makes the anointed of Jehovah Himself speak so that He explains the decree of Jehovah by a reference to a former ordinance of Jehovah (vers. 7-9); and closes with an exhortation to the rebellious to repent, which passes over into a declaration of the blessedness of those who make known their allegiance to the kingdom of the Messiah (vers. 10-12). The prophetic or direct Messianic explanation can alone explain this Psalm (all ancient. Jewish and ancient Christian interpreters, with some from all periods) ; neither the typical (Hofmann), nor the historical (the later Jewish and many recent interpreters), nor the poetical (Hupf., as a general glorification of the theocratic kingdom), nor indeed the explanation to be found in the transition from the typical to the prophetic ( Kurtz) can suffice. This the explanation which follows will show. [Perowne : "He begins to speak of an earthly king and his wars with the nations of the earth, but his words are too great to have all their meaning exhausted in David, Solomon, or Ahaz, or any other Jewish monarch. Or, ere he is aware, the local and the temporal are swallowed up in the universal and eternal. The king who sits on David's throne has become glorified and transfigured in the light of the pro- mise. The picture is half ideal, half real. It 56 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. concerns itself with the present, but that only so far as it is typical of greater things to come. The true king who, to the prophet's mind, is to fulfil all his largest hopes, has taken the place of the visible and earthly king." — C. A. B] The auihor is unknown. Most interpreters, indeed, from different stand-points, think of David, whilst they grant that Acts iv. 25 is not decisive.* They differ likewise widely from one another in their estimate of the his- torical situatiou (comp. De Wette). [Perowne refers it to the events 2 Sam. x. The con- federacy of Syrians, Ammonites, and others who had formerly been subdued (2 Sam. viii. 3, 12), and who now make a last effort for independence. — C. A. B.] Rosenm. (I. Edit. only), Paul. Ewald, Bleek, think of Solomon. f Maurer thinks of Hezekiah with reference to 2 Chron. xxviii. 18; Hitzig of the Maccabean prince, Alex. Jannaeus; Delitzsch thinks of the period of the prophecy of Immanuel, Is. vii. — xii., perhaps the prophet Isaiah himself, partly because of the similarity of circumstances, partly on account of the similarity of subject and even modes of expression. Str. I. Ver. 1. Why. — The question thrown up by the Psalmist, which already begins to be solved in ver. 1 b as the change of position and the mood of the verb show, is only a rhetorical one, a question of displeasure, of astonishment, and of derision=wherefore then? why then? [De Wette: "The poet transports himself at once into his situation and feelings. He looks upon the undertakings of the rebels with indig- nation and contempt, and breaks forth in the exclamation, Why ?=to what end?" — C. A. B.] Rage. — The Hebrew verb does not denote actual rebellion, but that intimation of the speedy outbreak of rebellion which is given by crowds surging in gloomy and confused resent- ments, murmurs and alarms. [Imagine. — In old English this word had the meaning of scheme, devise, plot, vid. Worcester's Diet. This meaning has now passed out of use. It is better, therefore, to substitute devise, with the meaning of meditating evil. Tiiis is the same word as is used Ps. i. 2 b. De Wette: "of wicked, Prov. xxiv. 2, here of rebellious undertakings;" Hupf.: "of wicked and deceitful devices," Ps. xxxviii. 12; Is. lix. 3, 13. — Vain thing. — p,_J, "here substantive, a foolish and vain de- vice— what is proved to be idle by the result." — C. A. B.] * [Delitzsch: "Because in the New Testament David's Psalm and Psalm are corresponding terms." This is gene- rally admitted by German commentators, though it is not generally allowed by English and American writers, 6uch ai Wordsworth, Barnes, Alexander, etc. Delitzsch is probably correct in his statement. — C. A. B.] •f [Ewald: "In this Psalm we hear the voice of a king who, a short time before, was solemnly anointed in Zion. The tributary nations are rebellious and threaten to regain their freedom. The young king stands over against them, self-possessed, conscious of his union with Jehovah as His son and representative, inspirited by the prophetic word at his anointing, and strong in the power of Jehovah. This young king was Solomon — this Psalm his own composition, like those mentioned 1 Kings iv. 32." It is more than likely that the tributary nations plotted together, hoping to throw off the yoke of the young king, it is not necessary to suppose an actual rebellion. The Psalmist speaks of rebellious thoughts and designs. I think that this Psalm and the former are Psalms of Solomon. — C. A. B.] Ver. 2. The idea of sitting together passes over into that of deliberation, here that of con- spiring. This is described by the perfect as an accomplished fact, as ver. 1 a, and as preceding the hostile setting themselves, which in the im- perf. appears as enduring and still continuing, as ver. 1 b, and as finishing the description in ver. 1 a. Ver. 3. The rebels are immediately introduced speaking, and they speak in figurative language, taken from refractory bulls, which express their carnal love of liberty and their unruliness.* Str? II. Ver. 4. The ancient translations ex- press all the imperfects in the antistrophe ver. 4 sq. by the future, [so A. V.]; Ewald, Delitzsch, et a.l., at least those in ver. 5 [this is better — C. A. B.] ; but, according to Hupfeld, they are all to be regarded as present, though subsequent to one another. Laughing is often an expression of the feeling of security and of the conscious- ness of superiority in contrast to fear; scorn re- jects the presumption of the impotent, with de- served contempt, and discloses their weakness : wrath punishes them. [De Wette : "With the rage and exertion of his enemies the poet sets in beautiful contrast the laughing quiet of his God, who can with one word bring these proceedings to naught." Hupfeld: "A beautiful gradation in thought from the quiet laughing to the agitated scorn, and from this to wrath, which breaks out iu the following verse in word and act."— C. A. B.] Ver. 6. Jehovah speaks here with real words, not in thunder (Herder), although the words whiz and roll along like thunder and lightning [in the style] ; and 7H3, according to Hupfeld. is frequently used for terror, which confuses, ami especially that which is caused by God, and drives into mad flight and leads to destruction. Ver. 6. [Yet have I.— De Wette: "1 often makes a contrast — here it is with the riotous proceedings of the kings. The pronoun / is em- phatic."— C. A. B.] Bottcher has shown {Aehrenlese, p. 4) that we must not translate: anointed, but set (according to the Sept. and Vulg.). Some translate " But I have been con- stituted king by him." — [My King. — Hupf.: " My king so far as he is appointed by God as king over His realm, comp. 1 Sam. xvi. 1, and by virtue of the theocratic idea, His representative." — C. A. B.] Zion was not the anointing place either for David (1 Sam. xvi. 13; 2 Sam. ii. 4), or for Solomon (1 Kings i. 39), or for Christ (Zech. ix. 9), but the seat of government of the Anointed (Ps. ex. 2; 2 Sam. v. 9). The assertion that Zion in the Old Testament constantly is used as the equivalent of Jerusalem, and that it is the name of a special height is disproved by 2 Sam. v. 7, 9 ; 1 Kings viii. 1 ; Hupfeld, however, as- serts that according to prophetical and poetical usage it indicates synecdochically the entire holy mountain city as the seat of God, and naturally re- jects the translation of J. H. Michaelis and Hofmann p'"2f 7JJ 'alZion, over its citizens, the people of God; * [Wordsworth : "At Christ's passion the heathen world represented by the imperial power of Home, c mbined with the rulers and people of Israel against Sod and His Messiah. ' We will not have this man to reign over us' was their lan- guage, Luke xix. 14 — ' We have no king but Ca-sar,' John xix. 15."— C. A. B.J PSALM II. 57 so likewise the translation, mountain of my so- vereignty (Herder, lloseuiu., et ul. ). [Delitzsch: "Zion is the hill of the city of David (2 8am. v. 7, 9; 1 Kings viii. 1) including Moriah. That mountain of holiness, holy mountain, which is the placeof the Divine presence, and therefore towers above all the heights of the earth, is assigned to him as the seat of his throne." — C. A. B.j Str. III. Ver. 7. Declare. — In this strophe it is not. the poet which speaks, but the anointed of Jehovah. This is not David nor any other historical king of Israel, moreover not the per- sonified theocratic kingdom, but the Messianic king; not in bodily reality, it is true, nor speak- ing magically from the Psalm, but appearing in the Psalm dramatically as a person.* This does not mean, by any means, as a poetical figure. For the person of the Messiah, as promised by God, and therefore surely coming, existed in the faith of the Psalmist not less than in the faith of the prophets and the church, although, in lyri- cal parts of Scripture the expressions of faith concerning him appear in different forms from those in the historical or didactic, and the pro- phetical writings in a narrower sense. The Mes- sianic king in this place appeals for the expla- nation of ver. 6, not only to a feigned oracle (De Wette) but to a pn, an ordinance (whether regu- lation or arrangement). There is also in its meaning a reference to an express, inviolable, and peculiar declaration of Jehovah of a histori- cal kind, such as that which is found for the re- lation in question, in 2 Sam. vii. 14 sq., alone. This promise of God, given to David through Na- than before the birth of Solomon (2 Sam. xii. 2-1), is the historical root of the biblical prophecies of the seed of David, who likewise stands in the relation of sonship to Jehovah. This expression does not denote the divine origin of royally, or a management of the government according to the will of Jehovah (De Wette), but, first of all, a relation of love to Jehovah, and especially with reference to care and training, which however, at the same time, includes a reference to faithfulness, so much the more as the covenant, of God with Israel is regarded as a marriage co- venant (Ilcr.gst., Ilupf.) In this last turn of thought there is a thread of meaning, which has been for the most part neglected; yet which alone can lead us to a correct understanding of the passage, viz.: If Israel stands partly in a re- lation of sonship to Jehovah, the God of histori- cal revelation, partly in a marriage covenant with Him as Die only living, true, and faithful God of the covenant, and indeed the latter, in the sense of Monogamy, over which God watches with jealousy ; then the following consequences ensue, viz.: (1) That every attempt to make a parallel with the sons of Elohim (whether angels or princes, Ps. lxxxii. (J) and with the children of Zeus is entirely unsuitable, and entangles the entire conception. (2) That the use of the word ~\ ', (which seldom means to beget, but gene- * [Delitzsch : " The Anointed Himself now takes the wi ml, and speaks out what He is, and what He can do in virtue of the Divine decree. There is no word of transition, DO for- mula of introduction to indicate the leap of the Psalmist from the word of Jehovah to the word of His Christ ; the poet is a seer; his Psalm is a mirror of that which is seen, an echo of that which is heard." — C. A. B.] rally to bear) is not to be regarded as merely a rhetorical variation of the idea of sonship, but gives rise to this thought; that in a detenu, n ■ it case some one has been placed in this relation by God Himself, and indeed in the midst of the his- tory of revelation, in which sense Israel also is called the first-born son of Jehovah (Ex. iv. 22). (3.) That in such a case to-day has not only a mere poetical, or indeed a metaphysical, but a historical meaning. The meauing is not of an eternal, or of a temporal, or spiritual begetting of a person, a setting him in existence; so also not as is frequently supposed of the establish- ment of an Israelitish king in the government, which was disputed by mighty opponents. In connection with this supposition an unknown writer in Paulus, Memorab. III., regards the Psalm as a coronation address composed by Na- than when Solomon ascended the throne. It is certainly a king of Israel, an anointed of Jehovah, who speaks, but this happens partly af- ter his establishment on Zion by Jehovah, and partly as a demonstration, not indeed of his theo- cratic title (for this he had as the one appointed by Jehovah), but of his personal capacity for the government in question, which was to overcome, and embrace the world. Moreover, a general call to the position of sonship to Jehovah would not have been sufficient, because such a call is also ascribed in general to pious Israelites, Deut. xiv. 1 ; Ps. lxxiii. 15; Prov. Sol. xiv. 2G. There- fore in this place he appeals to a special ordina- tion, and indeed so that he refers to an appoint- ment of Jehovah with reference to this very thing, as a word spoken to him as a personal bung who already was in existence; that is, the speaker wishes to make known : (1) That he, and no one else, is the one to whom this appointment applies; (2) that he has not been made the son by it for the first time, but declared to bo the son ; (3) that this declaration was in time and not in eternity, and has the meaning of a histo- rical recognition. At the same time the form of the declaration shows it to be an explanation, and indeed not only of the previous oracle in ver. G (Herder, Ilupf., etal.), but also of the appoint- ment of Jehovah mentioned. There cau be no doubt but that "13D has this meaning of "more exact account or explanation," Ps. 1. 1G. Even this shows this declaration to be an advance in the declarations of Revelation. Put the same is also shown, in fact. For a word of Jehovah of this kind is found only, Ps. lxxxix. 27 sq., mentioned with reference to David, and 2 Sam. vii. 14 with reference to David's son. But in the passage Ps. lxxxix. 27, it is likewise not David who speaks, but this passage and the prophecy, 2 Sam. vii. 14, indeed first after his death, were rather referred to him and his seed, ami interpre- ted as Messianic, so that a remarkable agreement is evident with the passage in which we are now engaged. Both Psalmists already treat that historical word of God as Messianic, ami find the right to this conception in the fact that the pro- phecy of Nathan treats of the government of the world with invincible power and of eternal du- ration. This declaration prevents the necessary consideration of the immediate reference of the oracle to Solomon, and in connection with other prophetical statements respecting the seed of 58 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. David, especially after the death of David and Solomon, gives to his Divine souship a narrower, n specific, namely a, Messianic signification. This also comes forth, in the Psalm before us, not merely typically, but directly. For David can- not be the speaker introduced by the Psalmist, since the ordination of Jehovah, to which the sovereign who claims the name Son of (Jod ap- peals, is referred to the son of David and we cannot think of Solomon, because the circum- stances alluded to in the Psalm do not at all suit his government, which is expressly mentioned as peaceful (1 Kings v. 4, 5, 18). If, then, we are compelled to go beyond this king, there is no further support for the typical idea in any one of the succeeding rulers, and the historical ex- planation is satisfied only when it finds the ful- filment of the declaration of this Psalm in Jesus, the historical Messiah, that is to say, treats it as directly Messianic, as is frequently the case in the New Testament. Comp. the doctrinal and ethi- cal thoughts which follow, and my exposition of Ileb. i. 5. [Alexander: " These words are cited in Acts xiii. 34, and Hebrews i. 5, to prove the solemn recognition of Christ's sonship, and His consequent authority by God Himself. This re- cognition was repeated, and as it were, realized at our Saviour's baptism and transfiguration, where a voice from heaven said (Matth. iii. 17; xvii. 5) : ' This is My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him.' " — C. A. B.] , Ver. 8. Ask of me and I will give thee. — [Perowne: "A poetical figure, by which is re- presented God's willingaess to give to His an- ointed the kingdoms of this world. The Father's love will withhold nothing from the son." God will have His own son, His beloved, ask of Him; He delights in giving, but He likewise delights in being asked, and exhorts to the asking with promises of bestowing. As with all His chil- dren, so with the Messiah above all. In this con- nection it is well to recall Jesus' habit of prayer to the Father. This verse asserts the share of the Gentiles in the blessings of the Messiah's rule, yet not as heathen, but as submissive to the Messianic kingdom. This is the constant idea of the Psalmist and the Prophets. — C. A. B.] Ver. 9. Break. — According to the Sept., with other vowel points, "to rule" [Tvoifiaivsiv'] with reference to Micah vii. 14. The Messiah is thus represented also, Rev. xii. 5 ; xix. 15. This al- ready shatters the objections of De Wette and Hupfeld to the Messianic interpretation. This form, moreover, presupposes the prophecy, Num. xxiv. 17, and has its internal reasons in the fact that the Messiah is at once Judge and Saviour, vid. Doct. and Ethical. [Potter's vessel. — De Wette : " With little trouble, and to entire de- struction, Jer. xix. 11 ; Is. xxx. 14." — C. A. B.] [Str. IV. Ver. 10. Delitzsch : " The Psalmist closes with an application of that which he has seen and heard, to the great ones of the earth. The warning is directed not to those who have been seen in rebellious commotion, but to kings in general, with a glance at that which he has sjen and understood in prophecy." — Judges of the earth. — Delitzsch : " Not those who judge the earth, but those judges and regents who be- long to the earth in its length and breadth." Ver. 11. This verse stands in beautiful con- trast to ver. 3, as it is based upon what has been seen in prophecy, vers. 8 and 9. — Serve the Lord with fear. — This must be taken in a re- ligious sense, as is usually the case, but the po- litical sense is likewise involved, as we see from vers. 8 and 9. The religious and the political submission are combined in the Messianic king- dom (vid. Riehm and Perowne). — Rejoice 'with trembling. — Delitzsch: "Their rejoicing lest it should turn into security and pride, is to be with trembling, trembling with reverence and self-discipline, for God is a consuming fire, Heb. xii. 28."— C. A. B.] Ver. 12. Kiss the son. — That, is, do homage to him (1 Sam. x. 1; comp. 1 Kings xix. 18; Hos. xiii. 2 ; Job xxxi. 27.) The Aramaic 13 for |3 is also found, Prov. xxxi. 2, and the ab- sence of the article suits entirely the Messianic interpretation. The word then stands in the transition to a proper noun. According to the example adduced by Delitzsch, an Arabic inter- preter would explain: kiss a son and what son ? All the ancient translations, except the Syriac, have different interpretations, whilst they either take 13 as an adverb = pure, clean (Aquil., Symm., whom Jerome follows : adoratc pure) ; or read 13 (= purity, chastity, modesty) and P'l/J in the sense of lay hold of, embrace. Hence dpd^aade traichiac (Sept.), apprehendite disciplinam (Vulg., Chald.), lay hold of purity (Ewald, Kiister). The Arabic translation of Saadia in- terprets: Prepare yourself with purity, that is, with sincerity, to obey Him. Hupfeld regards the original meaning of the verb as to join, to follow, and translates: "submit yourself sin- cerely and honestly." But since there is no evi- dent use of 13 in this sense, he supposes, with Olsh., a mistake, and would read 13 = submit yourself to Him (join Him); whilst he grants that even this construction is not found else- where. The same objection applies to the trans- lation: Submit yourself to duty, namely, obedi- ence (Hitzig).* The kiss, as a sign of reverence is, in the Ori- ent, for the most part given on the hand, or the clothing of another (Kosenm., Altes and Neues Morgenland, III., no. 49G ; IV., no. 789), yet at times even on the mouth, or thrown by a move- ment of the hand, which is regarded as an act of homage. Even with the Messianic interpretation, it is * [Hupfeld : " The language does not allow of the transla- tion of T3 as Son, for the following reasons, (1) "O in this sense is not a Hebrew word, but an Aramaic word, and only occurs in Prov. xxxi. 2, in a passage of very late composition, which has likewise other Cbaldaisms, whilst this Psalm is the product of the best period of literature, and it is incon- ceivable that poetical license even would excuse such a word. (2) It is without sense apart from Jehovah, and w ithout the article. (3) The subject of the following c ause is Jehovah, as in the preceding verse, which makes it improbable that a new subject should Btep in between. It is difficult to take "O in any other way than as an adverb, as Svm., and Je- rome." Hupfeld is correct here, I think; we must not be misled by the beauty of the idea, kiss the Son, or a desire for another Messianic ailusion. There is sufficient reference to the Messiah in the id strophe, and this allusion would have no significance apart from that. Then again J3 is used in that strophe for the Messiah. It would seem strange for the Psalmist to select an Aramaic form so soon after. — C. A. B.] PSALM II. questionable whether the subject of the follow- ing clause is the son (Hengst.), which is the most obvious, or Jehovah (with Aben Ezra and most interpreters, with the supposition of a change of subject which is frequent in prophecy anil poetry) because this corresponds better witli the consciousness of the believing Israelite. Hut both clauses, with lest and when, contain merely confirmed warnings in the mouth of the Psalm- ist, entirely the same as that which immediately before he has had the Messiah speak; and if there is in the closing clause the word often used of believing refuge in Jehovah, yet this does not decide, in view of the Divine majesty and power ascribed to the Messiah. It would rather seem to be decided by the fact that in ver. 11 already again Jehovah Himself is named as Sovereign, whom the kings and judges of the earth are to serve. But this very passage favors, in the high- est degree, the Messianic character of the entire Psalm. For the discourse is of the previously heathen princes and leaders of the nations, who are not to be made Jews by compulsion, as it happened for the first time under Alex. Jannseus, to whom on this account Hitzig brings down this Psalm; but who are exhorted to conversion to Jehovah, ere the crushing judgment of the Mes- siah shall be fulfilled on all those who are not members of the people of God, even the mighti- est. These also declare, with all their expres- sions of joy, still ever that, holy awe, and that indelible trembling of the creature before the Almighty and Holy God, which is mentioned likewise in the New Covenant, e. g., " working out salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. ii. 12; Heb. xii. 28). The context itself is against the interpretation of the hypocritical joy at the homage festival, of those who have been over- come by force, and who obey from fear (Ilgen in Rosentn., and part also Hengst.) [From the way. — Alexander: "By the way." Riehm: " In order that you may not pe- rish with regard to the way = go in a way which is destruction for you. "]"n is an accusative of reference, (Hitzig, of limitation.)" So also Delitzsch, et al.— C. A. B.] The construction of the closing clause being disputed, we cannot gain from it any evidence of the Messiahship of the Anointed, but since this Messiahship is proved elsewhere, the contents of the clause forbid a reference merely to an earthly king, Ps. cxviii. 9; cxlv. 3, but not to God's King, whose solemn name of Messiah and Son of God has here its first biblical expression and abiding support. Instead of " little " some trans- late with the Sept., " in short," "soon;" but in hypothetical connections only the first meaning of the Hebrew word can be safely shown. Sachs' translation "as nothing," is too strong. [Hup- feld, 13 'Din, " not to put their trust in Him, but to seek or take refuge with Him." So Hitzig et al. This meaning is clear in Hpnrp — refuge, in the shadow of His wings, Ps. xxxvi. 8 ; lvii. 2; under His wings, Ps. xci. 4; Ruth ii. 12 ; of a rock, shield, etc., Ps. xviii. 3, 31; cxliv. 2 ; Dent, xxxii. 37, etc.— C. A. B.] With liugcnhagen we Bay, at the close of this Psalm, " epiphonema dignius ut mediteris quam ut i me tractelur." DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. When those who are without the kingdom of God oppose it and attack it, even though they assemble themselves in masses, riot against it alter the manner of the nations, according to the ways and in the interests of the kingdom of this world, combine under mighty princes and wise leaders, yet their rebellion is not only deplora- ble, but is also miserable, abject, and blameable ; yes, it is from the beginning condemned as with- out reason and without effect. They consult to- gether, it is true, but nothing comes of it. They would undertake something, but they cannot, and properly they are not allowed to. They are as cowardly as they are boastful. They merely ex- cite one another, and stimulate one another with presumptuous icords to wicked and impotent pre- tensions. Furit in unum populus et miseretur om- nium Christus. 2. The enemies of Divine sovereignty on earth are of many minds and split into parties, yet they agree in the wish to limit its extension as far as possible. So far as it is in heaven, they do not trouble themselves about, it, but with every ad- vance it makes in the world, they feel that their interests are threatened. Although they are still without its limits thej' have a presentiment that Divine Sovereignty is in all earnestness an ab- solute Sovereignly embracing the whole world. They feel that by this very fact they are assailed in their natural claims, which they call human rights, and in their native tendencies, to cherish which they regard as their most sacred necessity. When it is demanded that they should obey the will of God, and submit to His ordinances, which bind all men without exception, they regard it with indignation as a direct attack upon their human rights of sovereignty, and consequently as a personal insult. They little think that the cords thrown out to them from the kingdom of God are holy bands of moral communion, and cords of love to assist them in pious discipline and life. That which is weaving itself about them and their children into a net of grace for their salvation, they regard only as a yoke of compulsion to their unsubdued hearts, ami alm.se it as a fetter to their freedom, and a restraint to their consciences. It seems to them a point of honor, based on natural rights, and enjoined by circumstances, to tear away and strip off those cords which are wound about them, and hold them in this way. " Even to-day we see that all the enemies of Christ find it as burdensome to be compelled to submit to His authority as to un- dergo the greatest shame," (Calvin). 3. The internal contradictions of such reflec- tions upon the world are truly great, but the blindness of those who are entangled therein is equally great. Their pathos is as hollow as their power ami their rights; their talk as empty as their counsel; their efforts as frivolous as their conceit; their ability as vain as their intentions. Thus they perform a drama whose fearful ear- nestness they are no more able to conceive than the absurdity of the part they play in it, and whose comic side ceases to excite laughter when history discloses it as really tragedy, and reveals to the anxious heart of man, that even the bright CO THE FIRST BOOK OF rSALMS. glance of the serene eye of God emits the light- nings of wrath, which work ruin and set the world in flames ; and that the word of the scorner will come forth from the mouth of the Almighty in the crushing thunders of judgment. " Thus God decrees, that the ungodly should storm and rage against the pious, excite all their counsels against them. But all this is as the stormy, swollen waves of the sea, which rush along as if they would break down the shore, but before they reach the shore they quiet down again, vanish in themselves, or break up with a little foam upon the shore." Luther. 4. And yet God has made preparations in his- tory against the destruction of the world, and these are embraced in the Messianic institutions of salvation, which were not only typically sym- bolized in the theocratic institutions of the Old Covenant, but were historically prepared and foretold by the prophetic words of Revelation. From these prophecies, even in the darkest, times, the severest afflictions, the bright light of consolation streams forth, because these not only point with certainty to the providence of God in history, but also to the indestructible power, the sure and constantly approaching victory of the kingdom of God over all the powers of the world. As these prophecies are consoling to the citizens of the kingdom of God, so are they threatening and calculated to terrify its foes. 5. The Messianic prophecies explain the en- lire history of the world and of salvation, illu- minating it with the light of Divine revelation. These again have their centre of light in the de- clarations respecting the person of the Messiah. The faith in this person, that He will surely come and appear in history, has its living root in the hearts of believers. But this root does not spring from the soil of human longings, or the national spirit of the people of Israel, but it grows under the influence of the Divine Spirit from the soil of special Divine revelations made to Israel, and it develops in testimonies, which may become pro- phecies, as in the circumstances of this Psalm. And these prophecies on the one side strengthen and nourish faith, and on the other find their true development and progress in history — "Such a hope as this we must firmly maintain, and not deviate from it for any cause whatever," (Luther). 6. On account of this historically growing and developing character of Biblical prophecy, it is possible that its elementary beginnings, which on account of their germinal nature embrace and contain in embryo the forms which afterwards appear separately, were neither clearly under- stood by their contemporaries, nor always ex- plained in the same way by subsequent writers. If, however, the explanations maintain the di- rection indicated by the writing itself, and lay bold of that thought which is prominent, and which alone is authorized, then there is not the least occasion for ambiguity, or of a perplexing manifold sense. But these thoughts, which alone are authorized, have found their expression suc- cessively in the Scriptures themselves, so that we need not seek for any other rule. The fulness of meaning in the biblical expressions Anointed, and Son of God, cannot be derived either simply from etymology of the words, nor directly from the first historical use of these terms ; it can be gained only from a consideration of the use of these terms made by the biblical writers in the time of the fulfilment in the New Testament. If therefore ver. 7 of this Psalm makes the first biblical use of this expression with reference to the Messiah, on the basis of a Divine decree, then we can conceive the right of the Messianic use of this and other verse? of this Psalm in the New Testament in var:ous forms. This is the case in express citations, as Acts iv. 25 sq , where Peter and John, with the rest of the Apos- tles, treat as a fulfilment of the words, Ps. ii. 1, 2, the rebellion against Christ, in which the un- believing Jews had shown that they were en- tirely agreed with the princes of the heathen, who not only ruled them but led them; further- more, Acts xiii. 83, where Paul derives from ver. 7 the propriety and reasonableness of the resur- rection of Jesus as the Son of God; finally Heb. i. 5, where the argument for the super-angelic nature and rank of Jesus as the Messiah is de- rived from the same verse. So also these words are used literally, in the Messianic sense; thus Heb. v. 5, where the idea is advanced in connec- tion with words from ver. 7, that Jesus Christ was placed in the glory of His high priesthood by God, who had declared Himself his Father long before, and in contrast to His predecessors ; furthermore, Rev. xii. 5; xix. 15, where the ju- dicial activity of the Messiah is described with woi'ds from ver. 9. Finally there are parallel facts mentioned, such as the wrath of the Lamb (Rev. vifc 16), the Sovereignty of God and His Messiah over the world (Rev. xi. 15), which might have been suggested by other passages, it is true, but which yet confirm the Messianic cha- racter of the Psalm. If we should reject this Messianic character we would be finally forced to the evasion made by the Arabic translation of Saadia, which translates in ver. 7 the Hebrew ben with friend, because the most obvious mean- ing cannot be understood. 7. It is worthy of special consideration that in this Psalm the generation referred to Jehovah, or rather the birth of the Messiah, is understood as a Divine declaration of the Messiah as Son of Je- hovah, made by a word of revelation upon a histo- rical day ; that likewise the corresponding Di- vine declaration, Ps. lxxxix. 27, transfers the title of first-born, which was previously given to the people of God, to the Messiah in His type David; that then John and Paul, in connection with the deeper insight of the New Testament into the idea of the Divine Sonship applied the name of first-born to Jesus, the historical Mes- siah, (Dan. ix. 24, 25; Luke ii. 11 ; John i. 49), and indeed partly with reference to His birth from God, before the creation of any creature (Col. i. 15), partly with reference to His relation to the Church brought about by His resurrection from the dead (Col. i. 18; Rom. viii. 29; ] Cor. xv. 20; Acts xxvi. 23; Rev. i. 5). Again, in close connection with this is the fact that Paul, Acts xiii. 33, treats the resurrection of Jesus as the actual fulfilment effected by God upon a histori- cal day of the declaration of the Messiah as His Son, expressed in the words, Ps. ii. 7 (comp. Rom. i. 4); furthermore, that Heb. i. 6, immediately after the use of the Psalm already PSALM II. 6] mentioned, briefly speaks of the exalted Messiah with reference to His second advent, under the name of the first-born ; finally that in Kev. xii. 5 the entrance of the Messiah upon His sove- reignly over the world, when snatched away to God and to His throne, is regarded as a birth from the Church according to the analogy of Is. lxvi. 7; Micah iv. 4; v. 1, 2. Once, when Me- lauchthon was asked by some one, through his servant, why we sing every year, at Christmas, •' Horn to-day," answered, "Ask your master whether he does not need the consolation to- day." 8. The kingdom of God is not only to acquire a historical form on earth among the people of Israel and in the laud of Canaan, but is to be spread abroad among all nations, even to the ends of the earth, yet not in the form of the theo- cracy of the Old Covenant, but in the Messianic form, or the Christocracy. The assurance that the power of the Divine kingdom over all people is conferred upou the Messiah rests upon the will of Jehovah guaranteed by the promise (comp. Ps. lxxxii. 8) ; but the historical fulfil- ment of this promise is made dependent upon a demand yet to be made by the Messiah, whose time, manner, circumstances and conditions are not mentioned here, compare Luke xxii. 29; Rev. xi. 15. 9. The Messiah's power over the kingdom of God is destined to be a Divine government, not only to embrace the world, but also to conquer the world : and it has not only this destiny, but has also sufficient mea?is in its own constitution to accomplish both of these purposes. We must distinguish, however, (1) the means of grace, which are offered previously to all the world (Matth. xxiv. 14; xxviii. 19), the use of which conveys a blessing to all those who willingly submit themselves to him (Mark xvi. 16), so that those who take refuge with God and His anointed are not cast down and buried beneath the ruins of a world which is judged by the Lord (Luke xxviii. 3D), but they find deliverance; and (2) the powers which infinitely surpass all the pow- ers of this world, and which are greatly to be feared when they unfold in their strength, in the exhibition of wrath (Kom. ii. 5), in the Messianic judgment (John iv. 22). 10. In the intervening time the Divine word addresses itself not only to the lowly and the weak, but very emphatically to the powerful and those in high positions in the world, who are in especial danger of over-rating themselves and of boasting, and, in consequence of this, of misun- derstanding, neglecting, and transgressing the 1 iws of the kingdom of God, which lie at the basis of all human order, and therefore they need an earnest and gracious admonition to be mind- ful of their responsibility to the Heavenly King and Judge, and to lead their subordinates in wit- nessing faithful obedience to their Lord and God, who not only has established the office of magis- trate in the world and maintains, protects and blesses the power of the magistrate among men, but also would stand in a personal relation and communion with those who are clothed with this power, in order that the sceptre and sword, mo- ney and property with which they have been in- vested by Him, may be used to the glory of God, the good of the kingdom, and the benefit of men, and that they may work out their own salvation on the one side with fear and trembling, and on the other with sacred joy. Spes sine tremore luxu- riat in prxsumtionem, el timor sine spe degenerat in desperationem (Gregory). HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. It is as impossible to destroy the kingdom of God on earth as to take heaven by storm. God will not aMow Himself to be dethroned. — The so- vereignty of Christ is to believers an easy yoke', to unbelievers an oppressive fetter; therefore, obedience is to the former a sweet pleasure — to the latter an insupportable burden ; but it can- not be shaken off — the sceptre of blessing be- comes a rod of iron. — All persons in authority should assist in the carrying out of God's will on earth, and use their powers to this end ; but it is allotted to the Son of God alone to set up the kingdom of God and carry it on in the world. — Rebellion against the Lord and His anointed is shameful as it is presumptuous ; foolish as it is daring ; impotent as it is wicked and audacious. — The higher our position in this world, the greater our accountability to God. — The Lord proclaims the presence of His grace, as well as His coming to judgment, and so no one has ex- cuse. God gives time for repentance to the in- dividual as well as to nations; blessed is he who uses this time of grace and takes refuge with the God of all salvation, who reveals Himself in History as Saviour and as Judge. Starke : — Where the kingdom of Christ breaks forth with power, the world is excited and re- bellious, but all in vain. — This is a perverse ge- neration which finds the snares of Satan easy and pleasant, but rejects as cumbersome the cords of Jesus' love. — He who would be a true anointed of the Lord cannot and must not oppose the Messiah, but must build up this kingdom. — The Lord and His anointed are so inseparably united that their enemies must combat them both together. — It is pleasurable to be a servant of sin (Rom. vi. 12), and at the same time a servant of perdition (2 Peter ii. 19) ; but to be a servant of God and of Jesus is regarded as too trouble- some for the flesh (Acts xxiv. 25), prejudicial to freedom (John viii. 33), and dishonorable (John ix. 28). — When our Lord in His time had suffi- ciently proved the faith and perseverance of His Church, He deprived His persecutors of their courage, so that those who had previously been the source of fear to every one, feared ana trem- bled themselves. — Christ was, according to His office, a preacher; according to His majesty, a King on Mount Zion, therefore, true man; a Son begotten to-day, therefore true God; a wonderful Hero and Lord ! — Christ is a universal King, therefore He has His Church in all parts of the world. — The enemies of Christ suppose that His sceptre is still a reed, as in the time of His sufferings; but they will be obliged to expe- rience, some day, to their greatest shame, the iron sceptre in His hand. — Generally those who are the highest in dignity acquire self knowledge and humility with difficulty, yet this is indispen- sable to their improvement. — What is more rea- sonable than that those who have received more f.2 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. honor than others should render the most reve- rence to God? (2 Sam. xii. 7 sq.). — Those are the best friends of magistrates who remind them of their duty to the Son of God, in order that they may not be exposed to His wrath. — How great a change of heart there must be, if we are to resolve to serve and truly hold Him for our Lord whom formerly we despised and opposed. — Christ is gracious, so that He willingly allows Himself to be kissed ; but if he is not kissed at all, or with a Judas kiss, He can be as angry as He is gracious. Moller: — God speaks to the ungodly more by His arm than by His mouth. — Selnekker: All will go well with those whose hopes are in Christ, who know Him by faith, accept Him and confess Him. — Dauderstadt: AVe have only God to serve with fear, not Satan, not the flesh, not the world. — Geier: The flesh always seeks release from restraint, but to its own destruction. — To be truly wise is to know ourselves and our dan- ger at the right time. — Francke : Just as it is the part of man constantly to ask, so also is it the part of our Heavenly Father constantly to give. — R.enschel: Although the enemies of Clirist rage still, yet He remains King. — He who serves and honors Him will live with Him for- ever.— His kingdom, the Church, will survive when all His enemies perish. — Herberger: The Lord Jesus has many and mighty enemies, but He is greater than they all ; therefore, the best advice is to gain His love and be blessed forever by Him. — The enemies of the Christian religion speak their own shame. — The longer the storm is coming, the harder it beats; the longer God withholds His wrath, the more terrible the pun- ishment.— That which has been established by our Heavenly Father, no devil or tyrant will over- throw.— The Church is oppressed, but not sup- pressed.— Beware of God's wrath, for wrath and destruction are close together. — Bengel: In the kingdom of Omnipotence all things must be ar- ranged for the best. — Umhreit: Only those who reject the breath of love, feel the iron of justice. — R. Stier: The kingdom of the An- ointed Son of God, which is ever invincible to rebels, will be graciously offered to faith, before it is asserted with judgment. — Guenther: Da- vid beholds the victory of his successor on his eternal throne, and shall we tremble when unbe- lief seeks its booty on Christian thrones — Taube : Christ is the Man of decision for all; in Him is rooted the contrast between the righteous as be- lieving subjects, and the ungodly as unbelieving enemies. — Diedbich: When human powers are opposed to the Messiah's kingdom they are like earthen vessels to iron. [Matt. Henry: One would have expected that so great a blessing to this world should have been universally welcomed and embraced, and that every sheaf should immediately have bowed to that of the Messiah, and all the crowns and scep- tres on earth should have been laid at His feet; but it proves quite contrary. Never were the notions of any sect of philosophers, though never so absurd, nor the power of any prince or state, though never so tyrannical, opposed with so much violence as the doctrine and government of Christ. A sign it was from heaven, for the opposition was plainly from hell originally. — Spurgeon : We shall not greatly err in our summary of this sublime Psalm if we call it the Psalm of Messiah the Prince; for it sets forth as in a wondrous vision the tumult of the people against the Lord's Anointed, the determinate pur- pose of God to exalt His own Son, and the ultimate reign of that Son over all His enemies. Let us read it with the eye of faith, beholding as in a glass the final triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ over all His enemies. — It was a custom among great kings to give to favored ones whatever they might ask (Esther v. G; Matth. xiv. 7), so Jesus hath but to ask and have. — There must ever be a holy fear mixed with the Christian's joy. This is a sacred compound, yielding a sweet smell, and we must see to it that we burn no other upon the altar. Fear without joy is torment; and joy without holy fear would be presumption. — Our faith may be slender as a spider's thread, but if it be real, we are in our measure blessed. The more we trust, the more fully shall we know the blessedness. We may therefore close the Psalm with the prayer of the Apostles: " Lord, increase our Faith." Plumer: It is easy for God to destroy His foes . . . Behold Pharaoh, his wise men, his hosts and his horses, ploughing and plunging, and sinking like lead in the Red Sea. Here is the end of one of the greatest plots ever formed against God's chosen. Of thirty Roman empe- rors, governors of provinces, and others high in office, who distinguished themselves by their zeal and bitterness in persecuting the early Chris- tians, one became speedily deranged, after some atrocious cruelty, one was slain by his own son, one became blind, the eyes of one started out of his head, one was drowned, one was strangled, one died in a miserable captivity, one fell dead in a manner that will not bear recital, one died of so loathsome a disease that several of his phy- sicians were put to death because they could not abide the stench that filled his room; two com- mitted suicide, a third attempted it, but had to call for help to finish the work, five were assas- sinated by their own people or servants, five others died the most miserable and excruciating deaths, several of them having an untold com- plication of diseases, and eight were killed in battle, or after being taken prisoners. Among these was Julian the Apostate. In the days of his prosperity he is said to have pointed his dag- ger to heaven, defying the Son of God, whom he commonly called the Galilean. But when he was wounded in battle he saw that all was over with him, and he gathered up his clotted blood and threw it into the air, exclaiming, "Thou hast conquered, 0 thou Galilean." Voltaire has told us of the agonies of Charles IX. of France, which drove the blood through the pores of the skin of that miserable monarch, after his cruelties and treachery to the Huguenots. — C. A. B.] PSALM III. G3 PSALM III. A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. 1 Lord, how are they increased that trouble me ! Many are they that rise, up against me. 2 Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah. 3 But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me ; My glory, and the lifter up of mine head. 4 I cried unto the Lord, with my voice, And he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. 5 I laid me down and slept ; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me. 6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, That have set themselves against me round about. 7 Arise, O Lord ; save me, O my God ; For thou hast smitten all miue enemies upon the cheek bone ; Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. 8 Salvation belongeth unto the Lord : Thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. A Psalm of David u-hen he fled from Absalom his son. — The title Mizmor and the use of Selah (vid. Introduction) indicate the use of this Psalm in the service of the temple. It is particularly suited by its tone and subject for a morning Psalin (ver. 5) in times of trouble, especially in the dangers of war.* There is not the least oc- casion, in fact, or in the language, to deviate from the traditional view of the origin of this Psalm as it. is expressed in the title. There are reflected in this Psalm the particular features of the story of the trouble of David in his flight from Absalom, especially 2 Sam, xv. 13; xvi. 7 8q. ; xvii. 1,11. [Delitzsch: "The derision of David as one forsaken by God, 2 Sam. xvi. 7; the danger by night, 2 Sam. xvii. 1, the myri- ads of people, 2 Sam. xv. 13, xvii. 11, and the high and honorable position of the Psalmist." — C. A. B.] The expressions, especially of ver. 6, transcend the description of the troubles of a private man of piety. If this fact is recognized against Seb. Schmidt, Olsh., Hupf., the suppo- sition of an unknown king (De Wette, Sachs) is an unjustiliable criticism of the traditional view ; for nothing speaks against David, and many things for him. The transfer of its time of ori- * [Pelitzsch : "The first two Psalms, which are prologues, are mi ce ded by a niorniiip Psalm, 1's. iii., and an evening Psalm, l's. iv., as we would naturally expect bucU Psalms to come nrot in a ?6alm book.' — C A. B.J gin to the period of the supremacy of Saul, es- pecially the troubles of David after the destruc- tion of Ziklag by the Amalekites, 1 Sam. xxx. G (Hitzig) is incompatible with ver 4 (iW. exege- sis of the verse). It is true there is no apparent reference to Absalom, and many exegetes miss it; but they do not notice that we have here a lyrical effusion of a specific religious character, and this not here the expression of the experi- ence of a sick and anxious father, as 2 Sam. xv 11, but the lamentation and the trust of a chief- lain and sovereign, who is hard pressed, yet cheerful in prayer, and these experiences re- sound in such terse sentences and pithy words, that the reader hears the royal Psalmist sigh, cry, and weep from his inmost soul. [Ewald : "The grandeur, color, and language of David are unmistakable." — C. A. B.] At the same time, the rythmical arrangement of the four strophes (three according to Geier) is so artistic that it may properly be regarded as written down at a later time, and yet we have no reason to suppose that it was a later composition (Rosenm.), or that there was a long time between its conception and its production (Hengsteti- berg). Moreover, the origin of this Psalm of prayer does not, most naturally, fall upon the evening (Ilengst.) of the first day of the flight, 2 Sam. xvi. 14, (Kimchi), on which David went bare-footed and weeping up the Mount of Oliver, and experienced many bitternesses and mortifi- cations, but in the morning hours, after the in- tervening night, in which Ahithophel would have fU THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. fallen upon hiin, 2 Sam. xvii. 1, (J. H. Michaelis [Ewald]). The Hollanders sang this Psalm according to their Psalm-book when they marched against the Belgians, Aug. 1st, 1831. Str. I. Ver. 1. [How. — M&h, an expression of lamentation (De Wette), on account of the crowd of euemies(Hupf.) — Increased. — Barnes: "How are they multiplied; or how numerous they are. Perhaps the idea is, that at first they seemed to be comparatively few in number, but had now so multiplied as to endanger his crown and life." — Hupfeld: "That trouble me— in gene- ral of enemies or opponents. — Rise up against me. — Properly not rebels, but adversaries in general, those who stand up against him to op- pose him." — C. A. B,] Ver. 2. [Hupfeld: "His need has become so great and threatening that many doubt his deliverance, and deny that he has any help to expect from .God." — C. A B.] — My soul. — This circumlocution for the person is not without significance (most interpreters). It is used in Hebrew not only with reference to the life (Gesen. [Barnes]), but also with reference to the spirit, and will (Hupfeld), and it here expresses the fact that the words spoken partly about David, and partly to him, as well by open enemies (Hitzig), as by friends who have become perplexed, wound his inmost soul (Heng- stenb.), and pass in judgment his inmost charac- ter, and his personal relation to God (Delitzsch). — Help. — According to the context, the refe- rence is to deliverance from danger to his life, which it is pretended 'David has no longer to ex- pect from Elohim. The speakers here are not Atheists, who mistake the Divine power (De Wette), but men, who regard the ruin of David as unavoidable, and wish to express the opinion that now even prayer will not help. Herein is ex- pressed their view that God will not, or does not wish to help the afflicted one; and this turn of expression must have stung the soul of David with all the more bitterness, as his heinous sin with Bathsheba had already brought upon him a series of Divine chastisements. But we are not to infer from this, that the speakers would say that there is now no more sal- vation with God for David, or he has been thrust out from the Divine grace (Delitzsch). The termination athah [termination of the He- brew word for help — C. A. B.] is neither inten- sive (Kimchi), nor demonstrative (Gesen.), nor euphonic (Aben.Ezra and the most of the later interpreters), but the accusative of design (Hup- feld [Delitzsch]), which in the Hebrew is about to pass out of use, and is only preserved in frag- ments in certain feminines in H" — in the poets (derived from the view of direction towards an end). Sir. II. Ver. 3. [Hengstenberg cites Luther as saying: " The Psalmist here contrasts with the previous clauses three others. He has spoken of many enemies, he opposes them with, the Lord is his shield. Then, as they have set themselves against him to disgrace him before the world, he opposes them with, the Lord sets him in honor. Finally he laments over those who slander and insult him, against whom he boasts that it is the Lord who lifts up his head." — C. A. B.] [Shield. — Vid. Gen. xv. 1, where God is Abra- ham's shield, Deut. xxxiii. 29, where he is Is- rael's shield. It is also a favorite expres- sion of David, Pss. vii. 10 ; xviii. 2 ; xxviii. 7. — For me. — '"U'l- A better rendering is " around me," " about me," " round about me," so almost all exegetes. Hitzig: "Jehovah stands behind hjm, and holds His shield before him (Zech. xii. 8; 2 Sam. vi. lf>)." Alexander: "Covering the whole body, not merely a part of it, as ordinary shields do." — My glory. — Hengstenberg: "Because Davids glory, the exalted dignity with which he was clothed, had its source in the Lord." Ps. lxii. 7. — Lifter up of my head. — Hengst.: "Indi- cates that he is delivered from the state of de- pression in which he went about in sadness, without spirit, and with bowed head." De- litzsch, upon this verse as a whole, says : " Hourly he has to fear that he will be fallen upon and ruined, hut Jehovah is the shield which covers him. His kingdom has been taken away from him, but Jehovah is his glory. With co- vered head, bowed to the ground, he ascended the Mount of Olives, 2 Sam. xv. 30 ; but Jeho- vah is the lifter up of his head whilst He com- forts and helps him." — C. A. B.] Ver. 4. My voice. — Most exegetes suppose that ^Ip is the accusative of instrument, or ac- cording to Ewald more correctly accusative of closer definition, and indicates that the call was a loud one. Hitzig, on the other hand {Beg riff der Kntik, p. 23), Bottcher [Collectanea, p. 110), and Hupfeld, suppose that there is here a poeti- cal use of a double subject, and that the active member appears, first, as the nearer subject in the nominative, and then, the person himself ap- pears again in the verb. It is disputed here whether the imperf. is to be taken in the historical sense as preterite (Hupf., Hitzig, Baur), or as an expression of continued action, Delitzsch, et al. If we separate the imperf. in the latter sense with De Wette from the poet's real hour of affliction, and regard it as a description of the constant state of his soul, so that the perfects in ver 5 must, contrary to usage, be taken in like sense; then this expla- nation which reduces it, " to be accustomed," is clearly wrong. But the strict historical expla- nation is likewise carried too far when Sachs translates the following imperf. conversive: "and' he has answered." Hitzig puts even ver. 6 in the past. But the poet expresses rather, what he has in Jehovah now and at all times, according to his faith and his experience (ver. 3), in connec- tion with his prayer (ver. 4 a), and with the pro- mise that he should be heard ver. 4 b) ; and then passes over to the description of what has hap- pened to him through Jehovah'.- help, since the last evening (ver. 5 a) until the present morning (ver. 5 b), and in what frame of mind he now is (ver. G). It is out of this frame of mind correspond- ing with the dangers of his situation that the true cry of prayer then breaks forth.* — Holy hill. Hitzig would think of the hill of God (1 Sam. x. * [Barnes: "He gave utterance to the deep anguish of his goul in words. So ilid the Saviour in Gtthseniaue (Slatttk xxvi. 39).'-— C. A. B.] PSALM III. Go 5), or the Mount of Gibeon (1 Kings iii. 4, comp. 2 Chron. i. 3; 1 Chron. xxi. 29), it not of Sinai (1 Kings xix. 8), or Basban (Ps. lxviii. 10). But there is no reference to a consecrated mountain on which at any time Jehovah appeared and spoke to men, or accepted their worship; but to the abiding-place of the revelation and authority of Jehovah among His people, whither the prayer- ful turn with the assurance of receiving an an- swer. This place was from the time of Moses above the ark of the covenant, and the ark had been brought by David from Kirjath-jearim to Jerusalem, 2 Sam. vi.; 1 Chron. xiii. 5, and in his flight from Absalom it was not taken with him, 2 Sam. xv. 25. It can therefore only mean Mount Zion. The entire hypothesis of Hitzig is thus shattered. [Delitzsch: " He was now sepa- rated from the place of the Divine presence by hostile power. But his prayer presses through to the throne of the cherubim, and there is no wall of separation, either in space or the creature, to the answer given by Him who is there en- throned."— C. A. B.] [Str. III. Ver. 5. I laid me down and slept. — A reference to the past night (Delitzsch). Barnes: "Notwithstanding these troubles and dangers, I hud such confidence that God hears prayer, and such calm trust in His protection, that I laid me down gently and slept securely. The Psalmist mentions this as a remarkable proof of the Divine protection and favor." — I awaked. — "Still safe and secure" (Barnes). Delitzsch : " It is because Jehovah has sustained him, the hand of God is his pillow, the gracious and omnipotent hand is under his head, he is in- accessible and without fear." Ver. 6. Barnes : " This exaltation may be re- garded in some measure as the result of the calm and refreshing slumber which he had enjoyed. The mind as well as the body had been refreshed and invigorated. With the bright light of a new morning he looked with more cheerfulness and hope on the things around him, and felt new strength to meet the dangers to which he was ex- posed.—Ten thousands. — Myriads without any definite number being thought of, only a very great multitude. This is not a supposed case, for all Israel had gone over to Absalom (Delitzsch). Delitzsch: "Selah is lacking at the end of this strophe, because it is not spoken in a tone of triumph, but of humility, and as a quiet expres- sion of confidence and faith." — C. A. B.] Str, IV. Ver. 7. Arise. — The accentuation kumdh instead of kumah (Rise up ! arise! aery to Jehovah, for the first time, Num. x. 35) is best explained by Hupfeld as : with the design of spe- cial emphasis [Delitzsch : " God arises when He interferes to decide the events of this world."] The cry for help is based upon the following clause with "D ; and the perfects are the so-called prophetical perfects, which indicate the action as one certainly to be expected (De Wette), but a real one (almost all recent interpreters). The objection of De Wette that then the prayer would be superfluous, because no more enemies were present, is not to be refuted on the ground that «i A-o/, all, is not to be regarded as numerical (Hupf.), or refers to many particular events (De- 5 litzsch). The word refers rather to the myriads which now surrounded the Psalmist in hostility, lie fears them not, because in previous cases God has always brought the enemies of the poet (my enemies) to shame and ruin, whether many or few. [The perfects here are real perfects, with Ewald, Delitzsch, Hupf, Alexander, Barnes, elal., and the reference is to the foreign enemies, Philistines, Amorites, etc., and his enemies of the house of Saul, whom the Lord had destroyed before him. This is the most natural and logical order of thought. The Psalmist, in the last strophe, strengthens himself with reference to the experience of the past night, and in this strophe by remembrance of the experiences of his past conflicts with his enemies. As the experience of the past night gives him confidence, the experience of the past deliverances stimulates him to renewed prayer as he recalls his present dangers. — C. A. B.] As God is represented under the figure of a warlike hero and hunter, so the enemies are re- presented under the figure of ravenous beasts, from whom all power of injuring the friend of God has been taken away by crushing their jaws, and the teeth fixed therein. God prepares for them a complete and shameful overthrow (Hengst. and Delitzsch). The double accusative of the object, ver. 7 b, should be noticed. Ver. 8. "In the lamed of possession and the generic article before ny'Vd1 there is an exclu- siveness of possession and the free power of dis- posal" (Delitz.).— [Thy blessing be upon.— This is not the statement of a fact (A. V.: Tin/ blessing is upon Thy people), but an intercessory prayer. David prays for his own deliverance, and then, that the salvation of the Lord may rest upon his people. Thus almost all recent com- mentators.— C. A. B.] The closing word which "casts a clear light into the depths of the noble soul" (Ewald) turns now from the personal to national affairs (De Wette). It refers not only to that part of the people which had remained faithful to David, as the only genuine people of Jehovah (Aben Ezra), but it implores blessings instead of curses, and has as its antitype the words "Father, forgive them" of the other Da- vid whom His people had crucified (Delitzsch). Bottcher, however, considers this verse as a later liturgical addition. Bugenhagen, aptly : " benedictio Dei est Dei beneficentia." DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. If the first word in severe affliction is to call upon the name of the Lord, then lamentation is changed into prayer, and the soul no longer swims in a sea of trouble, it lays hold of God again, and begins to believe and to hope. 2. The conspiracy of the adversaries is worse than their number ; and the arrows of scorn are sharper than the sword, in piercing the heart. But the heart is wounded much more deeply when the complaints and condemnations of opponents cannot be refuted by a pure conscience as merely hateful slanders and wicked abuse. Then to the external affliction there is added internal con- flicts which beget suffering for the soul, and lead to spiritual struggles. George von Anhalt showed his brother John three remedies against such 66 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. struggles: Faith in the forgiveness of sins, in the resurrection, ami in an eternal life. 3. In spiritual conflicts human judgment does not decide. Only the afflicted must not allow themselves to be pressed away from God, or to be wearied and lamed by doubting the Divine mercy. For those who resign themselves to Him, God is always as the faithful God of the Covenant, a Shield protecting on all sides, as He was for Abraham, Gen. xv. 1, and for all Israel, Deut. xxxiii. 29. It is God, who not only main- tains the honor of His servants, restores them again when disgraced, and surrounds the abused king with the splendor of majesty, but He. Him- self is the essential idea of all honor, majesty, and glory : and the world cannot deprive the pious of Him even in the uttermost misery. Moreover, it is God who not only lifts up the head of the afflicted which is wearied, and has fallen upon the breast, and raises again the crown of fallen princes which has been thrown down; but does the same thing to the penitent sinner who has bowed his face to the dust, and with the doicn-troddcn righteous man whose head lie3 upon the ground. 4. The assurance that prayer will be heard is a great comfort to the afflicted, especially if these have already had personal experience of it. Although separated from the place where God has previously given them the experience of His gracious presence, yes, although they are obliged to be deprived of the help of Divine ser- vice, and all the ordinary means of grace, the voice of prayer presses above all to God, and the answer of the Lord comes to those who sincerely supplicate Him. 5. Those who awake after a night full of dan- ger, and give the Lord the glory with thankful recognition of the protection and assistance of the Almighty, whose hand has been under the head of the slumbering (Song Sol. ii. 6), those are usually filled with fresh courage and faith. From the thankfulness of the morn- ing psalm springs joyfulness for the work of the day; fearlessness, in spite of all the enemies which surround him, and heartfelt confidence in Divine help; and thence again prayer and supplication take a fresh start with an earnestness and a fervor which urges to the boldest importunity, yet without overstepping the bounds assigned to the creature. 6. Whoever has the true God for his God may be forsaken by all the world, and experience that human assistance is of no profit ; but " if all kinds of misfortune, affliction, and tribula- tion, are heaped upon him, yet it is the Lord who then saves him ; in His hand is help and blessing" (Luther); and whoever, on the basis of the revelation of the covenant is in communion with Him by faith, makes the experience in his heart through faith, that he is comforted by Di- vine promises, and has the experience in his life that io the previous help he has received from the hand of God, new deliverances are constantly added. 7. However it is not, enough merely to have a God, to believe in Him and call upon Him; the question is: What God? For Jehovah, the God of the historical revelation, is the only G^d who possesses and distributes those things which afford help, deliverance, and salvation, in bodily and spiritual needs, for time and for eternity. 8. Those who are truly pious think not only of their own deliverance, and their personal sal- vation; if they earnestly care for this, they pray at the same time for Divine blessings upon the whole people, that Divine judgment may be turned away from the guilty, and for the salva- tion of all who return in repentance to God. Deus est satis idoncus patientise sequester. Si in- juriam deposueris apud eum, ultor est; si damnum, restitutor est; si dolorem, medicus est; si mortem, resuscitator est (Tertull. de patient. 15). HOMILETTCAL AND PRACTICAL. To truly flee for refuge is to flee to God, for that leads us, 1) from the tumult of the world into the peace of God ; ii) from earthly oppres- sion to everlasting salvation ; 3) from the power of men to the hands of God. — He who can pray in time of need is in the way of salvation ; for 1) he lpoks beyond the multitude and strength of his oppressors, to the power and favor of the Most High; 2) he hears not the scorn and threat- enings of his enemies, but the comforting voice and answer of his God; 3) he experiences, amid all the afflictions and anxieties of his heart, the comfort of communion with Him, who is the sole help in time of need, and the true deliverer of the faithful. — The sword of the enemy threatens his body, the scorn of the ungodly aims at his soul, but God is a shield and protection against both. — He who prays in faith, casts all his care on the Lord, therefore he goes to sleep trusting in Divine protection ; even after a day full ol ca- lamity he is calm, and aivakcs to the battle of life full of fresh boldness of faith, with renewed prayer for the help of the Lord. — Let him, who would not be ruined in time of danger, take re- fuge with the Lord, for then: 1) He does not complain, but prays; 2) he does not doubt, but trusts in the living God; 3) he does not tremble, but gains hope and courage. Personal expe- riences of grace bring nn enduring blessing; for: 1) They protect against the scorn of unbe- lievers in times of calamity ; 2) they strengthen the assurance that our prayers will be heard in time of strong opposition; 3) they lead to a lively resignation to God in days when all hu- man greatness, skill, and power, seem to be no- thing.— Against the enemy of our country we fight not only with the sword, but with those spiritual weapons : 1) prayer; 2) trust in God; 3) humiliation under the strong hand of God; 4) exaltation in the name and power of the Lord. — The necessity of the times is no sign that we are forsaken by God, but, 1) reminds us of our weakness ; 2) refers us to the works of the Lord; 3) encourages us to pray ; 4) warns us against devotion to the icorld; 5) exhorts us to seek the blessing of the Lord. — He who gives the glory to God, makes the best provision for his own eleva- tion: 1) From a previous fall; 2) from present need; 3) from impending death. — A king can present to his people nothing more noble than a lively piety; nothing more precious than salva- tion by Jehovah; can ask noihing better than the blessing of the Lord. — We may have many enemies, but our help ciues from one only true PSALM IV. 67 God, who is the best friend to those who trust in Him. — The blessing of God belongs to the people of God. Starke : David had fled from God his true Father, now he must flee from a rebellious son. This is the retribution of God; like with like.— r- Even blood relationship is destroyed by sin and Satan. — Unhappy children, who drive away their parents; blessed parents, who are driven to God by tue wickedness of their children. — Pray to God, who is able to convert even lost sons. — If the Lord show thee the multitude of thine ene- mies, lie will likewise show thee the riches of His help. — We must not heed the talk of the enemy, but hold fast to the word of our God — The world judges perversely ; the pious are al- ways accused of being ungodly, whilst on the contrary the irreligious would be considered nearest God. — God often lets His children appear to be forsaken in their own eyes, and the eyes of others, thattheir faith may be tried, their belief in the Word of promise purified, and their childlike hope crowned. — Faith and prayer go tQgether. For faith is experienced by prayer and prayer receives from faith its true form and validity. — Our st rengt h is derived from both. — If the danger and the necessity are great, the inward strength- ening of God is regulated accordingly. — Whoever desires God to grant his prayers for assistance, must be able to call the Lord his God, not only because He is Creator and Redeemer, but also because He sanctifies those who accept Him. — With the pious the cross has ever a sorrowful beginning but a joyful ending. Luther: There is no trouble, however severe it may be, that is to be compared with that against which Jeremiah (xvii. 17) prays with trembling, when God contends with man. Osiander: When God's promises are received with faith, they give to a godly man a peaceful heart, because he trusts himself to God, his true Father. — Strigel : We must above all notice the gradation of thought: When attacked he prays, when he prays he is saved, when saved he gives thanks. — Selnekkeb. : Whoever will serve God must, suffer persscution, and must have the whole world, yes, his own flesh and blood, for enemies ; but whoever trusts God belongs to Him, and shall remain His, though the whole world per- secute him. — Arnot: It is the essential charac- ter of faith: 1) That it lays the care and burden of the heart upon God , 2) that it expels fear and terror; 3) that it trusts God against all ene- mies.— Frisch: When faith brings peace into the heart the body is likewise benefited. — Herber- GEr: Distress teaches to pray, and prayer drives all trouble away. — The heart as well as the head belongs on high. — IIieger : Although relief is delayed, still the blessing of the Lord is with His people. [Matt. Henry: True Christian fortitude con- sists more in a gracious security and serenity of mind, in patient bearing and patient waiting, than in daring enterprises with sword in hand. — A child of God startles at the very thought of despairing of help in God; you cannot vex him with any- thing so much as if you offer to persuade him "there is no help for him in God." — A cheerful resignation to God is the way to obtain a cheer- ful satisfaction and confidence in God. — Pro- mises of salvation do not supersede, but engage our petitions for it, — Barnes: That we are "awaked" in the morning, after a night's refreshing slumber ; that we are raised up again to the enjoyments of life; that we are permitted again to greet our friends, and to unite with thorn in the privileges of devo- tion, should always be regarded as a new proof of the goodness of God, and should lead to acts of praise. — Who has not experienced the influ- ence of the slumbers of a night, and of the light of the morning, in giving new vigor, and inspi- ring new hopes, as if the returning day was an emblem of brighter scenes in life, and the pass- ing away of the shades of night a token that all trouble and sorrow would flee away? — Spur- geon: May we ever wait with holy confi- dence in our hearts, and a song upon our lips. — Search Scripture through and you must, if you read it with a candid mind, be persuaded that the doctrine of salvation by grace alone is the great doctrine of the Word of God. — C. A. B.] PSALM IV. To the Chief Musician on Ncyinoth — .4 Psalm of David. 1 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress ; Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. 2 O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame ? How long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah. 3 But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: The Lord will hear when I call unto him. G8 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. 4 Stand in awe, and sin not : CommuDe with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. 5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the Lord. 6 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good ? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy counteuance upon us. 7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, More than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. 8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep : For thou, Lord, only Makest me dwell in safety. EXEGETTCAL AND CRITICAL. Title and Division. — This Psalm, assigned to the chief musician (vid. Introduct.), was not to be accompanied with wind instruments, or in- struments of alarm, but only with string instru- ments [Neginoth vid. Introduct.]. This agrees with the character of the Psalm as an evening Psalm (ver. 8), and with the soothing rhythm especially of the last strophe. This last strophe, which brings the Psalm as well as the Psalmist to repose, is of three members, as the first strophe, which contains a cry to God for help; whilst the three intermediate strophes are of lour members. Of these, moreover, the first two are divided by Selah into a warning and an exhortation ; the third, which contrasts the courageous faith and joy in God of the pious Psalmist, with discou- raged and earthly-minded men, has not the mu- sical interlude. Whilst Seb. Schmidt, Glaus, De Wette, Hupf., ctal, deny the marks of David, and regard the individual features at once as general, Olshausen at least has recognized their indivi- dual character, and Ewald has beautifully ex- plained the Davidic features of the Psalm. With the most of the interpreters he puts this Psalm side by side with the previous one in the dan- gerous times of the rebellion of Absalom. Even Hitzig recognizes the connection between these two Psalms, b\it he assigns it as previously Ve- nema, to the situation of David, according to 1 Sam. xxx. Lightfoot and J. II. Michaelis sup- pose it refers to the rebellion of Sheba, 2 Sam. xx. [Delitzsch : "A Davidic evening Psalm fol- lows a Davidic morning Psalm. The connection is clear from the mutual reference of iv. 6 to-iii. 2, and iii. 5 to iv. 8. These two are the only Psalms in which the language of others is cited with 'many that say.' The one is explained his- torically from the title of the other. It follows from iv. 2, ' how long,' and the words of the faint- hearted, iv. G, that Ps. iv. is the later one." Perowne: "The thoughts and turns of expres- sion in the one are not unlike those in the other. As in the former he heard many saying to his soul, 'There is no help for him in God' (ver. 2), so in this he hears many saying, 'Who will show us any good?' (ver. G). As in that he knew that though at a distance from the Tabernacle, he was not at a distance from God, but would receive an answer to his prayer from the 'holy mountain' (ver. 4), so in this, though the priests have re- turned with the Ark to Jerusalem, he can look for the 'light of Jehovah's countenance,' which is better than the Urim and Thummim of the priestly ephod." — C. A. B ] Sir. I. Ver. 1. My God of righteousness [0 God of my righteousness — A. V.]. — This trans- lation embraces very well the various references of the Hebrew expression. "Jehovah is the possessor of righteousness, the author of right- eousness, the Judge of righteousness, and He justifies righteousness when it is misunderstood and persecuted" (Delitzsch). The following translations are likewise grammatically indispu- table: God of my right (De Wette), comp. Ps. xvii. 1 ; God of my righteousness (Ilupfeld [Wordsworth, Perowne]) ; my righteous God (Ilengst. [Barnes]). The following perfect is limited by Hitzig to the deliverance from the calamity which he has just experienced and lamented in Ps. iii. Hengst., Delitzsch, et al., on the other hand, refer it to a se- ries of previous experiences, and therefore trans- late it as present. [Delitzsch : " Many times he had been in straits, and God made room for him. The idea is of the expansion of the breathing and of space. It means — space for the anxious heart, Ps. xxv. 17; Is. Ix. 5; space for the straitened situation, Ps. xviii. 19; cxviii. 5." — C. A. B.] Ewald and Hupf. regard it as a relative clause, on account of its position between two impera- tives. [Perowne : " Thou (that) in straitness hast made room for me." This seems to be the best rendering. It makes the strophe more har- monious. It then refers to the deliverance from that critical situation in which he was placed before he received intelligence from Jerusalem, and crossed the Jordan into a wider and safer region. Here he could breathe more freely and make preparations to meet his foes. — C. A. B.] De Wette, in spite of the failure of the vav con- sec., views it as imperative, and supports this view by citing parallel passages, which he falsely explains. Str. II. "Ver. 2. Sons of men. — According to Hitzig, denotes men in contrast to women, and refers to those which accompany David. Ac- cording to Ilupfeld, it refers to the human weak- ness and carnal mind of the many (ver. 6), who might be addressed emphatically as : ye children of men. [Barnes: "As having human feelings, passions, and purposes, in strong distinction from PSALM IV. 69 that righteous God to whom he had just made his solemn appeal." — C. A. 13.] According to most interpreters, the reference is to the prominent men among the crowd, among whom, then, here, the few unsatisfied and per- plexed companions of David, the heroes (Tho-. luck), beloved men (Luther), or since Kimchi, the aristocracy, whose instrument Absalom was. the "great fellows" in Luther's margin, who dishonored the royal dignity at the same time that they violated David's personal honor. [It docs not seem necessary to give to "ish an empha- tic signification. There is no contrast here with The contrast is with God, as Hupfeld and Barnes show. Yet the reference is not so much to human weakness and a carnal mind, as to the fact that whilst men dishonor him, God has honored him, and will honor him again by hearing his prayer. And then when man is con- trasted with God, even though a vir or an Hsh there is necessarily implied in this contrast human weakness and littleness. — C. A. B.] Vanity. — This hardly means : worldly vanity (De Wette), but either the vanity of their de- signs (Kimchi), or, still better, the vanity of their reasons, to which they appeal in their re- bellion, which conceal from themselves and others its true character. It is not necessary, therefore, to regard the rebellion itself as marked With the name Lie [Leasing — A. V. Old English won! for lying and falsehood. — C. A. B.] (Calv.). Lying and deceit have been the means of their demands. Comp. 2 Sam. xv. 7 sq. (Hengst.). The Septuagiut follows a different reading : itol <'iv&p(l)Tro)v kug ttotb jiapvuapSiot,; so also the Vulgate, many ancient Fathers, and Augustine. The graves corde are then supposed by the inter- preters to be: people either of idle and cowardly or of hard, obstinate and unfeeling hearts. Ver. 3. Wonderfully selected [set apart — A. V.]. — The verb contains the idea of discri- mination (Ex. viii. 18), more closely, the meaning of extraordinary distinction in the Divine go- vernment (Ex. xxxiii. 16; Ps. exxxix. 14). The comparison of Ps. xxxi. 21 with Ps. xvii. 7 only shows that there is no essential difference be- tween n72n and {ODH (as 37 Codd. Kennic, and 28 De Rossi read here N'/Sn, Deut. xxviii. 59; Is. xxviii. 29). It cannot be decided from the word itself, whether we are to suppose here Di- vine distinction=wonderful guidance in general (Luther and most interp., Sept., kdavuaoTuoE, Vulg., mirificavit, for which, in many Psalters. admirabilem fecit or magnificavit, which already inclines to the other explanation), or whether there is meant here special selection=elevation to the royal dignity. With this last interpreta- tion Calvin, partially followingthe example of the Syriac with llabb. Isaki and Kimchi, unites di- rectly to the verb the V? which follows somewhat later in the passage; whilst Ilengstenberg unites it closely with the noun which immediately pre- cedes it, as those do also who advocate the first mentioned explanation. These, then, translate, mostly, "his holy one" (the plural of the Vulg. is against the text), and take it in the ethical Bense=his pious one, following the Sept.: tov bator arrrjv. The grammatical connection is then usually more correctly explained after the ana- I logy of Ps. xvii. 7 (Rosenm.), at the same time, with a different meaning of the word. Thus Ewald, Maurer, Olsh , De Wette translate: lie that is faithful to him; Camphauseu: he that is devoted to him; Hitzig: his friend; J. H. Mi- chaelis: gratioswn sibi. Hupfeld endeavors to show that the parallel passage, Ps. xxxi. 21, fa- vors the connection of V7 with the verb, and that TDH, a denominative of "1DH, must derive its meaning from the specific idea and terminus of the grace and mercy of God, first of all towards Israel, then towards the individually pious; and that the passive form of the verb also, according to the passive nieaning:=favored, standing in a condition of grace, in a covenant of grace with Jehovah in the Old Covenant, is almost the only prevailing meaning ; whilst the meaning accepted here by Calvin [benignum), and by him and Ilengstenberg (one who has and exercises love), as the original and justifiable usage, seldom occurs (e. g., of God's grace towards men, Ps. cxlv. 17; Jer. iii. 12; of the kindness of men towards one another, Ps. xii. 1 ; xviii. 25 ; xliii. 1 ; Mich. vii. 2 ; as a religious practice well pleasing to God, Ilos. vi. 6, according to its nature and derivation as TDFI of Elohim or Je- • T hovah, 1 Sam. x. 14; 2 Sam. ix. 13), and ori- ginated from transfer, which goes to the farthest extent, Jer. ii. 2. Delitzsch hesitates respecting the derivation and meaning of this word upon which he erroneously lays the chief emphasis. But the emphasis, according to position and sense, belongs partly to the verb which, accord- ing to him, means not only mere selection, but wonderful selection, partly to the pronoun, whose position also at the end of the sentence, accord- ing to the grammatical connection which he ap- proves, in any case attracts attention, and ac- cording to my view expresses this thought : that he who is distinguished by God is, in his posi- tion of grace and honor, not only of some import- ance for men, but also for God, and is designed, and stands ready for the Divine service and glory. This suits the situation better, and means more than if the Psalmist merely said that to which the grammatical separation of lS from the verb would lead: he has not been brought into his high position by men but by God, or also he has already experienced previ- ously many wondrous guidances. But the ana- logy of Scripture is against the view that he sought the reason of his election, elevation, and support, in his subjective piety, goodness, or any other moral excellence, or that he would base on these the assurance that his present prayer would be heard. But it is frequently to be seen in sa- cred history that Jehovah has selected from the crowd of those whom He has favored, some one for His special use, who also is conscious of this relation, and may appeal to it for comfort. Sir II. Ver. 4. Tremble— [" Stand in aire." A. V.], viz.: before the wrath of God. The translation of the Septuagint bpyi^eade, as Eph. iv. 6 [Be ye angry ami sin not] is grammati- cally possible, for the Hebrew verb denotes in general, to be shaken, to be unquiet ; and indi- cates as well, trembling on account of wrath as of fear (Augustine, Luther, Hitzig). But in no case can the negative be drawn to the verb, (aa 70 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. Dathe, and even Hengstenberg). The context favors the view that here also, as in most cases, the trembling of the creature before the appear- ance of God (Ilupf.) is used as the motive of warning. [Delitzsuk: " He warns His adversa- ries of blind passion, and advises them to quiet meditation and solitary consideration that they may not ruin their own salvation." Kiehm: " You may continue to be angry (until by Divine help your anger is shown to be unreasonable), but at. least do not sin by abusing the man who is favored by Jehovah, but instead of giving vent to your anger in abusive words, speak in your heart upon your bed, and be silent. This suits the context, and since ragaz can scarcely mean holy fear of God without "JDO this explanation is preferable." Wordsworth supposes that "David now turns from his enemies to his friends, and checks their wrath. David may be supposed to be addressing such zealous partisans as Abishai his nephew, who, when David was flying from Absalom, was trans- ported with indignation against his persecu- tors, and craved leave to take off the head of Shimei, who cursed David, and was restrained by him in the spirit of this Psalm. See also Da- vid's merciful charge with regard to the life of Absalom himself, 2 Sam. xviii. 5." The histo- rical allusion of Wordsworth seems to be the most correct, the grammatical explanation of lliehm the most proper. It seems more harmo- nious with Wordsworth (vid. further below) to make the change from enemies to worldly-minded friends here, ver. 4 instead of ver. 6, as is gene- rally done.— C. A. B.] The addition of in your heart [''with your heart," A. V.] indicates the speaking ["com- mune," A. V.] as an internal one, which every one does within himself, and indeed as spiritual consideration and deliberation ; for the heart, according to Hebrew ideas, is not so much the pathological seat of the feelings, as the sphere of ethical, rational consideration in order to form determinations of the will. The quiet of evening, and the silence of the night which works mightily upon the inner life of man, is especially suited to such consideration and reflection as involves mo- ral resolutions. The couches are therefore to be regarded as beds (Aben Ezra) and not as divans in the assemblies (Mich. Or. Bibl. X. 126). Be still, could mean the silence from calum- niation (Aben Ezra, Ewald, Roster, Olsh.) oreven the keeping quiet, as well in the sense of quiet sub- mission to the Divine will in contrast t o murmuring and contradicting, as in that of discontinuing his movements (Ilupf.) It is not correct to suppose that it is the discontinuance of the raging of the rebels in consequence of reflection (flengst., Delitzsch). The explanation of Hitzig: those who are excited to anger might occasionally be angry, but not lend any words to their ill-humor tow- ards God lest they sin, leaves entirely out of consideration the fact that even the language of anger kept close in the heart is a sin, and that Jehovah is a discerner of the heart. [However they might quiet their anger by meditation in the still hours of the night, And if this is addressed to his own followers, Joab and Abishai, etc., they had reason for righteous indignation, to be angry in the sense of the Apostle, but not to sin. They were to restrain their wrath by meditation, and be still, lest it should burst forth beyond its just limits and become sin. Perowne: " Let the still hours of the night bring calmer and wiser thoughts with them." — C. A. B.] Ver. 5. Offer sacrifices of righteous- ness.— The difficulty of finding the true connec- tion vanishes with the consideration that already in the previous verse the rebels received a Sum- mons in the form of a warning to act righteously, and indeed essentially with reference to religion, and that this demand already passed over into direct exhortation ; furthermore, that the rebels who were in possession of Jerusalem performed the sacrifices, but lacked the proper disposition which was likewise demanded by the law ; finally that there is expressed not so much a contrast to a mean and vain trust in their own prudence, power, and earthly possessions, (De Wette), which their opponents were, it is true, in pos- session of (ver. 7 b.), and "still less an encourage- ment to his timid companions to trust in God, but rather the contrast between those who de- pend on Jehovah, and those who depend on the ceremonies and lip service which they practice; for the rebellion against the Anointed of Jehovah can be consistent only with the latter and not with the former. — Sacrifices of righteousness are not only those which are performed correctly according to the ritual; not only the sacrifices clue on account of sins that have been com- mitted, after the presentation of which they are to turn with hope to Jehovah (Ewald, Olshausen) ; so also not righteous works and moral actions in a symbolical sense (with which interpretation Hitzig regards as most correct, righteousness itself as the sacrifice which is to be brought, and indeed perhaps not righteousness towards the Psalmist, but proper behaviour to- wards Jehovah, whilst the glory due to Him is given, and the obligated trust is bestowed upon Him) ; but true sacrifices performed with a disposition in accordance with the will of God, and the meaning of the law.* Str. IV. Ver. 6. Many. — These are no longer those previously addressed (the most interpre- ters, even Hitzig); but also not the people in ge- neral (Calv.); nor men of the world, who long after earthly blessings (Hupf. [Barnes]); nor compa- nions in suffering in general, especially among the fellow-countrymen of the Psalmist (De Wette);f nor unsatisfied complainers (Sachs); but those constantly increasing in number in David's lit- tle band who were discouraged. The words are not an ordinary proverb of the carnal disposi- tion of the multitude ( Venema), nor a question of impatience or of reproach (Ilupf. J, but a doubt- ing question of despondency in view of the future (Delitzsch). It is better to take it as a question * [Wordsworth, in accordance with this view, which skeins to be more correct, speaking to his followers : " Ye are now ex- cluded from the privilege of access to God's altar on Mount Zion ; hut still you may offer sacrifices of rightenvsnes!:, the sacrifice of the heart, Offer sacrifices of righteousness in mercv and meekness, not with hands stained with blood." — C. A.'B.] t [He Wette supposea that the Psalmist reflects upon the many who suffer with him, and includes them in his prayer. The prayer is the optative expressing the longings of their soul and his own. " 0 that we might see prosperity." — C. A. B.] PSALM IV. 71 than as an optative, (De Wette) although the lat- ter is possible. Lift upon us the light of thy counte- nance. These words are treated by Hupfeld and Camphausen as still the words of the many, but it is more suitable to ascribe them to the author, in whose intercession the two solemn ex- pressions of priestly blessing, Num. vi. 25, 26, "makes/tine," "lift up" melt pregnantly together. It is doubtful whether there is not still a third reference entwined with the others by an allusion of the form i"lpp (for the pointing compare Som- mer's Bibl. Abhandl. 1. 110) to DJ=banner, stand- ard (Sachs: let stream; Delitzsch, better: let wave). I3ut since Delitzsch himself grants that the derivation (Isaki, Rosenm.) from DDJ is not allowable, and the reference is only to be recog- nized by the eye, and not by the ear, it is ad- visable, with Aben Ezra, Luther, et al., to hold fast to this ; that HDJ is like Ni#J (which is in- t: r : k deed the reading of 1 Codd. Kenn.), especially as the last mentioned form of the imperative is used also in Ps. x. 12 instead of the usual form, Nty. E. von Ortenberg [Zur Textkritikder Psalmen, 1861, p. 2) wishes also to make the alteration even there. The Vulgate has signatum est, according to the Sept.: eor][ieiuti)i=miide known by a sign, which is explained by most interpreters : it beams so that it may be known. [Riehm: "instead of despairing, he believes; instead of complaining, he prays. He opposes his own prayer to the unbelieving question of the many." — Upon us. Alexander: "indicates the expansive, comprehen- sive spirit of true piety, extends the prayer to his companions in misfortune." — C. A. B.] Ver. 7. Greater than [More than — A. V.]. — This sentence is very much contracted, and con- tains really three ellipses: (1) of an adjective, greater or better; (2) of the idea compared, joy ; (3) of the relative either after time (Gesenius), or after new wine (J. H. Mich.), especially if we would translate according to the accents: than at the time of their corn and new wine, wheu they are abundant; and if we would not take the fol- lowing )2~\ as an independent clause: they are many. For the particulars comp. Hupfeld. Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Flaminus, Sachs, avoid the ellipses with the exception of that of the relative by the translation: since that their corn, etc. This translation is, however, connected with historical explanations which are entirely untenable The translation of the Vulg. follows the reading of the Sept.: of the fruit of their corn and wine and oil they had abundance. But instead of a fructu, many ancient Psalteries read (vid. Schegg) a tempore, which leads to the reading a~b aaipov instead of a-(> Kap-ov. Ewald, Olsh., Camph. explain the suffix as impersonal. Hupfeld refers it to the many (ver. 6) ; most others, correctly, to the enemies of the poet, and indeed most properly thus: that the quiet joy of the royal Psalmist, who rejoices in God, whilst he is suffering want in a time when food can only occasionally be brought to him, owing to the hostility excited against him in almost the entire land (2 Sam. xvi. 1; xvii. 26 sq.), is set far above the loud raging of his enemies, who revel in the abundance of harvest; consequently the historical reference is maintained even here against the supposition that the poet merely uses a proverbial expression (Hupf., Hitzig, Camphausen, et al.) in order to put his religious joy higher than the highest worldly joy. [Delitzsch : "David had come to Mahanaim, whilst the rebels were encamped in Gilead. The land round about him was hostile, so that he had received provisions as stolen for his support, 2 Sam. xvii. 26-29. Perhaps it was about the time of the feast of the Tabernacles. The harvest of grain and wine was past. A rich harvest of corn and new wine had been brought into the barns. Absalom's collectors of revenue had a strong support in these rich provisions of which they had the disposal. David and his little band had the appearance of a band of beggars atid free- booters. But the king, who has been brought from the sceptre to the beggar's staff, is even more joyous than the rebels. What he has in his heart is a better treasure than they have in their barns and cellars." Words- worth: "Many among you (David is speak- ing to his followers, who accompanied him in his flight from Jerusalem over the Mount of Olives, and look wistfully and despondingly on the city from which they were driven), many among you are saying, Where is any hope left? ITAo will show us any good? And he turns from them and raises his eyes to God: 'Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.' We cannot now, it is true, offer the sacrifices of vic- tims before the Ark at Jerusalem, but we may offer the sacrifices of the spirit. We have not ac- cess to the Urim and Thummim on the High Priest's breast-plate in the sanctuary ; but God will lift up the light of His countenance upon us. We cannot now receive the benediction of the Priests : ' The Lord bless thee and keep thee : the Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up Hi3 countenance upon thee, and give thee peace ' (Num. vi. 24-26); but the Lord Himself is ever present with us to bless us, and He lifts up the light of His countenance upon us. There is our true good. There is our genuine gladness, — a gladness of heart, — greater than any which our enemies can feel on account of the increase of their material blessings of corn and wine (ver. 7)."— C. A. B.] Str.Y. Ver. 8. The rapid change of experience which is admitted to prevail is so inconceivable to some interpreters, that they do not even re- gard the assurance of the praying Psalmist that he has received joy from the Lord, as a princi- ple derived from experience (with Hupfeld), to which the praying man can refer in joyful re- membrance, with a glance towards the gracious light of the Divine countenance; still less, with Hengstenberg, do they allow without question that it is an expression of the comfort of faith received into the heart in consequence of the prayer just uttered, and of the assurance of faith in its being heard ; so also they do not put a pause somewhere between vers. 6 and 7 as indispensa- ble, that the agitated breast of the poet may have time to breathe, in order that his feelings may be- come composed; but they suppose a longer space, and postulate for it a joyful heart, which then Hit- zig has spun to the conjecture that vers. 7 and 8 might have been subsequently added by the poet. 72 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. If a particular event is insisted on between vers. 6 and 7, then it is easier, instead of con- jecturing any unknown good fortune, to suppose the fact well known to all experienced believers, that in ardent prayers made in times of severe calamity, they receive a Divine promise of cer- tainly being heard, and are transported with a bound from sickness to joy by the gracious coun- tenance of God shining upon them personally in the most fearful night of calamity. But even this spiritual explanation is entirely unneces- sary here, for the supposition of a change of sentiment is simply forced into the text. Al- ready in ver. 3 the Psalmist has expressed the confidence that his prayers would be heard, in the assurance of his peculiar relation to God, and from this position called upon his enemies to repent. From the same situation and confidence he continues to speak when he draws forth from their sighs and murmurs, the question circulating among his followers which had remained true to him, though discouraged. This question must be answered, and he answers it at once, but not theoretically or didactically, but practically, re- ligiously and ethically, so that the hearers who are spiritually wretched may be drawn into his comforting exercise, viz., to prepare themselves a peaceful and quiet sleep in the midst of their enemies by invoking Divine grace, by thankful confession of blessings already experienced, and by resignation to the protection of the Al- mighty. Directly will I lay me down and sleep. — The adverb, according to Hupfeld, is without em- phasis and merely serves to unite two synonymous verbs. But it is this very coincidence of that which the two verbs thus combined express, that is here undeniably expressed by the adverb, Ps. cxli. 10; Jer. xlii. 14 (Ewald, Delitzsch, Camph., Hitzig), which, after Aben Ezra, is explained by some: at the same time with my enemies; by others: together with my enemies, [rerowne: At once will I lay me down and sleep — as soon as I lie down, I sleep, not harassed by disturbing and anxious thoughts. — C. A. B.] — Alone in safety. — It is doubtful whether the adverb is to be connected with Jehovah according to the authority of the Punctators, for which, among recent interpreters, Ewald, Olsh., Camph. decide, and Hupfeld also at least inclines to this, because the reference to Jehovah as the only ground of his safety corresponds with the previous con- trast (Calvin : the alone sufficient One, who recom- penses the whole world) ; or whether it belongs to the speaker in the signification "alone" "se- parate," with which the idea of safety and inti- macy is connected (especially clear in Jer. xlix. 31). I decide for this last interpretation, which is found in Sept., Vulg., and all ancient transla- tions, and Sachs, De Wette, Von Lengerke, De- litz., Hitzig, among recent interpreters, because this not only gives a good sense, but because only Deut. xxxii. 12 can be adduced in the language for the possibility of the first signification, whilst all other passages are in favor of the latter, especially Deut. xxxiii. 28 is analogous, and per- haps typical, just as for the last words of the Psalm, Lev. xxv. 18, 19. Hengstenberg, who makes this prominent, would unite both references and adduces as a real parallel, Deut. xxxiii. 12. [Riehm : " The thought that Jehovah is the only protection, is without motive in the context, as it is not said that he lacked other protection, nor of the many that they sought other protection anywhere else. The TD7 and D037 are pa- rallel, and express a common idea as the two verbs in the first member." So Alexander: "Alone in safety thou wilt make me dwell." These remarks of Riehm are convincing. De- litzsch: "The iambics with which the Psalm closes, are as the last sounds of a cradle song, which dies away softly, and as it were, falling to sleep itself. Dante is right; the sweetness of the music, and harmony of the Hebrew Psalter, has been lost in the Greek and Latin translations." — C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. He who knows the moral nature of God, stands in a gracious personal relation to Him, and experiences Divine assistance ; has, even in severe times, joyfulness in prayer, courage for the struggle ordained for him, confidence in the help of God, and comfort with reference to the issue of his affliction. 2. Righteousness and Grace are not opposed to one another in God, but man must not forget that he must enter into positive and active relations with reference to both of these at- tributes of God, if he would obtain and re- tain righteousness, peace, and joy. " He who is perplexed with Divine government amidst the confusion in the world's move- ments, and asks: where then is Providence? demands that he should be directed to the sun in clear noonday" (Chrysostom). 3. He who is assured of his election, and his favor with God, loses all fear of man. But he must value the position given him, and should not only defend himself therein against calumniation, and standout against assaults, but should strengthen himself in it by submission to God, and remind others, even his adversaries, of their duty, and stimulate them by warning, admonition, and summons, to perform their obligations. 4. Where God causes His face to shine, there man is enabled to behold what he desires to see for his comfort and consolation in hours of gloom, which either he could not perceive in the hour of affliction, or could not profit by it, owing to the care, and fear, and unbelief, and doubt, which darkened his soul. The hope of faith is opposed to the doubt of unbelief, and the protection of God is better than many thousands of guards, and warlike companions. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. We do well, first of all, to speak ivith God, and then to transact business with our neighbors. — When the world is at enmity with us the friend- ship of God is: 1) The best consolation; 2) the surest help. — There is no night too dark to be illu- minated when God shows us the light of His counte- nance— The best care for our welfare is: 1) The thankful acknowledgment of God's mercy; 2) the consideration of God's justice ; 3) the fervent sup- plication for confirmation of God's faithfulness and omnipotence. — All the ways of the pious be- PSALM IV. gin and end with trust in the faithful God. — He who appeals to his stale of grace must see to it: 1) That he makes his own calling and election sure ; 2) that he helps others to be saved. — The pious have these constant gains : 1) Righteous- ness, from faith in the grace of God ; 2) joy iu God, raised above all anxiety and desire for the world; 3) the peace of God which passeth all understanding. — A pious man may be sorely af- flicted in the world, yet he will never feel that he is forsaken by God. — The righteous have al- ways joy and peace. — The worst darkness is that of the soul which believes it cau see no future good. — He who lives in the favor of God, serves the Master by day, commits himself to God's pro- tection by uight, and so has joy and peace. — Our happiness 'does not consist in eating and drink- ing, but in having a gracious God and a good conscience. Starke: Prayer is the comfort of a sorrowful heart ; for we know that'God hears our prayers. — When we pray to God we should, as it were, support the prayer with the previous mercies of God ; for experience worketh hope, which maketh not ashamed, Rom. v. 14. — Whoever would be great with God must be unimportant in the eyes of the world. — All that worldlings esteem to be great is only vanity, nothingness, and perishable ; when they regard it as in the highest degree ne- cessary, yet it does not last, or stand the test. — God's ways, in dealing with His own, are not crooked ways, which lead to hell with lies and deceit of a corrupt nature, but He leads them se- cretly, in holy truth and wisdom. — All disorderly affections are sinful; learn, Christian, to be still, and to judge with composure that which would move you to anger. — The sacred tire of indigna- tion for the honor of God and against evil, must on no account be confounded with the strange fire of carnal anger. — He, who is honored with the favor of God, can easily overcome the con- tempt of the world. — That security which is to be condemned, comes from the flesh, but that which is blessed comes from faith, and produces true peace. — There is no true rest or safety to be found without communion with God ; no hurtful disquiet or danger need be feared when under the gracious protection of the Master. — Luther : What can goodness have, which God has not? — Bugenhagen: No one can truly hope in God, and trust in Him alone, without offering to Him the sacrifices of righteousness. — Osiander: When we suffer similar need, we may yet be cheerful, if only we have a gracious God. — He who tru-ts in God is safe from all danger, or is sure, in the midst, of danger, of having by His action a safe issue. — Selnekker: Do what is commanded thee, — do not mind the cunning and artfulness of others,— commit all that to the right- eous God, — He will smooth all difficulties. — Mou- ler : Many who seek rest, sin through impa- tience, because they do not console themselves with the mercy of God. — Arndt: The joy of the believer should not come from the flesh, but from God alone. — Bake: I have prayed, and pray still, aud will pray all my life ; I will die a sup- pliant.— Frisch: The movements of the heart cannot be prevented so far as their first impulses are concerned ; yet a believer may refrain from giving his approbation, and prevent an outbreak in gesture, word, or deed. Taube : The blessed relation of a child of God to the world : 1) He is alone in the world, but depends entirely upon his God ; 2) he testifies before the world of their evil life and ways, as well as of his God and his religious life, and both in the spirit of truth and love ; (3) he rests in God, with a joy and peace, which the world does not possess or know. [.Matt. Henry: Godly men are God's separated, sealed ones; He knows them that are His, hath set His image and superscription upon them.— Spurgeon : Observe that David speaks first to God, and then to man. Surely we should all speak the more boldly to men, if we had more constant converse with God. He who dares to face his Maker will not tremble before the sons of men. — Election is the guarantee of complete salvation, and an argument for success at the throne of grace. He who chose us for Himself, will surely hear our prayers. The Lord's elect shall not be condemned, nor shall their cry be unheard. David was king by Divine decree, and we are the Lord's people in the same manner ; let us tell our enemies to their faces that they tight against God and destiny, when they strive to overthrow our souls. — Stay, rash sinner, stay, ere thou take the last leap. Go to thy bed and think upon thy ways. Ask counsel of thy pil- low, and let the quietude of the night instruct thee! Throw not away thy soul for naught! Let reason speak ! Let the clamorous world be still awhile, and let thy poor soul plead with thee to bethink thyself before thou seal its fate and ruin it forever. — Corn and wine are but fruits of the world, but the light of God's countenance is the ripe fruit of heaven. " Thou art with me," is a far more blessed cry than " Harvest home." Let my granary be empty, I am yet full of bles- sing, if Jesus Christ smiles upon me; but if I have all the world, I am poor without Him. — Sweet Evening Hymn ! 1 shall not sit up to watch, through fear, but I will lie down; and then I will not lie awake, listening to every rust- ling sound, but I will lie down in peace, and sleep, for I have naught to fear. Better than bolts or bars is the protection of the Lord. — A quiet con- science is a good bed-fellow. How many of our sleepless hours might be traced to our untrusting and disordered minds. They slumber sweetly whom faith rocks to sleep. No pillow so soft as a promise ; no coverlet so warm as an assured in- terest in Christ.— Sturgeon's Treasury of David. — Thomas Watson: We set apart things that are precious ; the godly are set apart as God's peculiar treasure (Psalm cxxxv. 4); as His garden of delight (Song Sol. iv. 12); as His royal diadem, (Is. xliii. 3) ; the godly are the ex- cellent of the earth, (Ps. xvi. 3) ; comparable to fine gold, (Lam. iv. 2); double refined, (Zech. xiii. 9). They are the glory of creation, (Is. xlvi. 13). Origen compares the saints to sap- phiree and crystals ; God calls them jewels (Mai. iii. 17).— C. A. B.] 74 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. PSALM V. To the chief musician upon Nehiloth, a Psalm of David. 1 Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my meditation. 2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God : For unto thee will I pray. 3 My voice shaltthou hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. 4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness : Neither shall evil dwell with thee. 5 The foolish shall not stand in thj7 sight : Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. 6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing : The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. 7 But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: And in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. 8 Lead rae, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies ; Make thy way straight before my face. 9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth ; their inward part is very wickedness ; Their throat is an open sepulchre; they natter with their tongue. 10 Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee. 11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: Let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: Let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. 12 For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; With favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Respecting the title, vid. Introduction. This is a morning prayer, which is not only in gene ral a testimony to the Divine grace and right- eousness in defending and blessing the pious, and in excluding the wicked from their society, to their own destruction (Venema) ; or a prayer against hypocrites and false prophets who mis- lead the people of God and the inheritance of Christ with their human precepts (Luther); but the prayer of a pious man, surrounded by un- We thus have not only a subjective source for a didactic Psalm, in which the poet speaks in the abstract, as a righteous person (Hengst.), but the reference is to a special circumstance, which yet does not appear in such a way, that we are obliged with the Rabbins to consider Doeg or Ahithophel as the real opponents of the Psalm- ist. Ver. 7 is not necessarily against David as the author of this Psalm (vid. exegesis). The in- terpreters differ very much in the analysis of this Psalm. It seems to me most natural; since the symbolism of numbers, accepted by Heng- stenberg, is not favored at all by the structure or godly enemies, which are deceitful rather than : contents of the Psalm, and there is no sign of a powerful ; and he prays for Divine guidance, blessing, and protection for himself, and punish- ment for his enemies, who are at the same time adversaries of God; and he bases both petitions on the righteousness of God, who rules over Is- rael as king. homogeneous structure of the strophes, to divide according to the contents: a) An introductory invocation of God, vers. 1-3 ; b) reasons for the Psalmist's confidence in prayer, vers. 4-7; c) petition for his own person, with reasons, vers. 8, 9; d) petition with respect to his opponents, PSALM V. ver. 10; c) closing statement respecting the con- sequences of such a prayer being heard, with reasons, vers. 11, 12. Str. I. Ver. 1. Hear my sighs [" consider my meditation" A. V.] The construction of the verb with the accusative, does not allow the transla- tion "listen to." Instead of sighs it may be translated "meditation," (Syr., Itabb., Hengst.), since this word, which occurs only here ami Pa. xxxix. 4, is derived from a root which denotes thinking, as well as a dull tone, a low sound.''' Either translation gives a suitable contrast to the loud cry mentioned, ver. 3. Ver. 'J. My king. — [Hupf. : " Here, and gene- rally in the Old Testament, not only in .a gene- ral sense as Ruler of the earth, as the ancient nations called their gods kings, but in a special theocratic relation to the people of Israel, as a subject to his king, whose righteousness and protection he invokes, and can expect with confidence, Psalms x. '6; xliv. 4; xlviii. 2; lxviii. 24 ; lxxiv. 12 ; lxxxiv. 3 ; 1 Sam. xii. 12." — C. A. B.] Ver. 3. In the morning. — This word has the same meaning in both members of the verse, its first use ami its repetition. Hupfeld even has re- jected the figurative, soon, early, but yet would find in the local reference only a poetical force ; whilst Delitzsch, on the contrary, in justification of Hengst., remarks that then the allusion to the daily morning sacrifice would be done away with. But "]"}?_ iS tue usual word for the arrangement of the wood of the offering, Lev. i. 7, and of the pieces offered, i. 8, 12; vi. 5; the holy lamps, Ex. xxvii. 21; Lev. xxiv. 8; the show bread, Ex. xl. 23 ; Lev. xxiv. 8 ; and the arrangement of the wood for the lamb of the morning sacrifice was one of the first duties of the priest as soon as the day began. Ps. lv. 17 mentions three times for prayer. [Wordsworth: "David lays his prayer on the altar as a sacrifice to God. The wood and the victim are of no avail without the spiritual sacrifice of the heart of the offerer." — C. A. B ] This figure, Look out (Look up, A. V.), is used, Mich. vii. 7 ; llab. ii. 1. [Barnes: "The idea is that he would watch narrowly and carefully (as one does who is stationed on a tower) for some token of Divine favor. — This is perhaps equivalent to the Saviour's oft-repeated command '• watch and pray !" Perowne: " As the priest might look (or as Elijah looked on Carmel) for the fire from heaven to descend and consume the vic- tim -'—a A. B.] Str. II. Ver. 4. For thou art not a God, etc. — The Psalmist bases his courage in drawing near to God in prayer, and his confidence of being hoard on attributes which are derived from the Being of God; and indeed his confidence is based on the holiness of God, and his courage on the abundance of Divine grace; the former nega- tively, the latter positively. Be a guest ["dwell," A. V.]. "MS is usually connected with U]f, but also with the accusative, and indeed of the person, when the idea of place is applied to persons (Hupf.) Comp. Pss. Iviii. 4; lxviiu 18; cxx. 5; Gen. xxx. 20. It indi- cates not'only the right of external entrance into * [" Bkditaiim " is tho bpUPr translation adopted by Ewil.l, Hupfeld, Perouue, Delitzsch, et al.—C. A. B.j the temple, but the enjoyment of the rights of hospitality which include that of protection. The same figure is used. Pss. xv. 1 ; xxiii. 6 ; xxvii. 4; xxxi. 20; xxxvi. 8; lxi. 4; lxxxiv. 4. [Thus Ewald, Hupf., Perowne, et al. Perowne: " Evil (personified) cannot be a guest or friend of Thine ; cannot tarry in Thy house, as xv. 1 ; lxi. 5; not merely, however, with a reference to the temple, but to that spiritual abiding in the presence of God, and in the light of His counte- nance, wdiich is the joy only of them that are true of heart. To the wicked the light of God's countenance is a consuming fire." — C. A. B.l Ver. 5. In this connection it is proper in the following verse to think of the privilege of stand- ing before the eyes of God. It may mean how- ever not to endure the judicial glance of God, as is usual. Instead of fools comp. Pss. lxxiii. 3; lxxv. 4, others translate vain-glorious and haughty, or mad, raging. For the etymology of the word and its many meanings, vid: Hupfeld in loco. [Hupfeld thinks of the privilege of the no- bles and others, who stand in the presence of the King, Prov. xxii. 29, and the angels which are said to stand before God, Job i. G; ii. 1. Pe- rowne seems to favor this view. It is the pri- vilege of the pious to stand before God as a gra- cious symbol of their intimate relations with Him as Sovereign and Friend. This idea makes the entire strophe harmonious and beautiful. The three negative clauses, vers. 4 and ba, are followed by three positive clauses, vers. bb and 6, which unfold and carry out the ideas advanced positively and emphatically. There is a beautiful gradation and correspondence in the six clauses. Thus the statement that God has no pleasure in wickedness is carried out into, " Thou hatest all workers of iniquity ;" that evil cannot be a guest with Thee, that is, have Thy care and protec- tion, and enjoy Thy hospitality passes over into, "Thou destroyest them that speak lies; that the foolish cannot stand in Thy sight," that is, in Thy favor, regard, and affection, as Thy friends and favorite subjects, becomes, "the bloody and deceitful man doth the Lord abhor " — C. A. B.] Ver. 7. Palace {"temple," A. V.]. The pre- ceding word " house " had already made many interpreters doubtful of the Davidic authorship of this Psalm ; the expression "palace " seems to them entirely irreconcilable with it. As far as the former is concerned we know that bait (beit.) in the Semitic languages denoted origi- nally, the place where the night was passed, and that the signification afterwards became more general ; but the reference to night-time, espe- cially, passed out of use (vid. Fleischer in De- litzsch, Comm. on the Psalms). It is in accord- ance with this that the place where God appeared to Jacob in the open field was named Beth-El, Gen. xxviii. 17. Accordingly every place of prayer, as the place of the Divine presence might bear this name. And is it otherwise with "pa- lace'" ? As soon as God is conceived as King this reference is natural and proper. That it does not at all matter about the material, follows from the designation of heaven as the palace of God, Pss. xi. 4; xviii. 6; xxix. 9, and that, we are not compelled to think of a large building, but that the reference is to the place of Jehovah's 76 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. throne, is proved from the fact that it is just the most holy place that is called the palace of the house, 1 Kings vi. 3. Naturally also the entire temple of Solomon might be called the palace, as well as the house of God (2 Kings xxiii. 4). But the assertion that the entire manner of the refe- rence presupposes the temple, cannot be proved. On the contrary, the heavenly relations are throughout the ideal and type of that which is presented on earth. Accordingly, Moses even beholds the pattern of the tabernacle (Ex. xxv. 40 ; xxvi. 26 sq.; Heb. viii. 5), and the legal places of sacrifice were according to Ex. xxiii. 19; xxxiv. 26, to be in the house of the Lord. The real sanctuary bears the same name, Josh. vi. 24, and at the time of David, 2 Sam. xii. 20. What form then had the "tabernacle" which David erected over the ark, 2 Sam. vi. 17 ? We have as little knowledge of this as of the form of the house of God at Shiloh, which in 1 Sam. ii. 22 is called "tabernacle of testimony " (Luther, "taber- nacle of the covenant"), but 1 Sam. i. 7, 24, "house," and 1 Sam. L 9; iii. 3, "palace" of Jehovah (Luther always translates hekal by temple). The same interchange of names Ps. xxvii. 4, 6; comp. Ezek. xli. 1. In this passage the reference is not to "prayer in the temple," but of turning in prayer to the holy place of the throne of Jehovah. In this I agree with Hengst., but not in the statement that the object of the future coming and worship was the thanksgiving here promised on account of the deliverance wrought by the divine grace, as Ps. lxvi. 13. The reference is certainly not to the greatness of love towards God, but to the divine grace ; but so that its fulness is designated by him as the accomplishment of the Psalmist's entrance into the sanctuary* It is necessary to regard the imperfects as future, on account of the character of the Psalm as a morning prayer, but the contrast with the preceding words limits the potential coloring=I may and will (Hupf., Delitzsch, Hitzig). Oraturi quasi caelum ingressuri et coram majestate infinita loculuri (Hugo). Str. III. Ver. 8. Lead me in Thy right- eousness, according to some, at least Heng- stenberg, refers to the attribute of God as the righteous helper and avenger, Ps. xxxi. 1, 3. But the opponents, although not exactly called "capricious" (Aquil., Jerome, and most others), are yet described, not as oppressors threatening with external danger, but as those who prepared danger with their mouths, and this character of these persons is expressed ver. 9 as the reason of the petition, that God would lead the pious Psalmist in righteousness, which discloses itself in an inoffensive walk (Ps. xxvii. 11). This righteousness, however, is not merely the virtue which God demands and is well pleasing to Him (De Wette), but a characteristic of the pious, which is indeed well pleasing to God, but yet at the same time has its source and its standard in God Himself (Hupf.), whose action is in all respects righteous. Make thy •way level before me [straight before my face, A.. V.]. — Either make it straight before me that I may see it and find it (Hitzig), or better, make it level for me to walk. Yet this does not suppose an easy exercise of motion, without trouble, but a removal of hindrances, which are not in the person who walks, but which lie in the Divine way of righteousness, in which the Psalmist would have God lead him. In order that he may walk in safety, he requests Divine help, and indeed either by removal of the mountains of trouble, the ambushes of enemies, or the setting aside of stones of stumbling, and occasions of temptation. The decision on this point must be in accordance with the explana- tion of the preceding member of the verse, since this second member is added without any con- necting word. Even with the latter interpreta- tion, which we prefer, the connection with the following clause which gives the reason of the petition, although overlooked by Hupf eld, is very evident. According to another reading, approved by Grotius, the Sept., Vulg., Arab., translate: "level my path before Thee." But Syr., Chald., Aquil., Symm., Theod., follow already the present text, and it is confirmed by the investigation of Jerome. Ver. 9. In their mouth. — The singular suf- fix among nothing but plurals, and referred to a plural, is not so much a collective as a distribu- tive (Delitzsch) " in ore uniuscujusque eorum." fX is separated from its genitive by a word which is shoved in between, as Pss. vi. 5: xxxii. 2. — Abyss ["very wickedness," A. V.] either of destruction (Pss. xxxviii. 12; lii. 4; lv. 11; Prov. xvii. 4), or the wicked lust (Prov. x. 13 ; xi. 6 ; Micah vii. 3 ; perhaps Ps. lii. 7 ; comp. Hupf.). Ver. 10. By their own counsels, so that these are the cause of their fall=overthrow, as Hos. xi. 6, etc. (Hengst., Hupf., Camph.). Others (Olsh., De Wette, Ewalcl, Delitzsch), comparing Sir. xiv. 2, refer these words to the frustration of their counsels and translate " from," or add to it "away" [Ewald, "let them fall from their plans." — C. A. B.], Luther even in the sense that the enemies should fall, be ruined, without being able to carry out their counsels. Hitzig maintains his explanation in accordance with the Arabic figure of "down from the counsel which they ride." So also in the fol- lowing member many translate : "owing to," "on account of," and understand the thrusting out [" cast out," A. V.] as their overthrow. But since the verb in question is very frequently used for the rejection of the Israelites, and their dispersion among foreign nations, it probably means here "their thrusting away" (Sept., Vulg., Mich., Rosenm., Delitzsch), and, indeed, whilst they thought to live in their sins, John viii. 21, 24 — [For they have rebelled against Thee. — Perowne. " The enemies of David are the enemies of David's God. 'Whoso touch- eth you, toucheth the apple of Mine eye,' ' Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me ? ' " — C. A. B.] Ver. 11. And they -will rejoice ["Let — rejoice," A. V.]. — Luther continues the impera- tive of petition. The imperfects may indeed be taken as optative, but it. is better to regard them as future, since these clauses state the lot of the pious and their behaviour subsequent to the hearing of their prayer and the judicial act of God. "llle placet Deo, cui placet Deus" (Augus- tine). [Ver. 12. Shield.— The TO3C, Tsinnah, is a PSALM V. large shield, larger than |JD, magen, covering the whole body, used of the shield of Goliath, 1 Sam. xvii. 7, vid. Smith's Bib. Diet., Art. Arms.— C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. He who sides with God, must be prepared as well for hostility aud persecution ou the part of the ungodly, as he is assured of protection on the part of the Almighty ; but he must also hold fast to his communion with God, and culti- vate it by prayer and Divine service, and show its power by walking in the ways of righteous- ness. '2. Walking in the way of righteousness has its difficulties, restraints and dangers ; but God makes the way level for those who fear Him ; God leads those who are devoted to Him upon it; God protects in it those who trust in Him. 3. To be reminded of the nature and Provi- dence of God is a terror to the wicked, but a consolation to the pious ; for the former are condemned, the latter saved thereby: therefore, also, the former feel that they are frightened away from the place where God reveals Himself and is worshipped; the latter, on the other hand, are drawn to this place ; and whilst the latter render prayer, praise and thanksgiving ; the former commit grievous sins with their tongue without shame or repentance. The frightful extent of natural corruption, since the fall of Adam, appears everywhere in essentially the same characteristics, hence the use made of this Psalm, in Horn. iii. 11 sq. 4. If those who blame us are to be declared liars, those who complain of us, slanderers, those who persecute us at the same time fools aud evil-doers, and if our adversaries in general are the enemies of God, then we ourselves must be found in the closest communion with God and therefore we must diligently and faithfully make use of all the means of His grace. IIOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. We cannot solemnize the morning more pro- perly than by prayer and worship ; we cannot consecrate the dag better than by walking in the way of righteousness: we cannot make the evening more delightfully blessed than by prais- ing the name of God, and by again committing ourselves with thankfulness to His protection. — The righteous government of God shows itself: 1) in the judgment with which He punishes the wicked ; 2) in the grace with which He blesses the pious. — God has revealed His name not only that we may know Him ; we ought likewise to call upon Him, and praise Him, that we have not received the grace of God in vain. He who would receive grace must likewise use the means of grace. The ungodly rices of the wicked are the reason of their fall, the cause of their destruction; on the other hand, the pious are saved, not by their righteousness, but by the grace of God in which they have taken refuge by faith. — Blessed is the man, whose mind is fixed in righteousness, whose life is supported by the Divine grace, whose daily work is sur- rounded and penetrated with grayer. — God hears not only the cry, but also the sigh of prayer. — Pious kings regard themselves as the subjects of God. Starke: God is righteousness and piety it- self; therefore it is impossible that the un- godly should stand before Him. — It is true, that believers have sins in themselves, but they are not evil-doers, who wantonly sin and make a business of sinning. — Although the vices of lying, blood- thirstiness and deceitfulness are in the highest degree accursed and injurious, yet they are usu- ally found together. — 0 man, learn to tame thy mouth and bridle thy tongue, else thou art like a wild beast in human form. — The man who is guided by God is not led astray ; he who is led by God does not err or stumble, neither in faith, nor in life; and this grieves his enemies. — What an abomination is an unconverted man! What a poisonous, wicked heart man has by nature I No sin is too great for him to commit, if not re- strained by the grace of God. — The reason of condemnation is not the lack of grace, the love of God, and the redemption of Christ, but the guilt of wanton obstinacy. The joy of believers in the righteous judgment of God upon the un- godly, is no revengeful satisfaction in the mis- fortunes of their enemies, but a sacred satisfac- tion in the preservation of the Divine truth, ho- liness, righteousness, and the honor of His name. — The grace of God is the believer's ornament and crown, but likewise his shelter, protection, and shield. Grace adorns him with righteous- ness, and protects him from condemnation. — Here is the labor, there is the reward ; here is the conflict, there the crown ; a crown of grace instead of the crown of thorns borne in this world. Although we should pray for our ene- mies, who either have slandered our persons, or persecuted us from ignorance of the truth, Matt. v. 44; yet we ought not to pray for those who blaspheme against known truth, or persecute those who confess it; for they sin against the Holy Ghost and unto death, Matth. xii. 32 ; 1 John v. 10 ; yet we may likewise pray against them not from revengeful feelings, but from a zeal for God, Ps. lix. 5. Luther: We should be pious before man, and stand in fear before God. — Calvin : God Him- self will be to us such a God as we need ; ami we can and should make such a God of our God. — OsiANHKR : Althongh God has no bodily ears, for He is a Spirit (John iv. 24) ; yet He hears very sharply (Ps. xciv 9). — We should avoid giving our enemies occasion to blaspheme the name of God and His holy Gospel, on account of our ill treatment of them. — Arnht : The righteousness of faith and Christian life are a mighty protec- tion and victory over bodily and spiritual ene- mies.— Trust in God brings blessing and grace. — Menzel: Weshould hold fast to the righteous God and His sure Word; come what will, it will have a good issue, as the contrary does not fail that crowd which forsakes Him.— Franks : When the children of the world are in need and misery, they run about and seek here and there for help, and leave God in the heavens. On the other hand, a true child of God lets all others go, and goes to his Father in his need. — Rensciiel : Sin without fear, and hypocrisy, have as their reward punishment and hate; 78 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. piety has the crown of grace. — Frisch: In or- der to overcome the enmity of the world, David goes first to the sanctuary, then he gives himself to prayer, humiliates himself before God, and calls upon Him for help anil assistance for the sake of the Messiah; finally he uudertakes to walk in God's ways, and resigns himself to the holy government of God. — Even tee righteous and pious have still so many weaknesses that they cannoi do without the Divine guidance. Herberger: The more wickedly our enemies rage, the riper are they for punishment, the nearer their ruin. — What God roots out and casts away you should not plant, cherish, and praise. — What we lack in our houses, we may seek in the house of God. — As the wagon goes on two tracks so Christianity runs on in two parts, in pure faith and irreproachable life. — It is better that God should precede us with his favor, than follow us with the sharp rod. — He who is to dwell in the heavens, God crowns with four crowns : (1) With the crown of grace and mercy, Ps. v. ; (2) with the crown of virtue and piety (Sir. i.) ; (3) with the crown of the cross and adversity, Is. xxii. 17 ; (4) with the crown of life, of honor, and of everlasting bliss (James i. 12). — Rieger : To walk before the eyes of our heavenly Father is very desirable. — The more we know and ex- perience of the world and human wickedness the more we desire the gracious government of God. — Tattbe: A model of a prayerful life for the chil- dren of God. Notice (1) how devout David's soul is towards God : (2) how well acquainted he is with God; (3) how humble before God; (4) how bold towards his God; (5) how happy in his God. [Matt. Henry: Four things David here pro- miseth, and so must we. (1) That he will pray ; that he will make a conscience of it, and make a business of it; "unto Thee will I pray." Others live without prayer, but I will pray. Kings on their thrones must be beggars at God's throne. (2) That he will pray in the morning. Morn- ing prayer is our duty; we are the fittest for prayer when we are in the most fresh, lively, and composed frame, got clear of the slumbers of the night, revived by them, and not yet filled with the business of the day. (3) That he will have his eye single, and his heart intent on the duty. As a marksman directs his arrow to the white; or as we direct a letter to a friend at such a place. (4) That he will patiently wait for an answer of peace. We must look up or look out, as he that has shot an arrow looks to see how near it has come to the mark. — — Spurgeon : There are two sorts of" prayers — those expressed in words, and the unuttered longings which abide as silent, meditations. Words are not the essence, but the garments of prayer. — Here is a grand argument why God should answer prayer — because He is our King and our God. We are not aliens to Him: He is the King of our country. Kings are expected to hear the appeals of their own people. We are not strangers to Him; we are His worshippers, and He is our God ; ours by covenant, by pro- mise, by oath, by blood. — While the dew is on the grass, let grace drop upon the soul. Let us give to God the morning of our days, and the morning of our lives. Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night. Devotion should be both the morning star and the evening star. — We should be careful to keep the stream of meditation always running; for this is the water to drive the mill of prayer. It is idle to pull up the flood-gates of a dry brook, and then hope to see the wheel revolve. — Neither on earth nor in heaven shall evil share the mansion of God. Oh, how foolish are we if we attempt to entertain two guests so hostile to one another as Christ Jesus and the Devil! Rest assured Christ will not live in the parlor of our hearts if we en- tertain the Devil in the cellar of our thoughts. — Spurgeon's Treasury of David. — Gurnall: For want of looking up, many a prayer is lost. If you do not believe, why do you pray ? And if you believe, why do you not expect? By praying you seem to depend on God ; by not expecting, you again renounce your confidence. What is this, but to take His name in vain? 0, Christian, stand to your prayer in a holy expectation of what, you have begged upon the credit of the promise. — Haldane : What proceeds out of their mouth is infected and putrid; and as the exhalation from a sepulchre proves the corruption within, bo it is with the corrupt conversation of sinners. — C. A. B.J PSALM VI. To the chief Musician on Neginoih upon Sheminith. A Psalm of David. 1 O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 2 Have mercy upon me, O Lord ; for I am weak : O Lord, heal me ; for my bones are vexed. 3 My soul is also sore vexed : But thou, O Lord, hew long? PSALM VI. 4 Return, O Lord, deliver my soul : Oh save me for thy mercies' sake. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee : In the grave who shall give thee thanks ? 6 I am weary with my groaning ; All the night make I my bed to swim ; I water my couch with my tears. 7 Mine eye is consumed because of grief; It waxeth old because of all mine enemies. 8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity ; For the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. 9 The Lord hath heard my supplication ; The Lord will receive my prayer. 10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed : Let them return and be ashamed suddenly. EXECIETICAL AND CRITICAL. Respecting the title, compare the Introduc- tion. The Church has with propriety made this Psalm the first of the seven penitential Psalms (vi., xxxii., xxxviii., li., cii., cxxx., cxliii.). For we recognize here, not the prayer of one who was greatly troubled (Francke Introduclio p. G4), but the supplication of a man who has been brought by Divine chastisements (ver 1) to the border of the grave (vers. 5-7), who yet is assured of being heard (vers. 8, 9), directed (ver. 2), and sustained (ver. 4) by grace. And yet he feels the wrath of God not in sickness (Aben Ezra, Ewald), but in distress through ungodly enemies (vers. 7, 8, 10), and he grieves so much, that bodily weakness is the consequence of iiis anguish of soul (vers. 2, 3, 6, 7). The opinion, that the description of sickness is only a highly colored illustration of trouble (to which Hupfeld inclines), is not supported by the text, still less the conjecture that the sufferer is the Jewish nation, or the better part of it which wa9 in exile (Aben Ezra prophetically, De Wette historically). The points of contact, with Jere- miah (Hitzig, Maurer, Olsh.) are of the kind that they presuppose rather the greater antiquity of the Psalm; for Jer. x. 24, corresponding with this Psalm, is directly followed, ver. li-j, with words from Ps. xxxix. 6 sq. (Delitzscli). Heng- Stenberg, very properly against Hitzig, refers to 1 Sam xxx. tj ; 2 Sam. xii. 16 sq. ; xv. 30, as historical proofs of a similar disposition in David, and Delitzsch reminds us of the conse- quences of his intercourse with P.athsheba, whilst Ruding refers to the rebellion of Absalom. Not a few of the penitential hymns of the Church have grown out of this Psalm. Sir. I. Ver. 1. Rebuke me not in Thine anger. — The position of the words shows that an emphasis is to be put upon "anger." But in the course of the Psalm the Psalmist supplicates for the deliverance of his soul and body, and is finally convinced of his complete deliverance from the power of those who afflict him. He prays moreover not tor a loving chastisement (Pss. xciv. 12; cxviii. 18; Prow iii. 11 sq.), for the sake of training the favored one, in contrast to a chastisement in anger as it comes upon the unconverted ungodly ; so also not for a moderate punishment in contrast to a severe passionate treatment; but simply for a prevention of the chastisement, which because it is received as the punishment of sin, has an essential connec- tion with the wrath of God, and would bring about the ruin of the one thus punished, unless it, should be prevented by grace, Jer. x. '24 sq. (Calv., Hengstenberg, Hupf. ). Domine quousque? was Calvin's motto.* [Riehm: "In his pre- sent condition it is as if he prayed, ' punish me no longer.'" Perowne : "The Psalmist prays that the rod may altogether be removed, and that because body and mind are alike grow- ing weary. The chastisement has been so heavy and has endured so long, and his sense of sin is so grievous, that he begins to fear lest God should shut up His tender mercies in displeasure and should consume him in His wrath." — C. A. B.] Ver. 2. [I am -weak — "OX /^OX, umlal ani The pronoun ani was supposed by Gesenius to be for the affirmative^!7!??"?^ first pers. perf. of the pulal of 7pX=to languish, to droop as plants and flowers, and thus by transfer, of trou- ble and care. Others (Hupfeld, Hitzig) regard it as part. pulal=717*DXO. the O being omitted, as not unfrequently in' this participle, and the kametz shortened into pathach on account of the accentuation, the two words having in fact but one accent. It is better, however, with Ewald (Lehrbuch, § 157 b) and Delitzscli to regard it as an adjective, like the form UJH, with the same change in the kametz, kindred to 770X. Neh. t ■• -: iii. 84. Barnes: «' Here applied to a sick per- son whose strength is withered and gone. The condition of such an one is beautifully compared with a plant that withers tor lack of moisture; ami the word is here used in this sense as re- ferring to the Psalmist himself when sick, as the result of his outward and mental sorrows. ' — C. A. B.] * [It is Btttd the most intense prief ami trouble could not extract from him. Knottier word. — (J. A. ii.J 80 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. Bones. — Hupfeld shows that this in poetical usage denotes, not only the frame of the body or the entire body, in all that concerns the feel- ings of life, but also the entire man as a sensi- tive being, and indeed also in spiritual or ethical and religious relations and expressions of life, coinp. Pss. xxxv. 10; li. 8. Yet there is here a reference to a shaking of the body, because the still more violent commotion of the soul is directly mentioned (ver. 3). Therefore also the soul (ver. 3) is not a circumlocution for the person, or substratum of the suffering subject (Hupf.) ; so also not a designation of the life which is endangered (J. H. Michael., Hengst.); but that real soul, which after death continues its exist- ence with departed spirits in Hades, but yet has no complete life in itself. [Wordsworth: " The Septuagint has here rj ipvXV f10^ erapaxtin, words adopted by our Lord Himself in His sufferings (John xii. 27; Ps. xlii. 3-7)."— C. A. B.] Str. II. [Ver. 4. Return. — Perowne: "For it seems to the sufferer as if God had been absent during his affliction ; and there is no hope for him but in God. Therefore the repeated prayer, ' Do Thou be gracious unto me : how long wilt Thou be absent? Return Thou,' etc. And ob- serve not only 'be gracious for I languish,' but ' deliver me for Thy loving-kindness' sake.' Any man may' use the first; only one who has tasted that the Lord is gracious can use the last." — C. A. B.] Ver. 5. For in death there is no remem- brance of Thee. — The petition has as its mo- tive the fact that the Divine interest itself is concerned in the deliverance of the man who can render thanks well-pleasing to God, only as living and not as one lost in death and swal- lowed up in Hades. Yet this is only one side of the thought. The other side (which is fre- quently overlooked) is likewise brought into view, namely, that the petitioner has at heart, to render thanks and praise to the glory of God. The relation is therefore in no respect a selfish one, in which the interests of selfishness prevail, but a moral and religious one. The etymology of Shcol [incorrectly rendered in A. V. "grave." — C. A. B.] is doubtful, but not the idea which the Old Testament has of it as the gathering- place of departed spirits in a gloomy and sor- rowful place under the earth, from which there is no possible escape by human help, and in which the departed lead a shadowy existence rather than a real and complete life. Christ has not only made a change in the ideas concerning the condition of the dead, but has also partly brought about and partly made possible a change in the condition itself.* * [VlXi^. Gesenius, Ewald, BiJttch., Maurer, el al., regard it as from the not jyiy='~)iiW=tQ dig, hollow out, like 7^^= hollow of the hand. 7l_r*tyrj=hollow way, thus meaning a hollow, subterranean place. Germ., Holle=Hohle=hollow, cavern; Eug., hell. Hupfeld derives it from /Xty, an old root similar to 7'ljtf, h'lU, TflVfi bv?}, the radical letter Deing 7, with the idea of loose, lax, hanging down, in a double direction, expressing the idea of sinking down and separation (as x. hio xa^''LM- etc.), hence the derivative idea of being swallowed up, abyss, depth (as in the poetical V"lXn jVvhnn). a'1'1 n1sn tbat of chasm, hollow, empty space, as in Uerm. Hollc aud in \aapo., xa<>s (also used tor Ver. 6. I make of my bed a flood of tears [" I ivater my couch with my tears" A. V.]. — Camphausen literally: "I make my bed to flow away." We are not to substitute counte- nance for eye (most interpreters since Vatabl ). The life of the soul as well as the body is mir- rored in the eye; therefore in descriptions of bodily and spiritual condition and qualities it is •often mentioned as the representative of the countenance and the entire man (Hupf.). Ver. 7. Hupfeld justifies the signification grief against Hengstenberg as a poetical generaliza- tion of the word which certainly in Hebrew means primarily indignation and ill-will, particu- larly with respect to another's folly and unfaith- fulness. [Alexander: "Mine eye has failed, grown dim, a common symptom both of mental and bodily distress ; from vexation, not mere grief, but grief mixed with indignation at my ene- mies." Barnes: "It waxeth old, experiences the effects commonly produced by age in blunt- ing the power of vision. This is not an uncom- mon effect of grief and sadness." — 0. A. B.] Str III. [Ver. 8. Alexander: " Here the key abruptly changes from the tone of sorrowful complaint to that of joyful confidence. No gradual transition could have so successfully conveyed the idea, that the prayer of the Psalm- ist has been heard and will be answered. The effect is like that of a whisper in the sufferer's ear, while still engrossed with his distresses, to assure him that they are about to terminate. This he announces by a direct and bold address to his persecuting enemies." Perowne: "Mark the sudden change as of sunrise upon night. Already the prayer and the weeping have been heard. Already faith has triumphed." — C. A. B.] Ver. 10. They -will be ashamed. — The im- perfects are not to be taken as optatives [" Let all mine enemies be ashamed" etc., A. V.], but as futures, for the hearing of his prayer is so cer- tain to the Psalmist that he has already, on this account, called out to those who afflict him in a tone of triumph: depart from me (ver. 8). hell). So also Delitzsch. The former derivation is preferable. Delitzsch: "The Psalmist knows only one gathering-place for the dead in the depths of the earth, where they indeed live, but only a quasi life, because they have departed from the light of this world, and what is more lamentable, from the light of the Divine presence." The Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades were alike. As the grave was the place of the dead body, Sheol or Hades was the place of departed spirits. This was taken for granted in the Old Testament, together with the doctrine of immortality, and there is a remarkable absence of revelation concerning it. The joy of God's people was in the theocracy as existing in this world, and in the Messianic future, and it was not until the Messiah came, and died, aud passed through the grave to a resurrection, that light shone upon the abode of the departed spirits, and even here a light only so far as that the light of a glorious resurrection shines through the riven grave and Hades (2 Tim. i. 10). Perowne: "The argument here em- ployed is no doubt characteristic of the old dispensation. They who then feared and loved God, nevertheless walked in shallows, and their hope was not yet full of immortality. Hence their earnest clinging to life, so different from St. Paul's 'desire to depart,' to which there is nothing parallel in the Old Testament. It was not that they dreaded annihi- lation, but rather a kind of disembodied existence apart from the light of God's presence.— The Old Testament saints pleaded with God for life, in order that life might be conse- crated to His service. And it is very touching to see how, with the weakness of man's heart, trembling at dissolution, there mingles the child-like confidence which fears not to advance the plea that God's glory is concerned in granting its request." Compare Ilezekiah's sickness. Is. xxxviii. 18, 19, also Moses' prayer for the life of the people, Num. xiv 13-21.— C. A. B.J PSALM VI. 81 2W [A. V., return'] means not penitential turn- ing back of his enemies to the Psalmist (Aben Ezra, Kimchi), is moreover not an auxiliary to express the adverb, again, anew ( Venema, Paul), but it means the external side of the failure of their attack, as Bfa [A. V., be ashamed], the internal. Delitzsch calls our attention to the musical cadence. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1 Sin draws after it punishment, and the judg- ment of an angry God is terrible ; but only the impenitent sinner is lost, not the penitent. It is true, in bitter, heartfelt grief over his sins, he ex- periences a sorrow, which not only grieves the 60ul, but also withers the body; but he feels at the same time that he is mightily drawn towards God by this godly sorrow. He confesses his guilt and the justice of the punishment with which the holy God visits him, and makes known that he is well aware how richly he deserves the disfavor and wrath of God, and how he has forfeited his life with his sins. But he perceives in this very punishment that God is still inter- ested in him, and he himself has still a longing after God. He can still believe in grace, and therefore pray for life; and in this consists the saving change which takes place in his condi- tion. Ne desperando augeamus peccata, propositus est pcenitenlise port us; rursus, nesperando augeamus, datus est dies mortis incertus (Augustine) 2. As long as nothing is to be expected after death, but a realm of shades in the world below for the gathering of departed souls, so long fear of death is the prevailing power with the sinner, and his prayer for deliverance is chiefly directed towards the preservation of his life which is threatened. A germ of further development lies in the recognition of the fact that this pre- servation is a work of grace. But as long as communion with God is not yet recognized and desired as the true good in the life which has been saved by grace, and there is not found at. the same time in this deliverance which is longed for, a restoration to this communion which has been destroyed by sin, so long there is lacking the assurance that there is a life higher than the earthly, and that life icith, for, and in God is the only true life. But such assurance now forms the fruitful soil for thoughts of eternal life, and for faith in the resurrection of the dead. Yet this does not come into consideration here. However a step in this direction is taken by the expression of the conviction that God can receive the recognition, honor and praise due Him, only from the living, and not from the dead. 3. The relation of man to the world in gene- ral, and to other men in particular, very much depends upon the relation in which he stands to God. If a man is regarded as for- saken of God, the number and audacity of his enemies increase , he is regarded as an easy prey, and those who are themselves evil-doers think that they can judge, condemn and crush their opponent on account of his sins. But if God turns His grace upon the penitent, and ac- cepts the contrite again, so that the hand of God i3 seen in his affairs delivering and blessing him, 6 then people look more to the change of his con- dition than the reason for it, and but seldom does it accomplish their conversion ; but they feel ashamed and retire. Quanto benignius de Deo, tanto indignius de me sentire cogor (Anselm). — Egreditnle natura ingredttur Deus (Tauler). HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. The severest afflictions are turned into bless- ings, if they (1) remind us of our guilt by which we have drawn upon us the wrath of God; (2) if they urge us to the godlg sorrow of repent- ance ; (3) if they stir us up to believing suppli- cation for the grace of God. — It is better to fall into the hands of God than of men, for God punishes earnestly in His riglUeom wrath ; but He likewise is gracious towards those who turn to Him in repentance. — The most bitter part of affliction is the sense of Divine wrath ; but this bitterness is a healing remedy, if it excites us to seek with penitence and lay hold of the grace of God by faith. — We learn to overcome even the peril of death, if we attain to the point of seeking life with God and gaining the preserva- tion of life from God.^-Prayer and tears are the strongest weapons man can have; by them God allows Himself to be overcome. — The most for- tunate turns in life take place (1) when we turn to God as converts; (2) when God turns again His grace upon us; (3) when our enemies turn away ashamed. Luther: To realize sin aright, is torment above all other torments. — To wait, is in all the movements of the heart very bard and irksome. —Starke: God lays hold of the ungodly with the punishment of His wrath, but the pious with the chastisement of discipline, in order that those who bring forth fruit, may bring forth more fruit. — No one. can be strengthened by God, or rightly experience the grace of God, without first experiencing his own weakness (2 Cor. xii. 9). — We do not deserve any grace by the toil and anguish of our penitence for sin; yet we can present it before God, because He has promised in such disposition of the bruised heart for Christ's sake to bestow His grace. — How long? how long? are the usual words of lamentation of cross-bearers in ge- neral, but especially of those who are inex- perienced, which God is ready to receive favor- ably, if only they are not without faith and tranquillity. — When God turns away with His grace from man, it is the soul's greatest sorrow ; when (iod turns again to man with His grace, that is the redemption and hope of the soul. — The children of the world desire a long life for the sake of carnal gratification; but the chil- dren of God in order to glorify the Divine name; and thus a Christian may ask for a pro- longation of his life. — Christians should not be ashamed of tears ; in those who are truly peni- tent they are the witnesses of a painful sorrow for sin. — It is not for the laughing mouth to be truly penitent ; it demands the inner repentance of the heart, body, and soul, and all the powers. — 0 great folly to make so much of the external beautiful form of the body, and make a show of it! how soon may it be destroyed by sickness of body or 82 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. of spirit. — What sad consequences sin has when conscience awakes! — Truly he must be a loving Father who hears the supplication, weeping, and prayers of His children, even when He seems to be angry and punishes them on account of their sias. — Let no one delay to repent and be con- verted; for God's punishments descend suddenly. — August.: Woe to human life, be it never so esti- mable and precious, if the mercy of God is not there. — Osiandek: We need the chastisement of God; but. we should pray that this may not be too hard for us to bear (1 Cor. x. .13). — Thus it happens, that as good days swiftly pass, one day spent in trouble and anguish appears to be a year long. Trouble and internal vexation consume all the powers of body and spirit: but God can give us new powers again. — Bugenuagen: Only he who implores the mercy of God can escape the wrath of God. — Selnekker: When thou art frightened on account of thy sins, and know not how to get rid of them, flee to God, and confess thy sins to Him; uncover them to Him, in order that H« may cover them. Ecoaed: It is very dangerous for a man, when it comes to this, that ftod punishes him in His wrath, and scourges him .in His fury. — Oh and woe are among all men^he be.st teachers and tuners of prayer. — We should flee from the an- gry God to the reconciled God, and we should appeal from His strong righteousness to His pa- ternal goodness and mercy. — Three heart, break- ers most violently assail us: (1) When God lays hold of that part of us which gives the most pain ; (2) when many needs and sorrows come together; (3) when they last long, and as it seems to us, without end. — Baumgaeten : As God's grace is better than life, so is His wrath worse than death itself. — Renschel: God has two modes of punishment: (1) The punishment of wrath ; (2) that of discipline. — We may very properly pray for the prolongation of temporal life, chiefly for this purpose, that we may declare the praise, honor, and name of God. — Frisch : God sees not so much the weeping eye as the broken heart. — Heebeegee: On the sick bed there is no work more sacred than con fession and repentance. — When misfortune hurts the body, the soul has its consolation; when it hurts the soul it only lasts a little while to the pious.— Not to be in favor with God is the great- est pain. — Thinking and thanking belong toge- ther.—The best and the most profitable sorrow in the world is for the sins we have committed. — The prayers of the pious do not vanish in the air, but press through the clouds of heaven. — Rieger: Where a man has not attained the ex- perience of his nothingness and weakness, and that all carnal ability, strength, and wisdom, go to ruin in him, he cannot share in the grace of God. — The sighing of the soul includes the whole of repentance, painful regret, faith, desire of Di- vine grace, hunger and thirst after righteous- ness.— Tholuck: To the man of God the bit- terest drop in the cup of trouble is the sense of the wrath of God, which he expe- riences in the chastisements of God — Goen- thee: It very naturally happens that when we will not humble ourselves under the strong hand of God, the first affliction is only the weak beginning of a chain of afflictions, in which we will at last be choked unto eternal death. [Matth. Henry: Those heap up wrath who cry not when God binds them ; but those are getting ready for mercy who, under God's rebukes, sow in tears. — David, that could face Goliath himself, and many another threat- ening enemy, with an undaunted bravery, yet melts into tears at the remembrance of sin, aud under the apprehension of Divine wrath ; and it is no diminution at all to his character. — Spurgeon: This is the right way to plead with God if we would prevail. Urge not your good- ness or your greatness, but plead your sin and your bitterness. Cry, " I am weak," therefore, 0 Lord, give me strength, and crush me not. — Send not forth the fury of Thy tempest against so weak a vessel. Temper the wind to the shorn lamb. Be tender and pitiful to a poor withering flower, and break it not from its stem. — When we seek pardon, we are not asking God to do that which will stain His banner, or put a blot on His escutcheon. He delighteth in mercy. It is His peculiar, darling attribute. — Repentance is a practical thing. It is not enough to bemoan the desecration of the temple of the heart, we must scourge out the buyers and sellers, aud overturn the tables of the money changers. A pardoned sinner will hate the sins which cost the Saviour His blood. Grace and sin are quar- relsome neighbors, and one or the other must go to the wall. Weeping is the eloquence of sor- row. It is an unstammering orator, needing no interpreter, but understood of all. Is it not. sweet to believe that our tears are understood even when words fail? Let us learn to think of tears as liquid prayers, and of weeping as a con- stant dropping of importunate intercession which will wear its way right surely into the very heart of mercy, despite the stony difficulties which ob- struct the way. — C. A. B.] PSALM VII. Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite. 1 O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: Save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me : 2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, Rendmg it in pieces, while there is none to deliver. PSALM VII. 83 3 O Lord my God, if I have done this ; If there be iniquity in my hands; 4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (Yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:) 5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it ; Yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, And lay mine honor in the dust. Selah. 6 Arise, O Lord, in thine anger, Lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: And awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded. 7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: For their sakes therefore return thou on high. 8 The Lord shall judge the people: Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me. 9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end ; but establish the just: For the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. 10 My defence is of God, Which saveth the upright in heart 11 God judge th the righteous, And God is angry with the wicked every day. 12 If he turn not he will whet his sword ; He hath bent his bow, and made it ready. 13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death ; He ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. 14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, And hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. 15 He made a pit, and digged it, And is fallen into the ditch which he made. 16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, And his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate. 17 I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness: And will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high. ; father Kish. The reference (o the slanderer Shi- EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. | mei (Lu,her «< aL) with a similar figurative in- terpretation does not agree with the time of com- position, [liiehm: "Since ver. 4 b agrees en- tirely with the fact, that David, according to 1 Sam. xxiv. and xxvi., protected Saul's life from his companions in arms, David, also at that time, as in this Psalm, asserting liis innocence and appealing to the judgment of God, (1 Sam. xxiv. 12 sq., 16; xxvi. 18, 23 sq.). the supposi- tion that David composed the Psalm towards the end of the persecution of Saul is very reasonable. We might then conjecture that the slander of this Cash caused his departure to the king of Achish of Gath." — C. A.'B.] It is not to be recom- mended to translate: "with regard to," as Jer. Title. — For an explanation of Shiggaion, vid. Introduct. Ewald, Maurer, G. Baur, llitzig, find the tradition of the composition of this Psalm confirmed by its contents and language. Yet Hitzig refers to 1 Sam. xxvi., whilst Hengsten- berg more properly regards 1 Sam. xxiv. as in- dicating the circumstances; but he aptly re- minds us that the greater portion of Benjamin for a long time adhered to the house of Saul (1 Chron. xii. 29), and is disposed to refer the ti- tle to the author himself. Most interpreters pro- perty take Cush to be a proper name, but sup- pose, on account of the time, not the message of Cushi mentioned (2 Sam. xviii. 32), but one of vii. 22; xiv. 1 ; Deut. iv. 21, instead of " on ac the talc-bearers mentioned only in general (1 .count of the words." Sam. xxiv. 9). There is no occasion to find in The structure of the strophes is very uneven. Cush the figurative designation of a man of black j and not very complete, hence they have been wickedness (the Jewish interpreters, except ! very differently divided. In my opinion, after Aben Ezra), and then think particularly of Saul. I the introductory cry for help which the threat- Kimchi and llengst. find even a reference to his | ened Psalmist makes, vers. 1, 2, there follows a 84 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. strong protestation of his innocence with respect to the accusations raised against him, vers. 3-5. On this he bases his invocation of Jehovah to begin and carry on his judgment, vers. 6, 7. The Psalmist then, with a good conscience, claims this judicial activity of God especially for himself, vers. 8, 9, expresses his trust in Divine protection, as well as his confidence in the pu- nishment of the unconverted by God, vers. 10-13, sees the ruin of his enemies already before his eyes, vers. 14-10, and closes with the assurance of his joyful gratitude, ver. 17. [Perowne. "'Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right,' might stand as the motto of this Psalm. In full reliance on God's righteousness, David appeals to Him to judge his cause. The righteous God cannot but save the righteous and punish the wicked." — C. A. B.] Str. I. Ver. 1. [Delitzsch : " With this word of faith, hope, and love, this holy captatio benevo- lentisc, David begins likewise, Pss. x. 1 ; xvi. 1 ; xxxi. 1 ; compare lxxi. 1. The perfect is in- choative : in thee have I taken my refuge= in thee do I trust. — Ver. 2. The persecutors are regarded as wild beasts, as lions who rend their prey and crush their bones. Thus do they thirst for his '■soul,' that is for his life." — C. I. B.] Str. II. Ver. 3. [Barnes: O Lord, my God. — " A solemn appeal to God for the sincerity and truth of what he is about to say." — C. A. B.] — If I have done this. — Most ancient inter- preters refer thi3 to the accusation of his op- ponents presupposed as known, most recent in- terpreters since Rosenm. following Isaki, to that which follows; vid. however the reasons for the iormer reference in Hitzig, which are worthy of consideration. Most ancient translations then unite JH "l07tJr, ver. 4, whose accentuation also most MSS. have ami give as the sense : If I have recompensed him, who has recompensed me with evil. So also among recent interpreters : Sachs, Bottcher, Olsh., Hitzig. Hitzig rejects the as- sertion of Hengst. and Hupf. that Dvt^ has the meaning of recompense only in the Piel, yet he translates: "If I do evil to . him who recom- penses it to me." He prefers the connection of the words which is indicated in only one MSS., an Erfurt Codd. (vid. variations in J. H. Mich.), yet which lies at the basis of the translations of the Chald., Kimchi, Luther, Calv., Rudinger, Hengst., Hupf., De Wette, Delitzsch. All of these however find the idea of friend expressed (literally, he who is at peace with me), according to the fundamental meaning of the word in ques- tion, in the Kal: to be whole, that is, negatively, unhurt; positively, perfect, thence partly, ready, complete ; partly, well, sound, in good condi- tion; then by transfer, favorable, moral en- tireness and freedom from harm (Hupf.), comp. Pss. xx. 10; xli. 9; Jer. xxxviii. 22. 70J more- over means not only recompense, but properly to render something to some one (comp. 1 Sam. xxiv. 18) with the idea of meritoriousness or obligation of such action. — And plundered, etc. — This clause, regarded as defective by Olsh., is taken as a parenthesis with the Rabbins by Calv., Rud., J. H. Mich., Ewald, Roster, Thol., Hupf. [A. V.], and explained in the sense rendered possible by the signification of the word: "Rather I delivered." But the propriety of the use of the word for booty taken in war, is derived from the fundamental mean- ing of the word in the Kal : to draw off (shoes, clothes) which also occurs in the Aramaic tor the Piel, and in Hebrew is at least undeniable in the noun, whilst otherwise at least the signif.: "draw forth, deliver," (Ps. vi. 4), is proved in the Piel. The majority, even Hengst. and Delitzsch, refer it with this interpretation to the occurrence in the cave where David cut off the skirt of Saul's gar- ment (1 Sam. xxiv. 4, 5). Hitzig, with Chald., supposes a metathesis for the sake of the expla- nation: and oppressed, etc. The interpretation of the Sept., and Vulg., as conclusion and im- precation, = then will I retire from my enemies empty, that is, conquered, misses the sense. Ver. 5. Honor means either dignity, and in- deed as well particularly the royal dignity of David (Calv., Geier, J. H. Mich.) as personal honor in general (Hitzig), otherwise also desig- nated as crown (lxxxix. 39; Is. xxviii. 1) and power (Is. Ixiii. 6); then the dust indicates the smut of the deepest humiliation; or as Pss. xvi. 10; xxx. 12; lvii. 8; cviii. 2; Gen. xlix., soul here = life, then dust = grave, Isa. xxvi. 19 (Rabb. most interpreters). Disgrace and humi- liation are included in the expression at all events (Hengst., Hupf.). Respecting the soul as thereflection of the Divine 1133, vid., Delitzsch, Bill. Psychol, II. ed., 1861. Str. III. Ver. 6. Arise.— So Ps. ix. 19 ; x. 12, after the example of Moses (Num. x. 35; comp. Ps. iii. 7). It is parallel with the following lift up thyself, as Ps. xciv. 2; Is. xxxiii. Id, and awake, as Pss. xxxv. 23; xliv. 23; lix. 5. The character of the expression as merely figurative follows from Ps. cxxi. 4. — For me is a pregnant construction. We must supply : turn. For the Psalmist requests first of all judicial interfe- rence. Yet we cannot translate: Up for me in judgment! Thou makest booty (Hitzig), or: stir up judgment for me, (Chald. and some in- terpreters mentioned by Rosenm.), or: awake for me in judgment that Thou hast commanded (Sept., Syr., Jerome [A. V.J). Moreover the last clause is not imperative: order judgment (Rosenm., De Wette). Yet it is allowable to unite the last clause with the relative (Roster, Hengst.) for which Ewald puts the participle, or with a particle of cause (Geier, el al.), since the Psalmist bases his prayer on the general Divine arrangement of justice, and His administration in judgment (Calv., Hupf.) [Hupfeld translates thus: "Awake for me; judgment hast thou com- manded." This seems to be the best construc- tion.— C. A. B.] Instead of against the over- flowings, Sept., following a false derivation, translates: "In the limits." ["Because of the rage of mine enemies," A. V., is incorrect, it should be, " against the rage of mine enemies." — C. A. B.] Ver. 7. [Let the congregation of nations surround Thee.— It is better to take this as an optative in harmony with the preceding; so most interpreters. The Lord is exhorted to "arise," "lift up Thyself," awake, and so also to assemble the people about Him to witness His judgment, His vindication of the Psalmist. — Over it (for their sakes, A. V., is incorrect ). — Perowne: "God is represented as coming down to visit the PSALM VII. 85 earth, aud to gather the nations before Hiui, and then as retiring and sitting down above them on the judgment seat." Delitzseh: " The Psalmist now arranges, so to speak, a judgment scene: the assembly of the nation is to tuna a circle about Jehovah; in their midst He hold- eth judgment, and after judgment lias been pro- nounced, He is to return, ascending back to heaven as a conqueror after battle. — 0. A. B.J —On High is not the judicial scat (Tarnow, Geier, Maur., et al), av the high seat on Zion (De Wette), in which God will sit down again after that He had apparently left it in the inter- mission of His judicial activity (Kimchi, Calv., Hupf., yet with a reference to heaven); but heaven, whither God returns after having ac- complished judgment in the midst of the as- sembly of the nations (Ewald, Delitzseh).* The Psalmist asks the Judge of the world for historical justice, and in mentioning the Divine triumph, not only expresses the assurance that the historical transaction of justice for which he has called upon God, will be successfully carried out, but he asks God that He will carry it out without delay. Thus all the pretended difficulties vanish. As the tribes of Israel are called "people," Gen. xlix. 10; Dcut. xxxiii. 3, Jerome, Kimchi, Hitz., et al., think of them here, especially because congregation is mentioned, as Gen. xxvi. 3 ; xxxv. 11. But the reference is not to a political, but a judicial assembly (Hupf.), and it is a Divine attribute, as the following general clause directly declares, to be judge of the nations. Sir. IV. Ver. 8. In order to escape these con- vincing reasons, Hitzig supposes that |,l=to direct, govern the opinion, manage, and does not allow that there is a reference to Gen. xviii. 25, for an explanation, but to Micah iv. 13. It cer- tainly does not mean that from the highest court the highest justice is to be expected, and that God, because He judges the peoples, is therefore the regular Judge of the individual, in which case " children of men " should be placed in- stead of "nations." No more is the thought expressed, that God by His Spirit leads the as- sembly of the elders, which represents the tribes of Israel, being invisibly present in their midst (Deut. xxxiii. 5; Lev. xxvi. 12), in order that, in the judgment of the nations, not human righteousness, but the Divine decision, might have authority. The Psalmist expresses rather * [IIii]ifi'ld : '• But the reference to that which God does after the judgment is not only a very simple and feeble addition, bat is also contrary to that which follows in the context where the Divine judgment is carried still further out ; yes. it is in ■ certain measure contrary to the entire course and spirit of tlio Psalm, and the Psalms generally, which would represent God as stepping forth from His retirement, as from a Cloud which hitherto concealed Him, and as actively at work, and ■would not lead Him back again." "The distance between tin' heavenly seat of the Judge and the earthly assembly is not to be measured mathematically, tint must he regarded according to its nature from a poetical point of view, in which the cleft between leaven and earth vanishes, just as we see it overleaped in the constant interchange of the heavenly and earthly seats of God, heaven and Zion. The idea is this, Cod in contrast with His previous inactivity is again to judge, that is, to interfere and reinstate justice, which has been ignored and disturbed." "It is true, this is a limited human conception of the Divine government and righteousness which is ever the same and uninterrupted ; yet it is a feeling natural to religious feeling and an almost un- avoidable anthropomorphism, the same as there is in the formula, Aiise, awake, ver. G, and the like.'" — C. A. B.J the thought, that his cause is not a private afiair, but is of historical importance to the world. — To me ["in me," A. V.]. — It is most in ac- cordance with the context to find the thought of recompense expressed in ver. 8 (Chald., Olsli.J, aud theu it is more correct from the language to supply: come (Hupf.), than the explanation "happen to me" (liosenm., De Wette). The language likewise permits the supposition thai it is an emphatic repetition of the suffix with a relative supplied (Vatab., Geier, et al., [A. V.J). Thereby the attribute of righteousness would be made prominent, yet not as a finishing stroke of the pencil (Hitzig), nor as a shield about the per-' son (Hengst. I.), but as the quality found in the person yet to be distinguished by Him (Delitzseh). [Ver. 9. Hupfeld : "The personal petition is generalized into the petition that God would make an end of the doings of the unrighteous, but would protect the righteous, as it is to be expected from the omniscience of the Judge who searches the secrets of the heart." — For the trier of hearts and reins is a righteous God — Riehm: " The reins as the seat of strong feelings, inclinations, impulses." Barnes: "Theparticular idea here is, that as God searches the hearts of all men, and understands the secret, purposes of the soul, He is able to judge aright, and to de- termine correctly in regard to their character, or to administer His government on the princi- ples of exact justice. Such is the ground of the prayer in this case, that God, who knew the character of all men, would confirm those who are truly righteous, and would bring the wick- edness of the ungodly to an end." — C. A. B.] Sir. V. Ver 10. Upon God [•• of God," A. V.]. — This can mean that the protection is the duty of God (Venetna, Ewald. Hengstenb.), but better: God has undertaken it (Hitzig, Delitzseh). The usual translation "with God" is too feeble. Bottcher conjectures ingeniously that originally instead of 7JJ, the text was yi]f, over me=who covers me. [Ver. 11. Delitzseh: "Although God finally lets His wrath break forth, yet He does not do this without previously having threatened the un- godly every day. Comp. Is. lxvi. 14; Mai. i. 4. He lets them experience this His wrath in ad- vance that they may be alarmed for their good." — Angry. — Hupf.: "That is, toward the wicked =taking vengeance, punishing, inasmuch as the wrath, that is, the abhorrence which holiness has of evil, is the principle of all Divine punishment." — Every day. — Barnes: "Continually; con- stantly; always. This is designed to qualify the previous expression. It is not excitement. It is not temporary passion such as we see in men. It is not sudden emotion, soon to be suc- ceeded by a different feeling when the passion passes off. It is the steady and uniform attri- bute of His unchanging nature, to be always opposed to the wicked, — to all forms of sin: and in Him, in this respect, there will be no change. The wicked will find Him no more favorable 10 their character and course of life to-morrow than He is to-day , no more beyond the grave than this side of the tomb. What He is to-day, He will be to-morrow, and every day." — C. A. B.J 86 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. Ver-. 12. If one turn not [ki If he turn not" A. V.]. — In the first clause the subject is the wicked man, in the following clause God (the ancient translators and most interpreters), yet so that it does not mean the special enemy of the Psalmist, but the ungodly as a class (Hengst., Hupf. ). Others regard the first word as a par- ticle of assertion, and take the verb in the sense of the adverb " again," but differ from one an- other, in that some (Olsh.) regard Jehovah as the subject, others (Ewald, Raur) the wicked man, who will truly whet his sword again, etc. Still others understand likewise the entire descrip- tion, vers. 12, 13, as the verses- which follow, in the l*Xter sense of the wicked man and regard the words, if he does not turn, (but) whets his sword, etc., either as the conclusion of the pre- vious verse (Rosenm. following Kimchi), or as the antecedent of vers. 14, 15 (Syr., Geier, et al.). These then suppose 1 7, ver. 13, which is placed before with emphasis, to be reflexive and indeed either=to his purpose (Kimchi, Ew.), or, to his destruction (Aben Ezra). With our explanation of the wicked man not previously mentioned, the subject appears plainly as the object aimed at. — [He hath bent his bow. — In Hebrew, he hath trodden his bow, alluding to the ancient mode of bending the large and stout bows used instead of modern light artillery, with the feet rather than with the arm and hand. — C. A. B.] Ver. 13. The arrows are made into arrows of fire usual in sieges (Cocceius and recent inter- preters), not into sharp or poisonous arrows; or hotly pursuing (vid. Rosenm.); or for the burn- ing (Sept., Vulg., Syr.), which according to Ferrand means consumed with wrath, according to Chald., Isaki, Kimchi, Calv.: the persecutors themselves (so A. V.). It is difficult to follow the change of tense in these verses. The first two imperfects, it is better to take as futures on account of the judgment which is surely im- pending ; the perfects then describe the actions which follow and the circumstances described as future ; the last imperfect is incidental, thus a real imperfect, that is relative time instead of the participle; or we are to regard "his arrows" as in apposition and the following as a relative clause (Hupf.). Str. VI. Ver. 14. The imperfect stands first, then two perfects follow. Therefore the ancient and usual interpretation is incorrect, which re- gards the travailing and conception as indica- ting design, and contrasts it with bringing forth as expressive of the consequences, and thus is compelled to accept a hysteronproteron in the position of the travailing. For the same reasons it is not advisable to refer the first verb 73T1 to conception according to the Arabic (Seb. Schmidt, Hitzig) in order to derive the gradation which Luther supposes there is in the thought. The first clause rather (as the accents indicate) is in contrast with the two following; yet not as Calv., J. H. Mich., and Hengst., express by the insertion of " but," as if the first clause expressed the evil design, the contrast consisting of two parts, its consequences ; but rather that the first member of the verse states the proposition in general, the second explains it more definitely according to both its factors (Ewald, Koster Olsh., Hupf., Baur. , Delitzsch) which specify the transition from the thought of the heart to its expression (Kimchi). iiesides, Hupfeld shows that the nouus have a double sense, and designate the wicked at once as nothiuguess and as a curse. [Barnes : " The allusion here is to the pains and throes of child-birth, and the idea is that the wicked man labors or struggles, even with great pain to accomplish his purpose of iniquity." "It is mischief when conceived, it is falsehood when brought forth. The idea is that after all his efforts and pains, after having formed his scheme, and labored hard to bring it forth, it was abortive."— C. A. B.] Whilst in JlX the moral idea of evil passes over into the physical of mischief, destruction, it is entirely the reverse with 70^, which literally means fatigue. Vers. 15 and 16. Some put that which is here said in the historical past, on account of the tenses, and suppose particularly Saul's destruc- tion (Kaiser, Hitzig). But they are prophetical perfects followed by the imperf. conversive, which often expresses merely the consequences of that which has gone before. Hupfeld con- tends against taking the relative clause as pre- sent, but Hengst., Delitzsch, Hitzig, maintain it; comp. Gesenius, \ 123, 3 a. The enemy is still working at the pit of waylaying, when the Di- vine judgment strikes him, and indeed in the form of retaliation. The reference back to ver. 2 is to be noticed; so likewise the reference of vers. 1, 7, to ver. 8 b. Str. VII. Ver. 17. Hence David in the conclu- sion does not praise some future thanksgiving after an actual deliverance, but from a thank- ful heart he begins to praise God, whose revela- tion of Himself is the source of his correct know- ledge of Him, and whose name therefore is the pledge of His righteous dealings, which are eternally the same, as well as the means of true prayer to Him, and the object of thankful praise. 'Elydn is not to be connected with shem as an adjective (Hitz.) but is to be taken as in apposi- tion to Jehovah on the basis of Gen. xiv. 22 — Stepe oratio, quern pxne desperantem recipit, exul- tantem relinquit (Bernard). DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. If a man commits himself personal!]/ to God, he may also with good courage refer all his affairs to God, and even when he is in the worst relations with mighty and embittered enemies he may resign himself to the protection of God, and appeal in the confidence of a good conscience to the Divine judgment. 2. From the omnipresence of God, by which He fills heaven and earth, is to be distinguished His manifestation in history by means ol acts of revelation, whereby He makes Himself known, and proves Himself to be Saviour, as well as Judge of the individual, as well as of nations. But since omnipresence is essential to God, it is not done away with by the actual operation of His presence and government in the ivorld. But the personal execution of the special acts of the government of the world by the God of Revela- PSALM VII. 87 tion is illustrated by the figure of His coming down upon earth, likewise the conclusion of such special acts is described as the reascension of God to the heights of heaven ; both, in con- nection with the form of expression, that God as infinitely exalted above all beings in this world, Almighty and Holy, has His throne in the Heavens. 3. In like manner in connection with the hear- ing of prayer the special acts of God in judgment and salvation are represented as His awaking, standing up, raising Himself, although the Di- vine government of the world suffers no inter- ruption, and has no pauses. 4. The righteous rule of God demands that He should not. deceive the trust of the believing, who seek in Him preservation, protection, and help, and that He should take those who devise evil, and endeavor to prepare destruction for others, in their own snares, and cause them to fall into the pits which they themselves have dug. But we may at the same time ask God " that He also may become warm, when the ungodly are red-hot, and cast out the flames of their rage," (Calvin). HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. God's assistance is the strongest, quickest, and surest help; yet He would be asked in faith. — He who takes refuge with God should not forget that God is a righteous Judge. — Without God, lost; saved by God; therefore escaped to God, remaining with God; and with God, the world, and all enemies overcome. — He who can oppose the accusations of his enemies' with a good con- science, may likewise flee to God with the con- fidence of faith, against their strong assaults: — It is easy to do no injury to a friend ; but it is difficult to do no harm to an enemy, who is given into our hands, especially when he persecutes us without cause. — The Lord in heaven is likewise Judge on earth; in this the pious have consola- tion, the wicked terror, all a warning — God does not overlook individuals, although He rules and judges the entire world. — God beats the enemies of His servants with their own weapons, but He has likewise His own peculiar weapons. — The righteousness of God defends the innocent. Starke: It is proper for us to assert our in- nocence; for by continual silence we would make even our good cause suspected. — Trust in God must be maintained and increased by prayer. — If God decrees it, tyrants treat the pious as badly as wild beasts of prey the weak lambs. — It is a great consolation in persecution that we can op- pose our enemies with the power and strength of God. If God has commanded the authorities toex- ercise righteousness, He cannot refuse them a suitable protection. — God and His honor are inte- rested in protecting the pious. — The righteous- ness of faith before God must be distinguished from righteousness and innocence of life before man ; yet a true Christian must be able to con- sole himself with both. — God does not allow the righteous to fall, but the more honesty He finds in their hearts, the more He strengthens them in His grace. — God tries the ungodly as a righteous judge, but the believing as a righteous but re- conciled Father. — A Christian throws away the shield and sword of his own revenge, and yet does not remain naked and defenceless before his enemies; for the hand of the Lord strives for him, and Covers him with a strong shield. — If the ungodly have reason to think of the right- eousness of God with trembling, the believing re- member it with joy, and praise, and thankful- ness.— The punishment of retaliation is the surest mark of the Lord's care for the actions of the children of men. Calvin: The door is closed to prayer unles3 it is opened with the key of trust. — Osiander : No one will deceive the Lord Go.1 with his hypocrisy. — It is the most pleasant of offer- ings to God when we celebrate His benefits, in order that others also may know His goodness and turn to Him. — Bcgenhagen: No one can injure another without injuring himself much more severely in his conscience. — Frank e : Three chief principles of prayer: 1) A childlike trust in God ; -) a good and cheerful conscience; 3) God's righteousness and strong government. — Renschel: God is not a Judge who punishes daily, but who threatens daily; for if God should punish us always, and as often as we deserve it, the world would no longer en- dure; therefore thou shouldest know, that God's long-suffering invites thee to repentance. — Her- beiiger: To suffer with an innocent conscience is nothing but favor with God. It is faith's crown of glory that we can say: "Lord my God !" — God is a searcher of hearts : mark that, thou who sinnest secretly. — Hast thou prayed with tears, then return thanks with joy. — Thanksgiving is the best tune and song. — In prayer and thanksgiving no one should waver. — Tholuck: David was not one of those visionary pious men who, while mindful of that which God will do in heaven and in the future, forget that which Hedoes daily inthe present and upon earth. — Stiller : The ungodly have their time when they rule; but God has likewise His lime when He pushes them from their seats. — Taube : How precious to a believing Christian the testimony and blessing of a good conscience in the calami- ties allotted to him : 1) he can step quietly before his God and pray for help; 2) he can prove his good cause with entire cheerfulness and call upon God to judge ; 3) he knows and praises the righteousness of God which is in favor of the pious and against his enemies. — Krinz: The kiugdom of God comes not only with grace to the penitent, but also with judgment to the impenitent. [Matih. Henry: The sinner's head with its politics conceives mischief, contrives it with a great deal of art, lays his plot deep, and keeps it close; the sinner's heart with its passions travails with iniquity, and is in pain to be de- livered of the malicious projects it is hatching against the people of God. But what doth it come to when it conies to the birth? It is a falsehood, it is a cheat upon himself, it is a lie in his right hand; he cannot compass what he intended, nor if he gain his point, will he gain the satisfaction he promised himself. — Spurgeon : As the shadow follows the sub- stance, so envy pursues goodness. It is only at the tree laden with fruit that men throw stoues. If we would live without being slandered we must wait till we get to heaven. Let us be very 88 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. heedful not to believe the flying rumors which are always harassing gracious men If there are no believers in lies there will be but a dull market in falsehood, and good men's characters will be safe. Ill-will never spoke well. Sin- ners have an ill-will to saints, and therefore be sure they will not speak well of them. — We can not pray too often, and when our heart is true, we shall turn to God in prayer as naturally as the needle to its pole. — God defends the right. Filth will not long stick on the jiure white gar- ments of the saints, but shall be brushed off by Divine providence to the vexation of the men by whose base hands it was thrown upon the godly. — Truth like oil is ever above, no power of our enemies can drown it — The best day that ever dawns on a sinner brings a curse with it. Sinners may have many feast days, but no safe days. From the beginning of the year even to its ending, there is not an hour in which God's oven is not hot and burning in readiness for the wicked, who shall be as stubble. — God's sword has been sharpening upon the revolving stone of our daily wickedness, and if we will not re- pent, it will speedily cut us in pieces. Turn or burn is the sinner's only alternative. — Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost. Ashes always fly back in the face of him that throws them. — C. A. B.] PSALM VIII. To (he chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David. 1 O Lord our Lord, How excellent is thy name in all the earth ! Who hast set thy glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength Because of thine enemies, That thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained ; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him ? And the son of man, that thou visitest him ? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, And hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands ; Thou hast put all things under his feet : 7 All sheep and oxen, Yea, and the beasts of the field ; 8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, And whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas*. 9 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth ! EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Title and Character. — Even Olsh. finds no occasion to give up the Davidic authorship of this Psalm, which has since been maintained by Hitzig in a new way. This as well as all Psalms placed in relation to Gittith (vid. Introduction), resounds with the praise of Jehovah. The use made of passages from this Psalm in Matth. xxi. 1G ; 1 Cor. xv. 27; Heb. ii. 6 sq., with various references to Messianic circum- stances is entirely different from the Messianic nature of the entire Psalm, which has been maintained by many interpreters of all periods. The author rather on a moonlight and starlight night (ver. 3), under the sense of the majesty of the Creator (ver. 1 c) beaming from the fir- PSALM VIII. 89 mament, praises the goodness shown towards frail uiau by the God of the Covenant, Who is identical with the Creator. This goodness is partly shown in the sovereignty of man as the image of God over all creatures, and partly is declared in the revelation and grace of the true God given to the members of the people of the covenant. It. is true that the latter reference is not developed here, but it is not only presupposed in the Psalmist's position in life, but it governs his entire feelings and thoughts, so much so that the reflection called forth in him by looking upon the starry heavens begins and closes by mentioning it with praise. We have no sure support for a nearer indication of the time of composition. The reference to the youth of David as the shepherd boy (Xackti- gal., Tholuek) is very unlikely, or indeed to the time immediately after his victory over Goliath (Sachs with reference to ver. 2). Ilitzig sup- poses a reference to the time of the war against the Amalekites, with reference to 1 Sam. xxx. 1 9 * Sir. I. Ver. 1. Our Lord. — The speaker is not the congregation (Delitzsch) which has only appropriated the Psalm, but a believer, who not only declares himself to be a member of the congregation whose Lord is Jehovah, but also acknowledges this Lord of the congregation per- sonally, and as His servant and worshipper, now makes conspicuous with emphatic praise the glory of that name, which God has throughout the world among men as the Creator, over against t hat book of nature revealing the Divine majesty, shining down from heaven. That this is the fundamental idea and all-prevailing sentiment of the Psalm follows necessarily from the position of the relative clause after the principal clause, and from the introductory address to God. — Thou who hast put Thy majesty upon the heavens. — -The language of the present text is very much disputed (vid. the thorough discussion of Hupfeld), because the form ilJjl occurs only as imperative, and as such cannot be connected with the relative (comp., however, Bottcher, JEhrenl. 42, Neue JEhrenl. II. 224) ; and the proposed explanations are so questionable that many inter- preters propose other vowel points, as Paulus and * [Perowne : " We see him in his lonely watchings, now casting a vigilant glance around him lest any beast of pr< y threaten ' those few sheep in the wilderness,' and now lifting a loving and observant eye to heaven, and as the bright stars come out one after another in the Eastern sky, with a brilliancy anil splendor almost unimaginable to us, his heart fills with the thought that it is Jehovah, the God of Israel, who basset His glory there, to be seen of all eyes, to bo praised even by the tongues of children. But from heaven his thoughts turn again to earth, from the glory of God to man formed to acknowledge that glory. And his first thought is, us it must be in any case, an humbling one. What is man. man in his frailty, his littleness, his sin! What is man in His sight who made yon heavens, and planted in them those glittering orbs? And then comes the correcting thought, the thought of man's greatness and dignity as made in the image of God, and appointed by Him to have dominion o\er all the creatures of the earth." Delitzsch: "This Psalm is a lyrical echo of the Mosaic account of creation." "As the gospels contain no words of Jesus before the time of His baptism, and the New Testament Canon has no writings of the Apostles before Pentecost, so the old Testament has no Psalms of David before he was anointed. From the time when hewasanointed by the God of Jacob, he is the sweet Psalmist of Israel, on whose tongue is the word of Jehovah, 2 Sam. xxhi. 1 sq.'' It is probable that this Psalm dates from the i-arli r part of David's life, some time during his wanderings in the wilderness when pursued by Saul. — C. A. B.J Kurtz n3"i=whose glory is praised, or Ewald rijn=raises itself, Sept. izijpdrj, or stretches itself out (Clause, et al.), whilst Ilitzig, in order to gain the last meaning, and to support it by a closer etymology by derivation from JITI removes the n as an article to the following noun, leaving |H. Hupfeld, however, with the ancient trans- lations, would read H/ifO, because the phrase T - T * 7j^ Tin jn.l=to put authority upon, to invest with authority, is frequent, and a finite verb is indispensable. [Cut, as Riehm shows, this is a very violent correction, and then the application of this phrase to God in the usual sense of His in- vesting the heavens with His Divine majesty has serious objections. It is better, with Riehm, to fall back upon the explanation of Ewald. "Thou whose glory raises itself above the hea- vens, or 'rises above' the heavens." — C. A. B.] But whatever we may do with the language of the text, the position of the clause does not leave it doubtful, but that the emphasis of the sentence is upon these witnesses to the glory of God whose province is the entire earth, and which therefore are in relative contrast to the witnesses of the Divine glory, whose sphere is on the one side the people of God and on the other the heavens. Since now the account of the creation, Gen. i. 1, resounds in the contents of the Psalm itself, ami the refer- ence is neither prophetical to the worship of the God and King of Israel among all nations, nor can this be historically the reference (even without regard to the re-echo of ver. 4, in Job vii. 17); moreover, it is not allowable to refer the name of Jehovah here in the narrow sense to the name applied by the Israelites to the God of the Covenant and of Revelation, but we must think of the splendid and majestic name, with which men, throughout the world, even where the true nature of God is still unknown, ignorantly praise the true God as the God whose glory shines down upon them from the firma- ment; it is therefore easy to see why the explana- tions of some of the older interpreters, " whose glory above the heavens, etc., is praised by an- gels," is untenable. Kurtz speaks besides even of "the song of all the spheres, of all the worlds of the heavens," which is entirely contrary to Hebrew ideas. Sir. II. Ver. 2. Out of the mouth.— This specification does not allow ns to find merely an expression of the general thought that God ac- complishes the greatest things on earth, and re- veals His glory by means of the weakest instru- ments and the least means. The expression is not the periphrase of the subj. = ''from the size of a boy," but has a manifest reference back to the name, ver. 1 b. We might therefore think first of all of the religious expressions of chil- dren from the lisping of sucklings, and the stam- mering prayers of little children under the im- pression of the wondrous magnificence of the evening heavens, even to the confession of the true God in the mouth of the young, especially as sucklings three years old were common in Is- rael, and the parallel Hebrew word refers to still more matured boys, 1 Sam. xv. 3; xxii. 19, who ask bread, Lam. iv. 4, and play in the street, 90 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. Jer. vi. 11 ; ix. 20. In this sense also Jesus makes use of this passage, Matth. xxi. 16. ami this use is still more appropriate if with the Sept. and many interpreters ~\$ is regarded as praise. This meaning however is possible only in special connections. Originally and properly this word means, firmness, might, npd-oe. Since now there is a reason for this given, it would be more in accordance with the text to think, not indeed of the living breath of the lately born, the first cry of the suckling (Umbr., et al.)} or of the mouth as the organ of suckling (Kimchi) which would only refer to the wonder of the existence and support of the human race; but rather to find a reference to the wonder of the capacity of speech (Aben Ezra, Tholuck, et al.), to which Dm- breit also is partially inclined when he finally mentions the movement of the mouth in order to form the sounding word. It is by speaking that man is specifically distinguished from the other inhabitants of earth, and which is very particu- larly calculated as a Divine force (Calv., et al.) to hush those who show themselves to be the ad- versaries of the honor of God; the enemies of tne recognition of His glory on earth ; there- vengeful oppressors of the people of Jehovah. [Ewald: "What a contrast! There the wild, defiant enemies thirsting to destroy, here the weakest of creatures, and yet his joyful, lisping mouth is sufficient to defend the Creator against all the blasphemies of the enemy." So like- wise Hupfeld: " God has founded for Himself out of the mouth of sucklings and children a strong (invincible) stronghold against His ene- mies, that is : He has out of their mouths a mighty (incontrovertible) apology (of His good- ness and greatness) which is sufficient to bring all His opponents to silence." This is by far the best interpretation. — C. A. B.] The Hebrew text does not allude to their de- struction (many interpreters following the an- cient translations). Hitzig is too narrow in his reference of the entire passage to the special fact that the Amalekites in the surprise of Ziklag did not avenge themselves on account of the massa- cre, 1 Sam. xxvii. 8, 9, but killed none, 1 Sam. xxx. 1 sq., which David now refers to the pro- tection of Jehovah, who by the crying of the children excited in the souls of the national enemy a humane pity, which tamed his fury. With the Messianic interpretation, the passage is usually (Calov, Geier, Schmidt, J. H. Mich., Stier) referred to the founding of the Christian Church, and the praise of God in the gospel by vi'/TTioi, or people of a similar spirit to children. Sir. III. Ver. 3. "When I consider, etc.— "3 is here a particle of time, and not of cause (for) as Stier erroneously regards it. The concluding clause, ver. 4, is an exclamation of astonishment, yet of humility, prayer, and trust, in view of the loving and careful condescension of the Creator towards man, who is intentionally named enosh, as the weak. The reference back to the creation begins with ver. 6. Here the expressions, (as well those which describe man, as those which describe the Divine care over him), refer too clearly to the present testimonies of the goodness of God towards man, born of mortals, that we should with Hupf. regard the imperf. here as preterite, and should think of the free and firm resolution of love, from which the creation, and especially the creation of man, originated. Sir. IV. Ver. 5. And so thou lettest him lack a little of divinity. — ["Far thou hast made him a little lower than the anrjels." A. V.]* The following words show that the Psalm- ist has in view the sovereignty which has been given to man, created on earth, "in the image of God," Gen. i. 26. We are here therefore to think of the Divine image in man, which endows him with the royal prerogative over the crea- tures of the world. The connection of the cau- sal piel of IDn with the object by lip does not allow vis to regard the Psalmist as saying, there was little lacking and man had been like God. He says : There was not much lacking but that man should have been placed in that class of be- ings which embraces God and the angels, that is to say the Elohim. Elohim may indeed, it is true, express merely the abstract divinity (Hengst., Hupf.) but with this limitation, including the angels (Hitzig) a very suitable sense would be given. Since now, Pss. lxxxii. 1, 6: xcvii. 7, 9, afford a more comprehensive use of the word Elohim, and this with the article means at times only a supernatural creature, 1 Sam. xxviii. 13 ; Zech. xii. 8, we have here sufficient reason for clearness of explanation even to suppose that it is a designation of a class. If now, God caused that man should lack a little of that which the Elohim possess as such, this can hardly be any- thingelsethan immateriality (Kimchi, Delitzsch). It is not allowable, however, with the ancient translations and the Rabbins to think merely of angels, [A. V.] or indeed according to the Sept. to regard the " little " as for a short time, whereby with the Messianic interpretation this passage refers to the state of humiliation as the following member of the verse to the exaltation of Jesus Christ, vid., Comm. on Heb. ii. 6 sq. The verbs are all imperfects, and refer to the fact that these peculiarities man has retained since the creation in spite of the fall, and indeed as the connection of ver. 5 with ver. 4 shows, inconse- quence of the provision of Divine love. The perfect is found only in the closing clause of ver. 6 b., which recapitulates and expresses the firm assurance and constant arrangement (Hup- feld). This suggests the application to the king- dom of Christ, 1 Cor. xv. 27. "Out of the very depths of this consciousness, how little man ap- pears when contrasted with GoJ, arises faith in the love of the heavenly Father who is not for- getful of the weak children of men, whom He has called into existence." (Umbreit). Sir. V. Ver. 7. Sheep. — -In Hebrew the word is a poetical form of a word which means the small cattle of the herd, and especially the sheep and goats. The following expressions likewise appear in poetical forms which lead the eye in increasing breadth of vision over the entire realm of human sovereignty.! Bdtt- * [Many commentators regard this and ttie following clauses as still dependent upon '3, that (Ewald, Perowne, et al.), but it is better, with Hupfeld and Hitzig, to regard these clauses as independent, for otherwise the sentence would be too much involved for Hebrew poetry. — C. A. B.] t [The sovereignty of our first parents in Eden was com- plete., the sovereignty of man now is merely partial, but the second Adam regained that sovereignty in its fulness for PSALM VIII. 91 ohor, on account of ver. 8 b, which is certainly very singular and striking, refers to the men who make their way through the agitated paths of the sea. Sj also previously Alien Ezra and Kimchi. [The proper reference is to the other inhabit ints of the sea, from the leviathan down to the smallest creature which moves on the waters, vid. 1's. civ. 2-3, 26. — C. A. B.] \_Str. VI. Ver. '.). Delitzsoh: "The Psalmist has now proved what he stated ver. 1, that the name of Jehovah, the glory of which radiates from the heavens, is also glorious on earth. Tims the thought with which he began the Psalm is repeated as a conclusion with fulness of meaning, and thus the Psalm is wound to- g ther as a wreath."]* DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. The congregation confesses that the re- vealed God is its sovereign, and hopes that the name in which God has manifested Himself ac- cording to His true nature, will be proclaimed sometime, in all lands, and be praised as glorious in the entire earth, lint it recognizes, also, that among all nations religious feelings are espe- cially awakened by looking at the starry heavens, and that therefore the most glorious names are everywhere given to the Divine Being whose majesty shines down from the firmament. '1. Among created beiugs it is especially man, whom God has made use of upon earth as the instrument of His communications and organ of Sis revelations. He has given man the capacity of speech, and thereby, even in the mouths of the smallest children, He his prepared for Him- self that power which is best adapted to refute the adversaries of the Church of God, and to spread abroad His true and holy name; the power of speech, especially of the word which comes from God and testifies of God. Thus on the inie side man is distinguished from all other earthly creatures, an 1 placed in a special rela- tion to God; and on the other side it gives the most suitable means not only of religious com- munications in general, but of overcoming the deification of nature by faith in Divine revela- tion. 3. Man, when compared with the magnificent phenomena of the heavens, may appear very trilling and insignificant, but when considered as the object of Divine care his preeminence over all creatures becomes manifest, and he should be thankful in remembrance of this, and maintain true humility with all the greatness bestowed upon him, confessing his frailtg and his descent from men of Adam's race. Himself and His redeemed, ami it is realized again according phecj in the Messianic kingdom, Is. xi. 6-9.— C. A. is") Wordsworth: •• How fully was the language of the Psalm l in that night when the stars were shining on those Holds of Bethlehem where David had kept his father's sheep ; and the angels chanted in tl ira of shepherds the gratu- latory hymn, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth I- * i, good-will toward men,' tor tin- descent of the Son of God to become Ron of Man : and when the nature of man was exalted j„ Christ to a higher elevation than that of the angels themselves; and when the new star in tie- heaven Bhoneto lead the Gentiles to His light, and kin^s to the brightness of His rising (Is. Ix.8); and again, at that day when the 'men of Galilee,' who were despised as mere babes • by the wise men of this world, stood on the Mount of Olives, a-ul saw Him exalted in -lory above the heavens."— C. A. B.J 4. Man is born in the image of Adam, he was yet created as the image of God, and in conse- quence of this he has that within him, which gives reason to reckon him aimost to the class of supernatural creatures. This is his ra- tional and moral nature. By this he has a nature which makes him capable of attaining his destiny, of being as an image of the glory and majesty of God, sovereign over the world which surrounds him. For the true fulfilm /■( of this destiny we are referred from the Old to the New Covenant. nOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. lie who would rule properly must serve God properly. — The conflict between the Divine pur- pose and the present condition of man ; whence it comes, and how it is to be obviated. — The glorification of the name of God in the congre- gation, and by the congregation over the entire earth. — Man is like the rest of the world, God's workmanship, but he is designed to be ruler of the world, as the image -of the Divine glory and majesty. — Man belongs to two worlds, the visi- ble and the invisible ; hence he has a great and difficult task; let us see what hinders and what promotes its fulfilment. — The high position and dignity which God has given man among the creatures, iinposes upon him responsibilities which he can lultil only as a member of the Church of God. — Man is prevented from fulfill- ing his destiny less by his natural frailty, than by his Adamic nature. — No man is too insignifi- cant, weak, poor, or little for the service of God; God makes even of the smallest children arms of His grace and instruments of His / — What God does even to sucklings reveals His glory more than the magnificence of the stars. — It is true we may know something of God and His glory from the works of creation, so that even the heathen in-ai.se God after their fashion ; but only in the Church can we truly learn who God is, and what we have in Iliru, and how to serve Him aright. — We need not only the crown of eternal life, but we must also be mindful of the crown of thorns, and the crown of rtjhlcuus- ness. Stakke : The beginning and end of this Psalm are in harmony ; can it be impossible for God to make it thus witli the beginning and end of the New Testament Church » — The more we recall to mind, with shame and humility, our own unworthiness, the greater and more glori- ous will be our portion of the gracious benefits of God, in Christ. — The sovereignty over all creatures, lost by Adam, Jesus has regained, and bestows it. upon His people ; hence they may use all creatures with a good conscience in the Di- vine order, 1 Cor. iii. 21 sq.; 1 Tim. iv. 4. — The Gospel has glorified the name of the gracious God in all parts of the world — whilst under the law scarcely anything was known of this name even in the Holy Land. — Fiusen : Despise not the smallest and weakest instrument; God is mighty in weakness. — Baumgartf.n : We can reverence nothing more than the name of God, that is. what He has revealed and made known of Himself and His perfections. — Hkkberger : Those are the best musicians who allow them- 02 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. s slves to be used for the glory of God. — Taube : All knowledge and worship of God has its first and last roots in the name of God. — The Al- mighty uses weakness, in order that the power, and therefore the glory, may be of God, and not of man. — Umbreit: Humanity without religion is brutality. — Diedrich: It is the delight of the pious that God has made for Himself by His government a glorious name in all lands. — No- thing in nature should prevent us, if only we are in right relations with God. [Spurgeon : We may style this Psalm the song of the Astronomer: let us go abroad, and sing it beneath the starry heavens at eventide, for it is very probable that in such a position it first occurred to the poet's mind. — He who delights in the songs of angels is pleased to honor Him- self in the eyes of His enemies by the praises of little children. What a contrast between the glory above the heavens and the mouth of babes and sucklings ! yet by both the name of God is made excellent. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: — Chalmers: There is much iu the scenery of a nocturnal sky to lift the soul to pious contemplation. That moon and those stars, what are they ? They are detached from the world, and they lift us above it. We feel with- drawn from the earth, and rise in lofty abstrac- tion from this little theatre of human passions and human anxieties. The mind abandons itself to reverie, and is transferred in the ecstacy of its thought to distant and unexplored regions. It sees nature in the simplicity of her great ele- ments, and sees the God of nature invested with the high attributes of wisdom and majesty. — Thomas Watson : Meditation fits for humilia- tion. When David had been contemplating the works of creation, their splendor, harmony, mo- tion, influence, he lets the plumes of pride fall, and begins to have self-abasing thoughts. — C. A. B.] [There is in ver. 5 a wonderful rebound of feeling; cast to the earth by his humiliating re- flections upon the wonders of the heavens, and the insignificance of man, he rises, lifted up by the consciousness of the honor and dignity be- stowed upon him by God in making him greater than all these wonders of nature. — C. A. B.] PSALM IX. To the chief Musician upon Math-lahben, A Psalm of David. 1 I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart ; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou Most High. 3 When mine enemies are turned back, They shall fall and perish at thy presence. 4 For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; Thou satest in the throne j udging right. 5 Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, Thou hast put out their name forever and ever. 6 O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end : And thou hast destroyed cities ; their memorial is perished with them. 7 But the Lord shall endure forever: He hath prepared his throne for judgment. 8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. 9 The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble. 10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: For thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. 11 Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: Declare among the people his doings. PSALM IX. 93 12 When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: He forgetteth not the cry of the humble. 13 Have mercy upon me, O Lord; consider my trouble ivhich I suffer of them that hate me, Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death : 14 That I may shew forth all thy praise In the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation. 15 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made : In the net which they hid is their own foot taken. 16 The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands, Higgaion. Selah. 17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God. 18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten : The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. 19 Arise, O Lord ; let not man prevail : Let the heathen be judged in thy sight. 20 Put them in fear, 6 Lord : That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its contents and character. A Psalm of thanksgiving (vers. 1, 2) after a victory (ver. 3) over the heathen wrought by Divine judgment (vers. 4-(>), expressing confidence in His constant protection of the oppressed (vers. 7-10) ; there- fore the pious have to thank God (vers. 11, 12), and pray to Him in every time of need (vers. 13, 14). The judicial government of God causes the enemies finally to perish and saves the sufferers (vers. 15-18); therefore the prayer (vers. 19, 20) which shows i he dangerous position of the Psalm- ist and his people. The people of Israel were indeed very generally in such circumstances as this (Hupf. ), but this does not imply that it is here merely a supposed case (Hengst.). If the thankful remembrance (ver. 1) embraces the en- tire series of former benefits, yet ver. 6 refers to what has just happened, and indeed to great overthrows of a foreign enemy after severe dis- tress in Israel, which has not even yet entirely ceased. There is no sufficient reason to descend into the times after the exile (Ewald), still less for the Maccabean times with reference to the death of Judas Maccabeus (Venema). This Psalm cannot have originated in the exile itself ( Perrand i on account of the " gates of the daugh- ter of Zion " (ver. 14), and we may not place it too early, because ver. 11 already mentions Zion as the royal seat of Jehovah. In agreement with this is the reference which some overlook to the death of Goliath (Chald. et al.) or to Absalom (Ilu- ding.), or Nabal (Grot.) Maurer thinks that the king Hezekiah was the author of this Psalm after his deliverance from the siege of Sennacherib. De Wette refers to the Assyrian times with re- ference to Is. xxxiii. Most interpreters abide by David, and indeed either without attempting to mark the time more closely (Dathe, Knapp, Rosenm.), or refer it to the Ammonite and Sy- rian war (Mich., Muntinghe, et al.), or what is best, to the wars with the Philistines after the event, 2 Sam. v. 7, (Hitzig, Delitzseh). Hitzig ad- duces as marks of its composition in the earliest times of psalmody : the rough and broken lan- guage, the terseness of expression, peculiarities in the use of words and forms. He gives pro- minence to the many resemblances with those Psalms, which are decidedly Davidic, by the apt remark that we must not draw the lines too closely in distinguishing the ideas and language of David (comp. 2 Sam. i. 19-27; vii. 18-29; xxiii. 1-7): and he remarks that we meet the alphabetical arrangement of verses, nowhere in- deed before the time of Jeremiah, but that the arrangement in the order of the consonants is here very freely used, and is not carried out ; a later author would not have ventured to proceed so loosely.* The Psalm is- so complete in itself, and has with many strong resemblances to the following Psalm, such a different tone that the fact that * [Delitzseh; "These two Psalms [ix. and x.] show that David composed acrostics. And why not ? Among the Ro- tnana also Ennius already composed acrostics (Cicero de i/irin. II., 54,2 HI) who did not belong to the leaden, bat to the iron age, from which the golden subsequently arose ; and our most ancient German heroics are in the form of alliteration. More- over, the alphabetic form is popular, as we see from Angus- tine. Retract, I. 20. It is not merely a weak substitute for the departed spirit of poetry, it is not merely an external or- nament for the eye, it has itself a meaning. Tin- didactic poet regards the row of letters as stiirs up which he leads his pu- pil to the sanctuary of wisdom, or as the casket of many parts in which he places the pearl of his wisdom. And the lyric poet regards them as the h;irp upon all the Strings of which he plays in order to express his feelings. Even the prophet does not scorn to allow the order of letters to exert an influ- ence upon the order of his thought, as is clear from Nah i. 3- T. When now among the nine alphabetical Psalms (ix., x., xxv., xxxiv., xxxvii., cxi., cxii., cxix.. cxlv.), four hear the name of David i ix.. xxv.. xxxiv., cxlv.) we will not regard them as not by David because the alphabetical arrangement is more or less" thoroughly carried out."— 0. A. B.J 94 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. Psalm x., which is without a title, partially car- ries out the alphabetical arrangement used in this Psalm only to p, does not justify us iu re- garding both Psalms as originally one connected alphabetical Psalm, which afterwards was broken up and revised in two parts (although impor- tant reasons may be adduced for this. They are best presented by Hupf. and G. Baur in De Wette's Comm.). Nor does it justify us in accord- ance with the Sept. and Vulgate to unite them again into one Psalm (Ewald, Krahm, Sachs) [Hitzig regards them as two co-ordinate halves of a whole of higher unity. To this Delitzsch assents, and this seems to be the best statement of the case, for the agreement is close and re- markable as well in the Psalms themselves, as in their giving parts of the same alphabetical order. Hupfeld shows that the difference in totie is not unusual in the Psalms. Such changes of feeling are frequent [vid. Pss. xxvii. ; xl. ; and in Ps. ix. itself, in vers. 13 and 14). — C. A. B.] An attempt has been made by Delitzsch to ex- press the alphabetical arrangement of the He- brew in German. It would, however, injure our efforts for perspicuity if we should adopt it. It only remains to remark that, the introductory strophe, which states the contents, has the same initial letter X in all four lines; that a strophe with ~\ is entirely lacking ; also one with 71, un- less this is contained in the holy name of God (ver. 7, Hupf.); and that the closing strophe has p instead of 2. [Str. I. Ver. 1. With my whole heart. — Hupfeld: "Partly with the heart, not merely with the mouth, (Is. xxix. 13), sincerely, hence cxix. 7, 'with honest heart;' partly, zealously, with all the powers of the soul, as love and trust in God should be, Deut. iv. 29; vi. 5; x. 12, etc. In this is contained the idea that all the honor is given to God, all is ascribed to His grace, and it is not divided between him- self and God (Calv.)"— C. A. B.] Sir. II. Ver. 3. In the turning of mine enemies back. — All the ancient versions re- gard 2 as temporal, and indeed the equiva- lent of when in the antecedent, to which the se- cond member of the verse then forms the conse- quent, in the future [So A. V.] Most interpre- ters, however, find here stated the subject and reason of the joy = on account of that, but they translate the infinitive, in whose stead imper- fects directly come, in the rule by the perfect, and thus loosen somewhat the connection be- tween the fact of the victory and its celebration, which are so closely connected in the Psalm. [Delitzsch regards the preposition 2 as indica- ting time and reason at the same time, like Latin recedentibus hostibus meis retro = in the turning of my enemies back. So Ewald, Alexander. Pe- rowne renders it as reason, " because mine ene- mies are turned backward (because) they stum- ble and perish at thy presence." Hupfeld re- gards it as dependent upon the previous joy and praise as the ground or reason of it, and trans- lates, " that mine enemies retreat back, stumble and fall before Thy countenance." This is the best rendering. — C. A. B.] The perfects in vers. 4-6, however, are in con- trast with the imperfects in ver. 7 sq., and show that the Divine judgment is not expected first on account of His righteousness (De Wette and the ancients who also interpreted this Psalm as Mes- sianic), but has already taken place (Hupf. et al.) The reference here, moreover, is not to God's sitting on His eternal, heavenly, royal throne, as ver. 7 a [A. V.], but to a historical, and indeed judicial act of this eternal, all-em- bracing Sovereignty of God, for the accomplish- ment of which He has taken His seat upon His throne of judgment (ver. 4 b), which He has set up (ver. 7 6), and from which also He will in the future (ver. 8) hold judgment, and render deci- sions respecting the nations. Sir. III. Ver. (>. The enemy — destroyed to ruins forever ; and cities hast Thou rooted out; their memory is lost, even theirs. — [A. V. is entirely astray here. " 0 thou enemy, destructions are. come to a perpetual end ; and thou hast destroyed cities ; their memorial is pe- rished icith them.1'1 — C. A. B.] Enemy is a col- lective noun, and is to be connected with the plural of the following verb. With this con- struction the following words are to be regarded as in apposition (De Wette), or as accusative of effect (Hupf.). The most ancient translations have followed another pointing which is found still in same Codd.; swords instead of ruins. According to some Codd., we must also trans- late : cities hast thou forsaken. The translation enemies instead of cities is unjustifiable. At the close of the clause the pronoun is placed, notwith- standing the suffix has already preceded. The emphasis which is thereby laid upon cities means that their vanishment from history is sure, in consequence of the Divine judgment. For the various untenable attempts to explain this entire passage, which is burdened with many difficul- ties, vid. Rosenm. Hitzig explains very differ- ently : 0 thou enemy ! the abuse has an end for- ever; and the cities which thou forsakest, their remembrance is blotted out forever. [This is an exceedingly difficult passage. The author has the true idea in which he follows Hupfeld. 1 may mention, however, that the '■'■Thou " refers back to the ''Thou" of the preceding verses, and is Jehovah Himself, and not the enemy. — C. A. B.] Sir. V. Ver. 9. Stronghold [A. V.: " Re- fuge"~\, literally height, as a place of refuge to which one has been snatched away from enemies. — Oppressed, literally down-trodden, pounded, but constantly only in a figurative sense. — Trouble, literally to be cut off, partly as ex- cluding, a bar, partly as confining, distress (Hupf.). Sir. VI. Ver. 12. For the avenger of blood has remembered them [A. V.: " When he makcth inquisition for blood." The ^2 is not " when," as in the English version, but "for," "because," assigning the reason of the praise, as Ewald and the author, or the subject of the de- claration "that," as Hupf. and Delitzsch. — Hupf.: " D'DT &1P properly means the goel, the nearest relative of the murdered man, who must avenge him according to the Oriental custom ; here a title of God as one who punishes, recompenses, and judges; primarily of bloodshed — but it is not confined to this, but extends to the punish- PSALM IX. 95 ment of misdeeds in general." "Blood is used typically or synedochically, not only for death, destruction in general, but also for injury, harm, hurt of any kind. So 'blood-guilt' is also used generally for wickedness, violence, and the guilt or liability for it," vid. Hupf. in loco. "Thus God is said to be the avenger of blood, as the avenger of evil in general, derived from the most conspicuous kind of wickedness and its punish- ment."—C. A. B] The reading (ver. 12) is doubtful, mostly be- tween D"J# and D'p^. Hupf. seeks to prove against Hengst. that there is no difference in the meaning, but Delitzsch maintains that the former word means : those who are in a condition of de- pression owing to afflictions which have befallen them; the latter: those who are in a condition of internal commotion, that is, of humility and meekness. Str. VII. Ver. 13. Be gracious unto me [A. V.: "Have mercy upon me"]. — In the He- brew figuratively, in an uncontracted form of a word which is usually contracted. Many inter- preters, even Delitzsch and Hitzig, find invers. 13 and 14 the prayer of the sufferer mentioned in ver. 12; others, with Calv., regard the second part of the Psalm as beginning here, the prayer for help, for which the former part lays the foundation; others still, with Ruding., regard the prayer as breaking forth in sudden change of tone from a feeling of need that was still pre- sent. [Gates of death. — Sheol is here poetically regarded as a prison with strong gates and bars, from which there is no escape, vid. Ps. cvii. 18; Is. xxxviii. 10. Hupfeld refers to the ' AZoaw nvhai of Homer.— C. A. B.] In the gates of the daughter of Zion. — These are in contrast with the gates of death (Calv. ) ; but the daughter of Zion is not the hea- venly Jerusalem with the praises of the blessed, but the earthly Jerusalem, or, more properly, its inhabitants. Cities and people were, in ancient times, readily personified as females, now as virgins, now as mothers, whose daughters then were the inhabitants as a class. It may, how- ever, refer to the filial relation of the people to God, parallel with the expression "son," in which case it must be translated Daughter Zion, as Is xxxvii. "In the gates" does not mean: within the city, in the temple (Hengst.), but in public, before a great assemblage, amidst a num- ber of people. Hupf. has excellently shown that the gates, as a place of public gathering and of all kinds of public affairs, are to be regarded not only as a noisy market-place, but also as set apart for still higher purposes. Str. VIII. Ver. 15. Sunk down— literally, were plunged. If the perfect is regarded as prophetic (Calv., De Wette, Hengst.), as if it J were here said with confidence that the preceding prayers would be heard, the contrast with the imperfects of the following strophe is lost. If this is regarded as important, it may be taken as expressing either merely a clause of experience, ] as a basis for confidence in the future (Hup- feld), or as referring to the recent historical past I (Delitzsch). Str. IX. Ver. 17. Return [A. V.: beturned], ' — This idea, according to Hupf., Delitzsch, Hitzig, j is not to be taken away from MB?. But when Hupf. finally concludes that it here most natu- rally refers to the idea of "again," with J. II. Michaelis, and not to the place whither they go, but to the state which they left, namely, t lie life, which they lose again ; then not only a part of the polemic against Hengst. falls to the ground, but the fundamental idea of the remarks of Hitzig upon the language of the passage, so sharply emphasized by him, that the heathen must re- turn thither whence they came, is lost ; since now Sheol is named as this place, the expression can- not be entirely the equivalent of "becoming dust again, B inking clown to nothingness." A glance is given into a dreadful condition after death, which is in close connection with the condemned. It is not their physical descent or their historical origin which is here stated, but their home, or the place to which they have shown in their earthly life that they belong. Sir. X. Ver. 19. Let not man grow strong \_Let not man prevail — A. V. — Hupf. and Pe- rowne, el al., agree with the author. The idea is that God will not allow him to grow strong, so that he may carry out his designs. "Prevail" is too strong a word. Hupf.: "As God rises up, man is to cease from being strong, and appears in his weakness and nothingness." Delitzsch and Ewald translate "defy," but without sufficient grounds. — C. A. B.] Ver. 20. Terror [A. V.: "fear"].— Most in- terpreters regard ("PID as an orthographical va- riation from fcOlD, so that the reference is to T terrors of God (Gen. xxxv. 5). So already Chald. and Aqnil. On the other hand, Sept., Syr., Vulg. translate according to the pointing fcOiO=/a«;- ffiver, teacher. With Rabbi Isaki, however, A. Schultens, J. II. Michaelis, et al., regard the word of the text as Judges xiii. 5, and frequently, as razor, and think of the cutting off of the beard as the greatest shame. Hitzig finally believes that the original reading was rniOty=set a guard for them, as an arrangement which hinders them from strik\nn may become acquainted with Him. For God judges the world and all who dwell therein: but lie save* also all who turn to Him. Therefore the world is afraid, but the Church rejoices; their hope will not be ashamed if only their faith falters not. For God's temporal acts of judg- % THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. ment and salvation are only preludes to that which will take place at the end of days. 2. God does not postpone judgment and sal- vation till the end of the world, although times of trouble come for the pious and days of appa- rent victory for their enemies. He already judges in history individuals and nations, so that all traces of them are blotted out from the earth, and their name is forgotten. He likewise saves, blesses and raises up others who take refuge with Him and put their trust in Him. In order that they may find Him and learn to know Him, He has arranged and offered places where He reveals Himself, and services which bestow blessings, and means of grace and of salvation, as He has also established His judg- ment-seat in the midst of the world, and made the people to know that though He is enthroned in the heavens, He has not departed from man. However, it is made known what man has to expect at the last judgment, in that the names of those upon whom the Divine punishment falls will be forever blotted out, and that they will not only die, but they are to be sent back into the lower world as to their home; whilst the pious are raised up from the gates of death, and present their life in the Church as saved by grace, and thereby they strengthen and deepen their communion with the living and eternal God of salvation. 3. There is no direct declaration here of the resurrection of eternal life ; the foundations and prerequisites of such a faith, merely, are laid and it is hinted at negatively in that the frailty of man is emphasized as a characteristic peculiar to him from birth and nature, and it is brought out prominently that his rebellion against God is vain and destructive, and the entire descrip- tion of the Divine treatment of the wicked in His judicial dealings with them, leads to a sepa- ration made by God, which has begun in spiritual death, and has been continued in temporal death, as brought on by Divine punishment, and whose end is not yet announced, i3 also not yet to be seen, upon which, however, a dreadful per- spective is opened. JIxc est continua fidei in hac vita cxercitatio, gralias agere de victoria, et miseri- cordiam implorare, ut vincas (Bugenhagen). HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. The judgments of God are as unerring as they are unavoidable; as terrible as they are just; as salutary as they are necessary. — The arm of the Lord in just judgment casts down to hell those who forget Him, and raises up by grace from the gates of death to life in the Church those who take refuge with Him in the fulness of faith. — The rebellion of man against God and His holy ordinances is no less foolish than wicked, yet it is as guilty as it is weak and audacious. — God is essentially the helper of the needy; on this base your trust in every time of need. — God does not forget even those who for- get Him ; how should lie not be mindful of those who daily call upon Him? It is likewise good for the pious to be reminded of death, judgment and hell. — The temporal consequences of sin are often now more severe than man can bear; but when they are regarded and received as the well-deserved punishments of the righteous God, the terrors which have fallen upon him on ac- count of the Divine judgment may be wholesome for him ; where they are not, death will bring him no deliverance. — The good that the Lord has done thee in silence, thou mayest confess pub- licly and thank Him for it in the Church. — Thankfulness of heart and the song of praise agree well together ; the one unites man closer to God ; the other edifies the Church and draws the attention of those who are without to the wonders of the Lord. — He whose life is saved by God from perils, will be used by God for the benefit of His kingdom and His Church. Starke : All the benefits received from God are real wonders to the humble soul ; lor it is an inconceivable grace, that God the Lord should show so much mercy bodily and spiritual with wonderful wisdom and faithfulness to those who are in the highest degree unworthy. — The cha- racteristic of a holy joy well pleasing to God, is that the heart and mouth are full of thankfulness and the praise of God. — God fights for His chil- dren, and he who fights against them fights against God Himself. — The enemies of the Church cannot be defeated at all by man or human power; but only by the omnipotence of God; for they are confederates of the mighty prince of darkness ; therefore all the honor of the victory belongs to the Lord alone. — Where the fear of God retires there desolation follows; the curse presses upon that land and consumes it as with fire. — Because God abides forever, there- fore those who trust in God and put their hope in God abide forever. — He who honors the name of the Lord truly and actively can never lack hope and faith. — Great is the kindness of God that He should dwell with believers! Great is His faithfulness that He should inquire for the blood of those who are oppressed and should not forget their cries. — The spiritual Zion is not confined to any place, in the world, but the Lord dwells everywhere where there are believ- ers, and may be prayed to and praised in all respects. — If a man should merely tell the grace which has been bestowed upon himself he would have material enough to praise God daily with- out intermission. — It is a great blindness in the heart of the wicked that they should suppose God does not inquire after what is done in earth. — A man's own words spoken in unbelief and his actions are snares and judgment enough for him. Forgetfulness of God is the source of al.l ungodliness and consequently of everlasting ruin. Luther : That is truly a new kind of men, that live among the dead and are glad among the suffering. — Selnekker : Pie who has not taken refuge in time of need, easily supposes that faith is a mere delusion on the tongue; but-he who enters the school where David has been, has a very different opinion. — Bake : Prayer must not originate with the tongue, but in the heart. — Arndt: We should pray and fight with the strength of the Spirit and of faith against great deeds of violence, if we would have the victory. — Herberger: Thanksgiving is the best sound at the table, in the house, in the Church and in the city ; it will also be the everlasting sound of heaven. — God's gracious gilts are simply unde- PSALM X. 97 served wonders. — Unrighteousness destroys the land and the people. — Wicked advice does more harm to those who contrive it than to any one else. (Etinukr: Ziou is indeed little and poor, but yet God dwells there. — Tholuck: The true kind of triumph in all our actions is to rejoice in God and praise the name of the Most High. — Taube: Thankfulness and prayer are the two parts be- tween which, as between two levers going up and down, moves the entire militant Church of God, and every Christian heart, which fights the good fight. — To true thanksgiving belong: 1) the en- tire heart, not half of it; 2) humility, to which all the benefits of God appear as inconceivable grace and pure wonders, as indeed they are ; 3) modest faithfulness, which does not stop with the gift, but f;oes straight to the Giver and rests in Him alone; 4) the enlightened eye, which knows the true name of the Giver and declares it in accordance with the nature of the gift. [Mattii. Henry: The better God is known, the more He is trusted. Those who know Him to be a God of infinite wisdom will trust Him farther than they can see Him, Job xxxv. 14 ; to be a God of almighty power, will trust Him when creature confidences fail, and they have nothing else to trust to, 2 Chron. xx. 12; aud to be a God of infinite grace and goodness, will trust Him though He slay them, Job xiii. 15. Those that know Him to be a God of inviolable truth and faithfulness will rejoice in His word of pro- mise and rest upon that, though the performance be deferred and intermediate providences seem to contradict it. Those that know Him to be the Father of spirits, and an everlasting Father, will trust. Him with their souls as their main care ; aud trust Him at all times even to the end. — Spuugeon: Gladness and joy are the appro- priate spirit in which to praise the goodness of the Lord. Birds extol the Creator in notes of overflowing joy, the cattle low forth His praise with tumult of happiness, and the fish leap up in His worship with excess of delight. Moloch may be worshipped with shrieks of pain, and Juggernaut may be honored by dying groans and inhuman yells, but He whose name is Love is best pleased with holy mirth, and sanclitied gladness of His people. Daily rejoicing is an ornament to the Christian character, aud a suit- able robe for God's choristers to wear. — Thou sands may come at once to the throne of the Judge of all the earth, but neither plaintifl'nor defendant shall hive to complain that He is not prepared to give their cause a fair hearing. How the prospect of appearing before the im- partial tribunal of the Great King should act as a check to us when tempted to sin, and as a Gomfort when we are slandered or oppressed. — Saints are not so selfish as to look only to self; they desire mercy's diamond, that they may let others see it flash and sparkle, and may admire Hi in who gives such priceless gems to His be- loved.— Prayers are the believer's weapons of war. When the battle is too hard for us we call in our great ally, who, as it were, lies in ambush until faith gives the signal by crying out, "Arise, O Lord." — One would think that men would not grow so vain as to deny themselves to be but men, but it appears to be a lesson which only a Divine school-master can teach to some proud spirits. Crowns leave their wearers but men, degrees of eminent learning make their owners not more than men, valor and conquest cannot elevate beyond the dead level of " but men" and all the wealth of Croesus, the wisdom of Solon, the power of Alexander, the eloquence of De- mosthenes, if added together, would leave the possessor but a man. — Plumer: An occasional "God, I thank Thee," is no fit return for a perpetual stream of rich benefits. — C. A. B.] PSALM X. 1 Why standest thou afar off, O Lord ? Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? 2 The wicked iu his pride doth persecute the poor : Let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. 3 For the wicked. boasteth of his heart's desire, And blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth. 4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God; God is not in all his thoughts. 5 His ways are always grievous ; Thy judgments are far above out of his sight As for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. 6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved : For I shall never be in adversity. 7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud : Under his tongue is mischief and vanity. 8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages : In the secret places doth he murder the innocent : His eyes are privily set against the poor. 9 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den : He lieth in wait to catch the poor : He doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net 10 He croucheth, and humbleth himself, That the poor may fall by his strong ones. 11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: He hideth his face ; he will never see it. 12 Arise, O Lord ; O God, lift up thine hand : Forget not the humble. 13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? He hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it. 14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand : The poor committeth himself unto thee ; Thou art the helper of the fatherless. 15 Break thou the arm of the wicked And the evil man : seek out his wickedness till thou find none. 17 The Lord is King for ever and ever : The heathen are perished out of his land. 17 Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble : Thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear : 18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may no more oppress. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its character. — The last four strophes (ver. 12 sq.) begin with the last four letters of the Hebrew alphabet in their order; ver. 1 with 7; the six intervening strophes correspond in num- ber with the corresponding letters ; but they are not represented in acrostics. Many interpreters are therefore inclined to regard this Psalm, which is without title, but has many resemblances in its language to the previous Psalm, as originally a part of it, and indeed so that either the author has not succeeded in carrying out the alphabeti- cal order so strictly as in the preceding part (most interpreters), or that the present vers. 2-11 are a later substitute for the acrostic verses (Olsh.) But this very passage has a very ancient color, and is full of obscurity and is rough. Delitzsch, recognizing the peculiar sub- ject of this Psalm as differing very widely from the preceding Psalm, would regard it rather as a copy of the form of the earlier Psalm ix., made not so much by David himself as by a poet about the same time But how then can we explain the fact, that the alphabetical order, which begins with 7 with so much purpose, should be given up already in the second stro- phe and reappear so long after? In the present form it is inadmissible to unite it with the ninth Psalm into one Psalm (as the Sept.). But the similarity cannot be denied, and the thoughts of the oppressed condition of the pious, who seem to be forgotten for awhile by God, which are expressed towards the close of the former Psalm passing over into petition and invocation of Je- hovah, are here carried out into lamentation. There is a transition in ver. 12. God is called upon to interfere; and he finally expresses the confidence that he will be heard (ver. 17). For this reason we may very well regard them as belonging together as a pair of Psalms ( Hengst . ). [Vid. the introduction of the preceding Psalm. — C. A. B] Str I. Ver 1 Why. — For the explanation of the accentuation as oxytone, in order to give the word a firmness and emphasis especially be- fore the name of God, vid. Hupf. The meaning is not, that of searching for the reason, not that of objection and displeasure, but it is a question of lamentation, with the request that God will draw near to judge and to help. PSALM X. SO [Standest thou afar off. — Perowne : " Like an idle, passive spectator, unconcerned at the misery which he sees, but refuses to relieve." — C. A. B.] — Hidest. — The covering over is here not expressed as reflexive = to conceal one's self, but as active, so that we must sup- ply: thine eyes (Is. 1. 15), or thine ears (Lam. iii. 56). Ver 2. Through the pride of the wicked the afflicted man burns [A. V., The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor]. — It does not mean the heat of persecution (many Rabbins, C'alv.), no more the heat of anger (Hengst.), but the heat of anxiety (all ancient translators, and most modern interpreters), the heat of affliction (Clause., Stier). [Perowne: " Through the proud dealing of the wicked their victims are placed in the lire or furnace of affliction." — C. A. B.] The collective singular is exchanged for the plural in the second member. Since the subject is not given more particularly, there is an un- certainty whether the wicked are referred to as taken in their own craftiness, or the afflicted as taken in the plots devised by the wicked. With the first interpretation the verb is regarded as optative (Aquil., Jerome, Kimchi, Calv.), and the clause as a parenthesis, a pious ejaculation uttered in advance (Ruding). Most interpreters, however, adopt the second view, regarding it as indicative, with all the other ancient translations. This short statement of the circumstances is com- pletely explained in the following verses, and thereby the propriety is proved of the lamenta- tion which has been made Str. II. Ver. 3. Blesseth the defrauder. — Hupf. maintains this interpretation, which is re- presented by Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Geier, et al , according to which the subject is contained in the verb, and the word which begins the clause is in the accusative. (This word means not an avaricious, covetous man or indeed a man who makes a g;iin generally, but a man who makes an unrighteous gain whether by craft or force). Indeed those who regard the substantive as sub- ject, and the verb as passive (Sept., Vulg., Syr., Michael., et al.), or reflexive (Jerome, Venema, Stier), which the language does not allow, gain a similar sense. Others regard the subst. as subject, and take the blessing either in a bad sense=curse, abuse (Gescnius and De Wette with other of the fathers), or they get this meaning, which cannot be shown except in the language of the Talmud, through the meaning: valedicere, depart, forsake, renounce, which can certainly be proved ( Rosenm., Evvald, Kiist., Delitzsch, Hitzig), whilst Hengst. and Ilofm. explain: he blesses, he reviles, no matter whether the one or the other. — Despiseth Jehovah. — [A. V., '■'■whom the Lord abhorreth." This is contrasted with the "blesseth the defrauder," so Perowne, Words- worth, et al. The authorized version is incorrect. — C. A. B.] Ver. 4. The wicked in his haughtiness: "He doth not punish." "Thinks" or "speaks" is to be supplied after haughtiness. Earlier in- terpreters were in error in regarding these words as the predicate of the ungodly, and translating: he asks not, namely, after God [A. V] or Divine commands; or he does not investigate : or, indeed, will not require it." Wordsworth: "'God will not make inquisition;' there is no judgment to come. This is the impious and scornful spirit of which the prophets speak (Isa. v. 19; Mai. ii. 17), 'Where is the God of judgment?' and which St. Peter describes, ' There shall come in the last day scoffers, walking after their own lusts and saying, Where is the promise of His coming?' '2 Pet. iii. 4." Almost all modern in- terpreters are agreed in a similar translation. C. A. B.] — "There is no God ;" (thus) all his calculations. —This clause others, in accordance with the translations, regard as an exclamation : " There is no God in all his thoughts " [A. V., "God is not in all his thoughts."]. Mich., Ro- senm., et al., following Kimchi, more properly find the contents of his thoughts stated. Since however the text does not speak of thoughts but of calculations, and even in the previous clause the existence of God is not denied by the ungodly, but the activity of God, and indeed His judicial activity, Hengst., Hupfeld, Delitzsch, following Calv. and Venema, explain it with more accuracy thus: "God is not, are all His calculations," that is, they are a continual practical denial of God* Str.Ill. Ver. 5. Strong [A. V. grievous], — Since the entire passage is a description of the walk of the ungodly, and not of his lot, the reference of the Chald. " to the success of his undertakings," which most interpreters follow, is not entirely correct. We might rather, with Luther and Geier, sup- pose a reference to the duration and perseve- rance of his bad conduct ; only this does not agree very well with the clause: " at all times." This would very well express the idea of daily, constant, if we could, with Schroder, (Comm. in Ps. X., Groniny. 1754) explain in accordance with the Arabic : distorted = crooked are his ways. But this meaning cannot be shown in the Hebrew, but rather that of being strong. Is not this meant to indicate the regardless and heed- less, and therefore dangerous advance of the wicked to their purposes, treading down many persons and things ; as contrasted with every kind of feebleness and sneaking conduct? The ancient translations are all astray on ac- count of false etymologies. — Are far above, out of his sight. — [Barnes: "They are out of the range of his vision. His thoughts grovel on the earth, and he is never ele- vated in his view so as to see the great prin- ciples of truth." Wordsworth refers to Jobxxii. 12,13 "Is not God in the height of heaven? And thou sayest how doth God know?" — C. A. B.] — He puffeth at them. — This could be said of snorting in wrath, or thirst for blood (Chald.), or of blowing away (Sytnm., Calv., Hengst.), and blowing down (Isaki, Flam., Vatab.); it is best to refer it to a gesture of contempt (Syr., Je- rome, and most others). [Hupf: "A descrip- tion of the security of the wicked, all is favora- ble to him, and neither God nor man hinder him." Riehm : " The third clause describes his relation to his enemies as the preceding his rela- * [Ilupfcld recards it as unnecessary to supply ''speaks" in t hi- former clauBe, and translates thus : '' The unrighteous ,/-< .; I in his pride: " he will not avenge it ' 'there is no God,' are he asks after nothing. [Perowne: "He ^God) | aU hw calculations."— C.A.B.] 100 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. tiou to God . he has neither God nor man to fear, Luke xviii. 14." — C. A. B.] Sir. IV. Ver. 6. [Delitzsch: In his unbounded carnal security he lets his wicked tongue have free course." — C. A. B.] The Vii/ »S brings into prominence the dear / of the proud fool (Delitz.) Others translate by "for" [A. V.], or seek by a different poiuting, to get the meaning of "suc- cess," or failure, or .successful, never unfortu- nate (Mich., Bathe, Kohler), or they chauge the reading. Hupf. and Camph. refer the clause as relative to the preceding word: generation == which is without misfortune. [Hupf. : "I shall not be moved for generations, or from generation to feneration, which will be without adversity." Riehm follows Hitzig thus: " "U^H introduces the direct discourse, as 2 Sam. i 4, and is put back in the clause as in the corresponding pas- sage, Zech. viii. 20, 23, "from generation to ge- neration, that I shall not be in adversity." Barnes: "The idea of the wicked is that they jind their families would continue to be prosper- ous, that a permanent foundation was laid for honor and success, and for transmitting accumu- lated wealth and honors down to far distant times."— C. A. B.] Str. V. Ver. 8. Villages. — [Perowne refers to the haunts of the robbers, nomad encamp- ments of predatory Bedouins, who thence fell upon helpless travellers." * Perowne: "There is some confusion in the metaphors employed. The wicked man is compared first to the lion watching for his prey, and then to the hunter taking wild animals in his net. Whereas again in ver. 10 we seem to have the image of the wild beast crushing his prey." — C. A. B.] Ver. 10. He stoops [A. V., " croucheth."~\ — A continued description of lying in wait (Chald., Isaki, Vatabl., Ewald, Olsh., Delitzsch). Others regard the unfortunate one as the subject, and translate with Aquil. and Jerome: and he sinks down crushed (llosenmiiller, De Wette, Heng- stenberg, [Alexander, Perowne]), or they regard the adjective itself as the subject, and the oppressed sinks down ( Hupfeld). f — His strong ones, according to Mich., are the companions of the wicked, according to Je- rome his powers, or according to the Rabbins, his limbs. Most interpreters suppose a particular reference to the claws or teeth of the lion. Others, with Chald. and Calv., regard the plural as indicating the abstract strength. Hupi'eld, since the verb is in the singular, although else- where it is often connected with the plural of the subject, connects it with the preceding clause = and falls, on account of the singular which precedes. He does not then decide whether the * [Thomson, in the Land and the Book, p. 314, alludes to these verses thus : " A thousand rascals, the living originals of this picture, are this day crouching and lying in wait all over the country to catch poor helpless travellers." And again, p 383: " It was somewhat novel to b'i riding gaily along this solitary shore with professed robbers, and these bushy ravines swarming with their comrades, prowling about like beasts of prey." — C. A. B.] f [Thomson, Land and Boole, p. 445, thinks that Pavid h->8 the panther in view who "lies flat on bis belly, and creeps almost insensibly toward the flock. His color is like the sur- 'ounding grass and stubble. He will thus manoeuvre for hours, until finally within leaping distance, when he springs with one tremendous b >und upon his terrified prey." This is likely in the mixture of metaphorics. — J. A. 13.] concluding words form an adverbial clause = by his strength, the poor; or an independent clause = the poor are in his power. Str. VI. Ver. 11. [Hupfeld: "Refrain with full meaning at the close of the lamentation, ground and motive of the action just described, and at the same time prelude to the following prayer." — C. A. B.] Str. VII. Vers. 12 and 13. [Delitzsch: "In contrast with those who have no God, or only dead idols, the Psalmist calls upon his God, the living God, that He will do away with the ap- pearance that He was not the Omniscient, self- conscious being. The names of God are heaped up. He is to lift up His hand in order to pun- ish."—C. A.B.] Str. VIII. Ver 14. [Thou hast seen it — Perowne: "An energetic protest against the words immediately preceding, and also with a reference to the ' He will never see,' ver. 11, throwing back the words in the mouth of the wicked. There is a time coming he feels, when all this disorder will be set right. God is not the passive spectator of human affairs which these men deem Him." — 0. A. B.] — To take in thy hand — Most interpreters suppose a writing upon the hand in order to call to remembrance. Some, following Sept., Syr., Symm., Jerome, of giving over to punishment, others following the Chald., of punishment itself as requiting with the hand [So A V.] Hupfeld finds here a reference to the energy and practical con- sequences of Divine knowledge, as a transition to action. Str IX. Ver 15. [A. V., " Seek out his wick- edness till thou find none." Perowne: "When his wickedness is sought for, let it no more be found." Wordsworth • " Thou wilt exercise a searching inquiry into all human actions, and wilt make a full end of iniquity by utterly destroying every vestige of it." Riehm regards Jehovah as the subject, and the verb as imperative, as in the first member, and translates: "And the unright- eousness of the wicked mayest thou seek and not find it, the idea being that the wicked should be made so harmless that his wickedness should disappear without leaving any trace, so that God, when He seeks after it in order to pun- ish it, may find it no more. God ever con- tinues to seek out wickedness ; but the Psalm- ist desires that it may be that He shall find nothing more to punish." — C. A. B.] Re- specting the eternal sovereignty of Jehovah, ver. 1G, compare Zech. xiv. 9; Dan. vii. 14; Rev, xi 15. — Jehovah is king forever. — [Alexander- " He is not dethroned, as His ene- mies imagine; He is still King, and will so re- main in perpetuity and eternity, forever and ever."— C. A. B.] Sir. X. Ver. 17. [Wilt prepare.— Hupfeld: "Strengthen their heart; to make a firm, com- forted heart, unwavering in its feelings (Pss. li. 12; lvii. 8; lxxviii. 37; cxii. 7), in contrast to a heart agitated, trembling, shaken in its atti- tude, inconstant, fluctuating between hope and fear, and other opposite feelings. Here God strengthens by hearing, or rather by faith, the inner confidence that the prayer will be heard." — C A. B.] Ver. 18. Terrify [A. V., " oppress."]— The PSALM X. 101 play upon words may be expressed in Latin : ne terreat — hoi/toe terra. it may also be translated : defy (Sept., Jerome, Luth., Geier, Ileugst. ), or to be violent (Mich). The verb stands abso- lutely (Calv.) so that "they" (Kimchi) cannot be supplied. This translation: no lunger will he (ihe wretched one) frighten mau from the earth (Aben Ezra), is less appropriate; still less the very different rendering: they or he (the wicked man) will no mure frighten the man (the misera- ble) from the land (Syr., Rosenm., De Wctte). The earth is here not mentioned as the material from which the enosh is made, but as the place of his abode, from which he rises in wickedness. Baur (in De Wette'sComm.) proposes to refer the first words of the last line as parenthesis to the oppressed = he is it no longer, to regard the last words, however, as parallel with the previous line, as a statement of the kind of Divine help = frightening the rabble from the land. Lon- elier translates: Let not the weak flee terrified from the land, [lliehm : "No longer will man inspire with fear from the earth." The Psalmist expresses the confidence at the close correspond- ing with the wish, Ps. ix. 19, " that it will re- sult from God's judgment that no wicked man, or that no man will any more be terrible to others, but Jehovah alone in heaven." "This completely remedies the lamentation, ver. 2." — C. A. 13.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. The enemies of the pious are not only strong, crafty, unscrupulous, cruel, and eager to devise the ruin of their opponents, but they are likewise without faith, and godless even to the extent of denying that there is a God. But whilst they rage, scorn, and blaspheme, and in their pride wickedly disregard all Divine com- mands, and offend against all human order and rights; God sers how they act and how His ser- vants suffer ; and God reveals to them both the power of his hand, as the God who is always and eternally King. 2. On this very account the pious very pro- perly commit themselves to God, and this secures them from despair. But the time, before Divine help appears, is often very long, and it is hard for him to wait. It is well for him if he then strengthens his hope and revives his trust in God, and arms himself for patience in suffering, by prayer. 3. In the anguish of external trouble and in- ternal affliction the pious may, with propriety, urge God to hasten to their relief; but although the voice of their lamentation may resound, yet it must not contain a complaint against God, as if He improperly delayed, or as if lie left the af- flicted in continual danger without reason, or as if He had purposely shut His eyes and ears against their need and prayers. In the realiza- tion of their weakness, they must give themselves aud their cause entirely into the hands of God. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. He who has nothing under him but the earth upon which he walks and Btands, may indeed at times in wicked presumption be arrogant and proud as if there was no God; but he will ere long be cast down by the everlasting King, whom he blasphemes aud denies. — Many speak about God, but act as if there were no God. — God sees all that takes place on earth, He neglects no- thing, He forgets no one, but He will not have the time, the place, or the form of the revelation of 11 is righteousness prescribed to Him. — We should learn patience by the patience of God. — ■ With God there is indeed delay, but no neglect. — He who would see the fulfilment of his hopes, must not only believe that God is, and that He is a rewardcr of those who seek Him ; he must likewise pray to God and wait upon God. — As sure as God is everlasting King, so sure is the final and complete ruin of the ungodly, and the final and eternal salvation^of the pious. — If God has taken anything into His hands we need not trouble ourselves with care; but we must at all times humble ourselves under His powerful hand, and lie in His hand of grace. Starke: God often hides His face from us, and postpones His help, only that we may pray more earnestly. — The more success the ungodly have in their heart's desire, the less they care for God. — Pride and haughtiness make the un- godly so unreasonable that they do not inquire after man or God, and they regard all wholesome reflection as folly. — The security and dissolute- ness of man receive their support, in not reflect- ing upon the judgments of God. — If an ungodly man believes in the word of God, he must like- wise believe that his fall is near, that it will surely come. Since however he does not believe this, he must likewise regard the word of God as lies. — The ungodly make lies their refuge and hypocrisy their shelter; but the curse reaches them. — To deny Divine providence is to blas- pheme against God. — When God begins to search after wickedness, then everything must come out; for God sees even into the most secret cor- ners.— As long as the enemies of Christ are un- able to cast Him down from His throne of glory, His Church will remain in spite of all the devils. OsiANM.it: Those who say that God does not take up the affairs of men, do as much as deny that there is a God, and blaspheme Him in the most cruel manner. — Memzel: What makes the ungodly so secure in the world? 1) Their success and progress; 2) their great number and adherents; 3) their wicked heart, which despises God, and does not fear that He will punish their wickedness be- cause He delays a little. Why are such com- plaints of the saints described to us? 1) That we may see how painful it is for the pious heart when God seems to give way to the wicked; 2) that, we may likewise know the weakness of the saints; they have likewise flesh and blood, there- fore they struggle wonderfully with their trials : 3) that we may learn that God can bear with such weakness if only faith is maintained. — FRANKS: The heart must first be brought into the school of the cross, if a word that treats of the cross, is to be relished by him, and give him strength and nourishment. — Baumgauten: As long as a man regards God as his enemy, he wishes that there were no God. — Although some things are forgotten for a time, and no creature is troubled about them, yet God will in llis time 102 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. inquire for them, and break the arm of the un- godly.— Herberger: Hell is behind the. pride of the ungodly ; heaven and eternal life are be- hind the sufferings of pious hearts. — To err is human, but to continue constantly in wicked- ness is devilish. — Taubb: Pride and wrath are always brothers. — The severest conflict, but like- wise the most brilliant victory in cross-bearing, is the believing appropriation of the power and grace of God to myself as an individual, and to my present circumstances. [Matth. Henry: We stand afar off from God by our unbelief, and then we complain that God stands afar off from us. — Where there is a heart full of malice, there is commonly a mouth full of curses. — Let those that suffer by proud oppressors hope that God will in due time ap- pear for them ; for those that are abusive to them are abusive to God Almighty too. — Barnes : Pride is at the root of all the Atheism, theoret ical or prac- tical, on the earth ; at the root of all the reluc- tance which there is to seek the favor of God ; at the root, therefore, of the misery and wretched- ness of the world. Men act as if they were not responsible to their Maker, and as if it were a settled point that He would never call them to ac- count.— Spurgeon : To the tearful eye of the suf- ferer the Lord seemed to s?a??o? still, as if He calmly looked on and did not. sympathize with His af- flicted one. Nay more, the Lord appeared to be afar off, no longer " a very present help in trou- ble," but an inaccessible mountain, into which no man would be able to climb. The presence of God is the joy of His people, but. any suspi- cion of His absence is distracting beyond mea- sure.— The refiner is never far from the mouth of the furnace when his gold is in the fire, and the Son of God is always walking in the midst of the flames when His holy children are cast into them. — It is not the trouble, but the hiding of our Father's face, which cuts us to the quick. — A smiling face and a rod are not fit compa- nions. God bares the back that the blow may be felt ; for it is only felt affliction which can be- come blest affliction. If we were carried in the arms of God over every stream, where would be the trial, and where the experience, which trou- ble is meant to teach us? — The only place where God is not in the thoughts of the wicked. This is a damning accusation ; for where the God of heaven is not, the Lord of hell is reign- ing and raging ; and if God be not in our thoughts, our thoughts will bring us to perdi- tion.— Ah ! there is one enemy who will not be puffed at. Death will puff at the candle of his life, and blow it out, and the wicked boaster will find it grim work to brag in the tomb. — God shall hunt the sinner forever ; so long as there is a grain of sin in him it shall be sought out and punished. — God permits tyrants to arise as thorn-hedges to protect His Church from the in- trusion of hypocrites, and that He may teach His backsliding children by them, as Gideon did the men of Succoth with the brier of the wilderness; but He soon cuts up these Herods, like the thorns, and casts them into the fire." — Spurgeon's Treasury of David: Thos. Watson: A spiritual prayer is an humble prayer. — The lower the heart descends, the higher the prayer ascends. — C. A. B.] PSALM XI. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. 1 In the Lord put I my trust : How say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain ? 2 For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, They make ready their arrow upon the string, That they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. 3 If the foundations be destroyed, What can the righteous do? The Lord is in his holy temple, The Lord's throne is in heaven : His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the children of men. The Lord trieth the righteous : But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateta, PSALM XI. 103 6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, Fire and brimstone, aud a horrible tempest : this shall be the portion of their cup. 7 For the righteous Lokd loveth righteousness ; His countenance doth behold the upright. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Contents and Composition. — The firm trust in God whilst the foundations of the State and social order are shaking, the manly rejection of the counsel of discouraged friends who advise to flee from the threatening danger, the cheerful confidence in sure help through the judicial go- vernment of God, correspond so well with the character of David, that there is no reason to doubt the correctness of the title, whether we think of the earlier period of the persecution by Saul (Ewald), or of the battles of David with the Philistines, with a reference to 2 Sam. xxi. 17 (Hitzig), or on account of ver. 8, of the rebellion of Absalom (Maurer, Delitzsch). The vigorous brevity, and the fresh, lively movement of the lan- guage do not. agree at all with the supposition that this is a Psalm of lamentation, composed by lle- zekiah at the time of the siege of Sennacherib.* Str. I. Ver. 1. — With Jehovah have I re- fuge. [A. V. "In the Lord do 1 put my trust." Hupf. : •With Jehovah have I taken or found re- fuge." So Perowne: "I need no other refuge: how c3. Hitzig now translates: melted into the bar in the cru- cible He regards PN-)"!, Ps. lxviii. 30. Bottcher would read }*"!N">=to the lustre of white • V T T =to tlie pure bright mass. Sir. IV. Ver. 7. This generation. — [Pe- rowue: "Spoken of those wlio not only live in the same age, but are pervaded by the spirit of that age. So Isa. liii. 8. Here the world as opposed to the Chinch." — C. A. B.] Ver. y If the wicked walk about on every side in accordance with the increase of vileness among the children of men. — Some, as Grot., Rosenm., Umbreit, following Symm. and Jerome, regard D as a particle of time [so A. V., " when the vilest men are ex- alted"], yet so, that they unite the statement of the reasou with that of the point of time. But it is better to regard it as a comparison, because it then expresses a corrective and comforting judgment respecting the previous clause (Hupf. j. Hitzig unites the letters to other words and gets the meaning, " Unhappy destiny for the world of man ! " In the Chald. and Rabbin. 7-TO T ~ means fate, yet in the plural properly sijna zodiaci; therefore Hitzig is inclined to think partly of some idiom of common life, partly refers to Judges v. 20, where the .stars actively interfere with human affairs. Formerly he translated: if they rise, a terror to the chil- dren of men. In a similar way Gesenius The- saurus. On the other hand G. Baur prefers the translation of Hengst.: lowliness is for men as sovereignty , which is thus improved by Len- gerke: humiliation is to the children of men as exaltation ; which should mean : they will not long carry it on — pride comes before a fall. Umbreit translates: The wicked walk round about, when the shame of the children of men rises. [Wordsworth translates thus: Thou shalt keep them, 0 Lord, Thou shalt guard him frcm this generation forever, although the wicked walk on every side because vileness is exalted among the children of men. The Psalmist fore- tells two things: that ungodliness will overflow, even unto the end ; and that the righteous will be preserved from the flood of iniquity. And thus he prepares the way for the declaration of the Lord Himself in the Gospel concerning the latter days (Matt. xxiv. 12, 13."— C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. Those are had times when the number of the friends of God and of the faithful decreases, and tlie number of the double-tongued, deceitful and false increases in the land. The pious in this case have much to suffer internally and ex ternally, yet they must not only suffer and endure and not make much complaint, still less fear, but they must testify against the mischief and its causes, and constantly implore the help of God. 2. The ungodly sin not only with their tongues, but also in acts by which the members of the Church of God are oppressed and threat- ened. But in spite of their vain glory and great boasting they are not in the position to carry out their wicked devices. They accomplish nothing by their hypocrisy and flattery, and do not attain their end any more by their threats than by their deceitful enticements, or indeed 108 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. by their slander. God watches over His people and protects those who sigh after Him. 3. In times of trouble God comforts the afflicted by His holy word, and awakens in the Church itself voices which testify to the truth of the Divine promises, and to the reliability of the hope of salvation which is based upon them. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. The world attacks the congregation of the Lord but God defends it. — It is not promised to the pious that they shall live without opposition ; but that God will preserve them from the wicked generation and save them. — The growth of the congregation is at times interrupted, but it can- not be destroyed; for the Lord is its help and its salvation. — In the days of their affliction the pious have still, 1) the consolation of prayer ; 2) the promise of the word of God; 3) the re- freshment of the communion of saints. — God answers the supplication of His people; will not the people respond to the promises of the word of God? — The wickfid man goes about for a short time, until he is cast, down by th-e hand of God from his imaginary height. The same hand of God raises the pious from the depths of temporal need to the loftiness of eter- nal salvation. — The demeanor of the wicked corresponds with the vileness of corrupt human nature ; the conduct of the pious expresses the nobility of the children of God. Luther: Only he who is true to God, is true to men ; but faith and the grace of God are neces- sary to both. — Calvin : God otfers in His word only that which He will fulfill in deed. — Starke: If believers have diminished already in the time of David, how much more now with us, who are near the last days, when little faith and love is to be found. — If believers are few, then see to it that thou art found in the little band (Luke xii. 32). — Ye men, watch over your tongue and your heart, that the former may speak the truth, the latter be without guile. To speak unprofitable things is an impure fruit of a bad heart. So long as we are not humbled under God and bowed down in heart, so long we are exposed to the judgment of being rooted out. — The sigh of the miserable awakens the vengeance of God ; therefore trouble them not, else their sighs will make you anxious. — The greater our need, the nearer God. — The greater the fire, the nobler the trial. — False, doctrine is neither gold nor silver, but only scum. — As long as we are in the world, we are obliged to be among the wicked, only we have to pray, that we may be delivered from their wickedness. — Osianuer : The pious are sown scantily, but tares grow of themselves. — Menzkl: Tyranny is indeed hard; but false doctrine is much harder; for tyranny kills the body, but false doctrine the soul. — Fkisch : Hold to the few believers that ate left ; but take to heart the universal corruption and lament over it to the Lord. — Herberger: Help, Lord ! That is short, but a good prayer. — All saints must believe, and only believers are saints be- fore God. — Umbkeit : Nothing hurts believers more than the lack of truthfulness and upright- ness in the world. — Stiller. : We need not tight with human strength; our only weapon is the word of God. — Diedrich : God's people increase but slowly, and ever under the cross. [Matth. Henry : There is a time fixed for the rescue of oppressed innocency , that time will come, and we may be sure it is of all others the fittest time. — In singing this Psalm and praying over it, we must bewail the general corruption of manners ; thank God that things are n. t worse than they are, but pray and hope that they will be better in God's due time. — Barnes : The fall of a professor of religion into sin is a greater loss to the Church than his death would be. There is usually a greater de- gree of recklessness among men in regard to their speech than in regard to their conduct ; and many a man who would shrink from doing another wrong by an act of dishonesty in busi- ness, may be utterly reckless as to doing him wrong by an unkind remark. — Spurgeon: "Help, Lord!" A short, but sweet, sug- gestive, seasonable, and serviceable prayer; a kind of angel's sword, to be turned every way, and to be used on all occasions. — As small ships can sail into harbors which larger vessels, drawing more water, cannot enter, so our brief cries and short petitions may trade with heaven when our soul is wind-bound, and business-bound, as to longer exercises of devo- tion, and when the stream of grace seems at too low an ebb to float a more laborious supplication. — Jesus feels with His people, and their smarts are mighty orators with Him. By-and-by, how- ever, they begin to sigh and express their misery, and then relief comes post-haste. — C. A. B.] PSALM XIII. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. 1 How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord ? forever ? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? PSALM XIII. 109 2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul ? Having sorrow in my heart daily ? How long .shall mine enemy be exalted over me ? 3 Consider and hear me, O Lord my God : Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death ; 4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him ; And those that trouble me rejoice when 1 am moved. 5 But I have trusted in thy mercy ; My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. 6 I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its character. The Psalm begins with a strophe of five lines, a lamentation from a sigh- ing breast, in which hope is in severe conflict with despair; then follows a strophe of four lines of urgent prayer ; from which breaks forth in a strophe of three lines, faith in the Divine grace, with expressions of joyous personal par- ticipation therein. It is all expressed in lan- guage so true to life, and with the freshness of experience, that it is entirely inadmissible to re- gard as its subject the people of Israel oppressed by foreign nations (Rabbin., ltosenm., De Wette) or the suffering Christ. David can only apply us a type, so far as his experience is applied to the God-fearing sufferer and Christian martyr. [Perowne: "The rapid transition of feeling from a depth of misery bordering on despair, to hope, and even joy, is very remarkable." Hitzig refers this Psalm to the time of Saul's persecu- tion of David. Delitzsch likewise inclines to this opiuion. — (J. A. B.] Str. I. Ver. 1. How long — forever. — The meeting together of the question, and the lamentation, in apparent conflict, in the words which begin and close the clause, is found like- wise, Ps. lxxiv. 10; lxxix. 5; lxxxix. 4b\ Thus it cannot be merely an accidental want of exact- ness in the expression, nor can it be set aside by interpreting " forever " by " entirely " (Aquil., Kosenin.), which the language does not permit, but it is to be explained from the conflict in the Psalmist's own feelings (Calv., Hengst., Hupf., Delitzsch), which Luther (although he incorrectly translates "entirely," "fully") very properly describes as " an anguish of spirit which feels that it has to do with a God alienated, hostile, implacable, inexorable, whose wrath is eternal, where hope itself despairs, and yet despair hopes; ami all that lives is the ' groaning that cannot be uttered,' wherewith the Holy Spirit maketh intercession for us brooding over the waters shrouded in darkness." [The punctua- tion of the A. V., " How long wilt thou forget me? foreverf" is incorrect. Perowne : "It is natural for a perturbed and doubting heart thus to express itself in a confused and almost con- tradictory manner." — " Well must David have understood what this was, when, hunted by Saul, he knew not where to betake himself; at one tune seeking refuge among the Moabites, at an- other in the wilderness ol Ziph; now an outlaw hiding himself in the cave of Adullam, and anon a captain in the service of the king of the Phi- listines; and amid all his projects, haunted by the mournful couvictiou ' I shall now one day perish by the hand of Saul.' " — C. A. 13.] Ver. 2. Daily. — [Barnes: "Everyday; con- stantly. That is, there was no intermission to his troubles. The sorrow in his heart seems to have been not merely that which was caused by trouble from without, but also that which sprang from the painful necessity of attempting to form plans for his own relief — plans which seemed to be in vain."* — C. A. B.] Str. II. Ver. 3. Make mine eyes clear. — [A. V., "lighten mine eges"] does not mean: illuminate mine eyes = my face; namely: with the light of Thy countenance (Geier, and most in- terpreters), but states the cousequeuces and the work of the Divine glance of grace, namely: the strengthening of the vitality, whose mirror is t lie clear and cheerful eye, 1 Sam. xiv. 27, 2D. Their dimness shows the exhaustion of vitality, Ps. vi. 7; Lam. v. 17. It is true Ps. xix. 8 speaks of enlightening the eyes by the Spirit and the word of God (Chald., Cocc, et al.), but this is not re- ferred to here, where it has to do with enlight- ening with the light of life, as Job xxxiii. 30 ; Ps. xxxviii. 10; Prov. xxix. 18. [Delitzsch: " The enlightening light to which "VNH refers, is the love-light of the Divine countenance, Ps. xxxi. lfi. Light, love, and life, are related ideas in the Scriptures. He upon whom God looks in love, remains alive, he who is permeated with new vitality, obtains not to sleep the sleep of death." — C. A. B ] The kind of sleep is indi- cated by the accusative. [A. V.: the sleep ,h other statements in the Psalm, confirms its prophetic and didactic character, which in the wider sense may be called Messi- anic. Psalm liii. is likewise in favor of a more ancient time, as it deviates from this Psalm iu a few, yet very significant, turns of thought.* It is uncertain whether all of the seven strophes were originally of three members (De- litzsch) and vers, i) audU have been mutilated; yet this is probable. [Perowne : "In form the ode is dramatic, or quasi-dramatic. A great tragedy is enacting before the eyes of the poet. Sin is lifting itself up in Titanic madness against God, and God looks down upon its doings as once upon the builders of Babel. He sees utter apostasy (ver. 3); He speaks from heaven (ver. 4), and the evil-doers are confounded at the word of His mouth (ver. 5). ' It would scarcely be possible,' says Ewald, ' for a great truth to be sketched in fewer or more striking outlines.' " — C. A. B.] Str. I. Ver. 1. Fool. — The etymology of nabal leads to the idea of withered and without sap; usage, to spiritual dullness, barrenness and worthlessness (Isa. xxxii. 5, 6) in contrast with the religious freshness and moral ability of the truly wise man. The expression does not refer to intellectual weakness. f The perfects in the first five verses do not force us to a purely historical interpretation (Baur, Hitzig, et til.), whether we leave the person unde- termined or think of Nebuchadnezzar, Senna- cherib and the Assyrians, or find here the proper name Nabal (the husband of Abigail). They are clauses expressing experience, which pre- sent the thoughts of the fool, how he manifests himself constantly and everywhere. [The A. V. needs correction here, it should read not . the fool hath said; but the fool saith in his heart. Hupf., " It is the secret thought and delusion of his heart. — It is likewise not exactly * [That there should be two Psalms in the collection so similar as Psalms xiv. and liii. is in itself remarkable. The deviations, few though they are, are likewise remarkable. Were it not for ver. 7 of Ps. xiv. the Davidic authorship would be unquestionable. And it seems more natural to apply this expression to the longing of the exiles at Babylon (iivvald, De Wette, Hupf., et at.). It might be a later liturgi- cal addition, so far as Ps. xiv. is concerned, or rather the origi- nal Ps. xiv. 1-6 was, by a few alterations and additions, adapted to the circumstances of the exile, and given as Ps. liii., and very naturally at a later period, Ps. xiv. was assimilated by the addition of ver. 7. The Psalm is complete in itself certainly without ver. 7. This would account for the title of both Psalms, ascribed to David, and used in the temple worship; and at the same time for the occurrence of the same Psalm twice in the collection." — C. A. 13.] t [Perowne: "They are those whose understanding is darkened: who, professing themselves to be wise, became fools. Such men, who make a boast of their reason, and would fain walk by the light of their reason, prove how little their reason is worth. The epithet is the more cutting, because persons of this kind generally lay claim to more than ordinary discernment." Barnes : "It is designed to convey the idea that wickedness or impiety is essentially folly, or to use a term in describing the wicked which will, perhaps more than any other, make the mind averso to the sin — for there is many a man who would see more in the word fnnl to be hated than in th<> word wicked ; who would rather be call d a sinner than a/ooi."— C. A. B.] a fixed theory or an understood and conscious opinion, but a disposition which put itself in practice and is inferred therefrom, even if it does not say any thing: an Atheism of heart and life." — C. A. B.}— Corrupt, abominable, they make their doings.— The two verbs placed alongside of one another, without a connecting particle, intensify the idea of badness which is not necessarily contained in the noun. The plu- ral shows that the author-, from the beginning, had in mind, not an individual fool, who was to be regarded as an exception; but he first gives the characteristics of the class, then describes the conduct of individuals belonging to it. The first verb awakens a sad remembrance to those acquainted with the Scriptures; for the same word appears first in Gen. vi. 5, 12, in the de- scription of the corruption which preceded the flood, and is frequently used iu the Scriptures to designate the apostasies of the Israelites from the living God and the sacred ordinances of His covenant which so frequently occur (Ex. xxxii. 7; Deut. xxxi. 29; xxxii. 5; Judges ii. 19). The transition is thus prepared in the soul for tha.t which follows. Str. II. Ver. 2. Looked down. — Literally bowed Himself over; indicating zealous and intense looking in order to a closer examination, 2 Kings ix. 10 ; often used of God, tor the first time Gen. xi. 5, xviii. 21, in the history of the tower of Babel. These as well as the references to early history previously mentioned, which Grotius already observed, need not mislead us to limit the expressions used here to these par- ticular events. But they turn our thoughts in this direction : that we need not trouble our- selves with the refutation of fools, for God has practically provided for this long ago. This retrospect of history with its disclosure of human corruption and Divine judgments sets before our eyes the follies of the present, partly in their connection with universal sin, partly with the assurance of Divine condemnation. The former point of view is not properly estimated, if with Delitzsch we merely accept the perfect sense iu so far as the result of God's looking about recog- nizes this looking about itself as an act which has already transpired ; the latter point of view is obscured, if this looking about is regarded as a poetical figure, by which the Psalmist impresses upon his own judgment the seal of Divine approval; both points of view vanish together, if the contents of the judgment passed in con- sequence of this Divine examination which is mentioned, are essentially weakened as well with reference to their meaning as their credibility by accepting a hyperbolic form of expression (Hupf., following Gataker). Children of men. — Literally, sons of Adam. This expression does not designate the ungodly as such (Knapp et al. with reference to Gen. vi. 2), or the heathen (De Wette), or the fools pre- viously mentioned, as a specially profligate class of men (Gataker), or the same in their general character as men and subject to the considera- tion of God (Hupf.) ; but men as a body, as the posterity of Adam, yet not as fools (Geier), but in their character as members of a fallen race (Calv., J. H. Mich., Stier). Str. III. Ver. 3. All.— The totality as well as PSALM XIV. 113 the universality of human corruption is stated in the strongest language, and first of all, as having gone aside from the right way, aud then it is defined by a word which originally was used for physical corruption, especially of the souring of milk in ihe Arabic, but likewise of moral cor- ruption. Job xv. 16.— If with Maurer we regard the H which begins the clause as a particle of interrogation, as vers. 2 and 4, to which likewise G. Baur is inclined, then it would be advisable, with Ewald, to have the words of Jehovah begiu here, which Hitzig, Delitzsch, et al. regard as be- ginning with ver. 4. But without regard to the fact that it is not at all necessary to regard Jehovah as speaking, this supposition would uot give us an expression of the judgment of the Omniscient God, but would merely continue the figure of speech, in accordance with which He has made an investigation. The T\ is therefore to be regarded as an article=the all, the totality, as Ps. xlix. 17; Dan. xi. 2; comp. Ewald (Lehr- buch, \ 286 a). It is noteworthy that there is not here a statement of a doctrine, but the mention of a fact, that this moreover makes the moral con- demnation of the entire world as an actual result of God's looking about. The Sept. has already regarded this result not as a solitary fact, limited to a certain period, but has taken up into the text passages with similar subjects from Pss. v. 9 ; x. 7 ; xxxvi. 1 ; cxl. 4 ; Isa. lix. 7,8 (in the margin of the Cod. Vatic), which reappear in the citation Rom. iii. 10-12, and have found their way into the Arab, and Vulg. trans- lations of our Psalm. [Likewise in the English Prayer-book version. — C. A. B.]. In the lie- brew this addition is found only in codd. 649, apparently as a translation back into Hebrew by a Christian who would justify the citation of the Apostle (De Rossi and Rosenm. against Kimchi, who maintains its authenticity). The Church has sufficient biblical support for its doctrine of human corruption by connecting several other passages of the Bible with this. However, the interpreters of former times have not sufficiently distini/uished from the facts men- tioned here, the conclusions drawn therefrom and their dogmatic use. Sir. IV. Ver. 4. Have all the workers of iniquity no experience? [A. V., "know- ledge"].— Hitzig, who previously translated it: "are they out of their wits ?" now advocates the translation of the Sept., Vulg., Jerome, as future. This presupposes the pointing of the imperf., which is found in some codd., and gives an admissible sense, if it is regarded as the threatening of the judgment in which the work- ers of iniquity are to he actually assured of the reality and of the activity of the God whom they have denied and disregarded. But the perfect of the present text is much more suitable to the connection of the discourse (Hupf.), as it refers back to the judgment which God has already constantly and impartially executed in history upon the persons of all evil-doers. But the character of the question as threatening and warning, is weakened into a tone of involuntary astonishment at the blindness and security of evil-doers, if, with Geier, ffengst., H al. [A. V.]. we explain: know = do not reflect upon it. 8 Moreover the all does not agree with this. The reference cannot be at all to correct know- ledge (Clauss). However, it is admissible to con- nect tne verb with the negative into one idea= are then without understanding? (Ewald), unrea- sonable'.' ^Delitzsch). But witu our interpretation the advance in thought is clearer. For after mentioning that God looks about and examines critically we would expect a reference to the Divine judgment, and indeed not to human opinions or feelings respecting this judgment, but to what it had already accomplished in his- tory. The context, moreover, leads to a state- ment of Divine acts and not of human actions. Since now the form of the question with «?n does not show any uncertainty at all, or lead to something that is yet to be inquired after, but on the contrary expresses in the strongest terms the utmost certainty, the question thus gains together with its threatening and warning charac- ter at the same time a triumphant tone, and then forms a suitable transition to that which follows. Eat up my people. — It follows from Mic. iii. 3; Isa. iii. 12, that the mention of My does not necessarily imply the words of Jehovah. [However, it is more natural and better, with Ewald, Delitzsch, el al., to regard Jehovah as speaking. It is more in keeping with the dra- matic character of the entire Psalm. — C. A. B.J. There has been no previous reference to foreign enemies, or to wars in which the Israelites were consumed, or to any external events at all, but to moral and religious relations, yet such as occur in history aud in Israel. The ancient translations and most interpreters find stated here by the comparison, the manner of eating up the people, as they eat bread. The ungodly regard it as their natural business to eat up the people. This interpretation is not without grammatical objections, so that Hitzig takes refuge in the supposition of a transposition of letters, which is recommended indeed by analo- gies, and reads VuK instead of TOX. But the figure is favored by the frequency of its use in the prophets, where it is still further carried out, and by the difficulty of finding any other accep- table sense. For the interpretation of Luther which has been revived by Clauss, does not at all suit the construction of the clause, in accord- ance with which the devouring of the people affords the yneans of support for the ungodly. Moreover, to eat bread cannot mean to live well (J. II. Mich.); also not to live unpunished (Coca): but generally to support themselves. Now if this is in contrast with what follows, the reference might be to a neglect of prayer at the table (Chald., L. de Dieu). This, however, is not suitable here. So, likewise, hardly the idea of living securely therein, as an animal (Hupf.) in which the physical life would be nourished, but the spiritual life remain without nourish- ment. Though this thought is appropriate it lias very little support in the words as such. Str. V. Ver. •">. There. — This does not mean the same place where the crime is committed and the condemnation is received (Aben Ezra. Kimchi), or where they should recognize God and call upou Him (Clauss), soalso not the place 114 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. of future judgment (Flamin., Calvin, Hengst., Stier) , although W\3 is properly a designation of place, for H.can likewise be used for a, space of time (Ps. lxvi. u ; Prov. vi. 27)J and even of the future (Zeph. i. 14; Job xxiii. 7), with which reference the prophetic perfects would then Siiow the certainty of punishment (Pss. xxxvi. 12; cxxxii. 17, Hos. ii 17). Still less are we to think of a place of judgment within man, of the conscience (Geier), although lilD means as well the anxiety before possible disas ter, as terror on account of real disaster, and indeed both, in so far as they are made by God to impend over them as punishment for sin. The context demands the latter interpretation The juxtaposition of the same word as noun and verb (so also Isa. xxiv. 7)— frighten a fright, is so much the more picturesque as this word, Prov ii. 26; iii. 25; comp vi. 15, has the secondary idea of suddenly and unexpectedly. The Psalmist refers to the Divine punishment historically fulfilled (Hupf, only too narrowly to the occurrence at the Exodus from Egypt) in the closest connection with the description ver. 2 sq., especially ver. 4. D\2 is used with a simi- lar general reference Job xxxv. 12. Delitzsch translates: "There they shudder shuddering," and explains : then when God will speak to them in His wrath, as ver. 4 is adduced as from His mouth, then His word, which never fails of eifect, thunders down upon that "inhuman person who is without knowledge and conscience. For God is in the generation of the righteous. — This gives the reason of the ter- rors of judgment which break in upon those who oppress and devour the people of God The contrast, that God is not with the ungodly (Clau«s),isa matter of course, yet it is not here expressed. Moreover, the clause does not, as is generally supposed, make the historical fact prominent, that Jehovah dwelleth in the midst of His people, protects and governs them and brings about their complete victory over their enemies. In contrast with the thoughts of the fool, ver 1, he expresses the religious truth, that ELohim declares Himself on earth, in the gene- ration of the righteous. The latter is likewise not a historical but an ethical idea, and does not coincide entirely with that of the people of Israel, among whom the righteous were present only as individuals (Gen. vii. 1) by their genera- tions (Gen. vi. 9), yet who hinder the ruin of the whole and are the means of saving the people. Str. VI. Ver. 6. You may shame the counsel of the oppressed; [in vain] — For Jehovah is his refuge. — The counsel, that is. all the counsel which he had agreed upon with himself. Most interpreters think particu- larly of the plan proposed by him to deliver himself from his oppressors. The contents of his counsel might be given in the following members of the verse with "/hat" [A. V be- cause] (Aben Ezra, Calvin, Stier, Hitzig). How- ever, the translation "but" (Luther /7 al.) is in- admissible. But the preceding verb does not agree with this, whether we regard the imperfect as pre- sent or future, or, as is often the case, impera- tive. For tyi3 does not mean in the Hiphil, '-'to scoff" (the ancient interpreters), but "to cause to blush," or actively " to disgrace." If, there- fore, we must translate " for," it is necessary at the same time to suppose that the clause which states the cause has fallen out, and thus the former tristich has been shortened, or we must sup- ply a short clause something like : to no purpose ; or, in vain (Hupf, De Wette, Hengst., Delitzsch)' Ewald translates: the design against the af- flicted you will see to be in vain ; previously he translated- in your design with reference io the afflicted will you blush because, etc. Str. VII. Ver 7 Who will give out of Zion [A. V., 0 that — were come out of Zion] — What a contrast this expression makes with ver. 2 ! And how clearly he shows that he does not refer to help against external violence of foreign enemies, by the Divine power, but to deliverance by demonstrations of grace in connection with the historical institutions of salvation. The question in the anxious prayer of the oppressed, containing the desire for redemption, presup- poses that Jehovah dwells in Zion. and that His sanctuary is standing in Jerusalem, but at the same time it explains its approach with reference to a hindrance which is still to be set aside. Such a hindrance is not the external distance of the Psalmist from Jerusalem, say, during the re- bellion of Absalom (Grotius), but his sins which were not yet entirely expiated. The shining forth of the Messianic thought in this passage is overlooked, for this reason especially, that, in the usual form of resolving the question in the optative; "0 that He were come," which is certainly possible (Ps. lv. 7 , Jer. ix. 1), ihe per- son acting retires to the background before the deliverance which is desired and the time when it is longed for This is in direct contradiction to the text. The universality and partial indefiniteness and breadth of the Messianic hope which is active here, leads to that former time, to which the other expression of the verse likewise refers. For Zion was indeed for all periods the conse- crated place for the hope of Israel, whither believers, wherever they might be, turned their faces in prayer, according to 2 Kings viii. 29, 44 This is likewise mentioned with emphasis Dan. vi. 10, as a characteristic of the true faith of this prophet residing at Babylon. But no prophet ever expected or prayed for help from destroyed Zion. The prophets describe rather the gracious turning again of Jehovah to His penitent people in exile, His going with them and before them in leading them back to Jeru- salem and the rebuilding of the city and temple under His protection. The question before us, however, does not in the least resemble this. And what is there that compels us to think of the return from the captivity at Babylon ? At least not the expression HOtf 3U0 in itself or because it became afterwards the standing expression for this deliverance ? This would be a pure petitio principii. For the same expression occurs al- ready in Joel iii. 1; Amos ix. 14; Hos. vi. 11 (vii. 1).* Then it were much more natural to think of the time of the Assyrian calamity which fell upon the kingdom of Israel, on ac- * [In each of these passages, however, the reference is to the exile foretold by these prophets, a return from which was conditioned on repentance. — C. A. B.J PSALM XIV. 115 count of the deliverance out of Zion which is prayed for But this is prevented by the closing clause, iu which Jacob=lsrael is called upon to rejoice, but not Judah and Israel. But this ex- pression does not at all mean merely: turning back from captivity in war, which then leads to the meaning of: bringing back prisoners of war, but it is used figuratively for the turning of an unhappy condition into a restoration to former prosperity in general, Ezek. xvi. 53, even in private affairs. Job xhi. 10. With the frequent use in the New Testament of the expressions- bonds, imprisonment, etc., in a figurative sense, the assertion that the figurative use of the above formula leads necessarily to a later origin, is so much the more arbitrary and unreasonable, as the abode in Egypt with its experience fell under the same point of view, Deut. xxx. 3 (Clauss, Stier). Already the more ancient interpreters have therefore, after the Rabbins, partly ex- plained this passage as Messianic, partly under- stood it directly of the spiritual deliverance of the people of God, which then was applied to the deliverance of the Church from its Babylon or from its servitude in Egypt (Calv.). Even Hit- zig refers the expression, which-occurs likewise figuratively Jer. xxx. 18, at least to the turning away of misfortune. Hengst. finds expressed by the language, God's gracious turning to the dis- tress of His people, whilst he maintains the in- transitive meaning of 21'j, as being the only allowable meaning (Beitr. II. 104). But the transitive meaning is made certain by Ps. lxxxv. 5; Neh. ii. 2; beyond question by Ezek. xlvii. 7. Hengst. has very properly taken back his previous view (Beitr. I. 142), that the closing verse is a later liturgical addition (Rosenm.). [Alexander: "The whole maybe paraphrased as follows: '0 that Jehovah, from His throne in Zion, would grant salvation to His people, by revisiting them in their captive, forsaken state, and that occasion of rejoicing might be thus afforded to the Church ! ' "— C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. The doctrine of the corruption of the hu- man race and the help for it. This is the title given by Meyer after Luther, who gives it an ap- propriate periphrase in the song : Es sprichl der Umniscn mund wohl. The denial of God does not always come upon the lips ; yet it declares itself as an irreligious disposition in the corruption ami worthlessne^s of a conduct which is worthy of abhorrence. It is not merely an idle or harm- less play of thought, or a scientific investigation of the evidences proposed by scholars for the being of God. It is indeed a movement of thought, but that of a heart which has become foolish by turning away from God, Rom. i. 21; and it has to do not so much with the theoretical as with thepractical reason. Therefore it makes the entire man unfit for good, and it is least of all an evi- dence of a sound and strong spirit. 2. Men of this kind may indeed regard them- selves as wise, praise one another, and feel strong and safe in the world; but God knows, con- demns, and rejects them and their doings, and He has long since declared to those who wait upon Him, how it stands with them, Rom. i. 2-. They are condemned already, before they are cast out as reprobates. 3. Moreover God troubles Himself with those who do not trouble themselves about Him ; He inquires after those who make no inquiry for Him; He the invisible witness (Gen. xxxi. oO) and the Judge, who cannot be bribed, of all their doings as well as the sins and thoughts of their hearts. But He brings forward the evi- dence of His being and His work, not theoreti- cally, but practically as Judge, Avenger, and Saviour. His speaking is likewise an act; His revelation is history. 4. No man, however, should feel secure or raised above others. For by the history of re- velation, that light has come into the world, which condemns the world (John iii. 19), and discloses the individual as well as the whole race according to the Divine judgment, as lying in common corruption in consequence of their na- ture as children of Adam, in accordance with which that which is born of the flesh, bears in itself all the characters of the caps (John iii. 0). 5. The same light shows likewise that there is a righteous generation on earth. The recog- nition of this fact does not contradict the state- ment of the total corruption of the children of Adam, embracing all without exception. For the righteous generation consists not of a little baud of men who have remained exempt from sin and its corruption, whom God somehow has over- looked, when He looked about, because they stood in a corner, or because they are not brought into consideration on account of their small number in comparison with the awful cor- ruption of the masses. To this class belong ra- ther those men in the midst of the generation of the children of Adam, who have been born again as children of God of incorruptible seed, who by this change of their inborn nature form a pecu- liar class in the midst of the generation of men, and afford the seed of regeneration for the entire people. 6. It is one and the same God, the holy God of revelation, who has made known from hea- ven, by the mouth of His prophets, the actual re- sult of His investigation of the children of men, as a warning, and has called our attention by them, with so much earnestness to the actual an- swer which He gives by His life and work, in the generation of the righteous on earth, to the ungodly, who as fools do not trouble themselves with His works and deny His being and life. 7. There is moreover no reason here to dimi- nish by any limitation the weight of the decla- ration respecting the extent, depth, and punish- ableness of human corruption. " He says at first all, then together, thirdly, there is likewise ' not a single ' one." Luthn-. The judgment re- specting the condition of man is not an exagge- ration, which easily escapes from the bitterness of the lamentation and feelings; and as a poeti- cal figure to be reckoned to the account of the poet. The poet, who speaks here, is not fanci- ful, he is not so much a poet as a prophet. Therefore his description is not the gloomy re- flection of a gloomy disposition, the night idea of a darkened contemplation of the world, but it has the value of a declaration of revelation, whether it bases itself on previous testimonies 116 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. of Scripture, or is to be directly referred to the enlightenment by the Spirit of God. 8. All fools are indeed sinners, but all sin- ners are not such fools that they deny the being of God, His judgment and revelation, or regard them as of no account. And many who previ- ously did this, have repented when they expe- rienced what this all meant. They have first been terrified when they have not expected it. There is however not only a terror unto death under the storms of Divine wrath, so also not only the impending terror of the last judgment; there is likewise a terror unto repentance, by which the sinner is awakened unto life. This happens particularly, when the ungodly, who pre- viously have not cared for the Divine agency, are surprised by the victorious word, and the over- powering act coming forth from the generation of the righteous. 9. The ungodly as such eat up the people of God. They use them as far as they can to make room for themselves in the world. Whatever does not readily applaud them, is regarded as a booty given over to them. For they do not in- quire after God, and the destruction of His peo- ple is as natural to them, as much in accordance with their wishes, and as much a matter of course, as the eating of their daily bread. It is true that there isin history a provision for the people of God; but where does such an one exist, which is able to realize its Divine destiny of being a holy people? Therefore evil doers think that they are justified and entitled to carry on their work of destruction. But so long as the mem- bers of the "generation of the righteous," be they few or many, are in one people, the Lord does not suffer it to be destroyed, but brings His terror over the enemies of Himself and His children. 10. But all those who are oppressed must take refuge with the Lord if they would attain salvation. For the resolutions, projects, plans, and devices of the individual, even the best of them, may be brought to shame by the violence of evil doers; not so God's resolutions and un- dertakings. He who trusts, hopes, and waits on these will not be ashamed. The world moreover can no more prevent the prayer from pressing up into the heart of God, than it can prevent the flow of Divine consolations and refreshment into t he soul of the oppressed, if these truly turn from the world to God. 11. But the relation between God and the soul may be very different from this. And the last to forget it is the prayerful sufferer, whose lips have testified respecting the universal cor- ruption of the children of men, and have con- fessed the communion of God with the genera- tion of i he righteous. He is able to rejoice that his people before all others has received the his- torical call to be the people of God, and that there are sanctuaries and Divine services in the congregation; but his soul is troubled, because even among his people no generation has ever fulfilled its destiny so as to be a righteous gene- ration; and that the history of His people is ra- ther a constant witness of its apostasy from God, who turned towards them ever with new reve- lations, and that this repeated itself in every ge- neration. And although he may sigh, that his people have fallen into afflictions and trouble through Divine judgment, yet he experiences the severest affliction in the burden of guilt, and the worst servitude under the dominion of sin. 12. Moreover true deliverance cannot consist in a change of external relations. Therefore a turning to the institutions of salvation established by God, and the desire for the means of grace or- dained by God is the sign of the beginning of a turning towards salvation. But salvation itself comes only when the Saviour comes, who brings the acceptable time of the gracious turning of God to redemption. Before His coming there is nothing but inquiry, sighing, longing, and among believers, hope in the gospel and its joys. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. Denial of God is a folly, but of a dangerous character. — Whatever fills the heart expresses itself in the life even without words. — God Him- self conducts the actual proof of His own being by acts of judgment and demonstrations of grace which run through the whole of history to warn and to comfort. — Inborn corruption and inhe- rited guilt do not excuse the sinner, but rather set in a dreadful light the consequences of apos- tasy from God. — He who does not believe in God cares not for men. — In the corrupt world there are many people who are lost, yet there is likewise a righteous generation, in which God lives, works, and condemns the workers of iniquity. — At times those who deny God and the workers of iniquity are greatly frightened when they perceive the revelations of the Divine life in the generation of the righteous, but they seldom change their disposition or improve their conduct, no more than they do after the experience of the mighty deeds and judgments of the Almighty. — There is a, sa- lutary and a ivicked terror on account of the Di- vine revelations of judgment ; the former leads to desire for deliverance from the servitude of sin, the latter begets slubborjiness towards Di- vine and human justice. — The deliverance of the race of man, fallen in Adam, from universal and entire ruin, is prepared by the institutions of grace which God has established in Israel, but even in the people of Israel it is expected in the future. Starke : Human corruption is so deep and un- fathomable that many believe in no God or deny His providence and government. — He who does not inquire after God from the heart, as the only source of all good, still remains in the old na- ture, and lies under the curse and wrath of God. For to be wise and to inquire after God are here together. — Behold thyself in this mirror, 0 man, as often as pharisaical pride attacks thee ; but what does it matter, the proud peacock's feathers will soon bend to the earth. — The blessed fruit of redemption is spiritual, heavenly, and eternal joy; here in foretaste, there in perfection. Osiander : This is the difference among men that although we are all sinners by nature, yet some are justified by faith and endowed with the Holy Spirit, and serve God in faith, whilst others remain ungodly. — Franke : We must observe principally two things: firstly, our misery, in which we all lie by nature; secondly, the grace PSALM XV. 117 which is bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus our Saviour. — Fkisuh: The reason of all evil is natural blindness and folly; thence arises doubt of the Divine government and providence; and then man falls into security, so that he lives therein, as if there were no God in heaven. — God must be sought, as the highest good which has been lost by sin. — If the heart, has departed from God it has departed from blessing, and lies under the curse ; it has departed from light and lies in darkness; it lias departed from life and lies in death; it has departed from heaven and belongs in hell. — Stiller: Sin not only passes upon all men, but likewise passes through the entire man. — Diedrich: If we live in God, we look upon all things from God's point of view, and, looking from Him, regard this world as entirely different from what it usually appears. [Matte. Henry: If we apply our hearts as So- lomon did, Ecc. vii. 2i3, " to search out the wick- edness of folly, even of foolishness and madness," these verses will assist us in the search, and will show us sin exceeding sinful. Sin is the disease of mankind, and it appears here to be malignant and epidemical. — Those that banter religion and religious people, will find to their cost, it is ill jesting with edged tools, and dangerous perse- cuting those that make God their refuge. — Barnes: As a matter of fact, the belief that there is no God is commonly founded on the desire to lead a wicked life ; or, the opinion that there is no God is embraced by those who in fact lead such a life, with a desire to sustain themselves in their depravity, and to avoid the fear of future retribution. — Spuroeon: The Atheist is the fool pre-emi- nently, and a fool universally. He would not deny God if he were not a fool by nature, and having denied God it is no marvel that he be- comes a fool in practice. Sin is always folly, and as it is the height of sin to attack the very existence of the Most High, so is it also the greatest imaginable folly. To say there is no God is to belie the plainest evidence, which is obstinacy; to oppose the common consent of mankind, which is stupidity ; to stifle conscious- ness, which is wickedness. — C. A. B.] PSALM XV. A Psalm of David. 1 Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, And speaketh the truth in his heart. 3 He that backbiteth not with his tongue, Nor doeth evil to his neighbor, Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor. 4 In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; But he honoreth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. 5 He that putteth not out his money to usury, Nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Irs Character. We have first a question di- rected to Jehovah, in a clause of two members, respecting the character of the man who may obtain the privilege of a guest with Him. and bo- come a member of His fatuity ; then follows the answer, at first in a clause likewise of two mem- bers, whose contents are then carried out in three strophes of three members each, whilst the participles pass over into finite verbs, and the 118 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. closing words refer back to the thought con- tained in the question, with an expression which points to a more enlarged horizon. In the an- swer God speaks, not as a dramatic person, nor to the Psalmist by an oracle, but by the Psalmist to the congregation. God has enlightened the Psalmist who earnestly inquires of Him, that this man may know his will essentially from the revealed laws of Jehovah, and indeed he speaks in forms of expression used in the law ; but in the answer as in the question, he passes over be- yond the limits of the Old Testament, and de- scribes in evangelical and prophetic spirit the family of God in characteristic and individual traits. [Delitzsch: " The former Psalm distinguishes from the mass of universal corruption a right- eous generation, and concludes with the longing for salvation out of Zion. Ps. xv. answers the question who belongs to this righteous genera- tion, and who is to receive this salvation in the future." — C. A. B.] This does not appear to be a polemic against the priests (Paul.), or those of privileged rank (Mich., Dathe, et al.) ; nor a rejection of offerings and the like, yet it does not demand the observance of rites and ceremonies. The entire description is in the sphere of mo- rals, and not in that of the law; it is an exer- cise of duties, in which the uprightness, viva- city, and power of piety asserts itself in life, held forth as it were in a mirror. Corresponding fully with this character of the Psalm is the cir- cumstance that whilst it resounds with the words of the law, it is re-echoed and carried further out in the prophecy, Is. xxxiii. 13-16.* Nothing can reasonably be adduced against David as the author. In favor of him is the fact that since the ark was carried up to Jerusalem the " holy mountain [hill, A. V.] of Jehovah " is there, and at the same time the " tabernacle " appears in this Psalm to be still existing. It is admissible with Hitzig [Wordsworth, Alexander, et al.~\ to think of the very time of that removal, although the particular references which this scholar finds between this Psalm and the description of the dedication of the new tabernacle given in 2 Sam. vi. 12 sq. cannot be proved with any certainty. Still less is there any confirmation of the refe- rence made by Delitzsch to the time of the re- bellion of Absalom, when the Sanctuary was in the hands of the rebels, whilst David himself was far distant from it. Str. 1. Ver. 1. May be a guest. — The false references and erroneous use of this expression by the ancient interpreters who have found in it only a temporary abode of strangers who were merely suffered for awhile, in contrast with the regular citizens and inhabitants of the kingdom of God (Calv. ), should not mislead us to efface the original and proper meaning of the Hebrew word, which essentially leads to the idea of friend- ship and protection, comp. Ps. v. 5, and the pas- sages there adduced. Thus only does the closing clause gain a full meaning, and what Hupfeld * [Perowne : " Eleven particulars are enumerated in which tliis character is summed up. Hence in the Gemara (Mak- koth f. 24 a), it is said that David comprised the 613 com- mands of the Law given on Sinai in eleven; Isaiah (it is added) in six (xxxiii. 15); Micah in three (vi. 8) Amos (v. 4), or rather Habakkuk (ii. 4), in one." — C. A. B.J does not sufficiently estimate, it turns back to the opening strophe and its theme, with its meaning fully developed, and with an evangelical and pro- phetical glance at the secure position of the guest in the house of God, reaching forth out of time into eternity, and is tranquilized by the entire Psalm. The exegetical right of this interpreta- tion, which is important dogmatically, lies in the point of the question to the mind of the Israelite, to whom God's tabernacle and holy mount might gain the meaning of a human dwelling, comp. Ps. xxvii. 4sq. ; lxi. 5; Isa. xxxiii. 14. Modern interpreters have been the first to weaken this technical expression, taken from concrete rela- tions of life, into a merely figurative designation of communion with God in general.* Str. II. Ver. 2. [This strophe describes the conduct of the friend of God in general terms as walking perfectly (A. V., uprightly), one who does righteousness and speaks the truth. In his heart, or with his heart, not merely with the tongue. Hupfeld 3 is used with the heart not as giving the source of speech (which would be 3vO) but as co-operating with the speech, and thus giving it its truthfulness." — C. A. B.] Str. III. Ver. 8. [This strophe describes nega- tively his conduct towards his neighbor: (1) He does not go about with slander upon his tongue. iy\ = literally, to go about as a spy or tale-bearer, or slanderer. This is a wicked walk, the negative of the perfect walk, ver. 2 a. ; (2) he does not do evil ; (3) he does not take up a reproach against his neighbor. NEO, according to Hupfeld, has here the meaning of " bring forth," "speak out," =z proferre, efferre. De- litzsch, Hengst., Hitzig, et al., give it the meaning of bringing or loading disgrace upon any one, Calvin, et al., to lift up as from the ground. To this latter interpretation Perowne iuclines : "He hath not stooped, so to speak, to pick up dirt out of the dunghill that he may cast it at his neigh- bor."— C. A. B.] Str. IV. Ver. 4. The reprobate. [A. \.,vile person]. Hitzig and Delitzsch take up again the explanation of the ancient interpreters (Chald., Aben Ezra., Kimchi, Cleric.) according to which the reference is to the humility and self-debase- ment of the Psalmist, who he#re designates him- self in the strongest expressions, which however correspond with the declaration 2 Sam. vi. 22, as "despised in his own eyes, and worthy of re- jection." This view is suitable likewise to the context; the contrast is not lacking; J. H. Mich, already brings it forth with the words: sibi ipsi displicet nee sum sed alienee virtutis est ad- mirator, and the humility which David confesses likewise in Ps. exxxi., appears frequently as a condition of pleasing God, Is. lvii. 15; 1 Sam. xvii. 17. However the accents of the text, re- cept. correspond with our translation, which is advocated by Hupfeld. * [Delitzsch: " T}J and |3£y which are usually distin- guished as the Hellenistic irapoiichv and Karoixeiv are here of like meaning; not only a transient, but an everlasting "HJ i lxi. 5) is meant; the difference of the two ideas is merely this: that the one from the idea of a wandering lite means the finding of a permanent place, the other from the idea of membership in the family denotes the possession of a permanent place." — C. A. B.J PSALM XV. 119 • To his hurt. — The translations: " To his neighbors" (Sept., Syr., Luther), or, "To the wicked," (Must interps. since Roseum.) are in- correct. The explanation of the Rabb. " he swears = vows to do himself an injury = to hurt himself, especially by fasting and mortifi- cation, is partly contrary to usage, and partly too specifically ascetic. Hupf., Hitzig, Delitzsch, esta- blish the expression in question more accurately than Venema, Hengst., Geseu., by reference to the law respecting sin-offerings on account of guilt owing to inconsiderate oaths and vows, Lev. v. 4, where it is forbidden to exchange the ani- mal vowed for an offering for another animal, or for iis value in gold. Hupfeld adduces the addi- tional reference to Lev. xxvii. 10, 33, after Geier aud J. II. Mich., where the question is of alter- ing the vow itself. The hypothetical antece- dent is in the perfect, the consequent in the im- perfect. [The English prayer-book version combines the rendering of the Sept. and that of the A. V " He that sweareth unto his neighbor, and disappointeth him not, though it were to his own hindrance.'1 — C. A. B.] Str. V. Ver. 5. This refers to Lev. xxv. 37, where usury is forbidden, and to Deut. xvi. 19; xxvii. 2o, where punishment for unrighteous judgment is accompanied with the curse. £Pe- rowne : " Such is the figure of stainless honor drawn by the pen of a Jewish poet. Christian chivalry lias not dreamed of a brighter. We have need often and seriously to ponder it. For it shows us that faith in God and spotless integ- rity may not be sundered ; that religion does not veil or excuse petty dishonesties ; that love to God is only then worthy of the name when it is the life and bond of every social virtue. Each line is, as it were, a touchstone to which we should bring ourselves." — C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. The most important question in life and the daily care of those who fear God, are, how to attain to the permanent place of a guest in the house of God. For this question refers from time to eternity and from the old covenant to the n<>w. For it is true we may visit the house of God on earth and be a guest in it ; but we do not dwell therein, but celebrate Divine service and receive thereby spiritual food and nourish- ment in order to a further pilgrimage. But if we would not only be servants of God but at the same time of the household of God aud fellow- citizens with the saints (Eph. ii. 19 sq.), and never waver in this society, then we must partly bo placed upon another soil than that of the law, and partly be led forth above all and every kind of worship on earth into communion with the angels in adoration and with the blessed saints in the heavenly sanctuary, and to the participa- tion in the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. xix. 9; comp. Matt. xxii. and xxv.) 2. In the Divine law itself there is a goad which drives us to the Gospel (Luke x. 28 sq ), and which invokes and keeps alive a longing after it. For the law demands irreproachable conduct and sincerity and purity of thoughts, words and works, which are found in no man by nature and which cannot even be attained by the help of the law alone, or its means of pro- pitiation and of sauctification. But the law has its abiding value in this, that it not only forms a historical stage of revelation, but is an essential part of the economy of salvation. 3. " We must notice, .that the Psalm merely presents the portrait of pious people, without showing whence this comes or is to be attained. Hence it is, that an unwise man may ascribe that which is said in this Psalm, to moral virtue aud free will, which yet is solely aud alone a work of Divine grace, working in us." Luther. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. He who would dwell with God in His house must adapt himself to the arrangements of God's house. — We may be invited to God's house and table and yet not gain the enjoyment of that which God offers us. — To desire communion with •God and transgress the commands of God are ir- reconcilable with one another; for vice separates God and man from one another. — He who truly has and seeks communion with God, has and seeks communion likewise with the pious, but avoids the society of the ungodly. The law remains constantly valuable as a mirror, bar and bridle. — He who wishes to dwell forever with God, must inquire after God in time and seek intercourse with God on earth, and for this purpose use the means of grace offered by God according to the order of salvation. Calvin: If any one is devoted to righteousness and moderation towards his neighbor, he shows by his acts that he fears God. — It is not a common virtue to honor pious and righteous men. For because they are the offscourings of the world their friends usually share their hate with them. Starke : He who has dwelt in the tabernacle of God as a true citizen, will likewise remain forever on the holy mountain of the Lord. — A Christian as a pilgrim should hasten to the mouutain of God. — The avoidance of evil belongs to the proper walk of a Christian, as well as the practice of goodness; neither can exist without the other, since repentance departs from evil to good. — The rewards of godliness are not only temporal, but they endure even unto eternity. — Selnekker: Good works please God, not on ac- count of their own worth, but on account of the believing persons who do them. For good works are the fruit of faith and testify to faith. — Franke: Who will be happy? He who has a living faith and shows it to be living in its fruits and its power. — Frisch : We cannot be so eager for instruction in matters of our salvation, but that God is still more desirous to reveal His will to us respecting them. — Tholuck: In the estimation of all human merit there can be no other standard than the law of God. — Taube: It is not: who will come to Thy tabernacle? but: who will dwell? who will remain? That is a great thing when we think, that the Father of this lodging house is the Holy One of Israel, and the guest is a sinner by birth. [Matth. Henry: It is the happiness of glori- fied saints that they dwell in that holy hill, they are at home there, they shall be forever there. — ■ Those that desire to know their duty, with a re- ii:o THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. solution to do it, will find the Scriptures a very faithful director, and conscience a faithful moni- tor.— An oath is a sacred thing, which we must not think to play fast and loose with. In sing- ing this Psalin we must teach and admonish ourselves and one another, to answer the charac- ter here given of the citizen of Zion, that we may never be moved from God's tabernacle on earth, and may arrive at last at that holy hill, where we shall be forever out of the reach of temptation aud danger. — Barnes : Kindness and an accommodating spirit in business transactions are as much demanded now by the principles of religion as they were when this Psalm was writ- ten, or as they were under the law which forbade the taking of interest from a poor and needy bro- ther.— Wordsworth: David, in singing this Psalm, is teaching us how we may attain the blessedness of the everlasting mansions. — Spur- qeon: Though truths, like roses, have thorns about them, good men wear them in their bo- soms. Our heart must be the sanctuary and re- fuge of truth, should it be banished from all the world beside, aud hunted from among men • at all risk we must entertain the angol of truth, for truth is God's daughter. We must be care- ful that the heart is really fixed and settled in principle, for tenderness of conscience towards truthfulness, like the bloom on a peach, needs gentle handling, and once lost it were hard to regain it. Jesus was the mirror of sincerity and holiness. Oh, to be more and more fashioned after His similitude ! — Our Lord spake evil of no man, but breathed a prayer for His foes; we must be like Him, or we shall never be with Him. — To all good men we owe a debt of honor, and we have no right to hand over what is their due to vile persons who happen to be in high places. — C. A. B.] PSALM XVI. Michtam of David. 1 Preserve me, O God : for in thee do I put my trust. 2 0 my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord : My goodness extendeth not to thee ; 3 But to the saints that are in the earth, And to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. 4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god : Tiieir drink offerings of blood will I not offer, Nor take up their names into my lips. 5 The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup : Thou maintainest my lot. 6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; Yea, I have a goodly heritage. 7 I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel ; My reins also instruct me in the night seasons. 8 I have set the Lord always before me : Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore ray heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth : My flesh also shall rest in hope. 10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell ; Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. PSALM XVI. 121 11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life : In thy presence is fulness of joy ; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. For the title vid. Introduction. The mention of the worship of idols, ver. 4, is not of such a character as to lead us to think of the times of the exile (Bottcher, Probcn p. 42 sq., de inferis \ 343 sq.) ; and the language does not lead to a time subsequent to the eighth century (Ewald), but to David (Hitzig). The special occasion in his life, however, cannot be known. Many think of the time of his abode at Ziklag (Knapp) among the Philistines, where desire after the pious (Jahn) and temptation to the worship of idols (Paul., Hitzig) were very natural. Hitzig thus explains vers. 3, 5, 9 by 1 Sam. xxx. vid. be- low. Delitzsch thinks of a severe sickness in the latter part of David's life, after the building of the palace of cedar,* whilst Hupfeld disputes the idea that ver. 10 likewise shows that he was in great danger jHengst.), and Bb'hl again, with the ancients, holds fast in general to the time of Saul's persecution. The position of this Psalm in the order of Psalms is perhaps determined by the expression, "not be moved," ver. 8 b, the same with which the previous Psalm closed. Its Character. — The first clause contains in germ the thought of the entire Psalm, namely, that the pious man has always protection with God against all his enemies. From this assu- rance arises the cry of prayer ver. 1, whose form shows the experience of pressing danger, but immediately pusses over into the confession of the way in which the Psalmist proposes to net in consequence of his relation to God (ver. 2) and to His people (ver. 3). The terse and bold manner, short even to obscurity, in the presentation of the contrast (ver. 4) in which the Psalmist maintains himself against the worshippers of idols, with all its sad- ness, yet maintains an energetic tone, then passes over into a uniform, undulating flow of a calmed frame of mind in the description (vers. 5, 6) of the good chosen in God, and of the happiness allotted on account of this. It then turns, praising Jehovah (ver. 7), to testify of the position of the Psalmist established in Him (ver. H), and rises from the assurance of this commu- nion with God, not only to a jubilant declaration of present Divine protection (ver. 9), but in prophetic inspiration to a prophetic promise of the everlasting enjoyment of salvation (vers. 10, 11). The following interpretation will explain the prophetic and Messianic character of this passage. Str. I. Ver. 1., [Alexander: " The prnyer keep, save, or preserve me, implies actual suf- fering or imminent danger, while the last clause, * [This is more consistent with the general tone of the Psalm, the omission of any allusion to warlike enemies or troublous times, the maturity of the Psalmist's faith and hope, the calmness with which he contemplates death, the consciousness of his entire acceptance with God, anil above all the Messianic allusions vers 9-11. It may, however, have been composed under the influence of the prophecy of Nathan. 'J Sam. v.i.- It could not consistently with the Mes- sianic allusions have beeu earlier than thi3.— C. A. B.] I have trusted in Thee (A. V., ' In Thee do I put my trust"), states the ground of his assured hope and confident petition. . . . The preterite form implies that this is no new or sudden act, but one performed already. He not. only trusts in God at present, but has trusted Him before. Cump. Ps. vii. 1 ; xi. 1."— C. A. 13.] Str. II. Ver. 2. I say to Jehovah.— The Rabb. and many interpreters, after the Chald. paraphrase, regard amort as an address to the soul which is here to be supplied [A. V., " 0 my soul, thou hast said"']. For reasons against this vid. Hupf., who yet, in order to get the first per- son which the other ancient translations give, would read not directly with Mich., Olsh., et al., amarli, after some Codd. in Kennic. and De Rossi, but after Gesenius accepts a defective orthography as Ps. cxl. 12; Job xlii. 2; Ezek. xvi. 59, and 1 Kings viii. 48; but does not decide whether this failure of the yod has its reason merely inadefective writiug.or inn pronunciation which had become common in the language of the people after the Aramaic manner, and after the analogy of the 2d fern, sing (Hitzig, Ewald, Delitzsch), and merely declares that he is opposed to the supposition of Hiller and Bottcher, who think of the present Aramaic pronunciation of the 1st person perfect, emreth. My Lord. — The suffix, which has lost its significance in ordinary usage in its blending together witli adon, is here emphatic on account of the contrast (Hitzig, Delitzsch, Hupf.) ; yet it is not therefore to be read adoni (Mich.), as Ps. ex. 1, but as Ps. xxxv. 23 shows, adonai is to be retained (which with kumetz is usual as plural majest. in order to designate God, witli pattach forms the real plural=my Lords, vid. Gesenius, Thes. ). The contrast of the Psalmist to the worshippers of idols is thus prepared, likewise in the second member of the verse, the strongly emphasized personal relation of the Psalmist to Jehovah, whom he has in ver. 1 called upon as El. (Aquil. laxt'pe), and now confesses as his Master and himself therefore as His servant. These references disappear in the translation : "the Lord," preferred by De Wette et al.; which would render prominent, instead of the contrast of the Psalmist with the worshippers of idols, which is in accordance with the text, the con- trast of Jehovah witli the idols: Bohl regards it as cas. absol.=0 Thou Lord! My good, etc. — Luther's translation: "I must sutler on Thy account for the saints," is impossible to the language. Likewise all direct Messianic references are not only arbitrary and without reason, but entirely inadmissible on ac- count of ver. 4 6. The first words, ver. 2 b, cannot mean anything else but " my good,'" and indeed not in the moral sense=kindness, merit, virtue (Aquil., Calv. [A. V., goodness] ), but in the sense of welfare, good, prosperity. If we could only translate, " my happiness is nothing on Thy account," then we might attain in sense the explanation of Luther. But /)? does not 122 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. mean propter, and l2 (shortened form of '73) does not mean nihil but non, and elsewhere always stands before a finite verb. But there is no verb here. To supply such a verb is not in any case to be guess work or to introduce an independent idea (as Grotius explains : my happiness is not desired with Thee), but must limit itself to that which is most natural, that is to the verb esse. Moreover, then the imperative form is not as natural as the simple copula. It is likewise not to be translated : " my welfare is not incumbent upon Thee; thither to the saints" (Bohl), al- though al may denote the duty incumbent upon any one. In this sense Isaki explains: the good which Thou showest me is not incumbent upon Thee as a duty, but the sainis. We must translate: bonum meum non est supra te (Geier, Gesen. et al.). The Psalmist, who has already declared himself to be a servant of Jehovah, now explains, that he finds in Jehovah his highest good and all his happiness, yet he ex- presses this negatively, in order to exclude every thought of communion with idols (ver. 4). This is effaced by the translation of the Peschito; "my happiness from Thee;" it is likewise only unexactly rendered; by Jerome, sine te; by Symin., avsv gov ; little better by Cocc, Koster et al., by prseter te. There is certainly a reference to the prohibition Ex. xx. 3 (Hengst., Ewald). But there it says : thou shalt have no other gods ''JS 1$. This means properly, towards My person (Hupf., Hitzig), or, before My face (Bohl). The meaning of "by the side of" and "out side of," in the sense of past by the side of, which excludes the object named, has not been proved in the language ; but no more that of " on the side of the same," to which formerly with the translation supra te, the explanations inclined. Likewise the translation of De Wette is ill- founded : all my welfare is not to me above thee. The pregnancy of the expression consists in this, that the Psalmist wishes to know his good and happiness, considered not as first being added to God and as an addition towering above Him, but that God Himself is his summum bonum. [Thus Riehm : "It is more closely to be ex- plained : my happiness is not added to Thee= nothing, that must be added to Thee, makes me happy, but Thou alone, giving exclusive and full satisfaction. Comp. the analogous thought and expression Ps. lxxiii. 25. With this agrees ver. 5, where Jehovah likewise is called the Psalmist's portion." — C. A. B.].* This inter- pretation, which is correct in accordance with the language, answers so well to the context that it is superfluous to press out of /3 by an artifi- cial interpretation the idea of "only" (Hupf: my happiness rests only on Thee). Hitzig even wishes to express /3X (=immo, rather), and by * [Perowne translates: "I have no good beyond Thee. Literally my good (ray happiness), as in Ps. cvi.5; Job ix. 25, is not beyond or beside Thee. The ' good ' her» spoken of is in contrast with the 'sorrows ' in ver. 4, and answers to the words, ' my lot, ray cup, my inheritance,' in vers. 5, G. For the sentiment may be compared Ps. lxxiii. 25, ' Whom have I ;n heaven but Thee.' . . . This is the one grand thought which stamps the Psalm, 'Thou 0 Lord, art my portion, my help, my joy, myall in all.'" So also Alexander: "My happiness is not beside Thee, independent of, or separable from Thee?" The interpretation of Moll and Kiehm is, however, far better. — C. A. B.J distorted use of the words to gain the contrast of Master and benefactor (Thou art my Master, my happiness rests rather upon Thee). The sense would then be: whilst usually the servant cares for his Lord, here the contrary is the case. The Vulgate [quoniam bonorum meorum non eges) follows the Sept.: bri ruv ayaduv fiov bv xPeiav ex£lc. In the English, Dutch, Hirshberg and Berlenb. Bibles, in part likewise in Calvin and J. H. Mich., this translation then gains the explanation that all good which the speaker either acquires or experiences, does not refer to God, for whom (Berlenb.: "on whose account") it is unnecessary, but to the saints for whom it is partly necessary, partly salutary. According to Stier these words are an intentional riddle and afford the ordinary reader the superficial sense: "only with Thee is my salvation," but give to the deeper searcher of prophecy the deeper double meaning : my welfare ( I seek, I will have) not with Thee, and my good actions (even in this denial are necessary and profitable) not for Thee, but with the saints on earth and for them. In accepting such a mystical double sense he finds a prelude to Phil. ii. 6-9, and even explains thus far Luther's previous translation: "lam not in good circumstances with Thee." In con- formity with the statement just made, our trans- lation does not say : I prefer nothing to Thee ; it is, moreover, not supplied or covered by the turn of expression: There is no happiness for me above and beyond Thee. The sense is, God is to me the essence and fulness of all good, therefore no affliction can diminish it, no pros- perity increase it. With the saints [A. V., "To the saints"]. — The construction is exceedingly disputed and difficult. If we seek a verb for the dative, we find it only in the following verse. Then there arises a connection of words such as Deut. viii. 13 ; Prov. iv. 10; xxxiii. 10, and the sense would be : the saints have many sorrows (they multiply themselves ; Bottcher, Proben p. 42 sq. ), or indeed according to another possible etymology: their idols (Ewald). But such a contrast is not in the text, as that the former saints and friends of the Psalmist had apostatized whilst he had remained faithful ; the expressions which imply this are at once supplied and thus the desired thought is put into the text. In order to escape these diffi- culties and this violence to the text many inter- preters regard this verse as a clause complete in itself. The majority then regard the first words as nominative absolute=as for the saints. But the examples adduced in support of such an interpretation are either misunderstood or false readings (aid. Bottcher 1. c). This interpreta- tion appears still more inadmissible in connec- tion with the interpretation of the words which follow. According to Bottcher's careful state- ment it is grammatically entirely inadmissible to take the stat. constr. '^''IK as slat, absol. and to translate: as to the saints . . and the noble, I have all my delight in them. The attempt of Schnurrer [dissert, phil. crit. 1777), after the ex- ample of the Sept., to find a verb in adtrS, in order to translate, "As to the saints . . . whom I honor and in whom I have all my delight," must at the same time undertake to transpose the 1 in ver. 3 b, and thus alter the text twice. The PSALM XVI. 123 proposal of Storr (con.ment, 1796), with whom Umbreit, De Wette et al. agree, to regard the % which is in conformity with the text, as the in- troduction of the conclusion (The saints . . . they are the noble iu whom I have all my delight, in contrast with others who have their delight in other magnates), is; full of meaning, and were it not for the interpretation of the first word in ver. 3 as stat. absol., in itself admissible, but yet taken closely, demands that n"3n should be con- nected more closely with "y)X. The interpre- tation : To the saints! as Is. viii. 'JO, a calling upon God (Bo'hl), or the poet and his friends (Tool.), is grammatically unassailable ; but has little correspondence with the course of thought of this I'salm and is foreign to its prevailing tone of prayer. Under these circumstances we are inclined to think of a connection with the previous verse. The relation of the clauses to one another as contrasted in the interpretation of Kimchi, Calvin, Stier, namely that, that good of the Psalmist can- not benefit God the Lord, but the saints, has already been considered; we have only to re- mark here that there is likewise no particle of contrast in the text. The proposal of Heusler, renewed after the ancient interpreters [Bemer- kunr/en iiber Stellen der Psalmen, 1791), to regard 'fU'ltO as in apposition to adonai and then to con- nect the following words closely='' nothing is above Thee (surpasses), the saints," is shattered already on the fact that it is unusual to give the word 73 the meaning of nihil. We cannot seri- ously think of a dependence of the dative lik'. doslum upon adontii=Thon art the Lord of the saiuts (Steudel, Programme o/1821), on account of the intermediate clause. We might rather accept a dependence upon amart=\ speak to the saints, especially if the contents of the address, is not sought in the words: all my delight is in tLem (Kimchi, Flaniin.), or in ver. 4 (Hofm., Weissagung und Erfullung, I. 102), but in ver. 3 b, and indeed so, that the 1 is removed to the be- ginning of ver. 3 a and the iT3n to the beginning of ver. Sb (Delitzsch)=and totlie saints which are in the land: these are the noble in whom is all my delight. But without regard to the altera- tion of the text which is indeed simple, the ad- dress to the saints, placed parallel with the ad- dress to God, does not properly correspond with the tone which prevails elsewhere in the Psalm. It only remains, therefore, to regard the 7 as the sign of belonging to (Calv., Hengst., Ilupf.). lint it does not follow from this, that the Psalm- ist says: his good and his happiness is with God or rests upon God. in so far as lie belonged to the saints. He says rather, that he, in belong- ing to the saints, in whom is all his delight, does not regaid and treat his good and happiness as something additional to God, but that hedirectly has regarded and confesses in this communion of saints that God Himself is his good and hap- piness. I regard this explanation of mine as corresponding with the context and the language. **n the other hand the interpretation of the dative by Winer in his lexicon, " according to the example of," weakens the sense and is not sufficiently proved in the language. — It is uncer- tain, whether we are to regard ver. 3 b as paral- lel with ver. 3 a and supply the lamed of the first clause at the -beginning of the second before adiri, whose stat. construct, is explained by the fact, that it belongs to the following clause which is in sense a relative clause (most inter- preters), or whether we are not rather to regard the connection of clauses, so that the idea of the saints is more closely defined as those who are iu the land (or on the earth) and are the noble in whom, etc. (Bottcher). In any case the stat. construct, is not an expression of the superlative (Umbreit, Kiister), and is likewise not only to be connected with the following noun=the noble, all my pleasure is in them (De Wette), or the noble, the totality of my delight is in them (Hengst.), but with the entire clause (Hupf.), although it is not to be explained thus ; the splendid with all, whom I desire (Sachs). Ko'ster leaves the 1 disregarded by the translation: To the conse- crated . they belong, the noble who please me entirely.* The Kedoshim are according to the idea the ayioi, the members of the people of God, as those consecrated to the service of Jehovah. The appo- sition, " who are on earth," shows that the refer- ence is to their objective relation to the covcnaut. This clause states, that the Psalmist speaks of the congregation which is upon earth not so much in distinction from the congregation in heaven or the angels (Aben Ezra), as with re- ference to his personal relation to God just men- tioned. The explanation of those buried in the earth (Chald., Isaki) is entirely foreign to the text, and there is no evidence of a limitation to those who were in the Holy Land (Ilupf. ), in contrast to those members of the people of the covenant which were abroad. The following clause shows, however, that the Psalmist has nut in mind the external communion of the so- called visible Church, but the living members of this Church as his associates. The adirim are not the magnates, the aristocratic nobility in distinction from the saints, which among the lower classes, the am haarctz are regarded as such, but the saints, in whom, as in the excellent and enlightened, the Divine <56\fa appears re- flected. According to Ilitzig David was thpn in Philistia, 1 Sam. xxvii. Driven from his InDd, the temptation to apostatize from Jehovah was natural, 1 Sam. xxvi. 19. To the rejection of the temptation ver. 4 of our Psalm is said to refer, and ver. 7 to the fact thai David, at the command of God, had undertaken the pursuit of his enemies, and sent presents from the booty to the elders of the cities of Jndah, 1 Sam. xxx. 2l>, who are tjierefore called his friends. Tne-e are the noble and the excellent in whom David has all his delight. It is true that David, as in ver. 2 /; he is said to say that lie had his success in battle from Jehovah, ought to have sent a * [Perowne : " We may take S in the sense of ' belonging to,' 'joining myself to. .oil lie- passage woultl mean, ' I have do good beyond Thee, belonging as l do to the fi Uowshipof tlir saints, and the noble in whom,' etc. Indeed some such meaning seema to bo required by the context; for it is evi- dent that it is the design of the Psalmist to contrast his own happy lot, and that of others who, like himself, had found their happiness in Jehovah, with the miserable condition of those 'whose sorrows were increased, because they wens after other gods.' " — C. A. B.J 124 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. part of the booty of this victory over the Amale- kites, as a thank-offering, to the house of God and its priests ; but there was then no central worship, 1 Sam. xxii. 18; comp. 1 Chron. xiii. 3. Therefore David has from abroad sent the present to those who belong to the national God. This then is supposed to be said by ver. 3, that it belongs to the saints in the land. David like- wise says, ver. 4 a, how he himself has experi- enced that it fares badly with the heathen; similarly vers. 9 and 11, that fulness of joy re- wards the service of Jehovah.* — Olshausen re- gards the text as entirely corrupted. The Vul- gate translates, after the Sept.: " In the saints, which are in His land, He has made wonderful all His (my) delight," or after another reading already observed by Augustine, " He has won- derfully fulfilled all my desire." Str. IV". Ver. 4. Many are their sorrows [A. V., Their sorrows shall be multiplied']. — This clause is likewise disputed as to its construction and meaning. Some, as already mentioned, combine it with the preceding clause, but must then supply something essential. Others (Mich., Olsh., Maurer, Ewald), with Chald., Symm., Jerome, interpret 33fjJ of idols. But only the masculine of this stem is used in the sense of: carved-work=images of idols. The feminine, which is here used, signifies: sorrows (Pesch., Aquil., Sept.). Since now it is connected with a suffix which refers to persons, which can be more closely indicated only in the following words, the next words are usually, with the R.abb., regarded as an asynd. relative clause. The masculine of the verb U"V frequently occurs with the feminine of the noun when it precedes, and the expression "their sorrows," instead of "the sorrows of those who," is defended by Hitzig. Hupf. and Delitzsch, on the other hand, find this hard and inadmissible. The former would rather, with Schnurrer, Hensler, Ruperti (in Eichhoriis Allgemeiner Biblioth., vol. 6), read it as hiphil (==multiply [so A. V.]), whereby all would be normal. The latter divides ver. 4 a into two independent clauses, which represent the place of a nom. absol., and are to prepare the statement describing the internal difference be- tween David and such people. — Many interpre- ters after the ancient translations regard the following words as a paraphrase of apostasy from God, whilst they translate: who hasten back- wards. Schnurrer even changes "1H^ into "inx It would be better to translate: who hasten else- where (Geier, Storr, Rosenm., De Wette, Stier), or hasten after another (Luther), hasten to others (namely idols, Gesen., Ewald). But 1HD has the meaning of hasten only in the piel; in the kal only the meaning : purchase, namely for a wife, Ex. xxii. 15, can be proved. Many in- terpreters (Salomo ben Melech, Calv., et al.), with refereuce to the figure of marriage, to re- present the relation of the congregation to God, take the expression here in this way. Hitzig, who finds that there is considered here not the contrast between the faithful and the apostate in Israel, but between the worshippers of idols and * [This theory of Hitzig is ingenious, but too artificial and strained. It does not agree in tone with other Psalms of that period. This Psalm certainly belongs to a later period in his life after the Messianic prophecy of Nathan. — C. A. B.J the worshippers of Jehovah, translates : who strive to obtain another. Hupf. goes back to the meaning of " purchase," without its reference to marriage, and to its relationship to "110 to ex- change; he thinks of the exchange of the here- ditary true God for a false one (Ps. cvi. 20; Hos iv. 7; Jer. ii. 11), and reminds us of Isa. xlii. 8; xlviii. 11; where "111X likewise is in the singular and absolute. Thus most recent inter- preters, among whom, however, Bottcher, Heng- steuberg, Delitzsch, hold fast to the allusion to the figure of wooing, and remark that there is here said not exactly " other gods," as Ex. xx. 3 and frequently ; but an indefinite expression is chosen, which leads not to the ordinary but to the so- called more elegant worship of idols. It is ques- tionable whether the following plural suffixes are to be referred to the worshippers of idols, with whom the Psalmist breaks off every kind of communion, with the refusal to commune with them in their offerings, and with whose names he will not defile his lips (Delitzsch), whom he will not mention in his prayers (Bb'hl) ; or whether they refer to the idols themselves, in favor of which are especially Ex. xx. 7; xxiii. 13 (make no mention of the name of other gods); Hos. ii. 19, and the contrast with ver. 5 (Calv., Grot., Bottch., Ewald, Hengst., Hupfeld, Hitzig [Pe- rowne]). The drink-offerings of the Israelites consisted of wine, and drink-offerings of blood are like- wise not found among the heathen, but wine was mixed with blood (Zech. ix. 7) and drunken only in connection with terrible undertakings, under fearful oaths. This special reference, however, is far from the meaning of the text, which Isaki, Aben Ezra-, J. D. Mich., Winer overlook. Some interpreters, therefore (Kim- chi, Stier, Delitzsch), regard the expression as figurative of offerings made with bloody hands and -conscience stained with blood, which make every offering unclean. Others better as a com- parison, as if they consisted of blood instead of wine, Isa. lxvi. 3, to which comparison blood of grapes, Gen. xlix. 11 ; Deut. xxxii. 14, forms the transition (Schnurrer, Hengst., Hupf.). Ac- cording to Hitzig the JO is comparative, and the meaning is : I forbear to offer their drink-offer- ings more than to offer their blood. The suppo- sition that an action is mentioned which is only to be done by priests, and therefore because David could not have done this, this passage must have a Messianic interpretation (Bohl), overlooks the fact that the reference here is not at all and can- not be to the altar and the legally arranged functions, but to the refusal to participate in the worship of gods in a form which in the mouth of the Messiah would be entirely inappropriate. The Vulgate, after the Sept., differs entirely from the Hebrew : then weaknesses were multi- plied; afterwards they hastened. I will not assemble their assemblies of blood, nor bring their name upon my lips. S/r. V. Ver. 5. Portion of mine inheri- tance and of my cup. — flJO, besides 2 Chron. xxxi. 4, only in the Davidic Psalms, is stat. const. and to be connected with both genitives (Hupf. upon Ps. xi. 6), but not in the sense of portion of food (Hupf.), together with portion of drink PSALM XVI. 125 ns the two parts of a feast, the usual figure of i Divine favor and benefits, Pss. xxii. 26 ; xxiii. 5 ; l'rov. ix. 2 ; but corresponding with the other expressions of this Psalm a figurative expression of nourishing possession and quickening enjoy- ment, as the Psalmist has both in Jehovah through Jehovah's favor. The first figure is brought about thus : in the general division of the land the tribe of Levi received no possession in the land, but was to live of the parts of the offerings which fell to the share of those who were occupied in Divine service about the sanc- tuary, on account of Jehovah, Deut. xviii. 1, 2. Jehovah Himself is, therefore, called their p/n --share, Deut. x. 9, in special application to Aaron, Num. xviii. 20 ; more widely extended to the entire house of Jacob, Jer. x. 16, first brought about by the design that the entire people should be a kingdom of priests, Ex. xix. tj, and therefore applicable to every individual as well as to the whole body of saints and nobles, ver. 3. — From the division of the holy land by lot between the various tribes and their members originated likewise the expression h"\\l = il^0Q, the lot taken out of an urn, which, however, since decision by lot was regarded as God's act, has become in the Old Testament the symbol and type of all grants of the royal righteousness and grace of God, as the possession thereby given is the foundation aud essence of all Divine blessing (Ilupfeld). Since that which falls to any one by lot has the same name, gdral, e. g. Judges i. 3; Isa. lvii. 6, it is very natural to regard 3'Dlfl as hiphil of a word ^0* and to explain it after the analogy of the Arabic (A. Schultens) : Thou enlarged that which has fallen to me by lot (Hengst., Bb'hl, el n as hypothetical, hut rather as present. — Thou hast visited in the night — [The visit is for the purpose of investigating, Job vii. 18. It is by night as the time when the soul is undisturbed by the external world, and ready for reflection and examination. — Thou hast tried me. — The usual figure of the refiner of metals. — C. A. B.] Thou -wilt not find in me wicked thoughts ; my mouth doth not transgress. [A. V. ("And) shall find nothing ; 1 am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress" ]. Since it has not been proved that 7p has the meaning of " nothing,''' there is no object to the verb "find," if we follow the accents, and connect the next word with the next clause. We might certainly most naturally supply "nothing" from the con- text in accordance with the sense. But the in- terpretation of 'JVllDT, as 1 person Perf. = I have thought, that is, purposed (Is. iv. 28) which (hen would be immediately followed by the state- in m of the contents of the purpose (Luther, Geier, el al., finally Delitzsch), whilst it is possible, yet is opposed by the fact that the context rather causes us to expect a statement respecting the moral condition of the Psalmist than of his pur- pose. Moreover the other statements on this Babject do not allow us to translate with Bb'tt- cher: If I thought, wickedness, it must not go over my mouth. The Masora likewise remarks thai the tone of this Hebrew word is to be put upon the last syllable. This is then a noun with the suthx, and indeed not the plural of a sub- stantive which cannot be proved, but tin infini- tive with a feminine ending (llupf.). If we con- nect it with the following clause in accordance with the accents, then since the masc. of the adverb, it is better with Bupf. and most interpreters to regard " :i< >' fleet of" behold," Jehovah is to acknowledge His own judgment as such (Hupf.) He is to behold with favor the nght, equity. There is thus a gradation in the thought of this strophe. 1) The Psalmist appeals to Jehovah to hear jue right; 2) to let the sentence go forth from His presence, tin' '"irt of the great Judge, let the decision he proclaimed, MM then ; 3) to behold it as executed, to look with approval and pleasure upon equity, the right being approved by the in- fallible Judge.— C. A. B.] verb demands that '3 should be the subject of the clause, the translation, my thought does not overstep my mouth (Hitzig), that is, I do not speak in sleep, because I am not excited by passion, ap- peara to do violence to the text; on the other hand, the translation, "my mouth doth not overstep my thoughts," that is, I say no more than I think (Hengst. [Alexander]) as the simple protestation, " 1 do not dissemble, 1 do not lie," is strained, and with the lack of an object in the preceding clause obscure and unintelligible. The explanation of Aben Ezra, Bucer, Rosenm., el al. : my thought is not different from my words is still less admis- sible. It is accordingly more natural not to re- gard the accents as restrictive, but with the an- cient translations and Jerome, and since J. D. Mich., many recent interpreters, to make an ob- ject for "find," and gain two parallel clauses beginning with "not," and understand the me- ditation in accordance with Hebrew usage as the meditation of evil. So Perowne: "Thou hast, tried me and find est no evil thought in me, nei- ther doth my mouth transgress." — 0. A. B.] The suffix would be as Ps. xviii. 23, (llupf.) not for an actual sin, hut for one regarded as possible yet denied. The transition from the mention of sins of thought to sins of action, considered in the subsequent verse, would then be suitably prepared by sins of word.* Ver. 4. In man's doings, by the word of Thy lips, I have carefully avoided the path of the destroyer. [A. V., " concerning the works of 7?ien"~\. The ancient, translators con- nect the last words of the previous verse closely with this verse, and either translate: my mouth doth not go over tr the doings of men, that is, approve them; or, my mouth doth not trans- gress according to the doings of men. This gives a better parallelism, and therefore many inter- preters approve this division of the verses. B;it the structure of a verse is not always complete. Most interpreters, after Calv. and Geier, regard 7 as temporal, as Ps. xxxii. 6; others as de- noting either reference = as concerns [A. V.] or condition, as Ps. Ixix 22. Delitzsch takes the following words directly in the sonse 0f "against the word of Thy lips," as the object of the doings of men. According to ITitzig S in- troduces the accusative of the object, as J Sam. xxii. 7; Ps. Ixix. 6, which widely separated from the finite verb isagain taken up after this by the statement wherein these doings of men con- sisted.! [HupfVld: "In the midst of the sur- rounding practices of men, which so easily carry others away with them, I have shunned fol- lowing their wicked examples, being led and supported by the word of God." — Word of Thylips.— Ilupleld: "The word of God in the law, that is, the commandments of God in contrast with the doings of men who * [Kiehm mediates between the author and Hitzig Thus, he contends that 1DJ7 never in -, ins transgress, sin. when used alone, and "since the ' my mouth doth not transgress ' can hardly be the result of the examination by night, it is better to regard 'mot the object of KXDJV »t ">« same time as the subject of "Oy'i thus: thou wilt not find wicked thoughts i» »ir, they will not pass over mv mouUi, that is, 1 will not betray them by Bpeaking in ele p."—1 !. A B f [Thus Bitzig translates: "The doings of men, by the word of Thy lips, I have shunned the path of the robber." — C. A. ii.] 132 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. transgress it, and offer a higher rule." — C. A. B.] "IDtf is here used in a pregnant sense, without expressing the negative reference by JO as usual.* Ver. 5. My steps hold fast in Thy paths. — The infinitive ^DH is regarded by the ancient translators and most ancient interpreters, and among more recent interpreters, De Wette and Stier, as imperative = support my steps [A.V.] But. this does not agree with the perfect of the following clause. The infinitive is then either to be regarded in the sense of a gerund, and then most properly as an antecedent to the following clause (De Dieu, et al.), or instead of the finite verb(Gesenius, \ 128, 46), and indeed as a perfect, yet not as the 1st person singular=I have main- tained my steps inThy paths (Geier), but as the 3d person plural (Cocc.) with respect to usnge = my steps have held fast to Thy paths (Ewald, Hengst., Hitzig, Hupf., Delitzsch). Sir. III. Ver. 7. Make Thy grace wonder- ful. — [A. V., show thy marvellous loving-kind- ness], literally, separate; namely, by gradation in thought, the implored exhibition of Thy grace from t ne usual exhibitions of the same, so that it may thus prove to be wonderfully glorious to me (Sept.) ; not: take away Thy grace from the adversaries (Rabbin.) According to others (De Wette, Hupfeld, Delitzsch), the fundamental meaning of this verb is in the Hiphil made to be an attribute of the object, so that the Psalmist does not request anything extraordinary for him- self, but merely implores that the well-known wonderful — glorious grace may be shown. De- litzsch translates like Luther and the ancient translators: against Thy right hand. But the right hand of God is frequently mentioned as the instrument of deliverance, Pss. xliv. 3; xcviii. 1; Judges vii. 2 ; Isa. lix. 1. The anxiety of the moment transposes the words with the breath. Sir. IV. Ver. 8. Apple of the eye. — Liter- ally ; the little man, the daughter of the eye, Lam. ii. 18; Zech. ii. 8. The figure is chosen with reference to Deut. xxxii. 10, 11 ; comp. Prov. vii. 2, as is shown by the subsequent words. [Hupfeld : "The first figure as with us is prover- bial, as a symbol of that which is dearest to us, of the most careful, attentive protection. The se- cond, 'hide me under the shadow of Thy wings,' is taken from birds, especially the hen, who pro- tects herbrood with her wings, afigure of the most tender protection, frequently of God's protec- tion, Pss. xxxvi. 7; lvii. 1; lxi. 4; lxiii. 7; xci. 4 (used of Christ, Matth. xxiii. 37), and in the * [Hupfeld: " "IOl!' properly to watch, take heed, observe, - T usually positively, in order to follow the law and the right way (as Ps. xviii. 21, the ways of God ; Prov. ii. 20, the right- eous ), here, on the contrary, in order to avoid. This meaning is usually brought about by the reflexive idea, to be on one's guard, to beware of something, but this as a negative idea ne- cessarily has JO with it: whilst here the accusative presup- poses the original active signification, which here either pregnantly includes the negative consequences which are not expressed, or developes from the idea of watch, guard, keep, according to the nature of that which is watched, a negative side or reference = to keep otf, hold off, avoid. Wordsworth translates : " I have marked the paths of the transgressor, I have tried them by the words of Thy lips. The sentiment is explained by tlie Apostolic precept, ' If any man obey not our words, no'e that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed (2 Thess. lii. 14)." — 0. A. B.] same connection with the first figure, Deut. xxxii. 10, 11, both in reference to the people of Is'raek" Wordsworth : " There is a climax of delicate tenderness in the language here." — C. A. B.] Ver. 9. My enemies who greedily sur- round me. — The position ot the suffix is against the connection of V212 with the preceding word == my deadly enemies (Geier [A. V.]). On the other hand it is admissible to get the same sense by the translation : against the life (Kimchi), or, in matters of life (Hengst.). Most recent inter- preters, however, translate after the Chald. and Aben Ezra: with eagerness, as Pss. xxvii. 12; xxxv. 25; xli. 3; Isa. v. 14. Ver. 10. Fat. — Many interpreters, likewise Clauss, Stier, Tholuck, after the Chald. and Symtn., understand by this, the prosperity in which they wrap themselves, and which prompts them to haughty expressions. Others regard it as = the fat heart (Geier) = unfeeling heart, (De Wette, Koster, Ewald, et al.) ; Hupfeld as merely the heart. But manifestly it is meant that their heart, 3*7, is not a pulsating human heart, but 2/Y\, a lump of fat, Pss. lxxiii. 7; cxix. 70 (Delitzsch, Hitzig). The closing up, 1 John iii. 17, denotes the intentional holding off from all influences which would excite human emo- tions, so that the consequence is, hardening and obduracy, Fs. xcv. 8. We have not here a pleo- nasm, but a climax, and the context shows that we are not to think of the closing up of secret, crafty schemes, Ps. lxiv. 6, 7; Prov. vii. 10, con- trasted with speaking of the mouth ( Hupf.). The explanation of Theodoret, who understands the heart in the sense of pity is entirely astray. — Speak proudly. — This comes from their de- lusion of a near and sure victory. Ver. 11. Our steps . . . now have they surrounded me. — [A. V., They have now com- passed us in our steps]. Since the singular suf- fix does not agree with the plural suffix of the noun, the translation quoad gressum nostrum, which supposes that this accusative of closer de- finition of the part, of the body (Gen. iii. 15) is parallel with the accusative of the person (De- litzsch) has very little to recommend it. It does violence to the text, however, to read with the Musora the plural when the codd. do not have it. The double accusative which is usual with verbs of surrounding, to which ancient interpreters ap- peal, would here produce this nonsense : with our steps they have now encompassed me. Hitzig, who previously thought, of the accusative of the object to flltDJ? = " our steps ... to fell to the ground," now explains that the distance is too great between the words, and moreover it is ob- structed by the parenthesis ; he now changes the vowel points in order to get the meaning : I per- ceive him. This is certainly admissible, and gives a good sense; whilst the meaning obtained by some of the ancient translations by changing a consonant : "They express congratulations over me," is violent and unnatural. With the pre- sent reading we think that the discourse is broken by the liveliness of passion. To throw down upon the ground. — [A. V., "Bowing down, to the earth." Barnes: PSALM XVII. 133 " The Hebrew word HiOJ, natah — means pro- T T * pcrly to stretch out, to extend; then to incline, to bow, to depress; and hence the idea of pros- trating; thus, to make the shoulder bend down- wards, Gen. xlix. 15; to bring down the mind to an object, Ps. cxix. 11-; to bow t lie heavens, i's. xviii. 9. Hence, the idea of prostrating an enemy; and the sense here. clearly is, that they h 1 1 fixed their eyes intently on the Psalmist, with a purpose to prostrate him to the ground, or completely overwhelm him." — G. A. B ] The interpretations that, they direct their attention " to turn aside in the laud" (Hengst,); or "to wander through the land" (Ewald) [Alexander: "go astray," — C. A. 13.] are artificial and uune- oessary. Ver. 12. [His likeness=he is like, is not dependent upon the preceding clause, as A. V., but a new and independent clause, introducing the figure of the li'^a and the young lion, vid., notes upon Ps. x. 9 sq — C. A. B ] Sir. V. Ver. 13. Go forth to meet him. — [A. V., "disappoint him." [I'erowne: "As David himself went forth to meet first the lion and the bear, and afterwards the champion of Gath." This is the true interpretation advo- cated by most recent interpreters. — C. A. B. ] — Cast him down. — [Properly to make him fall upon his knees, (llupf.), the figure of the lion is continued here. — G. A. B.] — The wicked. Jerome understands this to be the devil. — By Thy sword. — [Not as A. V., " which is thy sword." God is to go forth to meet the enemy, who is like a lion, to cast him down upon his knees, and by His sword slay him, aud thus deliver the Psalmist. — C. A. B.] Ver. 14. People of the world, literally men of the world [A. V.,] or of temporal life, not men of duration or of enduring success, (Calv., Vene- m.i, Eluding., Hengst,,) after the Arabic, but either perishable men (Hitzig) or better after the Syriac : men of the world with reference to their disposition (Kimchi, Geier and most interpre- ters). The life, in the following relative clause, answers to this, wherein they have their p/Jl, that is their portion, as their highest good and happiness, Ps. xvi. 5, not temporal life (Geier), life without duration (Hitzig) as showing the fate of the ungodly, Job xx. 5, Is. lxv. 2d; so like- wise not life blessed with external good and earthly happiness (Calv., Hengst,) of which they have received their proper portion; but the idle vain life, in contrast ro the spiritual life in God (Hupf., Hitzig).* Here likewise the tone and order of the words show the language of anxiety and haste. Whilst this was overlooked, most interpreters translated the beginning of the verse "from people of Thy hand" [A. V.] and thought for the most part of those men whom God uses as His rods of chastisement and scourges; sometimes likewise of those who must fall into judgment in the wrathful hand of God because the measure of their sins was filled. [The proper rendering is " by Thy hand" as above * [Perowne: "We have here a view of the world and of I-.'.- very remarkable (or the Old testament— a kind of anti- Ml>:iti..M of ih" contrast between the flesh and the Spirit wnich St. Paul pivea in, or the lov ■ of the- world aud of Go.l at uh.cn St. Johu spunks.''— C. A. 1J.J by Thy sword, the two expressions being paral- lel.—0. A. B.]— With that which thou hast stored up. [A. V. "with thy hid (treasure)"]. This is a past partic. used as a substantive in a good sense, Ps. xxxi. 19; Prov. xiii. 22, aud in a bad sense Job xxi. 19. Almost all inter- preters take it here in the former sense, that • ill gives the worldly-minded the portion they have chosen, even children in abundance, Job xxii. 17, to whom they leave their affluence, yet without knowing or possessing the prospects and enjoyment of the pious. Hitzig on the other hand takes it in the bad sense of the punishment, the reception or experience of which is repre- sented as eating of bitter, deadly food (Job ix. 18, xxi. 15, comp. vi. 7; Ps. lix. 15), as God fills, the bo lies of the wicked with the fire of His wrath (Job xx. 23). This judgment is like- wise said to extend to children and children's children (Ex*, xx. 5, comp. Job xxi. 7, 8. 11); to which the following words according to his translation, may they satisfy the sons, etc., re- fer. The translation made by most interpreters "their children are filled" would require OiTjrj. The translation of Kb'ster who follows the Sept. Vulg. closely "they are full of sons" [A. V.], is literal but obscure. Sir. VI. Ver. 15. The antithetical reference of this strophe is rendered very prominent not only by the emphasis of the / [As for me, A. V. ], but likewise by the intentional use of the same word satisfied with reference to Jehovah's form, in beholding His countenance. These expres- sions themselves by their undeniable reference to Num. xii. 8, co nap. Ex. xxxiii. 20, lead us be- yond the usual means of recognizing and com- muning with God. In the present context a glance is given into eternity. It is true there is no mention of a resurrection of the dead as such (Hofmann), or of a natural awaking upon the next morning (Ewald), or of a breathing again and stepping forth from the confusion of a per- plexing trouble, as from a night of Buffering ( Hitzig), so that a new earthly phase of life broke forth upon the psalmist in the sunlight of the Divine grace (Kurtz), or of a mingling of both references (llupf.), or indeed of an awaking of Jehovah that is in His coming to help, after having hidden His countenance (Cleric, Hensl., Hengst.) ; but of an awaking from the night of death (among recent interpreters, even Ilosenniuller, Be Wette, Gesenius), as a hope shining forth from the consciousness of communion with Jehovah (Delitzsch) as Psalm xvi. 10; xlix. 15." * [Perowne ; " Worldly men have their satisfaction in this lifv, in treasures, in children; David hopes to be satisfied with the likewise or rather real manifest bodily firm (DJOn) of God. The personal pronoun stands emphati- T rally at the beginning of the verse, in order to mark the con- trast between his own feelings and those of the men of the world. He hopes (as Job also does \i\. 26, -7 i, to see God. (The parallelism of the next clause shows that this must mean more thai rely " to enjoy His favors, the light of His connte- ■ tr. as in xi. 7). There is an allusion probably 1 a manifestation of God as that made to Hoses, Num. xii. 8, where God declares thai with Moses He will speak 'mouth to mouth,' even apparently, and not in dirk s| :hes; and the similitude (rather yorm, the same word an here) of Jeho- vah shall he behold." Wordsworth: "The thought is com- pleted by St John : ' Beloved, now are w« the sons of God ; and it doth not yet appear whal we shall be, but we know that wh.n lie appears we shall be like Him, tor we shall see 134 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. Thereare troubles, into which wodo not fall as a punishment for our sins, but in which we are unjustly persecuted and compelled to flee from hard-hearted, unprincipled and powerful enemies, and with all the justice of our cause, may be in dinger of succumbing to the snares of our bitter opponents, and even of losing out- lives. 2. In such a situation neither lamentations nor despondency are becoming to the pious. The proper course is to pray for help, which may in anxiety of heart become a cry, without becoming improper, and may appeal before God the righteous Judge to the personal righteous- ness of the persecuted, without thereby in the least disputing, murmuring or contending with God, or boasting or confiding in one's own right- eousness. For there is no reference to righteous- ness gained by one's self, or to one's own deserts and the worthiness derived therefrom, but to the fact, that the piety of the petitioner ha3 shown itself as vitally and powerfully in his person, as it expresses itself candidly and sincerely in his prayer. And in such cases the question is not of its origin from grace apprehended in faith, but of the earnestness and reality of its attesta- tion. 3. Now he who flees from the judgment and hands of men, to the judgment and presence of God must not forget that the Almighty is like- wise the All-knowing, the Searcher of hearts. He must still further be mindful of this, that under the trying eye of the holy and omnipre- sent God he endures an infallible judgment by night as well as by day, waking or sleeping, dreaming or acting. It is well for the man who feels this judging and sifting nearness of God, which as the tire in the furnace separates the gold from the dross, as soothing his conscience, and who can comfort himself with that fact that God finds in him a man of true piety. 4. The human heart is naturally inclined to evil, and human doings and practices do not move in the paths which please God; they at- tempt rather, to break through the restraints imposed upon them by God But the efficacy of the means of grace in the congregation of God is able to change the disposition of the heart and he who holds fast to the word of God, is able likewise to withstand the temptations of his situation and to willk in the ways of God according to God's regulation. Him as He is,' (comp. 1 Cor. xiii. 12; xv. 40 ; 2 Cor. iii. IS ; Col. iii. 10.) As Theodoret observes here, the wicked may be satisfied with sons in this life, but I, 0 God, shall be satisfied with the sight of Thy Son lor evermore. So also Didymus here." Perowne: " In opposition to this interpretation it is commonly asserted that the truth of a resurrection had not yet been revealed, and that, consequently if we find the doc- trine here, the Psalm must be of later date, after the exile (so De Wette). Hut this is mere assertion. First as regards the use of the figure ' Waking from death ' occurs in 2 Kings iv. 31. Death is spoken of as a sleep from which there is no awaking Job xiv. 12, Jer. li. 39. Next Is. xxvi. 19. ' Awake ye that sleep in the dust,' plainly refers to the resurrection, (Hence critics who think the truth couldnot be known before the exile, are obliged to suppose that this chapter was writ- ten after that. time). Again, why should not David have at- tained in some degree to the knowledge ol'a truth, which in later times was so clearly revealed as it was to Ezekiel (who makes use of it as the image of the resurrection of Israel ixxvii. 1-1-1), and Daniel (xii. 2J? "— C. A. B.J 5. If there is already a great consolation anil a strong encouragement to constantly new pray- ers, in the assurance of the faith, that God not only hears the pious, but answers him and thereby testifies, that on His part He has ami will maintain intercourse and relations witli him; then with increasing needs and under the pressure of great dangers not only the need of the improvement of this intercourse with God, but, likewise the joyousness of prayer and the confidence of being heard, gain nourishment and power by the experience made in this inter- course, that it belongs to the nature of God to be a deliverer of those who seek His protection. The courage of the pious is explained by these fun- damental principles and upon them it rises in order to implore likewise in special circumstances special gracious help. G. From the confidence of the faith, that, the person of the pious man who has intercourse with God is an object, of His love aud care, arises the assurance, that this person will not only find occasional help and an assistance referring merely to special and transient needs and dau- gers, from the almighty Protector of the op- pressed, but that he finds constant protection against all the enemies of his body and soul, and can be sheltered forever in God, if he has his satisfac- tion in the nearness and communion of God in contrast to the people of this world, who do not inquire after God, because they seek ami find their sat- isfaction in the possession of perishable goods and in the enjoyment of earthly joy. 7. Great external happiness, prosperity and luxury, increase the natural selfishness, worldli- ness and pride of the unconverted man, make his heart insensible to emotions of pity and the inborn feelings of justice, and do not permit him to exhibit, thankfulness to God for His great benefits, but rather stop up the sources of his love to God aud his neighbor and prevent the approach of those things which would open them, so that the man is choked in his own fat and has become spiritually dead in the midst of his abun- dance. On the other hand, troubles and dangers, sufferings and infirmities, the lack and loss of earthly goods, impel the pious man with ever renewed energy to lay hold of God and thereby obtain his only salvation and true life in God. 8. He who has God, has life. This truth en- ters only into the experience of the soul which has communion with God. Moreover the life is likewise the light of the soul, and enlarges its sphere of vision, so that it not only looks upon the gracious countenance which God causes to shine upon His servants in the night of trouble, but. it consoles itself with beholding in the future that form of God, in which those who are com- pletely blessed, will see Him as He is. Accord- ingly the full satisfaction in the blessed enjoyment of thus beholding the Divine glory comes only in eternity and presupposes the awaking from the sleep of death. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. The pious man may call upon the judgment of God and rely upon it when condemned by the judgment of men. He who appeals to God, should consider that God is not only the Ai- PSALM XVII. 135 mighty and the merciful, but that lie is likewise the All-knowing and the Holy God. — God sees not only our works, He hears not only our words, He likewise proves the heart, and this without cessation, by day and by night. — He who will walk in the ways of God must direct himself by the word of Cod and keep the regulations of God. — The Divine grace not only delivers from the hands of earthly enemies, but likewise from inborn sinful corruption and from the power of temporal and eternal death. — Every help of God is a miracle of grace; but in the par- ticular exhibitions of Divine help the mira- culous appears in various degrees. It is, however, not always perceived by men with the same clearness and not implored with the same fervor in personal distress — It is a true sign of human corruption, that temporal happi- ness hardens the heart as easily as it fills it with vain efforts after perishable goods and Joys. — The principal dangers of worldly-mindedness are forgetfulness of God, exaltation of self and con- tempt of others. — The way to escape from tempo- ral need and anxiety to eternal goods and joys consists in walking in the wags of God. Starke: He who would be heard in his cause against all kinds of oppression and perversion, must have innocence as his plea; if not he must first confess his guilt and ask God for forgiveness. If prayer is not to go forth from ii false mouth, the heart must previously be free from all de- ceitfulness ; for what fills the heart, will pass over the mouth (Math. xii. 34). — If we are at- tacked and persecuted by the world and our cause is good and righteous we cannot getbetter advice, than to have recourse to God and place our need in the lap of His grace. — Persecuted Christians often have no judge on earth to do them justice; then sentence must come from heaven. — The eyes of men only see what has a fine appearance of human wisdom anil power; but the eyes of the Lord see, what is right and good. — The nights when troubles and afflictions try us, are indeed hard for flesh and blood, but very profitable to the soul, because there is thus revealed to others and ourselves what is con- cealed in us. — It is not enough to leave off evil works: a Christian is likewise not to speak knowingly an idle word; much less a wicked word. 0 what watchfulness is necessary for this! — The more ungodly men strive to overthrow the truth of God's word, or to break from its yoke by bold wickedness, the more carefully should believers be, not to deviate a finger- breadth from reverence and obedience to the word of God. — It is not enough to remain in the right way, but it is likewise necessary to make advances therein and not slip. — 0 how dangerous and slippery is the way through this wicked world! — God fulfils all His promises to us, not. as we think according to our reason, but won- derfully, inconceivably, against all thought and above all reason. — What is more tender, sensi- tive, dearer than the apple of the eye ; yet be- lievers are sucli before God ; how then can those who touch them, remain unpunished? (Zech. ii. 8.) — The wings of a hen cover her brood so that they cannot be seen by birds of prey ; she covers them against rain and storms ; she warms them and strengthens them, when they are cold and weak; so likewise, does the Divine grace with His children (Math, xxiii. 37). — It is a terrible word, to h;ive one's portion only in this world and thus be excluded from everlasting possessions! Woe to the man who lor a short temporal pleasure sacrifices everlast- ing joy ! — It is true God often blesses the ungodly with more bodily blessings, than the pious, anil fills them better with His treasures; but they have their portion in this life and they starve in the world to come. — Children are a gift of the Lord ; but they may increase the condemnation of their parents, if they neglect the salvation of their cliildreus souls and devote their attention merely to the storing up many goods. — Christian, your spiritual hunger and thirst will not endure forever; no, the time is drawing near, when you will be satisfied with the rich possessions of the house of God. — He who would in the future awake in the image of God, must begin even here the transfiguration and production of the image of God, 2 Cor. iii. 18. — A great, yea, an infinite difference between the children of this world and the children of God! The former have their bellies full, the latter the heavens full, the one, the shadows, the other, the true imperishable substance Luther: The warmer and more ardent our faith is, the more will God accomplish with it. — Bugeniiagen- The world may satisfy itself where it will; I will satisfy myself with God. — Scumepf: What is it to be a man of the world? To have his heaven upon earth and his portion here. — Arndt: There are three reasons why prayer will be heard: 1) a righteous cause: 2) righteousnessiuChrist ; 3) righteousness of heart. — Scriver: The chief blessedness consists in beholding God, and this consists in the sweetest communion. — Renschel : Innocence is the best treasure. — To behold God's countenance is the true paradise. — Frisch : David in his opening words expresses at once his faith, because he lays hold of the righteousness of his Saviour; his earnestness, because he continues to cry; his humility because he seeks gracious audience; his perseverance, because he knocks for the third time at the door of grace; his uprightness, because he says nothing except what his heart says to him. — Tuym: What glory has the servant of God to expect after death? 1) He is to be- hold the Lord in His glory; 2) he is to be satis- fied with the blessings of heaven ; 3) he is to awake glorified according to the glory of the Lord unto everlasting life. [Mattii. Henry: It will be a great, comfort to us if trouble, when it comes, finds the wheels of prayer agoing, for then may we come with the more boldness to the throne of grace. — God's omniscicence is as much the joy of the up- right as it is the terror of hypocrites, and it is particularly comfortable to those who are falsely accused and in any wise have wrong done them. — If we keep God's law as the apple of our eye, Prov. vii. 2, we may expect God will so keep us ; for it is said concerning His people, that whoso toucheth them toucheth the apple of His eye. Zech. ii. 8. — There is no satisfaction for a soul but in God, and in His face and likewise His good will towards us, and His good work in us; and even that satisfaction will not be perfect till 136 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. we come to heaven. — Barnes: We can offer an acceptable prayer only when we are sure that it would be right for God to answer it, or that it would be consistent with perfect and eter- nal justice to grant our requests. — Spurgeon: David would not have been a man after God's own heart, if he had not been a man of prayer. He was a master in the sacred art of supplication. — There is more fear that we will not hear the Lord than that the Lord will not hear us. — Who can resist a cry? A real hearty, bitter, piteous cry, might almost melt a rock, there can be no fear of its prevalence with our heavenly Father. A cry is our earliest utterance, and in many ways the most natural of human sounds, if our prayer should like the infant's cry be more natural than intelligent and more earnest than elegant, it will be none the less eloquent with God. There is a mighty power in a child's cry to prevail with a parent's heart. — That heavenly book which lies neglected on many a shelf is the only guide for those who would avoid the enticing and entangling mazes of sin ; and it is the best means of preserving the youth- ful pilgrim from ever treading those dangerous ways. We must follow the one or the other; the Book of Life, or the way of death ; the word of the Holy Spirit, or the suggestion of the evil spirit— C. A B.] PSALM XVIII. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who spake unto the Lord the icords of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said, 1 I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer ; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust ; My buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. 3 I will call upon the Lord, who is ivorthy to be praised : So shall I be saved from mine enemies. 4 The sorrows of death compassed me, And the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. 5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about : The snares of death prevented me. 6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried unto my God : He heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry came before him, even into bis ears. 7 Then the earth shook and trembled ; The foundations also of the hills moved And were shaken, because he was wroth. 8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, And fire out of his mouth devoured : Coals were kindled by it. 9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down : And darkness was under his feet. 10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly : Yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his secret place ; His pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. PSALM XVIII. 137 12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, Hail stones and coals of fire. 13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, And the Highest gave his voice ; Hail stones and coals of fire. 14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them ; And he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. 15 Then the channels of waters were seen, And the foundations of the w7orld wrere discovered At thy rebuke, O Lord, At the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. 16 He sent from above, he took me, He drew me out of many waters. 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, And from them which hated me : for they were too strong for me. 18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity : But the Lord was my stay. 19 He brought me forth also into a large place ; He delivered me, because he delighted in me. 20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not wickedly departed from my God. 22 For all his judgments were before me, And I did not put away his statutes from me. 23 I was also upright before him, And I kept myself from mine iniquity. 2-1 Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight. 25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful ; With an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright ; 26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure ; And with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward. 27 For thou wilt save the afflicted people ; But wilt bring down high looks. 28 For thou wilt light my candle : The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. 29 For by thee I have run through a troop ; And by my God have I leaped over a wTall. 30 As for God, his way is perfect: The word of the Lord is tried : He is a buckler to all those that trust in him. 31 For who is God save the Lord ? Or who is a rock save our God ? 32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, And maketh my way perfect. 33 He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, And setteth me upon my high places. 34 He teacheth my hands to war, So that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. ir.8 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. 35 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation : And thy right hand hath holden me up, And thy gentleness hath made me great. 36 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, That my feet did not slip. ol 38 I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them : Neither did I turn again till they were consumed. I have wounded them that they were not able to rise : They are fallen under my feet. 39 For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle : Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. 40 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies ; That I might destroy them that hate me. 41 They cried, but there was none to save them: Even unto the Lord, but he answered them not. 42 Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind : I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets. 43 Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; And thou hast made me the head of the heathen : A people whom I have not known shall serve me. 44 As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me : The strangers shall submit themselves unto me. 45 The strangers shall fade away, And be afraid out of their close places. 46 The Lord liveth ; and blessed be my Rock ; And let the God of my salvation be exalted. 47 It is God that avengeth me, And subdueth the people under me. 48 He delivereth me from mine enemies : Yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: Thou hast delivered me from the violent man. 49 50 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, And sing praises unto thy name. Great deliverance giveth he to his king; And sheweth mercy to his anointed, To David, and to his seed for evermore. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. The Title. — The title, as far as the words of David, is like that of Ps. xxxvi., the rest of it reminds us strongly of Deut. xxxi. 30, in part of Ex. xv. 1 ; Num. xxi. 17; and is found like- wise in 2 Sam. xxii., where this Psalm appears in its historical connection, with some differences, yet essentially the same. In most casps the Psalm of our collection has the original and better readings (vid. below upon its relation to 2 Sam. xxii.). All this is in favor of the view that it was in one of those historical books from which the author of the book of Samuel made extracts. The use of this Psalm in Pss. cxvi. and cxliv. is in favor of its great antiquity, as well as the use of ver. 30 in Prov. xxx. 5, and ver. 33 in Hab. iii. 19. So many particulars in the contents and expressions of the Psalm agree with David, that only Olsh. and Hupf. think of a later author. There is likewise no valid reason for regarding the closing versa as a later addition (Hitzig against Hupf.). But being au- thentic, inasmuch as it presupposes the prophecy 2 Sam. vii., it refers to the latter period of David's life, if not even to the time of his dying song, 2 Sam. xxiii. The prominent features of the subject agree with this, and do not allow us to mistake the retrospective view of a very import- ant period of life, especially agitated by w;ir and like events, but yet brought by grace to a satisfactory conclusion ; and they lead to a period in which David, after having come forth victori- ous over domestic feuds, and as a king victorious likewise over other nations, and widely feared, on the one side praises the help afforded him by God as a sign of His condescension and favor, and on the other celebrates this as the reward of his devotion to Jehovah. Hitzig, therefore, PSALM XVIII. 139 refers, especially vers. 43 and 44, to the fact. mentioned 2 Bam. viii. 9 sq., that the son of a distant king brought gift3 to David, when on his return from Aram, he had likewise conquered tin- Bdomiie, and stood at the end of his expedi- tion of war; and when the shadows which the rebellion of Absalom, and the transgression committed with Bathsheba and on her account, threw upon his life and his soul, had not yet troubled the sunshine of his happiness. The mention of Saul after all his enemies renders him conspicuous as the most dangerous of all, who is the last to be forgotten, although his lime had long since passed away. The form in which these facts are put together, shows that we have here a retrospect which extends over a long period, but which occurred on the day of the composition of the Psalm, and originated the tone of the song together with its sentiments. The name, servant of Jehovah, which David gives to himself in his prayers, Ps. xix. 11, 13 ; cxliv. 10 ; 2 Sam. vii. 20, and there in a general sense in which every pious Israelite might use it, is here in the title, as in Ps. xxxvi., in the pregnant meaning of an official name and hon- orable title as Moses bears it, Dcut. xxxiv. 5; Jos. xxiv. 29; the prophets, Jer. vii. 2~> and elsewhere, on account of their historical position as the specially commissioned instruments of Rod; and David likewise has received it being recognized as such by the mouth of Jehovah, Pa. lxxxix. 3, 20. A parallel to its use in the title of several Psalms is found in its use at the beginning of most of the epistles of the apos- tles. Its Contents and their. Arrangement. — First, there is an expression of tender resigna- tion to Jehovah (ver. 1), the Protector and Lord, i insequently sought and never sought in vain 2) ; then follows the principal clause (ver 3), the unfolding of which forms the essential subject of the Psalm, namely: the thankful con- m, that this Jehovah has delivered the Psalmist from his enemies in answer to prayer. greatness of the danger is illustrated (vers. 4 and 5) ; the prayer is warmly mentioned and its having been heard (ver. G). His coming to help in the earthquake and tempest (not merely figurative as Hupf. contends) is magnificently and surprisingly described (vers. 7-loj ; the de- liverance by the hand of God in the moment of the greatest danger is thankfully recognized as a proof of His good pleasure (vers. 16-19), to reward the pious conduct of His servant (vers 20-25), which is founded in the moral nature of God Himself (vers. 24-27), and gives the reason and pledge of this support of the Psalmist's life (vers. 28, 29). Then the Psalmist begins to praise Jehovah as the only true God and faithful Helper (vers. 30, 31). This is interrupted in form by the retrospective review (although there is actually a praising God) which the Psalmist makes with reference to his repeated experiences of the assistance of God in domestic feuds, an 1 in foreign wars 'vers. 32-45). It. is then, how- ever, taken up again directly, and brought to a satisfactory conclusion in two strophes, first, the suinming up of thanksgiving for the abundance of help afforded as just described (vers. 46-48), and then in vows of thanksgiving which look far beyond the bounds of Israel (vers. 49, 50), in faith in the Messianic promise and destiny given to David and his seed. Its Relation to 2 Sam. xxii. — The older view maintained by Hongst. was that the origin of the double recension of this Psalm of thanksgiving (nvt^ instead of Tt^, which is used elsewhere T. ' in titles) was to be referred to David himself, and indeed so that 2 Sam. xxii. is a later but in- dependent variation, with expressions which were chosen, emphatic, and at times explanatory. Gramberg supposes an intentional revision of the text of the Psalm, but attempts (in Winer, Ex- eyet. Stud. I. 1) to show, by a close comparison, that 2 Sam. xxii. affords throughout easier and worse readings, by a different hand from that of the author. On the other hand, Von Lengerke (Comment. Crit., 1833), sought to show that the better readings are found now in the one, now in the other, that the deviations were not inten- tional, but accidental, occasioned by oral tradi- tion, and the carelessness of the copyist; and that both texts have about the same value; that the orthography, however, on account of the less frequent use of t he vowel signs, bears an ancient character. The latter is explained by Ewald from the use of an ancient MS. Hupfeld shows that even in the orthography no sure principle can be carried out, that most of the variations in 2 Sain. xxii. do not at all deserve the preference sometimes given to them, and de- rives them from careless copying and tradition. Hitzig now again maintains the independence of both recensions, neither of which gives the origi- nal pure text, entirely, yet. he supposes that the form of the text of Ps. xviii. is for the most part preferable, and explains it thus: That the Psalms incorporated in a historical book share the fate of all historical texts; the respect for their poetical form, rytbm and movement, very soon yielded and disappeared before the care for the simple sense, not. to speak of the fact that the text was afterwards accented as prose, whilst in the book of Psalms it was accented as poetry. Delitzsch thinks that the annals of David ha yamin) were the source of 2 Sam. xxii., in which the Psalm hail been incorporated, and from which likewise the historian derived much besides. He agrees with Hupfeld, but remarks that 2 Sam. xxii. shows the license of popular language. Olsh. finds in this evidence of a free interpolation with literary productions before the close of the Canon. Str. I. Ver. 1. I love Thee affectionately [A. V., / will love thce~\. — J3HX is elsewhere t tie only word used ii Hebrew to express the love of men to God and the word used here, DI"P, is found only in the Piel and in the sense of pity. But this word in the Aramaic has in the kal tiie meaning of love, and Aramaic expressions are not infrequent in the more ancient as well as in the later Hebrew writings. The proposal of Hitzig, therefore, to correct the 11 by D and change the vowel points, is unnecessary. The sense, which would be: "I will extol Thee," would be very appropriate at the beginning of a song of praise and thanksgiving. But to doubt of an expression of love to God in the mouth of David, because among the ancient Hebrews the 140 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. fear of God was alone proper, love only after Deut. vi. 5, is connected with a criticism of sacred history and its historical monuments, which condemns itself by its unavoidable neces- sity of doing violence to the text. In the paral- lel passage, 2 Sam. xxii., this verse has mani- festly fallen off, by shortening, whilst a compen- sation has been made by an enlargement of the next verse, which the accents then divide into two verses, by the addition, after the word fort- ress, of the clause: my refuge, my deliverer, who delivered me from violence. Likewise in the first line of this verse "my deliverer" is used as Ps. cxliv. 2, and in the second line: God (Elohe) my rock as ver. 46. Ver. 2. [There is in this verse a heaping up of metaphors, vid. Pss. xxxi. ; lxxi. ; cxliv. Pe- rowne: "The images, which are most of them of a martial character, are borrowed from the experience of David's life, and the perpetual struggles in which he was engaged. Some of them were suggested by the natural configuration of Palestine. Amid the 'rocks' and 'fast- nesses' of his native land, and the 'high tower' perched on some inaccessible crag, he with his little band of outlaws, had often found a safe hiding-place from the wrath of Saul." — My Rock. — Alexander : " As the rock (yTD) of the first clause suggests the idea of conceal- ment and security, so the rock (1^) of the second clause [A. V., ' My strength'] suggests that of strength and immobility. The figure is borrowed from Deut. xxxii. 4, and reappears in Ps. xcii. 15. Compare Isaiah's phrase; rock of ages (Is. xxvi. 4), and Jacob's phrase, the stone of Israel (Gen. xlix. 24."*— My stronghold ( A.V., fortress).— Hupf.: " m-li'O is in general a strong and not easily accessible place, affording refuge and safety; a mountain, a cave, a wilderness, etc. Comp. 1 Sam. xxiii. 14, 19; xxiv. 1; Judges vi. 2 ; Isa. xxxiii. 16; Job xxxix. 28." — My shield (A. V., buckler, a species of shield). Vid. Psalm .iii. 4 and Gen. xv. 1, where God calls Himself Abram's shield." — C. A. B.] — Horn of my salvation. — The horn is frequently the figure of strength and victorious power, yet the reference here is not to attack, but to protection. Hence the figure is not bor- rowed from the horn of the buffalo (most inter- preters), or indeed of the summits of mountains [called horns in many languages, e. g. Matter- horn, Faulhorn, etc. — C. A. B.], but of the altar, 1 Kings ii. 28 (Hitzig). -j-— [My height (A. V., * [Delitzsch : " y^)0 means properly the cleft of the rock, then the rock as riven into clefts; and *1^ the hard and great rock (Aram. "VltO, mountain)." — "Accordingly the idea of a safe (and convenient) hiding-place, predominates in 'JJ/Di that of a firm foundation and inaccessiblenesa in "H-li*. The one figure reminds us of the Edomite J?7D, Isa. xvi. 1 ; xlii. 11, the Xlerpa. [Petra], described by Strabo, xvi. 4, 21, enclosed by steep rocks ; the other of the Phoenician rock island "113f [Tyre], the refuge place of the sea." — C. A. B.] f [But there is no reference in the context to the temple or the altar or the throne of God, as places of refuge; the reference is entirely to the mountains and caves and rocks and warlike means of defence. The connection of hnrn with shield might favor the defensive horns of the buffalo, but the following word and the general tenor of the passage lavor high tower) — Alexander: "The Hebrew word properly denotes a place so high as to be be- yond the reach of danger." It is a high rock or crag affording a safe refuge, vid. Ps. ix. 9. — . C. A. B] Many interpreters, with the ancient transla- tions (likewise Maurer, Hengst., Hupf.), regard Jehovah and Eli as subjects, the names which follow each time as His predicates, • seven of which would thus be contained in ver. 2, to which Hengst. attaches some importance. Most recent interpreters, however (Hitzigand Delitzsch likewise), find as in all the names, so likewise in Jehovah and Eli, amplifications of the suffix of the verb, which begins the Psalm, yet not as its real object., but as taking up the vocative of the first line. Only Hitzig would change Eli into ,7KJ=my Redeemer, according to Ps. xix. 15. Sir. II. Ver. 3. Jehovah is not a vocative in this verse (Storr),but in apposition to the words placed before for emphasis : the one who is praised, that is, who is the subject of the praises of Israel, Pss. xlviii. 1 ; xcvi. 4 ; cxiii. 3 ; cxlv. 3; perhaps the glorious One (Hupf.), that is, He to whom glory and majesty is ascribed. The imperfects are not to be taken as futures (many ancient interpreters), since the following strophe shows that the reference is to praising God on account of Divine help already experienced ; but hardly as preterites with reference to a previous special deliverance (Hitzig). It is true, they are thus used frequently from ver 6 onwards, but they depend upon the perfects which occur from ver. 4 on. If now these words which immedi- ately follow are found to be a recapitulation of many particular experiences, the description of which makes use of the tempest, taken from other theophanes only as a figurative illustration (Ewald, Hengst., Hupf., Delitzsch); then the im- perfects are taken as indefinite designations of the past. In this not unusual poetical use they occur without doubt in vers. 20 and 28 sq. of this Psalm. But there it treats really of a re- capitulation of particular and similar features with a retrospect of the moral action of the Psalmist and of the experiences made by him in consequence of this. Yet here the entire description seems to refer to a particular case, only it does not follow that ver. 3 should be put at the same time as ver. 6 a. The motto of the entire Psalm appears first, namely, in the form of a general clause prepared by the predicate used in calling upon Jehovah. But it is not necessary, on this account, to translate with G. Baur: praised be Jehovah, I cry. Str. III. Ver. 4. Bands of death.— The Sept. and the Rabbins translate sorrows [A. V.] ; and 2 Sam. xxii., where the clause begins with "then" [A. V., when~\, another word is used= waves. The parallel clauses agree very well with this, the verb not so well ; and our reading is likewise in Psalm cxvi. 3, and is likewise very ancient (Calvin, Ilupfeld). — Brooks of evil [A. V., floods of ungodly men]. the reference to the summits of hills or mountains. On these rocky, horn-like summits David had often found refuge when pursued by Saul. It is a beautiful figure of the protect- ing care of Jehovah, which lifts David to a lofty and inacces- sible peak, where his salvation is sure. — C. A. D.J PSALM XVIII. 141 —^>V2 literally=not to go up, i3 generdly but not exclusively used (Hengst.) for moral un- thriftiness, as un worthiness; and is then taken by most interpreters as a personification of un- godly enemies and their attacks, by some (Je- rome, Luther, J. II. Mich, Stier) is uuders 1 directly of the person of the devil, according to 2 Cor. vi. 15, comp. 2 Sam. xxiii. 0 ; but the al signification { Ruding.), partly recognized iiv. and without doubt in Nah. i. 11; Pa. xli. 8 (llupf. ), is recognized by most recent in- terpreters as here parallel with death and the low r world, yet not mythologically, the lower world with its streams (J. II. Mich.), but as •' evil and p srdition.* [Ver. ■). Bands of the under-world (A V., Borrows of hell). — For the explanation of Sheol or under- world vid. Ps. vi. 5. — Snares of death. — De Wette: "Snares of death are figurative of the danger of death ; for slings and the like are frequent figures of danger and waylaying (Job xviii. 9 10 ; Pss. lxiv 5 ; cxl. 5)."— Prevented m3. — Barnes : " The word here used in Hebrew, as our wovd prevent did originally, means to an- tie, to go before. The idea here is that those snares had, as it were, suddenly rushed upon lu m, or seized him. They came before lii in in his goings, and bound him fast." — C. A. J5]f [Ver. G. In my distress. — Under the expe- rience of the brooks of evil, the snares of death and the bands of the under-world mentioned, probably referring to the anguish of the most try- ing periods of his persecution by Saul. — And cried. — The anxiety of soul demanding imme- diate relief expresses itself in the cry. — Tem- ple.— Perowne: "Not the temple or tabernacle on .Mt. Ziou, but. the temple in heaven wherein tin! especially manifests His glory, and where He is worshipped by the heavenly hosts — a place which is both temple and palace." — And my cry came before him. — B*rnes : " It was not intercept.' 1 on the way, but came up to Him." — Into his ears. — •• Indicating that He certainly heard it" The cry of the suffering Psalmist, in peril of death, speeds its way with more than the speed of light, to the palace of Jehovah, to His very presence, into His very ears, aud the response is given with the same wonderful di- rectness by Jehovah. Perowne: "The deliver- ance is now pictured as a magnificent theophany. God comes to rescue His servant as He came of old to Sinai, and all nature is moved at His coming. Similar descriptions of the Divine manifestation, and of the effects produced by it, occur Pss. lxviii. 7, 8; lxxvii. 14-20; Ex. xix. ; Judges v. 4; Amos ix. 5 ; Micah i. 3 ; Hub. iii. ; but the image is nowhere so fully carried out as * [De Wette : " Wav -*. great waters are, especially to the Hebrews, a frequent figure of misfortunes, danger (ver. 16; Ps. xxxii.G; xlii. 7 ; lxix. li; sci likewise to the Greeks." — ('. \. B t For the explanation of the mingling of bands and we may think of those brooks "i Pales- tine which are ordinarily dry, or containing but little water, bat when the storms burst upon the land, tli >y rush In tor- rents, overflow their banks and entrap the unwary in their waters; they lay hold of him, bind him fast, surround him, and lead him to his death. Thus the Kishon overwhelmed the linst of Sisera. And the Psalmist was In corresponding danger from the storm of evil with its rushing flood and ensnaring waters, vid. especially Pss. xlii. 7 ; lxix. 1 and 2. — C. A. B.] here. David's deliverance was, of course, not really accompanied by such convulsions of na- ture, by earthquake, aud fire, and tempest, but his deliverance, or rather his manifold deliver- ances, gathered into one as he thinks of them, appear to him as a marvellous proof of the Divine Power, as verily effected by the immediate pre- sence and finger of God, as if He had come down Ln visible form to accomplish them. The image is carefully sustained throughout. First, we have the earthquake, and then, as preluding the storm, and as herald of God's wrath, the blaze of the lightning (vers. 7, 8). Next, the thick gather- ing of clouds, which seem to touch and envelop the earth; the wind, and the darkness which shrouds Jehovah riding on the cherubim (9-11). Lastly, the full outburst of the storm, the clouds parting before the presence and glory of Jeho- vah, and pouring upon the earth the burden with which they were heavy — the thunder, and the lightning, and the hail, — the weapons of Jehovah by which, on the one hand, He discomfits His enemies, and, on the other, lays bare the depths of the sea, aud the very foundations of the world, that He may save His servant who trusts in Him (11-16)." — C. A. B] Sir. IV. Ver. 7. Foundations of the mountains [A. V., hills]. — 2 Sam xxii. has in- stead of the earth, the heavens, and it is gene- rally understood of the mountains as the pillars of the heavens (Job xxvi. 11). [Jehovah is represented as moved, by the cry of the suffer- ing Psalmist, to anger, His wrath is kindled against His enemies with the brooks of evil and the snares of death. The earth and its founda- tions shake under the emotions of Divine wrath. — Smoke in his nostrils. — Hupfeld: "Wrath is poetically represented as the nose snorting, taken from the action of an angry man (Calv., Geier), or rather beast, as a horse, lion (llosenm.), comp. particularly the description of the croco- dile, Job xli. 11 sq. ; as then that is indeed the proper meaning of ^X (from ^JX snort, that is, breathe through the nose), and hence likewise among the Greeks and Romans the nose was the Beat and organ of wrath. Here it is increased to smoke, as it is often said of the wrath of God, ji^jr. ^X, His nose (or His wrath) smokes, Ps. lxxiv. 1 ; lxxx. 4; Deut. xxix. It). This is connected with fire (as lsa. lxv. 5), the usual figure of wrath in all languages, and here in- deed from His mouth, parallel with the smoke in the nose, as with the crocodile, Job xli. 13." — Burning coals blazed from it, that is, from the mouth, parallel with. fire out of His mouth devoured (Hupfeld, Delitzsch, el al.), not as (he A. V., coals were kindled by it. — Delitzsch : "When God is angry, according to the Old Testament ideas, the power of wrath present in Him is kindled, and flames up, and breaks forth. The snorting of wrath may therefore be called the smoke of the fire of wrath (Ps. lxxiv. 1 ; lxxx. :!) ; smoke is as the breath of fire and the vio- lent hot breath, which is drawn in and out through the nose of the wrathful (comp. Job xli. 12), is as smoke, which curls upward from the internal fire of wrath. The fire of wrath " devours out of the mouth." that is, flames forth from the mouth, devouring all that it lays hold of, with men in angry words, with God in 142 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. fiery powers of nature which correspond with His wrath and serve it, especially the fire of the light- ning. It, is first of all the lightning which is here compared to the flaming up of glowing coals. The power of the wrath of God, realizing itself, be- comes a flame, and before its fire is entirely dis- charged, announces itself in lightnings." The re- ference in this strophe is to the approaching storm with its distant flashes of lightning. — C. A. B.] Sir. V. Ver. 9. [He bowed the heavens and cams down. — The storm is near at hand, the dark, masses of clouds descend and seem almost to touch the earth, vid. Ps. cxliv. 5; Ex. xix. 18; Isa. lxiv. 1. Parallel with this is the second clause. — Dark clouds under his feet. — Comp. Nah. i. 3 sq., where the clouds are called the "dust of His feet."— C. A. B.] Ver. 10. [Ha rode upon the cherub and did fly. — As in the preceding verse the presence of Jehovah in the dark and overhanging storm- cloud is represented by His agency in bowing the clouds and treading them down to the earth, so in this verse His presence in the strong wind which precedes the outbreaking of the storm is represented by His riding upon the cherub. The cherub is used here as a collective for the plural. The cherubim are composite creatures, em- bracing in one the forms of the ox, the lion, the eagle and man; they represent in the unity of their conception the entire creation in its most perfect form as the servant of Jehovah, through the faces and forms of the four most prominent and characteristic creatures which reflect t*e attributes and glory of God. They are repre- sented as the bearers of the throne of Jehovah (Ezek. i. and x.), the guardians of Eden (Gen. iii. 24), and the most holy place and the mercy- seat. They fly in a whirlwind and with flaming fire and lightning (Ezek. i. 4, 13), and "the noise of their wings is like the noise of great waters " (Ezek. i. 24), the glory of God is above the che- rubim which form Hislivingchariot.* — C. A. B.] Soar on the wings of the wind [A. V., fly~\. — 2 Sam. xxii. has instead of soar a weaker word, He appeared [\. V., was Been], yet not in all MSS.; perhaps it originated merely by a slip of the pen, changing ~\ into "I. [This clause is parallel with the preceding ; the wind which accompanies the chariot of the cherubim is re- presented as winged. As Jehovah rides upon the cherubic car, He soars, borne by the wings of the wind, vid. Ps. civ. 3; Isa. lxvi. 15; Nah. i. 3. Ilupfeld, with Calvin, thinks that the cherub here represents the storm wind, or the clouds ; Kiehm, that we have here an indication of the original meaning of the cherub, but it is better to regard the clauses as parallel yet distinct in idea, Jehovah rides upon the cherubic chariot as the God of the Covenant, and soars on the wings of the wind as the God of nature. — C. A. B.] Ver. 11. He made darkness His veil [A. V., His secret place. — Barnes: "The word rendered secret place — "IHD — means properly a hiding; then something hidden, private, secret. * [For a full discussion of the Cherubim vid. Bahr., Si/m- b'dik d. Mos. Call. I. 311 sq., 310 sq. ; Hertle-, Geist d. Hcb. P'/es. I. 1, 6 ; Hengst., Bilch. Mosis und JEgypt. 157 Bq. ; lti")im, Cont'it. de natura et nntvme symbolica Cherubnrum ; Herzog, Real Encyctopridie Cherubim; Pairbairn, Typology I. 185 sq.; Smith's Diet, of the Bible,, art. Cherubim, etc. — C. A. B.] Hence it means a covering, a veil. Comp. Job xxii. 14; xxiv. 15. Here the meaning seems to be that God was encompassed with darkness. He had, as it were, wrapped Himself in night, and made His abode in the gloom of the storm. " — Round about him belongs to covering and not to pavilion, as A. V. — His tent is parallel with veil and dependent upon the same verb, not with the copula, as in A. V. [His pavilion were). C. A. B.]. — 2 Sam. xxii. has, instead of dark- ness of waters [A. V., dark waters'], a word, which has originated perhaps by a slip of the pen, to which according to the Arabic we can only give the meaning of " collection of waters." 2 Sam. xxii. has likewise : He made darkness tabernacles roundabout Him, which is a weaken- ing of the idea of the Psalm. [This verse is a description of the storm in it3 momentary lull, before bursting forth. The angry Jehovah stays His cherubic car, veils Himself with the dark clouds, and piles up the darkness of waters and the thick clouds like a tent in which He meant to dwell.— C. A. B.] Ver. 12. [Ilupfeld: "Finally the storm of Divine wrath breaks forth and discharges itself in thunder, hail and lightnings, etc., on the heads of the wicked." — C. A. B ] The read- ing of 2 Sam. xxii., from the brightness be- fore Him coals of fire burned [A. V., Through the brightness before Him were coals of fire kindled] is easier. Many interpreters likewise would blot out the strange word " His clouds," and translate : hail and coals of fire went forth, or rushed forth (Hupf. ). If this remain, our translation, after Hupf. and Delitzsch, is the best recommended : From the bright- ness before him passed through his clouds hail and coals of fire. — For the interpreta- tions: "vanished" (Alex., Jerome, Calv.), or "broke up," so that hail and coals of fire went forth (Luther, Geier, J. H. Mich., Kosenm.), or that the last words are to be taken as an outcry of astonishment (Hengst., Ewald, Olsh.), are doubtful and find no support in the parallel words in ver. 13 (G. Baur), as if the repeated breaking forth of the lightning would be pic- tured by the restoration of those words which had been taken away. For in ver. 13, these words not only are lacking in 2 Sam. xxii., but likewise in the Sept. of our Psalm ; they disturb the structure of the verse, and find no support (as Hengst. contends) in the reference to Ex. ix. 23, where the connection of words is different. If, however, their dependence upon the verb, sent forth [A. V., gave], is maintained, then the poetry of that interpretation is lost. [The A. V., ''At the brightness (that teas) before Him His thick clouds passed, hail (stones') and coals of fire ," does not give a good sense. The idea is that Jehovah discharged through the darkness that veiled His brightness the weapons of His wrath, hail and coals of fire. Comp. the description of the destruction of the Canaanites, Josh. x. 11, fire mingled with hail plaguing the Egyptians, Ex. ix. 24, so also in Isa. xxviii. 17; xxx. 30. — C. A. B.] Ver. 13. Instead of in the heavens, 2 Sam. xxii. has the reading: from heaven, which most interpreters prefer. Ver. 14. The suffix em [them, object of the verb, scattered and discomfited] refers not to the PSALM XVIII. 143 arrows and lightnings (ancient interpreters), but to the enemies, who are not named, it is true, yeJ are before the mind of the Psalmist. Ewald refers it to the waters which are directly men- tioned, on account of the easy grammatical con- nection. Instead of Ha shot (or He threw, which meaning 31 has in Gen. xlix. 23), many interpreters read here, in place of the verb, the well-known adverb ra6=many, in abundance. [Sir. VI. Ver. 15. This storm of Divine wrath not only scattered and discomfited the enemies of the Psalmist as the Canaanites befo"? ' xshua, and the Egyptians before Moses, but likewise burst in fury upou the earth, laying bare the beds of the waters, as of the lied Sea and the Jordan, for the passage of the Israelites, dis- closing the foundations of the world. This was accomplished by the strong wind, the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils.— C. A. 13] [S'r. VII. Ver. lb\ The Psalmist here leaves the figure of the Theophany and returns to the more simple ideas of Strophe III. He realizes once more his own personal danger, in peril of death and exposed to the brooks of evil and the bands of Sheol. Jehovah reached from above — He stretched forth His hand (nor as in A. V., lb' sent from above), He laid hold of me (A. V., look me, not so good), and drew me up out of great waters, that is, the brooks of evil, which have well nigh overwhelmed the Psalmist and snared him in their bands of death. Nothing can be more simple and touchingly beautiful than this description of his deliverance. Alex- ander supposes a reference here to the " histori- cal fact and the typical meaning of the deliver- ance of Moses, and a kind of claim upon the part of David to be regarded as another Moses." Ver. 17. The Psalmist now leaves his figures of speech and states in simple terms that Jeho- vah delivered him from his strong enemy. This strong enemy was probably Saul. Ver. 18. They fell upon me in the day of my calamity (A. V., prevented me, incorrect) ; but Jehovah was his support ; they could not overcome Him. Ver. 19. Large place. — He brought, him forth from his straits of trouble, and gave him ample room to recover himself and extend himself to his heart's content, vid. Ps. iv. 1. — C.A. B.] [Sir. VIII. Vers. 20-23. This strophe gives the reason why Jehovah delighted in him and de- livered him. His profession of personal in- tegrity is like that of the previous Psalm (Ps. xvii. 3). Perowne: "The words are, in truth, words of child-like, open-hearted simplicity, not of arrogant boastfulness." They are not incon- sistent with the latter period of his life. David in his life was guilty of great sins and suffered Divine chastisements and confessed that he was receiving the penalty of his crimes, yet in this Psalm, where; he is praising the deliverances of his God. he likewise shows that these were tes- timonies of Divine favor to him and of approval of his uprightness and integrity. If in other Psalms David is sincere in his confessions under the experience of Divine chastisement, he is likewise sinc-re in this Psalm in his professions under the experience of Divine deliveranoes The penitential Psalms stand for themselves and the Psalms which assert innocence and upright- ness stand for themselves, there is no inconsist- ency if we recognize the difference of experience in the godly man as expressed in these two classes of Psalms. Delitzsch: "In this strophe Ps. xviii. has the same tone as Ps. xvii. and lor this reason it follows it. Compare the testimony of David himself 1 Sam. xxvi. 23 sq., the testimony of God 1 Kings xiv. 8, the testimony of history 1 Kings xv. •') , xi. 4." — C. A. B ] Str. IX. Ver. 26. 2 Sam. xxii. has instead of man, hero [A. V. does not distinguish, but has man in both versions — C. A. B.]. The other dif- ferences in this section are still less importantand relate only to grammatical forms or differences in orthography. [Barnes: " From the particular statement respecting the Divine dealings with himself the Psalmist now passes to a general statement (suggested by what God had done for him) in regard to the general principles of the Divine administration. That general statement is, that God iU ivith men according to their character ; or that He will adapt His providential dealings to the conduct of men. They will find Him to be such towards them as they have shown themselves to be towards Him." Delitzsch : " The truth here expressed, is not that the idea which man forms of God is constantly the mirror of his soul, but that the dealing of God with men is the mirror of the relation in which God puts Him- self to him."— C. A. B.] Ver. 27. In 2 Sam. xxii. is either : Thine eyes Thou didst let fall upon the proud ; or, Thine eyes (look) upon the proud, (whom) Thou dost humiliate [A. V., Thine eye* {are) upon the haughty {that) Thou mayest briny {//tent) down], Str. X. Ver. 28. Thou makest light my lamp [A. V., " Thou wilt light my candle." The Hebrew imperfects are not here futures but in- definite designations of continued and incom- plete action. — (J. A. B.]. Lamp not— light- happiness (the majority of interpreters), but burning lamp, the putting out of which shows the desolation of the tabernacle, the aban- donment of the house (Harmar, Beob. aus dent Orient, I. 180 sq.), and therefore is frequently used as figurative -of destruction and ruin, as well of the individual (Job xviii. 0; xxi. 17; Jer. xxv. 10: Prov. xiii. 9; xx. 20; xxiv. 20), as particularly of his race (2 Sam. xxi. 17) ; as the continual burning and care of the lamp serves as a figure of the preservation of life and the condition of prosperity (Job xxix. 3; Prov. xxxi. 18), and is especially applied to the con- tinuance of the house of David (1 Kings xi. 36; xv. 4; 2 Kin^s viii. 19; Ps. exxxii. 1 7 ; De Wette, fiupf., Delitzsch). This passage is abbrevi- ated in 2 Sam. xxii., and so used that Jehovah Himself is called the lamp of David. In 2 Sam. xxii. "my God" is lacking in the second mem- ber of the verse. [Ver. 2!>. For by thee I run upon troops, and by my God I leap over walls (A. V., I have run through a troop .... have I leaped over a wall). — The imperfects are not pre- terites, but are indefinite, as generally in this Psalm [vid. notes on ver. 3). Barnes: "The word troop here refers to bands of soldiers, or hosts of enemies. The word rendered run through [A. V.] means properly to run ; and then, as here, to run or rush upon in a hostile 144 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. sense; to rush with violence upon one. The idea here is, that he had been enabled to rush with violence upon his armed opposers ; that is, to overcome them and secure a victory. The allusion is to the wars in which he had been engaged'." The second clause carries on the idea of the first, he attacks the troops of his enemies, he breaks their ranks, he rushes upon their for- tified towns, he mounts and leaps over their walls and captures them. Comp. Joel ii. 7. This had been his experience of the gracious help of his God who had enabled him to do this. — C. A. B.] [Sir. XI. Ver. 30. Delitzsch: "Sxn [(.4s for) Ood, A. V.] is nom. abs. as "^H, Deut. xxxii. 4; this ancient Mosaic expression sounds here again as 2 Sam. vii. 22, in the mouth of David. The article of 7XD points to the God historically re- vealed. His way is faultless and unblamable. His word is DiM"!^, not drossy ore, but pure gold, freed from dross, Ps. xii. 7. He who withdraws himself in Him, the God of promise, is shielded from all dangers. Prov. xxx. 5 is borrowed from this passage." Ver. 31. Hupfeld: "Jehovah alone is true God, that is, Who can and will help. This is parallel with "Hi', rock (comp. ver. 2), here used at once, as the name of God, as Deut. xxxii. 4, 15, 18, 30 sq., 37 ; Isa. xliv. 8, etc. ; frequently as a clause in contrast with the vain idols, especially Deut. xxxii. 31 ; 1 Sam. ii. 2 ; but likewise with all the false props and idle hopes on which man gladly builds instead of on God only (Calv.)." — C. A. B.] [Str. XII. Ver. 32. The God who girdeth me with strength. (A. V. (It is) God that). The reference is to "our God" of ver. 31. Alexander: The imparting of a quality or be- stowing of a gift is in various languages described as clothing. Thus the English words endue and invest have almost lost their original meaning. The figure of girding is peculiarly significant, because in the oriental dress the girdle is essen- tial to all free and active motion. — My way perfect. — Hupfeld : " Manifestly is correlative of the same phrase, ver. 30 applied to God, as the effect of it and thereby mediately the same as, even, easy, free, that is a successful way." Ver. 33. He maketh my feet like hind's feet. Barnes: "So Hab. iii. 19. He will make my feet like hind's feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.' The hind is the female deer, remarkable for fleetness or swift- ness. The meaning here is, that God had made him alert or active, enabling him to pursue a flying enemy, or to escape from a swift-running foe."* — And setteth me upon my high places. Alexander: "My heights, those which are to be mine by right of conquest and by Divine gift. The heights may be the natural highlands of the country or the artificial heights of its fortified places."f * [De Wette : " Swiftness in running was a celebrated vir- tue of the ancient heroes, because fleeing was no disgrace and often a necessary stratagem. Achilles is called 7rdSas a»cus II. a. 58,- with renown; 1 Chron. xii. 8, it is said of two heroes : as roes upon the mountain in swiftness ; comp. 2 Sam. i. 23. Hamas ed. Prey tag, p. 84 sq." — C. A. B.] •f- [This is the view of Calvin and Ilengst., but it is strong- ly opposed by De Wette and Ilupf., who contend that David alludes to swiftness of flight and refuge upon his high places. The Psalmist is, however, speaking of the help of the Lord, Ver. 34. He teacheth my hands to war. — Barnes: "The skill which David had in the use of the bow, the sword, or the spear, all of which depends on the hands, — he ascribes entirely to God." — And mine arms bend the bow of brass. — (A. Y., incorrectly, "So that a bow of steel is broken by my arms") Perowne: 'Tinnj, not (as Kim- chi) Niph. of TSV\T\ 'is broken ' but Piel of n]"U, 'to press down and so to bend,' so Ilupf., De Wette, Ewald, Delitzsch, Alexander, et at. Pe- rowne: " Here the bending of a bow of brass (or bronze, rather, \a').K6q. which seems to have been tempered, and rendered pliable like steel with us), indicates his great strength (comp. Job xx. 24.) In Homer, Ulysses leaves behind him at Ithaca a bow which no one but himself could bend." — C. A. B.] Sir. XIII. Ver. 35. Condescension,— [A. V., gentleness^. The word HIJ^ always means, merely the bowing of one's self and not the humiliation of another. Therefore the transla- tion of Luther, after the Sept., Vulg., " If Thou humiliatest me, Thou makest me great," is inad- missible. It is true this word, which expresses the idea of humility (Prov. xv. 32; xxii. 4) is used with reference to God only in this passage; since however in Ps. xlv. 4 it denotes the cor- responding attribute of the condescension of the king, it is unnecessary to explain, with Hitzig, after the Arabic ; Thy care, favor ; or with Olsh. to correct ^Ip with T"]p"H,j; that is thy help. The reading 2 Sam. ^ru^ is hardly to be ex- plained as if the 1 merely quiesces (Kimchi); still less is the meaning to be forced by altering the vowel points T"|n'j^ (J. H. Mich., Hengst.) to that of ' humility ' (Sept., Pesch., Theod., Symm.) ; but to translate, there, with the Chald., Thy hearing [A. V. does not distinguish but uses the same word, gentleness. — C. A. B.] [Ver. 36. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me. — Barnes: "The idea here is, 'Thou hast made room for my feet, so that I have been enabled to walk without hindrance or obstruction.' So in Ps. xxxi. 8, 'Thou hast set my feet in a large room.' The idea is, that he was before straitened, compressed, hindered in his goings, but that now all obstacles had been taken out of the way, and he could walk freely. — That my feet did not slip. Margin, 'mine ankles.' The Hebrew word means properly a. joint; small joint; especially the ankle. The reference here is to the ankle, the joint that is so useful in walking, and that is so liable to be sprained or dislocated. The meaning is that he had been ena- bled to walk firmly; that he did not limp." — C.A.B.] [Str. XIV. Vers. 37-40. The consequences of Divine assistance were the subjugation and de- struction of his enemies. Delitzsch: "Thus fighting in God's strength, with God's weapons and under God's assistance he beat, subjected, annihilated all his enemies in domestic and fo- reign wars. According to Hebrew syntax, all this is retrospective. in giving him strength and power, and it is better to inter- pret this verse consistently with the preceding and following, of attacking and conquest, and not of fleeing from his ene- mies.—C. A. B.] PSALM XVIII. 145 Ver. 40. And my enemies, Thou gavest to me the back. — (A. V. Thou hast also given me the neck of mine enemies. Hupfeld: 'ir]^i' JH3-. is elsewhere intransitive (2 Chron. xxix. 0.)= fp'p "JDH, ^j? PUS (Josh. vii. 8, 12) to turn the back =terga dare, vertere. flee; is here causative to make the enemies' backs that is fugitives as Kx. xxiii. 27, and in like sense Ps. xxi. 12. UD'iJ JYu/ to make backs: necks, backs, =present their necks or backs to the pursuers, who see them only on this side and thus only as necks and backs. Comp. Jer. xviii. 17. "I will see them as backs and not as face, that is behind and not before." So Gesen., De Wette, Delitzsch, Perowue, Alexander, el al. Barnes, however, prefers t lie A. V. and understands it "complete subjection, — as when the conqueror places his foot on the necks of his foes." — C. A. B. Sir. XV. Ver. 41. 2 Sam. xxii. has, thry looked [instead of, theycried]. [Delitzsch: "Their prayer to their idols and even to Jehovah forced by necessity, because it was directed to Him for their own interests and too late, was vain." — C. A. B.] Ver. 42. 2 Sam. xxii. has: "dust of the earth" [instead of dust before the wind] ; and in the se- cond member again: "/ did slump them." [Barnes: "As the fine dust is driven by the wind, so they fled before me. There could be no more striking illustration of a dis- comfited army flying before a conqueror." — As the dust in the streets. — Barnes: " The Idea is, that he poured them out, for so the He- brew word means, as the dirt or mire in the Streets. As that is trodden on, or trampled down so they, instead of being marshalled for battle, were wholly disorganized, scattered and left to be trodden down as the most worthless object is."— C. A. B.] Str. XVI. Ver. 43. Strifes of the people — This is referred by Hengst., Hitzig, Delitzsch, to the internal conflicts with reference to Saul and Absalom, and they then explain in the same way the reading 2 Sam. xxii. '3J^ = my people; whilst Olsh. supplies the thought, " with other nations;" and the Rabbins regard this form as plural. Many likewise regard the Dj? of the Psalm as plural, which however with this inter- pretation is best regarded as collective (Ilupf. ) Hut the gogim in the following member favors the first mentioned interpretation, as likewise in the third member the D>' acquires by the following relative clause, the closer meaning of people previously unknown to the Psalmist, as foreign and distant. In the first member the construction is like Is. xxvi. 2; xlix. 8; 2 Sam. xxii. has [in the second clause] : thou hast kept me as, or thou prescrvedst me to be, the head of the heathen. — [Head of the heathen. Hupfeld. "It is questionable whether this is historical of the subjection of some foreign na- tions, or whether it is not rat Iter in ideal univer- sality=sovereignty of the world, as Ps. ii." It is probahle that it has rather a historical reference. This is more in keeping with the entire Psalm as retrospective. — 0. A. B.] Ver. 4 4. At the hearing of the ear. — This is regarded by most interpreters as in contrast 10 to their own beholding (Job xlii 5,)=they heard, without seeing me, or as soon as the sound of command from the distance had come to them, or better, as soon as they heard t lie re- port of the name and victories of David, (Deut. ii. 25; Josh. vi. 27; ix. 9; Is. xxiii. 5). On ac- count of the mention of obedience, which imme- diately follows, others (Slier, Ilupf., Camph ), regard the expression as like the German, "at the word of," with reference to the command they had received and its prompt execution. Sachs supposes a repetition of the previous word and explains: "They only know me by the knowledge of the ear." — Sons of foreign parts dissembled to me. — [A. V. Strangers shall submit themselves. Alexander: "Sons of outlands will lie." — C. A. B]. The humble ex- pressions of the conquered, which have been forced, are often mentioned as lies, hypocrisy and flattery. Ver. 45. The sous of foreign parts faded away. — The victorious power of David has struck them as a fiery win I (is. xl. 7), therefore they wither away. — Trembled [A. V.. be afraid]. It follows from Micah vii. 17, comp. Hos. xi. 11, that Jin must, have the meaning of tremble. It is likewise found in cognate dialects. The word used in 2 Sam. xxii. instead of this "Un which many MSS. and ancient translations likewise have in the Psalm, means, gird themselves, which, however, is an unusual expression of equipping oneself for flight. The meaning, limp (fc'ept. Vulg., Pesch., Kimchi), however, occurs in cognate dialects and is accepted by Hitzig. Sir. XVII. Ver. 46. Hitzig, likewise, with many recent interpreters, regards ver. 46 sq. as optative, as if the cry of homage and rejoicing addressed to the king, which, however is TV (1 Sam. x. 24; 1 Kings i. 30), is here applied to God. But it is better with S pt., Jerome, Cleric, to regard these words as declarative clauses in the sense of doxologies (Hengst., Hupf., Delitzsch). Ver. 47. The rare word used here for subdue, p3T] is iu 2 Sam. xxii. supplied by the usual word [TV]. Ver. 48. Many interpreters understand the Man of violence to be particularly Saul (even Hitzig and Hengst.). Most interpreters regard the expression as collective (I'rov. iii. 31). Str. XVIII. Vers. 49-50. [Delitzsch: "The praise of such a God, who does to David as He lias promised, is not to remain limited to the nar- row space of Israel. If the Anointed of God makes war upon the heathen with the sword, yet it is that finally the blessing of the know- ledge of Jehovah, and the salvation of Je- hovah which he serves as mediator, may break its way to them in this manner. With entire propriety Paul, Rom. xv. 9, adduces ver. 49 of this Psalm, together with Deut. xxxii. 43, and Ps. cxvii. 1, as proof that salvation be- longs likewise to the Gentiles according to the Divine mercy. What is stated in verse 50 as the reason and the subject of the praise which extends beyond Israel; is. if David is its author, as Hitzig recognizes, a very consistent echo of the Messianic promise, 2 Sam. vii. 12-16. And Theodoret without impropriety appeals to the 146 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. closing words D n]f~^ against the Jews. In whom else, than in Christ, the Son of David, has David's fallen throne enduring existence, and all that has been promised to David's seed, ever- lasting truth aud reality ? The praise of Jehovah, the God of David His anointed, is, according to its final meaning, praise of the Father of Jesus Christ "— C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. In a thankful and pious heart the demon- strations of the love of God beget a sincere and hearty return of love, in the expression of which the feelings of affection meet it and pervade it with the recognition of great obligations and the vow of entire consecration, (Deut. vi. 5). Those, however, who love the Lord, are as tbe sun, which ascends in its power (Judges v. 31). It is not in vain that they take refuge with God, who is the strength of those who trust in Him, and on the one side delivers and protects them, on the other fills them with strength to continue in the hope of faith. 2. The thankful retrospect of previous deliv- erances strengthens the faith in future help from God ; and he who bears in mind, that the God invoked by him is the Lord of Glory, whom the congregation praises with adoration, joins in, on his part with one song of praise after another and finds his joy in the declaration of the bene- fits of God, his pleasure in the glory of the Lord. Ecclesia semper vincit semperque pugnat et superatis prieteritis mails paratus ad futura mala superanda. (Luther). 3. God's being enthroned on high and dwell- ing in the heavens, does not separate Him from His servants on earth ; it merely exhibits Him in His exaltation above all the powers of the world and the Abyss; it no more prevents Him from hearing the sighs and supplications of the oppressed, than from making known His presence to help in gracious condescension to the needs of men. 4. The revelations of God in the world are not always accompanied by striking phenomena in nature, still less are thunder aud lightning His constant attendants or the sure sign of His coming. But partly, the appearance of God in history has really at times been announced and accompanied by such phenomena (Ex. xix.; Pss. lxviii.; lxxvii.; Hab. iii.; Hag. ii. 7 ; 2 Thes. i. 8) ; partly, God as Lord of nature uses them as the instruments employed by Him, and means to deliver His servants and punish their enemies. It is, however, of great importance, to recognize the work of the Lord therein, and amidst the shaking of the world, through the powers of nature's life, to discern the grasp of the hand of God. 5. To behold the form of the Divine Being is still future and yet to be expected (Ps. xvii. 15). Hence the Theophanies of the Old Testament are all partly typical, partly symbolical; they are mysteries as well as revelations. It is par- ticularly the clouds, which veil the light, which is not to be endured by mortal eyes (Ex. xxiii. 20, and elsewhere) and is inaccessible to any creature(l Tim. vi. 16), in which God dwells and which forms as the reflection of His light-nature, the resplendence of His glory, 6o^a, *113D, and so the approach of man to God is partly made pos- sible, partly declared. This figurative language is taken partly from the sphere of the phenomena of nature which are visible in the heavens, in accordance with which light is called His gar- ment (Ps. civ. 2), the clouds His tent (Job xxxvi. 29; Ps. xcvii ), the thunder His voice (Ps. xviii. 13 ; Job xxxvii. 2), lightning, however, and the storm as instruments of His righteous punishments (Judges v. 4; Is. xxx. 27 sq., Pss. 1 3; lxviii. 8; xcvii.), often in connection with earthquakes (Ps. lxxvii. 18; cxiv. 4; Joel ii. 10; iv. 16; Nah. i. 5; Is. xxiv. 28). At the basis of the symbolism of nature lies the idea, that cer- tain peculiarities in the nature and action of God correspond with it. Thence God Himself is at times described as present and active in these phenomena of nature, not merely accompanied by them, and in bold but contemplative expres- sions the stirring up and expression of His wrath is represented as the kindling of His light-nature in all the turns of fiery and flaming figures, until that smoke issues from His nostrils snorting with wrath (Deut. xix. 9 ; Ps. lxxiv. 1; lxxx. 4), and de- vouring fire from His mouth, (comp. the descrip- tion of the crocodile, Job xli. 10 sq.), from the coals which glow within Him. These natural phenomena, not so much in themselves, as under certain circumstances and more particular forms, form partly the symbol, partly the means of a Theophany. In the present description the per- sonal interference of God to deliver His servant and judge His enemies, although accompanied by natural phenomena is yet particularly char- acterized by the mention of the Cherub. For however questionable the etymology and precise meaning of this word may be, yet this much is certain, that the forms thereby designated as well in their artistic representation upon the ark of the covenant, (Ex. xxv.) and in the tem- ple in manifold ways; as in the prophet's vision (Ezek. i.; x.; Rev. iv.), where they are repre- sented as living beings, not less than in the nar- rative,(Gen. iii.) and in the standing represen- tation of Jehovah, that He is enthroned above the Cherubim (Num. vii. 89; 1 Sam. iv. 4, vi. 2 ; 2 Kings xix. 15; Is. xxxvii. 16), constantly appeal in the closest relation to the revelation of the royal majesty of Jehovah in the world. On this very account they are in a direct connection with the clouds which indicate the presence of God in the world and are the means of His ap- pearance, as then the Shekinah likewise has its place between the wings of the Cherubim (Lev. xvi. 2; Num. vii. 89). From this follows, that these are neither a further symbol of these clouds (Riehm, de natura et notione symbolica Cheruborum 1864), nor in our passage merely a finishing of the figure, that Jehovah rides upon the wind- clouds (Calv. Hupf. : Ps. civ. 3 ; Is. xix. 1 ; lxvi. 15; Nah. i. 3). Still less, are they to be compared with the mythological thunder horses of the king of heaven. (J. D. Mich.). 6. He who is deprived of all means of resist- ance to his enemies, seems entirely given over into their power, and yet has God still as his friend, that man is not entirely lost j his day of misfortune becomes a day noteworthy to him for his deliverance by the hand of the Lord, who PSALM XVIII. 147 delivers His elect from all the straits of trouble. Election, however, is not arbitrary, the love of God is not a blind and unrighteous predilection, His good pleasure is not an unreasonable favor. A reciprocity of action, an interchange of a moral character takes place, which has as its contents the thought of recompense, for its foundation the ethical nature of God, by virtue of which God not only appears to every man, as he himself is minded and situated, but likewise on His part acts in a way corresponding to this (1 Sam. xxvi. 23; Is. xxix. 14; xxxi. 3; Job v. 13; Prov. iii. 34). But he who pleads the purity of his hands and the honesty of his heart und his walking in the ways of God, must see to it, that self-praise is not heard in it, such as springs from self-righteousness, but that it is only a testimony of the fruit/ul/iess, with which a man has served God and kept himself from trespasses, and which presupposes entire conse- cration to God, and declares itself as judging oneself with and according to God's word and law. Such a self-witness is then confirmed by the judgment of God (1 Kings xiv. 8). In this connection there can be no reference to pride and selt'-exaltation, inasmuch as the thought of recompense includes likewise the certainty of the humiliation of the proud (Is. ii. 11), whom Jehovah hates (Prov. vi. 17). 7. Jehovah is the only true and real God. He alone can and will help. It is well for him, who relies upon His providence, trusts in His pro- mises, resorts to His protection. He will ex- perience the Divine assistance, so that he, armed with power from on high, not only escapes the attacks of his enemies, but is in a position, to completely overcome his adversaries, whose cry to Gpd is not heard, because it is not a cry of prayer from a heart turned to God, but is only a cry of anxiety, extorted by necessity. 8. The difference between the Old and Neio Testament is very clearly to be recognized in the treatment of enemies and the description of them. It is true on the one side that even in the Old Testament private revenge is repudiated and God is declared to be the avenger of blood already. Gen. ix. 5. On the other side likewise in the New Testament the magistrates are represented as the servants of God who bear the sword (Rom. xiii. 4). And the reference here in this Psalm is to the duty of the king. But a Christian king who has won vic- tories over the enemies of Divine ordinances and institutions through Divine assistance and had as a duty to make an end not only of the actions but likewise of the life of the adversaries of the kingdom of God, could not immediatelg use either for his thanksgiving or his votes at the celebration of victory, some of the expressions used here. The authority for transferring and transforming them from the Old Testament into the New Testament stand-point lies in the fact that David mentions the exhibitions of vengeance as given to him by God, whereby they receive their justification and at the same time their limita- tion. 9. Thanksgiving for all the help, protection, and benefits received from God, are not to be limited to the sphere of those who have directly participated therein, but are to be heard as far as possible. And it is not only to resound in all the world, but is intentionally to be carried into all the world. He who understands his position as a servant of God, whether it be high or low, has likewise to lay hold of the task of declaring God as his own, and to unite with it the work of spreading abroad the name of God among those who know Him not. The heathen are not to be combated with the sword, but with the word of God; the blessing of the knowledge of God, how- ever, is the best meaus of healing the wounds of war. 10. The everlasting continuance of that which David has thankfully laid hold of for himself ami his seed in faith in the certainty of the Divine promise, and which he partly lauds, partly praises in Messianic hope, is, after the earthly throne of David's line had long fallen, secured and pledged by Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul, in Rom. xv. '.), therefore cites likewise ver. 49 of this Psalm, together with Dent, xxxii. 43, and Ps. cxvii. 1, as an evidence that the heathen likewise are to attain the salvation in Christ ac- cording to the mercy of God, and in order to this end are to hear the preaching of the Gospel, and to be received and treated as members of the ChristianChureh. " When David gives thanks for his victories, he at the same time prepares a pro- phecy of Christ's person and victories." (Lu- ther). IIOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. With God ! That is the true watchword in war and in peace. — A pious king gaius one victory after another in domestic strifes and foreign wars. — The Almighty, at times, makes use of the powers of nature in a striking manner in order to accomplish His purposes. It is necessary to observe the government of God in natural phe- nomena not less than in historical events. God reveals Himself in natural phenomena likewise ; but at the same time He veils Himself in them. There is no need so great, but that God can de- liver us from it — He who has perceived the hand of the Lord on himself, and gives the glory to God for the salvation he has received, is capable of being a servant of God, and is able to become in the hand of the Lord an instrument of the Di- vine judgment, and a tool of Divine grace. — God blesses His servants likewise with temporal goods, chiefly, however, with eternal salvation, but both by grace. — God in His action, governs Himself according to the conduct of men; and yet the cause and foundation of our salvation is not human righteousness, but Divine grace. — God is a just Rewcrder ; but there is a great dif- ference between the reward of grace and pu- nishment.— The name of God is likewise to be proclaimed among the heathen, for this David and his seed on whom the Divine grace rests for- ever, have an incomparable importance. — Even the most pious man has not yet complete moral perfection ; but sincere piety brings abiding blessing; for it leads to both these things, to ob- servation of the law and seeking of grace. — He who earnestly strives to avoid guilt, directs his attention to the Divine law. Bugenhacen: If it please God that we should suffer for His glory ami the salvation of our- selves and others how cau we refuse. 148 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. Starke: If David, when at the height of bis glory, called himself the servant of the Lord in order to show his deep humility, then be ye like- wise thus minded; the higher thou art humble yourself the more. — This great king ascribes his deliverance from his enemies not to his own power, but to the Lord, in whose honor he sings a song of praise; would that he had many fol- lowers now among the great of this world! — Hearty love to God arises from believing know- ledge and reflection upon His benefits. — If God is our rock, who will overthrow us? If He is our stronghold, then we are safe; if He is our deliverer, He will not let us alone in our neces- sity; if He is our retreat, we are invincible; if He is our shield, no arrow will hit us; yes, if He is the horn of our salvation, no one will de- prive us of our salvation. — Believers not only cry to God when they are in distress (even the ungodly do this) but they pray always; yet their longing for grace is redoubled, the more their need increases. The signs of God's wrath in na- ture are indeed terrible, but they are not to be reckoned in comparison with the everlasting and horrible punishments of hell. — No abyss has ever been so deep, no enemy so cruel and powerful, and no disaster so terrible, as to put to shame the confidence of believers in their God. — Ac- cording as you behave towards God, so you have Him ; if you seek Him as a gracious God, you will find Him such; if you regard God as your Father, He will regard you as His child ; if how- ever you mock His children, beware, He will mock you again (Prov. i. 24 sq.) — God is not only almighty and gracious for Himself, but all that He is. He is to those who hope in Him. — Our God in the highest is He, whose power the idols of the heathen have experienced. — Victory over our enemies must be sought from God, and not ascribed to our own strength and wisdom; yet we are not to reject the use of proper means (1 Kings xx. 13 sq.) — A believer must use aright the power of God, and not leave oif the struggle until the enemies are overcome — The ungodly likewise pray, but with impenitent hearts, and not from true faith, therefore God likewise does not hear such prayers (John ix. 31). — That is a blessed revenge of the Messiah, when God brings His enemies to repent of their wickedness and accept Him as their King. Since you can- not recompense God for all His benefits, yet love Him for them, and praise His name. Osiander: When our affairs are bad we should trust in God ; when they are good, we should not be proud. — Arndt: Three things are necessary to victory ; the shield of God, God's right, and our humility, which does not rely upon human power, but upon Divine power. — Baum- garten : When God occasions great movements in the realm of nature, and in human society. He de- signs all to be for the deliverance of His children. — Calvin : There is promised us an invincible protection against all the onsets of the devil, all the craft ot sin, all the temptations of the flesh. — Renschel : By humility we rise, by pride we come down. — Herberqer: The world goes in many crooked ways, but he who walks with God advances from one virtue to another. — Friscii : The most of your love you give to the world which yet does not respond to your love. With God however it is well spent. He has first loved you, daily bestows much good upon you, and will continue His love to you forever. — Boqatziu: We must likewise learn to appro- priate our God and Saviour according to all His names and offices, according to all that He is and has, and to attach to every name of God and Christ the little word " my," and say : He is that likewise to me. — 0. v. Gerlach : To contem- plate God's glorious attributes, praise them and magnify them, is for believers the very proper means of deliverance. — Guenther: All that is great and glorious, that is worthy of praise, has not been done by heroes, but God has done it through them. But as soon as the glory is to be given to God, all the thoughts of the poet must assume the form of a song of praise. — Taube : The enemies of God have nothing so much to fear as the faith of the friends of God [Matth. Henry: God will not only deliver His people out of their troubles in due time, but He will sustain them, and bear them up under their trou- bles in the meantime. — When we set ourselves to praise God for one mercy, we must be led by that to observe the many more with which we have been compassed about and followed all our days. — Barnes: No man dishonors himself by acknowledging that he owes his success in the world to the Divine interposition. — Spurgeon : The clefts of the Rock of Ages are safe abodes. — To be saved singing is to be saved indeed. Many are saved mourning and doubting ; but David had such faith that he could fight singing, and win the battle with a song still upon his lips. How happy a thing to receive fresh mercy with a heart sensible of mercy en- joyed, and to anticipate new trials with a confi- dence based upon past experiences of Divine love! — Prayer is that postern gate which is left open even when the city is straitly besieged by the enemy; it is that way upward from the pit of despair to which the spiritual miner flies at once when the floods from beneath break forth upon him. — 0 honored prayer, to be able thus, through Jesus' blood, to penetrate the very ears and heart of Deity. — Prayer has shaken houses, opened prison doors, and made stout hearts to quail. Prayer rings the alarm bell, and the Mas- ter of the house arises to the rescue, shaking all things beneath His tread. — Blessed is the dark- ness which encurtains my God : if I may not see Him, it is sweet to know that He is working in secret for my eternal good. — Sweet is pleasure after pain. Enlargement is the more delightful after a season of pinching poverty and sorrowful confinement. Besieged souls delight in the broad fields of the promise when God drives off the enemy and sets open the gates of the envi- roned city. — Rest assured, if we go deep enough, sovereign grace is the truth which lies at the bot- tom of every well of mercy. Deep sea fisheries in the ocean of Divine bounty always bring the pearls of electing, discriminating love to light. — Backsliders begin with dusty Bibles, and go on to filthy garments. — God gives us holiness, then rewards us for it. The prize is awarded to the flower at the show, but the gardener reared it; the child wins the prize from the school-master, but the real honor of his schooling lies with the master, although instead of receiving he gives PSALM XIX. 149 (be reward. — Second thoughts upon God's mercy should be, and often are, the best. Like wine on the lees our gratitude grows stronger and sweeter as we meditate upon divine goodness. — It is God's making Himself little which is the cause of our being made great. We are so lit- tle that if God should manifest His greatness without condescension, we should be trampled under His feet ; but God, who must stoop to view the skies, and bow to see what angels do, looks to the lowly aud contrite, and makes them great. — The grace of God sometimes runs like fire among the stulble, and a nation is born in a day. " Love at first sight " is no uncommon thing when Jesus is the wooer. He can write CaBsar's message without boasting, Veni, vidi, vici ; Hi3 Gospel is in some cases no sooner heard than be- lieved. What inducements to spread abroad the doctrine of the cross! — Those who are strangers to Jesus are strangers to all lasting happiness; those must soon fade who refuse to be watered from the river of life. — C. A. B.] PSALM XIX. To the Chief Musician, A Psalm of David. 1 The heavens declare the glory of God ; And the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, And night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language, Where their voice is not heard. 4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. 6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, And his circuit unto the ends of it : And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. 7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to he desired are the;/ than gold, yea, than much fine gold: Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: And in keeping of them there is great reward. 12 Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. 13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me: Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression, 14 Let the words of my mouth, And the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. 150 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents and Composition It is usually Bupposed that this Psalm consists of two parts, the former expressing the praise of God as Crea- tor, the latter the praise of God as revealing Him- self in the laws of Moses. Since now, not only the subject, but likewise the language and struc ture of the verses of the two parts is different, and they seem to follow one another without con- nection, many interpreters regard the two parts as two entirely different poems, composed at dif- ferent times (Koster, Hupf., Bottcher), which were afterwards united together by a later poet (Ewald), or by the compiler (De Wette). But it has been very properly remarked against this opinion, that the difference of tone and rhythm corresponds with the difference of subject, and that moreover the subject of the one part has an essential relation to that of the other part, and not a relation subsequently thought out by re- flection; for the identity of the God of Revela- tion with the Creator is the fundamental princi- ple of the Theocracy, and is expressly testified to by the Old Testament from the earliest times. Furthermore these references are here expressed partly by the intentional use of the Divine name of El in the first part, and of Jehovah, and indeed seven times, in the second part, partly by the juxtaposition of Sun and Law, both of which are called Light, the former Job xxi. 26, the latter Prov. vi. 3, which thus mediates the transition from the one part to the other. As for the lan- guage of the Psalm, Hitzig especially, has brought into notice, and emphasized against Hupfeld, the ancient and particularly Davidic features, especially of the second part.* Heng- stenberg had already previously carried this out in a peculiar manner by maintaining that there are to be observed not two, but rather three parts; for after the description of actual facts, in two parts the Psalm turns directly to Jehovah, and becomes a prayer for forgiveness and preserva- tion. These opinions are yet so held, that the composition must fall in the period before the sin of David with Bathsheba. [Delitzsch: "In the title of Ps. xviii. David is called Tl "I3J? and in Ps. xix. he calls himself by this name. In both Psalms he calls upon Je- hovah with the name of '"W, there at the be- ginning, here at the close. These, with other points of contact, have co-operated in inducing the compiler to attach this Psalm which cele- brates God's revelation in Nature and the Law, to Ps. xviii., which celebrates God's revelation in the history of David."f — C. A. B.] * [RieUm : " The change in the structure of the verses oc- casioned by difference of tone, can so much the less be urged against the unity of the Psalm, since the structure of verses which prevails in the first part, reappears in ver. 11. Against the supposition that the praise of the law betrays a later pe- riod of composition, comp. Ps. xviii. 22 sq. 31. The words of this Psalm resound in Ps. cxix."— 0. A. 15.] f [Perowne: "It may have been written perhaps in the first flush of an Eastern sunrise, when the sun was seen, go- ing forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber and rejoicing as a mighty man to run his course. The song breathes all the life and freshness, all the gladness and glory of the morning. The devout singer looks out, first, on the works of God's fin- gers, and sees all creation bearing its constant though silent testimony to its Maker; and then he turns himself with a feeling of deep satisfaction to that yet clearer and better wit- ness concerning Ilim to be found in the inspired Scriptures. Str. I. Ver. 1. Tell . . . proclaimeth.— [A. V., declare . . . sheweth]. The heavens are per- sonified as Ps. 1.6; xcvii. 6; as the morning stars, Job xxxviii. 7 ; the trees, Is. lv. 12; en- tire nature, Job xii. 7 ; Ps. cxlviii 2 sq. Tell- ing and proclaiming may consequently be as- serted of them with expressions which else- where are used of historical narration, which proclaim the great works of God from generation to generation. This expression is the more pregnant, as the history of the creation of the heavens and its stars in Genesis, to which the word rakia (comp. Ps. cl. 1) refers, is repre- sented as toledolh, and has had a historical course, which again was called forth and closely determined by the will of God and His activity as a Divine artificer, so that there is impressed and expressed (Calv.) therein, not only His crea- tive power (Geier, et al.) but the action of His hands, that is His mastership and His majesty, the reflected image of His Godhead (Rom. i. 20). [Hupfeld : " The heavens as the work of God re- veal the Creator (as we say, ' the work praises the master') comp Ps. cxxxvi. 5; Is. xl. 22 sq. ; xlii. 5; xliv 24, etc." — Handywork=Aa«^- work, work of the hand. — C. A. B.] The parti- cipial forms state, that these are constant and characteristic witnesses. Ver. 2. Day unto day poureth forth speech. — [A. V., Uttereth]. The interrupted character of this declaring, which reveals the glory of the Creator, is occasioned by a chain of tradition. It is not said that the heavens preach to us by day and by night (Maurer), or that the changes of time praise God (Isaki, Calv.) and that which in these changes is seen in the hea- vens, and happens under the heavens on earth, (Aben Ezra, Stier) , but the difference of the heavens by day and by night is had in view, and therefore day is placed in direct reference to day, and night to night in order that their com- munications may gush forth or well forth (Ps. lxxviii. 2; Mic. ii. 6, 11; Prov. i. 23). [De Wette: "The poet personifies the day and the night, and has them transmit the praise of God to every following day and every following night, as the father transmits to his son the songs and sayings praising his illustrious an- cestry which he has inherited from his father." Rosenm.: "Declaratur prsedicatio sine intermissione. Et quia ccelum prsedicat per dies et nodes, cum in- terdiu princeps astrorum, sol, conspicitur, noctu stel- larum pulchritudo ; et quia dies et nodes sibi invi- cem succedunt, idco poelico artificio finget noster, unum diem per ado cursu et prsedicationesua, trader e diet sequenti verba prsedicationis, et nodem quoque, perado cursu, et quasi hymno cantato, tradere nodi Thus he begins the day ; thus he prepares himself for the duties that await him, for the temptations that may assail and the sorrows that may gather as a cloud about him. He has made trial of the preciousness of that word. He knows its deep, hallowing, soul-sustaining power. He knows that it is full of life and healing. But he knows also that it is a word that searches and tries the heart, that reveals the holiness of God, and the sinfulness of man ; and therefore he bows himself in prayer, saying, 'As for errors, — who can un- derstand them? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.' " This Psalm may becornpared with Ps. viii. an evening psalm simi- lar in its contemplations to this morning psalm In both the contemplation of the Divine glory as declared in the heavens, begets a feeling of humility in the soul of the Psalmist which rises in Ps. viii. 5, into expression of faith and confidence in God, in Ps. xix., into prayer for forgive- ness, preservation and acceptance. — C. A. B.J PSALM XIX. 151 seqaenti munus canendi, ut ita continue, et sine ulla tntermissione dies et nodes quasi choreas dilcant, et Deum laudibus celebrent." — (J. A. B.] Vcr. 3. No speech and no words whose voice unheard [might be) [A. V., (There is) no speech nor language (where) their voice is not heard]. — The interpretation of these words as a rela- tive clause, after Vitringa (Observ. Sacr p 811, 59), approved by De Wette, Delitzsch, Hitzig, ac- cords with the figure previously used, and gives the appropriate sense ; that this natural language of the heavens is not a speech whose sound can- not be understood, but is rather a fiavcpov (Roin. i. 19) [that is manifest to all. — C. A. B.] The *73, connected with the participle, is a poetical expression altogether like the alpha privativum (Ewald, g 28l)#,- § 322 a). Against this inter- pretation may be objected, not so much the paral- lelism which is thereby lost, as the reference of the suffix to the words which immediately pre- cede, "speech and words," whilst the suffix in the following line [ver 4 a] refers back to heavens and the firmament, with which day and night correspond. But if we should apply this reference here likewise, and at the same time restore the parallelism (Kimchi et al.), then by this formal correctness we would only get the plain matter of course explanation, destroying the poetical movement and rhythm, that the ex- pressions just used are not exact but poetical. We must not, however, regard this verse as a later gloss. The poetical use of "73, which even Olshausen remarks, is already opposed to this. Still less can it be maintained that the antithe- sis is found in the following verse, that these dumb witnesses, without sound and language, are yet loud speakers, heralds everywhere under- stood. For then we must either supply the par- ticle of antithesis (Flam., et al.), which is alto- gether arbitrary, or regard ver 3 as the ante- cedent to ver. 4 (De Dieu), or regard it really as a preceding circumstantial clause (Ewald*), which is as hard to believe as the supposition (Hupf.f) of an Oxymoron only half expressed : dumb, and yet loud enough. This contrast can- not be derived organically from the emphasis of the clause ; it is simply forced into the clause. This is still more the case with Hengst., who finds indicated the forcibleness of the testimony which neeils no language [Alexander]. The language does not admit of the interpretation which Luther, Calv., Geier and most ancient in- terpreters follow, after tho ancient translations, that this testimony of the heavens is understood by people of all languages [Barnes] ; nor indeed of the turn which Ilofmann (Theol. Stud, und Krit., 1847) has given it: no speech, and no words, are there that its call is not heard, that is, the speaking of the heavens is carried on along witli all other languages ; the speech of the heavens sounds above all. Bottcher translates: Where is preaching and where are words ? Not a sound of it is to be heard.J * [Ewald : " Without talk, without words, without its voice being heard, ita souud became loud through the whole earth etc."— C. A. B.] t [Uupfeld compares this with Ps. viii. 3, the defence of God out of the mouth of sucklings.— C. A. B.l J [Perowne agrees with Hengst. and Hupfeld, thus : " ' Their voice is not heard, lit. is inaudible.' This seems to be a kind Str. II. Ver. 4. Their line. — Only the mean- ing "measuring line" can be proved for the word ID (Isa. xxxiv. 17 ; Zech. i. 16, etc.), which goes as far, or extends as far, as the territory extends, Jer. xxxi. 39 ; Job xxxviii. 5 , Isa xxxiv. 17; Ezek. xlvii. 3 (Chald,, Isaki, Geier, liosenm., Hengst., Htipf , Delitzsch). The mean- ing sounding string (De Wette, after some more ancient interpreters), is no more in the word than that of thread of discourse (Hitzig), or the line of writing (Aben Ezra, Calv., Cocc). The derivation from i"Pp=to stretch out, in the sense of to voc from reivu (Ewald, Maurer), is possible, and the Sept. (coinp. Rom. x. 18) really has cfidoyyoc, Symm., tjxoc, Vulg. and Jerome, sonus, Peschito, " its proclaiming." But this meaning of sound, tune, is not proper to the word else- where, hence Olsh., Maurer, Gesen., propose to read D;ip instead of D*p, which, however, is used in the previous verse. The parallelism again (Camph.) is more in favor of a word for sound than of one for territory. Yet without this the extent of this proclaiming is stated as locally unlimited, much more embracing the entire cir- cuit of the world. — [In them. — Hupfeld very properly refers the suffix here to the heavens in which God has set up a tent or abode for tho sun, so Perowne and Barnes. Barnes: "The meaning is, that the sun has his abode or dwell- ing-place, as it were, in the heavens. The sun is particularly mentioned, doubtless, as being the most prominent object among the heavenly bodies, as illustrating in an eminent manner t lie glory of God. The sense of the whole passage is, that the heavens in general proclaim the glory of God, and that this is shown in a par- ticular and special manner by the light, the splendor and the journeyings of the sun." — C. A. B.]* [Tent (A. V., tabernacle).— Hupfeld : "A dwelling is poetically assigned to the sun by God, so far as it, like all the stars, has its firm place in the heavens, from whence it begins its daily course in the following verse and again re- turns; without doubt with special reference to its abode at night (Geier). Comp. in the follow- ing verse, the bed-chamber, from which it steps forth in the morning. Thus Hab. iii. 11 : 'The of correction or explanation of the bold figure which had ascribed language to the heavens. They have a language, but not one that can be classed with any of the dial earth. They have a voice, but one that speaks not to tho ear, but to the devout and understanding heart. Tho senso is wry well expressed in the well-known paraphrase of Ad- dison : — ' What though in solemn silence all Move round this dark terrestrial ball, ***** In reason's ear they all rejoice, And utter forth a glorious voice,' " etc. So Wordsworth : "The elements are God's Evangelists; the universe is God's Church. The sermon which they preach has found its response in tin' universal assent of mankind. But the eloquence of the elements is a silent eloquence, and thus differs from til-1 articulate utterances of the Church." The view of our author is preferable. — C. A. B.| * [De Wette, Gesen., Maurer. Hitzig, Baurand Delitzsch re- gara the suffix as indefinite ami relative. Thus De Wette: "The end of the world is here designated as the dwelling of the sun, which is regarded as at the end of the heavens, where it passes the night, where in the evening at sunset it turns in, and in the morning goes forth. Thus Helios turned in with Thetis, and Ossian gives the sun a shady cave, where to pass the night."— -C. A. B.J 152 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. Bun and moon stand still in their habitation (7-13T), and the HiS-lD, 'lodgings' or 'houses,' of the constellations of the zodiac as stations of the sun. The same figure among the Greeks and Romans (Horn., Ovid's Mctam.), and Ossian (III. 91). Comp. Herder, Geist. d. Heb. Poes., I. 78 6q."— C. A. B.] The allegorical reference of many ancient in- terpreters to the heavens as a figure of the Church, and the sun as the figure of the gospel, originates from the supposition, that there is here a prophecy used in Rom. x. 18. But the apostle uses these words only on the ground of the parallel here given of the natural and histo- rical revelations as typical of the proclamation of the gospel, which should embrace the entire world. [Perowne: "St. Paul, Rom. x. 18, quotes the former part of this verse in illustra- tion of the progress of the Gospel. 'Faith,' he says, 'cometh by hearing,' and then asks, 'Have they (i. e. the nations at large) not heard? ' Yea, rather, so widely has the Gospel been preached, that its progress may be described in the words in which the Psalmist tells of God's revelation of Himself in nature. The one has now become co-extensive with the other. The prseconium coelorum is not more universal than the prseconium evangcia." — C. A. B.] [Ver. 5. And he is like a bridegroom (A. V., Which {is) as a bridegroom). — It is better to regard Mill as beginning an independent clause, as Delitzsch, Moll., Ewald, Perowne, et al. Hupf. uses a colon, but the relative construc- tion is without warrant, and makes the clause too much dependent upon the preceding. Pe- rowne : " Nothing can be more striking than the figures in which the freshness and gladness of the young morning and the strength of the sun's onward march, are described." Delitzsch: "The morning light has in it a freshness and cheerful- ness, a renewed youth. Therefore the morning sun is compared to a bridegroom, the desire of whose heart is satisfied, who stands as it were at the beginning of a new life, and in whose youth- ful countenance the joy of the wedding-day still shines." — As a hero to run a race. — Delitzsch : "As in its rise it is compared to a bridegroom, so in its rapid course (Sir. xliii. 5) it is compared to a hero (vid. Ps. xviii. 33), for it goes over its course anew, every time it steps forth, bestowing its light, and overcoming all things with HIDJ (Judges v. 31)." Riehm : "The meaning is not he rejoices in running, but: he rejoices running ==116 runs joyfully (Hitzig)." The same com- parison is used in the Zendavesta, II. 106 (De Wette). Barnes "The idea is that the sun seems to have a long journey before him and puts forth all his vigor, exulting in the opportu- nity of manifesting that vigor, and confident of triumphing in the race." — C. A. B.]* * [Wordsworth : " It cannot, surely, bo by chance that we have here figurative expressions which descrilie the work of Christ, the King of kings, the Mighty Conqueror, who is compared in both Testaments to the sun (Mai. iv. 2; Rev. i. 16 ; x. I), and shines forth as a sun in tlie Tabernacle of His Church, and dispels the darkness of sin and error, and illu- mines the world with His light : and who is also called the Bridegroom, in Scripture, and as a Bridegroom (John iii. 29 ; Rev. xxi. 9) came forth from His heavenly ciiambc-, to unite our nature to the Divine. He came forth ' de. uie.ro virgi.iali [Ver. 6. His going forth. — Hupf. : " NV'ID, the usual word for the rising of the sun, appears here in its original figurative meaning: going forth, with reference to the stepping forth (Xi"') from his chamber (ver. 5), in contrast with $030, going into the chamber at his setting, "instead of which here DiMpi^, revolution, running down (from HpJ, Isa. xxix. 1 ; I'P'?, encompass, re- volve), elsewhere of the passing away of the years, Ex. xxxiv. 22 ; 1 Sam. i. 20, here of the daily passing away of the sun" (A. V., circuit). " This is not. a description of its 'extended course' (De Wette), but of the entire extent of its course : from one end of the heai ens to the other (corres- ponding with ' over the whole earth,' and ' to the end of the world,' ver. 4, which here receive their explanation and fulfilment), and of its all- penetrating heat." — Nothing is hid from its heat. — Hupfeld : " This refers properly to its all-penetrating warmth, heat (from which the sun poetically has the name n?3n, the hot, in con- trast to the moon HJ37, the pale. Isa. xxx. 26) ; but including likewise the light, comp. in all lan- guages a similar proverb, that the sun ' sees and brings all things to light.' " — Barnes: " The rays of the sun penetrate everywhere. Nothing escapes it. It is not a mere march for show and splen- dor; it is not an idle and useless journey in the heavens; but all things, vegetables, birds, beasts, men, — all that lives, — feel the effect of his vital warmth, and are animated by his quickening in- fluence."—C. A. B.] Sir. III. Ver. 7. [Delitzsch : " The transition from the one part to the other has no external medium, it is only indicated by the fact that the Di- vine name PPiT [Jehovah] takes the place of 7X ('El). The word of nature reveals Sx ('El), the word of Scripture HIIT (Jehovah) ; the one God's power and majesty, the other His counsel and will. Twelve eulogies of the law follow, two by two of which are constantly related as presump- tion and conclusion, according to the scheme of the Caesura, rising and sinking as waves. We feel how the heart of the poet, when he begins to speak of God's word and the revelation of His will, begins to beat with redoubled joy." — 0. A. B.] The law. — The word TV\\T\ means properly: instruction, doctrine, and therefore may mean likewise the word of prophecy (Isa. i. 10; viii. 16) ; yes, it may be used of the v6uoc of the last times. But this does not prove that it means here the Gospel (Cocc), or the revelation and word of God in general (many ancient inter- preters, likewise Stier). The following synonyms, then ver. 11, show that the reference here is only to the revelation of the law given by Moses as the rule of life for Israel. So it is not said that the Thorah converts the soul (Stier), or leads the spirit back into itself (Augusti), but this expression in its idiomatic use has no reference to the moral character, but. to the experiences lanquam thalamo ' (says Augustine), in order to espouse to Himself the Bride, His Church, and to join her in myotic wedlock to Himself. And therefore all ancient expositors agree in applying these words to Christ; and this Psalm ia appointed, in the Sarum and Latin use, for Christmas L'ay ; and in the Gregorian use, for the Auuunciation." — C. A. 1J.J PSALM XIX. 153 of life The refreshment and reanimation of (ho soul is called its restoration and bringing back. Coinp. 1 Sam. xxx. 12; Lara. i. 11. [Alexan- der: " The effect of converting the soul would not have been attributed to the law in this con- nection, where the writer is describing the affec- tions cherished towards the law by men already converted, which removes all apparent inconsis- tency with Paul's representation of the law as working death, and at the same time the neces- sity of making the law mean the Gospel, or in any other way departing from the obvious and usual import (if the Hebrew word." — Th3 tes- timony.— Perowne: "As testifying, bearing witness of God's character, both in His good- will towards those who obey Him, and in His displeasure against transgressions, especially in the latter sense. It is as Harless says; 'The word of Go'l testifying of Himself and affirming what He is, in opposition to the apostasy of man ' (Ethik. \ 14, Anm ). Vid. Deut. xxxi. 26, 27 Hence the force of its connection with the ark and the mercy-seat, Ex. xxv. 16; xxvi. 34; Lev. xvi. 13 ; the symbol of God's righteous severity against sin being hidden beneath the symbol of His grace and mercy." — C. A. B.J Simplicity — T»3 is not the silly (Luther), nor the natural man in general (most interpre- ters), nor the open-minded and susceptible (Stier), such as the pious and the wise must certainly remain in order to further progress (Ilengst.), but the man who is in the condition of one in his minority, uneducated and open to every impression, especially to slander and temp- tation (Hupf.), who, however, has not yet lost the disposition of a child (Calv.) (comp Matth. xi. 25 ; 1 Cor. i. -7). Ver 8 [Delitzsch; "The law is divided info D'Tlpi), demands, or declarations respecting the obligations of man [A. V. statutes], these are D'"VJ\ right as norma nor mala, because they pro- ceed from the just, and holy will of God, and as norma norma ns, because they lead in the right way into right paths; they are therefore 2j Tl?^?' their training and direction removes all obstruc- tions, satisfies t lie moral needs and gives the glad consciousness of being in the right way to the right end. 71 HWD, Jehovah's statute (from illi, Btatuere), is the essence of His commands. The statute is called, lamp, Prov. vi. 23, and the law, light. So here, it is PP.3, pure, as sunlight (Song of Sol. vi. 10), and its light imparts itself by: O'J'J.' ilTXO, enlightening the eyes, which is meant not only of enlightening the understand- ing, but likewise of the entire condition, it makes spiritually clear and lovely as well as spiritually sound and fresh, for dimness of eye is trouble, sadness, perplexity." — C A. B ]* Ver. 9 The fear of Jehovah is here evi- dently metonymic=doctrines or their prac- tice, as Isa. xxix. 13. — [Clean — Barnes: ""UnL3, tdhor, means properly clear, pure, in a * [Perowne : " According to the expressive Hebrew idiom, It is to tli-' soul what fond is to the worn and tainting body. It is what the honey which he found in the wood was to Jonathan, when he returned, wearied and exhausted, from the pursuit of his enemies. Comp. Ps. cxix. IS; Acts xxvi. 18; Eph. i. IS."— C. A. B.] physical sense, as opposed to filthy, soiled ; then, in a ceremonial sense, as opposed to that which is profane or common (Lev xiii. 17), and then, in a moral sense, as a clean heart, etc., Ps. xii. 0; li. 10 It is also applied to pure gold, Ex. xxv. 11. The sense here is, that there is nothing in it that tends to corrupt the morals or defile the soul. Everything connected with it is of a pure and holy tendency, adapted tn cleanse the soul and to make it. holy. — Enduring forever. — Standing to all eternity. Not temporary; not decaying; not destined to pass away. It stands firm now, and it will stand firm forever. That is the law of God, considered as adapted to make the heart holy and pure is eternal. What it is now it will ever be. What its teaching is now it will continue to bo forever." — Judgments. — Delitzsch: " 71 "D2p0 are the jura jf the law, as corpus juris divini, all that is right and in ac- cordance with right according to t lie decision of Jehovah ; these laws are HON, truth, guarding and protecting itself, because as distinguished from most laws other than those of Israel they have an unchangeable, moral foundation1' — Righteous altogether — Barnes : " That is, they are, without exception, just; or, they are altogether or wholly righteous.'' — C. A. B.J Ver. 10 [Hupfeld : "The conclusion: hence the incomparable value of the Divine law, brought into view by comparison with the most important material goods after which men strive: Gold, as the rarest and therefore the most costly good and most sought after, symbol of the dearest possession and object of the most eager strife of men; Honey, as the sweetest symbol of the most delight r'ul enjoyment The former compari- son in the same sense (with pearls and precious stones), likewise Ps. cxix 72 ; exxvii. and fre- quently, in Prov. ii. 4; iii. 14 sq. ; viii. 10 sq., l'J; xvi. 16; xxii 1; Job xxviii. 15 sq. ; the latter likewise Psalm cxix. 103 and Prov. xxi. 13." — Honeycomb, more properly as in the margin, dropping of honeycombs. Barnes: "The allusion is to honey that drops from the; combs, and therefore the most pure honey. That which is pressc ! from the comb will have almost inevitably a mixture of bee-bread and of the combs themselves. That which Jlows from the comb will be pure." — 0. A. B.] Sir. IV. Ver 11. [Warned —Barnes: "int. zaliar, means, properly, to be bright, to shine; then to cause to shine, t.o make light; ami then to admonish, to instruct, to warn. The essential idea here is to throw light on a subject, so as to show it clearly ; that is, make the duty plain, and the consequences plain. Comp. Lev. xv. 31; Ezek. iii. 18; xxxiii. 7 " Alexauder: "The phrase, Thy servant, brings the general doc- trines of the foregoing context into personal ap- plication to the writer." — C. A. B.] Ver. 12 Errors.— The word HX'jp/, which occurs only here, denotes the entire compass of unintentional sins, the ayvotj/tara, which had happened njj^'3, and even on this account not 11 t t : • only concealed from men (Lev. iv. 13, but like- wise not men known by the person himself (Lev. v. 2 sq.), because they might have been com- mitted unconsciously, but when they became known, were to be atoned for by offerings (Num. 154 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. xv. 22 sq.). In contrast with them are the tres- passes (Num. v. 30 sq.), which are said to be committed with uplifted hand and as not to be atoned for, from which therefore the Psalmist wishes to be preserved. Ver 13. The word D'TjT describes these as boasting [A. "V '.. presumptuous {sins)], but not on the side of their appearance as disregarding all limits, but on the side of the origin of their sin from the heart boasting of its lusts. The plural form of this word is in other passages of Scrip- ture always to be regarded properly as of haughty oppressors^ and is likewise here thus taken by many, finally Koster and Olsh. But there is no other reference in this Psalm to the oppression of such hostile persecutors (the Sept. and Vulg. have read D,")J). The context leads to the sphere of moral preservation, not of protection against external power. The expression ruler [A V., have dominion] in the following member of the verse is entirely appropriate and clear only when we regard the plural form as denoting the abstract (Kimchi, Rosenm., Delitzsch, Hitzig), which especially recommends itself in an ancient piece of composition. The reference to the evil influ- ence and the tempting power of association and intei-course with proud transgressors (De Wette, Hupf., Camph.), forces the abstract into the ex- planation in order to be endurable, and obscures the contrast that is in the clause Gen. iv 7, Rom. v. 14, and similar passages which are cited lead directly to an abstract, and "\VJT\ = hold back, preserve, is usually connected with an ab- stract (Gen. xx. 6; 1 Sam. xxv. 39), Still less is it to be supposed that the intentional sins are here personified as tyrants (Hengst.) which strive to bring the servant of God under their unworthy dominion. It is the boasting of his emotions which is charged against David (1 Sam. xvii. 28) comp. James i. 14 (Hitzig), which at the close of the verse after its expression as #i#3, (= apos- tasy, treachery, rebellion) is marked with a word in apposition which expresses not the frequency (Calv.) but the greatness of the iniquity. The word HpJ (ver. 12 in Piel^ ver. 13 in Niphal) is a judicial word, and stands always with refe- rence to guilt and punishment. [Delitzsch: " Declare innocent, speak free, leave unpu- nished."—C. A. B.] Ver. 14. [Delitzsch : " The Psalmist finally prays for the gracious acceptance of his prayer, in which heart and mouth unite, based upon the faithfulness of God, which is firm as a rock, and His redemptive Love." — Be acceptable. — Pe- rowne: "The usual formula applied to God's ac- ceptance of sacrifices offered to Him (Lev. i. 3, 4, etc.). Prayer to God is the sacrifice of the heart, and of the lips. Comp. Hos. xiv. 2, ' so will we offer our lips as calves.'" Alexander: "This allusion also serves to suggest the idea, not con- veyed by translation, of atonement, expiation, as the ground of the acceptance which the Psalmist hopes or prays for." — Jehovah, my rock and my redeemer. — (A. V., my strength), in the margin correctly rock. Pe- rowne: " The name of Jehovah is repeated for the seventh time. The epithets ' my Rock,' ' my Redeemer,' have here a peculiar force. For He is my strength in keeping the Law ; my Re- deemer as delivering me from the guilt and power of sin." — C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. The contemplation of the glory of nature must not lead to the deification of nature; it should lead up beyond the entire world, and be- yond all the heavens, to the knowledge of the glory of God mirrored therein, and excite to the adoration of the Almighty Creator declaring Him- self therein. The expanse of the heavens which cannot, at all be surveyed by man, has yet re- ceived its limits from Him who is alone Infinite and Almighty. Even the sun, which is wor- shipped by so many nations as the King of hea- ven receives the measure of its motion, and the revolution of its course from the same hand, whose government and work disclose themselves in all things as by the hand of a Master, whom all His works praise. It is true the praise of nature is different by day from what it is by night; yet it preaches incessantly, and its sermon is not only heard everyivhtre in the world, but likewise is capable of being understood by every one. 2. But if the glorious works of God are so in- structive and edifying to man, how much greater advantage may he derive from the law of God which is infinitely more glorious ? For it is one. and the same God, who declares Himself in crea- tion, and reveals Himself in history. In natural things, however, only the glory of His metaphysi- cal nature can be known ; but the glory of His moral nature reveals itself in the words of His law, in which His will and counsel find expres- sions. 3. The twelve eulogiums of the law, whose parts are related to one another as presumption and consequence, and which are compared by Luther with the twelve fruits of the tree of life, refer to that excellence peculiar to the law of God as such, which is likewise expressly brought into view by Paul, Rom. vii. 12, 14, by which it is the jewel of Israel and the comfort of those who act according to it. For the character of ' the Thorah as a Divine instruction respecting the duties to be fulfilled by the people of God and its individual members in all the relations ot life, involves its having essentially the form of a testimony manifesting the will of God, and it di- vides itself into commandments and statutes which relate to the fear of Jehovah, and have the meaning of legal statutes They consequently have not only gone forth from God and received the essential characteristics of a complete and reliable rule of the rectitude and purity of all ordinances, the- sincerity of their end and aim, the truth of statutes and decisions, but likewise treat of the true relation to God according to its subject and aim, and therefore spiritually re- fresh and admonish, whilst they rejoice the heart and enlighten the eyes. Moreover as essen- tial parts of Divine revelation, they are of eternal duration, and are right, and continue in this connection in the history of redemp- tion (Matth. v. 17 sq.). Thus the law of Jehovah is Israel's most valuable possession and sweetest PSALM XIX. 155 food, a gracious gift of God, glad tidings (Ps. xl. 10). 4. The true servant of God experiences both the enlightenment and refreshment, the correc- tion and reward of the law. He is preserved from venality and self-righteousness by the fact that the reward presupposes {ha fulfilment of the law. Moreover the servant of God perceives in the law as the mirror of perfection, his own imper- fection, and its reference to human sins in general in their variety, number, and enormity. If he ap- plies it to his own person, his claim of merit falls away. Moreover the law instructs him at the same time respecting the difference between deadly sins and venial sins, respecting the means of atonement, and respecting the conditions of forgiveness of sins, and thus preserves him from despair. 6. Moreover the arrangement of the institu- tions of atonement and the ordinances respecting their use, belong likewise to the commands and statutes of the Thorah. In these the Creator and Lawgiver reveals Himself as the Redeemer. The law itself thus urges to seek salvation in the grace of God by repentance and faith, whilst it discloses to the sinner his guilt, and makes him experience his inability to help himself, but like- wise lets him know the readiness of God to for- give, and brings His saving strength near. 0. The institution of the confessional together witn the requirements connected therewith, is in opposition to the confession and prayer made, Ps. xix. 13 sq. (comp. Conf. August, art. VI). But no one is to plead as an excuse, or to justify themselves by the secrecy and delicacy of many sins, the unfathoniableness of the human heart, the impossibility of a complete knowledge of self and sin. Justification is a speaking clear and a declaring guiltless on the part of God ; in this Da- vid and Paul agree (comp. likewise Ps. xxxii.). It presupposes on the one side the grace of God, on the other the laying hold of the same, which cannot happen without repentance any more than without faith. But where repentance and faith are, which are mutually necessary to one another, the servant of God is urged ever to make a more complete surrender of himself, and to more entirely consecrate himself to God", partly by the knowledge that with conscien- tious self-examination, there still remain to him faults to be regretted; partly by the experience, that with the most honest striving after sa'.ictifica- tion the danger even of a grave transgression, and likewise of a great fall, never entirely vanishes from him. " If the law is separated from the hope of forgiveness and the Spirit of Christ, it is so far from the sweetness of honey, that it ra- ther kills poor souls by its bitterness." (Calvin). 7. An evidence of such disposition of soul is the prayer for pardon and preservation, if heart and lip unite in it, and the chief desire of the soul is that God will accept it as an offering well- pleasing to Him, that is, that He will hear it. The soul then turns with it to the God of revela- tion already known as his rock and his redeemer, in whose protecting power and saving love he itrusts with the more security as he has already .received and experienced salvation from Him. " Original sin is not destroyed in this world, but pardoned." (Seb. Schmidt). HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. The glorg of God is reflected for man even in the works of creation; but its splendor beams forth from the words of the revealed law, clearer than sunlight, yet it shines towards him most gloriously in acts of salvation for his redemp- tion.— Nature and history preach the same God, that is, 1) the almighty Creator of the world; 2) the holy Lawgiver of the children of men; 3) the gracious Redeemer of penitent sinners. — It is true, our God is invisible, yet not un- known. There has never been a lack of preach- ing God, but often of people to hear the sermon, heed it, and obey it. — Even pious people have still hidden faults, but they do not hide them. — God helps us not only to know our sins, but like- wise to receive pardon for our errors, and to ob- tain preservation from crimes. — To the people of God the law of God is the most costly good and the sweetest food. Three things are indis- pensable to the salvation of men, 1) adoration of the majesty of God; 2) repentance for their sins; 3) reconciliation with God by redemption. — He who would be the servant of God, must not only instruct himself by the law of God, but likewise be warned against transgression, and be led to its observance. — As the Lord so the servant; as the service so the reward. Starke: As the heavens with their courses and order are a sure witness of the omnipotence and wisdom of God, just so the gospel is to be a constant and faithful witness of Christ. See here the chief end of all the creatures of God! The Creator's glory is to be advanced by them, and man is to know God aright from them, and learn to love Him and praise Him. — It is shameful for man, the noblest creature, to be silent with re- spect to those things about which even dumb creatures speak in their fashion. — No day should pass without my glorifying my God, and no night when I should not seek my rest in His grace. — If David already, with the little proportion of re- velation which he had, has uttered such excellent words, what should we now say, after the Scrip- tures of the New Testament have come to us, which have set every thing in a still greater light? — As the gospel is glad tidings, so it like- wise works Divine joy in those who allow them- selves to be enlightened by it. — The Holy Spirit accomplishes His office of admonishing the soul by the word of God, now by doctrine, now by the refutation of an imbibed error, now by pun- ishing an observed impurity, now by awakening to faithfulness, likewise by consoling support in trouble. — Although the law is a mirror of sin, yet no man can observe and know either the multitude or the secrecy of his faults, still less tell them to others. — He who has given himself to God as a servant will be preserved by Him from being the servant of sin and the slave of Satan. — As long as the righteous are in the world they will not be entirely pure owing to original sin, yet they are pure before God, partly on account of the imputation of the righteous- ness of Christ, partly because God is pleased witli their new obedience, whereby they free themselves from all gross prevailing sins. Ambrose : Aliud est timere,.quiapeccaveris, aliud 156 THE FIRST COOK OF PSALMS. timere, ne pecces ; ibi est formodo de supplicio, hie sollicitudo de prxmio. — Augustine : When thou prayest thou speakest with God; when thou readest the Scriptures, God speaks with thee. — Osiander: God has done a greater and more glorious work in saving poor sinners, than in creating the world. — Arndt: God's word, praise and glory, cannot and must not fail. — R. Stier: The first covenant in which God witnesseth His existence and will, joins on to the religion of na- ture and conscience which is presupposed, just as the other covenant which brings grace and truth, appeals to the law which preceded it. — 0. v. Gerlach : The prayer for forgiveness of debts is followed directly by the prayer for preserva- tion in and from temptation, as in the Lord's prayer. — Tholuck : If all the preachers on earth were silent, and no human mouth told any more of God, there in the heavens His great glory and majesty are told and declared without cessation. — Umbreit: It is a mysterious song, which is sung by the universe, and to which the poet listens; it sounds so that it is heard only in the depths of the human soul, where the spring of faith is. — Diedrich: The work must praise the master everywhere, and blessed is he who un- derstands it. [Matth. Henry: From the brightness of the heavens we may collect that the Creator is light; their vastness of extent speaks His immensity; their height His transcendency and sovereignty ; their influence upon this earth His dominion, and providence, and universal beneficeuce; and all declare His almighty power by which they were at first made, and continue to this day, ac- cording to the ordinances that were then set- tled.— The holy Scripture, as it is a rule both of duty to God and of our expectation from Him, is of much greater use and benefit to us than day or night, than the air we breathe in, or the light of the sun. — The discoveries made of God by His works might have served if man had retained his integrity ; but to recover Him out of his fallen state another course must be taken, that must be done by the Word of God. — Barnes: The reason why any man is elated with a conviction of his own goodness is that he has no just sense of the requirements of the law of God ; and the more any one studies that law, the more will he be convinced of the extent of his own depravity. — Spurgeon: We may rest assured that the true " vestiges of creation " will never contra- dict Genesis, nor will a correct "Cosmos" be found at variance with the narrative of Moses. He is wisest who reads both the world-book and the Word-book as two volumes of the same work, and feels concerning them, " my Father wrote them both." — He who would guess at Divine sub- limity should gaze upwards into the starry vault; he who would imagine infinity must peer into the boundless expanse; he who desires to see Divine wisdom should consider the balancing of the orbs ; he who would know Divine fidelity must mark the regularity of the planetary motions ; and he who would attain some conception of Divine power, greatness, and majesty, must estimate the forces of attraction, the magnitude of the fixed stars, and the brightness of the whole celestial train. — The gospel is perfect in all its parts, and per- fect as a whole ; it is a crime to add to it, treason to alter it, and felony to take from it. — What a blessing that in a world of uncertainties we have something sure to rest upon ! We hasten from the quicksands of human speculations to the terra firma of Divine Revelation. — Free grace brings heart joy, earth-born mirth dwells on the lip, and flushes the bodily powers; but heavenly de- lights satisfy the inner nature, and fill the men- tal faculties to the brim. There is no cordial of comfort like that which is poured from the bottle of Scripture. — Look at the sun and it puts out your eyes, look at the more than sunlight of Re- velation and it enlightens them; the purity of snow causes snow-blindness to the Alpine tra- veller, but the purity of God's truth has the con- trary effect, and cures the natural blindness of the soul. — Bible truth is enriching to the soul in the highest degree; the metaphor is one which gathers force as it is brought out ; gold, fine gold — much fine gold; it is good, better, best; and therefore it is not only to be desired with a mi- ser's avidity, but with more than that. — Men speak of solid gold, but what is so solid as solid truth ? — On the sea of life there would be many wrecks if it were not for the Divine storm-signals which give to the watchful a timely warning. The Bible should be our Mentor, our Monitor, our Memento Mori, our Remembrancer, and the keeper of our conscience. — He best knows him- self who best knows the Word, but even such an one will be in a maze of wonder as to what he does not know, rather than on the mount of con- gratulation as to what he does know. — We have heard of a comedy of errors, but to a good man this is more like a tragedy. — Many books have a few lines of errata at the end, but our errata might well be as large as the volume if we could but have sense enough to see them. Augustine wrote in his older days a series of Retractations ; ours might make a library if we had enough grace to be convinced of our mistakes, and to confess them. — If we had eyes like those of God we should think very differently of ourselves. — The transgressions which we see and confess are but like the farmer's small samples which he brings to market, when he has left his granary full at home.— C. A. B.] PSALM XX. 157 PSALM XX. To the chief musician, a Psalm of David. 1 The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble ; The name of the God of Jacob defend thee; 2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, Aud strengthen thee out of Zion ; 3 Remember all thy offerings, And accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah. 4 Grant thee according to thine own heart, And fulfil all thy counsel. 5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, And in the name of our God wTe will set up our banners : The Loud fulfil all thy petitions. 6 Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed ; He will hear him from his holy heaven With the saving strength of his right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses : But we will remember the name of the Lord our God. 8 They are brought down and fallen: But we are risen, and stand upright. 9 Save, Lord: Let the king hear us when we call. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents and Composition. The assist- ance of God is implored for a king, with reference to a war with foreign enemies, and indeed, as it Beems, not in general at his entering upon his government (Hupf. ) ; or without any reference to a special case as a formula of a prayer for authorities in general (Calv., Lulh., Geier) ; or in a direct Messianic sense pointing to Christ and the Church militant (J. H. Mich., et al.) ; or em- bracing the two last references (Hengst.) ; but on his going forth to war, and with the sacrifices usual upon such occasions (1 Sam. xiii. 9-12, most interpreters). On account of the mention of Zion in connection with the sanctuary (ver. 2), this king cannot be Saul, to whom and of whom David might speak, but rather David him- self, who in the second expedition against the Syrians marched forth himself personal!;! (2 Sam. x. 17), and knew how to vanquish his enemies who were provided with chariots (2 Sam. viii. 4). The speaker is then, naturally, not David, but either the congregation assembled at the sacri- fice (most interpreters), or some one speaking in their name. The supposition of a responsive song between the choir and a single voice (ver. 6), either a Levite (Ewald, Delitzsch), or the king (Knapp et al.), makes the Psalm more vivid, but is not plainly given by the text. The transparent language and the simple ar- rangement, the smooth symmetry and the quiet advance in thought, are not in favor of a poetical effusion of the feelings of the moment, but of its being a hymn previously composed for Divine service on a special occasion. It is more natural to suppose that the author was David, than an unknown poet, as there are some things that re- mind us of his style. Hitzig, with reference to the next psalm as one closely connected with the present, considers the king here addressed as Uzziah who at the beginning of his government had to contend with the Philistines (2 Chron. xxvi. 6), and the prophet Zechariah (who exert- ed some influence upon Uzziah, who was then sixteen years old, 2 Chron. xxvi. 5), as the speaker. But the threads of this hypothesis are finer than a spider's web (eomp. Ps. xxi.). The first half of the psalm expresses the desire for the success of the king through the assistance of Jehovah, in such a way that its fulfilment is not only formally presupposed, but forms the real foundation for the victorious shouts of the 158 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. congregation (ver. 5). The imperfects have from the earliest times been constantly regarded as optatives, only by Hitzig and Sachs as futures in the sense of comforting and encouraging ex- hortation, as an expression of a hope, which is said to form the prelude to the conviction ex- pressed in ver. 6. But the certainty of Divine help which appears in ver. 6, with "now," which Goes not at all lead to a later composition of this section (Maurer), but to a confirmation of the faith in Divine help, as it has been declared in sacrifices and prayers, agrees better with the supposition that the preceding verbs are opta- tives. Only from this foundation of certainty does the language rise (ver. 6 b) to the expres- sion of the hope of the victory (which is described in vers. 7-8, in dramatic antithesis) and close with prayer corresponding with this course of thought (ver. 9). The perfects in vers. 6 and 8, express the sure future. Sir. I. [Ver. 1. The name of the God of Jacob. — Barnes: "The word name is often put in the Scriptures for the person himself; and hence this is equivalent to saying ' may the God of Jacob defeud thee.' See Ps. v. 11; ix. 10; xliv. 5; liv. 1; Ex. xxiii. 21. Jacob was one of the patriarchs from whom, after his other name, the Hebrew people derived their name Israel, and the word seems here to be used with reference to the people rather than to the ances- tor. Comp. Is. xliv. 2. The God of Jacob, or the God of Israel, would be synonymous terms, and either would denote that he was the Protector of the nation. As such He is invoked here ; and the prayer is, that the Great Protector of the Hebrew people would now defend the king in the dangers which beset him, and in the enter- prise which he had undertaken." — Detend thee, literally as the margin of A. V. " set thee on a high place." Perowne: " 'set thee upon high' that is, as in a fortress where no enemy can do thee harm, or on a rock at the foot of which the waves fret and dash themselves in impotent fury." Ver. 2. From the sanctuary, parallel with out of Zion, as the earthly abode of God among His people whither they are to go up as to His palace, and from whence as from His throne they are to receive help and strength, vid. Ps. xiv. 7, iii. 5.— C. A. B.] Ver. 3. Remember all thy meat-offerings. [A. V. offerings]. — This expression naturally refers to the evidence of his piety previously given by the king, but it is not opposed (Hupf.) to the reference to an offering now being made, but rather leads to this, as it is thus even now pre- sented in the burnt offerings of the king. The bloodless meat offerings of meal with oil and in- cense (Lev. ii.), withfew exceptions, accompanied the burnt offerings which were entirely consumed on the altar, or whole burnt offerings (Lev. i) ; hence both expressions properly complement one another, and their separate mention has only a rhetorical significance. May God remember the previous offerings of the king, let Him be pleased with the present offerings. The latter sense is contained in the expression : may He find fat, [A. V. accept] literally; may He make fat (Ps. xxiii. 5); but the piel includes likewise the meaning of declare. It was not commanded that the animals offered should be fat (Lev. xxii. 18 sq.), it was so much the more an evidence of the willingness and gladness of the offerer. The translation of some of the more ancient interpre- ters after Aben Ezra: turn to ashes [A. V. margin] regards the words as a denominative of |Bn, but leads to the expectation of its being kindled by heavenly fire as a sign of its gracious acceptance, as Lev ix. 24; 1 Kings xviii. 37 ; 1 Chron. xxi. 26, which is not at all justified by the text. With this derivation, moreover, the sense would properly be " may He cleanse from ashes." [Ver. 4. Counsel. — Perowne: "All thy plans and measures in the war " — C. A. B.] Sir. II. Ver. 5. [Thy salvation.— Hupfeld. "Help, or appointed victory (Ps. xxxiii. 17), corre- sponds with the contents of vers. 1 and 2." — C. A. B.]* Wave banners, that is, as an expression of Joy on account of victory. The translation of more ancient interpreters : set up banners as a me- morial of victory [A. V.] does not correspond with the form of the Hebrew word. It is questiona- ble, likewise, whether the translation of the Sept. Vulg. as well as the Pesch. peyaTivvdijaopeda, magnificabinius, exultabimus, can be derived from the same word, as after the Arabic, or whether we are to accept another reading T[UJ instead Sj"lJ— [Fulfil all thy petitions, repeats the contents of Ver. 4. — C. A. B.] [_Str. III. Ver. 6. Perowne : " The hope sud- denly changes into certainty. Now know 1 that Jehovah hath saved, hath given victory. The singer speaks in the full assurance of faith, that the prayer is heard, and as if he already saw the victory gained. The prayer had been (vers. 1 and 2) that God would hear and send help from the earthly sanctuary or Zion. Now the answer is said to come from His holy heaven. For if God then condescended to dwell in visible glory among men, yet He would teach His peo- ple that He is not limited by the bounds of time and space. He is not like the gods of the hea- then, the god of one city or couutry. He sends help out of Zion, but the heaven of heavens can- not contain Him (see the recognition of this truth in Solomon's prayer, 1 Kings viii. 27, etc.). Calvin sees expressed in the earthly sanctuary made by hands the grace and condescension of God to His people; in the heavenly, His infinite power, greatness, and majesty." — Mighty deeds [A. V. strength]. — Delitzsch «fl'n«| means here not the fullness of strength (comp! t's. xc), but the exhibition of strength (Ps. cvi. 2; cxlv. 4; cl. 2; Is. lxiii. 15), by which His right hand works salvation, that is, victory, for them who are battling." Ver. 7. Some of chariots and some of horses, but we make mention of the name of Jehovah our God. — Delitzsch: "According to the law Israel should have no standing army; * [Perowne : " This may mean ' the help and victory vouch- safed by God to the king;' but Thrupp observes : 'The al- most instinctive dependence of the Israelites upon their king, as the man who should save them (comp. 1 Sam. x. 27), fully justifies us in interpreting the expression, thy salvation ver. 5, in its most natural sense, not as the salvation bestowed by God upon the king, but as that wrought by the king for his people.' " Alexander thinks that " both ideas are in- cluded." The explanation of Hupleld is the most proper.— C. A. B.] PSALM XX. 159 the law for the king, Deut. xvii. 16, denounces the keeping of many horses. So was it likewise under the judges and still under David; under Solomon already it changed, he procured for himself a great number of horses and chariots. 1 Kings x. 26-29. Ver. 7 gives a very decisive Confession of the time of David, that Israel's boast against his enemies, especially the Syrians, is the firm defence and arms of the name of his God. David speaks similarly to Goliath, 1 Sam. xvii. 45." — The A. V. does not give the force and beauty of the original. Trust should not be inserted in the first clause, and re- member does not give the idea of the second jrlause. Ver. 8. Hupfeld: "The contrast of the pre- vious verse is continued with reference to the consequences which both have derived from their confidences." Delitzsch : "The praeterites are vrxt. confidently — ' a triumphal ode before the victory' as Luther remarks, — 'a cry of joy be- fore the help.' " — They have bowed down and fallen (not as A. V.: They are brought down). — The idea is that they first sink down upon their knees and then fall to the ground. — But we have risen and stood firm (A. V. stood Upright). — Delitzsch: "Since Dip does not mean stand, but stand up, U"3p presupposes that the enemies then had the upper hand. But the con- dition of affairs changes Those who are stand- ing fall, those who are lying rise up; the former remain lying, the latter keep the field." — C. A. B.] S/r. IV. Ver. 9. Help the king — This is the basis of the hymn: domine salvumfac regem, and the national hymns which have been derived from it in accordance with the Sept., Vulg According to the Masoretic accentuation, which is advocated by Heugst. and Delitzsch,* it would be translated, Jehovah help: May the king hear us. Thus the Pesch. [and A. V.]. The king would then be Jehovah, since the hearing of prayer is a predicate of Jehovah ; according to ancient interpreters, Christ. Since, however, the psalm has already spoken of another king, the supposition of such a transition to Jehovah is the more objectionable, since it is true He is oalleil a great king (Ps. xlviii. 2,) yet never mere- ly, the king. This objection would be partly set aside, if with the Chald. we might translate, 0 king! especially as the call of prayer, help is used Ps. xii. 1 ; cxviii. 25, without an accusa- tive. But the third person of the verb does not suit the vocative, which the Vulg. arbitrarily changes into the second person. The whole manifestly stands in manifest relation to ver. 6, so that ver. 9 is distinguished from ver. 1, by the fact that the closing petition is based upon the intervening promise, Since the words in vers. 9 and 6 correspond in other respects entirely with one another, it is certain that the anointed has the same meaning as king. [Delitzsch : The New Testament cry of Hosanna is a particu- larizing of this Davidic, 'God save the king mediated by Ps. cxviii. 25. The closing line is a developed Amen." — C. A. B.] * [Delitzsch, howpver, agrpps with the author in the translation " save the king." Vid. closing remarks.— C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. It. is an evidence of great grace and a source of rich blessing in a land, if prince and people meet in the presence of God, with common desires and bring the same cares in united prayer before the throne of the Eternal. For prince and people belong so closely together, that the need of the one is likewise the calami- tg of the other, but the common good is essen- tially advanced by concord, and concord is best confirmed and advanced by union in common devotion to God. 2. A king shows that he is an anointed of the Lord, and a king by God's grace, especially by not only surrounding the actions of his govern- ment with prayer and Divine service, but by personally participating therein as a shining ex- ample for the whole congregation. A people proves itself to be a people of the Lord and a congregation of God by not only huzzahing such a ruler and wishing him success and victory, salvation and blessings, but likewise by praying ivith him and for him. Thus this psalm may "serve as a devout and holy watchword." (Lu- ther.) 3. Joyfulness in prayer and confidence of be- ing heard are nourished and strengthened by the remembrance of the exhibitions of help, with which God has already previously declared and magnified His name, and particularly by those with which He has glorified it in our predeces- sors and ancestors who are the models of our faith. It arises moreover from the assurance that we are in the same covenant of grace with our fathers and that we prove ourselves to be members of it. It is true, we call upon God with a deeper, richer and mightier name than the Israelites could, but the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the same God as the God of Jacob, whose name the Israelites brought to re- membrance (Gen. xxxv. 3) when they prayed to Jehovah on Zion. The difference is merely in the stages o? His revelation, and accordingly in the depth and fulness of the knowledge of Him. The places, forms and methods of Divine service have been altered in a corresponding way. But the change in them has taken place through the spirit of the new Covenant in order to fulfil the old; the God who is enthroned in the sanctuary of heaven, still ever meets with His people in sanctuaries on earth, and lets His gracious help flow forth from thence upon His congregation, whilst He comes to help them from heaven with the mighty deeds of salvation. 4. The congregation of God is distinguished from the world by the fact that in the day of trouble it does not rely upon earthly means of help, even when it makes use of them in a proper manner and according to the command- ment of God. But it puts its confidence in the assistance of God, and for this reason before and afterwards gives His name the glory (comp. 1 Sam. xvii. 45; Isa. xxxi. 3: Ps. xxxiii. 17). For this, however, a strong and living faith is necessary. "But the faith which relies upon God, can sing the triumphant ode before the victory, and make a cry of joy before the help ensues; whereas everything is allowed to faith. 160 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. For lie believes in God and thus truly has, what he believes, because faith does not deceive ; as he has faith, so will it happen unto him." (Lu- ther). HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. A king does well if, before he leads his people to bailie against the enemy, he leads them into the house of God to prayer. — It is well for aland whose king is the model of pieti/, whose people have this motto : Jehovah help the king! — He chooses the best portion in war who does not rely upon earthly means of power, but puts his confidence in the assistance of God. — Natural courage is not to be despised; but the confidence of trust in God surpasses it, in worth, duration and strength. — The communion of faith unites stronger than the same danger and need, more intimately than the same hope and joy. — Happy the land whose king cares for the good of the people and whose people rejoice in the salvation of the king. — Divine service has the precedence of the service of kings. — The confidence of trust in God and the assurance of the hearing of prayer do not constitute the beginning of com- munion with God, but are a consequence and fruit of it. — We should not only pray with one another, but likewise for one another. — God has His dwelling-place not only in heaven, but like- wise on the earth, and from both places Hi sends forth blessing, consolation .and help to His peo- ple.— Man's drawing near to God has for its reason as well as its consequence God's drawing near to man. Starke : Although the Christian Church is weak and weaponless, it has a strong tower in the name of God. — The sacrifices of the Chris- tian are a broken and a contrite heart, a holy life and an earnest praise of God. — The Lord does what those who fear God desire ; but they desire nothing that is opposed to God. — If the world reckons to its honor what it has accom- plished alone with its own power, on the other hand it is a strange thing of which believers boast, of the help which has come from God. — Just as Israel coulrl lift up its banner with joy in the name of God, so every believing Chris- tian can now likewise in his office, station and calling venture upon it. confident in God, and can assure himself of His gracious assistance. — What, is heard in heaven must be powerfully executed on earth. — Carnal plans are generally of poor success and turn out badly ; on the other hand what is begun with God, lasts.— Our best arsenal is in heaven and in the right hand of God. — The ungodly have never yet been able to sing a true triumphant ode over the downfall of the pious, their boasting is false; but be- lievers can here and in heaven forever sing the glorious victory of the Lord (1 Cor. xv. 57; Rev. xii. 10). Luther: God must help and advise; our plans and actions are otherwise of no value. — Osiander: Great, exalted titles do not make a king invincible, but God's help, which is gained by the prayer of faith. The victory is a gift of God, and is not accomplished by great prepara- tion or a great host. — Selnekker: What is be- gun with God issues favorably ; but the greater part of the world transact all things without God's advice, without fearing Him and calling upon Him. — Taube: Faith and prayer always join hands in the Christian heart and cannot live apart. Prayer supports faith and faith strengthens prayer. — DiedricB : The God of Israel, who is in our midst and in us, is He who is enthroned above all heavens and rules all things from thence. — All depends upon our belonging to God's followers and our daily sta- tioning ourselves by His banner-, that is, His word, and from it deriving chastisemeut and consolation, warning and confidence. [Matth. Henry : The prayer of others for us must be desired, not to supersede, but to second our own for ourselves. — Those who make it their business to glorify God may expect that God will, one way or other, gratify them ; they who walk in His counsel may promise themselves that He will fulfil theirs. — In singing these verses, we should encourage ourselves to trust in God, and stir up ourselves to pray earnestly, as we are in duty bound, for those who are in authority over us, that under them we may lead quiet and peaceable lives, in all godliness and honesty. — Barnes : Never should we look for suc- cess unless our undertaking has been preceded by prayer; and when our best preparations have been made, our hope of success is not primarily and mainly in them, but only in God. — Spurgeon : Chariots and horses make an im- posing show, and with their rattling, and dust, and fine caparisons, make so great a figure that vain man is much taken with them ; yet the dis- cerning eye of faith sees more in an invisible God than in all these. The most dreaded war- engine of David's day was the war-chariot, armed with scythes, which mowed down men like grass : this was the boast and glory of the neighboring nations ; but the saints considered the name of Jehovah to be a far better defence. — C. A. B.] PSALM XXI. 161 PSALM XXI. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. 1 The king shall joy in thy strength, 0 Lord ; And in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice ! 2 Thou hast given him his heart's desire, And hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah. 3 For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness : Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head. 4 He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, Even length of days for ever and ever. 5 His glory is great in thy salvation : Honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him. 6 For thou hast made him most blessed for ever : Thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance. 7 For the king trusteth in the Lord, And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved. 8 Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies : Thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. 9 Thou slialt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger : The Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. 10 Their fruit slialt thou destroy from the earth, And their seed from amoug the children of men. 11 For they intended evil against thee : They imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform. 12 Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, When thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them. 13 Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength : So will we sing and praise thy power. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents and Character. — In the first half oT this Psalm Jehovah is addressed and thanks are expressed to Him for the great bene- fits shown to the king. The words seem to refer not merely to general blessings (Hupf.), but to special blessings, and particularly to a powerful Di- vine assistance, with reference to wishes and prayers previously expressed, which greatly re- joices the king, and this as an exhibition of Divine power and grace, connected with the pre- servation of the king's life and the strengthening of his government so that it continues as a bless- ing to the entire people. The supposition of a 11 reference to the event presupposed in the previ- ous Psalm is very natural, especially as David, after the conquest of Kabbah, set upon his head the royal crown of the Ammonites, which was adorned with precious stones (2 Sam. xii. 30), ami some of the people were thrown into brick- kilns, after the fall of the strong city had been decided by the personal presence of David. Ver. 9 might refer to this.* In the second half of the * [Pornwne : " The hurt Psilm was a litany hofnre tlie kin^ wont forth to battle. This is apparently a '/'• Deum on his return. In that, the people cried, 'Jehovah give thee ac- cording to thy heart's desire;' in this, they thank God who has heard their prayer: 'The wish of his heart hast Thou given him.'" Delitzsch : "Inhoth Psalms the people appear before God in the affairs of their kins, there wishing and praying, here thanking and hoping, here as there in the 162 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. Psalm Jehovah is not again addressed (Hupf.), but the king. The expressions in ver. 11 are especially against the reference to Jehovah, al- though in other respects this reference is favored. The address of prayer to God, which expressed thanks for the help and blessings which had been received, passes over into the prediction of still further victories of the king over his enemies, in spite of all crafty devices. Ver. 7 makes the transition which speaks of Jehovah as well as the king in the third person (Ilengst,). Ver. 13 gives the conclusion, with an appeal to Jehovah, which does not put the entire Psalm somewhere before the beginning of an impending war (De Wette), but refers to the realization of the promise last expressed. The mutual relation of the two Psalms is perhaps due to the one who arranged them. Many of the more ancient interpreters, even Rosenm. 2 Ausg., after the example of the Chald. and the more ancient Rabbins, regard the Psalm as Messianic, especially on account of vers. 4, 6, 9.* Hitzig, on account of HliT TJ7, ver. 1, thinks of the king Uzziah (*!TT#) whose . father and grandfather had fallen victims to con- spiracies (2 Kings xii. 21 sq. : xiv. 19), which might likewise attempt the life of the heir to the throne. Ver. 4 is said to refer to this, in con- nection with which we are reminded that already in 2 Kings x. 14; xi. 1, the design was to extermi- nate the family of David. Ewald thinks of the king Josiah, would however rather descend to a later time. Heugstenberg finds expressed in the Psalm, the thauks of the people for the pro- mise given to David, 2 Sam. vii., and the joyful hope in its fulfilment. The prophecy of Nathan, at all events, is the revealed foundation for con- necting the Messianic hopes with the house of David, and is reechoed in the Psalms, and has even to a certain extent been further carried out in them. In the present Psalm, however, there is not the slightest, trace of such a development ; and the Messianic interpretation is shattered already in the fact that the crown cannot be taken as symbolical, as Job xix. 9; Lam. v. 16, because it i*s called a crown of fine gold.f But it must be conceded, that the references to the Sy- rian and Ammonite war are only possible, but not direct, and that the words would more natu- rally remind us of the elevation of David to the royal throne by the hand of God, than the lay- ing hold of the crown of a king conquered by David. But a reference to the above mentioned prophecy is nowhere to be recognized. For this has to do with the continuance of the house of David and his kingdom (2 Sam. vii. 13, 16) to which Ps. lxxxix. 4; exxxii. 12 refer. Now the midst of war, but here after the recovery of the king, in the assurance of its victorious termination." — C. A. B.] * [Wordsworth : ''Doubtless, in a primary sense both these Psalms concern David himself; but they extend far beyond liim. The King, here displayed to us, is King of kings; He is the Ever-living One, Christ Blessed forever. The Clialdee Targum opens here with these remarkable words: '<> Lord, the. King Jl/essni'i shall rejoice in Thy strength ;' and Kcutlti owns that the older Hebrew doctors expounded this Psalm of the Messiah; but he adds, that in order to obviate the arguments of Christians, it' is better to confine it to David. They, therefore, who limit it to the literal sense, imitate the Jews. The Church has declared her own judgment on this question by appointing this Psalm to be used in the festival of Christ's ascension into heaven." — C. A. B.] „ . ,«, f [ Vid., however, Hupfeld on ver. 3. — C. A. B. ] expressions in this Psalm, " length of days," and "forever and ever," may not be referred to the continuance of the life of his posterity (Calvin, Hengst.), but must be taken as personal and in- dividual.* For the mention of prayer for life im- mediately precedes, and this can only be under- stood of saving or of preserving life. When now it is said, that God not only has heard this prayer in its primary sense, but his given the king an unending life, extending into eternity, the Messianic interpretation was very natural to the congregation in later times; the author, however, has used the expression only of the person of the king, not of his race which culmi- nates in Christ (Ilengst.). If now David is the author, who speaks of himself in the third per- son, for which reason this Psalm might be a song of the congregation, that expression may not be interpreted as hyperbole, and explained with re- ference to 1 Kings i. 31; Neh. ii. 3 (Hupf. Hit- zig, Delitzsch). For it is an entirely different thing whether a people or a subject congratu- lates a king, that his days may have no end, or whether he says of himself that God has given him a life that will not end, and makes this the subject of public thanksgiving. Therefore, I find here the strongest expression of the assu- rance of faith in the personal continuance of the life of those who hold fast to the covenant of grace in living communion with Jehovah. That which elsewhere shines forth as hope in the soul of David, and declares itself at times in words of prophecy, which do not themselves transcend David's own understanding, has here attained the form and language of assurance, and pre- supposes a maturity of spiritual experience, and a reflection upon previous gracious guidances and revelations, which in order to be understood lead to the latter period of David's life. With this agree the following words likewise, in which David manifests a consciousness of his position and importance in the history of redemption. He is placed for a blessing forever, that is, for an object and mediator of blessing as .Abraham, Gen. xii. 2; the people, Isa. xix. 24; Ezech. xxxiv. 26; Zech. viii. 13; the righteous, Ps. xxxvii. 26, and has in the pretence (before the face) of Jehovah (Ps. xvi. 11) in future as at pre- sent the source of his joy, and the triumphant assurance of his victory over all enemies. [Str. I. Ver. 1. Rejoiceth . . . exulteth. — The imperfects are presents (Hupf., Delitzsch, Ewald, Hitzig, Moll.) and not futures (A. V., shall joy . . . shall rejoice. Perowne: "Shall be glad," " shall exult." Alexander: " Shall re- joice," "shall exult"). Ver. 2. Request of his lips. — Hupf.: "This is the spoken wish, the explicit prayer (correspond- ing with iX'd, ver. 4) placed along side of the quiet wish of the heart as its complement — fl.^N (only found here) is correctly given in Sept. denatq. EHN is a secondary form of W (as likewise in the Arabic and Talmud nominal forms from jyv are found with X instead of') properly = xaT?u< to be empty, to need (comp. Niphal and the related EN"! to be poor) hence to * [ Vid. exposition of ver. 4. — C. A. B.] PSALM XXI. 163 desire, and then afterward the usual meaning of take possession, possess, etc. — C. A. B.] [Sir. II. Ver. o. Preventest. — Barnes . " Thou goest before him ; thou dost anticipate him, vid. Ps. xvii. 13, margin. Our word pre- vent is now most commonly used in the sense of hinder, stop, or intercept. This is not the origi- nal meaning of the English word: and the word is never used in this sense in the Bible The English word when our translation was made, meant to go before, to anticipate, and this is the uniform meaning of it in our English version, as it is the meaning of the original." The mean- ing here is, that God had anticipated him or his desires. He had gone before him. He had de- signed the blessing even before it was asked Hupfeld, whom Moll and Perowne follow, render it, Thou contest tuneet him. This is perhaps bet- ter.— Crown of pure gold. — Hupfeld regards this not as the crown of a conquered king but as " his own, as symbol of the royal dignity given him by God." Barnes refers it to the victory. "He was crowned with triumph, he was shown to be a king; the victory was like making him a king, or setting a crown of pure gold upon his head." Perowne regards it as a poetical figure. Delitzsch refers it to the captured crown of the king of the Ammonites, which is most likely. Ver. 4. He asked life of thee. — ^Barnes : " The expression itself would be applicable to a time of sickness, or to danger of any kind, and here it is used doubtless in reference to the ex- posure of life on going into battle, or on going forth to war." — Length of days. — Hupfeld : '■'Preservation of life and long life; a standing feature of blessings (Ps. lxi. 7 ; xci. 1G), derived from the promise of the law, and the proverbs of the fear of God and wisdom, Prov. iii. 16 ; iv. 10; ix. 11; here as the consequence of Divine protection and especial Divine grace. — Forever and ever. — Perowne: "There is no difficulty in this expression even as applied to David. It was usual to pray that the king might live for- ever (1 Kings i. 31 ; Neh. ii. 3, etc.), and a like anticipation of an endless life occurs in other Psalms (xxiii. 6; lxi. 6; xci. 16."— C. A. B.]* [Sir. III. Ver. 5. Great is his glory through Thy deliverance (A. V., His glory is great in thy salvation). — The idea is that the saving help of God in giving him the victory over his enemies had made his glory great. Hupfeld: "TI3D (glory) properly of the Divine majesty, here its reflection, the royal, vid. Ps. viii. 1, 5.'r De- litzsch : " The help of God redounds to his glory, and paves the way for his glory, it enables him, as ver. 5 b means, famously and gloriously to maintain and strengthen his kingdom. The verbs vers. 5 6 and ver 6, are presents — Layest upon him (Moll, Delitzsch, Perowne, et al. A. V. has, " laid upon him "). Ver. 6. For Thou settest him as a bless- ing forever. (A. V.. Thou hast made him most blessed forever. Marginal reading, and set him to blessings). — Barnes: " The expression in our translation, as it is now commonly understood, would mean, that God had made him happy or * [Wordsworth : " This could not be predicted of David himself; but is true of Christ, who snys, in the Apocalypse, ' I am he that livHh a'nl was chad, and behold 1 am alive for- fDcrmore,' (Rev. i. 18 ; comp. Rom. vi. 10).'— C. A. B.J prosperous. This does not seem to be the sense of the original. The idea is, that he had made him a blessing to mankind, or to the world , or that he had made him to be a source of blessing. to others." — Delitzsch : " To set as blessings or fulness of blessings is an emphatic expression of God's word to Abram, Gen. xii. 2; be a blessing, that is, the possessor and mediator of blessings." —Thou dost gladden him withjoy in Thy presence — So Perowne, Moll, and Delitzsch, and Hupfeld, more exactly, " before Thy face ;" Ewald, "before Thee." Vid. Ps. xvi. 12. The presence of God is the joy of the righteous, to be before His face, beholding His face is their great- est privilege and pleasure. The A V., "with thy countenance " is an incorrect ren lering of the Hebrew TA3"™ — C. A. B.] [Sir. IV. Ver 7 This verse connects the for- mer part of the Psalm with the latter For, gives the reason of the blessings which the king has received. He trusteth in Jehovah, he de- pends upon Him and not upon himself and therefore he shall not he moved, he shall not be shaken from the firm rock upon which he is es- tablished.— C. A. B] Str. V. [Ver 8. Perowne* " The hope passing into a prophecy that in every battle the king will be victorious over his enemies " Alexander: "By a kind of climax in the form of expression hand is followed by right hand, a still more emphatic sign of active strength. To find, in this connection includes the ideas of detecting and reaching. Comp. 1 Sam. xxiii. 17; Is. x. 10, in 'ho latter of which places the verb is con- strued with a preposition ( 7 ), as it is in the first clause of the verse before us, whereas in the other clause it governs the noun directly. If any difference of meaning was intended, it is probably not greater than that between Jind and Jind out in English." — C. A. B ] Ver. 9. Set as a fiery oven. — Hupfeld pre- fers to regard this as a nominative, because he refers the passage to God,* whose wrath is fre- quently described as a consuming fire, whose punishment Is. xxxi. 9; Mai. iii. 19 is compared with a fiery oven as the instrument of consuming. But even with this interpretation "set" is an expression derived from other connections; and Jehovah is not spoken of as a devouring fire until the following clause. Most interpreters, therefore, explain the expression, as a loose comparison and remind us of Sodom, whose smoke (Gen. xix. 28) is compared to the smoke of a furnace, or to the consuming of the Ammonites in the oven (2 Sam xii 31). — In the time of thy angry look. [A. V. thine anger\ — Since the king is in the presence of Jehovah, ver. 6, when he directs his face upon his enemies, it exerts that destructive power which is usually ascribed to the angry look ot Jehovah Hitzig understands these words of his personal appear- ance (2 Sam. xvii. 11). [So Riehm: "When thou (the king) marchest personally against them at the head of thy army and showest them thy countenance, before which namely, they wi'll not stand but will fall."— C. A. B.] [Str. VI Ver. 10. Perowne. "Their fruit, * [Hupfeld: 'Thou wilt be for them as a fiery oven."— C. A. 11.] 164 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. =children, posterity, etc., Lam. ii. 20, Hos. ix. 16; more fully ' fruit of the womb,' Ps. cxxvii. 3; cxxxii. 11."— C. A. B.] Sir. VII. [Ver. 11. " They have stretched out evil (A. V.: They intended evil). — Barnes : " The idea seems to be derived from stretching out or laying snares, nets, or gins, for the pur- pose of taking wild beasts. That is, they formed a, plan or purpose to bring evil upon God and His cause : as the hunter or fowler forms a pur- pose or plan to take wild beasts." So Moll and most interpreters. But Hengst., Hitzig, De- litzsch and Riehm render it " They bent evil over thee," that is in order to cast it down upon thee, vid. the parallel expression, Ps. lv. 3 ; 2 Sam. xv. — They shall not prevail. — The rendering of the A. V as a relative clause " which they are not able to perforin," is inexact and spoils the force of the poetry. Ver. 12. For thou wilt make them turn their back (lit., make them shoulder, vid. Ps. xviii. 40), with thy (bow) strings wilt thou also aim against their face. — Alexander: "The common version of the first word [there- fore) is not only contrary to usage, but disturbs the sense by obscuring the connection with the foregoing verse, which is thus : ' They shall not prevail, because Thou shalt make them turn their back.'" — C. A. B.]. Luther remarks upon this verse: "Their troubles excite them to flight, and the bow hastening against them compels them to return, and thus they are taken in a strait, and are in such a condition that they fall out of the frying pan into the fire."* [Ver. 13. Perowne : " The singer has done with his good wishes and prophecies for the king. Now he turns to the Giver of victory, and prays Him to manifest Himself in all His power and glory, that His people may ever ac- knowledge Him as the only aource of their strength." — C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. Thankfulness for received help is becoming. There is great salvation when heart and lip agree in it, and people and prince unite in it, as well as in the prayer for help. And when a king rejoices more in God's strength than in his own strength, and when the congregation ac- knowledges the same with praise, it is a sign of correct judgment and true piety, which gives us hope of further blessings and opens the sources of enduring happiness. 2. He who can wear a crown has attained to much honor and greatness If he has received it from God's hand, he may reckon it among the great blessings of success. If he continues to remember whence his crown came, it will not bring any spiritual injury to him, or do any in- jury to his soul. He will give God the honor in thankful joy, and in humble faith ask of God what he needs; but more than the golden crown will he value the imperishable crown of eternal life and the crown of righteousness, and indeed as the gracious gift of Him whodoes exceeding abundant above all that we ask and understand. * [Qermin : Jus dem Regen in die Traufe, that is, out of the rain and into the water which falls from the roof. — C. A.B.J 3. He who receives blessings from God, has likewise to spread them abroad upon others. But the greatest blessings are received and spread abroad by the bearers of divine revelation, the mediators of the history of redemption. Their communications not unfrequently, it is true, tran- scend the immediate understanding; but there is no occasion in this to conceal and withhold them from the congregation. In them is developed rather the understanding of revealed truth and participation in the salvation and life bestowed on them by God. 4. The pious experience the greatest joy when they are with God, here on earth in the foretaste of grace, especially in Divine service, there in the full enjoyment of life., when after awaking they are satisfied with the form of God (Ps. xvii. 15). During this earthly life there are still many ene- mies to combat, which ar"e inflamed even to hate, exe^t their strength to destroy the pious, and in their craftiness st retch out their nets of destruction against them. But he who puts his trust in God, will not totter or fall, but rather will not only be delivered and preserved by the grace of the Almighty, but will completely vanquish and tri- umph over his enemies 5. In these circumstances and. relations there is a reason and summons to daily petition and thanksgiving. For we could not dispense with God's rising up to our assistance, and the efficacy of His power, in any undertaking or situation of our life. This, moreover, we ought likewise to recognize, and to express with glad thankfulness in praising God, who is as much the true Hero and the true Conqueror, as the Lord over all lords and King over all kings. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. True thankfulness towards God is an expression of pious joy, and indeed not only in the help and gifts that have been received, but chiefly in the strength and love of God which has been made known. — God hears prayer, but He does far more and gives far more than all we ask or understand. — A pious king confesses that he has his crown from God, but he values the crown of eternal life far more than the golden crown, and the joy in the presence of God is worth more to him than the glory of earthly success. — He who has been anointed by God, is placed by God as a blessing for others, but this Divine purpose finds its complete realiza- tion in Jesus Christ alone. — He who bases him- self in the love of God, and supports himself upon the strength of the Most High, has the best se- curity against tottering and falling — The glory, grandeur, and strength of princes is only a re- flection of the majesty of God; therefore those are the greatest among them who serve God the most conscientiously. — The anointed of God has a two- fold task to perform ; he is 1) a mediator of Di- vine blessing, and 2) an executor of Divine judg- ment. Starke: God's goodness is still so great to- wards His children that He often gives them much more than they have the courage to ask or to»hope (Eph. iii. 20). — As long as Christ lives, His believers must likewise live ; for His life is their life (John xiv. 19). — The worldly-minded trouble themselves only for temporal blessings, PSALM XXII. 165 health of body, riches, great honor, and long life ; but all this is a dream and shadow in com- parison with the heavenly and eternal blessings of the pious. — True joy is beholding the face of God, which takes place here on earth in faith, and in the Word, but in heaven face to face (1 John iii. 2). — However coldly God now seems to look upon the enemies of Christ, the more will His anger burn against them in the future. — As the enemies of the Church are unable to carry out their wicked designs against the Head of the church, so they will not against His members. Therefore lie comforted ye children of the Most High ! He who is for us, is greater and stronger than all that are against, us (1 John iv. 4). — Osi- ANDER: God looks for awhile upon the pride of His enemies ; yet if He has stored up against them for a long time, He will punish with still greater severity afterwards. — Geier: God has His limited time as well for His wrath as for Hisgrac e. — Frisch: Joy must finally follow pain : help follow trouble; the blessing the curse; the golden crown the crown of thorns; life death ; decoration ami honor shame. — KiEr.KR: From the thankful recognition of what God has thus far done for the king, and therefore for the whole people, flows good confidence in still fur- ther assistance from God. — Guenther: All re- gents in the world are only instruments of God to bless and chastise the nations. — Dieduioh: Trust in God is an inexhaustible strength, which maintains the victory in all necessities, and through all sufferings. — Where God gives joy, nothing will venture to trouble us. [Matth. Henry : When God's blessings come sooner, and prove richer, than we imagine — when they are given before we prayed for them, before we were ready for them, nay, when we feared the contrary, — then it may be truly said, that He prevented us with them. Nothing, in- deed, prevented Christ ; but to mankind never was any favor more preventing than our redemp- tion by Christ, and all the blessed fruits of His mediation. — Barnes : Truth meets error boldly; face to face, and is not afraid of a fair fight. In every such conflict error will ultimately yield ; and whenever the wicked come openly into con- flict with God, they must be compelled to turn and flee. — If all the devices and desires of the wicked were accomplished, righteousness would soon cease in the earth, religion and virtue would come to an end, and even God would cease to occupy the throne. — Spurgeon : Mercy in the case of many of us, ran before our desires and prayers, and it ever outruns our endeavors and expectancies, and even our hopes are left to lag behind. — Prevenient grace deserves a song. — All our mercies are to be viewed as " blessings ," gifts of a blessed God, meant to make us blessed ; they are " blessings of goodness ," not of merit, but of free favor ; and they come to us in a prevent- ing way, a way of prudent foresight, such as only preventing love could have arranged. — For a time the foes of God may make bold advances, and threaten to overthrow everything, but a few ticks of the clock will alter the face of their affairs. — At first they advance impudently enough, but Je- hovah meets them to their teeth, and a taste of the sharp judgments of God speedily makes them flee in dismay. — C. A. B.] PSALM XXII. To the chief Musician upon A{icldh Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? Why art thou so far from helping mc, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not ; And in the Dight season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, 0 thou that inhabitcst the praises of Israel. Onr fathers trusted in thee : They trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered : They trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man ; A reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 166 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. 8 He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: Let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. 9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb : Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. 10 I was cast upon thee from the womb : Thou art my God from my mother's belly. 11 Be not far from me ; for trouble is near; For there is none to help. 12 Many bulls have compassed me : Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, As a ravening and a roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint: My heart is like wax ; It is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws ; And thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16 For dogs have compassed me : The assembly of the wicked have inclosed me; They pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I may tell all my bones: They look and stare upon me. 18 They part my garments among them, And cast lots upon my vesture. 19 But be not thou far from me, O Lord: 0 my strength, haste thee to help me. 20 Deliver my soul from the sword ; My darling from the power of the dog. 21 Save me from the lion's mouth : For thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. 22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren : In the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 23 Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; All ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him ; And fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted ; Neither hath he hid his face from him; But when he cried unto him, he heard. 25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation : 1 will pay my vows before them that fear him. 26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied : They shall praise the Lord that seek him: Your heart shall live forever. 27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: And all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 28 For the kingdom is the Lord's : And he is the governor among the nations. PSALM XXII. 1G7 29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: All they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: And none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him ; It shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness Unto a people that shall be bom, that he hath done this. 30 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents and Composition. With respect to the Title, vid. Introduction. — The Psalm begins with calling upon God, which manifests itself di- rectly as an anxious cry of one severely troubled and presents itself as an anxious inquiry for the reason of his being forsaken by God (ver. 1), in which condition the sufferer finds himself exter- nally, though internally he is closely united to God; for his loud and persevering cry for deliver- ance has not yet had a hearing (ver. 2). This, however, is contrary to the nature of God (ver. 3), and the experience of the fathers (vers. 4, 5). The misery of the sufferer who is now almost crushed, is tho more painful and inconceivable, that together with his sad condition, his trust in God, which is well known to the people, is made the object of bitter scorn (vers. G-8). Though scorned, he recognizes and asserts his commu- nion with God as proved to him from his birth (vers. 9, 10). On this very account he again lifts up the cry of prayer for deliverance from nearer and greater peril of death (ver. 11), which he now describes at first according to its external fearfulness (vers. 12-13), and then according to its effects upon his person (vers. 14, 15), and finally according to its speedy accomplishment already explained by his enemies (vers. 16-18). The prayer itself is then uttered according to its essen- tial subject (vers. 19-21), and closes in a form which includes the assurance of its being heard. The consequence of this will be the praise of God in the congregation of the brethren by the mouth of the delivered one, (vers. 22-24), who will ful- fil the vows now uttered (ver. 25), from which again salvation will arise forever for those who fear God and share therein (ver. 26). The lat- ter will consist, likewise of converted heathen (ver. 27), in whom God will vindicate His sove- reignty (ver. 28), all of whom however He feeds, because they serve Him (ver. 29), and thereby preserves from generation to generation the seed of the servants of God (ver. 30), and causes it to grow into a people of God, in which is proclaimed what He has done for them (ver. 31). Thus a close and compact train of thought is given, which rises from the straits of personal affliction not only to the heights of assurance of faith in a sure deliverauce by God, but advances to the sub- lime vision of sure salvation in God, for those out of all nations, who are converted to God. In this vision there is so little evidence of a later composition, that rather the Judaistic particula rism is later, whilst the prophecies of the bless- ing of all nations in the seed of Abraham be- longed already to the patriarchal period. Just so with the language of the I'salm. Delitzsch has shown not a few correspondences with Davidic Psalms.* Bohl reminds us of the fact that in yo- * [Delitzsch: "The call of prayer pmJV^K (Ps. xxii. mam, ver. 2, we have an ancient Hebrew accu- sative ending afterwards lost, which is according to Oppert (Journ. Asiat., 1857) frequent in the Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions, as well as the accusative ending in fyth used already in the Pentateuch which is seen in the two hapaxlegom., rwV«, ver. 19, and niJJ>, ver. 24. A historical reference to the conduct of the pious as opposed to the rebels in the Maccabean times (Olsh.) or to that of the Jewish people in exile in their afflic- tion by the heathen (lsaki, Kimchi, De Wette, Ewald),* can no more be proved than the compo- sition by the prophet Jeremiah in the days of his ill-treatment and subsequent deliverance (Jer. xxxvii. 11 sq ) shortly before the destruction of Judah, whence the prospect of a new generation, and the entirely different tone of the Psalm in the former and latter halves is to be explained (Hitzig) ; or indeed its composition by the king Hezekiak in the time of his distress and deliver- ance from Sennacherib (Jahn). The structure of the strophes, verses, and lines, likewise, in part very dissimilar in length and rythm, leads not to the time of the transition from the concise into the loose style, or to a writer of less poetic talentand skill, but argues rather against the sup- position of mere literary labor, or of a free po- etical conception or composition, especially if we estimate the fact, that all is treated individually and in personal terms, and is referred to actual events and experiences. Its Messianic Character. — If now we ask to what person, and to whose circumstances, senti- ments, and character, the words here spoken are entirely appropriate, the answer can only be, to king David for the most part, yet almost still more to Jesus which is Christ. This is so gene- rally recognized that it is unnecessary to adduce the particular features which fully justify it. The more difficult question, however, is this, whether these are only analogies, which have naturally occasioned a comparison of the fate 11, 19: xxxv. 22; xxxviii. 21, used lxxi.12), thonamoof the si. ul nTrV (Ps. xxii. 20 : xxxv. 17 i. the designation of quiet and resignation by rYDH (Ps.xxii.2; xxxix. 2; lxxii. 1; comp. Ixv. 1 ) ure to us, who do not limit the genuine Davidic Psalms with Hitzig to Pss. iii.-xix. as Davidic peculiarities. In other respects, likewise, there Are not lacking similarities willi other ancient Davidic Psalms (coinp. Ps. xxii. 29 with I's. xxviii. 1. going down to the dust, to the pit, then in later Psalms, as i's cxliii. 7. in Isaiah and Ezek.) especially those of the time of Saul, as Ps. lxix. (comp. Ps. xxii. 26 with lxix. 32) and Ps. lix. (comp. Ps. xxii. 10 with lix. 14").— C. A. B.] * ("Perowne : " The older Jewish interpreters felt the diffi- culty, and thought that the sorrows of Israel in exile were tic- subject of the singer's complaint — Without adopting this view to the full extent, it is so far worthy of consideration that it points to what is probably the correct view, viz., that the Psalm was composed by one of the exiles during the Ba- bylonish captivity. And though the feelings and expres- sions are clearly individual, not national, yet they are the feelings and expressions of one who suffers not merely as an individual, but so to speak in a representative character."— C. A. BO 168 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. and words of Jesus with the present description, and rendered their application to Him possible, without doing violence to the text (Matth. xxvii. 85,43,46; Markxv. 34; John xix. 23 sq. ; Heb. ii. 11 sq.) He who merely grants this, will soon be convinced that he cannot stop here. For the relation between the Biblical David and David's son consists not in mere particular resemblances, but in a thorough-going relationship, and is founded not in accidental criticisms, or in con- nections of one's own choosing, which are then spun out further in scholastic forms; but in the government of God in history. In this connec- tion the Psalm must at least be regarded as ty- pical; and indeed we are not allowed to think either of the personification of the people of Is- rael by an unknown poet (De Wette, Olsh.), or to insert between Christ and David the ideal per- son of the righteous (Hengst. ), for the references are entirely concrete and individual.* But even this definition does not suffice. The question still remains to be answered, whether the Psalm is to be regarded as merely typical, or typical- prophetical, or merely prophetical, that is di- rectly and immediately Messianic. In the first case David speaks not at all of the Messiah, but of himself and his own adventures — of the effects and consequences connected with them ; and the typical reference of these words would be only subsequently in the congregation. This suppo- sition is opposed by the circumstance, that in the life of David, whilst the time of the persecution by Saul might afford the historical foundation for such expressions (Calv., Venem., Thol., et al.), yet no circumstances known to us, not even 1 Sam. xxiii. 25 sq, (von Hofmann), in them- selves justify such complaints and such hopes as those here expressed. Moreover, the supposi- tion of a poetical summary of his experience by the much tried king in the evening of his lite, finds its refutation in the individual character- istics of the Psalm already repeatedly mentioned. The pure historical interpretation (Paulus, Eck- ermann, De Wette, Hupfeld, Hitzig, and in part Hofmann) which at most makes it a mere type, which according to Kurtz, was discovered only after its fulfilment by the writers of the New Testament, is entirely unsatisfactory. So like- wise the merely prophetical or direct Messianic interpretation of the ancient synagogue, which regards the Hind of the morning directly as the name of the Shekinah, and as a symbol of the approaching redemption, so likewise the ortho- doxy of the ancient church, which referred each and all literally and properly to Christ alone, excluding David. f For that ancient iuterpreta- * [ Alexander follows Hengstenberg thus : " The subject of this Psalm is the deliverance of a righteous sufferer from his enemies, and the effrtct of this deliverance on others. It is bo framed as to he applied without violence to any case be- longing to the class described, yet so that it was fully veri- fied only in Christ, the Head and representative of the class in question. The immediate speaker in the Psalm is an ideal person, the righteous servant of Jehovah, but his words may, to a certain extent, be appropriated by any suffering believer, and by the whole suffering church, as they have been in all ages ."— C. A. 1$.] t [Wordsworth : "The Hind represents innocence perse, cv.ted by those who are compared in the Psalm to huntsmen, with their dogs chasing it to death, see ver. 16. And the Hind is called the Hind of the vwrninq. Such was Christ at His Passion. He was hunted as a hind ; He was the ' Day- epring from on high ;' He was lovely and pure as the moni- tion that it is the Messiah Himself who speaks, is inconsistent with the character of the Psalm, which is throughout of the Old Testament and lyri- cal, and there is not a syllable to show that any other person is to be regarded as speaking in the place of the Psalmist. And the new phase of this interpretation, that the author has trans- ported himself into the person of Christ, speak- ing from Him in the first person (J. D. Mich., Knapp, Clauss, et al.) is in part merely the in- version of the formula of this standpoint, partly a half-way attempt to reconcile the historical and Messianic interpretations. For a mere external union of both interpretations whereby some por- tions are referred to David, others to the Mes- siah, according as the individual features of the description suit the one or the other (lludinger, Venema, Dathe) would not satisfy us any more than the acceptance of a double sense, a histori- cal and a Messianic (Stier). The first men- tioned attempt, namely, destroys theunity of the text and its references, but the last mentioned supposition destroys the unity of its meaning. It is necessary therefore to define the typical Messianic interpretation (Melancthon, Calvin, Grot., Cleric, Umbreit, Thol., Keil) more ac- curately as typical prophetical. Then there is not wrought into the text by the Holy Spirit a Messianic sense unknown to the Psalmist himself, in a form of words which has found its real fulfilment in the history of Jesus; but David in the Spirit, that is speaking as a prophet has regarded himself as a type of the Messiah and prophesies even on this account, because he speaks as such. But then the composition can- not fall into as early a period of David's life as the time of the persecution by Saul, to which with a corresponding fundamental idea, even, Delitzsch and Bohl still refer. With much greater probability we might think of the time \ of the flight from Absalom to the wilderness (Rudinger), and the danger of losing throne and life connected therewith. I prefer, however, the circumstances to which Ps. xviii. refer, with its conclusion which has a Messianic character. The prophetic character of this Psalm is express- ly brought out in John xix. 24, together with the prophetical character of the Psalmist. Math, xxvii. 35. The typical character of the Psalm is moreover confirmed by the fact that Jesus on the cross speaks partly from the circumstances described in this Psalm (John xix. 28, 30), partly prays, lamenting in the words which begin this Psalm (Math, xxvii. 46; Mark xv. 34); yet not in words of exactly the same sound, but in the Aramaic dialect, accordingly not as a quotation, moreover not. merely as applied to Himself, but as language entirely appropriated. Only on the ground of this actual appropriation could ver 22 of this Psalm be treated in Heb. ii. 11, as the ing; and early in the morning. ' while it was yet dark,' His savage hunters thirsted for His death (Matth. xxvi. 57; xxvii. 11. Christ, the innocent and spotless Hind, is con- trasted in the Psalm with the bulls of Bashan, and the ra- vening and roaring lion (vers. 12, 13).'" — ''The concurrent opinion of all ancient expositors may be summed up in the words of St. Augustine here: ' Dicuntur hiec inpersnnd Cm- cifixi ;' or, as Theodoret expresses it, 'f.). nor indeed as an exact inquiry for the reasons, demanding infor- mation and account (Hengst. ). Nor does it show that in the height of suffering the speaker has lost the recollection, why he thus suffers (Bolil), but it is an anxious inquiry of the soul, lament- ing (Calvin) and troubled, which suffers more under the inconsistency, that a man who is in- ternally dependent upon God can appear as externally separate from God and given up by Him, than by earthly and temporal affliction. There is no contradiction of Ps. xvi. 10, here; for the abandonment is not asserted as an abid- ing fact, but is expressed as an experience of a momentary condition. Only in this sense could Jesus appropriate these words in the pain of His death upon the cross. That He alone has reason and right to them (Berl. Bib., Stier) is an exag- gerated assertion. Luther correctly says : "All the sayings of this Psalm are not said to every one since all have not the same gifts and all have not the same sufferings." Respecting lamdh as Oxytonc vid. Ilupf. on Ps. x. 1. — Far from rny help (are the) words of my cry ! — That fact is expressed from which the preceding anxious question arose, and which is in contradiction to the previous history of Israel as the following verses show, namely, that the prayers of the pious man have not found a hearing. The ♦[Wordsworth thus sums up the Messianic references of the Psalm. "Our Lord adopted the first words of tins Psalm, When Hi' was on the cross ; ' My God, My God, why hast Tfunt forsaken ,1/e/' (Math, xxvii. 46: Mark xv. 34); and St. Je- rome justly says, ' Ex hoc aw'madvertimus, totum Psalmum a Domino incruce posito decantari.' And the Holy Spirit. ■peaking l>y two Apostles and Evangelists, St. Matthew (xxvii. 35), and St John (xix. 23), applies it to Christ. St. Matthew says, they crucified Him, and parted His garments, g lots, that it might he fulfilled which whs spoken by the Prophet, (i. e. in this Psalm ver. 18), or, as St. John has it, ' that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted My garments among them, and up *n My vesture did they cast lots.' And St. John says. (xix. 28), 'Jesns know- ing that all things were now accomplished that the Scripture might lie fulfilled ' (i. e. the Scripture in ver. 15). * saith I thirst.1 The language of those who persecuted Christ to death, is accurately described in the Psalm. 'All they that per me laugh me to scorn ; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, He /rusted in the Lord; let Him deliver Him i vers. 7, 8). Compare the mrrative of the Evangelists. 'They that passed by reviled Him, war/gin;] their heads'1 (Math, xxvii. 39). It is remarkable that the very words here Used in the Septuagint, cf£|uiu/cT>jpiaA>)i', are adopted in tin- Gospels (Math, xxvii. 39 ; Mark xv 29; Luke xxiii. 35.). 'They mocked Him, and said, He trusted i'i. G'»t,let Him deliver Ifim' (Math, xxvii. 41. «). And the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews quotes ver. 22 of this Psalm, and regards it as spoken by Christ: 'lie is not ■shamed to call them brethren, saying, / ipi'// declare Thy name unt > my brethren, in the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto Tliee' (Hob. ii. 12)."— C. A. B. ennllage numeri is no more against this explana- tion, than the circumstance, that in vers. 11 and 19, and frequently elsewhere, mention is made of God's being afar off. If we abandon this construction already followed by the ancient translations [A. V. likewise], then this construc- tion offers itself as the most correct, which re- gards the words " far from my help," as in tip- position to the preceding " forsaken," according- ly tis part of the lamentation and question, whereupon it would then be slated with the independent clause "words of my cry," that all that precedes constitutes the contents of the lamentation (Abeu Ezra, Olshausen, Hupfeld). But such a statement in the form of narration lias little agreement with the tone of the Psalm in other respects. Most recent interpreters after Isaki, Calv., Ruding., Cleric, supply the preposition min (=from) and regard the latter half of this line as in apposition to the former half. It is most natural then to regard both lines of the verse as a connected lamentation. For in interpreting the second line of the verse as an independent clause; far from my help, from the words of my lamentation, namely, art Thou (or more clearly putting that which is sup- plied at the beginning : Thou art, etc.), Mf^X could hardly be missing. Should we, howevrr, suppose an independent continuation of the inquiry (Kimchi, Rosenm., Buhl), then we ought to ex- pect the repetition of the interrogative particle. The supposition of a new question: Art Thou perhaps afar off? (Venenia), is still less suitable to the context. But against this entire construc- tion, not to mention its modifications are the following principal reasons: 1). That in accept- ing it the most natural and almost unavoidable connection of words would lead to taking the expression " the words of my cry," merely as an explanatory apposition to the words which immediately precede: "my help" which would give an entirely incorrect thought. 2). In order to avoid this interpretation, it is not sufficient merely to supply the preposition " from," but either "far from" or "and from " must be re- quired, especially in Hebrew where it is still more indispensable. Isaki indeed adds this, but it is not in the text. 8). Finally the thought, that God Himself is no longer reached by the words of him who cries out to Him in prayer, so great is His distance from Him, is entirely unbildical, and cannot be explained over again by the thought of his prayers failing tobe heard, which is the very thought that our explanation finds here. Hitzig on this account would change the reading here, because he accepts the continued influence of the preposition min, but very pro- perly denies, that such unlike ideas as help and words could be regarded as being in the same line without a repetition of the min. He puts as the original reading 'fMflBfOsssfroin my cry, which has been changed by a copyist, who had In mind Ps. xx. 5; xxi. 1, 5, into 'fyjW'Dssa from my help. Such an error in copying is pos- sible, yet it is unnecessary here. This explana- tion likewise is in contradiction with the text : "with the words" (Stier) which would demand ""0"G to which Kimchi adds the explanatory 170 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. clause " although Thou nearest." The mention of words, indicates that the cry was not inarticu- late and is the more necessary, as the cry is designated with the Hebrew expression for the roaring of a lion (ver. 13 ; Is. v. 29 ; Job iv. 10), which when used of human lamentation expresses the strength and violence of its utterance (Job iii. 24; Ps. xxxii. 3; xxxviii. 9). The transla- tion of the Sept. and Vulgate, "transgressions" may be referred to an interchange of two letters (X with J ) in the Hebrew word. The transla- tion of the Syr., "folly" is connected with its false interpretation of the entire clause, since it finds in the foolish words of the sufferer the reason of the refusal of Divine help. Ver. 2. My God, I cry for whole days and Thou dost not answer, and through the night, and calmness I (have) not. — Hit- zig finds in elohai an accusative of the object, " my God I call." Of those who accept the usual interpretation of it as a vocative, some (Olsh., Hupf., Bbhl,) regard it as the subject of the cry of prayer, but the majority as the direct invocation of God Himself which commences anew the sigh of prayer. To limit it to one day and one night of suffering, (Bade) is the more un- natural, since Heb. v. 7, shows that not even the crying of Jesus is to be limited to that mentioned in Matth. xxvii. 46.* The calmness is, according to the constant use of this Hebrew word, the silence of resignation in contrast with murmuring and complaining. Since the sufferer has thus far received neither help nor answer, this silence is not yet allotted to him. The explanation of it' as: hushing up, quieting, stilling (Stier, Hupf., Delitzsch), has no sufficient warrant in language or in fact ; still less the interpretation : rest through the cessation of sufferings (De Wette, Koster). The Chald. has correctly: silence. The Vulgate incorrectly after the Sept.: and not to my folly. The Syr. and Arab, are entirely different : and thou wilt not lay hold of me. Str. II. Ver. 3. Enthroned above the praises. — The translation "Inhabitant of the praises" (De We'te) [A. V. Thou that inhabitcsf,~\ is likewise possible according to the language. Then God the Holy One would be designated as the subject of the praises. The Sept. and Vulg. interpret it in a similar way, though they regard Him rather as the object of the praises, and their translation differs in other respects, thus: But Thou dwellest in the sanctuary. Thou praise of Israel. Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Flamin. et al. de- pending on the Hebrew text, translate: En- throned as the praise (Aquil. viivoq), that is, as He who is praised in Israel's songs of praise. The translation "The enthroned of the songs of praise" (Hengst. ) [that is, upon the songs of praise] is related to the preceding, but explained otherwise, that is tehilioth is regarded not as a metonymy, not as in opposition to yoscheb, but as a genitive. The Syriac has the correct transla- tion. This expression is parallel to and found- * [Delitzsch : " When the passion reached its highest point it had already heen preceded by days and nights of such wrestling, and what now was loud, was only the breaking forth of that struggle of prayer which in the second David constantly became more and more violent as he approached the catastropb.0." — C. A. B.] ed on the well-known predicate of God: throned above or upon the cherubim especially in Pss. lxxx. 1 ; xcix. 1, in the present form. But we must not conclude either from this or from the circumstance that the songs of praise (Ps. lxxviii., Ex. xv. 11; Is. lxiii. 7,) usually re- sounded in the sanctuary (Is. lxiv. 11), that we must here retain the reference to the temple, where Israel's songs of praise ascended as the clouds of incense, and likewise formed a throne for God (Aben Ezra, Calv., Buding, Gesen., Hupf., et al.). The following verses demand rather an interpretation broader and indepen- dent of the temple service. Moreover the cheru- bim, as is well known, are not confined to the temple. Still less, is the explanation incola laudentium Israditarum, justified by this enlarge- ment of the idea. Str. III. Ver. 6. Worm, as an indication of the most extreme degradation and helpless- ness with the secondary idea of contempt, so likewise Job xxv. 5, sq. ; Is. xli. 13, in which re- spect David compares himself, 1 Sam. xxv. 15, with a dead dog and a flea. With the following words [and no man] correspond the expression Is. liii. 3, ceasing from men [A. V. rejected of men]; we must likewise compare Is. xlix. 7; lii. 14, with reference to the servant of Jehovah. Ver. 7. Opening wide the mouth is regarded as a sign of hostile contempt, as a gesture of in- sulting, sneering scorn (Ps. xxxv. 21; Job xvi. 10), here expressed as bursting open and gaping by means of the lips. This is weakened by the Sept. and Vulg. into a speaking with the lips, by Jerome inexactly restored, as letting the lips hang. The shaking of the head (Ps. xliv. 14; cix. 25; 2 Kings xix. 21 ; Job xvi. 4 ; Lam. ii. 15), designates the situation of the sufferer as helpless (Matt, xxvii. 39), and is as a gesture of denial an expression of ironical pity, as like- wise the shaking of the hand (Zeph ii. 15), is a gesture of scorn. It is unnecessary to suppose a consent to the sufferings, which is glad to injure, and to find here a nodding of the head as an expression of assent. (Gesen., Baihinger, Thol., De Wette). Ver. 8. Roll upon Jehovah, [A. V. He trusted on the Lord~\. — Similar words follow the gestures of scorn. But it has nothing to do with religious scorn (De Wette), but with scoffing at the sufferer, who is regarded as irredeemably lost and as forsaken by God. His assurance that God is well pleased with him is regarded by his opponents as idle pretense and despicable boasting, for which they may scoff at him, on this very account that he is abandoned by God. It is not necessary to suppose a saying of the sufferer which is called out to him in irony (Hengst). The Sept. and the Syr. have taken the first word as a finite verb, the former in the signification: he has hoped, the latter: he has trusted [so A. V.]. Jerome likewise translates, confugit ad. The verb is then taken as reflexive =roll one-self, that is yield one-self, give one- self over to or trust on some one. The perfect, which Stier et al. regard as necessary on ac- count of Math, xxvii. 42 sq., is then either so re- garded that ?j is taken as infin. constr. and this for the infin. absol., which then might be put in- PSALM XXII. 171 etead of the finite verb (De Wette after more ancient interps.) ; or the reading is taken at once as hi (Ewald), J. D. Mich. (Orient. Bibl. xi. 208) even Sj from hll^Jl'l Ixtatus est. But the parallel passages Ps. xxxvii. 5; Prov. xvi. 3, decide that the reading of the text must be regarded as the imperative without its object (Ps.lv. 22). This is ironical counsel, (Cleric.) from which there is a sudden change to the t hird person (Hupfeld) with a malicious side glance (Delitzsch), whilst at the same time with these words the back is turned to the sufferer (Bohl). It is thus not necessary to think of the infin. absol. used for the imperative (Hitzig). — The subject of the last clause of this verse is not the sufferer (The Rabbins, Rosenm., Baihing., Tholuck) but God (Calvin and most interps.) ; for the Hebrew expression occurs only of the dealings of God with man and not conversely. In Ps. xci. 14, cited by Rosenm. in favor of his view, a differ- ent word is used. The scorn is stilt" further sharpened (Geier) by the conjunction " be- cause " [A. V. seeing"]. In Math, xxvii. 43, "if" is used, it is true, but not as a citation. To translate by " if " in this passage likewise with the Syr., is not justified by the remarks of Hitzig at least, that the speakers neither knew that He would save the sufferer, nor indeed that He had pleasure in him. The words are scoffing it is true, yet such that they juilge themselves, because they pervert and distort the earnestness of the fact, that there has been between God and this sufferer at all times a relation of love, which showed itself on the one part as protec- tion and help in life, on the other part as re- signation and trust. Hence the connection with the following verse by the affirmative "3. This is not in contradiction with the fact that at the close of ver. 15 God Himself is addressed as the one who lays the sufferer in the dust of death. God is not thereby placed alongside of the enemies, but this feature serves very particu- larly to make noticeable the typical character of this Psalm. It belongs to the sufferings of the servant of Jehovah that notwithstanding his innocence, his sufferings are represented as be- longing to his calling and not as merely caused by his enemies but likewise as brought about by God. Sir. IV. Ver. 9. [Perowne: "Faith turns the mockery of his enemies into an argument of deliverance. They mock my trust in Thee — yea I do trust in Thee ; for Thou art He," etc. — C. A. B.]. — Made me careless on the breast of my mother. — I have chosen this expression because t lie biphil of UD2 can mean "make to lie securely " as well as "to make trustful," and there is no reason to accept exclusively the former (Venema, Rosenm., De Wette, Gesen., Hupf.), which would render prominent the secure and comfortable condition of the suckling under the protection of God on the mother's breast; or the latter (Chald. and most interpreters), which em- phasizes the early time of the trust wrought by God in the suckling. A trust to the mother's breast (Hitzig), however, is not said nor meant, but on the mother's breast to God, and it is psychologically the less assailable, as Jewish mothers were accustomed to suckle their chil- dren until their third year. Too much, how- ever, is sought in the expressions, if it is found noteworthy, that the sufferer speaks only of his mother and at the same time hints at the begin- ning of his lite as in poverty (Delitzsch*) or if an allusion is found to the taking up of the regene- rate in the bosom of the Father as a sign of recognition and adoption (Gen. xvi. 2; 1.23; Job iii. 12), with reference to the thought, that God treats him as a Father (Cleric, J. II. Mich., Hengst. ). Str. V. Ver. 12. Bashan designates, in the narrower geographical sense, originally the northern part of the land on the other side of the Jordan, the basaltic table land between Her- mon and Jarmuk, which contains only pasture land ; in the wider original political sense (Deut. iii. 13; Josh. xii. 4), which then had become geographical (Hupf.), at the same time the northern Gilead even to the Jabbok (the present 'Aglun) with mountains of many peaks (Ps. lxviii. 16), embracing dense oak forests (Isa. ii. 13; Ezek. xxvii. 6; Zech. xi. '2) and fat pastures (Mic. v. 14; Jer. 1. 19). Comp. Burckhardt, Eeisen in Sgrien, p. 396 sq., 419. — The rams and bulls of Bashan serve at times as figures of the people of Israel and especially of its distin- guished meu (Deut. xxxii. 14; Ezek. xxxix. 18; Am. iv. I ; comp. vi. 1), who have become luxu- rious, proud and godless by their prosperity. Moreover, the bulls, and especially the buffalos (instead of which Luther, after the Sept., Vulg., et al., incorrectly puts unicorns), are likewise partly figures of the full feeling of power (Num. xxiii. 22; Ps. xxix. 6; Isa. xxxiv. 7) and victo- rious strength (Deut. xxxiii. 17; Job xxxix. 12), partly figures of rage and ill nature (Robinson, Bib. Researches, II. 412 [Tristram, Natural His- torg of the Bible, p. 146. — C. A. B.]), and hence a designation of mighty enemies, with the pro- * [Delitzsch : " According to Biblical ideas there is in the newly-born child, yea in the unborn child, alive only in the mother's womb, already a consciousness growing up out of the uttermost depths of unconsciousness [Hih. Psychol, p. 215). Thus when he says in prayer, that he was thrown upon Jehovah from the lap, that is, with all his needs and cares solely ami alone referred to Ilini (Ps.lv.22; comp. lxxi. 6), that from the womh Jehovah was his God, there is more contained in this than the pure objective sense, that he grew up in such relation to God. Never in the old Testa- ment is there any mention of a human father, that is, a genitor of the Messiah, but always only of His mother or she that brings Him forth, 'the words of the one praying here likewise say, that the beginning of his life, with re- spect to external circnmstances was in poverty, which like- wise agrees with the old Testament and New Testament ideal oi Christ." Barnes agrees with Delitzsch, and is pro- bably correct, thus: "The idea is. that from his earliest years he had been led to trust in God; and he now pleads this fart as :i reason why He Bhotlld interpose to save him. Applied to the Redeemer as a man, it means that in His earliest child!* 1 He had trusted in God ; His liist breath- ings wen- those of piety; His lirst aspirations were for the Divine favor; His lirst love was the love of Cod;" and again, " He had been as it were, thrown early in life upon the protecting care of God. in some peculiar b :nse He had been more unprotected and defenceless than is common at that period of life, and Seowed His preservation then en- tirely to (oid. This, too, mini have passed through the mind of the Redeemer on the cross. In ties,- sad and desolate moments He may have recalled tie- - nee i His e irly lite — the events which had occurred to Him in His early years; the poverty of Qis mother, the manger, tin- persecution hy Herod, the Bight into Egypt, the return, the safety which Me then enjoyed from persecution in a distant part of the land of Palestine, in the obscure and unknown village of Nazareth."- C. A. B.j 172 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. pheticsil secondary idea of ungodly enemies of Jehovah (Hupfeld). In ver. 21, their horns are particularly mentioned as fearful weapons, whilst their gaping is, in ver. 13, the sign of their vo- racity. This forms the transition to the compa- rison with lions, introduced by an apposition merelv (comp. the examples by Kimchi), which roar when they behold their prey before falling upon it (Ps. civ. 21 ; Amos iii. 4). [Sir. VI. Ver. 14. I am poured out like ■water. — Barnes: "The sufferer now turns from his enemies, and describes the effect of all these outward persecutions and trials on himself. The meaning in this expression is, that all his strength was gone. It is remarkable that we have a similar expression, which is not easity accounted for, when we say of ourselves that we are as weak as water." An expression simi- lar to this occurs in Josh. vii. 5: "The hearts of the people melted, and became as water, Lam. ii. 19; Ps. lviii. 7." — My bones are out of joint. — Perowne: "Have separated them- selves, as of a man stretched upon the rack." — Wax. — The heart, which melts away under the consuming power of his distress, is compared to wax. So the mountains at the appearing of God, Ps. xcvii. 5, and the ungodly before the Divine presence, Ps. lxviii. 2. Ver. 15. My strength is dried up like a potsherd. — Barnes: "The meaning here is, that his strength was not vigorous like a green tree that was growing and that was full of sap, but. it was like a brittle piece of earthenware, so dry and fragile that it could be easily crumbled to pieces." — And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws. — Barnes: "The meaning here is, that his mouth was dry. and he could not speak. His tongue adhered to the roof of his mouth so that he could not use it — another description of the effects of intense thirst. Comp John xix. 28." — And Thou layest me in the dust of death (A. V., Thou hast brought me). — Hupfeld, Evvald, Perowne and Alexander: Thou wilt bring me or lag me. Moll and Delitzsch and Hitzig : Thou stretchest me, or Thou layest me to bed in. Pe- rowne: " Death must be the end, and it is Thy doing, Thou slayest me. So does the soul turn from seeing only the instruments of God's pun- ishments to God who employs these instruments. Even in the extremity of its forsakenness it still sees God above all. We are reminded of Peter's words, ' Him, being delivered according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and with wicked hands have cru- cified and slain.' " — C. A. B.] Str. VII. Ver. 16. [For dogs have com- passed me. — Barnes: "Men who resemble dogs ; harsh, snarling, fierce, ferocious." — The assembly of the wicked have inclosed me. — Barnes: "That is, they have surrounded me; they have come around me on all sides so that I might not escape. So they surrounded the Redeemer in the garden of Gethsemane when they arrested Him and bound Him ; so they surrounded Him when on His trial before the Sanhedrin and before Pilate ; and so they surrounded Him on the cross." — C. A. B.]. — Piercing through my hands and my feet. — This does not refer directly to the experience of Jesus upon the cross (Reinke with many of the more ancient interpreters). Moreover the remark of Gesenius, that the body of enemies is indeed pierced through, but not their hands and feet, does not suit. For the expression re- fers primarily and directly to the dogs (Bohl), which have been just mentioned as figurative of the band of the wicked which surround the suf- ferer, as they in other passages likewise are symbols of fierceness and impudence with the subordinate idea of impurity, which, however, does not lead to external heathen enemies (De Wette). These are here regarded by some (Symmach., Theodoret) as at once the pack of hounds of the hunter. In the Orient the dogs, which are half wild, and usually rove about in troops, are especially wicked and dangerous. They not only devour corpses (2 Kings ix. 35; Jer. xv. 3), but likewise attack travellers. In Persia even the sick and aged were set out to be devoured by dogs (Strabo).* It is characteristic that they are accustomed at first to gnaw off the flesh of the hands and feet and head (ffidmann vcrmischte Samml. V. 23, sq ). If now the much disputed word 'HSO is regarded after Pococke * . _. T o [noise miscell. after Maimonidis porta Mosis) as an abbreviated plural of the part.ciple of "1X3, re- lated to "112 (yid. more in detail Stier, Reinke, Bohl), which even Winer, De Wette, Gesen. (in Lehrgeb. p. 52G) grant as possible, it is not ne- cessary to change the reading itself in order to gain this sense which agrees entirely with the context, whose typical prophetical meaning is the less to be overlooked as the servant of Jeho- vah is said to be pierced in Isa. liii. 5 likewise, f yes Jehovah in him (Zech. xii. 10), and it is easy lor the original simple meaning of the word, "dig, bore," as in the Arabic and Greek, to pass over into the special meaning, or if it is here to be entirely vindicated, it corresponds likewise with the nearest historical connection (to the teeth and claws of the dogs) as the pro- phetical reference. It is therefore unnecessary to suppose a boring fast (or indeed to make spell-bound, which the Midrash even regards as with magical characters), whereby David would be given in the hands of bis enemies weaponless and without power of escape (Delitzsch), which sense others (at last Ewald, at first Aquila in the second edition of his translation, and then Symmach. and Jerome) find in the signification, * [Tristram, Natural Ilis'ory of the Bible, p. 79 : " Every Ori- ental city and village abounds with troops of hungry and half-savage dogs, which own allegiance rather to the place than to persons, and which wander about the streets and fields, howling dismally at night, and devouring even the dead bodies of men when they can reach them. Their habit is most exactly described by the Psalmist. ' At evening let them return ; and let them make a noise like a dog, und go round about the city. Let them wander up and down tor meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied ' (Ps. lix. 14, 15). 1 In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth 6liall dogs lick thy blood ' (1 Kings xxi. 19). ' The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat ' (vers. 23, 24.). Thus cruel, fierce ;\!m1 filthy persons are frequently compared to dogs (Ps. xxii. 10; Phil. iii. 2; Kev. xxii. 15. — the common dog of the towns is the same breed as that of the shepherd, often iu India called the Pariah dog, ami probably the nearest in ap- pearance to the wild original, not unlike the jackal, with short, sharp-pointed tars, sharp snout, generally a tawny coat and tail, scarcely bushy."— (J. A B.J f [A. V., not so true to the original, has rendered b^nO, " wounded." — C. A. B.] PSALM XXII. 173 "biinl, fetter," which is given to the word and which can be proved in the Arabic and Syriac. In the first edition Aquila had: "they soiled," or likewise, "they marred," that is, by bloody wounds. lint the signification of digging and boring through has been found in the word not only by the Vulgate and Pesoh., but likewise by the Septuagint before Christ. The ancient trans- lations, however, all have a finite verb. Possi- bly they have merely resolved the Hebrew par- ticiple, which though accepted by many, by Rosenm., Hengst., Hupf., et al„ after the exam- ple of Verbrugge (Observ Phil., 1730), is yet hotly contested , for it is at the farthest merely necessary to change the vowel points of the pre- sent text, which in the ancient iMaS. indeed are altogether missing, and instead of '^X.3 read '1X3, in order to set aside the objections to our •' T interpretation which are most worthy of con- sideration. But they have perhaps really had the reading 3"1X3 before them, which still occurs ° -: t in two unsuspected Codd. and is no more to be derived from Christian influence (Hupf.), than the received reading from Jewish (Calinet). On the other hand the form V"0 is found only in a late Cod., as a marginal gloss' only afterwards added. Of especial importance is the remark .'•f the little Masora, that ,"}*>3 in the two pas- sages (Ps. xxii. 10, Isa. xxxviii. 13) in which this form occurs, is in two different meanings. In the passage in Isaiah, however, the meaning "as the lion" is undoubted. The view, which in recent times has become the most, prevailing, that this translation is to be applied to our pas- sage likewise, has accordingly, no ancient au- thority for it, neither Christian, nor Jewish. For the Chald. originates not only from a rela- tively later period (Jahn, EinleiUmg I.), but in- serts the word "biting" as explanatory and as a paraphrase. Thereby the verb which is lack- ing in the translation "as the lion," is gained, and the entire iuappropriateness of the compa- rison, when the verb " inclose " is taken from the preceding clause or supplied, is to some ex- tent lost sight of. For it is well known that it is the habit, of the lion to cast himself upon his prey, with a spring, and with one blow to dash it down or pull it to the ground, but not to en- compass its "hands and feet," which does not take place with the tail even, with which it is said to make a circle (Kinichi). And it is very evident that the appeal to the fact that a£ times hands and feet mean the whole body or the per- son (Gesen., Hupf.) does not explain anything, but only puts the difficulty in stronger light. But even the interpolation of the Chald. is partly entirely arbitrary and unjustified, partly more adapted to conceal for the moment than to really set aside the objectionableness and iuappropri- ateness of the comparison. Since the definite article is used, the inappropriateness of the comparison in the translation, "the band of the wicked enclosed me, as the lion, at my hands and at my feet," is just as striking as the fact which is especially emphasized (Luther, Calv. et at., likewise De Wette and Olsh.), that, it is just as vain as it is an unjustifiable attempt to wish to do away with the objection by putting the point of comparison merely in the rage (Hengst.), or in the unsparing and fierce haste (Hilzig) of the lion-like enemies, and to find by an explanation which displaces the words, the meaning that the sufferer is so entirely sur- rounded by the crowd of his enemies, who are fierce as the lion and strong, or is so clasped on his hands and feet (Koster), that he can ueither de- fend himself witli his hands nor flee away with his feel (many since Abeu Ezra, likewise Hengst. and Hupf., which last prefer the acceptance of a, double accusative to the repetition of the verb). The same objections apply to the other verbs which have been supplied: to crush (Saadia), and: they threaten (Gesen.). But that the enemies are not. described as like the lion at the hands and feet (Hengst., previous interpretation, but since taken back), is just as evident as the impossibility of taking the disputed word as an accusative (Paul, in his Claois), which would suddenly compare the sufferer, who was lying as a worm in the dust, to a lion beset round about with dogs. From the inflexible feeling of the uutenableness of all these interpretations arises likewise the proposal to close the clauso with "lion," but to regard hands and feet as objects of "count" (Mendelssohn), an interpreta- tion which can be explained only as a desperate expedient. If now the lion is indeed called 'IX (Num. xxiv. 9; lsi. xxxviii. 13; Ezek. xxii. 25.; Amos v. 19), yet the reasons, as has been shown, which have been given by many interpreters for finding it in this disputed word are still less con- vincing, especially as in this Psalm the lion is mentioned twice (vers. 13 and 21) under the only name which is used elsewhere in the Psalms, rriK. Ver. 17. I can tell all my bones. — [Pe- rowne: " Before * all my bones are out of joint.' Hence it wauld seem that the body was racked by some violent torture; not merely emaciated by starvation and suffering. And thus in his ut- ter misery he is a gazing-stock to them that hate him; 'they look upon me,' i. e , with malicious satisfaction at my Bufferings," vid., Is. lii. Hand liii. 2, 3. — C. A. B.] In ancient psalters the counting of the members is treated as an act of the enemies in accordance with the Sept. and Vulgate. Ver. 18. They part my garments. — His death seems so much the more unavoidable, that his garments are treated as belonging to one al- ready dead, as possessions without an owner (v. Hofmann). The outer garments consisting of many pieces were divided, the under garment which was the immediate covering of the body was divided by lot. So John xix. 23 sq. This language is not of mere design (Rosenm., Jahn) but of fact, to which the entire description leads (Hengst.). If we cannot point to anything of the kind in the life of David, that does not alter the fact or justify us in explaining the clothing in the sense of property (Hupf.). The prophetical element comes out with the more prominence from the type. Sir. VIII. Ver 19 My strength.— God is designated by the nomen. abstr. .of rH as the essence and source of the strength of life (Ps. xxxviii. 4). The Sept. and Vulgate (the Syr. 174 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. likewise) with a different, division of the mem- bers of the verse, translate* Thou wilt not re- move Thy help from me. Ver. 20. From the sword . . from the power of the dog. — It does not follow from the remarks upon ver. 1G that we must translate, " paw of the dog." This would correspond only with the figures which immediately precede and follow (Delitzsch) and is not opposed by the fact that this paw (Lev. xi. 27) is called ^3 For in 1 Sam. xvii. 37, T is used of lions and bears. But since this last word is used elsewhere in the general meaning of power (Geier), yes, since the hand of the flame (Isa. xlvii. 14) and the hands of the sword (Job v. 20) are spoken of, as Isa. i. 20, the mouth of the sword; this general inter- pretation is to be preferred, the more as in the first member of the verse the sword is likewise not figurative, as Luke ii. 15, of heart-piercing woe (Sachs), but yet likewise not literal, but is to be taken in the general sense as indicating violent death, as Job xxvii. 14; Jer. xliii. 11. My solitary one. — The soul as life is, ac- cording to some interpreters, designated as the only one (Ex. xx. 2, 12 ; Judges xi. 34 ; Ps. xxxv. 17), that is, as that which is not present as double, and therefore is irreparable (Gesen., Hitzig, Delitzsch, el al.), yet without the second- ary idea of valuable, dear, and beloved, which is improperly brought in, in the strongest way in the English Bible ["my darling" both here and in Ps. xxxv. 17. — C. A. B.] Others (Jerome, Luther, Calvin, Geier, Stier, Hupfeld [Alexan- der]) prefer the idea of solitary, forsaken, with reference to Ps. xxv. 1(3; lxviii. 0; comp. cxlii. 4; John xvi. 23.* Ver. 21. Save me from the jaws of the lion. — Some, without sufficient reason, find in the singular, " of the lion," a reference to the devil, the arch enemy who stands behind all the assaults upon the servants and children of God (Theodoret, Stier). — And from the horns of the buffalo, [yes) Thou answerest me. — The Sept., Syr., Arab., do not regard the closing word as a verb, but as a noun = my lowliness. But already the Chald. and Jerome refer the * [Perowne adopts the former rendering : " My only one. The life is so called either because man has but one lite, or because it is the most precious of all tilings. Comp. Homer's ' K-qp and Plato's TiiouoTai-r; (\f/vx~n)." So Wordsworth, though with many forced allusions: "It is a memorable fact, that the masculine yachid occurs three times in one chapter of the historical books of the Old Testament, and in no other part of them ; and that chapter is Gen. xxii., which relates the sacrifice of Isaac, the only begotten son, whom his father loved, the type of Christ crucified. See Gen. xxii. 2, 12, 16. It is also a remarkable circumstance that the feminine word yachidah, which is the word used here, occurs only once in the historical books of the Old Testament; and that passage is the history of the sacrifice of Jephtbah's daughter (Judges xi. 31), on which it has been already ob- served that she was in several most interesting and beautiful respects a type of the pure human soul of Christ, offering itself a willing sacrifice on the cross. In the Psalms this word is used in another place which foretells the Passion of Christ, Ps. xxxv. 17. My darling is explained by the paral- lelism in both these places as meaning my soul, which is mine as being that which I possess, and which I willingly lay down, as Christ says : 'No man taketh my life (or soul, ipvxyv) from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again ' (John x. 17, IS). And that soul might well be called yechidah ; that is, an only child, and a daughter, on account of its dearness to God (vid. John i. 14, 18; iii. 16, 18; 1 John iv. 9). The feminine gender bespe ks intensity of tender feeling and dearness." — C. A. B.] word as a verb to his being heard. The form of the preterite and its position at the close make the transition to the following section; and in- clude the assurance that the prayer will be heard (Geier), yet not necessarily in the deliverance which had already taken place, or had often been experienced at previous times (Kimchi), espe- cially as the verb has the fundamental meaning of answering. Since now in Ps. xx. G a similar construction designates God's answer from hea- ven, the prevailing interpretation of the closing clause of this verse: "Hear me against the horna of the buft'alo," or " save me from the horns of the buffalo by hearing me," with the suppo- sition of a pregnant construction, as Is. xxxviii. 17; Jer. xv. 2 ; Pss. xxx. 4; lxviii. 19; cxviii. 5, appears the more objectionable, the more dif- ficult it would be in this very connection of the words in question, and the less properly the fact that the preterite in connection with the impe- rative can be taken in an optative sense is to be vindicated here, where the preterite stands at the close of a clause of urgent supplication, whilst the following clause expresses thankful- ness and vows on the basis of the hearing of the prayer, and then describes the grand conse- quences resulting therefrom. But it does not follow from this that the ) is either to be taken as adversative, or the clause must be regarded as relative, so that the experience of previous help from great dangers, figuratively represented by the horns of the buffalo, served as motive of the prayer (Kimchi, Hupfeld). The supposition of a sudden break in the construction is much easier (Stier, Hengst. ), by which would be ex- pressed the contrast to the lamentation, ver. 2, and the turn of thought which is now made, which is to be marked by a dash and an inserted yes, since it is not advisable, contrary to the received text, to wish to take the word as the grammati- cal antecedent (Venema) of the following verse, although it certainly is presupposed by it (Hup- feld) ["Perowne: " Before it had been, 'Thou answerest not,' — now at the most critical mo- ment Faith asserts her victory, 'Thou hast an- swered.' See the same sudden transition, the same quick assurance that prayer has been heard, Pss. vi. 9 ; xx. 7 ; xxvi. 12; xxviii. 6; xxxi. 22. The vows and thanksgiving which follow are a consequence of this assurance." — C. A. B.] Sir. IX. Vers. 22, 23. [Perowne: «' So or therefore will I tell. (Obs. the form with H paragog. as marking a consequence from what precedes) ' My brethren = the congregation = ye that fear Jehovah;' ver. 23, i. e., the whole na- tion of Israel, as follows. In ver. 23 the singer calls upon the Church (/Hp = tKK^.naia) topraise God. In ver. 24 he gives the reason for this ex- hortation ; the experience, viz., of God's mercy, and truth, and condescension, chiefly to himself, though not to the exclusion of others. For God is not like the proud ones of the earth. He does not despise the afflicted." — C. A. B.] Sir. X. Ver. 24. The affliction of the af- flicted.— This nomen. abstr., owing to a false de- rivation, is rendered by the Sept., Vulg., Pes- chitb, Chald., as prayer, or cry, and by Jerome as modestia. [Perowne : " The same word is used with Messianic reference, Is. liii. 4, 7 ; Zech. ix. PSALM XXII. 175 9. — He hath not hid (comp. Pss. x. 1; xiii. 1). . . . When he cried He heard. What a contrast between vers. 1, 2! Very remarkable is this confideuc acknowledgtuent of God's good- ness in bearing prayer.:' — C. A. B.] Str. XI. Ver. 25. From Thee (comes) my praise in the great congregation. — The sofig dt [iraise lias as its subject the deliverance by God, and on this account takes its departure, or its origin from God, who naturally, at the same time, remains as the object of the praise (ver. 22). [So Perowne: " From Thee, not (as A. V.) of Thee, as if God were the object, only of his praise. It is God Himself who has put this great subject of praise into his heart, and into his mouth. The will and the power to praise as well as the deliverance comes from Him. Comp. Ps. cxviii. 2-3, where the construction is precisely the Bame 'from Jehovah is this.'" — C. A. B.] — My vows will I pay. — It follows from the following verse, "they shall eat," that the refe- rence is to bringing, after the deliverance, the thank-offering, which was vowed during the trouble (Lev. vii. lf>). This was partaken of as a sacrificial meal with the legal assistance of the Levites (Lev. xii. 18; xiv. 20) and in company with invited friends (Prov. vii. 14, Josephus' Jewish War, vi. 9, 3), after that the sprinkling of the blood and the presentation of the fat pieces had taken place nt the altar. Since now in re- ference to the tithes, Dcut. xiv. 20; xxvi. 12, ami at the harvest feast, Dent. xvi. 11, an invi- tation of widows, orphans, and the poor, to par- ticipate in the meal, was prescribed, the refe- rence to the wretched can so much the less ap- pear strange in connection with the typical pro- phetical character of the Psalm; since even in sacrificial meals the participation of others than those legally invited was not excluded (Deut. xxxiii. 19; 1 Sun. ix. 13, 22). From the earli- est times, therefore, most Christian interpreters have referred this passage to the Lord's Supper, often directly and exclusively, which is indeed im- proper. Others have gone to the contrary extreme (Cleric, Venema, Rosenm., v. Hofmann, Hupf. ), partly by denying and partly by effacing the re- ference to the Shelamim offering, and have taken the eating, and becoming satisfied as merely a usual formula of prosperity and refreshment, and interpreted the thank-offering in the spiritual eense = songs of thanksgiving. Others suppose a merely spiritual participation under the figure of a meal (Umbreit, Tholuck, llengst., Bohl, Bad''). This much may be said, however, that the sensuous partaking and the material advan- were not the chief things in the sacrificial meals themselves, and that all offerings in the meaning of the law should be fulfilled with a dis- position corresponding to them ; that on this ac- couut the expression of thanks should excite a pious joy, and nourish and strengthen the spiri- tual life; and that in consequence of this even the song of thanksgiving itself can be designated as a sacrifice ( lleb. xiii. 15), and many expres- sions in the Old Testament, as in this Psalm, so likewise in Pss. 1. 1-4, 23; lxi. 5, 8; lxix. 30-32, and frequently are in a transition state from the narrower to the wider meaning, and from the proper to the figurative sense, as then the vow likewise not only refers to sacrifice (Ps. liv. 7 ; cxvi. 14) but likewise to the confession of Jeho- vah as deliverer (Jonah ii. 10). Moreover, in- dependent of the reference to sacrifice, the gene- ral preservation and strengthening of the life against hostile attacks are designated as a feeding by Jehovah (Ps. xxiii. 5), and this, again applied to the spiritual life, regarded as eating the word of God (Jer. xv 10; "comp. Ezech. iii. 1-3), and referred to the refreshment and satisfaction of men in the kingdom of God, is described as a meal prepared by God ( Isa. xxv. 6 8q.) Ver. 2ti. The afflicted shall eat.— The af- flicted are not those who are poor in this world's goods in a general sense, but the pious who are oppressed in the world. These are now called aniyim, now anavim. In the former word the ex- ternal affliction is more prominent, in the latter the internal affliction. The servant of Jehovah belongs among these sufferers first of all (Isa. liii. 4, 7 ; Zech. ix. 9), Sir XII. Ver. 27. Shall remember and turn unto Jehovah. — An important passage to characterize the heathen in their relation to God, whom they have forgotten (Ps. ix. 17), but to whom they will turn again, because Jehovah will vindicate His royal right to all nations (Gen. xviii. 25; Ps. xcvi. 10; xcix. 1; Zech. xiv. 9), when the proclamation of the Divine deliverance by Him who suffered as no other one suffered, comes to them. " The conversion of the nations by that preaching will be thus the realization of the kingdom of God." (Delitzsch). The promises to the patriarchs (Gen. xii. 3; xxviii. 14; comp. xviii. 18; xxii. 18; xxvi. 4) form the foundation of this view. Here likewise the prophetical mo- ment in the type is very manifest, and even in its expressions the discourse assumes the charac- ter of prophecy. The connection with the pre- vious clause is so exceedingly loose that v. Hof- mann denies the connection of thought that has been given, and finds merely the reference to this thought, what He is, a God who has heard the prayer, namely, the Ruler of the world to whom the worship of all nations is due. But Hupfeld, besides, leaves room for doubt, whether this con- clusion belonged originally to this Psalm, be- cause such an effect of the deliverance of the poet, and its proclamation upon the minds of the heathen, would have been too much to expect, and too fantastic. The ancient interpreters have, on this account, referred all to Christ, only they do not do justice to the intermediate mem- bers of the thought. Some interpreters (Heng- stenberg, Reinke), have sought to restore the close connection of the clauses, which is missing, by translating " consider "=tike to heart, in- stead of "remember" or "think of." This is just as unsatisfactory as unnecessary, like the proposal to take the verbs as jussive (Bbhl) as directly connected with the preceding wish. Ver. 19 even is sufficient to show the connec- tion. Ver. 29. They ate, and all the fat ones of the earth shall prostrate themselves, and before his face all those shall bend the knee who have fallen in the dust, and whosoever cannot keep his soul alive. — The preterite in close connection with the fol- lowing imperfects (futures) states the participa- tion in the meal as presupposed and as the 176 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. foundation of their worship and homage of God and the preservation of their own lives, but puts the whole in the time of the reception of the heathen into the communion of the people of God, which is surely to be expected. — In this relation the external position in life and charac- teristics make no diiference. It is for those who in the fat of the earth abound in worldly pros- perity and for those who have fallen down in the dust. It is an unfounded assertion, that the last expression must mean the dust of the grave and that therefore either a contrast is expressed of the living and dead, over whom the rule of God extends, in like manner as in Phil. ii. 10 (Mus- cul., Stier, v. Hofmann, Hupf.), or only a desig- nation of the human race in general as mortals (Flamiu., Cleric). For if it is generally granted that the expression, "sitting or dwelling in the dust," is a symbol of filth and thence of lowli- ness, sorrow, affliction, it cannot be doubted that those who have descended from the height of prosperity into such lowliness may be con- trasted as those who have fallen in the dust, namely of the earth, with those who are above in the fat of the earth, especially as constantly elsewhere it is made perceptible, as in ver. 15, that the reference is to the dust of death or of going down into the pit, death, Sheol (Pss. xxviii. 1; xxx. 3; lxxxviii. 4; Job viii. 9; xxxiii. 24). Only we must not take the contrast too narrowly, as is usually done, as that of the rich and poor, or of the strong in life and the frail, with which at times the entirely mislead- ing reference is mixed, that the latter by afflic- tion and destitution have been almost bowed down to the grave (Rosenm., De Wette). In the third clause of the verse, moreover, the refe- rence is not to the danger of perishing from hunger, but the definite thought steps forth from the veil of the figure, that it has to do with the preservation of life for every one in the most comprehensive sense. With this interpretation the clause is not a repetition of the previous clause with a change in the turn of expression (most interpreters). No more is it necessary, in order to get an in- dependent thought, to change the divisions of the verse and attach this clause to the following verse as antecedent (Hupf.) in the sense: If one has not remained alive himself, his seed will, etc. But this would give at least a clear idea and could find a support in the text. On the other hand the interpretation which follows is untenable according to its sense ami does not correspond with the words. Thus, it is said, there is only one class of persons spoken of in the entire passage, men of distinction as the repre- sentatives of the entire people and the thought is expressed, If these have eaten and worshipped and bowed themselves before God, because they were about to die, their seed will, etc., S^pt., Syr., Theodotion, Symmach., translate after another punctuation : and my soul lives for him. Ver. GO. The seed will serve Him : It ■will be told of the Lord to the [coming) generation. — Others (finally Delitzsch) trans- late : A seed, which will serve Him, will be counted to the Lord for a generation [similarly A. V. A seed shall serine Him : it shall be account- ed, etc.] But not to mention the destruction of the parallelism the subject of which is further carried out in the next verse, it is likewise doubt- ful whether this Hebrew word can have the meaning of "count" in the Piel. Besides ver. 22 is in favor of our interpretation. The 7 be- fore adonai is then as frequently=in reference to. The Sept., has: "my seed," and in the second member to which it attaches the first word of the following verse: The coming generation will be announced to the Lord. Ver. 31. His righteousness. — The right- eousness of God which is to be declared from generation to generation is not His virtue in general, still less His goodness (Rosenm.), but likewise not merely the righteousness shown in the deliverance of the pious (De Wette, Hengst.), but with reference to His entire conduct and government, in His keeping afar off from the pious for awhile, especially in His participation in their peril of death (ver. 15), which was hard to be understood of His righteousness. The reference is not at all to the righteousness purchased by the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ and accepta- ble before God. — That He has accomplished it. — The closing word is not absolute (=that He has acted, that is, shown Himself glorious, done well), but pregnant looking back upon the entirety of that which has now been carried out and accomplished according to the decree, as at the close of the narrative of the creation, Gen. ii. 3. It is scarcely to be doubted, that the last cry of the dying Jesus on the cross, looks back to this passage. The reference back to the righteousness mentioned in the preceding mem- ber of the verse is too narrow (Hitzig, "that He has exercised it"), or the explanation : the mira- cles which He has done (Chald.). It is inadmis- sible to regard the 'D as a relative with refer- ence to the people considered as the object which He has made (Sept., Vulg., Syr., Jerome). These with the exception of Jerome have added as the closing word: the Lord. So likewise Aquil. and Theodotion. The Vulgate has cceli between an- nuntiabunt and justitiam which may have wan- dered from Ps. 1. (Vulgate xlix.) to this place. "The righteousness of God has come out as an external act of His Omnipotence=Goodness in the work of redemption; and this doctrine i3 not a philosophical wisdom of the schools, but a transmitted declaration, that the Lord has ac- complished an act." (Umbreit). [Perowne : "Unnatural as I cannot help thinking, that interpretation is, which assumes that the Psalmist him; elf never felt the sorrows which he describes, nor the thankfulness which he utters, but only puts himself into the place of the Messiah who was to come, — I hold that to be a far worse error which sees here no fore- shadowing of Christ at all. Indeed, the coinci- dence between the sufferings of the Psalmist and the sufferings of Christ is so remarkable, that it is very surprising that any one should deny or question the relation between the type and anti- type."*—C. A. B.J * [Barnes: " The scene, in the Psalm is the cross, the Re- deemer suffering for the sius or men. The main features of the Psalm relate to the course of thoughts which there passed through the mind of the Redeemer ; His sorrow at the idea of heing abandoned by God ; His confidence in God ; the remembrance of His early hopes j His emotions at the PSALM XXII. 177 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. The pious sometimes experience calamities of such a fearful character, that the impression may arise, that the sufferer has been given up by God and left to his enemies. Then more painful than the oppression of suffering and more terri- ble than the peril of death, is the painful/eeZ//?^ of the contradiction on the one side between the sufferer's worth and his lot, particularly his de- votion to God, and his being forsaken by God, on the other side between the holy nature of God and His actions. On this account it seems more mysterious and perplexing, the more persevering and fervent the prayer proves to be, though un- heard, and the less the present actions of God agree with His usual dealings with His people, which they have experienced and praised at all times. "For although He is the same God, yet He has heard and delivered the fathers who have hoped and cried to Him; but He turns away from and forsakes this one who like- wise hopes and cries. It is truly a hard thing which greatly provokes one to despair and curs- ing, that God treats one differently from another without his being guilty ; for he who is per- plexed with such a trouble as this, feels such unutterable misery in his conscience." (Luther). 2. Yet in the truly pious, the anxious question of solicitude for the solution of this inconsistency, and the lament over the incongruity which has become perceptible, may struggle forth from the sighing of the oppressed heart, and take the form of a description of the greatness of its suffer- ings, but the lamentation does not become a com- plaint and the trouble does not end in despair, but faith in the holy government of God presses forth through all the anxiety and grief and pro- tects the sufferer, who has been cast down and almost crushed, from sinking in the abyss of de- spair and ruin; whilst it drives him to cling to Jehovah as his God and Helper, and thereby carries him over the chasm, which seems to open externally between him and his God, and inter- nally threatens to become a difference of experi- ence not to be denied. "Thou art the Holy One, etc., is a corrosive power which must more ami more entirely consume the Thou hast for- saken me." (Hengst.) 3. Yet before, the Divine deliverance, which cannot fail and yet seems to fail, really comes, the Buffering increases even to the peril of death and the trouble grows under the trials of faith and patience. These trials become the most dangerous and take the form of temptations when the right- eous man, who has often prayed for his people and constantly labored for their good, is not ill- treated by foreign enemies, but is cast forth as taunts and revilings of Ilia enemies; His consciousness of prostrated streugth ; His feelings as the soldiers pierced His hands and His feet, ami as they proceeded to divide His rami -iii ; His prayer that His enemies mi^ht not be suffered to ai complish their design, or to defeat the work of redeinp- ti .a ; His purpose to make God known to men; His assu- rance that the effect of His sufferings would be to bring the dwellers in (he earth in serve God, and to make His name and His righteousness known t>> far distant times. 1 regard the "hole Psalm, therefore, as applicable to the Messiah ■lone; and believing it to be inspired I cannot but feel that we have here a most interesting and affecting account, given long before it occurred, of what actually passed through the mitid of the Redeemer when on the cross'."— C. A. B.l 12 J an outcast by his own people, and when there is added to shame and scorn the heart-rending mockery of the martyr's trust in God. This trust he has shown from his youth and has experienced in its blessings from childhood, though now it is most sorely attacked whether as a foolish delu- sion or an idle pretence, whilst at the same time his cherished conviction has always been that he as righteous, is chosen of Jehovah, an object of His good pleasure and of the especial care of God. 4. The remembrance of the peace and careless- ness, and security of earliest youth and reflection upon the power and goodness of God wonderfully exhibited in the birth and care of man, even as a suckling, are especially touching comforting and cheering amid the afflictions, cares and struggles of an advanced life. "Tnis miracle has become common by its frequency, but if uuthanklulness did not close our eyes with blindness, every birth would fill us with astonishment, and so likewise every preservation of a child in his tender youth, who at his very first entrance into the world is awaited with a hundredfold death" (Calvin). " Experience " likewise teaches us " that we think of this tender, joyous, lovely work of God, and under the hard bites of the Divine wrath and the rod of God, have a refuge and refresh ourselves with the sweet and delightful milk of the womb, of the motherly heart and all those most tender mercies which have been shown to the age of childhood. In order that, as it is commanded us to remember the good days when it fares badly with us, so likewise we may not forget the great grace and benefits of God which He has shown to us from our youth, when we are anxious and in need, and that when we suf- fer as men, we may likewise think of what we have received of God as children " (Luther). 5. When the hand of God is found to be the power working in the very depths of the sufferings which we have had to bear and which have finally laid us in the dust of death, the bitterness of the experience of suffering is thereby inten- sified on the one side, yet the believing hope in a final hearing and deliverance is essentially strengthened on the other. Yet it is very hard to hold fast to both at the same time and in their true relation in the soul, especially when a proper and strong feeling of innocence is roused, and yet the prospect of deliverance has as well as disappeared ; and when the soul still holds fast to God, and cries out to him in the distance, yet the troubled look perceives only the nearness of its enemies, but does not see God drawing near to help. "As often as this darkness takes posses- sion of the souls of believers some unbelief is always intermingled, which does not let it arise at once inio the light of the new life. But in Christ in a wonderful manner both of these were united, the terror of God's curse and the patience of faith, thus calming all emotions so that they rested under the sovereignty of God" (Calvin). 6. As the prayer precedes the deliverance, so it is followed by thanksgiving ; and the vow of thanksgiving is already connected with the prayer in the certainly of the hearing of the prayer. Instead of the anxious cry, which in contrast with the praises of Israel, previously sounded from the mouth of the innocent and 178 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. horribly tortured victim, the song of praise of the delivered, is in future to resound in the assembly of his brothers, and the whole congre- gation is to hear, to their own edification, the decla- ration of the great and wonderful things that God has done to this one who was so afflicted and utterly lost. "God makes it exceeding agree- able so that all the godly must love and praise Him, that His eyes alone see and are turned upon the troubled aud poor, and the more despised and forsaken a man is, the nearer and more gracious God is to him" (Luther). 7. The congregation is not merely to hear in devout and loving sympathy, what God has done to one of its members and to learn the ivord of the glad tidings of his deliverance by joining in his thanksgiving and praise. Its members exter- nally and internally afflicted, like the delivered sufferer, who has previously called them "his brethren" (Heb. ii. 11 sq.), are to have their hearts refreshed by the festival which has been prepared by him and at which they are to be his guests, which according to his wish is to endure forever The sufferings of a servant of God like this, as well as his deliverance, transcend in their blessed effects his own person, and the circle of his im- mediate relatives; both have an importance and agency in the history of redemption, at first for Israel and then likewise for the heathen, since it has to do not merely with carnal relationship, but with spiritual resemblance and relation with the spread of the kingdom of God in the world, with the preservation and increase of the con- gregation of the Lord from all nations. 8. The heathen are, it is true, people who have forgotten God, but they have not been forgotten by God. Non igilur sic erant oblitse istse gentes JDeum, ut ejus nee commemoratse recordarentur (Au- gustine, detrin. 14, 13). AVith their need of re- demption is associated their capability of redemp- tion, but the icord of the completed redemption and the invitation to participate in its blessings comes to both according to the purpose of God and in His time (1 Tim. ii. 4-6). And this invi- tation, which is unlimited by the external rela- tions of men and is to be published to all, will be successful. Those who share in the festival meal offered to them, will recognize the royal right of God to all nations, and will personally, as men converted to Him, fulfil the homage and worship which is due to Him. 9. All this, however, will not be limited to a single generation, but will fulfil itself from gene- ration to generation. There will always be a seed to serve the Lord, and transmit to children and children's children, even to the invisible distance, the declaration of the fact that the Lord has ac- complished it and what He has accomplished. Thus there is opened for the sufferer on the border of the grave not only a prospect of personal deliver- ance, but likewise a view of the connection of his sufferings, and their effect and end, with the everlasting refreshment of his fellow-believers, and with the conversion of the heathen; and this is finally enlarged to the contemplation and the expression of the assurance that these gra- cious and saving effects will extend over the entire world and exhibit themselves powerfully through all time. The particularism of the Old Testament is thus done away with within itself, and the prophetical element breaks forth from the historical, form of David as undeniably typical. Compare Exegetical and Critical. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. The greatest trouble in all sufferings is trouble of soul ; nothing helps against this but prayer and trust in God. — Even the true children of God may be pained by the feeling that they are for- saken of God, when answer to prayer has long been delayed, especially in peril of death, yet this feeling is only transient. — Whoever does not give up God, even when his trouble of body and pain of soul has advanced to the highest point, soon has the experience that God has not forsaken him. — God may, it is true, delay His help, yet it does not fail, but it always comes at the right time. — When the help ardently implored tarries even the soul of the righteous has a feeling that God is afar off, yet he is not internally estranged from God, but seeks Him still more ardently. — In times of trouble perseverance in faith is very much strengthened: 1) by looking at the holiness of God; 2) by remembering the Divine care always exercised, partly over the fathers, partly over his own person; 3) by the prospect of the Divine blessings which go forth from these suffer- ings for others likewise — He who before his de- liverance not only cries but prays, will after his deliverance not only be glad but thankful. — What hast thou promised and voiced to God in trouble ? and how hast thou kept it ? — The sufferings of the righteous are according to the Divine pur- pose not only to be of advantage to the present congregation but likewise to the heathen through- out the entire world. — God will spread abroad His kingdom through the whole world, and vin- dicate His royal prerogative over all nations. Who is His righteous servant, by whom He ac- complishes such things ? — However great the apostasy from God maybe in the world, yet a righteous seed remains to Him, preserved through all generations, to do homage to Him and serve Him. — The promise of redemption, which has been purchased by the sufferings and triumph of the righteous servant of God, is likewise for the heathen, who not only need it, but are capable of receiving it. — The declaration of what the Lord has accomplished, is the very best thanks for His benefits and the most efficient means to bring about the recognition of His glory and the exten- sion of His name and His kingdom. Starke : The greatest pain to the troubled soul is not to be sure of the hearing of his prayers. — The ungodly even are often obliged against their will to give the best advice in trouble ; for in trouble what is better than to have a Lord to whom we can lament, and who can deliver us. — No shame can more dispirit the soul of a believer than to have his piety mocked, aud God's gracious looking upon him denied. — God is our God from our mother's womb. 0! that He would remain our God even till our last breath. — When we pray for deliverance from trouble we must bring before God a heart which despairs entirely of our own and of all other human help.— Be not afraid of the dust of death; Jesus has prepared it as a couch for you.— As often as you put on or take off your clothes, re- PSALM XXII. 179 member the fall of man and likewise the naked- ness of Christ; they will bring you to a know- ledge of sin, and keep you from all extravagance in dress. — That is a strength of faith, in t lie midst of the weakness of death to call the Lord his strength, expect, surely hope, and obtain strength from Him. — The chief reason for prais- ing God in time and eternity is for believers, that the Lord has provided redemption through Jesus, has carried it out, accepted it, and caused it to obtain their salvation. — That which Jesus gained by His bitter sufferings, He gives to His believers to enjoy. — Those who seek God find Him iu Christ, the Redeemer of the world, in such a consoling manner, that they can praise Him during their life and rejoice in Him forever. — The limits of the Church and the kingdom of Jesus have no end, but are to extend as far as the world ; let us diligently pray, Thy kingdom come. — Great riches and honor do not help to salvation ; there must be other riches, other food to satisfy the soul, and all the rich who would be saved must first become poor in spirit. — The poor aud despised members of the kingdom of Christ are not always to live in trouble; the time is coming when their afflictions will be ex- changed for enduring happiness. — Although the world is full of evil, yet there is a holy seed in it, which serves God. — The chief subject of evangelical doctrine is the making known of the righteousness purchased for us, and appropriated by us ; how then can true Christians do other- wise than seek to extend further and further the knowledge of this important truth which they have learned. Calvin: Whilst violence of pain and weak- ness of flesh will extort the cry : Why hast Thou forsaken me? faith adds thereto, his God, in order that he may not succumb, thus at the same time improving the invocation of God, who is said to have forsaken him; yes, faith hastens before, so that he already takes refuge in his God before he allows himself to utter the lamen- tation.— Satan can aim no more deadly shot against our souls, than when he robs us of hope by converting God's promises into mockery. — Osiander: If we are not always delivered in the way in which we desire it, yet we ought to know with certainty that we are no less truly heard, and a mighty help will soon ensue. — However ungodly aud unthankful the world may be, yet we ought not to despair of the Church of God ; for God always reserves some who ac- cept the doctriue and do not lack diligence in transmitting it to their posterity. — Rensciiel : The trouble and dear death of the Lord are the ground of the salvation which is prepared for the pious. — Selnekker: When trouble comes upon us whicli seems to be something, the devil strives to induce us not to pray and whispers dangerous and ungodly thoughts. These words alone stand against him : He has not despised, etc. [ver. 24], — Menzel : Christ reminds us by the name of brethren: 1) of His love and faith- fulness towards us all; 2) of the glory in which He sets us and to which He brings us ; 3) of our duty towards Him. — Bbbbbbqbr: Sin must be a very great burden, because it could be atoned for in no other way than by the severe sufferings of Christ. — Whoever hears of the sufferings of Christ should repent. — Baihinoer: That is the end of God's way, that He conducts all the nights of sorrow to a blessed end, and that He is praised on account of His benefits. — The pious sufferer vows to celebrate his deliverance by proclaiming the name of Jehovah. — Tholuck : These are the trials of faith, with which the wicked enemy intensifies the other trials of the body and the soul, when a pious man is given up to the furnace of suffering. — A soul that loves God more than self, would rather take upon it- self the floods of shame, than have merely a drop of it fall on the name of his God. — If men are friendly only to that which is high, God is most gracious to that which is low. — Prayer is the weapon with which the bars of the gates of heaven are burst open. — Stiller: The Gospel is the heavenly food, which brings comfort and refreshment; the guests at this heavenly meal are all nations upon the whole earth. — Taube : The first born among many brethren is the Holy One of Israel and its King; that begets in His people trust without, presumption. The Holy One of Israel is our brother ; that begets hu- mility without despair. — Diedricii : To the same extern as my soul has a share in Christ will it have the experience of this way through the cross to the crown. — The righteous man here in this world is cruelly hunted about like a poor hind ; but in God's eye he is yet so lovely that He finally sends the dawn of deliverance. [Matt. Henry: Spiritual desertions are the saint'ssorest afflictions. — When we are lamenting God's withdrawing.? yet still we must call Him our God, and continue to call upon Him as ours. — When we want the faith of assurance, we must live by the faith of adherence. — The entail of the covenant is designed for the support of the seed of the faithful; He that was our fathers' God must be ours, and therefore will be ours. — He was Adam, "a mean man," and Enosh, "a man of sorrow ;" but lo Ish, " not a considerable man ;" for He took upon Him the form of a servant, and His visage was marred more than any man's. — The blessings of the breasts, as they crown the blessings of the womb, so they are earnests of the blessings of our whole lives. — When we cannot rejoice in God as our song, yet let us stay ourselves upon Him as our strength, and take the comfort of spiritual supports when we cannot come at spiritual delights. — Seeing we cannot keep alive our own souls, it is our wisdom by an obedient faith to commit our souls to Jesus Christ, who is able to save them, and keep them alive forever. — Barnes (ver. 8) : It is one of the most remarkable instances of blindness and infatuation that has ever occurred in the world, that the Jews should have used this language in taunting the dying Redeemer, without even suspecting that they were fulfilling the prophecies, and demonstrating, at the very time when they were reviling Him, that He was the true Messiah. — Spuroeon : For plaintive ex- pressions uprising from unutterable depths of woe we may say of this Psalm, " there is none like it." It is the photograph of our Lord's saddest hours, the record of His dying words, the lachrymatory of His last tears, the memorial ot His expiring joys. David and his afflictions may be here in a very modified sense, but, as 180 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. the star is concealed by the light of the sun, he who sees Jesus will probably neither see nor care to see David. — No daylight is too glaring, and no midnight too dark, to pray in; and no delay or apparent denial, however grievous, should tempt us to forbear from importunate pleading. — If prayers be unanswered, it is not because God is unfaithful, but for some other good and weighty reason. We may not question the holiness of God, but we may argue from it, and use it as a plea in our petitions. — Let us wonder when we see Jesus using the same pleas as ourselves, and immersed in griefs far deeper than our own. — Strange mixture! Jehovah de- lights in Ilim, and yet bruises Him; is well pleased, and yet slays Him. — Behold the humi- liation of the Son of God! The Lord of glory stoops to the dust of death. Amid the moulder- ing relics of mortality Jesus condescends to lodge! — Never was a man so afflicted as our Sa- viour in body and soul, from friends and foes, by heaven and hell, in life and death ; He was the foremost in the ranks of the afflicted, but all these afflictions were sent in love, and not be- cause His Father despised and abhorred Him. 'Tis true that justice demanded that Christ should bear the burden which as a substitute He undertook to carry, but Jehovah always loved Him, and in love laid that load upon Him with a view to His ultimate glory and to the accomplish- ment of the dearest wish of His heart. Under all His woes our Lord was honorable in the Father's sight, the matchless jewel of Jehovah's heart. — There is relief and comfort in bowing before God when our case is at its worst ; even amid the dust of death prayer kindles the lamp of hope.— C. A. B.] PSALM XXIII. A Psalm of David. 1 The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul : He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness For his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a tab*e before me In the presence of mine enemies : Thou anointest my head with oil ; My cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents and Origin. — Under the figures of the shepherd, ver. 1, and the host, ver. 5, which were familiar to all Israelites, which are connected with that of the guide, ver. 3, the Psalmist describes, in clear and flowing language corresponding throughout with his calm, confi- dent, hopeful feelings, the comprehensive and more than sufficient care of God for him, who describes his present and future condition under the cor- responding figures of member of the flock, ver. 2, wanderer, ver. 4, and guest, ver. 6. These figures are so natural to the national life, that we cannot conclude from them that David sung this Psalm, if not in the times of his shepherd life, at least in a time when the recollection of those days was still fresh (Tholuck), or that the feast contains a reference to the meal in the house of David's father after he was anointed, 1 Sam. xvi. (Muntinghe). But we have no more reason to look away from every histoiical refe- rence and from every particular reason for the use of these figures, and since there is no evi- dence of a prophecy of Christ (many ancient in- PSALM XXIII. 181 terpreters), or that it was directly meant for the congregation, to suppose that it was a free ex- pression of feelings rejoicing in God, whether of an unknown poet (Hupfeld), or David in the latter peaceful and prosperous period of his government. (Calvin and most interpreters). For the enemies, ver. 5, seem not to belong to the past but to the present, and are mentioned in a connection, from which we may conclude that there was destitution, yet not a destitution among the enemies whilst the Israelites, under the Mac- cabean leaders besieged in the fortress at Jeru- salem, hail plenty (Olshausen), but with the Psalmist, who must certainly be regarded as remote from the house of God (ver. G). If this is recognized likewise as a historical feature, it is easy to find the occasion for the preceding de- scriptions in a sojourn of the Psalmist in the wilderness, but not to think of an allegorical re- ference to the return of the people from exile (Kimchi), or a reference back to the Divine guidance of Israel from Egypt through the wil- derness (Chald.), hut to abide by David in ac- cordance with tradition, and put this Psalm in the period of the rebellion of Absalom (lluding., J. D. Mich., Ewakl, Maurer, Delitzsch). Only we must not refer to 2 Sam. xviii. 26, for the tone and sentiment do not agree with it. But we may indeed think of 2 Sam, xvii. 27 sq., and compare with Pss. iii. 6; iv. 7. The resemblances to Pss. xxvii. and lxiii., are of an entirely dif- ferent kind from those to Pss. xxv. 21 ; xxxvii. 4, as it is then too bold to refer to Jeremiah, on account of the style and the sentiment. Re- specting the house of Jehovah vid. remarks upon Ps. v. 7. Str. I. Ver. 1. My shepherd. — God is thus named already by Jacob, Gen. xlviii. 15; xlix. 24. This figure is afterwards frequently used (Pss. lxxx. 1; lxxviii. 52; Mic. vii. 14; Isa. lxiii. 13 sq.). It. is likewise applied to theocratic rulers, Jer. iii. 15; xxiii. 1, and is used with reference to the Messiah, Isa. xl. 11 ; £zek. xxxiv. ; com- pare Zech. xi. 4 sq., and hence is applied to Jesus in the New Testament, John x. 1-1(3; Heb. xiii. 20; 1 Peter ii. 25; v. 4. In accordance with this the people are called His flock or the sheep of His pasture, Pss. lxxiv. 1 ; lxxix. 1:5; xcv. 7 ; c. 3; Jer. xxiii. 1. The expressions which follow are taken from the life of the shepherd and correspond with the figure. The oasis of the wilderness is not merely a station of rest for the tired flocks at the time of the noonday heat (Song of Sol. i. 7), but at the same time a place of refreshment by means of the green meadows and the waters, which are men- tioned cither as flowing quietly and therefore without danger in contrast to the wild mountain brooks and rushing streams (Calvin, Geier, Do Wette, Ilitzig [Alexander, Barnes]), or as the indispensable condition of refreshment for the pleasant resting-place where the flocks lie down for recreation (Sept., Stier, llengst., Hupfeld [Perowne]).* The imperfects are not to be re- • [It is better to translate this latter clause with EwaM aii'l Hupfeld: Tn watrrs of refreshment Beleadeth me. The Idea is not of n (lock grazing in a rich meadow land on the hanks of a quiet stream but that of a flock led by the Bhep- herd to their resting-place anil watering-place. In this pluco they lie down satisfied, in the midst of the richest garded as futures (llengst., el ah), or indeed as referring to the past (Sept., Chald.), but denote actions continuing and repeated in the present. Str. II. Ver. 3. He restoreth my soul. — This does not mean conversion (the ancient translations), but the refreshnuent of the soul under the figure of leading back him who was about to flee away, comp. Ps. xix. 7. — [He leadeth me. — The oriental shepherd does not drive the flock before him but goes before the flock and leads them, vid. Thomson's The Land and the Book, p. 202 sq. ; Smith's Diet, of the Bible, Article, Shepherd.-— C. A. B.].— In right paths. — In the figurative language of this Psalm it is evident that the "right paths" are not to be regarded as in similar passages, excluding the figure, as ways of righteousness (Hengst. [A. V.]) in the moral sense, or passing over the intermediate member, as ways of salvation (De Wette, Ewald, Ilitzig), but as straight and even paths, excluding error and stumbling, direct and leading certainly to their end (most inter- preter's after the Rabbins), which are then really paths of righteousness and salvation. Ver. 4. Even when [A. V., Yea, though~\= even then when. — The contrary of ver. 2 is sup- posed as an objective possibility ; but only with reference to the external condition in life and circumstances threatening with peril of death. — Valley of the shadow of death. — In order to explain this figure De Wette cites from Mo- rier's second journey to Persia, p. 179: "In the vicinity of Ispahan is a remarkable valley, bar- ren, gloomy and destitute of water, which is called the valley of the angel of death." [It is unnecessary to go beyond the Holy Land itself. The Psalmist refers to those deep wadies or wild and gloomy ravines, which abound in the moun- tains of Palestine, the rocky sides of which are filled with caves and caverns, the abodes of wild beasts of prey. It is often necessary for the shepherd to lead his flocks through these wadies and across these ravines, and it is always peril- ous even to the shepherd himself. There is no reference here to death itself, but to the peril of death so oft (Mi experienced in life. — C. A. B.]. — Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. — The soul when thinking of the possible danger, is quieted and comforted by the nssurancc of the faithfulness of the Divine Shepherd. The shep- herd not only leads the flock, but defends it, hence the mention of two staves} so likewise Zech. xi. 7, upon which an especial emphasis is put by the pronoun. It follows Irom this that this verse is not a general description of the rest of trust (De AVette, llengst.), nor has a poetical and rhetorical fulness of meaning, nor indeed that one of the staves was given by the guide to the wanderer, the other retained by himself.* abundance of pasture and refreshing water, all their wan'* being supplied. It is not n ssarj to think ol a stream, since in the Orient flocks are fed fioin wells or fountains in troughs, Gen. xx.x. 10, 11; Ex. ii. 16-21. Vid. Tristram, y of Oit Bible, p. HJ.— r. A. Ii.] * [The reference is still to th ■• shepherd guide. The rod ami si;, IT are Bynonymes, expressing th" twofold ns« of the crook in ruling an I defending. The cro >k is essential to the Bhepherd's business. He uses it rsh walking stii k in ascend- ing and descending the mountains; houses it to punish the rebellious and stubborn Bheep. It has a curve on one end with «hich lie cnt<*hee tie- Bheep by their biud legs and them on. It is likewise u weapon to heat the cio^ii aud ward 182 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. Str. III. Ver. 5. [Perowne: "God is even more than a shepherd who provides for the wants of his sheep. He is a King who lavishes His bounty in rich provision for His guests." Although the figure of sheep and shepherd pass over into that of guest and host the ideas are the same, though in different forms. There is a beautiful correspondence throughout. As the sheep lie down satisfied with the rich provision of the shepherd, in the green pastures and by the refreshing waters, so the guest sits down satisfied with the rich provisions of the table of the Lord. — In the presence of mine enemies. — As the wild beasts surrounded the sheep in the gloomy wady and they were comforted by the shepherd's rod, so the enemies surround the guest, and he is comforted by the table of the monarch. In the Orient the host was obligated not only to entertain the guest but to protect him from his enemies, and when once the meal of hospitality had been partaken all the power and strength of the host became assured to the. guest. He was now safe and secure, and his enemies were powerless to injure him, for from this time forth he was the guest and friend of the host and would be protected and defended by him. Thus the idea is not of a hasty meal upon a battle-field, after which the fight was to be re- newed, but of a calm and secure repose at the table of the host, with the assurance that all danger was past and the enemies were no longer to be regarded or feared. — C. A. B.] After that Thou hast anointed my head ■with oil. — Anointed, literally made fat, as a perfect subordinate to the imperfect, refers to the sprinkling of the beard, hair, etc., with sweet-smelling essences, which in ancient times preceded the festival meal, hence the figurative use, Pss. xlv. 7 ; civ. 15.* — My cup runneth over. — The ancient translators have instead of this, drunkenness, which meaning, however, is admissible only in the Aramaic, but not in the Hebrew. The Sept. has connected the first words of the following verse with this clause and translated, uc Kpdrcarov.f Ver. 6. Only. — Instead of " only," as Pss. xxxix. 6, 12; cxxxix. 11, it may be rendered, '■yes!" as Pss. lxxiii. 13; lxxxv. 9; Gen. xliv. 28. [The rendering of the A. V., " surely," is off the beasts of the wilderness. Then finally he uses it when he puts the sheep into the fold, causing them to pass under the rod as he tallies them off to see that none are missing. Thus the crook is the symbol of his power and authority, and at the same time of his love, care, and pro- tection. When the flocks are led through the gloomy wadies thoy crowd close together, and the rod anil staff in the shep- herd's hands reassures them and gives them a sense of com- fort and security, though the wild beasts roar and growl about them.— C. A. B.] * [The entertainment was royal, the guest was received with the highest honors. Oil was used at the feasts of the wealthy to do honor to their guests. It was used to anoint the head as a symbol of the grace of God which the host would have his guest enjoy. It is not unusual at the present day in the Orient to sprinkle the guests with perfumes and to burn incense in the festival rooms, diffusing delightful odors. Vid. Lane's Modern Egyptians, p. 203. Vid. Amos vi. 6; also Luke vii. 46, where Jesus contrasts the devotion of the woman with the neglect of the host who did not honor Him with the basin of water, the kiss of friendship and the anointing oil.— C. A. B.] f [For the meaning of the cup vid. Ps. xvi. 5. It is full and satisfying and more than abundant. As the oil was the symbol of grace and favor, so the cup is the symbol of joy and gladness. — C. A. B.] better.— C. A. B.]. — Happiness and grace will pursue me. — "Pursue " is used not only in the sense of follow or accompany (Olsh.), aa an inversion of the usual figurative phrase used of men: pursue something *ee7an=aspire after (Hupfeld), but is used in contrast with the pur- suit of the enemies. [His enemies had pursued him even to the presence of his host, henceforth grace and joy will pursue him and load him with blessings. — C. A. B.]. — And returned shall I dwell in the house of Jehovah to length of days. — The closing word does not mean: lifelong (Hupfeld), but in contrast with the short affliction (Delitzsch), opens a prospect of an indefinitely long time, Ps. xxi. 4, and in- deed of communion with God and the enjoyment of His grace, Ps. xxvii., which is afforded by the use of the religious institutions of grace. Many ancient translations have, after the Sept., " my dwelling," etc. They have likewise regarded the infinitive with the suffix as from yaskab. So likewise Geier, Rosenm., De Wette, Hengst. But then we must read shibthi, as Ps. xxvii. 4. But our text has shabthi, which vocalization the Masoretic Punctators could only have fixed in accordance wiih tradition. Now some have re- garded this form after De Muis as a perfect of yashab, supposing that the first syllable has fallen away. But the possibility of such an aphteresis is disputed by Olsh. and Hupfeld as ungrammatical. The examples cited in its favor are explained by the former as mutilations of the text, and are regarded by Delitzsch partly as a corruption, as Jer. xlii. 10, partly as only be- longing to the vulgar tongue, as 2 Sam. xxii. 41. Hitzig, however, again appeals particularly to Judges xix. 11, together with Jer. xlii. 10. In any case the matter is very doubtful, and there- fore the derivation from shilb (=return) is pre- ferable, yet. it cannot be translated: I return to the house (Knapp, et al.), for it is followed by the preposition 3 and not /N, and duration is expressed. This leads to the acceptance of a pregnant construction (Delitzsch). The idea of dwelling is not expressed in words, but is indi- cated as a consequence of the return, by the nature of the closing word, as already mentioned. The perfect with the vav cousec. after the im- perfect has likewise the meaning of a future. Miscricordia Dei prsecedit, comilatur et subscquilur nos (Augustine). [Alexander: "Dwelling in the house of Jehovah does not mean frequenting His sanctuary, but being a member of His house- hold and an inmate of His family, enjoying His protection, holding communion with Him, and subsisting on His bounty." — C. A. B.].* DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. Every member of the congregation of God * [Wordsworth : " David, the shepherd of Bethlehem, could speak from personal experience of what the shepherd feels for his sheep. He had led his flock through the dark defiles of the rocky fastnesses of Judah, which presented an image of the gloomy valley of the shadow of death, and ho experi- enced in his exile the loving care of hospitable friends, like Harzillai, who spread for him a table in the wilderness, when he fled from Absalom his son (2 Sain. xvii. 27-29), and his eyes were raised upward from them and their affectionate care, to a lov ng contemplation of his home and Father in hea en."— C. A. B.] PSALM XXIII. 183 may appropriate in faith the promises which God. has given to t lie people of the covenant, but he must likewise make earnest use of the privi- leges graciously bestowed upon tlie congregation, and have, hold, and confess the God of the cove- nant as his ■own God, in order to have in himself the evidence and experimental sense of the all-em- bracing and all-sufficient care of God, which is always comforting and refreshing in every cir- cumstance of life. Comp. P. Gerhardt's hymn which has grown out of this Psalm : Der Jlerr, der aller Ende.n. 2. He who would truly experience in himself that love, power, and faithfulness of God, whereby believers are called, sustained, preserved and entirely furnished in this world as a flock of the good shepherd, m.ist likewise, in the constant sense of his need and weakness and at the same time in unshaken faith in the willingness and the power of God to help him, lay hold of for himself and use the means of grace and salvation prepared and offered to him; he must likewise truly let himself be led, refieshed, protected, cared for and saved by God, and meet the conde- scension of God with the resignation of himself to God. " Although this confidence in the care of God does not exclude provision for the body, yet we are to think chiefly of the supply of all our spiritual need, which comes down from above" (Umbreit). 3. Trust in God and resignation to His will is essentially facilitated by the fact that we have to do, not with an unknown and hidden God, but with the God of historical revelation, who has made known His name by His word and His works, and lias declared therein what we have to think and expect of Him. On this fact we should base ourselves in the changeable fortunes which meet us in this world, and should hold fast to it amidst the changing feelings and dis- positions of the heart: for that is "the golden art, to hold on to God's word and promise, de- cide according to it and not according to the feelings of our hearts; thus help and consola- tion will surely follow and we shall not lack anything at all" (Luther). — "But now when God has revealed Himself as the Shepherd in the person of His only begotten Son, much more clearly and more gloriously than formerly to the fit hers under the law, we do not sufficiently honor His keeping, unless we tread under foot all fear and danger by fixing our eyes upon Him " (Calvin). — "For David here prescribes one common rule for all Christians, that there is no other means or expedient on earth of escap- ing from all kinds of trouble, than for a man to cast all his cares on God, apprehend Him by His word of grace, hold fast to it and let it in no wise be taken from him. He who does this can be satisfied, whether it fares well with him or ill, whether he lives or dies, and can likewise finally endure, and must, prosper in spite of all the devils, the world and misfortune" (Luther). 4. The best consolation in trouble is the cer- tainty of the nearness of God, as this is the strong- est reminder of our duty when successful. But we have these, not that "we may make of His benefits a ladder by which we may ever ascend nearer to Him " (Calvin), but we have them on the ground of His condescension to us, in virtue of His dwelling among us and in conse- quence of our reception into His house and to His table, where He has Himself prepared what serves for our sustenance and complete satisfaction, and where He likewise anoints those who partake of these blessings, good things and joys , that is, He festively prepares, distinguishes, and adorns them. This advances by many stages from the typical to the fulfilment, from the Old Testament to the New, from time into eternity For a time is coming when wandering will cease and the shepherd as the host will not allow His guests again to leave His house. But first of all we must abide by this. "This presence of the Lord is not to be perceived with the five senses; faith alone sees it, which is sure of the fact, that the Lord is nearer to us than our owu-selves" (Luther). HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. The glad spirit of a Christian in life and in death: 1) how it shows itself; 2) whence it springs; 3) whither it moves and leads. — The happiness of those who can confess : the Lord is my shepherd: 1) in what it consists ; 2) how it is attained; 3) how it is preserved. — Who goes most successfully through the world? 1) The wanderer in God's flock ; 2) the guest at God's table; 3) the child in God's house. — He who lets himself be led by God will likewise be kept and provided for by God — Even pious people are not spared the walk in the dark valley; but. they have a threefold comfort : 1) that the Lord leads them in} 2) that the Lord remains with them; 3) that the Lord in time hcl^s them out — Thccerlainty that the Lord is with us : 1) on what it is based ; -) what its effects; 3) what supports it. — We will attain that happiness and grace will step in the place of our persecutors when we. resign our- selves entirely to the guidance, care and training of God with willing obedience, humble desire and hearty trust. Starke : The ungodly man may call Jesus a shepherd, but not his shepherd, which is only for those who appropriate Him. — It often seems as if the little flock of Christ lacked many things in this world ; yet these words of Christ must remain true for all time with respect to spiritual things (John x. 11), and with respect to bodily things they may be satisfied with the loving pro- vision of the Great Shepherd. — Believers find in the pastures of the Gospel not only complete satisfaction, but likewise gentle rest. — The many who do not experience refreshment of heart from the Gospel have only themselves to blame. — The ungodly grudge believers a piece of bread ; their Good Shepherd, however, gives them not only this, but likewise the heavenly manna. — That which seems to be needful, pleasant and good, is not good unless it is a gift of the mercy of God (James i. 17). — It is well for him who has his portion in the house of his heavenly Father; there are many mansions there ; but the most joyous thing is that their possession endures to all eternity. — Renschel: Christ car- ries the rod woe and the staff mild. [Matth. Henry : If God be as a shepherd to us, we must be as sheep, inoffensive, meek and quiet, silent before the shearers, nay, and before 184 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. the butcher too, useful and sociable ; we must know the shepherd's voice, and follow Him. — Let those not fear starving that are at God's finding, and have Him for their feeder. — Those who would be satisfied with the fatness of God's house must keep close to the duties of it. — F. W. Robertson: Beneath the burning skies and the clear starry nights of Palestine there grew up between the shepherd and his flock a union of attachment and tenderness. It is the country where at any moment sheep are liable to be swept away by some mountain torrent, or car- ried off by hill-robbers, or torn by wolves. At any moment their protector may have to save them by personal hazard. . . . And thus there grows up between the man and the dumb crea- tures he protects a kind of friendship. . . . You love those for whom you risk and they love you; therefore it is that, not as here where the flock is driven, the shepherd goes before and the sheep follow him. They follow in perfect trust, even though he should be leading them away from a green pasture, by a rocky road, to another pas- ture which they cannot yet see. He knows them all — their separate histories, their ailments, their characters. . . . Alone in those vast solitudes, with no human being near, the shepherd and the sheep feel a life in common. Differences disap- pear; the vast interval between the man and the brute, the single point of union is felt strongly. One is the love of the protector: the other the love of the grateful life ; and so between lives so distant there is woven, by night and day, by summer suns and winter frosts, a living net- work of sympathy. The greater and the less mingle their being together: they feel • each other. " The shepherd knows his sheep, and is known of them." . . Try to feel, by imagining what the lonely Syrian shepherd must feel to- wards the helpless things which are the com- panions of his daily life, for whose safety he stands in jeopardy every hour, and whose value is measurable to him not by price, but by his own jeopardy, and then we have reached some notion of the love which Jesus meant to repre- sent, that eternal tenderness which bends over us — infinitely lower though we be in nature — and knows the name of each and the trials of each, and thinks for each with a separate solici- tude, and gave itself for each with a sacrifice as special and a love as personal, as if in the whole world's wilderness there were none other but that one." — Spurgeon: Sweet and full are the doctrines of the Gospel ; fit food for souls, as tender grass is natural nutriment for sheep. — These twin guardian angels (goodness and mercy) will always be with me at my back and my beck. Just as when great princes go abroad they must not go unattended, so it is witli the believer. Goodness and mercy follow him always — the black days as well as the bright days, the days of fasting as well as the days of feasting, the dreary days of winter as well as the bright days of summer. Goodness supplies our needs and mercy blots out our sins. — C. A. B.] PSALM XXIV. A Psalm of David. 1 The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein. 2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the floods. 3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place ? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart , Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, Nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, # And righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 This is the generation of them that seek him, That seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah. 7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; And be y« lifted up, ye everlasting doors ; And the King of glory shall come in, PSALM XXIV. 185 8 Who is this King of glory ? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors ; And the King of glory shall come in. 10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents and Composition. — According to the tradition of the Talmud this Psalm was sung in the temple every Sunday morning during the presentation of the wine offering, and indeed with reference to the history of the Creation. The addition to the title made by the Septuagint, rr/c /itdr aa33droi\ corresponds with this. The Church likewise finds it appropriate to use this Psalm on Sundays, as well as at Advent and at the consecration of churches. For unless we would divide the Psalm into two entirely differ- ent Psalms (Ewald, Olsh.), the celebration of the entrance of Jehovah into the Holy Place of His gracious presence stands out as the prevailing thought of the whole, which has its essential meaning in the statement of the characteristics of this God and His worshippers. Among these, the all-embracing moral and historical nature of these relations, advancing from victory to victory, is rendered most conspicuous as the decisive characteristic. In this consists the richness of the application of this Psalm, without its thereby being typical (Geier, Stier, Hengst.), or indeed Messianic (Seb. Schmidt, J. H. Mich.). More- over it is not to be regarded as a free clothing of an idea with general reference to the temple (Hupf.), as instruction and exhortation to the citizens of Zion ( Venema), or as a song of dedica- tion composed by David for future use after the example of Ps. xt., after that the place for the future temple had been pointed out to him by a revelation, 1 Chron. xxi. 22 (the Rabbins, Ru- dinger, llosenm., Stier). Moreover, it is en- tirely unnecessary to regard the doors and gates ver. 7 sq., as those of the stone temple, and then to think of the dedication of the temple of Solo- mon (Ue Wette). It may properly be referred to the very ancient citadel of Zion, and the occa- sion for its composition by David may be found in the removal of (he Ark of the Covenant by David from Kirjath Jearim to Mt. Zion (Grotius and most interpreters). Then David had it placed in a tent set up especially for it after his victori- ous expeditions (2 Sun. vi. 17; comp. xi. 11 ; 1 Kings i. 39), whilst the Mosaic tent remained at Gibeon (1 Chron. xxi. 29 j xvi. 80), and only afterwards was put with its vessels in the tem- ple of Solomon (1 Kings viii. 4). The points of contact with Jeremiah in the language of the expressions (Hitzig) are only of a very general and indefinite kind, and the relation between vers, o and 4 of this Psalm and Ps. xv. is not a mere copy. The tone which passes over from the didactic to the hymnic and almost dramatic character, has often led to the supposition of choruses (Rosenm., Tholuck), whose responses Delitzsch puts at first below at the foot of Mt. Zion (vers. 1-6), and then above at the citadel of Zion, and both interrupted aud enriched by solo verses.* Str. I. Ver. 1. Its fulness, denotes first and properly its inhabitatits (Deut. xxxiii. 10; Pss. 1. 12; lxxxix 11; comp. Amos vi. 8 ; Pss. xcvi. 11 ; xcviii. 7), but allows likewise a wider con- ception, which is applied by the Apostle Paul, 1 Cor. x. 26, with reference to the eating of flesh. Ver. 2. The earth, especially the orb of the earth (Isa. xl. 22), is partly designated as bounded and surrounded by the ocean (Prov. viii. 27), so that the orb of the heavens rests upon it. (Job xxii. 14 ; xxvi. 10), partly as having gone forth out of the water (Gen. i. 9) and firmly established (Ps. exxxvi. 6; comp. civ. 5 sq. ) by Divine Omnipotence upon the unstable and fluc- tuating waters (Jonah ii. 4), so that the source of the great flood (Gen. vii. 1 1 ) and waters under the earth (Ex. xx. 4) are mentioned significantly together with the heavens and earth. The waters, however, are not the foundations which essentially support the earth. Such a foundation is the Omnipotence of God (Job xxxviii. 6), who has hung the earth on nothing (Job xxvi. 7) ; as then the Abyss and the deepest world below, are * [The two parts of this Psalm arc sharply divided, bat this does nut justify Ewald in regarding them as different Psalms. Delitzsch is more correct in regarding the first part as sang Ut the loot of the mountain ami the other part above at the citadel, but it seems better to regard tin- first part of llo- l'-alm as composed for ami BUng when the festi- val procession halted before the house of Obed Edom. and the second part at their appearance before the gates of Zion. The first part expresses the feelings of David and the people in the presence of that holy ark which bad chastised the re- bellious Israelite, vindicated its sanctity among the Phil- istines, smitten the men of Beth Shemesh (1 Sam. vi. P.) sq.), and the unwary I'zzah (2 Sam. vi. 6). Vers. 1.2 is a general Chorus of praise of the (tod of the whole earth. Ver. it is the inquiry, perhaps of a single voice, who shall app oacb this holy ark? The place and the hill where it rested was, for the time heiug, the holy place and the holy hill. Zion COUld not be this, as Kwald contends, until the ark had been established there. Vers. 4. 5 give the response, perhaps likewise by a single voice : He that hath clean hands alone '/ the ark ; hi' that is pure in heart, alone may enter into that sacred place ; he alone will receive the blaring of Obed Ed m and his house. Comp. the words of the men of Beth Shemesh : " Who is aide to stand before the holy Lord Godf"(l Ham. vi. 20), of David, " How shaU the ark of tin) I. oi-.i come to me .'" (2 Sam. vi. 9). Ver. 6 is the voice of the general chorus. This is a generation seeking Jehovah's it is Jai oli. The second part was sunn at the gates of Zion. Ver. 7 is a general chorus of the triumphal procession, call- ing upon the city to open its gates to Jehovah. Ver. S is ths question of a single voice upon the walls: Who is this King ot ei,, ty? Ver. B is the response of a Bingle voice, recitm- the characteristics of this Kins of glory. Iti ver. 10 the general chorus takes up the question With emphasis and re- plies with a triumphal strain, closing the Psalm. — O. A. B.] 186 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. beneath the waters (Job xxvi. 6). It is accord- ingly inadmissible to deviate from the usual meaning of dl with words of founding and estab- lishing and to accept here the meaning of by, at (Luther after the Rabbins), or over (Calvin, Geier, Hengst.). [Sir. II. Ver. 3. Ascend into the hill of Jehovah. — Hupfeld : " This indicates prima- rily visiting the sanctuary (Temple), but it is borrowed from visiting a human house or tent, as a guest and having the privilege of a guest therein, like Ps. xv. 1, 'dwell in Thy holy hill,' and ' be a guest in Thy tent ;' the futures are to be understood here in the same way as there." — Stand in His holy place. — This is used of the privilege of the guest of God and refers pri- marily to the privilege of the priests and Levites, and thence in a spiritual sense to the whole people as a nation of priests to the Lord. Both these expressions are used of access to the sanc- tuary of the holy place of the ark, which might not only be said of Zion but likewise of Shiloh and wherever else the ark of the covenant rested.— C. A. B.] Str. III. Ver. 4. [Clean hands, with special reference to touching sacred things and with a probable reference to the unclean hands of Uzzah.— C. A. B] — Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity. — This clause is parallel to the following one, and expresses the eiforts and strivings of the soul, which correspond with the false oaths and internally precede and ac- company them. It. is unnecessary, therefore, to regard the general expression in this clause, particularly as falsehood (Syr., Chald.), or false doctrine (Luther), or as idolatry in a rough sense (Seb. Schmidt), or in a nicer sense (Stier), although it designates the vain and frivolous in general, and therefore in a special case might naturally have a more specific reference and meaning. — The Syr. and Chald. at the same time put swear at once in place of lift up ; and whilst the latter paraphrases, to the guilt of the soul, the former seems, by its translation " by his soul," to have thought of the well-known for- mula of oaths, which, however, was only used by Jehovah (Am. vi. 8 ; Jer. li. 14). The Rab- bins, with express reference to this and at the same time to the prohibition Ex. xx. 7, prefer the reading "my soul," which is very unusual and has very little support. This would be put. instead of " my name," because God Himself speaks here, or the soul is a paraphrase of the person (Stange). [Ver. 5. Blessing refers to the blessing of Obed Edom and his house. — Righteousness. — Delitzsch : "This is the righteousness of God after which even the righteous, but not the self- righteous, hunger and thirst, that moral perfec- tion which is the restored and realized image of God: transfiguration into the image of the Holy One Himself."— C. A. B.] Ver. 6. Such (is) the generation of them that seek after Him, that seek Thy face. — Jacob. — [Those who seek after God, who desire to ascend into the hill of Jehovah, stand in His holy place and see His face, are such persons as those just described — they constitute a genera- tion, a race, and that generation bears the histo- rical name of Jacob. — C. A. B.]. Jacob is either the summary of the preceding predicates in the historical definition, Isa. xliv. 1, 2 (most inter- preters at the same time with an emphatic sense), or the vocative God which preceded it has been left off (Flamin., Vogel, Ewald, Olsh., Hupf. [Perowne]), which is the reading of 2 codd., Kennic, Sept. and Pesch. For the translation "In Jacob" (Vatabl., Cleric.) is grammatically inadmissible; and to supply "are," before Ja- cob (Hengst. [Alexander]), with the supposition of an independent clause parallel with the former member of the verse and in an explana- tory sense, is connected with premises and dis- tinctions that are untenable. Str. IV. Ver. 7.* Lift up your heads, ye gates. — Some, not understanding the poetry of the expression (Geier, Cleric, Venema) have referred the "heads" directly to the lintels of the gates;f others (Flamin.) have referred to the guards of the gates of heaven and its inhabi- tants, with a Messianic interpretation of the Psalm of the ascension of Christ, whilst the ma- jority emphasize too much the figurative language (Vatabl., Geier, Schmidt, J. H. Mich.), and think of the entrance of God into the heart of men, or indeed (Calv ) expressly reject the re- ference to the ark of the covenant. — Lift your- selves, ye primeval doors. — Those who think of the temple rather than the citadel of Zion translate, "everlasting doors" [A. V.]. But then it certainly does not mean the firm scat after long wanderings (Kimchi, Rosenm.), but the dwelling of the Eternal (1 Kings viii. 13), abid- ing forever (Ps. cxxxii. 14) (Calvin, Hupf, Ilit- zig). We cannot think of doors in the world (Luther), because 61am gains the meaning of " world " only after the completion of the canon of the Old Testament, but elsewhere refers now backwards to primeval times (Gen. xlix. 26; isa lviii. 12), and now forward into eternity. J — King of glory. — The ark of the covenaut might not. only "bear the name of Jehovah" (2 Sam. vi. 2) as the throne of God, but likewise be addressed as Jehovah (Num. x. 35 sq. ), and as Jehovah be named the glory (1 Sam. iv. 21 sq.), on which account there is likewise ascribed to it the warlike attributes which God has as the chieftain of His people (Num. xxi. 4 ; Vs. lxviii.. et al.). S/r. V. Ver. 8. These warlike attributes (Ex. xv. 3; Isa. xliii. 17) are here strongly empha- sized without compelling us to think of the bringing back of the ark of the covenant after the conclusion of a successful war (De Wette), or of the contrast between Israel and heathen * [Ewald : " A new king is about to enter the ancient and venerable city, and indeed the highest and mightiest con- ceivable, Jehovah Himself, enthroned upon the Ark of the Covenant. Such a King has never entered this city, and the grey gates, although venerable with age, are too small and mean "for, Him (for the height of the gates must correspond with the dignity of the Lord who enters them, so that at times gates of extraordinary size were built, comp. Prov. xvii. 19; Journ. as., 1S56, II., p. 470; Mnnzinger's Ostufri- kanischf. Studicn, p. 328, 5 sq.). Those who accompany the new King call to them from a distance to lift up themselves and become young again. ' — C. A. 11.] f [Thomson's Land and the. Book, p. 244, refers to the an- cient manner of lifting up the gates instead of opening them, as at present. — C. A. li.] X [Delitzsch : " The cry, ' lift up your heads, yo gates,' has essentially the same meaning as the voice of the cry in Isa. xl. IS: 'prepare the way of Jehovah, level in the wilderness a highway for our God.' "— C. A. 3.] PSALM XXIV. 187 nations (Hitzig). — [Mighty in battle. — Alex- ander: "The word translated mighty, alt bough properly an adjective, is constantly trsed as a noun substantive, and is the nearest equivalent in Hebrew to the classical term hero. But the simple majesty of David's language Would be marred in translation by the use of this word, and still more by that of the combination, mar- tial or military hero, in the other clauses. The idea both in this and other places is borrowed from the Song of Moses, Ex. xv. 3, and recalls all those victories which Jehovah had given to His people — the warlike expeditions with the ark during the wanderings in the wilderness, the crossing of the Jordan, the conquest of Jericho, etc., and then last of all Jehovah's vin- dication of His ark after it had been abandoned by His people and left to their enemies." — C. A. B.] Sir. VI. Ver. 10. Who is he then, the King of glory? — The question already in ver. 8 was strengthened by PIT, which here, as Ps. xxv. 12, et al., is to be taken adverbially. Now when repeated here it is strengthened still more by the insertion of the pronoun N1H, which points back to the reference already mentioned and strongly emphasized the subject. — Jehovah Sabaoth [A. V., Lord of hosts']. — The choice of this name of God (an abbreviated form of Jeho- vah Klohe Sabaoth, Amos iii. 13, et al.), which had become usual during the period of the kings, is without doubt connected with the use of warlike attributes in the preceding verses, but likewise, without doubt, not only=God of war (Roster), or God of the battle array of Israel (1 Sara. xvii. 45; comp. Num. xxi. 4; Jos. iv. 9), although the form Sabaoth used alone, Num. i. 3, 52 ; Deut. xx. 9 ; 1 Kings ii. 5 ; 1 Chron. xxvii. 3, always means real hosts; but. with respect to the beginning of the Psalm al- ludes to the comprehensive sense, which the Sept. renders by navroicpaTup. The justification of this rendering is found in Gen. ii. 1, and in the general meaning of Saba=agmen ; comp. Jer. iii. 19. It is not allowable to limit the ex- pression to the "hosts of heaven," which com- prehend partly that host mustered by Jehovah (Isa. xl. 26), the hosts of stars (Jer. xxxiii. 22; Ps. cxlvii. 4), partly the hosts of angels, which in ranks (Jos. v. 14) surround the throne of God (1 Kings xxii. 19; Ps. ciii. 21 ; cxlviii. 2). For in all these cases either the singular is used or. as Ps. ciii. 21, the plural masculine. [Delitzsch : "The gates now become silent and open them- selves and Jehovah enters Zion, throned above the cherubim of the holy ark." — C. A. B.]* •[Wordsworth: "When David uttered these words with prophetic inspiration, and when he beheld tin; Ark of the Lord's presence going up, and passing through the gates of tlio hill of Zion to the Sanctuary prepared for it ; when h" taw that same Ark going up thither, which had led the people of Israel to victory from Blount Sinai through the wilderness, and across the river Jordan, whose waters fled at its presence, and had brought them into Canaan : and at tin' powerof which, when it had compassed the city seven days, the walls of Jericho fell down, and before which the gods of 1'hi list in fell prostrate on the ground— when David medi- tated on this triumphal progress of the Ark of God, a march continued for more than four centuries, from Sinai to Sion — mrely, he may be supposed to have been transported by the Spirit in a heavenly rapture, and to have beheld the glorious consummation which was foreshadowed by all these tri- umphs; namely, the victory of the Lord Christ, whom he DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. The God of Israel is not merely a God of the family, tribe and nation, but He is rather the Lord and Creator of the eutire world ; and He would not have this obscured or suppressed, after He has entered into a special relation with Israel by gracious condescension in behalf of the historical execution of His eternal counsels of salvation and thoughts of peace ; but He would have it recognized and praised. A writer of the Talmud derives from ver. 1 the duty of asking the blessing at the table, and Basil an- swered the Emperor Valens with it when threat- ened with banishment. 2. The members of His covenant people are to keep constantly before their eyes and take to heart not only His power and exaltation above all creatures, but His holiness as the true ma- jesty and glory of His morally perfect nature. For from the beginning of the world there have been those "who served God without heart, without grace, without spirit, and merely with external works, ordinances, offerings and cere- monies and the like. As Cain offered to God his gifts, yet withheld his heart and his per- son " (Luther). 3. He who would truly draw near to the holy God, truly have communion with Him, remain constantly near Him and receive and retain the blessings of this covenant must not be as the hypocrite and as "proud saints," but "he alone is such who has this one thing in himself, that he is pare internally and externally" (Luther). We should be reminded of this by every walk to the house of God, every Divine service, every use of the means of grace, and especially by that feast which announces and celebrates the coining of the Lord. For God would not only be among us, but would dicrll in us, and walk in us, and as our God have His law in our heart3 (Jer. xxiv. 7; xxxi. 88). 4. The institutions and means of salvation of this covenant which are provided with especial /;oK>er and fulness of blessing serve to give us this loving view of the Almighty and Holy God. But they do not work salvation in every one without ex- ception that engages in them, but are in an in- ternal and essential relation to the moral nature of those who use them, as well as the holy nature of Him who has instituted them ; and they work miracles, it is true, in accordance with this, but not as magical means, or by the mere use, but as means of grace according to the order of salva- tion. 5. We must distinguish the righteousness which as a. gift of God accomplishes the transfor- mation of the man, who has been taken into favor, into the likeness of God, and his renewal and transfiguration into the image of God, and which presupposes sanetification, from that righteousness which is imputed by the judgment of God as the justification of the sinner and pre- cedes sanetification. The true posterity of Jacob consist of such men (Isa. xliv. 2). 6. The opening, elevation and widening of the salutes as Lord nf H>st<. over all the power of Satan, and His triumphal ascent into His capital city, the heavenly city, and the exaltation of the Ark of His Church, in which Hid presence and power dwell." — C. A. B.] 188 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. gates of entrance correspond with the glory of the Almighty Ruler who enters in, upon whose command an innumerable host attend. The ap- plication of this to the spiritual life, demanding that all hindrances, limitations and restraints should be removed, is to render easy the recep- tion of the Lord by referring to the fact that against such a Lord, who has long since shown Himself to be a strong and victorious hero, every resistance is as foolish as it is vain, whilst the worthy reception of Him is at the same time both fitting and salutary. " The honorary titles, by which the Psalmist here extols God's power, have the design of showing to the covenant people that God docs not sit idly in His temple, but is ready to help His people and to stretch out His strong hand to defend their salvation" (Calvin). — " He names the doors everlasting, because the human heart is immortal and will always be a door into which God may enter " (Luther). HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. The glory of God: 1) as the Almighty Creator of all things ; 2) as the victorious Lord of the world; 3) as the holy and helping King of His covenant people. — The condescension of God to His people is as great as His exaltation above all the world. — When God the Lord would have His entrance, He announces His corning and demands open doors. — God has His people on earth and among them the institutions of salvation and the means of His grace; but He likewise sees to it, how His people is constituted, how His institu- tions are used, how His means are employed. — ■ God requires of those who desire to commune with Him threefold purity : 1) of hand (of works) ; 2) of heart (thoughts) ; 3) of mouth (words). — It is fruitless to visit the house of God, unless we take away with us the blessing of God and obtain the gift of righteousness from the God of salvation. — Because all things belong to God the Lord as His work, we ought to consecrate them to Him as II is property and sanctify ourselves par- ticularly as His people. — In the service of God we have protection against all enemies and power of victory over the entire world. — He who in- quires after God and seeks His countenance, will experience to His salvation that God is already on the way to visit him. — It is more difficult to remain before the face of God than to come before Him ; but it is a characteristic of the truly pious that they seek both. Starke : If God does not let the little lump of earth sink in the abyss of the sea and be swallowed up in the great waters, He surely will be able to preserve His Church amidst all the storms and waves of the kingdom of darkness. — Many men inquire after the way to heaven ; but they do not like to tread it or to travel it. — There is always a difference between the world and the Church in the world, between God's places and the devil's places, and that difference is diligence in sanctification. — Examine yourself whether you are a subject of the King of glory; the mere outer confession does not suffice; that must be accompanied by indubitable marks of faith. — The surest mark of the true Church is the disposition of Jacob, struggling and striving for the blessing and righteousness from the God of our salvation. — He who takes a great deal with him, cannot enter in through a narrow gate; Christ comes to us with many heavenly blessings, therefore the doors must be made wide and opened for His entrance. — Calvin : Since God's house is holy, the desecration and abuse of those who unrighteously press into it, are nothing but a violation of it. — Osiander : The earth is the Lord's ; He can provide for us and sustain us wherever we may be. — Frisch : All your bur- den of care is nothing when compared with the globe, and yet your Almighty God sustains that. All your troubles are nothing when compared with the waves of the stormy sea, and yet the Lord has set bounds even to them. — Herberger: The earth is the Lord's; therefore it is good everywhere on earth: 1) to dwell, 2) to pray, and 3) to die. — Shut to the devil, open to Christ, so will the King of glory enter into you. — Tholuck : We should regard our worship of God not so much as a duty, but rather as a grace bestowed upon us. — It is the warlike God, who has gained the victories which are in the remem- brance of all. — Von Gerlach : When the Lord would make an entrance and take up His abode, the entire world is too small; His advent trans- forms it. [Matth. Henry: When God gave the earth to the children of men, He still reserved to Him- self the property, and only let it out to them as tenants. — All the parts and regions of the earth are the Lord's, all under His eye, all in His hand, so that wherever a child of God goes he may comfort himself with this, that he doth not go off his Father's ground. — This is a good reason why we should be content with our allot- ment in this world, and not envy others their's ; " the earth is the Lord's," and may He not do what He will with His own, and give to some more of it, to others less, as it pleaseth Him ? — Barnes: God will not regard one who is living in wickedness as a righteous man, nor will He admit such a man to His favor here, or to His dwelling-place hereafter. — Spurgeon : Provi- dence and Creation are the two legal seals upon the title-deeds of the great Owner of all things. , He who built the house and bears up its founda- tion has surely a first claim upon it. — What monarch would have servants with filthy hands to wait at his table ? They who were ceremoni- ally unclean could not enter into the Lord's house which was made with hands, much less shall the morally defiled be allowed to enjoy spiritual fellowship with a holy God. — True re- ligion is heart work. — There must be a work of grace in the core of the heart as well as in the palm of the hand, or our religion is a delusion. — False speaking will shut any man out of heaven, for a liar shall not enter into God's house, whatever may be his professions or doings. God will have nothing to do with liars, except to cast tbem into the lake of fire. Every liar is a child of the devil, and will be sent home to his father. — God first gives us good works and then rewards us for them. — To desire1 communion with God is a purifying thing. — All true glory is concentrated upon the true God, for all other glory is but a passing pageant, the painted pomp of an hour. — C. A. B.] PSALM XXV. 189 PSALM XXV. A Psalm of David. 1 Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, I trust in thee : let me not be ashamed, Let not mine enemies triumph over me. 3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed : Let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. 4 Shew me thy ways, O Lord ; Teach me thy paths. 5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me : For thou art the God of my salvation ; On thee do I wait all the day. 6 Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving-kindnesses ; For they have been ever of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions : According to thy mercy remember thou me, For thy goodness' sake, O Lord. 8 Good and upright is the Lord: Therefore will he teach sinners in the way. 9 The meek will he guide in judgment : And the meek will he teach his way. 10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth Unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. 11 For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; For it is great. 12 What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. 13 His soul shall dwell at ease ; And his seed shall inherit the earth. 14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him ; And he will shew them his covenant. 15 Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord ; For he shall pluck my feet out of the net. 16 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me ; For I am desolate and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged : 0 bring thou me out of my distresses. 18 Look upon mine affliction and my pain ; And forgive all my sins. 19 Consider mine enemies ; for they are many ; And they hate me with cruel hatred. 190 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. 20 O keep my soul, and deliver me : Let me not be ashamed ; for I put my trust in thee. 21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me ; For I wait on thee. 22 Redeem Israel, O God, Out of all his troubles. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Form and Contents. — This is one of the nine alphabetical Psalms, resembling in most re- spects Ps. xxxiv. ; for in both Psalms the strophe with 1 is missing, both have an additional strophe with 3 and resemble one another in thought and expression in corresponding strophes. It is un- certain whether some inaccuracies (the absence of the p and the use of 1 twice) are due to the author or the copyist, s.ince they are easily obvi- ated, as in ver. 2. There is not the least occa- sion for the supposition of a subsequent addition of a closing strophe (Rosenm.). The alphabeti- cal form is regarded by many, without reason, as a subsequent refinement. There is nothing to favor this but the loose connection of the clauses. Yet there is not perceptible here a mere wreath of prayers, which have been gathered together by an alphabetical arrangement of current proverbs, but there is an advance in the different phases of the fundamental thought that God helps the pious. For the Psalmist turns to Jehovah in prayer (ver. 1), and bases his trust in God's help against his enemies (ver. 2) on the general experience of the Divine treatment of those who trust in God and those who are faith- less (ver. 3). Therefore he prays for instruction and guidance in the ways of Jehovah, the God of his salvation, in whom he trusts (vers. 4, 5), and this mercy which has been shown to men from of old, he now implores (ver. 6), with confession of sin (ver. 7), and with an appeal to the nature of God, and His dealings, which have originated from His nature (vers. 8, 9), with sinners and the wretched, as well as with those who observe His law (ver. 10). And he refers back to his personal needs (ver. 11), the satisfaction of < which is confidently expected, since he has the necessary prerequisites and conditions (vers. 12-15). The importunate prayer for immediate help rises on this foundation iu connection with all the motives previously adduced (vers. 16-21) and ends with the closing sigh for the deliver- ance of all the people from all their needs (ver. 22). — Even this turn of thought does not neces- sarily lead to a later period of composition. On the other hand the individual features are not concrete enough, to refer them directly to histo- rical events in the life of David. — This Psalm has especial significance to the Church from the fact that the name of the 2d Sunday in Lent has originated from the Latin word which be- gins ver. G [Reminiscere Sunday], the name of the 3d Sunday from ver. 15 [OcuW] ; and that Selnekker's dying hymn, "AUein nach dir, Herr Jesu Christ," has originated from ver. 1, and the whole Psalm has beeti given in Gerhardt's hymn, "■Nach dir, o Gott, verlanget mich." [Str. I. Ver. 1. Unto Thee, Jehovah.— Pe- rowne: " This is emphatic, not to any false god, or to any human deliverer. Similarly vers. 2, 5." — Do I lift up my soul. — Delitzsch : " In need of help and longing for salvation he lifts his soul, withdrawn from all earthly desires, to Jehovah ; the God who alone can grant that which truly satisfies. His Ego, which has the soul in itself, gives to it the direction upward to Him, whom he names 'my God' [ver. 2], be- cause he cleaves fast to Him and is united to Him in the confidence of faith." Ver. 3. Yea, none that wait on Thee shall be ashamed. — Perowne : " The writer passes from the optative, with 7X (,"?/), ver. 2, to the future, with k) (bv). He here expresses not so much a general truth as his own indi- vidual conviction, and includes tacitly himself in the number of those who thus hope. The Sept. is mistaken, in returning, in the second clause of the verse, to the optative [So A. V.]. For the sentiment, comp. Rom. v. 5, fj tie eXnic bv Karacaxvvai." — Delitzsch: "Hope is the eye of faith, which looks clearly and fixedly into the future." — Ashamed shall be the traitors without cause. — Alexander : " The position of the verbs, at the end aud the beginning of the suc- cessive clauses, give a peculiar turn to the sen- tence, which is lost in some translations. — With- out cause qualifies the word immediately preced- ing, and describes the enemy not only as perfidi- ous, but as acting, so gratuitously and without provocation." — C. A. B.] [Str. II. Ver. 4. Thy ways, Jehovah, make me to know. — Barnes: "The 'ways' of God are His methods of administering the affairs of the world; His dispensations; the rules which He has prescribed for Himself in the execution of His plans ; the great laws by which He governs the universe." Ver. 5. Lead me in Thy truth. — Alexander: " The obvious meaning of this verse, interpreted according to New Testament and modern usage, would be that of prayer for Divine instruction in religious truth or doctrine. But the usage of the Psalms, and the preceding context, are in favor of explaining truth to mean the veracity of God, or the faithful performance of His pro- mises. See Pss. xxx. 9; lxxi. 22; xci. 4. The teaching asked is then experimental teaching or the actual experience of God's faithfulness." — God of my salvation — Barnes : " The word salvation is not to be understood here in the sense in which it is now commonly used, as de- noting deliverance from sin and future ruin, but in the more general sense of deliverance — deliver- ance from danger and death." — C. A. B.] [Str. III. Ver. 6. For from everlasting are they. — Hupfeld: "The grace of God is often PSALM XXV. 191 thus designed, e. g. Ps. c. 5: ciii. 17, espe- cially in the refrain which has become a formula, 'for His mercy endureth forever,' Ps. exxxvi., et nl. The remembrance of this and appeal to this is especially appropriate in times of trouble, when 'God h ides His face' and seems to have forgotten His suppliant." Ver. 7. The sins of my youth and my transgressions. — Hupfeld : " Sins of youth, because youth, as the time of hot sensuousness and passion, is especially inclined to such errors as those designated by HlXiSn, whilst the D'JJEto are more appropriate to the cold and reflec- tive age of manhood." "The mention of both together, that is, the sins of youth and manhood, shows that in praying for forgiveness he thinks not. only of the more recent sins, but is conscious of having heaped sin upon sin from the earliest tinx's, and he bows under this burden (Calvin)." — C. A. B.] [Sir. IV. Ver. 9. He will guide the hum- ble, etc. — Alexander: "The common version of D'lJJ?, meek, is too restricted and descriptive of mere temper. The Hebrew word is the nearest equivalent to humble in its strong reli- gious sense. The omission of the article may be explained as a poetic license, and the word translated the humble so as to include the whole class. But the intimate connection between this verse and the one before it makes it more natu- ral to take D"1J>' as a description of the sinners mentioned in ver. 8, who are then (f course to be regarded as penitent, believing sinners, i. e. as true converts." — C. A. B.] [Sir. V. Ver. 10. Grace and truth.— De- litzsch : "These paths are "IDT"), for the salvation of men is their end, and HOSjj, for they confirm at every step the reliability of His promises. But only those who were true and obedient to His covenant and testimonies, were partakers of such grace and truth. The name of Jehovah, which unfolds in grace and truth, is dear to the Psalm- ist."—C. A. B.] S/r. VI. [Ver. 12. The way that he should choose (A. V., shall choose). — This is the ren- dering of Moll, Hupf., Perowne, et al., and is better. Luther, followed by Ewald, translates, " den best' n W\ 7." Ver. 13. His soul shall dwell in good (A. V., at ease). — I'erownc : " Literally, 'to pass, the night,' but used in the more extended sense as in Pss. xlix. 12; xci. 1; Prov. xix. 23." — Alexander: " In good, not goodness, but good fortune or prosperity." — His seed shall pos- sess the land. — Alexander: "The verb trans- lated shall possess, denotes specifically to inherit or possess as an inheritance, i. e. from genera- tion to generation, in perpetual succession. — The land, to wit, the land of Canaan; and as this was the standing promise of the law, uttered even in the decalogue (Ex. xx. 12), it became a formula for all the blessings implicitly embraced in the promise of Canaan to the ancient Israel, and is so used even by our Lord Himself (Matth. v. 5)."— C. A. B.] Ver. 14. The friendship of Jehovah. — The Hebrew word TO, sod. which is very ob- scure in its etymology, has this meaning Prov. iii. 22: Job xxix. 4. [So Alexanderand Barnes. Hupfeld renders friendship, but gives secret in the margin. — C. A. B.]. Others, after Theodot., prefer the meaning, secret [A. V., so also De- litzsch and Perowne.* — C. A. B.], because in intimate association, Ps. lv. 14 sq., there is a free expression and sharing of secrets (Job xix. 19). Symmach. renders it 6uc2.ia; Aquil. an6p}»]- rov, after the meaning which became usual only afterwards; Sept. Kjiaraiuiia (Vulg. Jirmainentum), confounding it with "\~\U\ [Ver. 15 My eyes ever towards Jeho- vah.— Hupfeld: "We must supply either '^Nt^J, / lift, Ps. exxiii. 1 (conip. exxi. 1), or look, as l's. xxxiii. 18. It indicates looking out for help from God, whether in anxiety (comp. exxi. 1), or, as here, confidently=with hope and trust in Him." — From the net. — Alexander: "The figure of a net is a favorite one fur dangers arising from the craft and spite of enemies." Vid. Pss. ix. 15; x. 9.— C. A. B.] S/r. VIII. Ver. 17. Distresses have ex- tended themselves over my heart. — Since " to enlarge one's self," likewise=to add to one's extent, it is unnecessary to depart from the in- terpretation which prevailed among all ancieut interpreters, of the extending of distresses, which is likewise indicated by the vowel points. Most recent interpreters, however, change the reading by connecting the 1 with the following word, and thus by changing the vowel points get the imperative form harchibh. Thus they gain a complete parallelism with the following member of the verse. \ [Str. IX. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me. — Delitzsch : "That piety which tills the whole man and not that which divides his heart or is hypocritical, is called rjpi, and that honesty which goes after the Divine will, without going astray or in crooked ways, is called Tl/" — these two fundamental virtues (comp. Job i. 1) he wishes to be the guardians of his way, which is dangerous, not only on account of external enemies, but likewise on account of his own sinfulness : they are not to let him go out of their sight, that he may not withdraw himself from them (comp. Ps. xl. 12; Prov. xx. 28). He can claim this for himself, because the object of his hope is God, from whom Dfi and Vl^"1 go forth as good angels." — C. A. B.] * [Perowne: "As God said, flen. xviii. 17, ' Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" Or the word may mean • close and intimate communion,' in which Qod makes Himself known to the soul. See Ps. lv. 14; Prov. iii.--; Job xxix. 4. God alone possesses tin- truth, for lie is the truth, and therefore He alone can impair it, and He im- parti it only to them that fear Him." So Wordsworth : "He sits, us it were, as a guest and friend, and convenes familiarly with them. Comp. John xiv. 28, 'If any man love Me. lie uiii keep My words, and My Father will lovo him. and we will come unto him. and make cur abode with him:* and see Rev. iii. 20." — C. A. B.j •f [Perowne: " As the t°Xt now stands, we can only render • Distresses have enlarged my heart,' <'. e. have made room for themselves, as it were, that they might come in ami fill it: or have rushed in like a Hood of water, swelling the stream till it overflows its banks, and so spreads itsell i'Ver a wider surface. Unless, Indeed, we take tie- word in the Bame meaning as in l's. cxix. 32, where t" enlarge the heart =to open it tc. instruction. But that sense is Bcnrcely suita- ble here. Most modern editors read "■j""ip*iVD""*):l 3T1TI (imperat.). The rendering then is: 'My heart is trouhlcd (/. »•. is nothing hut troubles, is full of troubles), 0 set it at liberty I And out of my distresses,' etc." — C. A. B.j 192 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. Where the soul is really directed towards God, it is full of seeking for help aud longing for salvation. In this is the warrant of de- liverance, as the conditions of salvation and the certainty of answer to prayer, consist in trust in God, which does not ask that God should make this special case an exception, but rather relies upon the sureness and faithfulness of God, which are manifested and proved in His government, which is always the same, in the deliverance of the pious, and the punishment of the faithless, who break the covenant without cause. 2. It is necessary, on this account, to walk in the ways of God and pray for enlightenment and guidance, because His ways are grace and truth (ver. 10; comp. Pss. xxvi. 3; lxxxvi. 11; John i. 17). Accordingly they cannot be known or found without God, neither can any one walk in them or remain in them without Him. Yet those who hope continually and uninterruptedly in God may expect such gracious help from the God of salvation. 3. However, we must not only pray for assist- ing grace, but likewise for pardoning mercy. For we may say on the one hand: "Because our sins set up a partition between us and God, so that He does not hear our wishes, or stretch forth His hand to help us, David now takes this hindrance away ; he confesses that he cannot share in the grace of God except by having his sins blotted out" (Calvin). On the other hand, the forgiveness of sins is that declaration of Divine grace by which the mercy of God has from the earliest times been his'orically made known to sinners as proper to the being of God, and which as the expression of His favor and love accomplishes the salvation of men. This the Psalmist claims for himself, on this account, partly by appealing to the remembrance of God ; partly by referring to his own personal previous transgressions, particularly to the sins of his youth; for "where there is forgiveness of sins, there is life and blessedness" (Luther); and "if our sins are many, His grace is much more." 4. Now as sure as the safe direction of sinners and guidance in the right not only come from God, but likewise, as based upon the Being of God, give expression to the excellence of His Being; so, moreover, it is just as sure that it is necessary that there should be a corresponding behaviour on the part of those who would attain the salvation to which grace points and lends, and would experience in themselves the truth, that is, the reliability of the Divine declarations and actions, at every step of the way. It is not the greatness and grievousness of the sins that in themselves exclude from salvation, but. the lack of forgiveness of sins when it is neither sought nor found. Therefore we must hold fast to the covenant and testimonies of God. For though they disclose the misery of man, yet they likewise unveil the depths of the Divine mercy, reveal the name of God, whose ways are grace and truth, and offer the means of atonement and forgiveness to those who would use them. There- fore, " this is our Theology, which we pray in the Lord's prayer ; forgive us our debts in order that we may know that we live under grace alone. Grace, moreover, not only takes away sins, but likewise endures them and bears them" (Luther). 5. But all this is said not that we may sin wantonly, but that we may not despair with the knowledge of the greatness and grievousness of our sins, in the feeling of our weakness and our misery, under the chastisements and sufferings which arise from our guilt. It is that we may be comforted by the grace of God, invoke the mercies of the Lord, and lay hold of and use the means of salvation offered in the gracious cove- nant, in order that we may walk in the right ways pointed out to us. Thus we are to attain that fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of all wisdom, and which finally leads to the friend- ship of Jehovah and to that love which is the ful- filment of the law (Rom. xiii. 10; comp. Eccl. xiii. 12). This brings blessings to our own per- sons and to our posterity (Deut. v. 3; xi. 21). 6. Thus the soul of the pious may at times be overwhelmed with anxiety of heart as with a flood and may feel itself solitary and wretched, espe- cially when the snares in which he has become entangled are about to be drawn together as a net; yet he is never really forsaken and hopeless, so long as he can lift up his eyes to the Lord and bring before God in prayer and supplication the condition of his heart and take refuge against the assaults of all his enemies in faith in the Almighty as His Helper. Oculi mei ad te, oculi ergo tui vicissim ad me ; respice in me, ut suspicio in te (Cassiodor). There is an interchange between trust and faithfulness, as between uprightness and salvation. 7. Within the covenant of grace the individual feels not only in communion and intercourse with God, but likewise united as a member of the people of the covenant. From his personal needs his individual feeling of pain is enlarged so that he sympathizes with the troubles of the congregation, and from this arises comprehensive love, in like trust in the God of the community and often indeed at the same time in supplication that the general as well as the particular distress may be removed. The prayer has accordingly become intercession, and remains, likewise in this respect, directed to the God of the covenant. It 'may address Him, moreover, with the universal name of God [Elohim), because it has to do with the Divine help as such. IIOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. We can never do better than : 1) trust the faithfulness of God; 2) look to God's truth ; 3) build on God's grace. — It is good in trouble to take refuge with God; but it is not enough to implore deliverance from earthly need, we must likewise pray for forgiveness of sins, for the cause of all misery is in sin. — To lift up the soul to God is to begin the lifting of the entire man out of all need. — lie who would obtain salvation must tvalk in the ways of God, but he needs for this Divine instruction and guidance ; both he will gain by praying for them as a needy suppli- ant.— However far back we may look, we find human sin and Divine mercy ; and it is necessary PSALM XXV. 193 and good for us to be reminded of both in our misery, but likewise to think of this, that God's mercy extends still farther back and springs from the perfect Being of God.— How it will fare with us, depends finally upon the ways in which we walk. — Those who fear God obtain the friend- ship of God and an abiding blessing for themselves and their posterity. — There are three things which are most oppressive and often prepare great anxiety of heart: 1) many and unrighteous enemies; 2) many and grievous sins; 3) many and well-deserved troubles. Against this anxiety there is, however, a threefold remedy : 1) trust in the assistance of the Almighty God; 2) the comfort of forgiveness of sins by God's grace; 3) the prayer for redemption by the God of salvation. — Grace and truth on the part of God, bad and right on the part of men, this is the best meet- ing, the most powerful blessing, and the surest preserving. — He who would fare well let him re- main: 1) walking in the ways of God; 2) holding to the law and testimonies of God ; 3) trusting in the name of God. — Let us not forget in our par- ticular troubles the general need, but rather hold in close connection our own personal salvation with the welfare of our people and the congrega- tion of God, and by prayer and intercession bear witness to the communion in which God has placed us, strengthen and enlarge it. — God is the best treasure and the best protection. Stakke : The true lifting of the heart to God is the true worship of God in the spirit and the chief power of the life of true faith. — True living hope in God is the sure and only ground of true consolation, by which the spirit rests in God and His promises as a ship at anchor. — The ways and stairs of God are known to no creature so well as to Himself; therefore He can give us the best instruction in them. — It is not enough to be taught of men, we must go to school to God, that is, resign ourselves obediently to the guidance and training of the Holy Spirit. — God would justify sinners, but likewise sanctify them. — God will not lead the strong, who regard themselves as able, but the weak and miserable, who recognize their weakness and inability. — All true penitents regard their sins as great ; and all believers regard the name of the Lord, that is, His grace, as still greater. — He who will not fear the Lord, cannot enjoy His gracious guidance in the blessed way. — The blessing of a believer does not die with him, but rests cer- tainly on his posterity, provided that they fol- low his faith. — The cross has this advantage among others, that we are thereby more occupied with God. — The snares which Satan and the world put about the Christian are innumerable, and, without the assistance of God, unavoidable; therefore it is necessary to watch and pray. — The communion of saints demands that we al- ways include in our prayers the affairs of all the children of God. Luther: If we forget our sins, grace will be little thought of by us (1 Peter i. 9). Moreover, we do not thank God if we forget our sins. Moreover, if we do not thank God, then we feel safe, and are bold to commit grievous sins and blasphemies. — Osiander: The impenitent can- not comfort themselves with Divine help, but the penitent are never to despair of His grace. — The 13 cross and trouble are very good to induce us to leave off sin and lead an honorable life. — It is simple paternal faithfulness, what God does with us poor sinners, although at times it has a dif- ferent appearance to our mind. — Selnekkkr : The lamentation of the saints is, half a saint, and entirely a sinner. There is now no other coun- sel than to own and confess our sins and pray for their forgiveness ; we are and live under grace. — Renschel: Confess your guilt; trust in God's mercy ; wait with patience ; hold last to the Word, the refuge of the soul ; pray always. — Friscii : The praying Psalmist, 1) testifies his faith, a) by longing after God, b) by trust in God ; 2) he seeks God's grace, a) to govern him, b) to forgive him; 3) he praises a) God's goodness, and b) the welfare of the pious; 4) he implorea help, «) for himself, b) for the whole Church. — Heuberger: The deeper the source of prayer within the heart, the stronger is its impulse up- wards through the clou Is of heaven. — If God is your God, then all that God is is yours, His grace, His help, His heaven ; therefore you may be glad. — Two kinds of ways belong to Chris- tianity: 1) the thankful way of life and virtue, 2) the right stairway of faith and heaven. — Von Geulach: Grace and truth are the two stars, which David had constantly in view in his walk. — Tholuck : As fire must be kept up by coals, so the flames of our prayers need constant invigo- ration by keeping before us the universal truths of our religion, in which we believe. — The way of the fear of God is the best of all ways; by it the soul reaches its true home and takes posses- sion of it forever. — Umbreit: God teaches sin- ners His way by righteousness and goodness. Righteousness must punish them in order to make known the wickedness of their way; goodness leads them back in contrition and penitence to that which they have renounced in their own wicked wills. — Baihinger: Salvation and hap- piness from Jehovah are the inseparable com- panions of the fear of God. — Taube : The ways of God are of two kinds: the one in which He goes to us and with us; and the one in which we must go to Him. — The true desire after God ia when His glory draws and your need drives you to Him. [Mattii. Henry: Prayer is the ascent of the soul to God; God must be eyed, and the soul employed; sursumcorda, — "up with your hearts," was anciently used as a call to devotion. — Those are the worst transgressors that sin for sin- ning's sake. — If we sincerely desire .to know our duty, with a resolution to do it, we need not question, but that God will direct us in it. — It is God's goodness and not ours, His mercy and not our own merit, that must be our plea for the pardon of sin, and all the good we stand in need of. — The devil leads men blindfold to hell; but God enlightens men's eyes, sets things before mem in a true light, and so leads them to heaven. — They that receive the truth in the love of it. and experience the power of it, best understand the mystery of it. — Sincerity will be our best secu- rity in the worst of times. — Integrity and up- rightness will be a man's preservation more than the wealth and honor of the world can be. — In hea- ven, and in heaven only, will God's Israel be per- fectly redeemed from all troubles. — Barnes : It is 194 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. always true that we are dependent on God for everything; it is not true that we always feel this. — Religion is not selfish. The mind under the influence of true piety, however intensely it may feel its own trouble, and however earnestly it may pray for deliverance, is not forgetful of the troubles of others; and prayers for their comfort and deliverance are freely mingled with those which the afflicted children of God offer for themselves. — Spurgeon: It is the mark of a true saint that his sorrows remind him of his sins, and his sorrow for sin drives him to his God. — Faith is the cable which binds our boat to the shore, and by pulling at it we draw our- selves to the land ; faith unites us to God, and then draws us near to Him. As long as the anchor of faith holds there is no fear in the worst tempest; if that should fail us there would be no hope left. — Suffering enlarges the heart by creating the power to sympathize. — We ought to be grateful for occasional griefs, if they preserve us from chronic hard-heartedness ; for of all afflictions, an unkind heart is the worst, it is a plague to its possessor, and a torment to those around him. — If the Lord will only do unto us in the future as in the past, we shall be well content. We seek no change in the Divine action, we only crave that the river of grace may never cease to flow. — Proud of their own wisdom, fools will not learn, and therefore miss their road to heaven, but lowly hearts sit at Jesus' feet, and find the gate of glory. Blessed teacher! Favored scholar! Divine lesson! My soul, be thou famjliar with the whole. — Keepers of the covenant shall be kept by the covenant ; those who follow the Lord's com- mands shall find the Lord's mercy following them. — We all wish to choose our way; but what a mercy is it when the Lord directs that I choice, and makes free-will to be good-will ! If i we make our will God's will, God will let us have our will. — Saints have the key of heaven's hieroglyphics ; they can unriddle celestial enig- mas. They are initiated into the fellowship of the skies ; they have heard words which it is not possible for them to repeat to their fellows. — Blessed is the man to whom sin is more un- bearable than disease, he shall not be long be- fore the Lord shall both forgive his iniquity and heal his diseases. Men are slow to see the inti- mate connection between sin and sorrow, a grace- taught heart alone feels it. — C. A. B.] PSALM XXVI. A Psalm of David. 1 Judge me, O Lord ; for I have walked in my integrity : I have trusted also in the Lord ; therefore I shall not slide. 2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me ; Try my reins and my heart. 3 For thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes : And I have walked in thy truth. 4 I have not sat with vain persons, Neither will I go in with dissemblers. 5 I have hated the congregation of evil doers ; And will not sit with the wicked. 6 I will wash mine hands in innocency : So will I compass thine altar, O Lord : 7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, And tell of all thy wondrous works. 8 Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, And the place where thine honor dwelleth. 9 Gather not my soul with sinners, Nor my life with bloody men. 10 In whose hands is mischief, And their right hand is full of bribes. PSALM XXVI. 105 11 But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity : Redeem me, and be merciful unto me. 12 My foot standeth in an even place : In the congregations will I bless the Lord. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents and Composition. — The Psalm- ist declares not so much his honesty before God connected with prayer for the actual recognition of it, and that he may be distinguished from the ungodly (Hupf.); but he bases hisprayer for help (vers. 1 and 11), and for preservation from the fate of the wicked (ver. 9), on the government of God which surely does justice to the righteous. This he claims, because he not only is convinced that he personally belongs to the number of the righteous, but in this respect, with entire confi- dence, puts himself under the Divine judgment internally and externally (vers. 1, 2). Yet he does this, not in the sense of self-righteousness and righteousness of works, but with the express confession, that his dependence on the grace (ver. 3 a) and truth (ver. 3 b) of God, constitutes the basis of the position of his heart and life, ■whereby he has hitherto separated himself from hypocrites and wicked persons (vers. 4, 5), and likewise in the future would, in love to the sanc- tuary of God (vers. 6, 8) remain separate from them. He concludes with an expression of pious confidence and joy, as well with reference to his lot as his conduct (vers. 9, 11), and therefore embracing both sides of the relation (ver. 12). The priestly expressions in ver. 6 sq., do not com- pel us to the conclusion that the author was a. man of the priestly order (Hitzig); they merely attest his priestly disposition, and likewise his in- timate acquaintance with the worship of God in the life of Israel, as well as his longing after re- newed participation in it, in the holy place of the Banctuary. This is sufficient to lead us to think of the time of the rebellion of Absalom, in con- nection with David as the author, which has no- thing against it; comp. 2 Sam. xv. 25.* Str. I. Ver. 1. Do me justice, for, etc. — Ac- cording to the mere words we might translate, judge (= prove) me, that. Then ver. 1 would be parallel with ver. 2. But usage decides either for the meaning declare righteous, speak the pious and oppressed free by a judicial sentence ; or for the meaning, do justice, in the execution of the sentence, and thus helping, and delivering, an 1 treating the innocent in accordance with justice. The latter meaning is the usual one, when Gods judgment is referred to ; here it is made espe- cially appropriate by ver. 11 and the tone of the entire Psalm. — Fori have walked in my in- tegrity.— DH (in the full form D'SH), here con- * [Perowne : " This Psalm has some points <>t' resemblance, both in thought ami expression, to the last. Both open with tii' sum.' declaration of trust in God (xxv. 2; xxvi. 1); in both there is the same prayer that God would redeem (xxv. 22; and xxvi. 11) and be gracious (xxv. 16; xxvi. m t.. Hi* servants. Other points of contact may be found in xxv. -i\ \ xxvi. 11; and xxv. 6; xxvi.:;. There is, however, this marked difference between the two, that there are wanting, in tins Psalm, those touching confessions of sinfulness and pleadings for forgiveuess which iu the other are thrice repeated." — C. A. B.] nected with the suffix of the first person, in order to emphasize the habitual and personal charac- teristic, indicates not the perfection of the walk, but the purity of the heart (Gen. xx. 5sq.; 1 Kings xxii. 34), the honesty and d-'/.iirrjr of the soul, which characteristic is accompanied by an unwavering trust in God.* — And in Jehovah have I trusted without wavering. [" With- out wavering " is an adverbial clause according to Moll, Delitzsch, Perowne, et al., and not a de- pendent clause in the future (A. V., therefore I shall not slide) or a clause in the future, ex- pressing confident anticipation (Alexander). — C. A. B] Ver. 2. Since the Psalmist is speaking of the inner man, a prayer to God follows for examina- tion, investigation, searching of the heart and reins. — [Try me, Jehovah, and prove me; assay my reins and my heart. — Alexander : " The first verb is supposed by etymologists to signify, originally, trial by touch, the second by smell, and the third by fire. In usage, however, the second is constantly applied to moral trial or temptation, while the other two are frequently applied to the testing of metals by the touchstone of the furnace. This is indeed the predominant usage of the third verb, which may therefore be represented by the technical metallurgic term assay." Perowne: " The reins, as the seat of the lower animal passions; the heart, as comprising not only the higher affections, but also the will and the conscience. He thus desires to keep no- thing back ; he will submit himself to the search- ing flame of the Great Refiner, that all dross of self-deception may be purged away." — C. A.B.] The reading adopted by Hengst., H-DH^, refined that is, verified, found pure and genuine, is not appropriate to the context. The kethibh H^'ny is tobe retained, which is an unusual imperative form, the usual Pirni" being lengthened by the 1, and accordingly receiving the tone. Forms entirely parallel with this are found, Judges ix. S, 12; 1 Sam. xxviii. 8; Ps. xxxviii. 21; Isa. xviii. 4. [Ver. 3. For Thy grace is before my eyes, and I walk in Thy truth. — Delitzsch : " God's grace is his aim, the delight of his eyes, and" he walks in God's truth. ~\DT) is the Divine love condescending to His creatures, especially to sin- ners, in undeserved advances, jV3X the truth with which God maintains the will of His love, and the Word of His promise, and executes them. This kindness of God lias been constantly the mo- del of his life, this truth of God the rule and limi- tation of his walk."— C. A. I! ] [Str. II. Ver. 4. Men of falsehood.— So Moll.. Hupf., Alexander, at al. Alexander: = " Liars and deceivers, which appears to suit the context better than the wider sense of vain men *[DelitS8ch: " Oj~> to according to Qen.xx.5sq.; 1 Kings xxii. 34, entire freedom from sinful Intention, unity of cha- racter, purity, simplicity (d*a«ia, airAdrrjs)."'— C. A. B.j 196 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. (A. V.), t. e., destitute of moral goodness, good for nothing, worthless. The same class of per- sons are described in the last clause as masked, disguised, or hypocritical." — C. A. B.] Str. III. Ver. 6. I wash my hands in inno- cency. — Originally this was a symbolical action connected with a rite of atonement, to declare innocency of a murder (Deut. xxi. 6 sq. ; Matth. xxvii. 24) ; then in general a figure of speech to attest innocent conduct and warranted purity (Job ix. 30; Ps. lxxiii. 13; Ezek. xxxvi. 25); here the more appropriate, as there is directly a reference to an entrance into the sanctuary, which was in ancient times always preceded by lustra- tions. Comp. the action of the priests who were to wash themselves before performing their ser- vice, Ex. xxx. 20 sq. — And would compass Thine altar. — Olshausen and Delitzsch regard this clause as optative, but it is rather cohorta- tive [Perowne]. This is not to be understood merely of surrounding — being near as an ex- pression of dependence (Luther), in contrast with the assembly of the ungodly (Hengst.), or as a privilege of the pure and pious (Hupf.), but it is in connection with the loud thanksgiving with which the delivered Psalmist would praise the Lord in the house of God, in the congrega- tion of the pious (ver. 12). Thanksgiving is an offering, hence the mention of the altar. The compassing of the altar, like the washing of the hands, is not to be taken literally. Moreover, there is still less reason for a reference to priestly and Levitical functions, since such a solemn pro- cession about the altar is not mentioned in the Old Testament. [Perowne: "I am disposed to think that the whole passage is figurative and amounts to this, ' I would fain give myself to Thy service even as Thy priests do,' just as in Ps. xxiii. 6, he utters the wish to dwell in the house of Jehovah forever." — C. A. B.] [Ver. 8. Alexander : " This verse expresses more directly and literally the idea of ver. 6 above, and shows that his compassing the altar was intended to denote his love for the earthly residence of God, the altar being there put for the whole sanctuary, which is here distinctly mentioned. The habitation of Thy house might be understood to mean a residence in it; but the usage of the first noun and the parallelism show that it rather means the place where Thy house dwells, perhaps in allusion to the migratory movements of the ark before the time of David. So too in the last clause, Hebrew usage would admit of the translation, Thy glorious dwelling- place, as in Ps. xx. 7(6); but the use of 1133 in the Pentateuch to signify the visible presence of Jehovah (Ex. xxiv. 16; xl. 34, 35) seems de- cisive in favor of explaining it, the place where Thy glory dwells, i. e., where the glorious God is pleased to manifest His presence." Hupfeld : "This is particularly the Holy of Holies, where the ark of the covenant was the throne of His ma- jesty in its earthly manifestation." — C. A. B.] [Str. IV. Ver. 9. Gather not my soul with sinners. — Wordsworth : " Bind me not up in the same bundle with them, like tares for the fire (Matth. xiii. 30). The contrast to this is seen in the following Psalm (ver. 10), 'When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up ;' literally, will gather me to His fold." — Men of blood. — Alexander: "Lite- rally bloods, i. e., murderers either in the strict sense or by metonymy for sinners of the worst class," probably the latter. Ver. 10. In whose hands is crime. — Alex- ander : " The word IT3I is a very strong one, used in the law to denote specifically acts of gross impurity, but signifying really any wicked act or purpose. The common version mischief is too weak. The last word in the verse denotes espe- cially a judicial bribe (Ps. xv. 5), and may be intended to suggest that the whole description has reference to unrighteous rulers, or to wicked men in public office." — C. A. B.] Str. V. Ver. 12. My foot standeth upon the plain, [A. V., even place']. — The plain is not a figure of righteousness but of safety. [Pe- rowne: "His prayer has been heard. He is safe. He stands in the open, level table-land, where he has room to move, and where his ene- mies cannot hem him in, and therefore he fulfils the resolve made before (ver. 7), and publicly pours out his thanksgiving to God." — C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. When the watt of a maa is the expression of the purity of heart which is his own and inse- parable from him, and this purity is accompanied with an unshaken trust in Ood, then he may con- fidently make the righteousness of God the founda- tion of his hope of a favorable turn in his for- tunes, and may lay direct claim to it, in order that its holy government may do justice to the in- nocent in this unrighteous world. In this is ex- pressed not the boldness of self-righteousness, but faith in the righteousness of God, and the confidence of a good conscience. " The right- eousness of faith of the Scriptures is not the enemy of righteousness of life, but its mother." (Heng- stenberg). 2. Now he who has no reason to fear the ex-, ternal judgment of God, but rather desires to be protected from his enemies by its operation, must with all the more earnestness let the searching judgment of God execute itself in his own inmost soul, the more emphatically sincere his protesta- tions are, that he has kept himself as far away from false and hypocritical men as from bold and wanton sinners, and that he in future no less than in the past designs to keep, in the congregation of the pious, to the institutions and means of salvation. 3. But where piety and righteousness go hand in hand, and the use of the means of grace as- sists to walk in purity and without punishment, there the prayer may be made with comforted spirit, on the one side for preservation according to God's righteousness from the fate of those with whom the suppliant has no communion of dispo- sition or walk ; on the other side for redemption from all evil by God's mercy. "It might seem at the first view as an absurd prayer, that God should not involve the righteous in the ruin of the ungodly, but God allows according to His paternal indulgence His own children to make such free expressions of their feelings, in order that their apprehensions may be quieted by the prayer itself. For David, whilst he expresses this wish, places before his eyes the righteous judgment of God, in order to free himself from PSALM XXVI. 197 apprehension and fear, because nothing is more foreign to God than to mix good and evil toge- ther" (Calvin). UOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. A good conscience is essentially different from the imagination of self-righteousness, and from the pride of righteousness of works as well in its ex- pressions as in the foundations of the confidence. — He who would walk in the truth of God, must not lose sight of the grace of God. — No one can be better advised than to hold on to God's people, God's house, God's altar. — dn the irreproachable- ness of a walk is shown 1) the puritg of piety, and 2) its power. — The righteous may appeal to the righteousness of God, but they can never do with- out God's mercg. — True morality and sincere piety condition one another, and are thereby distin- guished from legal righteousness. — He who would not share the lot of the ungodly, must not only separate himself from them in disposition; he must also not only remain a stranger to their evil doings; he must not even share their company. — He who allows himself to be judged by God in- ternally, need not fear the punishment of God, and yet daily has to implore redemption and God's mercy. — It is becoming to no one to have a hierarchical disposition and life. Starke: How beautiful it is, when man can appeal with certainty to God's judgment, and when his heart does not condemn him. Let every one strive to attain such innocence. — He who is earnest in avoiding sin, let him avoid likewise all that could give opportunity and inducement to sin. — The true worship of God has this sure fruit, that a soul knows the wonders of grace, and thereby is awakened to heartfelt thanks. — He who despises the assemblage of the congregation, what else is to be seen thau that he has very lit- tle care for the glory of God and his own salva- tion (Prov. xiii. 18). — Not to be involved in the plagues of the ungodly is a great grace of God, since the pious, especially the flint-hearted, are not without sensible pain, as well on accpunt of the assaults of Satan as on account of the wicked judgments of the world. — The hands which gladly take rewards cannot certainly wash in innocency but are instruments of unrighteousness. — With the greatest application to an innocent walk we are not to boast of it before God, but rather to pray for His grace, for before Him there is no living being righteous in and for himself. Luther : I should hate what I cannot love with God. — When now they preach anything that is against God, all love and friendship are gone. — God's house and assembly are where God's word is and nowhere else; for there God Himself dwells. Therefore David praises the house of God with so much joy on account of the Word of God.— Arndt: The true Church of God looks not at the visible, and depends not upon the tempo- ral, but seeks the future native land, and has its glory, honor, aud riches in heavenly possessions. — Frisch: Be not slothful in attending church, appear there with holy reverence; think why you are there; and do what you have come to do. — Von Gerl.vch : Where the Lord reveals Himself as graciously near, where He exhibits His glory, where He expressly declares that He will be found, where He puts visible pledges in which He may be known, apprehended and pos- sessed, there the heart and inclination of believers love to be. — Tuoluuk: Iu circumstances, where among men no justice is to be found, we learn to properly value the consolation that there is a Judge iu heaven above all the judges of earth. — Stiller : The Christian houses of God are houses of thanksgiving, iu which the praise of God sounds ; they are likewise memorial houses to reflect upon the Divine wonders. [.Mattii. Henry: It is a comfort to those who are falsely accused that there is a righteous God, who sooner or later will clear up their innocency ; and a comfort to all that are sincere in religion that God Himself is a witness to their sincerity : — Great care to avoid bad company is both a good evidence of our integrity, and a good means to preserve us in it. — All who truly love God truly love the ordinances of God, aud therefore love them, because in them He manifests His honor, and they have an opportunity of honoring Him. — Barnes: The whole Psalm should lead us carefully to examine the evidences of our piety ; to bring before God all that we rely on as proof that we are His friends; and to pray .that He will enable us to examine it aright; and when the result is, as it was in the case of the Psalm- ist— when we can feel that we have reached a level place and found a smooth path, then we should go, as he did, and offer hearty thanks to God that we have reason to believe we are His children, and are heirs of salvation. — Spurqeon: Worried and worn out by the injustice of men, the innocent, spirit flies from its false accusers to the throne of the Eternal right. — What a comfort it is to have the approbation of one's own con- science ! If there be peace within the soul, the blustering storms of slander which howl around us are of little consideration. When the little bird in my bosom sings a merry song, it is no matter to me if a thousand owls hoot at me from without. — The doubtful ways of policy are sure sooner or later to give a fall to those who run therein, but the ways of honesty, though often rough, are always safe. — A man who does not hate evil terribly, does not love good heartily. — What God hates we must hate. — Let each reader see well to his company, for such as we keep in this world, we are likely to keep in the next. — Each saint is a witness to Divine faithfulness, and should be ready with his testimony. — C. A. B.] 198 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. PSALM XXVII. A Psalm of David. 1 The Lord is my light and my salvation ; Whom shall I fear ? Tin Of i nom suaii x ietu : he Lord is the strength of my life ; f whom shall I be afraid ? 2 When the wicked, Even mine enemies and my foes, Came upon me to eat up my flesh, They stumbled and fell. 3 Though a host should encamp against me, My heart shall not fear : Though war should rise against me, In this will I be confident. 4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after ; That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in his temple. 5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion : In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me ; He shall set me up upon a rock. 6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me : Therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord. 7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice : Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face ; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. 9 Hide not thy face far from me ; Put not thy servant away in anger : Thou hast been my help ; Leave me not, neither forsake me, 0 God of my salvation. 10 When my father and ray mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take me up. 11 Teach me thy way, O Lord, And lead me in a plain path, Because of mine enemies. 12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies : For false witnesses are risen up against me, And such as breathe out cruelty. 13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. PSALM XXVII. 199 14 Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and lie shall strengthen thine heart : Wait, I say, on the Lord. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents and Composition. — The Vulgate has in the Title the additioual words: before he was anointed. According to Theodoret this ad- dition was not in the Hexapla of Origen, and is only found in the Codd. Vatic, of the Sept., yet it came into consideration in connection with the question as to the time of composition, for three anointings of David are mentioned, at first 1 Sam. xvi., then when acknowledged by the tribe of Judah, 2 Sam. ii. 4, finally in connection with the homage of all Israel, 2 Sam. v. 3. No one can think of the first anointing with any propriety, and the historical statements of this Psalm being indefinite, there is no sufficient rea- son for the second (Grotius), or the third, (Ro- senm.) Thus even at the present day those in- terpreters who maintain the Davidic authorship, without regard to this uncertain title, either think of the period of the persecution by Saul, or the rebellion of Absalom. The latter suppo- sition is supported by many resemblances with Ps. iii., (J. II. Mich., Stier, Delitzsch). There is nothing in favor of the peril of death (Rab bins) mentioned 2 Sam. xxi. 16, from which David happily escaped ; yet we cannot regard ver. 10, as being against this supposition. For the text does not demand that it should be inter- preted literally, (Geier) and it has given ancient interpreters unnecessary trouble. Since the dwelling of God is successively called house, pa- lace, tent, we cannot infer any particular period of time, with any certainty; and we need not descend to Jeremiah, who was rejected by his family, and found a refuge in the temple (Ilit- zig); or indeed to the Maccabean times (Olsh., who at the same time finds here two different Psalms united); or regard it as a general Psalm of lamentation of some Hebrew in later times, (De Wette,) on account of the remarkably high estimation of the splendor of the temple and its forms of worship, in connection with the ab- sence, in other respects, of individual references. It is true the tone and rhythm are very much changed in ver. 7, and subsequently, yet only in accordance with the change of subject as in Ps. xix., and elsewhere, (Hupf). From the certainty of communion with God springs the fresh ami joyous expression of confidence in God's protec- tion, fearlessness in danger, certainty of victory over strong and numerous enemies (vers. 1-3), connected with the hope of faith in the fulfillment of his dearest and constant wish to be able to offer thank-offerings, as one delivered by God and protected iu the shelter of the dwelling of God (vers. 4-G). On this foundation rises the prayer that he may be heard (ver. 7). This is based on the call of God (ver. 8) with reference to the po- sition of the Psalmist as a servant of God in need of help (ver. 9), who trust* in the God of his sal- vation, even in his greatest abandonment (ver. 10), and hopes in accordance with God's instruction and under God's guidance (ver. 11) to escape from violent and lying enemies (ver. 12). He would be lost without such trust (ver. 13) ; hence he ex- horts himself to persevere in it (ver. 14). Comp. P. Gerhardt's hymn " Gott ist mcin Licht, der llerr mein He'd" and " Ist Gott far mich, so trele, etc." Sir. I., Ver. 1. Jehovah is my Light. — The supposition, that this address to God, my Light! which occurs only here, is a figurative expres- sion, to be explained through the two following expressions: my salvation and defence of my life ! which are not to be regarded as figurative, but as literal (Calv. Hengst. Hupf.), is entirely without foundation. They are three appellatives parallel, yet expressing different relations to God and founded in essential attributes of God. God is just as essentially Light (Is. lx. 7) as He is salvation and strength, and the one word is no more nor no less figu- rative than the other, when applied to God.* — Defence of my life. — This is literally the stronghold, the bulwark. For P>'0 is to be de- rived from II^=to be strong, firm; not from MJ? = to flee, according to which etymology (J. D. Mich.) some translate, refuge. [Sir. II. Ver. 2. When the evil doers drew near to me, To eat up my flesh ; My adversaries and my enemies, They stum- bled and fell. — The A. V. gives the sense hut is not literal, and disorders the members of the strophe. Evil doers are compared to wild beasts approaching their prey, comp. Ps. xiv. 4 ; xxxv, 1. The third clause is much disputed. Some refer '7 to the verb, and regard it as parallel with '7j? of the first clause. So, Ilitzig, Hengst. Delitzsch, Perowne, Alexander. They therefore render: my adversaries and my enemies to me (draw near, being understood or some other verb supplied). But De Wette, Hupfeld, Moll refer it to the enemies as I have rendered it. The they of the final clause is emphatic, they stumbled and fell.— C. A. 15.] [Sir. III., Ver 3. A host.— Pcrowne : "Lit- erally 'though a camp should encamp against me.' but the English idiom would hardly admit of such a rendering." — For all this, do I trust. — Perownej "So the same expression is rightly rendered in the A. V. of Lev. xxvi. 27. The fuller form occurs Ps. lxxviii 32 ; Job i. 22. Coca, rightly, hoc non obstante, 'in spite of this,' ami Mendelsohn, ' Auch dann bleib' ich gelrost.' The Rabbinical commentators, as Aben Ezra and Rashi, explain, 'In this,' viz.: that the Lord is my light, etc., ver. 1, 'do I trust.' Rosenm. re- fers the pronoun ' this ' to the war mentioned * [Hupfeld : " Light is here that which issues fnnu God as a beam of His light-giving countenance (Ps. iv. 6), that, as tin' light of the sun is the source of all life and growth in nature, bo it is the source of all life and well-being in the hu- man heart, comp. Ps. xxxvi. '.». Hence it is tin- usual figure of life, success, joy, and all good, negatively of deliverance, freedom, help, etc., in contrast tn darkness, which is the figure of death, misfortune, danger, captivity, sorrow, etc. Comp. Ps, xliii. 3: lxxxiv. 11 ; xcvii. 11; cxii. 4; Prov. iv. 18 sq. ; Job xi. 17 ; xviii. IS ; xxx. 26 ; Isa. v. 30 ; ix. 1 ; lviii. 8, 10 ; Micah vii. 8, etc."— C. A. B.J 200 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. just before, ' even in the battle itself,' in ipsa pugna. But the first rendering is more forcible." — C. A. B.] Str. IV. Ver. 4. That I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life. — This is not to be taken literally, or to be explained of the daily visiting the house of God, (most interpreters) especially as even the Leviti- cal priests did not dwell in the temple. It is a figurative expression of the relation to God de- scribed above (Hengst., Hupf.). But it did not originate from a mingling of the figure of a hos- pitable tent with the usual idea of the house of God or temple (Hupf.), but from a prophetical view and longing (vid. Ps. xv. 1 ; xxiii. 6) which is to take its figurative expression from the sphere of the Levitical worship of God, and yet at the same time is justified in breaking through this sphere and lifting itself above it, the more as attendance upon the house of God (Ps. v. 8), and walking in the ordinances of Divine worship are the means ordained of God for communion with Him. To behold the favor of Je- hovah.— Since Jim is not construed with the accusative here, as Ps. liii. 2, but with 3 it de- notes a beholding which tarries with the thing, is well pleased with it and feeds upon it, which is an enjoyment in which the loveliness (Ps. xc. 17) and the sweetness (Prov. xvi. 24) of God are perceived in the experience of His gracious presence. There is no reference to the splendor of the Lord, and it is not allowable to understand by this the splendor of the sanctuary (Luther: the beauti- ful worship of God), or the heavenly temple, and its arrangements, as its archetype (Kimchi, Aben Ezra, Calv., Geier). The .reference is to the favor of God which those are enabled to taste and experience, who have become members of His family, and enjoy as His guests the right of protection within His house. To this the Psalm- ist's wish is directed, which he has already pre- viously expressed in prayer (the perfect) and the fulfilment of which he continually seeks (the imperfect), and thus he describes it as anxious, pious and constant. To meditate in His palace. — [A. V. to inquire in his temple']. — Since ~\p3 denotes looking closely in order to discrimi- nate, and is elsewhere never construed with 3. it is more natural to regard this preposition here as a designation of place (Venema), than either to lift the temple with its symbolical forms into an object of pleasing contemplation (De Wette), or to regard the whole manner of expression as entirely parallel with the preceding (Hupf.). It is unnecessary to supply an object (Hengst.); the verb may be absolute = to make reflections, to meditate. Some of the Rabbins regard it as a denominative of "1p3 in the signification of ap- pearing in the morning (Ps. v. 3), which then is extended to every morning. Delitzsch does not regard this as too bold. The translation, visit (most interpreters) essentially weakens the sense and is without grounds. Sir. V., Ver. 5. For He conceals me in a tabernacle in the days of evil, He shelters me -with the shelter of His tent. — [A. V. In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion : in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me.] — Our translation of the former verse is favored by this, for the same place which is called the house of Jehovah ver. 4, b, and His palace ver. 4, d, with reference to His royal character is in ver. 5, b, called His tent, with reference to the pre- sent or original (comp. Ezek. xli. 1) real char- acter of the ritual dwelling-place of Jehovah in the midst of His people. This sanctuary is now characterized as a place of safety for those who seek refuge, who find there shelter and protection against the pursuit of their enemies, and indeed not because David really once had concealed himself there (Knapp after the Rabbins), but because the places of worship had the general meaning of asylum. From this point of view the same house of Jehovah is in ver. 5, a, named with an expression which designates a covered place for dwelling and lodging, as fitted to give shelter, a tabernacle, a bower.* As a matter of course this is figurative, as then in ver. 5, c, the safety which has been gained is described as be- ing set up upon a rock. But it does not follow from this that the reference to the sanctuary is here to be abandoned (Hupf.), and that the figure is derived from, a shepherd (Geier), or of a hos- pitable householder (De Wette), or protector (lluding. ), and would give the sense, God is the protector of the pious everywhere, and even out- side of His sanctuary (Calvin). The reference here is rather to this very thing, that the house of Jehovah, which appears without doubt in ver. 6, and which is referred to in various forms in accordance with the various references contained in the idea, is here as an asylum, (Geier) and not as the tabernacle (Hengst.). Moreover, it would not change the sense of the passage, but only the color of the thought, and this but slightly, if we should translate according to the reading and accentuation of the Hebrew word, either : in a tabernacle, as Ps. xxxi. 20, comp. Is. iv. 6; or, in His tabernacle. For the D30 of Je- T • hovah (Job xxxvi. 29) is called in Ps. lxxv. 2; Jer. xxv. 38; Lam. ii. 6, likewise, His tr^, although this word is used particularly of the couching- place of lions in thickets (Ps. x. 7), and with definite reference to this is likewise used in the above-mentioned passage, Jer. xxv. 38. Str. VI., Ver. 6. Sacrifices of rejoicing. — This means particularly the thank-offerings, be- cause they were brought with songs of rejoicing and praise. The mention of singing and playing which immediately follow, shows that the refer- ence is to them. This, most interpreters now admit with Syr., Kimchi, Luther. Moreover, ac- cording to Hupf., comm. de primitiva festorum Heb. ratione ii. 20, not. 40, the use of the word T13T was appropriate for these offerings. A re- ference to the sacrifices accompanied with the sound of the trumpet, (Gesen., De Wette), is con- trary to the text, since only public thanksgivings at the time of festivals (Num. x. 10) were distin- guished with this music of the priests. Str. VII. [Ver. 7. Perowne: "The triumph- ant strain of confidence now gives way to one of sad and earnest entreaty." — C. A. B.]f * [Alexander translates covert, which " menus a booth or shelter made of leaves and branches, such as the Jews used at the feast of tabernacles (Lev. xxiii. i'Z). It is here used as a figure for secure protection in the day of evil, t. e., of suffer- ing or danger.'' — C. A. B.] + [Perowne : "Is it (as Calv.) that the Psalmist sought in PSALM XXVII. 201 Ver. 8. To Thee my heart says— (at Thy call): seek Thy face! — Thy face Jehovah will I seek. — The heart answers the Divine call, consenting thereto as an echo of it (Calv.). It is better to regard this obscure construction as a bold combination of two clauses (Hupf. ), which we can make intelligible in English only by sup- plying some appropriate words (Delitzsch). [Thus A. V., When thou saidst seek ye my face, etc.] This is much simpler than the* supposition of a h auctoris (Dathe, Olsh.): Thine is, speaks my heart, namely the word, etc. ; not to say any- thing of the artificial and strained explanations of many ancient interpreters. Hitzig follows the Vulgate; of Thee speaks my heart, seek Him, my face! The Sept. has: To Thee, etc., but then*: diligently have I sought Thy face and Thy face will I seek. The true sense is given by the pa- raphrase of Luther : my heart holds Thy word before Thee. So Hengstenberg. Similarly Geier, J. II. Mich., Rosenm.* Seeking the face of Jehovah is not with reference to Ex. xxiii. 17, another expression for visiting the temple (De Wette), but it denotes the desire to enter into the vicinity and presence of God, in order to gain comfort, assistance, certainty of being heard, tes- timonies of grace, and the like. Comp. Ps. xxiv. 6; cv. 4; 1 Sam. xxi. 1; used of earthly rulers, Prov. xxix. 26. This is accomplished by acts of Divine service, especially in the house of God, but it is not to be regarded as the same thing as those acts. It is uncertain whether there is a direct reference here to the passage Deut. iv. 29, which is re-echoed in Hos. v. 15. Str. VIII. [Ver. 9. Hide not Thy face from me. — The inserted "far " of the A. V. does not help the sense of the passage, but mars it. The Psalmist is seeking Jehovah's face, and the prayer is that the face of Jehovah may not be veiled from him so that he cannot see it. Vid. Ps. iv. tj. — Put not away in wrath = Thrust not aside as one unworthy to be in Thy presence, and be- hold Thy face. The Psalmist does not wish to be removed or banished from the place of Jehovah's presence, and from the light of His countenance. — Reject me not, and forsake me not. — The reiteration of the positive and negative form of the idea of depriving Him of the presence and the face of God.— C. A. B.] Ver. 10. For my father and my mother have forsaken me. — This statement cannot re- fer to 1 Sam. xxii. 3sq., for then David scpa- the former part of the Psalm to comfort himself with the re- view of Gods unfailing strength and protection, that he might with the more reason utter his prayer for help! Or is ii no) rather that even whilst he is thus strengthening himself in his li.nl, ;< sudden Mast of temptation sweeps over his SOUl, freezing the current of life, — some tear lest he shonld be for- sak'ii, some thought of the craft and malice of his enemies, — till now the danger which threatens him is as prominent an object as the salvation and defence were before ?"—<'. A. B. | * [I'erowne: "The words seek yi: Mi/ fare are the words of God, which the servant of God here, as i' were, takes from His mouth, that so laying them before God, he may make his ap- peal the more irresistible. Thou hast Baid, ' Seek ye My face ;' my heart makes these words its own, and builds npon them Its resolve, it takes them up'nnd repeats them 'Seek ye My face.' it first claims thus Thine own gracious words. 0 Lord, and there its echo to those words is. ' Thy face, fjord, will I Be.-k.' Such is the soul's dialogue with itself when it would comfort Itself in God. We are reminded of that touching it the Gospel history where another, a woman, over- comes the Saviour with His own words: ' Yea Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs," etc." — C. A. B.] rated himself from his parents in order to leave them under the protection of the king of Moab. But it is not at all necessary to think ot some his- torical fact unknown to us (G. Baur). This state- ment is certainly neither to be taken as a pro- verbial manner of expression (De Wette),* nor as a hypothetical antecedent (Calvin, Stier, Thol., Hupf.)f It is positive, and expresses what has happened, but it states in an individualizing form, (Hengst., Delitzsch) the fact that the nearest re- latives of the afflicted man have forsaken him in his time of trouble ; and he on this very account turns to Jehovah in prayer, trusting in the love of God which transcends parental love (Isa. xlix. 15; lxiii. 10). — [But Jehovah will take me up. — Perowne : " The verb is here used in the same sense as in Deut. xxii. 2; Jos. xx. 4, 're- ceive me under His care and protection,' or as Stier suggests, ' adopts me as His child,' vid. Ps. xxii. 10."-— C A. B.] [Ver. 11. Lead me in an even path be- cause of my adversaries. — [A. V., plain — ene- mies]. This is an even, level path as opposed to rough and rugged paths of adversity. Delitzsch : " Crafty spies pursue all his steps, and would gladly see their devices and evil wishes realized against him. If he should turn into the way3 of sin unto destruction, it would bring dishonor upon God, as it is a matter of honor with God not to allow His servant to fall. Therefore he implores guidance in the ways of God, for the union of his own will with God's will makes him unapproachable." Ver. 12. And they that breathe out vio- lence.— Alexander: " A strong but natural ex- pression for a person, all whose thoughts and feelings are engrossed by a favorite purpose or employment, so that he cannot live or breathe without it. Comp. the description of Saul's per- secuting zeal in Actsix. 1, and the Latin phrases, spirare minus, anhelare scelus." — C. A. B.J Ver. 13. If I did not trust to behold the excellence of Jehovah in the land of the living — ! — The consequent is iacking (as Gen. xxxi. 42) after iwi?, which is unnecessarily marked by the Masora with puncla extraordinaria, as suspicious. In accordance with such an apo- siopesis "unless," and "if" not unfrequently are lacking, and this increases the emphasis. J The land of the living is contrasted with Sheol, but it refers here not beyond this life to eternal life (Rabbins, Clauss, Stier) but back to life in this world. Ver. 14. In the closing verse the Psalmist ex- * [Perowne: " '(Though) my father and ray mother may have forsaken me,' ''. e., though my condition be helpless and friendless as that of a child deserted of his parents, there is (tie who watches over me, and will take me to His bosom. I7i/. Isa. lxiii. Hi; xlix. 15. The phrase has, as De Wette savs, somewhat of a proverbial character." — C. A.B.] ffUupfeld: "it Berves to illustrate the greatness of the md love of God by comparing it with the highest form of human love, parental love, which it transcends, just ns in the paaeage already adduced by Calvin. Isa. xlix. 15, and in a similar Construction with this, Isa. lxiii. 10: ' For Abra- ham has not known us, an 1 Israel recognized us not: Thou, Jehovah, art our Father, our Redeemer,' etc." This is the preferable interpretation. — C. A. B.] { [I'erowne: "The holy singer feels now, at this moment, when the false ami violent men are before bis mind, how helpless he would he did he not trust atel bop.- in his God: ' There were an end of nu — or what would become of me, did I not believe, etc.' " — 0. A. B.] 202 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. horts himself and not others in a similar condi- tion with himself (most ancient interpreters). — Be firm, and let thy heart show itself strong. — This does not express a comforting promise "He will strengthen" (most interpreters [and A. V.]) nor indeed with a correct interpre- tation of the clause as optative, the wish that Je- hovah would strengthen the heart (Calv., Cle- ric, Rosenm., Hupf. [Alexander]) but it is a con- tinuation of the Psalmist's exhortation of him- self.— [Wait on Jehovah. — Alexander: The repetition, wait for the Lord, and wait for the Lord, implies that this is all he has to enjoin upon him- self or others; and is more impressive in its na- tive simplicity, than the correct but paraphrastic version of the last clause in the English Bible, wait, I say, on the Lord. — C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. No night of sorrow can be so dark, no evil so fearful, no enemy so dreadful as to cause those to tremble, despair, and perish, who have God for their Light, for their salvation, for the strong- hold of their life. Such a man overcomes in all his troubles, so much so that even in his days of suffering, at times, in the confidence of Divine as- sistance, a triumphant tone may be heard in his prayers, whence arise his fearlessness, his he- roism, his certainty of victory in the midst of all his dangers, struggles, and calamities. 2. But he who puts his confidence truly and alone in God, and firmly trusts in the faithfulness and goodness of the Almighty, not to leave him or neglect him in his troubles, is very far from that proud self-sufficiency, and that half proud, half lazy carelessness, which on the one side im- pels to foolhardy and presumptuous ventures, on the other side restrains from seeking and using the msans provided to increase his strength, and bring about and secure him success. He who truly has his confidence and strength in God, likewise seeks constantly and earnestly to be near to God, and uses conscientiously the means af- forded him in the forms of ivorship to strengthen his communion with God, and to secure as well as gain the blessings of the presence of God. 3. Hence it is, that those who have attained the most and the best on earth, the noblest and most glorious of our race, and the most exalted rulers among them, the boldest heroes, the most celebrated warriors and masters of every depart- ment of life, have shown themselves to be at the same time pious and humble men, who lay all their exaltation, glory, and honor, at the feet of God, and publicly recognize that they have to thank the Lord their God not only for their endowments and powers, but likewise for what they have done, and for their success, and that they must seek, like all other men, forgiveness of their sins in the grace of God, and that they would rather be at all times with God. Hence they gladly visit His house and His table, and besides study diligently God's word, in which they gain good advice, and are reminded at the right time to assent to it and respond to it with heart and mouth. 4. It is at once a duty and a joy to seek the countenance of the Lord, that is, to desire and strive to be personally near to the grace of God and to be sure of it. God Himself calls us to this, and gives those who seek Him the blessed experience that God's love is not mere human favor, but transcends even parental love, as no- thing can be compared with God's assistance, power, and protection, or take their place. So likewise those who do not withdraw from inter- course with God will not be deprived of them. They will much rather be lifted up to a height which is inaccessible to all their adversaries, and will be placed in safety against all hurtful as- saults. 5. Accordingly all depends upon whether we allow ourselves to be directed to the way of the Lord and guided therein. On this depends our walking the path of life in the good pleasure of God (in the light of His countenance), and our attaining the end of that path in the protection of God's salvation by means of that which God im- parls in all dangers, sufferings, and struggles, and in spite of all envy, slander, and opposition. The trust in God, which is indispensable for this, is often severely tried, especially when we are in danger of losing our rights, our honor, and our life by enemies who are as wicked and unjust as they are strong and crafty, and when we are for- saken by our nearest relatives, and given up by all the world. Then not only the flesh trembles, but the heart likewise quakes, and is in danger of losing patience and hope. We would be lost indeed, if our eyes and our hearts should lose sight of God. But this is impossible if we main- tain our faith ; then we will not despair. And because God continues faithful we will not perish. In order now that faith may be able to impart the necessary consolation and encouragement to wait on God, and the patience, resolution, and strength necessary thereto, it needs that it should have unfailing nourishment, support, discipline, and strengthening. — However little this Psalm may have of a Messianic character, yet some par- ticular features may be readily and devoutly re- ferred, in accordance with Augustine's example, to the sufferings of Christ and His behaviour in them, which is a model for all. The Roman Catholic Church has assigned this Psalm to the offices of Char-Saturday. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. When danger is near and great we are taught to properly estimate and value, being near to God and the power of faith. — We can lose everything and yet lose nothing if only we retain God. — Our hearts need daily strengthening in confidence in God ; whence comes it? and how may it be? — We cannot be lifted up in any better way than ivith God; therefore it is of the utmost importance that we should come to God and remain with God. — Our worst enemies are not those who envy us and afflict us, but our little faith, our spiritual sluggishness and laziness, our impatience. — Many would gladly dwell in safety if only it were not to remain near to God. — Whoever has God has all things in One ; and yet only a few make anything of God.— It is enough that God should let His light shine. His salvation come, His power work; yet we must let ourselves be instructed and ruled, and delivered thereby. — It is well with us if we not only trust in God's power, wisdom, and good- ness, but value above all communion with God, PSALM XXVII. 203 anil are diligent to seek His face, and for this con- scientiously use the institutions and means of sal- vation.— There are in a pious heart not only thoughts of God, but likewise echoes of His word. — When men forsake us it may give us pain, but we will be comforted above all when God takes us up. — At first, many care more for God's pro- tection than for His presence, but if they give heed to the word and ivat/s of God, they likewise learn not only to know the strength of being near to God, but likewise to value the blessings of intercourse with Him, and prize the good things of His house. Starke: Care for souls, longing to walk with God, to be sanctified in the communion of saints, these are the chief desires and only necessary things to the Christian. — It is well for those who seek safety with God; that is better than the highest rock. — If we pray as God has commanded, we are heard as He has promised. — God plants in the hearts of believers a sure confidence of gaining eternal life, by which they are uncom- monly strengthened in their battle of faith. — No time will seem so long to us as the time of cross- bearing; therefore it is that we are exhorted with so many words to hope and patience. — It is the constancy of hope which makes our walk and life happy. — The Lord is not only the truest, but is likewise the mightiest and most reliable Father and Friend. — You may know the right way and walk in the right path, yet you very much need Divine enlightenment and gracious guidance on account of the craft, and wickedness of your ene- mies.— What can give a believer's heart more pleasure and joy than to be heard by the God of grace ? Frisch: David testifies 1) his joyous faith, 2) his heartfelt pleasure, 3) his longing desire, 4) his comforted hope. — David uses only one ar- mor against the crowd of his enemies and their power, and that is faith; by this he appropriates God's light, strength, and salvation. Arm your- self in time, you will never lack enemies; the closer you come to friendship with God the more will the enmity of the world increase against you. — Herbeuuer: In whose hands is our life? Not in our power, not in the will of our enemies, but in the power of God. — The strength of armies and of hosts cannot go further than God will al- low.— Christians have many observers, therefore it is said: take care. — Stier: 0! that I might never yield ! This one thing troubles me, not the defiance of enemies ; for he who remains with God is safe. — Tholuck: In hours of internal an- guish the word of God should resound in the breast as the echo in the mountain, in order to increase our confidence by its repeated exhorta- tions.— Stiller: David at first declares his trust, then says, how he strengthens his trust, and why he relies on God, and finally adds, when true trust shows itself. — God is so gracious that He not only allows His children to find Him, but likewise encourages them by His word to seek Him. — Umbreit: It is significant with respect to the piety which pervaded the entire life of Da- vid, that all the favor and grace of God are united to him in this chief thing, that he may abide in His house forever. — Taube: David — a hero in the courage of faith and a master in prayer. — The surest handle of prayer by which we may lay hold of God is His own word, which calls us to seek His gracious countenance. That is a strong command and a comfortiug promise in one. [Mattii. Henry: All God's children desire to dwell in God's house; where should they dwell else? not tosojourn there as a wayfaring man that turns aside to tarry but a night, or to dwell there for a time only, as the servant that abideth not in the house forever, but to dwell there all the days of their life; for there the Son abideth ever. — A gracious heart readily echoes to the call of a 'gracious God, being made williug in the day of His power. — Even the best saints are subject to faint when their troubles become grievous and tedious. Their spirits are overwhelmed, and their flesh and heart fail ; but their faith is a sovereign cordial. — Nothing like the believing hope of eternal life, the foresights of that glory, and foretastes of those pleasures, to keep us from fainting under all the calamities of this present time. — Barnes: The Christian sanctuary — the place of public worship — is the place where, if anywhere on earth, we may hope to have our minds enlightened, our perplexities removed, our hearts comforted and sanctified, by right views of God. — Spukgeon: Salvation finds us in the dark, but it does not leave us there; it gives light to those who sit in the valley of the shadow of death. After conversion our God is our joy, comfort, guide, teacher, and in every sense our light; He is light within, light around, light re- flected from us, and light to be revealed to us. — It is a hopeful sign for us when the wicked hate us; if our foes were godly men, it would be a sore sorrow, but as for the wicked their hatred is better than their love. — Holy desires must lead to resolute action. The old proverb says, " Wishers and woulders are never good house- keepers;" and "wishing never fills a sack." Desires are seeds which must be sown in the good soil of activity, or thej' will yield no harvest. — The pendulum of spirituality swings from prayer to praise. — Mercy is the hope of sinners and the refuge of saints. All acceptable petitioners dwell much upon this attribute. — A smile from the Lord is the greatest of comforts, His frown the worst of ills. — Slander is an old-fashioned weapon out of the armory of hell, and it is still in plentiful use; and no matter how holy a man may be, there maybe some who will defame him. — Wait at His door with prayer; wait at His foot with humility ; wait at His table with service; wait at His window with expectancy. Suitors often win nothing but the cold shoulder from earthly patrons alter long and obsequious wait- ing ; he speeds best whose patron is in the skies. — C. A. B.] 204 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. PSALM XXVIII. A Psalm of David. 1 Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock ; Be not silent to me : Lest, if tliou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when 1 cry unto thee, When I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. 3 Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, Which speak peace to their neighbors, But mischief is in their hearts. 4 Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endea- vours : Give them after the work of their hands ; Render to them their desert. 5 Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, He shall destroy them, and not build them up. 6 Blessed be the Lord, Because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. 7 The Lord is my strength and my shield ; My heart trusted in him, and I am helped: Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; And with my song will I praise him. 8 The Lord is their strength, And he is the saving strength of his anointed. 9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance : Feed them also, and lift them up for ever. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents and Composition. Although there are no individual historical features which are sharply and unmistakably prominent, yet this Psalm is not a mere Psalm of general lamen- tation (De Wette), composed by David for the suffering and afflicted (Hengst.), or composed by a later poet for liturgical use for the people (Olsh.), as it is pretended with a superabundance in expression and rhythm, as is often the case in the later Psalms and Prophets, in connection with the heaping up of current phrases (Hupf. ). We hear in this Psalm the voice of supplication, as it rises pressingly and earnestly, in peril of death, (ver. 1,) to Jehovah, the Holy One, im- ploring to be heard (ver. 2). It is from the mouth and heart of a man, who would not be swept away with evil doers and hypocrites (ver. 3) ; and he implores for them righteous recom- pense (ver. 4); and he founds this judgment on its necessity and describes it in its reliable work- ings (ver. 5), whilst he himself in the certainty of being heard and of the constant protection of Jehovah, praises Him (ver. 6), and furthermore will praise Him thankfully in songs (ver. 7) ; for Jehovah is the Protector and Deliverer of His people and His anointed (ver. 8). Finally he prays for continual blessings for the people — they are the, property of Jehovah (ver. 9). These last two verses must then be regarded as the words of the anointed himself unless we should regard them as an appendix of intercession for the king and the people (Hupf.), and there is no apparent occasion for uniting them with the pre- ceding verses. It is then more appropriate to think of David as the author, in the time of the trouble with Absalom, although the "longing turning towards the sanctuary" (Delitzsch) ia PSALM XXVIII. 205 not very apparent. This is better than to think of Josiah (Ewald), or Jeremiah (Hitzig). There are frequent and evident resemblances to the preceding Psalm. Str. I. [Ver. 1. To Thee Jehovah, do I cry; My rock, be not silent from me, lest, if Thou be silent from me, I become like them that go down to the pit. — The A. V. is not properly punctuated. My rock be- longs to the second clause. For the meaning of rock vid. Ps. xviii. 2. The preposition JO, from, is used with a pregnant meaning=Turn not away from me in silence, (De Wette, Moll. Pe- rowne, cl al ).* The pit is the grave in its nar- rower and broader sense. Comp. Is. xiv. 15; Pss. xxx. 4, lxxxviii. 6, Ver. 2. When I lift up my hands. f — To lift up the hands and spread them out towards heaven was the usual posture of prayer with the Hebrews, (1 Kings viii. 22, Is. i. 15), so like- wise among the Greeks and other ancient na- tions. And so also they were lifted up towards the sanctuary at Jerusalem, especially by the later Jews. So the Mahometans pray towards Mecca, and the Samaritans towards the holy place of Mt. Gerizim.— C. A. B.]— To Thy holy throne-hall. — This is literally the back room as a local designation of the Most Holy place, (1 Kings vi. 5, 16 sq., viii. 6, 8), where was the throne of God (1 Kings viii. 30, 39, 43, 49) in the temple (1 Kings viii. 30; Dan. vi. 11, Ps. v. 7.) as in heaven (1 Kings viii. 22, 54), to which the hauls were lifted up (Pss. lxiii. 4; cxxxiv. 2; cxli. 2; Lam. ii. 19), and spread out (Ps. cxliii. G; Ex. ix. 29, 33; 1 Kings viii. 22, 38, 54; Jos. i. 1")) corresponding with the lifting up of the heart (Ps. xxiv. 4; Lam. iii. 41). This meaning of debtr is completely proved by compar- ing with the Arabic, comp. Delitzsch and Hupfeld in loco. This was first proved by C. B. Michaelis in 1735 in a dissertation (now printed in Potts, sylloge V. 131 sq). then first by Conrad Iken 1748 in his Diss. Phil. Theol. I. 214 sq. In ac- cordance with the derivation from c?/&6e/-=speak, which Ilengstenberg again justifies, the ancient interpreters thought of an audience-room and parlor, and translated it by oraculum, Xahr/Tr/piov, XprifiaTiort/ptov. Luther translates, chor. [A. V. holy oracle~\.% [Str. II. Ver. 3. Draw me not away, e. g., to destruction, vid. Ps. xxvi. 9; Ezek. xxxii. 20; Job xxiv. 22. — "Who speak peace — They make peaceful and friendly professions whilst plotting mischief and war, hypocrites, dissem- blers, frequently alluded to in the Psalms. — C. A. B.] [Str. III. Ver. 4. Render to them their desert.— Delitzsch: "This phrase b\Oi TttTI, which is frequently used by the prophets, means * [Alexander follows Hupfeld in rendering; lest Thou hold Thy peace from mo, and I be made like those going down (into^ the pit. Tho rendering in the text is better. It is that of De Wetle, Ewald, Delitzsch, Moll, Perowne, et al.— C. A. It.] t [So A. V., Hupfeld, Delitzsch, Perowne, et al. De Wette translates, iiecause I cry, etc; Hitzig, since I cry, etc.; Moll and Alexander, in my crying, etc. — C. A. B.] t [Delitzsch agrees with Molland translates, to Thy holy throne-hall ; Hupfeld and Perowne, to the innermost place of Jfhy sanctuary j BwaJd-to Thy holy chamber; Hitzig, to Thy holy unapproachable place.— C. A." B.] to recompense, or repay to any one what he has performed or rendered, likewise what he has committed or deserved. The thought and its expression remind us of Is. iii. 8-11, and i. 16." Ver. 5. Because they regard not. — De- litzsch : "The propriety of prayer for recom- pense is derived from their blindness towards the righteous and gracious government of God in human history (comp. Is. v. 12; xxii. 11). — The contrast of HJ3, build, with D~»T"I, tear T T T T down is in the style of Jeremiah (xlii. 10, comp. i. 10, xviii. 9, et al." — 0. A. B.] [Str. IV. Ver. 6. Because He hath heard, — Hupfeld: "This is not a praising God because He has actually heard, this being presupposed in the perfect, IDi^ as Pss. vi. 9 sq.; xx. 7; xxvi. 1 T T ' 12; xxxi. 22 sq.; nor as if he had, in the mean time, received an answer from the sanctuary (ver. 2) as Hengstenberg supposes; but in the confidence of faith." — C. A. B.] [Str. V. Ver. 7. With my song will I praise Him. — The Vulgate has a different reading here, following the Sept. [It reads my flesh [caro mea, fj cap!; uov) for my heart in the third clause, and my will (ex voluntate mea, eK^eh'/fxardc fion) for rny song, in the fourth clause. — Delitzsch: "In "''Vtfp the song is re- garded as the source of the iYVTin. From his sorrows springs the song, and from the song springs the praise of Him who has taken these sorrows away." — C. A. B.] Str. VI. Ver. 8. Jehovah is protection for them. — This turns the glance upon the true members of the people whose fortune the Psalmist bears upon his heart together with his own, al- though they have not been mentioned before. Hitzig and Delitzsch very properly reject the correction of 'lO/, which all codd. have, into T V2V/ that is, for his people, however appropri- ate this might be. — And He is the saving defence of His anointed. — This is literally, the defence of deliverance. [Delitzsch; "Jeho- vah is then \$ because He mightily preserves them from the destruction into which they them- selves would fall or be plunged by others; and He is the fUj^UT TtyD of His anointed because He surrounds him as an inaccessible place of refuge; which secures him salvation in its ful- ness, instead of the ruin contemplated." — C. A. B.] Ver. 9. Feed them and bear them for- ever.— This reminds us of Deut. i. 81 ; xxxii. 11 , Is. lxiii. 9. and the conclusion itself of Ps. iii. and xxix. [Perowne: " It is impossible not to set in these tender, loving words, 'feed them and bear them,' the heart of the shepherd king. Feed them, O, Thou true Shepherd of Israel, (lxxx. 1): bear them, carry them in Thine arms (Is. lxiii. 9, xl. 11).— C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. If God could be deaf and dumb to the sup- plications of His servant, there could be neither comfort nor hope for him. And if God should turn away from him, his ruin would be certain. 206 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. But then the servant of God would share the fate of the wicked. This however is impossible, so long as the servant of God is neither unfaith- ful nor a hypocrite. If ho can really establish himself on God as his rock, when he lifts up his hands and heart in faith (ver. 7), to the God en- throned in the Holiest, of All, then he will expe- rience, that even on the brink of an abyss there is a way of escape and he will not be drawn down into its depths with the ungodly. For God is just, and shows Himself in His unchangeable faithfulness and truth as a rock, to those who trust in Him and abide by Him. Moreover when threatened with ruin, all depends on this alone, his shoiving himself by his conduct as stand- ing on this rock and fortifying himself there by his actions. 2. If we not only set before our eyes the judg- ments of God, but likewise establish ourselves near to God and on His side, then there arises partly a feeling of security in the protection of God, which discloses itself at once as the assurance of being heard in prayer, partly a strong feeling of the contrast between ourselves and ungodly and hypocritical oppressors. This feeling looks at their conduct as they sin against God and their neighbors, and sees that it will be doubly punished, and it discloses itself in appealing to God to ex- ecute His judgments. Under such circumstances and feelings it is possible to pray; recompense them, without sinning. 3. The characteristics of the ungodly, and the indications of their swift ruin, are their not ob- serving the doings and actions of God, which are exactly opposed to their own. God will be con- stantly less intelligible and conceivable to them whilst they blind themselves in such a manner that they fancy that they can not only deceive men by their hypocrisy, but likewise can escape the judgment of God by not observing the Divine government. But the less attention they give to these things, the deeper they involve themselves in wicked plans, and the more surely they fall when they least expect it, into the recompensing hand of God. 4. God is the Avenger and Deliverer, Defence and Helper, not only for His anointed, but like- wise for His people. For He is not only their Lord who will not allow His property and inhe- ritance to be taken from Him ; but He is likewise their Sfopherd who watches and protects, cares for and leads the people especially belonging to Him; He is their God and Father, who bears them in their weakness, " at alltimcsfromof old," (Isa. lxiii. 9), as a man his son (Deut. i. 31) and as an eagle her young (Deut.xxxii.il) lifting them above all hindrances, and bearing them forth out of all dangers, and thus raising them above all present and all future enemies. (2 Sam. v. 12). — " To His work you must look if your work is to endure " (P. Gerhardt). HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. When trouble increases, trust in God must not decrease ; our prayers must not be silent, though God for a while is silent. — That prayers are not heard for a while, is no sign that God is angry, but that He would try our faith, and train tis in patience. — Great sufferings cannot choke the de- sire for prayer so long as the heart does not be- come faint-hearted. — The confidence of the pious in God's assistance against ungodly enemies, has its ground not in the feeling of personal worth, but in the assurance of Divine righteousness. — Not to ob- serve the Divine government, is a characteristic of the ungodly and the sign of their ruin. — Many trouble themselves no more with God's judgment than they do with His commandments ; but he who transgresses the latter cannot escape the former. — God recompenses justly ; therefore fear His judg- ment, but trust in His righteousness. — The inno- cent may suffer much and long; but they will not call upon God in vain, and even when they die they will not be swej^t away with the guilty. — A pious king seeks not only his own deliverance, but the salvation of his people at the same time. — He who trusts God, has built well. — God not only protects His own children, in time, but He like- wise blesses them for eternity. Starke : 0 how sweet it is for the soul, when God hears it and it is sure of this in its inmost nature! but how painful it is when God is silent! and yet we must persevere in patience, until it shall please Him to hear our prayer. — He who would not be carried away with the ungodly in the judgment of God, must be on his guard against their sins. — To desire punishment for our enemies out of a spirit of revenge, is not Chris- tian ; but we may sigh to the righteous Judge against the enemies of God and His glory. — If God were not the strength and protection of His Church, how could it endure the power of its enemies? — If the Lord is our strength, why do we ever lament our weakness ? Is that not per- haps a palliation of our indolence? — Franke : In external trouble hypocrites and the ungodly go to God in order to be freed from them; but they do not think of being delivered from their troubles of sin, and therefore it is no wonder, that they are unable to speak of answers to prayer. — Renschel: Although the pious dwell among the ungodly yet they are distinguished from them, 1) by their prayers; 2) by their life; 3) by their reward. — Frisch: The help which God has postponed He has not refused. — Her- berger: God's silence often brings the greatest sorrow ; but God is often silent in order that He may hear thee with all the more love. — Tholuck : He who keeps the Lord before him as the Mighty One, and can hope in His strength, is already helped. — Taube: The prayer of the pious in trouble is an evidence that they have the refuge as well as need it. [Matth. Henry: Nothing can be so cutting, so killing, to a gracious soul as the want of God's favor, and the sense of His displeasure. — Those who are careful not to partake with sinners in their sins have reason to hope that they shall not partake with them in their plagues, Rev. xviii. 4. — A stupid regardlessness of the works of God is the cause of the sin of sinners, and so becomes the cause of their ruin. — The saints rejoice in their friends' comforts as well as their own ; for as we have no less benefit by the light of the sun, so neither by the light of God's countenance, for others sharing therein; for we are sure there is enough for all, and enough for each. — Those, and those only, whom God feeds and rules, that are willing to be taught and PSALM XXIX. 207 guided, and governed by Him, shall be saved, and blessed, and lifted up forever. — Barnes : It is sufficient for us to feel that God hears us ; for if this is so, we have the assurance that all is right. In this sense, certainly, it is right to look for an immediate answer to our prayers. — Spcrgeon: The thorn at the breast of the nightingale was said by the old naturalists to make it sing; Da- vid's grief made him eloquent in holy psalmody. — Gods voice is often so terrible that, it shakes the wilderness; but His silence is equally full of awe to an eager suppliant. When God seems to close His ear. we must not therefore close our mouths, but rather cry with more earnestness; for when our note grows shrill with eagerness and grief, Jle will not long deny us a hearing. What a dreadful case should we be in if the Lord should become for ever silent to our prayers ! — We stretch out empty hands, for we are beggars ; we lift them up, for we seek heavenly supplies; we lift them towards the mercy-seat of Jesus, for there our expectation dwells. — The best of the wicked are dangerous company in time, and would make terrible companions for eternity ; we must avoid them in their pleasures, if we would not be confounded with them in their miseries. — It is a sure sign of baseness when the tongue and the heart do not ring to the same note. De- ceitful men are more to be dreaded than wild beasts ; it were better to be shut up in a pit with serpents than to be compelled to live with liars. — God'scursc is positive and negative; His sword has two edges, and cuts right and left. — They who pray well, will soon praise well ; prayer and praise are the two lips of the soul. — Heart work is sure work ; heart trust is never disappointed. Faith must come before help, but help will never be long behindhand. — When the heart is glow- ing, the lips should not be silent. When God blesses us, we should bless Him with all our heart.— C. A. B.] PSALM XXIX. A Psalvi of David, 1 Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, Give unto the Lord glory and strength. 2 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. 3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters : The God of glory thundereth : The Lord is upon many waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful ; The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars ; Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. 6 lie maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. 7 The voice of the Loud divideth the flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakcth the wilderness; The Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, And discovereth the forests: And in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. 10 The Lord sitteth upon the flood ; Yea, the Loud sitteth King forever. 11 The Lord will give strength unto his people; The Lord will bless his people with peace. 208 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents and Aim. — After calling upon the heavenly beings to praise the power anil glory of Jehovah, and to worship Him with solemnity (vers. 1-2), there is a picturesque description of a storm (vers. 3-9) advancing from the Me- diterranean to the mountains of Dan towards the South (J. D. Mich.), in the fearful sublimity of its appearance, and its effects upon nature; and that passes over into a reference to the royal ma- jesty of Jehovah at the flood, the greatest of the disturbances of nature in the ancient world, and it exalts Him as ever abiding above, which will likewise be for the historical and saving good of His people (vers. 10-11). The Psalm has therefore not merely a poetic character and aim, interwoven with general religious considerations, but it is of a historical and redemptive character. Its essential character is not that of a lyrical de- scription of a magnificent tempest, which has be- come a hymn (Hupf.), from which finally an ap- plication is made ; but on the occasion of a storm and under the impression of its power of commotion and destruction, the host of the heavenly servants of God are called upon to worship (notElohim,but) Jehovah, and His people to trust in Him. There is no trace of any particular historical circum- stance, whether of the carrying of the Ark of the Covenant to Mt. Zion (Ruding ) or of trouble from external enemies, as Ps. xxviii. from internal enemies (Hengst.). But this does not give the right of an allegorical reference of this Psalm to the giving of the Law at Sinai (the Rabbins pre- vious to Kimchi), or of its prophetical reference to the Messiah, and His judgment of the nations (Kimchi), or to Christ and the power of His word, to whom magistrates are called upon to sub- mit themselves in homage and worship (Geier, Seb. Schmidt, et al.). The following suppositions are likewise unfounded ; that the Psalm has no per- sonal reference, but is sung from the souls of the peo^Ze in order to edify the congregation (Hengst.); or that it has for its foundation only the general idea of Jehovah as the God of thunder and the God of the nation (De Wette), or that it has as its object, by describing the fearful power of God in the frightful phenomena of nature, to awaken the sleeping conscience, and particularly to arouse the proud rulers from their security, and warn them to submit to the sovereignty of God (Calvin). The sevenfold repetition of the thunder as the voice of Jehovah has become typical of Rev. x. 1 sq., and is to be regarded as a holy number (Geier), whilst the repetition pictures the thunder as sounding clap upon clap. The kindling flash of lightning is only mentioned once (ver. 7). Hengstenberg however presses this symbolism of number too far with reference to the use of the name of Jehovah in this and the preceding Psalm.* — In the Septuagint we find an addition * [Hengstenberg regards the use of the name of Jehovah ten times in the main part of the Psalm, as important (vers. 3-9), as signifying completeness and finish. — Ewald divides the Psalm into five parts, the introduction and conclusion being alike of four lines, the body of the Psalm consisting of three parts of five lines each, the whole being thus highly artistic. The storm is described in three stages. "At first it is heard in the extreme distance of the highest heavens (vers. 3, 4), then in rapidly increasing power it covers the to the title, e^oSiov cKnvf/c (Vulg., incorrectly, m consummatione tabernaculi), which then seems to imply, that it was then sung (Delitzsch) on the closing day (Lev. xxiii. 20) of the feast of taber- nacles [Shemini Azereth). In the middle ages it was used as a prayer during storms as a preven- tion of strokes of lightning. — The pretended re- semblances with the prophet Jeremiah are very weak.* Str. I. Ver. 1. Sons of Gods.— [A. V., 0 ye mighty']. It is grammatically and etymologically admissible to translate, sons of the mighty =— mighty ones, rulers, princes, (the Rabbins and many ancient interpreters) ; so likewise sons of idols = servants of idols (J. D. Mich., Doder- lein, Muntinghe). But ver. 9 c. is against these translations, for those who are addressed are in heaven above. Now Elim never occurs in the usage of the language, as plur. majest. with a sin- gular meaning, but constantly, as plural, desig- nates the gods of the heathen, Ex. xv. 11 ; xviii. 11; Pss. xcv. 3; xcvi. 4; xcvii. 9, the debt. 7.s)6- fievoi, 1 Cor. viii. 5, in contrast, with whom the true God Jehovah is called El Elim (Dan. xi. 36) or indeed El Elohim (Jos. xxii. 22; Ps. 1. 1), EL haelohim (Deut. x. 17) Elohe kaelohim (Ps. cxxxvi. 2), because these gods have likewise the name of Elohim (Ps. lxxxvi. 8). Therefore we cannot translate at once, sons or children of God (Sept. et al.), or justify the plural Elim by reference to the grammatical form (Gesen. Gramm., \ 106, 3 ; Ewald ausf. Lehrbuch, \ 270 c) of an attraction in composition as Ex. i. 11, 1 Chron. vii. 5 (De Wette), or by the supposition that it is a plural of ben EL, formed after the analogy of Isa. xlii. 22, compared with ver. 7 ; Isa. li. 9, compared with Gen. ix. 12 ; Jeremiah xlii. 8 compared with 2 Sam. xxiv. 4 (Hitzig). But if neither the hea- then gods nor their sous are addressed here, but manifestly the angels, then these constitute the heavenly company surrounding God (Job i. 6 ; ii. 1) ; the heavenly host (1 Kings xxii. 19 ; Neh. ix. 6), whose duty it is to praise God (Pss. lxxxix. 6; ciii. 20; Job xxxviii. 7, comp. Isa. vi. 3). These are called, usually, sous of Elohim (Gen. whole visible heavens (vers. 5-7), finally coming from the north and descending constantly lower it passes away in the far south." Perowne : "The structure of the whole is highly artificial, and elaborated with a symmetry of which no more perfect specimen exists in Hebrew. But this evidently arti- ficial mode of composition is no check to ihe force and fire of the Poet's genius, which kindles, and glows, and sweeps along with all the freedom and majesty of the storm; the whole Psalm being one continued strain of triumphant ex- ultation."—C. A. B.] * [Wordsworth on this Psalm indulges in a series of fanci- ful interpretations. I will give a general specimen here which will do for the whole Psalm. "The voice of the thunder, and the flash of the lightning spoke to the Psalmist of the manifestations of God's glory on Mount Sinai, amid thunders and lightnings, at the giving of the Law (Ex. xix. 16). Then the 'voice of the Lord' was heard, as Moses d>- scribes, with exceeding power (see Exod. xix. 19; xx. \b„ and it sounded forth in the thunders of the Decalogue. Hence the Hebrew Church connected this Psalm with Pente- cost, the Feast of the Giving of the Law ; and in the Chi • tian Church this Psalm, used in a large portion of Christen- dom at the Epiphany, and falling, as it does, in t ie series of the octaves of the Ascension, may raise the thoughts to the glory of the Creator and Redeemer, manifested in love as well as iu power upon earth, and showing His glory and power by riding upon the clouds, and by sending down the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, from heaven at Pentecost, with the sound of a rushing mighty wind, and in flames of fire (Acts ii. 2), to strengthen and comfort His Church." — 0. A. B.J PSALM XXIX. 209 vi. 2, and iu the passage cited from Job) when not named maleachim with special reference to their duty of declaring and executing the will of God. They are likewise designated as the host of the holy ones (kedoshim) Job v. 1 ; xv. 15, which sur- round Jehovah, Ps. lxxxix. 6,8, and entirely pa- rallel with them, Ps. lxxxix. 7, the bene Elim, so that there can be no doubt of the sense (Ps. lxxxii., on which Hupfeld lays great stress, is not appropriate here). The Chald. likewise on this passage has the paraphrase, hosts of angels. The form of the expression is explained by the fact that the word Elim as well as Elohim has a gene- ral meaning (Ps. viii. G) and was applied to va- rious beings of supernatural power, who might be the objects of religious reverence, and that the expression ben, bene did not always express the physical derivation through generation, but partly physical and partly moral dependence, and included those who were thus designated in one body. There is another translation in the Sept., Vulg., Syr., Jerome, "sons of rams," as a figu- rative designation of the sacrifice. These traus- lations lead to the reading D" rH, which 5 codd. Kennic, and 4 de Rossi have, but it is improperly explained, since this reading is often found, Ex. xv. 15; Job xli. 17; Ezek. xxxi. 11 (singular); xxxii. 11, where this fundamental meaning of itrenglh is very ancient, 2 Kings xxiv. 15, even in the form D'/IX. — Give to Jehovah glory and strength. — This is not to be changed into "ho- nor and praise," but the giving is a tribuere, an offering of the tribute due to the glory and strength of God; recognizing it in words and deeds, a dowai 66%av (Acts xii. 23 ; Luke xvii. 18; Rom. iv. 20). Ver. 2. In holy attire. — This is the priestly attire used at festivals in the service of God (most interpreters since Luther), Ps. xcvi. 9; 1 Chron. xvi. 29, in which priests and Levites likewise marched before the Lord with music when they went forth to battle {2 Chron. xx. 21). Hupfeld concludes from the last passage, where Tin is construed with 7, and from Prov. xiv. 28, that the reference is here likewise to the Divine ma- jesty and glory (so Aquil., Syinrn., Chald., Je- rome, Kimchi), and that the construction with 2 iucludes perhaps the idea of the place, where it was revealed, that is, the sanctuary. Calvin, Ruding., Cleric, after the Sept. and Syriac, adopt the latter view at once. — The reading in Ps. ex. 3 is not entirely certain.* Sir. II. Ver. 3. The voice of Jehovah.— [Hupfeld: " This is not every audible declaration of God in nature, which speaks to us at the same time (Hengst., Hofm.), but is only a poetical and childlike name of thunder (comp. Ps. xviii. 14), that is the murmuring . nd scolding of wrath (com- pare Pss. xviii. 14; civ. 7), with which, in con- trast with the creative word, the interference of God in nature is connected, which restrains and destroys."— C. A. B.]— The great waters are naturally not an allegorical designation of the eolluvH-s gentium (J. H. Mich.), nor hardly the waters which were above the vault of heaven ac- * [Perowne : "In holy vestments, heaven being thought of as on.- great tempi.', an. I all the worshippers therein as clothed iu pnestly garments, and doing perpetual service."— C. A. B.] 14 cording to Gen. i. 7, comp. Ps. cxlviii. 4 (Um- breit, Maurer), but either those of the Mediter- ranean Sea (J. D. Mich., MuntA, or correspond- ing with the beginning of the description, those of the lowering clouds. Ps. xviii. 11; civ. 3; Jer. x. 13 (most interpreters). [Ver. 4. The voice of Jehovah in power! The voice of Jehovah in majesty! — Alex- ander: "In power, in majesty, i. e. invested with these attributes, a stronger expression than the corresponding adjectives, strong and majestic would be, and certainly more natural and con- sonant to usage than the construction which makes in a mere sign of that in which something else consists." — C. A. B.] Sir. III. Ver. 5. Breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. — The cedars and mountains are not allegorical designations of the great ones of the earth, particularly of heathen princes (the Rabbins and many ancient interpreters), and the cedars of Lebanon are no more poetical designations of the highest and strongest cedars (Geier, Rosenm., Hengst.), than the mountains of Lebanon and Sirion and the desert of Kadesh are a poetical use of individuals fur the whole class (Hupfeld). Ver. G. Maketh them skip like a calf. — [Hupfeld: "This is a poetical hyperbole of the shaking of the earth, as afterwards of the desert, ver. 8, like an earthquake occasioned by the thunder; a standing feature of Theophauies (vid. Ps. xviii. 7 sq.). So of mountains, Ps. cxiv. 4, 6, with a similar comparison with rams and lambs. The suffix, them (D'), refers not prima- rily to the mountains of Lebanon, which are mentioned in the second clause, as many inter- preters (even Ewald, Olsh.) suppose, but to the cedars mentioned in the previous verse (Geier, De Wette, Maurer, Hengst., Hitzig, Delitzsch) ; certainly only in consequence of the skipping of the mountains on which they stand, and therefore they are mentioned themselves in the second member." — C. A. B.]. — Sirion like a young buffalo.* — Sirion (either=glimmer, or coat of mail) is the ancient Sidonian name of Mt. Hermon, according to Deut. iii. 9, the highest peak of the eastern range of Lebanon. Ver. 7. Cleaveth the flames of fire. — This is a poetical expression of forked lightning. So Syriac, Chald., Vatabl., Ruding., J. D. Mich, and most recent interpreters. The meaning of the word is rendered certain by Isa. x. 1~>, where the reference is to cleaving timber. f The usual meaning : hew out, particularly stoues and from stones (Sept.), is possible here, namely in the sense, that the flames are beaten out of the clouds, as sparks out of the flint (Calvin). But the usual ancient translation, hew as flames of fire (Luther), or with flames of fire (Geier, Hengst. [Alexander]) is against the language. And the interpretation: to cut out the flames of fire (von Hofmann), that is, that the storm wind gives direction and form to the blazing flames, affords a monstrous figure. * [A. V. translates young iniicnrn—vid. notes on Ps. xxii. 12.— C. A. B.] t [Perowne: "With every thunder-peal comes the terrible forked lightning, so striking in tropical and eastern lands. Its vivid, zig-zag, serpent-like flash is given in a few words." — C. A. B.J 210 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. Sir. IV. Ver. 8. The wilderness of Ka- desh. — Kadesh, literal ly^set apart. This was that part of the Arabic desert west of the gra- nite and porphyry mountains of Edorn, which was a part of the great desert (Deut. i. 19; xi. 24 ; Jer. ii. 6), and which was covered with hills of chalk and drift sand. Conip. Gen. xx. 4 ; Num. xiii. 26. Str. V. Ver. 9. Maketh the hinds to calve. — Instead of JVfTX the Syriac read JYITX. oaks, or terebimhs, and some interpreters (Lowth, Venema, Muntitig. ) have adopted it. But Joh xxxix. 1 sq. decides for the usual reading, and is not in favor of the view that the refer- ence is to the severe labor of the hinds in calv- ing in the month of May, which is rendered easier by the storm (Bochart, Hieroz. I., lib. 3, cap. 17, after the Rabbins), but of a premature delivery, brought on by fright, as 1 Sam. iv. 19 sq., in the case of the wife of Phinehas. This is brought about, according to Pliny [Hist. Nat., VIII., 47), by the thunder even with solitary sheep, and, according to Ewald, is likewise mentioned by Arabic authors with reference to hinds. — And strippeth forests. — This is not of laying bare the roots of the trees, or of the forest by the wind (many of the older interpre- ters), so not of stripping the trees of their leaves and boughs by the storm (Calv., De- litzsch), or by the shower (Hitzig), but the peel- ing off of the bark (Joel i. 7) by the lightning (Hupf.), since the word properly means " dis- cover" (Sept., Jerome, Isaki, Luther [A. V.]). — And in His temple speaks every one : glory ! — The palace of God is not the earthly temple (Rabbins), or the Church (Calvin and most older interpreters), so likewise not the world (Cleric.) in which sense it is improperly translated " in His entire palace " (Rosenm.), but heaven (Chald., Geier, et al.). The partici- ple omer expresses the simultaneousness of the praise with the terrors (Ewald,* von Hofm., Hupfeld). The suffix in \12 is correctly ren- dered by the Chald. in the paraphrase : all His servants. It is used in reference to the preced- ing "in His palace " (Hitzig), but not in direct reference to the palace itself=its totality (Heng stenberg, [Alexander]), or to the sons of Gods, ver. 1 (De Wette), but to an indefinite general subject (Hupfeld)=7raf tic (Sept., Syr.), which receives its more specific meaning from the con- text. [Delitzsch : " It happens as the poet de- sired in vers. 1, 2. Jehovah receives back the glory displayed in the world in a thousandfold echo of worship." — C. A. B.] Str. VI. Ver. 10. Jehovah has sat en- throned above the Flood.— The reference to the Flood is decided partly by the article, partly by the word mabul (Syr. momul), Gen. vi.-xi., which is used only with this reference. And this is not a mere recollection of the flood (Ew- ald, Kurtz), comparing it with the overflowings effected by the rain-storm (Ruding., J. D. Mich., Koster, Olsh., Hitz.), or to the heavenly ocean (Maurer), upon which (7 used as in Ps. ix. 4, approved likewise by Baur in De Wette's com- * [Ewald translates at once : " whilst in His palace — all ' ' glory.' "— C. A. B.] njentary) Jehovah sits enthroned. Since IV)"1 indicates not only the royal sitting of Jehovah, but likewise His judicial sitting (Ps. ix. 7; cxxii. 5), it is better to regard the 7 either as of the purpose=of producing it (von Hofm., Delitzsch) as Koster, Olsh., .Hitzig take it, with a generalizing of the Flood ; or in the sense of 7>?=above, Ps. vii. 7 (Hupfeld), sinpe the Di- vine judgment includes likewise a deliverance (Chald.), and both references are here men- tioned. The supposition of a mere reference to time=at (Baihing., Hengst. [Alexander]), weak- ens the sense. The Vulgate does this still more in its rendering, which as the ^ept. in some codd. reads: Jehovah inhabits the flood; in others reads: makes to inhabit. — And so 'will Jehovah sit as King forever. — The future with vav is in a significant contrast with the preterite of ver. 10 a, and is not to be regarded as a preterite, D7\j?7 being translated, in primi- tive time (Sachs) ; but it cannot be explained too specifically either of the coming Messianic judgment (Rabbins), or with reference to a coming flood of fire and brimstone (Ephroem Syr., J. H. Mich.), or to the saving water of Baptism, with reference to 1 Pet. iii. 21 (Luther, Seb. Schmidt et al.). " Whilst we still hear the voice of the Lord in the rushing of the storm through the forests stripped of their leaves, the poet snatches us away at once from the tumult of earth and places us amid the choirs of the heavenly temple, which above in holy silence sing glory and praise to the Eternal" (Umbreit). [Ver. 11. ." ^tovah will bless His people with peaces '-Delitzsch: "How impressive the closing word of this Psalm! It is arched as a rainbow above it. The beginning of the Psalm shows us the heavens open and the throne of God in the midst of angelic songs of praise, and the close of the Psalm shows us on earth, in the midst of the angry voice of Jehovah shaking all things, His people victorious and blessed with peace. Gloria in ezcelsis is the beginning andjuaz in terris the end." — C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. God has a glory and a power which are peculiar to His nature, and He gives them to be known likewise on earth and in heaven, so that He may be named after them and yet His name not be an arbitrary title, but an expression of His nature. On the ground of this and in con- sequence of it, He will have in heaven and on earth the recognition to which He is entitled. He insists upon His glory and demands the tribute due to it, whilst He calls attention to His acts as well as to His works. 2. Even in nature God declares Himself in its commotions as its Lord and Master. That which transpires in the phenomena of nature is not a play of hidden powers; and we have to trace in them not the motions of the world-spirit, not the operation of the gods of nature, not the rushing of the spirits of the elements, but the scolding and government of Jehovah, the God of historical revelation ; and, therefore, we need not fear them although all creatures tremble and quake. For Jehovah makes nature the servant PSALM XXIX. 211 of His ends in the government and redemption of the world, and He is not only a King in the kingdom of heaven and over His chosen people, but He is the Almighty and Eternal ruler of all things. 3. When the voice of Jehovah is heard in the thunder, the conscience may be awakened and with the remembrance of the judgment of God thoughts, especially of the Flood, may be excited in the heart in connection with storms and showers, earthquakes and floods. But the same God who at the Flood made known His royal do- minion in judging the world aud delivering a seed of His people, now likewise, when He puri- fies the air by a storm, bestows refreshment to the land, fruitfulness and the blessings of the harvest, aud acts in the same manner in the life of the people and in the history of the world. Hence His people have every reason, when there are such declarations of the power of God in nature and above nature, which are praised in heaven as revelations of His glory, to strengthen their faith in His help and their hope in His blessing in stormy times and amidst the commo- tions of life, by a remembrance of the analogous government of God in history. Many ancient in- terpreters, misunderstanding this connection and internal advance of the thought, have fallen upon a mere allegorical explanation and symbo- lical interpretation of the entire Psalm, and have then partly understood, not only by t he sons of God, but likewise by the cedars of Le- bation, the great ones of the earth, and so like- wise by the palace the temple at Jerusalem, and indeed by Jehovah's voice the ^reaching of the Divine word; and partly have 23arded Lebanon, Sirion, the desert as symbolical designations of historical relations or indeed of spiritual condi- tions. Roman Catholic interpreters have often found a particular reason for this in the circum- stance, thatver. 5 b in the Sept. and Vulg. reads: "and the beloved (is) as a young unicorn," and ver. 5 a in the Vulg., differing there from the Sept., " and will crush them as calves of Leba- non." Even Sehegg brings this verse into direct connection with the words of the title of the Sept., and Vulg. referring to the feast of the dedication of the tabernacle, and interprets it of the election of Judah the beloved (or even of Zion, Ps. lxviii. 16), which resembles the uni- corn in freshness of life and strength, in con- trast with the rejection of Ephraim, Ps. lxxviii. 67, the calf of Lebanon crushed by the Lord (Isa. viii. 9), with reference to the comparison of Joseph with a bullock (Deut. xxxiii. 17), and to the places of the worship of the calf in the kingdom of Israel, in the South at Bethel, in the North at Dan in Lebanon. The desert is then saiil to indicate man's renouncing all his earthly advantages and merits, and the shaking of it to mean its fructification and transforma- tion (Ps. cvii. ::•") ; tsa. li. :5), which is to be ex- pected when the sevenfold flame of the Holy Spirit pours itself, in the Sacraments, over the soul shaken by the preaching of the Gospel. This is sufficient to bring to mind the arbitrari- ness and d anger of the allegorical interpretation of Scripture and to clearly show its essential difference from the interpretation of the language of nature speaking by signs aud a practical use of it for the edification of the congregation. " The voice of God sounds at first in the thunder of the song causing all things to shake ; but at the end it vanishes softly away in the quicken- ing drops of the words: He blesses His people with peace " (Umbreit). HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. Many who are now cold and careless in prais- ing God and celebrating His holy name, would give honor to the Lord, if they were mindful of His glory. — From the Almighty God comes the blessing of peace upon His worshipping people. — ■ The manifestation of the omnipotence of God should lead us, 1) to praise His glory with ado- ration, 2) to shun His judgment, 3) to resign ourselves to His protection. — God will have the honor due Him at first in heaven, but afterwards on earth ; all 11 is manifestations in nature as well as in history should remind us of this. — What a consolation it is, that. God is 1) the Almighty Lord of all things, 2) the righteous Judge of all the world, 3) the King of His people, bestowing blessings. — All the manifestations of the power of God are likewise revelations of His glory and His royal government, which is ever the same. — When a storm reminds us of the Flood and the Flood of the Divine judgment we should not for- get, that it is one and the same God, who in the storm, the flood and the judgment brings to light not only the terrors, but likewise the blessings of His royal glory. — In the phenomena of nature as well as the events of the world, God speaks to men ; it is well for those who hearken to God's voice, take heed to God's government and worship God as the Lord of glory in holy attire. — It. is re- vealed amidst the terrors, destructions and dangers in the world, what we know of God, think of Him and espe>-t from Him. — The particu- lar exhibitions of the Divine majesty on earth are transient, the majesty and power itself re- main to this King forever. Starke : He who perceives and experiences the power of the voice of the Lord, may like- wise experience in his soul the glory of God. — If the voice of the Lord goes with such power and strength in the physical thunder storm, what will be said of the wonderful, penetrating power of the thunder of His word which is yet to be heard on all waters among all nations? — The Lord sits in judgment over all those who refuse to obey His voice, as at the time of the Flood He judged His first world. — Osiander: God has no pleasure in Bplendid and costly attire and ornaments, which are highly esteemed by the world, but He is pleased with spiritual attire, when the heart is purified within by faith and is adorned with all kinds of Christian virtues. — Fritsch : The greatest, honor of a prince, court, city, land is. that God's honor dwells there. — Renschbl : Take heed of the voice of the Lord; this shows thee His power and takes away from thee thy pride. — Rieoer : We cannot give the Lord anything; but it is our business to know and confess His name. — Thou'ck : If the saints already on earth as soon as the storms of God roar, worship in priestly reverence, how much more those in heaven. — Von Gf.rlacii : Those things which among men are for the most part far 212 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. apart, are united in God's works, infinite power and symmetrical beauty. [Mattii. Henry: If we would in hearing and praying, and other acts of devotion, receive grace from God, we must make it our business to give glory to God. — Whenever it thunders let us think of this Psalm; and whenever we sing this Psalm let us think of the dreadful thunder- claps we have sometimes heard, and thus bring God's word and His works together, that by both we may be directed and quickened to give unto Him the glory due unto His name; and let us bless Him that there is another voice of His besides this dreadful one, by which God now speaks to us, even the still small voice of His Gospel, the terror of which shall not make us afraid. — When, the thunder of God's wrath shall make sinners tremble, the saints shall lift up their heads with joy. — Spukgeon : Just as the eighth Psalm is to be read by moonlight when the stars are bright, as the nineteenth needs the rays of the rising sun to bring out its beauty, so this can be best rehearsed beneath the black wing of tempest, by the glare of the lightning, or amid that dubious dusk which heralds the war of ele- ments.— The call to worship chimes in with the loud pealing thunder, which is the church bell of the universe ringing kings and angels, and all the sons of earth to their devotions. — His voice, whether in nature or revelation, shakes both earth and heaven ; see that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. If His voice be thus mighty, what must His hand be ! beware lest ye provoke a blow. — C. A. B.] PSALM XXX. A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David. 1 I will extol thee, O Lord ; for thou hast lifted me up, And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. 2 O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. 3 O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave : Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 4 Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, And give thauks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5 For his anger endureth but a moment ; In his favour is life : Weeping may endure for a night, But joy cometh in the morning. 6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. 7 Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong : Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. 8 I cried to thee, O Lord ; And unto the Lord I made supplication. 9 What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee ? Shall it declare thy truth ? 10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me : Lord, be thou my helper. 11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. 12 0 Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. PSALM XXX. 213 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents. For the Title vid. Introduction.* Thanksgiving for Divine deliverance from great peril of death begins the Psalm (vers. 1-3), which is followed by an appeal to the congrega- tion to praise the goodness of God, which soon changes the deserved trouble into abiding joy (vers. 4-5). This has been shown in the life of the Psalmist, who mentions his false feelings of security and his boasting (ver. 6), and his terror when he perceived the loss of the Divine favor, which constitutes the true basis of his power (ver. 7). He then states the fact (ver. 8), and the man- ner (vers. 9-10) of his prayer and his experience of help (ver. 11), in order that he may praise God without, intermission, as he voivs likewise to do (ver. 12). Comp. P. Gerhard's hymns: " Ich preise dich und tinge," and, " Sollt ich mcinem Gott nicht singen," witli the refrain from ver. 5 f Sir. I. Vers. 1-3. For Thou hast drawn rne up. — The Hebrew word is used in Ex. ii. 16, 19 of drawing water from a well and so is figura- tively applied, Prov. xx. 5. But this is not the original idea of the word, according to Hupfeld, but is itself a particular application of the idea of drawn up, which is here rendered by all an- cient translators and interpreters (so A. V. lifted me up). This does away at once with the chief point of the hypothesis of Hitzig, that the reference is to the deliverance of the prophet Jeremiah from the slimy cistern (Jer. xxxviii.). The deep place in question is manifestly stated in ver. 3 [as sheol and grave, vid. Pss. vi. 5 and xvi. 9. — C. A. B.] ; and since there is described there, not a great danger in general in a sym- bolical manner (Calv., Hengst..), or in hyperboli- cal expressions (De Wette, Hupf.), but the near peril of death, we cannot understand the healing ver. 2, which is parallel with the drawing up, of help and salvation in general, but rather of de- liverance from sickness. For the reading and the construction of ver. 3 b vid. Hupfeld. — Thou hast quickened me from among those that go down to the grave. [Hupfeld: "Hell and grave are ideas usually interchanged * [Tho genitive "of David'' does not belong to " tlio house " but to "A Psalm." Riebm is probably correct in regarding the j"V3n J"\.3Jn~Vtl/ as a later liturgical addi- tion to the Title, showing'that it was to bo used at the feast of Dedication, which was instituted by Judas Maccabeus in 1GJ B. C. to commemorate tho purification of tho Temple from its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanos. "Vi? is not used in tho Title of any other Psalm of tho first book. The Psalm would then have a general reference to David's recov- ery from sickness corresponding with Ps. xvi. and there is no reference to a house of his own or to the temple in the Psalm, Hut it might very properly bo used at the (east of Dedicati in In subsequent times when once fixed by tho cir- cumstances of the Maccabean period. If however the Title is to bo regarded as entirely original the house is not tho house of David, whether at its reconsecration from the defile- ment of Absal im (2 Sam. xx. 3), Calvin, Cocc, Ueier, ft a!., or the rebuilding of the citadel of Zion which David >. as the pledge of the greatness of his empire (Dclltzsch, Moll, Perowne et at.), which is better; but to the . And then it does not refer to tho temple of Solomon (Chald., Rabbins. Hupf., et TI with the accusative of the thing and dative of the person leads, how- ever, to the idea of appoint=givc, oomp. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 8, with 2 Kings xxi. 8. The mountain is not so much a symbol of dignity and gi-f at as either of security and of success, or of domin- 214 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. ion, especially of the David ic kingdom (2 Sam. vi. 9, 12; Mio. iv. 8).— [Thou didst hide Thy face, I was frightened. — For an explanation of God's hiding iiis face vid. Ps. xiii. 1. The A. V. "troubled" is too weak. — C. A. B.] Sir. IV. Ver. 9. What profit by my blood, by my going down to the grave? can dust praise Thee ? can it declare Thy truth ? — The mention of blood does not lead necessarily to the idea of a violent death, for the soul is in the blood. [Compare the argument in Ps. vi. 5, also Ps. Ixxxviii. 10, 12 and in Hezekiah's words Is. xxxviii. 18, 19, which is manifestly based on David's words. Delitzsch: "His prayer for a prolongation of life was not for the sake of earthly possessions and enjoy- ment, but for the honor of God. He feared death as the end of the praise of God. For on the other side of the grave no more Psalms would be sung. Ps. vi. 5. Hades was not overcome in the Old Testament, the heavens not yet opened. In heaven were the D'7X 'J3 (Ps. xxix. sons of Gods), but not yet the blessed DIN ^2 (sons of Adam)."*— C. A. B.] Sir. V. Ver. 11. Thou hast turned my lamenting into dancing for me, didst undo my sackcloth and gird me with joy. — [Hupfeld: "Dancing (dances performed by women accompanied by songs and music at the celebration of a victory as Ex. xv. 20; Judges xi. 34: 1 Sam. xviii. 6, or at religious feasts Ex. xxxii. 19, Judges xxi. 21) is here poetical of joy or shouts of joy, thanksgiving and songs, as Jer. xxxi. 4, 13; Lam. v. 15." — vid. Smith's Diet, of the Bible, art. "Dance:'— C. A. B.]. Sack- cloth is the hairy, tight garment of sorrow and penitence, which was worn on the naked body, sometimes girded on with a cord and sometimes not. The girdles were mostly colored and served at the same time as ornaments, and were often embroidered and partially adorned with costly ornaments. Hence the expression "gird" does not merely pass over into a figurative meaning as of girding with strength, Ps. xviii. 32, but is used at once in the sense of adorn, only that the fundamental meaning ever shines through, as Ps. lxv. 12: the hills gird themselves with re- joicing. Ver. 12. In order that glory may cele- brate Thee.— Most interpreters take ~\123 here as referring to soul. The only difficulty is the absence of the suffix, for in this connection the reference can only be to the soul of the Psalmist and there is no example of an ellipsis of the suffix (Geier, Rosenm.). And so Hupfeld sup- plies it at once in the text, which thus becomes like the words of Ps. cviii. 1. Kimchi thinks of the immortal soul in the eternal life as con- trasted with the dust, ver. 9, which he explains of the corpse and not of the grave. But without regard to this false contrast, the article could not fail, if the soul as such was to be designated. Many others depart from the context and take the abstract for concrete=the noble (Chald.) or * [Perowne : " The truth seems to be, that whilst the Faith of the Old Testament saints in God was strong and childlike, their Hope- of Immortality was at best dim and wavering, brightening perhaps for a moment, when the heart was rejoicing in God as its portion, and then again al- most dying away."— C. A. B.J indeed ; every man who has a wise soul (Aben Ezra). The Syriac has not regarded this word at all as the subject, but as the object : therefore will I sing praise to Thee. But this is against the construction, which is restored by the inter- pretation : glory=praise, renown, hymn, sings to Thee (Maurer, Olsh., De Wette). In the song of Hezekiah (Is. xxxviii.) the last two verses of this Psalm are re-echoed together with many passages from the Book of Job. [Pe- rowne : The sackcloth of his humiliation God had taken off from him, and had clothed him with the garment of praise (Is. lxi. 3). How should he do otherwise than praise God for ever for His goodness." — C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. There is sufficient reason in the exhibitions of grace, helpings and deliverances which God richly bestows upon men, to praise Him contin- ually and thank Him daily. " For as God lifts us by His hand on high from the depths into which we have fallen, so it is again our obligation to lift up our hearts and mouths to His praise " (Calvin). Would that the depth of our feelings might correspond with the depths of misery from which we were drawn up, and the earnestness of our praise and thankfulness with the great- ness of our obligation, since we could not even with our highest thankfulness attain to the great- ness of God. 2. The Divine grace and help are wonderfully exhibited to every individual, yet it is not some- thing singular and special; therefore the fa- vored one has confidence in the entire congrega- tion, that they will gladly follow his appeal to unite in the song of praise and thanksgiving which he lifts up to God. The one bounty re- minds us likewise of others, the particular help of the general salvation, the present deliverance of previous exhibitions of grace shown to other men, so that the pious remembrance of God's holy Being, as it is made known in His Provi- dence in history, is awakened and sustained and the holy memory of Jehovah forms the subject of the songs of praise of the congregation. 3. It is worthy of particular consideration that whilst we richly deserve the wrath of God and must experience its frightful effects likewise in those sufferings in which we receive the taste of the punishments of our sins, yet the delivering/a(w of God which giveth life turns directly to the sinner when he is awakened from his security, and is terrified on account of his sins, and is brought in humility to the knowledge of his true condition and implores the grace of God. Thus we perceive that not wrath, but love is the essential disposition of God, and that He has both of these dispositions in Himself. "Alles Ding wdhrt seine zeit, Goltes Licb' in Ewigkeit." (P. Gcr- hardt. 4. Even pious people have to keep before them the dangers of prosperity and be warned by the example of David, in order that they may not be betrayed in times of prosperity to hurtful confidence in self, and false feelings of security and then descend from their imaginary height, strength and abundance, and lose more than they ever thought it possible to lose. PSALM XXX. 215 But the security of fools ruins them (Prov. i. -V2 ; comp. Deut. viii. 11-18; xxxii. 15: IIos. xiii. 6). Yet lie who has been brought by sufferings to reflection, by falls to awakening and thereby to terror, self-knowledge, prayer, gains not only true help and a new grace and attains to fresh and joyous thankfulness, but gains likewise be- yond self, to tell others his history in humble and thankful joy, that they may be warned, instructed and consoled. "David previously fast asleep, suddenly begins to cry out in terror to the Lord. For as iron, when it has become rusty by long disuse, cannot be again used until it is heated again in the fire and beaten with the hammer, so when once carnal security has prevailed, no one can quickly equip themselves for prayer, unless previously beaten and properly prepared by the cross" (Calvin). 6. God in the deliverance of those who seek Him in penitence, declares not only His good- ness and His faithfulness, but likewise His truth, which is to be transmitted from father to son (Isa. xxxviii. 19), from generation to generation (Ps. xxii. 31). Accordingly it is incumbent upon God and is in the interest of God not to be robbed of those servants who have pleasure in never ceasing to praise Him, and who in imploring for the preservation of their life have directed themselves not to earthly things, but to God's glory and the efficiency of His service with heart, mind and thoughts, in the assurance that this can be accomplished by them only on earth and in this life, so long as death, the world be- low and hell have not been vanquished. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. Our songs of praise and thanksgiving cannot be drawn too deep, nor ascend too high, nor be spread too far, nor last too long. — No misery is 80 deep that we cannot be drawn out of it by God, but no height is so great that we cannot be cast down from it. — It is not God's fault if His anger last longer than a moment. — When suffering or joy turns in to us, we do well to inquire whether God has sent us these guests. — It is not indiffer- ent how lung we may weep or shout for joy, but more depends upon what they are about, for God determines their duration in accordance with it. — We know not how many moments remain to us in this short life, therefore it is important, that we should always be found as servants of God, in order that we may be ready through God's favor to give account at any moment, and that we may praise forever His gracious help in bodily and spiritual things. — In the congregation of God are heard not only the songs of sorrow and of praise of its members, but there may be heard there likewise their penitential prayers and con- fessions of faith. — The experiences of believers should minister to the salvation of others, there- fore they are told and written by them. — To the preaching of the truth of God belongs the preach- ing of His wrath against the sinner as well as the message of His grace toicards the penitent and the narration of His love towards those seeking salva- tion.— We can have no better wish, than to expe- rience God's grace our lives long, declare God's truth daily, praise God's name forever. Starke : It is a great benefit, when God pro- longs a man's life until he turns to God in right- eousness.— God's usual way is to cause a con- stant saving interchange of sorrow and of joy, in order that we may not sink under the bur- den.— In good days we should think of the un- certainty of success and of our own weakness, and not put our trust in ourselves and be pre- sumptuous.— Children of the world seek to banish their sorrow by earthly pleasures of every kind, but the children of light know that all comes from the hand of the Lord ; hence they waif patiently until the Lord Himself shall turn their sorrow into joy. — Osiander: When we are in trouble, carnal security soon falls to the ground and we tremble and shudder for it. — Selnekker: The guilt is man's, the punishment comes from God. But God delights in the life of man and has not ordained any man to death, but would that all men should turn and live. — Arxdt : We have here an earnest warning from the example of the dear David, that we should fear God in good days, and not be secure and rely upon temporal things. — Tiioluck: To con- fess that God is righteous in His chastisements is very difficult for men, but David was always ready to confess this after his failures. — Stil- ler: This Psalm gives comfort in the sufferings of life, and says first of all, from whom they come, then how long they will endure, and finally what profit they will have. — GuENTHEB : Every one ascends high and has ascended, who lets himself be guided in the way of the Lord. — He who always fares well quickly forgets God, and forgets likewise his poor soul ; he then ne- glects to struggle, he regards himself as sate, even the gracious countenance of God shining upon him in continued success, he too easily takes for God's good pleasure in his holiness. — Tiiym: The pious sufferer on the bed of severe sick- ness: 1) knows thoroughly t lie weakness of his na- ture; 2) feels therein the chastisement of the holy God : 3) turns to the Physician who ever helps. [Matth. Henry: The more imminent our dangers have been, the more eminent our deli- verances have been, the more comfortable to our- selves, and tiie more illustrious proofs of the power and goodness of God. A life from the dead ought to be spent in extolling the God of our life. — No one of all God's perfections carries in it more terror to the wicked nor more comfort to the godly, than His holiness. — Our happiness is bound up in God's favor; if we have thai we have enough, whatever else we want, It is the life of the soul, it is spiritual life, (he earnest of life eternal. — Barnes: If we are to offer prayer for the salvation of our children, neigh- bors, or friends, it is to be done in this world; if we are to admonish and warn the wicked, it is to be done here; if we are to do anything by personal effort for the spread of the Gospel, it is to be done before we die. Whatever we may do in heaven, these things are not to be done there ; for when we close our eyes in death, our personal efforts for the salvation of men will cease forever. — Spurgeox: When God's chil- dren prosper one way, they are generally tried another, for few of us can bear unmingled pros- perity. Even the joys of hope need to be mixed with the pains of experience, and the more surely so when comfort breeds carnal se- 21G THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. curity and self-confidence. — How high has our Lord lifted us ? Lifted us up into the children's place, to be adopted into the family ; lifted us up into union with Christ, " to sit together with Him in heavenly places." Lift high the name of our God, for He has lifted us above the stars. — Heavenly heart-music is an ascending thing, like the pillars of smoke which rose from the altar of incense. — We die like withered flowers when the Lord frowns, but His sweet smile re- vives us as the dews refresh the fields. His favor not only sweetens and cheers life, but it is life itself, the very essence of life. Who would know life, let him seek the favor of the Lord. — As in a wheel, the uppermost spokes descend to the bottom in due course, so is it with mortal conditions. There is a constant revolution : many who are in the dust to-day shall be highly elevated to morrow ; while those who are now aloft shall soon grind the earth. — The next best thing to basking in the light of God's counte- nance is to be thoroughly unhappy when that bliss is denied us. — C. A. B.] PSALM XXXI. To the chief dfusician, A Psalm of David. 1 In thee, 0 Lord, do I put my trust ; Let me never be ashamed : Deliver me in thy righteousness. 2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: Be thou my strong rock, for a house of defence To save me. 3 For thou art my rock and my fortress ; Therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me. 4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me : For thou art my strength. 5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit. : Thou hast redeemed me, 0 Lord God of truth. 6 I have hated them that regard lying vanities : But I trust in the Lord. 7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy : For thou hast considered my trouble ; Thou hast known my soul in adversities ; 8 And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy : Thou hast set my feet in a large room. 9 Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble : Mine eye is consumed with grief, Yea, my soul and my belly. 10 For my life is spent with grief, And my years with sighing : My strength faileth because of mine iniquity, And my bones are consumed. 11 I was a reproach among all mine enemies, But especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance : They that did see me without fled from me. 12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. rSALM XXXI. 217 13 For I have heard the slander of many : fear was on every side : While they took counsel together against me, They devised to take away my life. 14 But I trusted in thee, O Lord : I said, Thou art toy God. 15 My times are in thy hand : Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. 16 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant : Save me for thy mercies' sake. 17 Let me not be ashamed, O Lord ; for I have called upon thee : Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. 18 Let the lying lips be put to silence ; Which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. 19 Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee ; Which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee Before the sons of men ! 20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man : Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. 21 Blessed be the Lord : For he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. 22 For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes : Nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. 23 O love the Lord, all ye his saints : For the Lord preserveth the faithful, And plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. 24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, All ye that hope in the Lord. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents and Composition. — According to Luther, this Psalm " is spoken in the person of Christ and His saints, who are plagued their life long, internally by trembling and alarm, externally by persecution, slander and contempt, for the sake of the word of God, and yet are delivered by God from them all and comforted." \ Brentz, Calv., and many of the older interpre- ters have, with Augustine, interpreted this Psalm as directly Messianic, because the cruci- fied Saviour in the moment of dying (Luke xxiii. 46) used the words which begin ver. 5. Then the " iniquity," ver. 10 c, is understood of the sins of the world imputed to Christ. But Stier very properly recognizes in the words of ver. 5: into Thy hand I commit my spirit, only "the appropriation of an expression which is full of confidence," which cannot have a pro- phetical reference, because David, according to vers. 4, 8, 15, hoped for deliverance from the danger still in this life and for this life. Stier maintains the Davidic composition of the Psalm, although ho gives up the historical reference of most earlier interpreters, which is again advo- cated by Delitzsch, to the situation of David in the wilderness of Maon during his persecution by Saul (1 Sam. xxiii. sq.). There is certainly no weight to be put upon the merely apparent correspondence of the word 'T?'"!?' ver. 22, with 1 Sam. xxiii. 26, to which the title of the Sept. EKOTdacuc, Vulg. pro ecstasi is referred by many with the explanation, "for the trembling," be- cause the Sept., ver. 22, translates en snardcm. Yet many resemblances are apparent with the Psalms which are generally put in that period ; and if partly the elegiac softness, partly the character of the language remind us of the pro- phet Jeremiah, and especially ver. 13 a strikingly agrees with Jer. xx. 10, yet, as even Hupfeld stall's, there is no evidence in this for the com- position of the Psalm by Jeremiah, as Hitzig and Ewald contend, especially as there are fre- quently found in this prophet expressions and turns of thought from more ancient books, par- ticularly from the Psalms. There is a change in experience, and a transition from expressions of confidence and trust to a lamenting descrip- tion of need, but this does not show, any more than the final transition from praising God to the exhortation of all the pious, that only after deliverance had taken place (Ruding., Rosenm.), the prayer in time of danger has been connected with thanksgiving for deliverance. When Heng- stenberg regards David as speaking from t he person of every righteous man in severe trouble, he defaces the historical character of the Psalm, and does away with the limits between explana- 218 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. tion and .application. The contents are divided into three principal groups, so that at first the prayer for deliverance (vers. 1, 2) bases itself on the confidence in the grace of God peculiar to Him (vers. 3-5) and previously exhibited to the Psalmist (vers. 6-8) ; then from the description of present trouble (vers. 9-13) it rises anew with protestations of trust in God (vers. 14-16) and the assurance of being heard (vers. 17, 18) ; finally it passes over into thankful praise of God for His gracious dealings with all the pious (vers. 19, 20), particularly for the hearing of prayer particularly afforded to the Psalmist (vers. 21, 22), and in the exhortation of all the favored ones to believing hope in God (vers. 23, 24). Compare the hymn: "In dich hah1 ich gehoffet Herr." [Str. I. Ver. 1. In Thee, Jehovah, have I taken refuge. — Vid. Pss. vii. 1; xi. 1. — Let me not be shamed forever. — Most interpre- ters, ancient and modern, regard this a,s=never be shamed, which could not very well be ex- pressed otherwise in Hebrew. Hengstenberg. however, interprets it: "Though I am put to shame now, yet let not that shame last forever." This verse and the two following reappear with few variations in Ps. lxxi. 1, 3. Ver. 2. Be Thou to me for a rock of de- fence, for a house of fortification, to save me. — Compare these figures with those of Ps. xviii. 2.— C. A. B.] [Str. II. Ver. 3. For Thou art my rock and my fortress. — Perowne: " This has been called illogical. But is it so illogical as it seems ? The Psalmist prays, • Be Thou to me,' or rather 'become to me, prove Thyself to be, my rock and house of defence; for I know that Thou, and Thou only, art my refuge.' This is the logic of the heart, if not of the intellect.; the logic, it may be added, of every prayer of faith." — Wilt lead me and guide me. — Perowne: " The futures here and in the next verse are not to be rendered as imperatives. They express the strong hope and confidence that it will be done according to his faith and his prayer." Ver. 4. Wilt pull me out of the net. — Comp. Ps. ix. 15 ; xxv. 15. — For Thou art my defence.— The Thou is emphatic. Moll renders it, for Thou, Thou art, etc. Ver. 5. Into Thy hand I commit my spirit. — Perowne: "Upon the expression of confidence in the power and faithfulness of God, follows the expression of the singer's resolve. My spirit (ruach) is more than my soul or life i (nephesh). It is not only from sickness and death, but from sin and all ghostly enemies, that the man of God would be kept, and therefore he commends to God, not his body or his bodily life alone, but the life of his spirit, which is more precious (comp. Isa. xxxviii. 16, ' life of my spirit '). — I commend (iraparidefiai), i. e. place as a deposit, entrust." — C. A. B.]* * [Perowne: " With these words onr Lord breathed out Bis life, Luke xxiii. 46, as He had before used words from another Psalm in His agony on the cross. The first woids were from a Psalm (the xxii.) which, topically at least, fore- shadowed His sufferings; whereas, this is not in the' same way prenictive. But the Holy One of God, in that last hour of mortal flgony, chose these words .>f one of His servants, toexpress thesolemn surrender of His life. And iu so doing^ He gave them a new interpretation. The Jewish singer Str. III. Ver. 6. I have hated them that regard vain idols.— The Vulgate, Syriac and Arabic versions translate after the Septuagint, "Thou hast hated," which is preferred by some interpreters, as Venema, Hitzig, Ewald, Olsh., on account of the contrast in the second mem- ber of the verse, comp. in Ps. v. ver. 5 with ver. 7, whilst they read with Cod. 170 Kenn. the second person shanetha. The "regarding " does not refer to portents in the sense of the interpretation of signs and magic (Aben Ezra), nor does it express the obedient regarding in the sense of reverence (most interpreters, with re- ference to Hos. iv. 10; Prov. xxvii. 18), but the trusting and waiting attention which is contained therein (Rosenm., Hengst., Hupf., Delitzsch). The object is not vain things and things of naught in general (Calv., Ruding., Rosenm., Stier), although these are literally designated as "breath of nothingness," but the idols as the "unsubstantial things of naught" (Hitzig), as the use of this passage in Jonah ii. 9 shows. The plural of hebel denotes likewise in Deut. xxxii. 21 ; Jer. ii. 5 ; viii. 19 ; xiv. 22, the idols on the side of their vanity. Their delusive nature (Hengst.) is here expressed by XllV, Ps. vii. 14; Jer. xviii. 15. God constitutes the con- trast as El emeth, for which 2 Chron. xv. 3 has Elohe imeth, with the change from the true being of God which ever proves itself true, to the faithful disposition of God which ever proves itself thus as El Smunah, Deut. xxxii. 4 (De- litzsch).—[As for me, I have trusted in Jehovah. — The / is emphatic, as the Thou in v ver. 4, and is opposed to those trusting in vain idols— C. A. B.] Vers. 7, 8. Let me exult and rejoice in Thy mercy, Thou 'who hast regarded my distress, taken knowledge of the needs of my soul ; and hast not shut me up in the hand of the enemy, hast set my feet on a wide place. — In ver. 7 c pV with 3 does not denote a theoretical knowledge, but a prac- tical and operative taking knowledge, a looking into (a being concerned about). Hupfeld says that this construction is an unheard of one, and since usage and the accents do not allow of taking the soul as the object of the knowledge (Luther, Stier), he would supply the object and indeed either the suffix, me, or from the imme- diate context, my distress. But Delitzsch, as the ancient interpreters, refers to Job xii. 9 ; xxxv. 15, and Hitzig compares, besides the last passage, Gen. xix. 33 ; Isa. ix. 8, likewise the Arabic, and remarks that 7j? is used for 2 in Job xxxvii. 16. — It is possible to regard ID'X ver. 7 b as a conjunction=that, because (Geier, Delitzsch, Hitzig), so that the subject of the exultation would be stated in the folio wing only meant by them that he put himself and all his hopes into the hand of God. Jesus meant by them, that by His own act, of His own free will. He gave up His spirit, and therewith His life, to the Father. And they who have died with their Lord, have died with the same words on their lips. These were the last words of Polycarp, of Bernard, of Huss, of Jerome o[ Prague, of Luther, Mclanchthon, and many others. 'Blessed are they,' says Luther, 'who die not only for the Lord, as martyrs : "not only in the Lord, as all believers; but likewise with the Lord, as breathing forth their lives iu these words, Into Thy hand I commend my spirit.' '■— C A. B.J PSALM XXXI. 219 clauses, as then likewise the perfects are for the most part regarded as prophetical perfects. But it is much more natural to regard it as a relative clause, as ver. 5 b without the relative, an appeal to previoustcxperience as the motive of the prayer and reason of the hope of being heard (llupf. ), so that ver. 7 a is notan antecedent and a promise (most interpreters [A. V.]), but a prayer (Finding., J. H. Mich.). [Alexander: " To shut up in the hand of any one is to abandon to his power. The expression is a figurative one, but occurs in prose, and even in the history of David. See 1 Sam. xxiii. 11; xxvi. 8. The figure of the last clause is a favorite with David. See above, on Pss. iv. 1 ; xviii. 19, 3G." — G. A. B.] Str. IV. [Vers. 9, 10. Mine eye is con- sumed with vexation— my soul and my belly. — Compare Ps. vi. 7. The soul and belly are general terms enlarging and adding emphasis to the more specific term, eye. The belly stands for the body, yet with a more particular refe- rence to the bowels as the seat of the affections, or as Delitzsch, "the interior of the body re- flecting the spiritual and physical activities and experiences." The soul and the belly thus re-' present the entire man. The expressions of ver. 10 are to be compared with Ps. cii. 3 sq. ; Jer. xx. 18, as well as Ps. vi. The clauses are paral- lel, the general terms becoming in each case more specific, thus life has its parallel years; grief, sighing ; strength, bones. The bones are the frame-work of the body, vid. Ps. vi. 3. His iniquity is regarded by the Psalmist as the real cause of all his trouble. — C. A. B.] Ver. 11. Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach, and to my neighbors a burden, and a terror to mine acquaintance. — J. D. Mich, already conjec- tured that "IN"? was a substantive, with the meaning of burden, and compared with the Arabic. Fleischer, in Delitzsch's commentary, has proved this more accurately and thus made an end of all the difficulties, which arise if we retain the usual meaning of "very," which the Sept. already expressed with mpoSpa. It has likewise the present order of words, so the placing of "and to my neighbors" after "friends" (Olsh.) does great violence to the text. The words "because of all my adversaries" could be attached to the preceding clause with less difficulty (Ewald) than this. But the transla- tion which is then proposed, "I have become a reproach even to my neighbors exceedingly," is wrecked upon the fact that the intensive signifi- cation of the 1 (even, likewise), which most in- terpreters with Calvin and Geier accept, in con- nection witli the usual division of the clauses and connection of words cannot be proved. It is admissible to regard the 1 as explanatory (= and indeed). But this meaning, accepted here by Piscator, Stier, et al., makes such a drawling clause that Ilupfeld would rather suppose that the 1 has come into the text by mistake or that a substantive has been omitted. Hit/.ig trans- lates: fled from my neighbors, since he regards the X as a corruption of a 3, but he now reads no longer "UQ, but 13*3. Instead of "because of all my enemies," he translates likewise: from all, etc., which is certainly better than the translation, more than all (Vulg., and many of the older interpreters, even llosenm.), al- though it is likewise allowed by the language. [Ver. 12. Alexander: " The next stage of his calamity was that of contemptuous oblivion, which usually follows the acute one of disgust and shame described in the foregoing verse. — From the heart, ('. e. the memory: the ex- pression seems to correspond exactly to the second member of the English proverb: out of sight, out of mind. — The comparison with an earthen vessel, at best of little value, easily broken, and when broken worthless, only fit to be contemptuously thrown aside, is a favorite with Jeremiah, who appears to have derived it, with some other favorite ideas and expressions, from the Psalm before us. See Jer. xix. 11 ; xxii. 28; xxv. 34; xlviii. 38, and compare Hos. viii. 8."— C. A. B.] Ver. 13. For I hear the whispering of many; terrors round about; whilst they take counsel together against me — they devise to take away my life. — [The usual interpretation of H31 slander does not suit here 1 T ' as Hupfeld shows, and so Hitzig, Delitzsch, Moll, et al. Ewald translates, report. The phrase, "terrors round about," mayor missabib, is a favorite formula in Jeremiah, probably having become a current phrase in the mouths of the people in troublous times. Jer. xx. 10; also vi. 2; xx. 3, 4; xlvi. 5; xlix. 29; Lam. ii. 22. — C. A. B.] [Str. V. Ver. 15. My times are in Thy hand. — Perowne: "My times, i.e., all my life, with its 'sundry and manifold changes,' its joys and sorrows, its hopes and conflicts, ar.3 not, the sport of chance, or the creatures of a blind fate, but are in Thy hand, 0 Thou living personal Redeemer. On this confidence are grounded the petitions which follow and the hopes expressed, ver. 18. The second of the petitions, ver. 16, is borrowed from the High Priest's blessing, Num. vi. 25. Comp. Psalm iv. 7." Ver. 17. Let the wicked be shamed, be silenced in the world below. — For an ex- planation ofSheol, vid. Ps. vi. 5, anil the corres- ponding fate of the wicked, Ps. ix. 15. Alexan- der: "He distinguishes himself as oue who calls upon God, from the wicked who do not, ami appeals to the righteousness of God as re- quiring that defeat, and disappointment, and frustration of the hopes, should fall, not upon the class to which he belongs and of which he is the representative, but upon that represented by his enemies, of whom it has been well said, that they are not reckoned sinners because they are his enemies, but enemies because they are sin- ners, or in other words, enemies to him because they are the enemies of God." Ver. 18. Let lying lips be put to silence — that is the silence of destruction, as is clear from ver. 17 where the world below is added. The reference is back to the whispering of ver. 13 —Which speak arrogantly against a righteous man with pride and scorn. — Hupfeld: "DHW not=hard (as Geier, J. II. Mich.), nor impudent (as Gesen. and most r< nl interps.) but arrogant, properly with the neck thrown back comp. Ps. lxxv. 5. ' Speak not with 220 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. a stiff neck,' comp. ji"U '1B3 Is. iii. 16), that is proudly, as in all passages where the word occurs (Ps. lxxv. 5; xciv. 4; 1 Sam. ii. 3, and here). So Luther already (stiff) and Rosenm." — C. A. 13.] [Str. VI. Ver. 19. Thou hast laid up— Pe- rowne: "Literally 'hidden,' comp. Ps. xvii. 4. and ' the hidden manna,' Rev. ii. 17. This is the love of God manifested to the soul in secret; the next clause tells of its open manifestation, ' Thou hast wrought.' " Ver. 20. Thou screenest them with the screen of Thy countenance from the con- spiracies of men. — Hupfeld : '"This is here naturally not as Job xxiv. 15, the screen with which his countenance was concealed (mask), but which the countenance of God afforded. / The countenance of God (usually in an evil sense as Ps. xxi. 9) is here the gracious presence of God turned towards the pious in a friendly manner (vid. Ps. iv. 6), and the source of all good (vid. Ps. xvi. 2), particularly His protection, His guarding countenance (comp. the eye of God. Ps. xxxiii. 18; xxxiv. 15, comp. xxxii. 8.) as it marched in the pillar of cloud and of fire with the Israelites through the wilderness, Ex. xxxiii. 14, 15, which, therefore, in Is. iv. 5, 6 likewise serves as a screen. Here this presence is in connection with the figure of one seeking protec- tion, whom God receives into His dwelling as a guest, where he is 'before the face of God ;' hence a screen (properly hiding-place, latibulum=50no comp. Is. iv. 6 ; xxxii. 2) is attributed to him so far as the dwelling-place of God is such, instead of screen of His tent. Ps. xxvii. 6 (whence the pissage was probably derived), comp. the par- allel I"13?3 (as in Ps. xxvii. 5 ); thus mingling it with t lie figure of a shelter.''' — C. A. B.] Sir. VII. Ver. 21. In a strong city.— This expression is usually taken as a figure of safety either with the comparison omitted "as in a strong city" (Symm., Stier), or the 2 is re- garded as an expression of the comparison, "as a strong city" (Hengst.). If we suppose that there is a historical reference, it is more natural to refer to Ziklag (Delitzsch) than Keila. It is possible from the language to translate; in a besieged city, which then can either be taken as a figure of trouble or be referred to an actual fact. It is taken in the latter reference by Hit- zig who refers to Jer. xxxviii. Ver. 22. [In my confusion. — Hupfeld: "This is not my hasty flight (Hengst.) but in my surprise, confusion, as Jerome in stupor e meo, Aquil. iv $a/j.j3dc£i, Symm. euttItj^ei, Calv. in prxcepitalione mea=perlurbatione animi (which then drives to hasty flight, but is not the flight itself). It is the infiu. constr. of !3n=to be terrified, confused (comp. 7713) Deut. xx. 3 (with KV) 2 Sam. iv. 4, (DU1?) 2 Kings vii. 15; * "T' x T' ° Job xl. 23; and only afterwards flee (as in the Niphal=|'ran)"-C. A.B.]— I am' cut off from the presence of Thine eyes. — Instead of "cut off" (=«eparated), which Delitzsch and Hupfeld advocate, Hengst. and Hitzig translate after the Rabbins, Geier et al. "blotted out." Str. VIII. Ver. 23. Jehovah keepeth faith. — It is possible to translate this likewise: Jehovah preserveth the faithful. (Chald., Jerome, Rabbins, Calvin, et al.) finally Hupfeld. [So A. V.]. Yet the parallelism does not force us to regard this abstract as concrete. But this pre- tended parallelism is rather produced by this interpretation. * [Ver. 21. All ye that wait. — Perowne. "(The Psalm ends as Ps. xxvii.). Hope and waiting are marks peculiarly of the Old Testa- ment dispensation. It is true even in the New, one apostle writes, 'We are saved by hope.' And another says, 'It doth not yet appear what we shall be : ' but he adds what no believer in the days of types and shadows could have said, 'We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.' Won- derful indeed is the hopeful trust of the saints of old in God, when we remember that they did not know Him as God manifest in the flesh. — C. A. B."] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. "This Psalm is again a true song from the depths as well according to the extent and measure of the sufferings as the corres- ponding experience of faith and grace: therefore it is a song of the struggling Church and for the militant Church." (Taube). In severe troubles those have a great consolation, who have pre- viously gained not only the true knowledge, but likewise the living knoivledge of God and a per- sonal experience of the blessings of trust in God and communion with God. It is to them a true help in prayer and serves to strengthen their faith, as well as to awaken new hopes and encourage to perseverance. David " is in the position to give God a name, which alone has already been a mighty shield in the day of trouble. He names Him the faithful God, has learned to know that all other hopes previous to this, are vain, and knows that God knows about him in the day of need." (Tholuck). 2. The name of God says not only, who God is, what God desires, what God does. but. like- wise reminds the souls of the pious of what they have alread}' received from God and what they may always expect from God. They need mere- ly to entreat it in faith and to accept it. and ap- propriate it in humility with thanksgiving. There is connected with such a remembrance, therefore, a refreshment and an encouragement. John Huss strengthened himself on his way to the stake by repeatedly praying from ver. 5 of this Psalm. The same verse was the last word of the dying Stephen, of Polycarp, of Basil the Great. For many examples: vid. Geier and Bake. 3. The soul often feels itself straitened by bodily trouble; and again anxiety of heart causes likewise the body to fail. The only relia- ble helper against both kinds of need is Jehovah, the faithful God, whose government is as just as it is gracious. He is the redeeming and the de- livering God. It is therefore well done to com- mit our spirits into the hands of this God even * [Hengst., Hitzig, Riehm and Alexander agree with Mull in his rendering. Riehm: "The cluu.se is parallel not with the first clause of the verse, hut witli the third as the accusatives indicate, and forms the contrast, to it, as in Ex. xxxiv. 7." Torowno follows Hupfeld and the more uu- ciont interpreters. — C. A. B.J PSALM XXXI. £21 with respect to the life of the body. The servant of God thus declares not only his pious disposition and the wish to be preserved by the power and grace of God, but he likewise makes his deliverance sure. For whether he is externally about to die or to live, his communion with God is strengthened and scaled by this resignation, and thus lie gains the pledge, that he has not taken refuge with God in vain. 4. The true communion and closer union of the pious with Jehovah constitute not only the pledge of their deliverance, but at the same time the foundation of their hopes and the means of their realization. For oa the one side they know that they are internally and externally separated from the worshippers of idols in all tilings, by the fact that they hold fast to, wit- ness to and strengthen this communion with God by faith and trust in God in the severest sufferings and trials, amid the terrors which surround them and in connection with the scorn and threats of those who regard them as lost ; on the other side they continue to be mindful of their sins as well as their weakness and are led to communion with God in the strongest manner even by this, that they have to base their deliv- erance as well as their salvation not on their own works and merits, but solely on the power and grace of God and that they can safely expect it from the faithfulness of God. Ut infinitum non potest finiri, ila nee termini misericordix statui (Savonarola). 5. There may certainly be times in the life of pious men, when the countenance of God seems to be turned away or veiled from them and the feeling of the presence of God threatens almost to vanish. In such gloomy times the more ear- nestly the light of the Divine countenance is sought and the more fervently the attestation of the Divine presence, which alone comforts and helps, is implored out of the experience of the trouble of abandonment, the more manifestly is disclosed to the soul, the faithfulness of God, or the Being and Providence of God which are eternally the same, the more vitally do the riches of the Divine fulness of power and grace present themselves, the more powerfully does the re- membrance of the self-evidencing miracle of the distribution of these treasures work upon them. Thus the confidence of trust in God returns, and in the assurance of the hearing of prayer, the cry for help is transformed into a song of praise and the praise of the Lord is connected with the exhortation of their companions to love God, in thankfulness for His grace which has been previously shown to them; and the encourage- ment to steadfastness in waiting upon God in the view of His righteous Providence. The concep- tion of the virtus to(ius psalmi in the Gloss, ord. is to narrow, "ne carnis fragilitas timeat tot mala seculi.'' Burk's divisions are more correct in his Gnomon: (ifiducia erga dominum declaratur ; exercita earn promoventia narrantur ; preces ad do- minum adduntur ; usus generalis exinde elictur." nOMILBTICAL AND PRACTICAL. Our confession says what we know and teach about God; our prayer, what we believe and hope about God ; our life how we love and honor God. — Our sine bring us to shame and disgrace, but not so with our trust in God. — Man can do nothing better than trust in God's faithfulness, build on .(iud's strength, look upon God's countenance. — lie who has God as his friend, need not fear the crowd of his enemies ; God provides him a better refuge than a fortified city. — A hearty trust in God can only exist in connection with a sincere resig- nation to God, both mutually strengthen one another and lead to waiting for help and salva- tion.— We can observe how the soul prospers by that upon which it puts its confidence; upou what its love depends, upon what its hope is di- rected. That man alone is helped, who not only commits his external fortune*, but likewise his spirit into the hand of God. — It -s not enough to have hopes in the mind; all depends to what they are directed, upon what they are based, how long they hold out — God sees not only our misery ; lie is concerned about our needs; He delivers, those who trust Him from ruin; This is reason enough for prayer, praise and thanksgiving, — The effects of sin extend to the soul and the body ; but God is the Redeemer and Helper in time of need; this is experienced by those who believe on Him, turn to Him, wait on Him. — We may know that we are innocent towards men and appeal to the righteousness of God to protect us against their unrighteous treatment of us, and yet we must confess ourselves guilty before God and console ourselves with the grace of God. — For those who fear God, there is not only laid up a treasure of good things in the future, but God likewise im- parts to them now out of these riches that, which is needful of grace. — Communion with God is the tabernacle of safety for believers in all the trials and dangers of life. Starke: Believing hearts speak w'th their God as a. child with his father, secretly lament their troubles to Him, are comforted by His al- mighty protection and commit themselves to II is Divine government. — All hough we may not pre- scribe the time and hour of help to our God, yet He allows us to call upon Him to hasten the help, though with entire resignation to His will. — He who allows himself to be led by human advice and wisdom alone, often errs, but he who is guided by the adviceof God can accoinplishgreat things. If Satan and his followers have ventured even to lay snares for our Redeemer, how much more will he strive to do us harm? But he who has the Lord of strength with him will not be injured by him. — The impenitent know of no true sorrow for sin ; but the penitent feel anxiety of conscience so, that soul and body are often nigh to death. — A true servant of God is not ex- cluded forever from the light of grace, nor cast out in the darkness. — God's chamber of grace has many secret corners, in which our enemies will be obliged to leave us alone. — Believers may strengthen themselves and confirm their confi- dence in God by a faithful use of the promises of grace and a believing use of prayer. Calvin: Nothing is more difficult when we see our faith mocked by the whole world, than to di- rect our words to God alone and to rest in the tes- timony of our conscience that He is our God. — OsiANDBR: Although we are sinners, yet we may call upon God for help on account of the unrea- sonableness of our enemies, when our cause is a 222 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. just one. — Selnekker : These are glorious con- solations to a godly man: 1) that God gives him to know heavenly wisdom; 2) that He protects him against all tyrants and all misfortunes ; 3)' that He gives him everlasting treasures and everlasting goods, eternal life and eternal blessed- ness.— Menzel: How shall suffering Christians strengthen their confidence and their faith ? David refers us: 1) to God's righteousness, 2) to His strong power, 3) to the honor of His name, 4) to His faithfulness and goodness, 5) to his own example and experience. — We learn: 1) what distresses and trials befall the believer ; 2) that our dear Lord God does not reject His own children on account of such weaknesses, but spares them, ntfd indeed can suffer that they pour out and lament their weaknesses before Him; 3) we should be careful not to meddle with those who are plagued and troubled. — Bake : Let us believe without guile, live with- out guile, die without guile, and so we will please God. — Arndt: All temporal and eternal consolation arises from this faith and hope, that God is our God. — Where faith and love meet to- gether and both depend on God, God cannot re- fuse us anything. — Franke : If we had our heart truly given to God, the world would soon show itself displeased. — Frisch: To know one in trouble is the mark of true friendship. The pious David boasts this of our God. Make and retain God as your friend; He knows your soul in trouble. His knowledge is power, consola- tion and life. — Tholuck : Great evil serves to awaken in man the consciousness of sin. — The faith of David sees not the number and power of his enemies, but the hand of God alone, which distributes to men their lots. Thus the believer transacts his business in his chamber with his God instead of with his enemies; and whilst they fancy that they are entirely safe, the power of his prayers fights against them from t heaven. — Schaubach: It is so easy to explain the word "trust:" it is not so difficult to believe that the Almighty God is able to help out of every trouble; but to be sure that the Lord will and wishes to help likewise me and thee in every affliction, in which we have fallen for the sake of His honor, that will only be learned and ex- ercised by true and manifold experience. — Taube : How hope does not let a believer's heart be ashamed even in the deepest need : 1) it im- pels to prayer and supports prayer ; 2) it hopes even under circumstances where nothing is to be hoped ; 3) it is therefore so gloriously crowned with the assurance of a hearing, that it praises loudly and extols the wonderful goodness and faithfulness of the Lord. [Matth. Henry: They that have in sincerity avouched the Lord for theirs may expect the benefit of His being so, for God's relations to us carry with them both name and thing. — It is the wisdom and duty of every one of us solemnly to commit our spirits into the hands of God to be sanctified by His grace, devoted to His honor, employed in His service, and fitted for His kingdom. — Those know not how to value their hope in God who cannot find joy enough in that hope to balance their grievances, and silence their griefs. — Let those that are airy and gay take heed of running into extremes, and never set sorrow at defiance ; God can find out ways to make them melancholy if they will not other- wise learn to be serious. — Such swallow friends the world is full of, that are gone in winter. Let those that fall on the losing side not think it strange if they be thus deserted, but make sure a Friend in heaven that will not fail them, and make use of Him. — There is enough in God's goodness both for the portion and inheri- tance of all His children, when they come to their full age, and for their maintenance and education during their minority. There is enough in bank, and enough in hand. — The saints are God's hidden ones. — Special preser- vations call for particular thanksgivings — Barnes: We shall live as long as God has ap- pointed ; we shall pass through such changes as He directs ; we shall die when and where and how He chooses. In the faithful discharge of our duty, therefore, we may commit all these things to Him and leave all at His disposal. — Spur- /geon: Faith's repetitions are not vain. The avowal of our reliance upon God in times of ad- versity is a principal metLod of glorifying Him. — In our most importunate intercessions, we must find breathing time to bless the Lord ; praise is never a hindrance to prayer, but rather a lively refreshment therein. — Better spend our years in sighing than in sinning. — If we wan- tonly give a portion of our strength to sin, it will by and by take the remainder from us. — We must not look for the reward of philanthro- py this side of heaven, for men pay their best servants but sorry wages, and turn them out of doors when no more is to be got out of them. — The sovereign arbiter of destiny holds in His own power all the issues of our life ; we are not waifs and straws upon the ocean of fate, but are steered by infinite wisdom toward our desired haven. Providence is a soft pillow for anxious heads, an anodyne for care, a grave for despair. — We generally speak amiss when we are in a hurry. Hasty words are but for a moment on the tongue, but they often lie for years on the conscience. — C. A. B.] PSALM XXXII. 223 PSALM XXXII. A Psalm of David, Maschil. 1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord iinputeth not iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no guile. 3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old Through my roaring all the day long. 4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, And mine Iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. 6 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found : Surely in the floods of great waters They shall not come nigh unto him. 7 Thou art my hiding place ; thou shalt preserve me from trouble ; Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. 8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. 9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding : Whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, L( at they come near unto thee. 10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: But he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. 11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: And shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contexts and Composition. Respecting maskil vid. Introduction. This is the second of the seven Penitential Psalms [vid. Ps. vi.]. It was a favorite of Augustine. It is cited by the Apostle Paul in Rom.' iv. 6-8. According to Luther'it is " an extraordinary doctrinal Psalm, which teaches us what sin is, how we may be free from it and be righteous before God. For the reason knows not what sin is and thinks to render satisfaction for it with works; but he says here that all the saints are likewise sinners, and can be holy and blessed in no other way, than by recognizing that they are sinners before God, and that they are regarded as righteous be- fore God by faith alone without, merit and with- out works." The doctrine however does not appear here as a result of universal religious consideration, but as an immediate result of per- snii.il experience. For the blessedness of the justified sinner (vers. 1-2) is based upon the description of a twofold experience, first the pain and distress of the Psalmist so long as he held back his con- fession of sins (vers. 3-4); then the forgiveness of sins, directly received with the confession of sins. On this foundation likewise arises not only an encouragement of all those in the covenant of grace to similar action in behalf of similar bletiinga (ver. 5), but it takes directly in ver. 6, a thoroughly personal turn in the description of the saving consequences which are to be expected in the future. Then comes the exhortation and learning (vers. 8-9), that they may not be com- pelled to, but may of their own accord take th is way to God; and then the general contrast in the con- sequences of pious and ungodly conduct (ver. 10). 224 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. These form the transition to the final summons to rejoice (ver. 11), which is in a form which re- fers back to the beginning of the Psalm and thus rounds off the whole. — The assertion of some after Amyraldus, that this Psalm which like Psalm I. begins with "blessed" is yet in irre- concilable conflict with it, because the blessed- ness there appears as a reward of righteousness, but here as a consequence of forgiveness of sins, leaves out of view the circumstance, not only that the same thing may be represented from different stand-points without internal conflict, but that already in the Old Testament the inter- mediate members of these different representa- tions, are in many ways brought into view, e. g. that no flesh is righteous before God and no one could stand before God if He should impute sin ; that all human innocence and righteousness is merely relative; that righteousness is not the work of merit of the man himself, but a gracious work of God, etc. However we must not overlook that side of the Old Testament economy of salva- tion which is here very striking, which is related to the Gospel and in its direction. Hupfeld very properly remarks, that the confession of sins in itself, and indeed publicly expressed, was an ancient legal part of the sin offering (Lev. v. 6; xvi. 21; Num. v. 7), and that here this require- ment of the law is merely made more internal, as a requirement of the conscience, and is shown in its internal necessity. — Related thoughts are found in Prov. xxviii. 13; 1 John i. 8-9. — There are no tenable grounds for giving up its compo- sition by David and with Hitzig hit upon Jere- miah. The prevailing supposition, that this Psalm refers particularly to the great sin of David with Bathsheba and against her husband, is less certain. Venema already regarded its circumstances as more general, and Stier, Clauss, and Hitzig with De Wette find the circumstance doubtful from the fact, that here the emphasis is put upon the anxiety of conscience and the free confession of sins which sprang from it, whilst in 1 Sam. xii. 7 sq. this anxiety is not de- scribed, and the confession follows the disclosure of Nathan which shook him and chastised him. Yet we may say with Hengst., that the address of Nathan was not the cause, but the occasion of the confession of David. Many particular fea- tures of that history correspond entirely with the Psalm, and the Psalm has grown entirely from personal experience.* Delitzsch very well remarks that the words of Augustine might be placed as the motto of the Psalm : intelligentia prima est, ut te noris peccatorem. Selnekker narrates of Augustine, that he " often read this Psalm with weeping heart and eyes, and before his death had it written upon the wall which was over against his sick bed, that he might be exercised and comforted by it in his sickness." There is * [Ewald : " We must in any caso suppose that the poet does not speak during the change itself, but some time after- wards, after having gained complete internal rest and cheer- fulness, looking over all that had transpired and the entire Divine ordinances of grace. With this song he concludes the entire tragedy through which his soul has passed. In this respect the Psalm is particularly distinguished from Ps. li. which was spoken during the change, before he was entirely calmed." Delitzsch: ''David was for an entire year after his sin of adultery as one damned in hell. In this hell Ps. Ii. was composed, Ps. xxxii. however after his deliverance, the former in the midst of his penitential struggle, the latter after having gained internal peace." — C. A. B.] no historical support for the conjecture of Gro- tius that this Psalm was the prayer of the Jewish people on the great day of atonement. Str. I. Vers. 1-2. Blessed is he •whose transgression is taken away, etc. — Sinishere designated by those three names, after Ex. xxxiv. 7, whose etymologies lead to the ideas of falling away or breaking faith, deviation or failure and perversion (in usage frequently of guilt). Their forgiveness is likewise mentioned in three forms as lifting up, (to take away their burden), as covering (whereby they are removed from the eyes of the judge and therefore from punishment), as not imputing (with reference to their guilt). According to the grammatical form, however, that which is designated as taken away and covered is not, as usually elsewhere, the sin, but the person of the sinner, "because the forgiveness of sins is not merely a transac- tion with men, but in men, in their personal life." (Delitzsch). Ver. 2 b. mentions not the sanctification of the heart (some more ancient interpreters) as a fruit of justification, but con- tains actually already the statement of the condition of forgiveness of sins, particularly carried out in the following verses, and is re- garded by some (Isaki, Flarain., Seb. Schmidt, Stier) as a conditional clause, but usually as a relative clause. Str. II. Vers. 3-4. For I kept silence, etc. This silence is not the quiet and patience of con- trition as the internal beginning of penitence (Venema), but the holding back of co?ifession of sins as an effect and a manifestation of the guile just mentioned. For although the Psalmist howled and groaned (the same word is used as in Ps. xxii. 1; hence there might be included likewise lamentation and prayer in the cries of anxiety and pain), during the long time in which the chastening hand of God was heavy upon him without interruption (day and night), yet he failed to admit his guilt; and this silence was the cause as well of the continuance of the Divine chastisement as of the increase of his torment of soul. It makes no essential differ- ence whether the \3 of ver. 3, is translated like the '3 of ver. 4 as giving the reason and ex- planation "for" (Stier, Hengst., Hupf.) or as introducing the following clause " because " or "since" (Hitzig, Delitzsch). [The Rabbins, Olsh., Ewald and the A. V. translate "when" which gives a better sense. — C. A. B.]. In any case ver. 3 carries out more clearly the funda- mental thought expressed in vers. 1-2, so far as it is based on personal experience. The "for" takes up directly the thought involved in the mention of guile and ver. 4 at all events gives the reason of ver. 3. The Divine hand is the efficient cause of the sufferings which affect at the same time the body and the soul, the silence is the conditional cause. In this connection it is not. probable, that the decay of the bones was occasioned by the roaring (Delitzsch), or crying, that is the bodily sickness by the violent ex- pressions of sorrow (Hupf.) ; or that the anxiety of conscience had produced in the Psalmist a violent fever (Hitzig). The heat of summer into which the sap of life becomes changed, might much more easily be taken as a figurative de- signation of anxiety and heat, which would after- PSALM XXXII. 225 wards be regarded as the beat of Divine anger (Stier; similarly Calvin, Geier, De Webte, Hengst.). Yet it is more natural to supply a 3 of comparison (Lutber after Symra., Chald.) ; or to suppose a silent comparison (Hupf.) ; unless it is preferred witb Delitzsch to take tbe 3 as that of the condition, in which the change, that is tbe deterioration, took place (Job xx. 14) The meaning "sap of life " which most interpre- ters after the Chald. and Aben Ezra, give to T\j~) and derive from the Arabic, is disputed by Hengst. and Olsh. The former explains the word of the heart, comp. Pa. cii. 4, properly, a compact mass according to Num. xi. 8 ; the lat- ter explains it of the tongue. The Vulgate after the Sept. translates entirely different: conversus sum in terumnam (corrected reading instead of xrumna meat in infigendo spinim. Str. III. Ver. 5. [My sin I will make known to Thee, and my guilt I did not conceal, etc. Alexander: ".Most interpreters explain the future verb of the first clause as a preterite, because all the other verbs of the first clause are preterites; but this only renders the future form of the first verb more remarkable, and makes it harder to explain why a past tense was not used in this, as in all the other cases, if the writer intended to express past time. The only consistent method of solution is to under- stand the first clause as a reminiscence of the Psalmist's resolution in the time of his distress, repeated in the second clause, and in both cases followed by a recital of the execution of his pur- pose. (I said, ) my sin I toil! make known to Thee and my guilt, I (accordingly) did not conceal, I said, I toill make confession to Jehovah. And Thou didst take away the guilt of my sin." Moll trans- lates as past with most interpreters.* The clauses of this verse stand in beautiful contrast with those of vers. 1, 2 in an inverse order. The sin is acknowledged that it may not be imputed, the iniquity is uncovered that it may be covered, the transgression is confessed that it may be taken away, which latter the closing clause of the verse expresses with emphasis : And Thou, Thou takest i- breit: The same God, to the ordinance of whose words the physical world must submit, rules for- ever in the kingdom of spirits. — All true power comes from God. and is crowned with victory by Him. — Tholtjck: The throne of God is not an idle seat of care, but the judgment seat of a king, from which with lofty glance the fates of the world are ruled. — All victories on earth are gained only by the power of God. — Tauue: An appeal to all true Israelites to praise the glory of the Lord, who is the terror of His enemies, but the consolation of His people. — Make no pa- rade with the creature, but be not afraid of the creature, for it is in the hand of God. — Sohatj- bach. Fear and hope are seldom found together in men; but he who would hope in the goodness of God, must likewise fear His holy name. [Matth. Henry: What pity is it that this earth, which is so full of God's goodness, should be so empty of His praises; and that, of the mul- titudes that live upon His bounty, there are so few that live to His glory. — How easy may this thought make us at all times, that God governs the world, that He did it in infinite wisdom be- fore we were born, and will do it when we are silent in the- dust! — They that fear God and His wrath must hope in God and His mercy; for there is no flying from God but by flying to Him. — Ba&NES : God is a great and glorious Sovereign over all, and He will make everything subordi- nate to the promotion of His own great designs. — True piety leads men to wait on the Lord ; to depend on Him; to look to His interposition, in danger, sickness, poverty, want : to rely on Him for all that is hoped for in this life, and for sal- vation in the life to come. — Sturgeon: To re- joice in temporal comforts is dangerous, to re- joice in self is foolish, to rejoice in sin is fatal, but to rejoice in God is heavenly. — Heartiness should be conspicuous in Divine worship. — God writes with a pen that never blots, speaks with a tongue that never slips, acts with a hand which never fails. Bless His name. — If earth be full of mercy, what must heaven be, where goodness concentrates its beams ? — Happy is the man who has learned to lean his all upon the sure word 234 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. of Him who built, the skies. — The cause of God is never in danger; infernal craft is outwitted by infinite wisdom, and Satanic malice is held in check by boundless power. — All Adam's sons are as well watched as was Adam himself, their lone progenitor in the garden. — The eye of pe- culiar care is their glory and defence. None can take them unawares, for the celestial Watcher foresees the designs of their enemies and pro- vides against them. — Believer, wait upon thy God in temporals. His eye is upon thee, and His hand will not long delay — The root of faith in due time bears the flower of rejoicing. Doubts breed sorrow, confidence creates joy. — C. A. B.] PSALM XXXIV. A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimclech ; who drove him away, and he de- parted. 1 I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord : The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. 3 O magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the Lord and he heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. 5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: And their faces were not ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, And delivereth them. 8 O taste and see that the Lord is good : Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 9 O fear the Lord, ye his saints : For there is no want to them that fear him. 10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: But they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. 11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 What man is he that desireth life, And loveth many days, that he may see good ? 13 Keep thy tongue from evil, And thy lips from speaking guile. PSALM XXXIV. 235 14 Depart from evil, and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears are open unto their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, And delivereth them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; And saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: But the Loud delivereth him out of them all. 20 He keepeth all his bones : Not one of them is broken. 21 Evil shall slay the wicked : And they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. 22 The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: And none of them that trust in him shall be desolate. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Title. — In the title there is a reference to the madness which David feigned, when he en- tered the land of the Philistines in his flight from Saul ; was recognized there and brought before the king, who dismissed him as a madman, upon which he concealed himself in the cave of Adul- lam in the wilderness of Judah. Hitzig recog- nizes the fact that Abimelech, on account of Gen. xx. 2, compared with xxvi. 8, was probably not a proper nam-, but a name of rank of Ihe Philis- tine kings. Corap. Hengst., Beitriige, III., 306 sq. With this vanishes the objection that the king of the narrative bore the name of Achish. If now the author of the title had this passage of Scripture before him as his authority, the changeof name is not only remarkable, but the question remains unanswered, how he could have gained this authority for the Psalm. For the subject of this song, which is very general, and treats of deliverance by Jehovah from many and gr -at dangers, more in a tone of reflection and instruction, than in that of a prayer of thanks- giving, contains no allusions or references to this particular event in David's life. And the supposition, that the rare word *OgQ (= taste), ver. 8, reminded the compiler (De Wette, Hupf., Hitzig) of that tojj?», 1 Sam. xxi. 14 (= his un- derstanding, Luther, after the Sept. and Vulg., incorrectly, his gesture), and that he besides this brought the /jHJVI gloriaris, ver. 2, into con- nection with the SSftJV iiuanwit in Samuel (Olsh.), not to say anything of the artificiality and trifling which is ascribed to the author, re- futes itself; for the words compared are entirely different from one another in sound as well as in meaning. The idea of comparing them could ouly be entertained by comparing the conso- nants alone, entirely apart from the sense and context of the words; accordingly with only the written text in view. The question how our au- thor came upon that text, is not in the least an- swered by this subtle hypothesis. Or are we to take refuge in chance and speak of blind con- jecture ( Hupf. ) ? Since it is yet more advisable to think of tradition and to explain the similarity of expressions by supposing a common source, namely, the annals of David, Ps. xviii. 1, com- pare with 2 Sam. xx. 1. (Delitzsch). Its Contents and Form.— The last mentioned supposition enables us to set aside the objections made to the Davidic authorship from the didactic, in part reflective tone, the parabolic character of the individual verses, and their alphabetical order, which latter is exactly like Ps. xxv. in that a strophe with \ is missing, and an extra verse with 3 is added at the end. All this how- ever is ouly against a lyrical effusion occurring in the time of that event, yet not against a later use of it in order to general purposes of devotion by him who had experienced it, when he was seized with a very vivid remembrance of his re- markable preservation (Hengst.). The course of thought is in favor of this. The opening strophes (vers. 1-3) express the resolution and vow of continued praiso of God in connection with an appeal to pious sufferers to do likewise. The reasons (vers. 4-10) strongly emphasize his per- sonal experience and its application to the reli- gious life of his companions in the congregation. Finally a paternal position is assumed (ver. 11), 236 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. with the view of teaching to fear God, as the only, but reliable condition of Divine assistance, pro tection, and salvation (vers. 12-22). In all this there are such genuine Davidic features, that on the basis of tradition we have good reason to re- fer this Psalm as well as Ps. lvi. to the same event,* whilst we find its position in the collec- tion determined by thoughts and expressions si- milar to the preceding Psalms. Comp. ver. 15 with xxxiii. 18; furthermore the blessedness ver. 8 b with xxxiii. 12 ; xxxii. 1, 2 ; finally ver. 11 with xxxii. 8. — For the use of this Psalm at the Communion in the ancient Church, on account of ver. 8 a, comp. Const, apost. VIII. 13; Cyrill. cat. my st. V. 17. Ver. 2. The sufferer. — The dnavim are the pious (Hitzig) who have learned the disposition of the sufferer in the school of sorrow (Delitzsch), and therefore may likewise be designated as the meek (Hengst. ). This reference disappears in the translation: miserable (Luther), or dis- tressed (Hupf. ), which can be applied better to dniyyim, and used in ver. 6. Ver. 4. Cod. Alex, of the Sept., which is fol- lowed by all Latin Psalteries, has Wiipeuv fiov, the Cod. Vat. however irapoauuv fiov = those who dwJl around me, by which some have un- derstooci, enemies, dangers, troubles. Symmach. has similarly avaraaeuv fiov Ver. 5. They looked unto Him and be- came bright, and their faces needed not to blush. — The subject is not to be taken di- rectly from ver. 2, but to be derived from the context as in ver. 17. Thi3 parallel example is against (Hupf.) gaining the subject by a relative or a hypothetical construction : those who looked, etc., or, if one look, etc. (Rabbins, Luther, Cal- vin, De Wette, Delitzsch). — "IHJ usually means, flow together, flow, in Aramaic, however ; beam, shine ; hence niTIJ (Job iii. 4) light, day. The latter meaning, as an expression of cheer- fulness and joy (Ps. iv. 7), applies here (Sept., Chald., Isaki, Aben Ezra, and recent interpre- ters), as Is. lx. 5. Luther's " anlaufen " origi- nates from the first meaning, which is main- tained by Kimchi and Geier. The contrast is the face covered with shame. The subjective negation 7X is stronger than Js7. Ver. 6. This distressed one. — Delitzsch translates this, the sorrowful. In this passage Venema, Koster, Hupf., take the singular as used for the plural. Most interpreters, however, re- fer it to the person of the Psalmist. Ver. 7. The angel of Jehovah. — It is questionable whether this expression is to be taken as collective, and referred to the host of angels, which surrounds the pious, protecting them, Ps. xci. 11; 2 Kings vi. 17 (Calv., Hupf., Camph.), or whether we are to think of the "an- gel of the presence," Is. Ixiii. 9, the especial mediator of the revelation of Jehovah (most in- terpreters in all times). In favor of the former view is the predicate " encamped about," which demands plurality (Aben Ezra) , in favor of the latter, the fact that Maleach Jehovah has gained * [Delitzsch : " Ps. xxxiv. is one of the 8 Psalms, which are referred by their titles to the time of the persecution by Saul, and arose in that long way of suffering from Gibeah of Saul to Ziklag, (in about this chronological order; vii., lix., lvi., Xxxiv., Ui., lvii., cxlii., liv.)" — C. A. B.] the meaning of a term, techn., and is stamped with a meaning in the Pentateuch itself, which is so often re-echoed in the Psalms. Hence it is, that apparently there is a reference in run to Mahanaim, the double camp of the angels, which Jacob beheld with the eye of faith as a fortress of chariots protecting his camp (Gen. xxxii. 2 sq.), and at the head of it we have to think of the angel of Jehovah, according to Gen. xxviii. 13 ; xxxii. 25 sq., the prince of the host of Jeho- vah (Jos. v. 14; comp. 1 Kings xxii. 19). Since now iljn is not only used of hosts, but likewise of captains, 2 Sam. xii. 28 (Hengst.), so the cap- tain might be mentioned here likewise, the host being supplied in thought. We may likewise suppose that this angel, so significant with refe- rence to the history of redemption, is named, in so far as he can afford a protection on all sides, as a spiritual being above the limits of space. In favor of this is particularly Zech. ix. 8. — The Vulgate has not taken the napefifialet of the Sept. as intransitive, but has translated it by immittet. Since this was obscure, the variation arose which was already rejected by Augustine: immittit anqelum (angelos) dominus. [Vers. 8, 9. Taste and see. — Delitzsch: "Tasting, etc. (yevoaodai, Heb. vi. 4 sq.; 1 Pet. ii. 3) stands before seeing; for spiritual experience leads to spiritual knowledge and not conversely. Nisi gicstaveris, said Bernard, non videbis. David desires, that others likewise may experience what he has experienced, in order to know what he has known ; the goodness of God. Therefore the appeal to the saints to fear Jehovah (WT for 1NV in order to distinguish veremini and vi- debunt, as Jos. xxiv. 14; 1 Sam. xii. 24), for he who fears Him, has all things in Him." — C. A. B.] Ver. 10. Young lions. — Luther after the Sept. has "rich." Most ancient interpreters, finally, Hengstenberg and Hitzig, think of such rich (Sir. xiii. 19) and mighty enemies (Ps. xxxv. 17). But the usual usage of this figure, which in Jer. ii. 15 is likewise applied to the heathen, cannot decide anything here, where the clear and comforting thought appears much more sig- nificant, if the proper meaning is retained (Kim- chi, Calv., Ruding., Maurer,* Hupf., Delitzsch). Comp. Job iv. 10 sq. [Ver. 11. Come children.- Delitzsch : "These are not children in years or understanding, but it is an affectionate address of the Master who is experienced in the ways of God, to all and every one, as Prov. i. 8, el al." Similar is the use of rf/cva in the Epistles of John. — C. A. B.] [Vers. 12-14. Hupfeld : " The question, with the following imperatives, is only a lively expres- sion of an antecedent and consequent instead of, He who loves — let him take care, etc. (vid. Ps. xxv. 12). So 1 Pet. iii. 10 sq. ; James iii. 13. — Life is not used in the common external sense, but in the higher sense, of a happy life, prosperity =parallel Good, and ' way of life,' « tree of life,' frequent in the Proverbs (vid. Ps. xvi. 11). — Days = parallel life, or more particularly long life, which in itself was a good in the Old Testa- * [Hupfeld : " The hungry lions indicate the need of the creature when left to itself, even of the strongest beast of prey in contrast with the higher protection of the pious." — C. A. B.] PSALM XXXIV. 23; ment, as a promise of the Law." Sins of the tongue, in the avoidance of which righteous- ness of speech consists, which manifests itself in accordance with its nature chiefly negatively. They are here as Pa. xv. 2, immediately against their neighbors, yet in general direct themselves likewise against God, comp. Ps. xxxix. 2-4. The Proverbs of all nations are full of this taming and training of the tongue, so likewise the Old Testa- ment, Comp. Pss. xxxix. 2-4; cxli. 3; Prov. iv. 24; xiii. 3; xxi. 23; Sir. xxviii. 25; James iii. 2 sq. Righteousness of act; negatively, in being far from evil, positively in doing good. Both connected likewise, Ps. xxxvii. 27 (comp. Isa. i. 16 sq. ; Am. v. 14), and indeed the usual for- mula; especially the first, as Prov. iii. 7; Job xxviii. 28; i. 1,8; ii. 3. — Pursue = aspire after, Ps. xxxviii. 21 ; Prov. xxi. 21 ; Deut. xvi. 20; Isa. li. 1.— C. A. B.] [Vers. 15, 16. Hupfeld: " The eyes of Je- hovah are used' as the organ of His gracious care, with 7N and without a verb entirely like Ps. xxxiii. 18. Parallel with this His ears as the organ of hearing their cry for help, their prayer, as Ps. xviii. 6; cxlv. 19 : comp. the pa- rallel Is. i. 15. — In contrast with this is the face of Jehovah, in a bad sense with 3 (as all verbs of hostility): ('directed) agaimt evil doers,' =the angry look, the judicial eye, of God. (rid. Ps. xxi. '.)."— C. A. B.J [Ver. 17. They (namely, the righteous) cry. — 177. remarks upon ver. 5. Delitzsch supposes, with Hitzig, that this verse with 3 originally stood before the previous one with y in accord- ance with the order of Lam. ii.-iv. Thus the subject would be in the previous verse. De- litzsch: "Willi the present order of thought, ver. 19 is formed in the same way as ver. 5 : Clamant et Dominus audit=si qui (quieunque) clamant. It is a crying out of the depths of a soul despairing of itself. Such crying finds a hearing with God, and a hearing which proves itself in the grant- ing."—C. A. B.] [Ver. 18. Delitzsch: " Broken in heart are those whose selfish, self-seeking life, which re- volved about its own personality, has been broken at the root, — Contrite in spirit are those who have been brought down by severe experiences from the false height of proud self- consciousness, and have been led to repentance and thoroughly humbled. To such Jehovah is near, lie preserves them from despair, He is ready to erect a new life in them in the ruins of the old, and to cover their infinite deficiency. He makes them as those who are susceptible of it and crave it, participants in His salvation." — C. A. B.] Ver. 19. Many afflictions. — These are not punishments tor their own sins, many of which the righteous man still has, so that he is here reminded of the imperfection of human right- eousness and then is referred to the greatness of the Divine mercy (Hengst.). The context demands that we should think of the mortifica- tions, afflictions, snares and persecutions which the righteous have to experience from other men. These are many, but Jehovah delivers out of them all. Ver. 20. Keeping all his bones. — ex- presses the most particular oversight and care by a figure differing from Matt, x. 30, but with .similar import and force. A Christian reader is reminded of its literal fulfilment in the care over the crucified. Yet this is not to be regarded as prophetical, because not a syllable of this Psalm hints at the righteous one in the perfect sense (Is. liii. 11; Jer. xxiii. 5; Zech. ix. 9; Acts iii. 14; xxii. 14), but rather the absence of the Hebrew article in the context, shows that the singular represents the category, as then the Vulg. after the Sept, has used the plural. For the sake of clearness we therefore translate a righteous man and not the righteous man. Since now John xix. 36. expressly states that the facts narrated from ver. 33, took place in fat til ment of Scripture, and besides the title of the righteous one is not used of Christ in connection witli this event, the conjecture, that John may have had in view not only, Ex. xii. 46, but like- wise the present passage (Delitzsch, Hitzig), can- not be supported, although the remark is correct in itself, that not only the paschal lamb but like- wise to a certain extent, the sufferings of the righteous are typical (Delitzsch).* Vers. 21-22. The emphasis lies upon the word which begins each verse, so that the thought is, evil slayeth the ungodly, whilst Jehovah redeemeth the soul of the righteous=his life, out of all these troubles. In favor of this is likewise the con- text with ver. 19 sq. and the word njH=mis- fortune, evil. If the thought was to be expressed here that wickedness slayeth the wicked (De- litzsch), we would have reason to expect J,'"l which is usual in the Psalms. — Du'H means not only to become guilty, but likewise to p:)y the penalty of guilt. Both sides of the idea of guilt flow into one another, and hence arises at tunes the dou- ble sense. DOCTRINAL AND ETIIICAL. 1. Profound piety cannot be satisfied with once thanking God for His benefits, protection, answers to prayer and tokens of grace; it pre- serves, awakens, and strengthens, the remem- brance of them in the soul, so that the desire arises for uninterrupted praise of God, and the thankful man invites his fellow-believers, particu- larly his fellow-sufferers, to similar experience, and encourages to similar action, whilst he calls them to share his joy and to commune with him in prayer. Thus the example of David in this Psalm of thanksgiving serves "as a general ex- ample for all the righteous, that they may learn how God does not despise the cries of His saiuts." —(Luther). 2. The proclamation of the sure hearing of prayer, by the mouth of a believer who has expe- riment it, is as comforting to the afflicted sufferer, as the experience of the quickening enjoyment of the goodness of God is beneficial to the spiritual life, and the promise of the happiness of those win) fear God is attractive to those who desire it. The true knowledge of the goodness of God and the seeing, is preceded by personal appropriation or taxiing; but this presupposes readiness to be- stow, on the part of God, and is conditioned on believing approach and laying hold of, on the part of the needy. The reference to the angel * [For tho meaning of bones, vid. Ps. vi. 2. — C. A. B.] 238 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. of Jehovah, the Mediator of the history of redemp- tion, before all else eucourages to this. 3. No creature, however strong he may be, is able to provide for himself and protect himself; but he who fears God and trusts in Him has no lack of anything. His righteousness does not pro- tect him against afflictions; but. the gracious near- ness of God comforts him in affliction, and delivers him from all his afflictions; for God makes him free from guilt and punishment. The ungodly, however, perish; for in their misfortune, the pun- ishment of their guilt overtakes them, and death as the wages of sin (Rom. vi. 23) is their sure and miserable end. 4. The true, that is the only and safe way of life and happiness, is accordingly the trusting exer- cise of the fear of God for the righteousness, which we are to have shown to us by those who have known it in their own experience, in order that we may fulfil it ourselves. The entire instruction may be comprehended in the clause, depart from evil and do good. But the extent of this pre- scription is so great, that the first includes bridling of the tongue and the latter seeking and pursuing, that is, the diligent and careful striving after peace, as the good understanding between God and man which is conditioned on good behaviour. HOMILETTCAL AND PRACTICAL. The praise of God 1) as an expression of per. sonal thankfulness, 2) as a means of general edifi- cation, 3) as a recognition of the honor due to God. — The fear of God and trust in God do not exclude one another, but are the common founda- tion of human happiness. — God is near to all men according to His Omnipotence, but only to the pious according to His grace — He who would lack no good thing, must not. depend upon any other than God, but upon Him earnestly and constantly. — God allows us to seek Him, and likewise to find Him, and then there is great salvation and joy. — The knowledge of the goodness of God grows with experience, but only personal appropriation by faith helps us. — God's goodness makes the man happy who finds refuge in Him. — All the help that there is on earth comes from the Lord, whether God sends His angels or uses other means. — The afflictions of the righteous have a different caw.se and issue from those of the ungodly. — It makes an essential difference, how a man expiates his guilt whether by penitence or punishment. — Hu- man wisdom does not help out of real trouble, nor any strength of the creature, but only the grace of the Lord. — Thecare of God over the right- eous, how it. encourages us a) to praise God, b) to trust in God, c) to fear God. — We should learn, teach and do the will of God. — God will keep every bone of the pious, they should likewise serve Him with every member. — He who would live free from guilt and from punishment, must take refuge in God as His Redeemer. — Life, hap- piness and peace are good things, desired by all men, properly valued hy few, and only found and retained by those who seek God. — All men have afflictions, but only the pious have a broken heart and thereby the way to true consolation and con- stant blessing. Starke : How many beautiful plans would have failed, if the saints of God had undergone no danger. — To be miserable and yet rejoice and praise God with joyous mouth is foolish to the reason and hard for a troubled heart; neverthe- less such a heart cannot and should not withdraw itself from this. — As one light kindles another so a believing heart seeks to awaken others and excite them to the righteous praise of God. — God will be no greater by our praise, we cannot ex- alt Him in Himself, but we exalt His name in ourselves when we praise Him in all His works and give Him alone the glory. — We must not only look to God, but must likewise run to Him. — Take care and do not wilfully deprive your- selves of the service of the holy angels. — If the ungodly knew how good the Lord is, understood how He alone is the highest good, in whom all blessedness meets — Why ! they would make haste and turn to Him. — He who seeks God and finds Him, gains more, than the entire world besides, what should he lack? — Blessed business when we not only come to Christ ourselves, but likewise seek to persuade others, to give ear to the inviting voice of eternal Wisdom. — Children should early be accustomed to godliness, in order that they may not offer to the devil the best blood of their youth and only the residue of age to God. Ah ! how many men destroy their peace by their own mouth. — When no one will hear and see the miserable, God sees and hears them ; and when no one can overcome the ungodly persecutors, God can subdue and destroy them with an un- favorable look. — Although the pious have many troubles, yet they do not redound to their ruin as to the ungodly, but to their benefit. — The un- godly and those who hate the pious, are accus- tomed to be white hot and to throw all the blame on the righteous, but it is very different accord- ing to the Divine judgment. Selnekker: The example of the saints when properly considered, works great good in the hearts of the pious and strengthens their faith, hope, prayer and patience. — Schnepf: We have angels to protect us, one of which is mightier than a whole army. — Menzel : It belongs to the doctrine of the cross, that we properly know; 1) upon what, persons our Lord lays the cross first and chiefly; 2) why it is, notwithstanding, that He lays the dear cross upon such people in preference to others; 3) how the righteous are accustomed to feel and their experience under their cross; 4) how they act under it, what they should do and what not ; 5) what God does to them in return. — Arndt: Our whole life should be nothing but one constant praise and confession of God — to God's honor and the com- fort and improvement of our neighbors. — Roos : Mighty men, who like lions live by prey, must at last suffer hunger and want: but those who seek the Lord will not lack, any good thing. — Guenther: The greatest calamity of our times is, that there are so few broken hearts and con- trite spirits. — Taube : We must seek not so much the gift, as the Lord, the Giver. — What a God He is of whom His people can say, With Him we have no fear, no lack, no guilt! — Thym : The cross, the source of inexpressible comfort, 1) where the cross is great there is great comfort from the Lord ; 2) where there is great comfort there is great joy in the Lord; 3) where there is great joy there is sure glory with the Lord. [Matt. Henry: God's praises sound best in PSALM XXXV. 239 concert, for so we praise Him as the angels do in heaven. — Would we pass comfortably through the world and out of the world, our constant care must be to keep a good conscience. — They that truly repent of what they have done amiss, will warn others to take heed of doing otherwise. Sad is the case of that man who by sin has made his Maker his enemy, and his destroyer. — Pa- rents that are very fond of a child, will not let it be out of their sight; none of God's children are ever from under His eye, but on them He looks with a singular complacency, as well as with a watchful and tender concern. — There is no rhetoric, nothing charming, in a cry, yet God's ears are open to it, as the tender mother's to the cry of her sucking child, which another would take no notice of. — No man is desolate but he whom God has forsaken, nor is any man undone till he is in hell. — Barnes : The most lonely, the most humble, the most obscure, and the poorest child of God, may have near him and around him a retinue and a defence which kings never have when their armies pitch their tents around their palaces, and when a thousand swords 'would at once be drawn to defend them. — Spurgeon : He who praises God for mercies shall never want a mercy for which to praise. — What a blessing one look at the Lord may be ! There is life, liberty, love, everything in fact, in a look at the crucified One. Never did a sore heart, look in vain to the good Physician; never a dying soul turned its darkening eye to the brazen serpent to find its virtue gone. — We little know how many providential deliverances we owe to those unseen hands which are charged to bear us up lest we dash our foot against a stone. — Positive virtue promotes negative virtue; he who does good is sure to avoid evil. Salvation is linked with contrition. — Believer, thou shalt never be deserted, forsaken, given up to ruin. God, even thy God, is thy guardian and friend, and bliss is thine. — C. A. B.J PSALM XXXV. A Psalm of David. 1 Plead my cause, 0 Lord, with them that strive with me : Fight against them that fight against me. 2 Take hold of shield and buckler, And stand up for mine help. 3 Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me; 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 brought to confusion that devise my hurt. 5 Let them be as chaff before the the wind : And let the angel of the Lord chase them. 6 Let their way be dark and slippery: And let the angel of the Lord persecute them. 7 For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, If hich without cans'' tiny have digged for my soul. 8 Let destruction come upon him at unawares) And let I he net that he hath hid catch himself; Into that very destruction let him fall. 9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord. It shall rejoice in his salvation. 10 All my bones shall say, Lord, who ts like unto thee, Which ck'liverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, Yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him ? 240 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. 11 False witnesses did rise up; They laid to my charge things that I knew not. 12 They rewarded me evil for good To the spoiling of my soul. 13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth : I humbled my soul with fasting : And my prayer returned iuto mine own bosom. 14 1 behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother • I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his moth r. 15 But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: Yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and 1 knew it not ; They did tear me, and ceased not: 16 With hypocritical mockers in feasts, They gnashed upon me with their teeth. 17 Lord, how long wilt thou look on ? , . Rescue my soul from their destructions, My darling from the lions. 18 I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people. 19 Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: Neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause. 20 For they speak not peace : But they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land. 21 Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, And said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it. 22 TJi is thou hast seen, O Lord : keep not silence : O Lord, be not far from me. 23 Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, Even unto my cause, my God and my Lord. 24 Judge me, O Lord my God, according to thy righteousness; And let them not rejoice over me. 25 Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it ! Let them not say, We have swallowed him up. 26 Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together That rejoice in mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonor That magnify themselves against me. 27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause : Yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, Which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. 28 And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness And of thy praise all the day long. " r?*d EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents and Composition. — This Psalm is not so much a lamentation, which repeats the same phrases prolixly and to excess (De Wette, Hupfeld), as a rythmical and agitated prayer. The same three thoughts recur in the three chief di- visions (vers. 1-10,11-18, 19-28), but always with different forms, references and figures. These are 1) the prayer that Jehovah will inter- fere without delay for the protection of His ser- vant, that his righteous cause may be carried out and his enemies ruined ; 2) the description of the wickedness and unthankfulness of these enemies, which have previously received sympathy and tokens of love from him whom they now per- secute without cause ; and 3) the vow of thankful- ness, which the delivered man will offer as an expression of his entire resignation to the Lord, publicly in the congregation and to their edifica- tion. The movement of these thoughts around PSALM XXXV 211 in a circle corresponds throughout with the deeply felt experiences of a heart, which is sha- ken to its foundation by bitter experiences, which have been so contrary to all his expectations. His heart can become master of its own emotions only gradually, and indeed only by urgently clinging to God. This, as well as the manner of expression, which is picturesque, in part drastic, and corresponds closely with his experiences even to the tone of the language, is opposed to the idea that the author speaks from the person of the righteous as such (Hengst.) The citation of ver. l'J in the mouth of Jesus (John xv. 25), which may be derived from Ps. lxix. 4, as well, does not demand either this supposition, or the Messianic interpretation of the ancient church, or the typical interpretation in the narrow sense, but is founded upon the general relation of the sufferings of Jesus to every undeserved suffering at the hands of wicked and u .thankful men. This is only strengthened and ought into nar- rower historical connection maintaining its composition by David, which has nothing against it. For the correspondences with Jer. xviii. 19; xxiii. 12: Lam. li. Hi, upon which Hitzig lays so much stress, do not lead to the priority of the prophet Jeremiah, sinoe the opening strophe of the Psalm uses the language of a man of war. In the life of David the most suitable time for the composition of this Psalm is found in the time of his persecution by Saul, and it is most nearly related to Pss. xl., lxix. It seems to be a lyrical carrying out of the words used by David 1 Sam. xxiv. Hi. and owes its place in the col- lection of Psalms, probably to the circumstance that the Maleach Jehovah is mentioned here in the singular, as in the preceding Psalm. Sir. I. Ver. 1. Fight them that fight me, make •war upon them that make war upon me. — The expression 3,"1 leads at first to the idea of litigation, but this when carried out brings about directly ivarlike complications. The nx is not the preposition with, but the sign of the accusative.* If the fundamental meaning of DfO were vorare (most interpreters), yet it does not follow that war among the Hebrews was once connected witli devouring men (Daumer der Feuer und Molochdien&t tar altm Hebr. §242). We might think of a figure of the entire annihilation of t lie enemy as it is used Num. xxiv. 8. We may likewise, however, according to the derivation from the Arabic, get the mean- ing of a dense throng, a large crowd, and tumult (Delitzsch). Ver. 2. Target anr" shield. — The figures displace one another, aid I 's, with the strong anthropomorphic descri1 ion of the Divine inter- ference, lead away from the form to the subject. This is shown clearly by the mention of the two shields, never used by a warrior at the same time, the smaller one to protect the head (1 Kings x. 16), and the larger to protect the entire body.f * [Tt is better t.) translate by strive which retains the ori- ginal meaning ami yet may likewise refer to warlike strife. — C. A. B.] t [Perowne : " An amplification of the figure occurring already in the Pentateuch where God is spoki'ii of is ;i man of war, Kx. xv.3; Dent xxxii. 41. The bold anthropomor- phic working out of the figure is, however, remarkalde. It shows the earnest desire in the, Poefs mind to realize the 1G Ver. 3. Stop (the way). — This may be desig nated by a military technical term (Hengst.), although we do not think exactly of the circle which was formed by the light armed in retiring from their adversaries after throwing the spear (Schegg) At any rate "UO was taken as an imperative by all ancient translations. Most interpreters supply, at least in thought, viam, with the translation interclude. Hitzig compares the -Ethiopic and Arabic in favor of the mean- ing; advance rapidly, haste. The explanation of the word of the battle-axe of upper Asia, par- ticularly of the Scythians (Kimchi, Hupf., et al ), to which Greek writers give the name of oayaiac, whilst in other respects acceptable, has particu- larly against it the fact that the substantive ~\MQ occurs in II is xiii. 8, Job xxviii 15, in an entirely different meaning (Geier). Sir. II. [Ver. 4. Confounded, — disgraced, — blush, — Hupfeld: "The usual formula for the frustration and failure of the hopes and under- takings of the wicked : heaped up to strengthen the sense as ver. 2(3, vi. 10, xl 14, etc., but con- nected by the retreat back, that is be beaten back, (vid. Ps. vi. 10) with the preceding figure of hostile attack, and thus to be taken here in this particular sense" — C. A. 13 ] Ver. 5. As chaff before the wind. [Comp Ps. i. 4, xviii. 42; lxxxiii. 13]. — Jehovah's angel — Hitzig remarks correctly, that Jehovah (Ps. civ. 4,) makes the winds his angels, but here in reality the angel takes the place of the wind in the comparison, and the angel is desig- nated as the hipyeia of the flight. From this we conclude, that the angel is not figurative, or a collective, but is to be taken individually and properly, which is confirmed by the parallel ver. 6, as well as the similarity with Ex. xiv. 25; Judges v. 2"). "That this angel here takes part, when the question is whether the kingdom of the promise shall be destroyed in its origin or not, agrees with the appearance of the Maleach Jehovah in the fundamental period of the history of redemption" (Delitzsch). If now this angel is a mediator of Divine help for the servants of God, he is an angel of judgment for their ene- mies. Calvin, it is true, takes the expression here as in the previous Psalm, as collective, but makes the remark which brings forward the cor- rect thought, that the angels could not protect and save, unless they on the other side could at the same time prevent and punish Accordingly if this is true, without doubt, then every prayer for the Divine interference for deliverance from the jmirrr of wicked enemies, implicitly contains the prayer for a Divine punishment of these enemies. In most cases this reverse side of the prayer for deliverance either does not come to consciousness, or takes the form of a petition for one's own de- liverance, whilst the treatment of the enemy is left to the estimation of God. It may, however, hapnen that the servant of God, as he is obligated to proclaim the Divine judgment, may thus feel justified in the prayer for tts execution, that is, when he has to do with the affairs of God's kingdom and the decision of atfairs in the history of redemp- tion, and the petitioner regards himself as execu- fact that O.i.l imt only taught his fingers to fight, but mixed in the battle, fighting as it were by his side and assuring him of victory."— C. A. B.J 2.2 THE FIRST BOOK CP PSALMS. ting the Divine will. The highest stage of per- fection then renders possible, in looking at the fulfilment of the Divine plan of the world, still further intercession for the forgiveness of guilt, (Luke xxiii. 34 sq.: 2 Peter iii. 9, 15), and the limitation of the punishment to temporal ruin (Gal. i. 9; v. 12; 2 Tim. iv. 14), and in the sense of evangelical chastisement (1 Peter iv. 6; 1 Cor. v. 5). The Old Testament has not gone as far as this, although the duty of love to the enemif is most distinctly commanded and recog- nized (Ex. xxiii. 4; Lev. xix. 18; Job xxxi. 29; Prov. xx. 22; xxiv. 17; xxv. 21). But, we must not say that David acted selfishly and re- vengefully, and that his thankfulness ver. 9 sq. even has a trace of joy in the misfortunes of his enemies. His thankfulness refers expressly to the kelp he has received, and it is designated as a rejoicing in the Lord. [Ver. 6. Alexander: "Dark and slippery, literally darkness and smoothness, an emphatic substitute of the abstract for the concrete. The fearful image thus suggested of men driven, like chaff before the wind, along a dark and slippery path, is rendered more terrible by the additional idea of their bfing hotly pursued by the destroy- ing angel. The construction of the last clause, both in this verse and the one before it, is; (let) the angel of Jehovah (be) pursuing them." — C. A. B.] Str. III. Ver. 7. For without cause they have hid for me their net, without cause digged a pit for my soul. — The reading DJIEh r\lTtf is scarcely tenable. For " the pit of their net" or "their net-pit" might actually mean a pit provided with a snare, which was covered with boughs or earth ; but the connec- tion of these words, partly with one another, partly with the verb "hide," is unheard of, and the figurative reference of pit to ruin, as if the reference could be to the net of de- struction (Luther, von Meyer), is therefore to be rejected, because pernicies laquei (after the Sept. dtaip&opa. Trayhhc) notwithstanding Grotius, can no more stand for laqueus exitialis than the destruction of their net can mean: their de- structive net. Since now to " hide nets" and "dig pits" are usual figures of hostile waylaying, the removal of T\Y\'\D from the first line to the second, proposed by Houbigant and best advo- cated by Hitzig and Hupfeld, is the more to be approved as the verb "dig" would otherwise lack its usual object. Ver. 8. Let destruction come upon him unawares. — It is uncertain whether JINI^ means the disordered confusion of things or of tunes, in its origin and in this passage. Most interpreters take it in the former sense=fall, ruin, devastatio, and remind us of the parallels in P.ss. xxxiv. 21; xxxvi. 12. Venema, Hitzig and Evvald take it in the latter sense as, roar, noise, the latter thinking particularly of a storm. Delitzsch takes ver. 8 a in the former and ver. 8 c in the latter meaning, which Calvin [cum tumultu=horrore) changes without authority from an objective event to a subjective experi- ence. Kurtz combines both meanings in ver. 8 a : crashing fall. The Syriac translates "in the pit" as if it had read Tints'. But since it adds "which he dug," we are to suppose rather a paraphrastic explanation than another read- ing A like explanation is given by Seb. Schmidt, J. H. Mich., Stier, Hupf with the translation in vastationem [quam mild paravit) in eandem incidat. Olshausen thinks of a marginal gloss which has come into the text. And the manner of expression of ver. 8 c is certainly striking in its relation to ver. 8 a, yet it is not to be designated as a corruption, with any certainty. — The singular suffix=" him" does not necessarily designate a particular person, as, for example, Ahithophel,Shimei, Mephibosheth (Ruding.), nor properly the ideally wicked (Hengst.), but is used as an individual (Hupf.) for the class, and thus for every individual ( Hitzig) of the enemies conceived as one body (Delitzsch). — The idea of sudden and unavoidable is expressed in He- brew by the asyndetical, "he knows not" as Is. xlvii. 1 1 ; Prov v. 6. Ver. 10. All my bones. — This does not mean the innermost being (Hengst.), but the body as the complement of the soul mentioned in ver. 9 (Aben Ezra), at the same time it con- tains a prayer and hope that the Lord will pre- serve all his bones (Ps. xxxiv. 20), will keep him unharmed (Stier). — [Jehovah, who is like Thee. — Delitzsch: "This exclamation is from Ex. xv. 11, it demands emphatic expression, it serves not for closer connection, but for ren- dering more decidedly prominent." — 0. A. B.] [Str IV. Ver. 11. Unjust witnesses rise up, they question me of what I am un- conscious — This is a figure of persecution and especially slander, derivetl from the complaints and questionings of a criminal process (De Wette, Hupfeld). They demand of him the admission of things of which he is unconscious, and which are contrary to his course of conduct (Delitzsch). Ewald renders "cruel witnesses," without suffi- cient reason, and is followed by Alexander, Pe- rowne, et al. but the translation given above is that of De Wette, Hupfeld, Delitzsch, Moll, et al., and is better. Ver. 12. My soul is bereaved. — Perowne: "I am alone in the world. I, who have ever sought to help the friendless and comfort the afflicted, and who prayed so earnestly for others, am forsaken of all."* — C. A. B.] Str. V Ver. 13. And my prayer — into mine own bosom it returned. — The context shows, that this is not of the recompense of the intercession, whether in a sarcastic sense, comp. ver. 12 (Hupf.), or as an optative (Sept., Jerome, Isaki, Flamin., Sachs). f No more is it of its failure, since, on account of the ungodliness of those who were prayed for, it returned empty (Riehm.J after an explanation proposed by Cal- vin). Usage does not allow us to think of a * [Delitzsch refers to the real bereavement of David in the time of his persecution by Saul. His parents had been obliged to fife to Moab. Michal had been torn from him, Jonathan withdrawn, all those at the court of Saul, who hail previously sought his favor and friendship as the favorite of the king, were now his enemies. — C. A. B.] f [Perowne : "The prayer I offered for them is a prayer I might have offered for myself. So tine a prayer was it, so full of love, that I could wish nothing more than that the blessings I asked for them should be vouchsafed to me. This agrees with what follows, 'As though for my frier.d or my brother,' etc:1— C. A. B.] % [Riehm refers to Matth. x. 13; Luke x. 6; and refers to the custom of carrying valuables in the bosom (likewise of taking to the bosom w hat is returned to one). — C. A. B.] TSALM XXXV. •:43 repeated or an ardent prayer from the heart, or for something lying upon the heart (Aben Ezra. Luther, Geier, et al.), or a silent prayer of the heart (Calvin); but it allows the expression to be understood with reference to the being bowed down, mentioned in the next verse, of a prayer flowing back into the bosom, because it was spoken with the head bowed down. Yet this does not need for an explanation, that the bowed post tire of prayer should be brought into consideration (most recent interpreters), which is customary among the Mohamedans (Iteland, de relig. Moham. p. 87), but is not mentioned among the Hebrews, and lias no suitable parallel in 1 Kings xviii. 42. It is " the natural expression in the body, of the being bowed down in oneself in sorrow and pain " (Clauss).* [Ver. 14. As a mourner for a mother, squalid I bowed down. — Alexander : " He not only mourned in their calamity, but with the deepest grief, as for a friend, a brother, or a parent, which terms are so arranged as to pro- duce a beautiful and striking climax. — The verb in the first clause corresponds very nearly to the familiar English phrase went on, in the sense of lived or habitually acted. — The Hebrew word "lip means squalid, dirty, in allusion" to the ancient oriental practice of neglecting the ap pearance, and even covering the dress and per- son with dust and ashes, as a token of extreme grief. The bowing down is also to be taken as a part of the same usage." — C A. B.] Sir VI. Ver. 15. Smiting, and I know it not. — According to that which is supplied the latter clause may be Uiken=unaioares, as ver. 8, comp. Job ix. 5; Jer. xiv. 18, unexpectedly (Stier, Hupf., Hitzig), or innocently, comp. ver 11 b (most interpreters), or whom I do not know (Hengst., Delitzsch). Much more difficult is the preceding word D'DJ, which is suspicious in form and obscure in sense. Yet it is not allowable on this account to change the word into D'^riJ— strangers in the sense of foreigners (Olsh.), so long as there is the least possibility of an ex planation. The word is hardly a substantive, although it is thus taken by the Sept. and Vulg. and translated: "scourges;" and Hitzig, by means of the Arabic, formerly brought out the meaning of fools. Hitzig now changes the read- ing into D'^)3=as water. The word inclines to the substantive, only as a participle from a root which means smiting. According to its form it might have a passive meaning (Job xxx. 8), thus: beaten. But the context shows that there can no more be a reference to the afflicted, in the sense of worn out (Holland, and Berleberg. Bibel). than of smitten in spirit. For the latter would lead not to the idea of blindly raging, but either to that of the mad or disordered spirit, or that of simple fools, or weak in spirit, or to that of deeply troubled (Isa. xvi. 7). We must accord- * [Tbis does not seem to give a very clear sense. The con ■ text is in favor of heartfelt prayer. And though usage does not allow a direct reference to repeated prayer or praying from the heart, yet the return of the prayer to the bosom may very well be in order to remain there in the bosom as the abiding possession of the soul. Tin- figure of the bosom as the place for the valuable and beloved thing is in favor of this. (Pa. IxzxiX. 50; Num. xi. 12; Isa. xl. 14). Thus 1 prefer the explanation of Aben Ezra, Luther, Calvin, et at.— C.A B.] ingly think of the afflicted in the sense of out- casts (Kimchi, Calv., Grot.), or knaves (Mendels- sohn), or men reduced in circumstances (Hengst.), vulgar men, of the dregs of the people (Delitzsch). But this meaning is artificial in its origin rather than proved from the language of the text. Still less can we with Luther translate limping, since the additional " on the feet," which decides the meaning in 2 Sam. iv. 4, is missing here, not to mention the fact that this reference, whether in scorn (Piscator, et al.), or as applied to the two-faced hypocrite (Luther's gloss), is inappli- cable here. Ou this account the word may per- haps be taken as active, notwithstanding its unu- sual form (Symmach., Jerome), unless we should chauge it into D'33 ; yet it cannot be explained of smiting with the tongue, of pettifogging (Chald., Geseu., Stier), for this very specific additiou made in Jer. xviii. 18, is not made here. We must stand by the idea of violent acts (Hupf.). To this the ]Hp in the following line of the verse may be referred (Hengst., Hupf.), which has elsewhere the meaniug of tearing open the mouth in scorn and laughter (Kimchi, Vatabl., Schmidt, et al.), or that of slander (Aben Ezra, Delitzsch), as a tearing down with words (Stier). Ver. lti. In the most wicksd stammer- ing of distorted things. — The fundamental meaning of ^JH is impure, defiled , hence in a religious reference, the profane, so that, in the Syriac and ^Ethiop. the corresponding word is likewise applied to the heathen and heretics (comp. Gesen. Thesaurus). The translation : hypocrites (ancient, interpreters, after the Vulg. and the Rabbins) is therefore incorrect. Tiie preposition 3 expresses not communion with (Slier), but denotes the characteristic or the con- dition. The connection with what follows is such that we may either connect the superlative with the following genit . partit. (Delitzsch, Stier, Bottcher), or suppose independent designations, subordinate to oue another (Hitzig). The former is to be preferred, because \i^, which only oc- curs besides in Isa. xxviii. 11, and indeed of stammering of the lips with reference to the unintelligible language of the foreigner, is appa- rently a plural of a nom. abslr., not of an adjec- tive. The sense leads not to speaking wit and seoffings, but to expressions which sound to the Psalmist as perverse, as foreign and unintelligible. It is not necessary here to think of a real for- eigner, or heathen barbarians, with whom his enemies had confederated, or after whose ex- ample they acted (Hupfeld, with wicked stam- mering of gibberish). It designates very appro- priately the furious speech of bitter enemies. That this is at the same time unjust, is expressed by the following obscure and disputed word, which according to the context is to be most properly derived from J1JJ in the meaning, gained through the Arabic, of crooked, distorted, but is not to be regarded as foreign, unintelligible language (Hupf.), or as the words of scorn (Hitzig), but as those of slander (Ewald). Thus all ancient translators have thought of a word like the previous one (Sept.), or related to it, (Chald.); Symmach. has at once: cv vKonpian, pijuaai 7re7r2.aa/iKvoic, Jerome : in simulalione ver- 244 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. borum fictorum. Similarly Kimchi. Iaaki was the first to understand J1J,'D=riJtf, as 1 Kings xvii. 13, of the flat bread of the Hebrews, which was baked in the ashes, and to refer the expres- sion to the fawning flatterers, which as favorites of Saul, or in order to obtain food and drink from Saul, and to please him, made sport and witticisms respecting David. Such parasites would then be designated here as outcasts who mocked for bread (Hengst.), or as cake -mockers (De Wette, Delitzsch). At any rate this is bet- ter than the interpretation which regards these wicked persons as making mockery as indiffer- ently or as willingly as they would eat a piece of bread or cake (Aben Ezra). But this whole explanation is very uncertain, because bread has this name only on account of its circular form, which has then given rise to the reference to prating around the table (Bottcher), or to mockery in the circle=ia turn (Koster). [Str. VII. Vers. 17-18. For the meaning of how long, vid. Ps. xiii. 1. — From young lions my only one, or solitary one. Comp. Ps. xxii. 20, 21. For the vows of thanksgiving comp. Ps. xxii. 22, 25.— C. A. B.] Str. VIII- [Ver. 19. Wink with the eye. — Hupfeld : " This is often in the Proverbs a gesture of agreement between confederates, and of cunning, as Prov. x. 10, with 2, vi. 13, for which likewise the verb !"!¥# is used with V]?, xvi. 30=to close the eyes, and parallel with it, to press the lips together in the same sense " — C.A.B.] Ver. 20. Against the quiet in the land. — The construction is like Isa. xxiii. 8, and the meaning is derived from Isa. xviii. 12 and Jer. vi. 16, where the nom. abstr. can only have the sense of " quiet." Thus it is very properly taken by Luther, after Syr. and Chald. The Rabbins on the other hand explain it as cleaving the earth —hiding-place, which is followed in part by Calvin in his translation super scissuras terrse, or they understand the word of fat, rich, and take 7j£=with. Olauss translates : " for the stirring up of the land." The attempts of the Roman Catholic interpreters with the words of the Vulgate, in iracundia terrse loquentes dolos cogita bant, are very artificial. Now it is said to mean a wrath that has worn away (Allioli), then a wrath of a carnal-minded heart (Bellarmin), then xvriith=pain and esxrth=men ( Agellius), yes, even terrse is taken as a dative and is made to mean " to the earth "=with itself (Calniet), then the wrath of the earth = common vulgar wrath (Schegg). Jerome has in rapina terrse after Symmach. The other Greek translations differ from one another here. Even in the Sept. there is uncertainty. Whilst Cod. Alex, reads : ex' bpyrjv yfjq ?.a2.oi)vrec, in the Cod. Vatic, there is ■ en-' bfiyr) 66/iovg 6ieXoyi£ovTo. The ancient Psal- teries follow the latter reading: super iram dolose cogitabant. [Ver. 21. Comp. Ps. xxii. 7 for the first clause. Alexander- "The Hebrew interjection in the last clause (HXPI) seems to be a natural expres- sion of joyful surprise. Their success was almost too great to be real, yet attested by their senses. The verse ends with a kind of aposio- pesis: 'our own eyes have seen' — what we could not have believed on the report of another, to wit, the gratification of our warmest wishes. Vid. below, ver. 25."— C. A. B.] [Str. IX. Vers. 22-24. Thou hast seen— Antithesis to ver. 21, and referring back to ver. 17. — Be not silent. — Comp. Ps. xxviii. 1. — Be not far. — Comp. Pss. xxii. 11, 19; xxxviii. 21; lxxi. 12. — Arouse Thyself and awake. —Comp. Ps. vii. 6, xliv. 23.— C. A. B.] [Str. X. Ver 25. Aha, our desire— t^SJ used by metonymy for desire, and is parallel with swallow up, and refers to the greediness of devouring and the desire to destroy. Comp. Ps. xvii. 9; xxvii. 12. Ver. 26. Put on shame. — Hupfeld : " Vari- ation of the previous clause. This is a usual figure of attributes as well as events. Comp. Ps. civ. 1, 2; cix. 29; cxxxii. 18; Job viii. 22."— C.A. B.] Str. XI. Ver. 27. Great is Jehovah. — Hit- zig connects the always [A. V. continually] with that which is said, whilst he, with Hupfeld, De- litzsch, et al., regard it as optative. Let Jeho- vah be great, or be magnified. [So A. V., and this is better, though the view of Hitzig is to be rejected. — C. A. B.] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. The prayer for Divine interposition for the defence and deliverance of the person and right of a servant of God, may be so closely connected with zeal for the cause and glory of God, that it cannot be stated with any certainty, what in the prayer is in the interest of the service, and what belongs to personal excitement. But it may be very easily seen that such a zeal, even in its utmost strength and its more particular form, has nothing in common with personal revenge, but the inflamed heart and importunity of lan- guage. For when the heart is not kindled in sinful passion, but in the fiery wrath of a holy love, it will disclose this internal heat likewise in fiery words ; bufthe breath, which moves and directs this flame, is not the whirlwind of human rage, but the Spirit of God, who makes the servant of God an instrument of the righteousness of God, as well in punishing as in blessing. He, therefore, who would earnestly carry out the Divine will in the world, and who experiences pain, indignation and wrath on account of the opposition of the ungodly, with regard to its power and punishableness, as strongly and deeply as he feels the certainty of his own readiness to the will of God, will not for- bear, under suitable circumstances, to implore the execution of the Divine judgment in the punishment of the ungodly, as well as in the deliverance of the innocent and the righteous. Comp. Exeget. and Crit. on ver. 5 2. Prayers of this kind may in the life of a man like David appear as necessary, and be re- cognized as justifiable. For David was without doubt made, by Divine election and calling, a bearer of the historical revelation of redemption, was de- signated by the anointing ordered of God as the royal vessel and the historical type of the royal ma- jesty of the Messiah, and was preserved and kept in this position and purpose by Divine guidance. His experience and his actions are thus in the closest and most personal relation with the his- tory of the kingdom of God in Israel, so that his enemies appear as the enemies of God. There- fore David may in his prayers, in all earnestness PSALM XXXV. 245 appeal to his just cause and the good pleasure and interest of God in his person, may claim with con- fidence the righteousness of God, and reckon upon the shame and ruin of his enemies, with as much confidence as he is sure of his own deliverance and preservation, by faith in the Divine faithfulness and truth. He is from this point of view the type of the innocent, suffering, righteous servant of Jehovah, whilst from the other side, he is likewise a sinful man. Therefore he partly seeks his own salvation in the grace of the merciful God alone, partly he has to take good care, in his descrip- tion of the unrighteousness, wickedness, and un- godliness of his enemies, and in appealing to the Divine righteousness, that he is not carried too far, in his mixing his own carnal nature there- wit h, and that he does not transgress the legal stand-point of the Old Testament. So much the more then let every man who is not in a similar historical position, calling, and situation, take care of calling down the Divine retributive justice. "The same zeal for the glory of God, which in the Old Testament regarded judgment and re- venge on the despisers of God as necessary to atone for the crimen Ixsse mnjestatis, must in the New Testament, where the grace of God stands pre-eminent in the foreground of consciousness, think first whether there is not perhaps a door of grace still open for such wicked ones; and therefore the prayer for mercy must prevail over the prayer for just judgment " (Kurtz). 3. If a man can with a good conscience appeal to his own innocent, benevolent, loving beha- viour towards his adversaries, as abundantly shown to them in former times, and yet in remem- bering this in times of suffering and persecution through the wickedness and unthankfulness of those to whom he had done good, is yet not mis- led to revengefulness of mind, or driven to deeds of retaliation, but gives the retributive judgment into the hands of God, he will be preserved in the strongest way from transgressing his privileges, and misusing his rights, hy the firm view of the earnest and difficult duties, which are laid upon the servant of God with respect to the glory of God and the good of the congregation. He who does this, will not only oppose the false love of the world with true love, but will overcome the sinful hate of the world by holy wrath, and in both ways, help to break the power of the adversaries of God in the world. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. He who would have God for his helper against his enemies, must see to it that he himself has God for his friend, and that he serves Him properly in the congregation. — A servant of God has not only to work for the glory of God, but likewise to suf- fer, but by both he edifies the congregation. — The righteousness of God is a two-edged sword for the protection of the pious and the ruin of the un- godly.—Prayer is likewise a weapon. He who uses it should see to it that he carries it pro- perly.— A man is not ruined by his enemies, but by his unrighteousness and his impenitence. — Good deeds are often rewarded in the world with ingra- titude, but the payment does not fail. — Prayer for retributive judgment has its proper place, but does not suit every time, and is not becoming to everybody. — That armed enemies are opposed by an armed God, brings (error among the ungodly, fleeing to their own rum, but consolation, help, and joy to the afflicted pious. — The end of the wicked is their ruin in their own nets, but they are driven by the angel of the Lord. — As the sor- rows of the pious are undeserved, so the Divine judgment comes upon the ungodly unexpectedly. — As God delivers the entire man, so the entire man is to thank Him. — Wicked enemies, false wit- nesses, and unjust judges, can bring an innocent man into great danger and severe sorrow of heart; but God is not only our Avenger, but likewise the Deliverer of those who trust in Him. — What happens to thee in secret f&om the good- ness of God, should be thankfully proclaimed in the congregation. — As the goodness of God towards us has no end, so the praise of God should never cease in the congregation. — Wilt thou learn to know thy heart, prove thy experiences, when thou perceivest that it fares badly with thine ene- mies ? Starke : Since the enemies of a child of God are at the same time enemies of God, he may be comforted by the sure assistance, protection, and judgment, of God. — An entire host of angels must protect the pious, a single one, however, is used to ruin an entire troop of the ungodly. — The ho- nor of God does not permit that He should not avenge the innocent on those who have slandered them. — A pious man lives, as it were, among rob- bers, who desire to rob his soul, but he relies in comfort on the Divine promise to be his deliverer. — A carnal mind makes men wicked hypocrites and enemies of God. — Cruel men carry in human form the character of wild beasts, and show themselves to be such by their works. — If God looks long upon the enemies, He does it, not that He has pleasure in our persecution, but He has pleasure in our patience. — God's presence, the testimony of a good conscience and confident trust in God can give sufficient and strong con- solation in all persecutions. — The greatest power of faith consists in properly appropriating and applying to one's self the word: my God. — The best description of believers is that they have all their delight in the righteousness of Jesus. — The final end of our redemption consists not in good days and pleasure, but in spreading abroad the glory and majesty of God in the whole world. Osiander: The praise of the grace and right- eousness of God will remain and endure till the day of judgment. For the Gospel will never be entirely quenched in theChurch of God, although it shines more dimly at times, and then again more brightly. — Selnekker: The world is un- grateful, but generally rewards good finally with evil. Accept it and fear God. The disciple is not to be better than his master. We do not crave anything better of the world, it remains as it is. — Menzel: God is patient with the sighs of the afflicted Christian. — Uexschel: Thefruit of sin is shame and disgrace before God and men. — God's is the vengeance. — Frisch : The armor of God is protection to the pious, defiance to the ungodly. — On earth the cross is regarded as a disgrace, but before God and in heaven it is all honor and glory. Our faith and hope see this, and patience quietly waits the issue. — Arndt : The life of an ungodly man is a con- 246 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. stant combat; God has a defence and weapons with which to protect us. — Tae comfort of the persecuted is the presence of God, the cause of God, the righteousness of God. — Francke : Lord, who is like Thee? This should always be the field-badge of spiritual knighthood. — Thohjck: Whilst thousands who make these prayers care for nothing more than assistance, David in the Spirit is delighted in the moment when all his bones being pervaded with thankfulness, he will give the glory to God, and confess that no other help can be compared with His help. — Stiller: God has no pleasure in the wickedness of men, but He often makes use of such briar3 in order to train and prove His children. — Diedrich: He who communes with God is likewise true at heart, and makes all the troubles of his neighbors his own, although he cannot himself be comforted by their love in return. [Matth. Henry: It will be a comfort to us, when men do us wrong, if our consciences can witness for us that we have never done them any. — If God be our friend, no matter who is our enemy. — We shall not lose by the good offices we have done to any, how ungrateful soever they are, for our rejoicing will be this, the testimony of our conscience. — Though the people of God are and study to be a quiet people, yet it his been the common practice of their enemies to de- vise deceitful matters against them. — Barnes: When we are right in our own cause we may ask a just God to interpose and determine between us and our enemies according to His own na- ture. As between ourselves and our fellow-men we may bring our cause with this plea before a righteous God ; as between ourselves and God, we can make no appeal to His justice, but our only hope is'in His mercy. — Spurgeon . What a glorious idea is this of Jehovah blocking the way of persecutors, holding them at the pike's end, and giving time for the hunted saint to elude pursuit. — -One word from the Lord quiets all our fears. — Prayer heard should always suggest praise. It were well if we were more demon- strative in our holy rejoicings. We rob God by suppressing grateful emotions. — God is the cham- pion, the true Knight-errant of all oppressed ones. — Prayer is never lost; if it bless not those for whom intercession is made, it shall bless the intercessor. Clouds do not always descend in showers upon the same spot from which the va- pors ascended, but they come down somewhere ; and even so do supplications in some place or other yield their showers of mercy. — Praise — personal praise, public praise, perpetual praise — should be the daily revenue of the King of heaven. — To cause hatred is the mark of the wicked, to suffer it causelessly is the lot of the righteous. — Malice has but one eye ; it is blind to all virtue in its enemy. Eyes can generally see what hearts wish. — C. A. B.] PSALM XXXVI. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD. The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, That there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flattereth himself in his own eyes. Until his iniquity be found to be hateful. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit : He hath left off to be wise, and to do good. He deviseth mischief upon his bed ; He setteth himself in a way that is not good; He abhorreth not evil. 5 Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; And thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. 6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; Thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, thou preservest man and beast. 7 How excellent is thy loving-kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. PSALM XXXVI. 247 8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; And thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. 9 For with thee is the fountain of life : In thy light shall we see light. 10 O continue thy loving-kindness unto them that know thee, And thy righteousness to the upright in heart. 1 1 Let not the fo >t of pride come against me, And let not the hand of the wicked remove me. 12 There are the workers of iniquity fallen: They are cast down, and shall not be able to rise. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents and Title. Respecting the designation of David as servant, of Jehovah vid. Ps. xviii. By this reference to the position of the speaker as well towards God as the congre- gation, the reader's attention is directly called to the meaning of this song as one to be well ponilered. It is certainly not a Psalm of lamen- tation (De Wette), but a didactic Psalm (Luther). First there is a striking description of the wicked man, in which all moral relations and regulations have been perverted into their opposites (vers. 1-4) : then follows in the tone of a hymn (vers. 6-9) the praise of the immeasurable grace, faith- fulness and righteousntss of God; and the Psalm concludes with a prayer (vers. 10-11), for further exhibitions of these attributes towards all up- right servants of God and towards the Psalmist with a reference to the ruin of the wicked (ver. 12). It is uncertain whether the preterites in this closing clause refer to historical facts which have recently transpired (Hitzig), or are to be taken as prophetical (most interpreters). In favor of the latter view is the absence of any other historical references. The house of God (ver. 8) certainly is not used figuratively in order to designate God as a father of a family (De Wette), but refers to the places of worship, yet without giving any reason to suppose that the author was a priest (I'aulus). It is moreover entirely unnecessary to think of the temple of Solomon and descend to the period immediately before the exile (Ewald, Olsh., Hitzig). The conjecture of those who put the origin of this Psalm in the period in which Saul still pretend- ed to be the friend of David (Amyrald, et 'j in order to get the sense: Vice is pleasant (Diestel). And (lie proposition to transpose the DXJ to the proper title after, "by David " (Maurer, formerly like- wise Bbttcher in part, Tholuck, G. Baur, The- 248 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. nius), does not agree with the grammatical con- struction and the place of the word in the syntax, which elsewhere prevail. The Vulgate has literally after the Sept. dixit injustus ut delinquat in semetipso, which is explained by Schegg: The ungodly speaks to himself,persuades himself to sin. Ver. 2. For he flattereth himself in his eyes with reference to the finding of his guilt, — literally be has made smooth towards himself. The V/H is reflexive, as Gen. viii. 9; 1 Sam. xiv. 52. For the subject is not ungodli- ness (the Rabbins, Olsh., Camph., Delitzsch), but the wicked man, because the entire section speaks of him and the translation "towards him" would lead to a flattery towards God (most ancient versions, Koster, Maurer, Tholuck), which explanation again would give an entirely different meaning to the clause from that allowed by the following words. For "finding of sin" never denotes the theoretical knowledge of it. Consequently the thought cannot be here, that the wicked man merely lied to God, that he pos- sessed knowledge and hatred of his sins, and that he imagined that he could deceive God. No more does that expression denote the accomplish- ment of sin, as if the wicked man esteemed him- self highly on account of his sins and his hatred of God and Divine things (Kimchi, Geier, J. H. Mich., Koster, Stier) in his flattering imagina- tion against God and in contrast with his guilty fear of God (Rosenm. ). It designates only the finding of sin by the avenger, who pursues and reaches it with the design of punishing it, Gen. xliv. 16; Hos. xii. 9; comp. 1 Sam. xxix. 3-6 ; Ps. xvii. 3. This design of punishing can- not be lost sight of. Accordingly, although the original meaning may be given by assequi, yet the interpretation, that ungodliness directs flat- tering words to the wicked man in his eyes (= well pleasing to him) in order to accomplish his guilt, that is in order to obtain, that he may be- come guilty and hate God and man instead of loving (Delitzsch), is indeed ingenious but not entirely in harmony with usage, according to which the discover!/, that is the disclosing of the guilt of another's sin, has the design of punishment, which in this interpretation disappears entirely behind that of being guilty. For it cannot be said that it is taught here, that personified un- godliness has in view, with its suggestions, the attainment of the purpose, that the wicked man shall constantly become more guilty in order that he may more certainly meet his punish- ment. Still less can any one be authorized to make Elohim the subject of the entire clause [Perowne]. For first, the interpretation " God has made it smooth, acted softly towards him in his eyes, that is according to his fancy," gives indeed a good sense and is correct according to the language ; but it makes the following clause still more difficult of comprehension. For the translation " to find the corrupt things of the unrighteous so that he must hate them" (find worthy of hatred) (Hofm.), corresponds neither with usage nor the context. And the proposi- tion to put ver 2 b in a parenthesis as an ex- planation of the fancy (Hupf.), is as much a desperate expedient as the ingenious conjecture of Hupfcld, that perhaps the 1~\T\ (he has left off ), which precedes the two infinitives with 7 in the following verse, has here fallen away. Under these circumstances it is most advisable to find the thought expressed, that the wicked man flatters himself with the foolish imagination that he will escape punishment. That it is an imagi- nation or fancy is expressed by the words "in his eyes." A corresponding expression in the previous line makes it necessary to think of the eyes of the wicked, not those of God, in connec- tion with which interpretation many more ancient interpreters thought of a merely external service, works lying before the eyes, which the wicked man performed hypocritically, without internal reverence of God. But such an inter- pretation, not to speak of other objections, is not at all suitable to the mention of the eyes of God, which designate above all His Omniscience and Infallibility. Ver. 2 b refers (Hengst.) to the sphere, in which this self-deception of the auda- cious villain moves (comp. Deut. xxix. 18; Is. xxviii. 15). Yet it must be conceded, that even this interpretation is not free from the objection that the expression is yet somewhat hard, forced and unusual, especially when it is compared with the other verses, which with all their sub- limity and meaning, yet have a clear and flowing style. It is very natural therefore to think of a corruption of the text (Olsh., Hupf.). But al- though only a slight change in the text would be necessary in order to the ingenious conjecture mentioned above, of a verb which has been omitted (Hupf.), or to gain the sense; it flatters him in his eyes (it tickles his pride), to discover missteps in others and to make them suffer for them (Thenius), these proposals have partly ob- jections in themselves, partly they lead to the unbounded field of mere conjecture. The ancient translators already differed, partly from the He- brew text, partly from one another, and rendered it in a way which is in part unintelligible. The interpretation of Symmachus has been renewed in part by Clauss, in the interpretation: he acts slippery towards God in his eyes, in order to slip away from the finding out of his misdeed. Here the " making smooth " is changed into a mean- ing which cannot be proved for the word in question. On the other hand it might be taken in the sense of "coquetting towards God," and "D be used in the sense of idv, so that ver. 3, forms the conclusion. (Hitzig). But if then this coquetting is taken as the hypocritical confes- sion, he has found=become sensible of his sin and hates it, this meaning cannot be regarded as proved by the remark, that where as lure the guilty man himself finds the guilt, Ni'O means knowing, becoming sensible of what was pre- viously obscure or uncertain. The passages cited in favor of this, Eccl. vii. 29; xxiv. 27; Job xxxii. 13, have not this connection of "find- ing" with "sin" on which all depends. More- over the entire description is not that of the sanctimonious hypocrite, but the real villain (Sachs) who comforts himself by his experience in sinning (Hengst.). — The impersonal interpre- tation: "it flatters him" (Ewald, Thenius) is likewise contrary to the usual use of the verb. Bottcher maintains (Neue exeget. krit. JEhrenlese Nr. 1092) his previous (Theol. Stud, vnd Krit. 1850. | 609) interpretation: for he flattereth PSALM XXXVI. 249 himself, when he directs his eyes upon himself; to discover bis guilt must be odious to him.* [Str. II. Vers. 3-4. Perowne: "Vers. 1-4 describe generally the character of the ungodly : first the sin of his heart (vers. 1-2) ; then the sin of his lips (ver 3) ; lastly the sin of his hands, the evil schemes which he devises and executes (ver. 4). As there is a climax in the whole descrip- tion of the evil man, so especially is there a progress from bail to worse in vers. 3-4. (1) He hath left off to do good ; (2) on his bed he meditates evil (Ps. iv. 4; Mic. ii. 1); (3) he re- solutely sets himself to do evil ; (4) his very con- science is hardened, so that he does evil without repugnance or misgiving " — C. A. 15.] Sir. III. [Ver. 5.f Thy mercy Jehovah (reacheth) to the heavens; Thy faithfulness unto the skies. — Most interpreters regard 3 in the first clause as equivalent to ~\£ and interpret it by supplying as in the second clause '•reacheth." In favor of this is the parallel passage, Ps. lvii. 11, comp. Ps. lxxi. 19; ciii. 11; Job xi. 8; xxii. 12; xxxv. 5. Hengsten- berg refers to the pillar of cloud and of fire reaching from earth to heaven and yet prefers the rendering in the heavens which includes the reaching to the heavens. The idea of the pas- sage is to measure the mercy and faithfulness of God as in the passages cited above, and therefore it is better to regard the clauses as parallel as in Ps. lvii. 1 1. The mercy of God is heaven-high. In the second clause D'pntf is the vault of hea- ven, the expanse beaten out like fine dust, best rendered in English by the sky, or plural skies. — C. A. 15] Ver. G. Mountains of God. — These are not as it were the highest mountains, because all that is best in nature or of its kind is distinguished by the addition of the words, "of God" (the Kabbins, Calvin, Geier, J. II. Mich. etal.). This supposition does not accord with the sharp dis- tinction between the natural and the Divine, which prevails in the Biblical view of the world. This designation is used not only where there is an emphatic reference to that which has been produced by God (Hupf.), but likewise that which testifies to the glorg of God (His power, goodness, and holiness) and serves to reveal Him. Thus the prophets are frequently called men of God, and Mount Sinai and Zion, mountains of God ; so likewise Paradise is called the garden of God, Gen. xiii. 10, comp. ii. 8, and the rain * [It is better to regard personified ungodliness as the subject of thia clause, yet not with the explanation of I>«- liUtch with regard to the finding, but combined rather with the author's view of the force of S and Ni"D. The translation woujd then be: 11 ngodliness suggesting to him and prompting him) flatters him in his eyes with refer- ence to finding his guilt, to hating(it). That is. ungodliness Batters him that his guilt will not he detected, hated and visited upon him.— 0. A. B ] + J Perowne: "The trans tlon from this description of the wicked to the praise of God's goodness and faithfulness, is certainly very abrupt; and we can feel no surprise that Hupteid should be inclined to doubt an original connection between the two portions of the Psalm. Yet may we not ac- count for the abruptness by a very natural recoil of reeling? «og >od man ran everdelightto portray the workings of a i an al enated from God. It' the evil he Bees am, ma him rorce him for a time to trace it to its hidden source or watch its outward development, with the more joy and thankful- ness will he find refuge (see ver. 7), from its hi. I is shadow 1U the faithfulness and gooduuss of God.'' — C. A B J in contrast to artificial irrigation is called the brook of God, Ps. lxv. 9; and the cedars of Lebanon are called cedars of God, Ps. lxxx. 10; and trees of God, Ps. civ. 1G, not only because He planted thetn as the aloes (Num. xxiv. 6), but because they testify to His creative power, and their consideration gives occasion to worship Him. The tert. compar. in the comparison of righteousness with the mountains of God is therefore, their firmuess and unmoveableness (Luther and most interpreters], whether with or without the subordinate idea of the safety of those who seek refuge in them (Stier), rather than their greatness and height (Hengst., Hupf.). — Thy judgments a great flood. — The effects of righteousness, the judgments of GoD# is else- where used only of practical keeping as ver. 34, from which verse this has been made dependent without any need. The true interpretation was seen already by Aben Ezra, Isaki, Calvin and most all recent interpreters have adopted it. — That the man of peace hath posterity. It follows from ver. 38 that the reference here is to posterity as cix. 13; Jer. xxxi. 17; Am. iv. ix. 1; Ezek. xxii. 25, (Sept., Venema, De Wette, Olsh., Hupfeld, [Perowne]), and not to the "future," whether for both verses (Calvin, Cleric, Hengst. [Alexander] or only for ver. 37. The context and the construction favors least of all the translation: the end of the man is peace (Kimchi, Geier, et al. [A. V. likewise]. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1, Take care that the sight of the success of the ungodly does not kindle in your heart envious jealousy and wrath, or burning ill humor and consuming fretfulness. Their success is only apparent and of short duration. It is like the green grass which soon withers and is like smoke which vanishes away. Accordingly the pious have no reason to be excited by it, but rather have every reason to strengthen and exercise them- selves in faith in the holy government of God and in obedience to God's holy will, in order that they may live to see the end and wait patiently for the result. "This is a fine comparison, a terror to hypocrites and a comfort to the afflicted. How nicely it lifts us up above our sight and sets us before God's sight. Before our sight the hypo- crite's substance is green and flourishing and in- creases and covers the whole world, so that it alone seems to be something, as the green grasa PSALM XXXVII. 257 covers and adorns the earth. But before God's sight, what are they? Hay, soon to be made; and the higher the grass grows the nearer it is to the scythe and fork. . . . Why then should you be angry, when their wickedness and suc- cess have such a short existence?" (Luther). 2. He who puts his trust in God, and has his pleasure in the Lord, will not reward evil with evil, will not meet violence with violence, will not be drawn and driven by injustice to injustice, but will continue in doing good, in devotion to God, in pious conversation, and long before the final decision comes, will live to see all the pro- mises of God gradually but surely fulfilled to the pious, whilst the ungodly will never gain their ends and often will be destroyed suddenly. " Thus He takes all impatient thoughts entirely away and gives rest to the heart. As if He would say: dear child, cease thine impatience and curse not and wish no evil, these are human and wicked thoughts. . . And what help is there in this anger? It does not make the oase any better, it only leads deeper into the mire. Thou hast hindered God from bestowing His grace and favor, and thou hast become like the evil doers and will be destroyed like them." (Luther). — "Many of them do wicked things in wrath from revenge and impatience, that they regret after- wards forever" (Joh. Arnd). 3. The tribulation of the pious through the violence of the wicked is often so great, that the patient seem to be entirely subdued, yet the meek will not only gain and keep peace, but the inheritance, whose foundation, pledge and type they have in the land of promise, will continue to be assured to them by the power of God, and hap- piness in life will by God's hand arise in shining clearness (Job xi. 17; Is. lviii. 8; Mic. vii. 9), to the innocent sufferer out of every trouble. " Since now our dear God has such a great work in mind respecting all those who fear Him, be still in the Lord and hinder Him not in His work; but wait upon Him in patience." (Joh. Arnd). On the other side the day of the un- godly is already now before God's eyes, in which the splendor of their success, and their light of life will be put out. He treats the de- vices and the preparations of the wicked as al- ready now of nought, that is, as weak, and as fool- ish ; but He will some time bring them to nought, he will turn their weapons and arrows upon them in a deadly form and will break their arms, that is, the instruments or the means of their power and violence, so that they will no longer be able to injure others or even to help themselves. 4. God's blessing upon the pious shows itself in this, that they are not only satisfied and de- lighted with a Utile, because they have their delight in God, and content themselves in Him as the highest good, but that they as individuals can accomplish muchmore with a little, than many ungodly persons with much, that they constant- ly experience fresh tokens of Divine care, and provision, so that they suffer no lack, but rather are able to minister to others with their goods and gifts, and that they transmit their inheritance to their posterity, which in their turn become bless- ings. Thus a chain of blessings passes through the lift and the generations of the pious with all the need, poverty, trouble and dangers of earth. 17 The ungodly, on the other hand, are not helped by their number or their power, their craft or their strength, their riches or their arrogance. The curse comes upon them for their wickedness, and the judgment of God destroys them and theirs. 5. In the distribution of blessings and curses to the pious and the ungodly the righteous gov- ernment of God manifests itself already in this world. We can rely upon it with the more firm- ness, as it has its deepest ground, in the Divine love for justice. Even on this account, however, he who would receive this blessing and enjoy God's protection and uelp must take care, that the marks of true piety are found in him. Such a man may very well have to endure many tribu- lations, needs and dangers, for the ungodly have a hostility to the righteous and seek to put them out of the way. But the hand of God is ready to help those who walk in the way of God, be- cause they have God's law in their hearts, and this way leads above. Those who walk in it, may stumble and fall, but they will not remain upon the ground and perish. God puts His hand under them to support them. But this hand ex- terminates the ungodly with their race, so that at last not one remains and not one escapes the judge (Am. iv. 2; ix. 1; Ezek. xxiii. 25). 6. Every attentive observer sees sufficient ex- amples of this government of God in history. Would that this might awaken the fear of God in all earnestness, and strengthen the power of trust in God, in order that every sincerely pious man might constantly receive richer experiences of the Divine blessing. "Thus then, let every one see to it, how he stands and lives before God in this respect; whether he has faith enough to trust God for a piece of bread, and whether we allow to Him power, wisdom and faithfulness enough to assist us in every righteous cause, help us through it and provide for us and main- tain His own work"(Berl. Bib.). — "Ah, says he, God cannot and will not suffer that faithful- ness and confidence should go unrewarded, else He would not be true, just, and truthful." (Joh. Arnd). — "0 the shameful unfaithfulness, distrust and damned unbelief, that we should not believe such rich, powerful and comforting promises of God, and stumble so very easily, at such little things, as when we merely hear the wicked words of the ungodly. Help, God, that we may some day have true faith. Atnen!" (Lu- ther). We would here with Tholuck remember that Luther on his death-bed said to his children: Children, riches I do not leave you, but I leave you, a rich God. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. The prosperity of the ungodly blossoms but a short time, it has a corrupt root and a bitter fruit. — The right of the righteous may for a while be obscured, hut God brings it surely to light. — He who has his delight in the Lord, may be troubled for awhile in the world, but it will finally be will with him. — Put your confidence in God, then thou wilt not be vexed with the apparent prosperity of the ungodly; have your delight in the Lord and you will not envy the fleeting joy of the un- righteous; continue in the exercise of good and you will not change your end for the vain 258 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. guns of the wicked. — The ungodly have no true and abiding prosperity, but only those who fear God. — The only, but sure means of salvation are, to fear, love, and trust God above all things. — Do not recompense the wickedness of the wicked with evil, but leave the judgment to the Lord. He is the just Rewardcr. — Impatience and wrath are not. productive of good, but only make the bad worse, and evil times worse times. — It is especially unde- served suffering and unjust attacks, that show the great strength of trust in God, the power of pa- tience and the strength of meekness. — The pious are as sure of the blessing of God as the ungodly of His curse ; and both extend even to the coming generations. — It is due to the Divine blessing that the pious accomplish more with little than the ungodly with much. — Peace and joy de- pend for men not upon riches or poverty, but upon communion with God. — The great and abiding gain of godliness. — The mouth, heart and steps of the pious harmonize with one another and with God's will and ivord. — Even the pious may stum- ble and fall, but God will not let them lie upon the ground, and prevents them from falling into ruin by His hand and grace. — The righteous have many enemies, but although their power and wick- edness are even as great as their number, yet they are assured of the jinal victory by God's faith- fulness, power and grace. — It is a part of the experience of the pious, that they should be tried in patience and exercised in waiting, but that their waiting should not be vain, because it is founded in trust in God, and has as its end the coming of the Lord. — It is one and the same hand of God, which delivers the pious and exterminates the ungodly with their seed. — There is a differ- ence between the pious and the ungodly not only according to their dispositions, but likewise in their actions and their destinies. — What God has promised to the pious, He knows how to give to them and to keep for them, yet all at the proper time and according to His wisdom. — The wishes of those who fear God are fulfilled ; but the devices of the ungodly perish. — God not only distinguishes between the righteous and the un- righteous; He finally separates them from one another. — We may be visited by severe calamity, and be given up by all the world, and yet we are not forsaken by God. — God sees not only how men act on earth, He rewards them for it, whether early or late. — The pious not only receive a bless- ing for themselves and their seed ; they will like- wise become blessings through God's grace. — God knows His own children and rewards their trust abundantly; He protects them in danger; He comforts them in time of trouble; He nourishes them in days of hunger; He delivers them out of the hand of all their enemies. Starke: There are evil-doers enough in the world, but if we should conquer them with the sword it would only be worse; seek rather to win them by love and good conduct and leave the rest to God. — Whoever reflects upon the miserable end of the prosperity of the ungodly will rather be moved to pity and sympathy and prayer than to angry zeal and ill-will against these poor men. — Many a man is dissatisfied with God the Lord, because He does not do what he desires; but whoever is satisfied with the will of God, receives what he desires, yea more than he wishes. 0 what happy people we would be, if we should cast all our cares upon the Lord, attend to our calling with diligence and leave the result with God. — Satan seeks to excite believers to sinful anger by the wickedness of the ungodly. Hence the necessity of watching, patience, faith and prayer. — If we are obliged to wait with much patience for the heavenly in- heritance, it is yet worth the trouble, for it is eternal and imperishable. — We must not reckon the time of the prosperity of the ungodly by the course of the physical sun, but by the numbers of the Holy Spirit (Ps. xc. 5), thus will we find, that in comparison with the everlasting pains of hell, scarcely a moment has been allotted to them. — The ungodly do not lack the will to do mischief; but what can they do more than gnash their teeth (Acts vii. 54). — The ungodly have long hands and much assistance in persecuting the pious; but God's hands reach farther still and are much stronger, than that they should be laid hold of and cast down. — True riches do not consist in great provisions, but in contentment with what God gives. — God has already resolved, how long the godly shall remain in the vale of sorrow; during this time He provides for them as a father; afterwards He will give them the inheritance of eternal life. — Smoke rises on high at first with strength as if it would go even to the heavens, but a little wind can drive it asun- der, so that it cannot longer be seen; see, the ungodly are like this smoke. — Pious parents have the consolation that God's blessing will come upon their children, and pious children are as- sured, that God will bless them on account of their parents. — Mercy is one of the most beauti- ful virtues, not only on account of its character, because we thus become like God, but also on account of its reward. — If heaven and earth pass away, yet the inheritance of believers cannot fail. — It is impossible to do good and bad at the same time. — The heart, mouth and entire walk of the believer are sanctified and blessed by the Word of God. — Who would not rather have bad beginning and a good end, than a good be- ginning and a bad end? — What we lack, will be supplied by the gracious assistance of the strong God. Luther: The righteous give, the ungodly do not, and yet both receive from God. — God blesses thee temporally and eternally, that thou mayest trust, in Him, although thou art cursed and i jured by the ungodly. — God does not take poverty from His saints but He will not let them perish. — Selnekker: Torment thyself not with impatience and wrath, but be satisfied with the will of God and His long-suffering, and holdfast to His word and promises, then wilt thou obtain the desire of thine heart. — Experience makes the best interpretation. — Schnepf: The posses- sions of the ungodly burn as grease in the fire. — Frisch: The whole earth is the Lord's, and so belongs to His children. — Every one desires to be happy here in time and there in eternity, but very few use the true means of obtaining it. — Arndt : The dear cross and poverty are no signs of disfavor, but a trial of faith and pa- tience, a mirror of the wonderful help and pre- servation of God, and an evidence, that God is not pleased with great splendor but with faith, PSALM XXXVII. 259 fear of God, humility and patience. — Oetixqer : Every day of the righteous man has in God's purpose its special measure of grace and trial, and serves to complete his lot. — Tholuck: The salvation of the pious remains immovable, the longer it seems to tarry, the more imperishable will be its endurance. — Who would despair, when God declares that His own treasury is in the possession of His children. — It must be a rare occurrence, that any one who has been a friend to many in trouble, should not be able to find a friend in need. — Stiller: If it is not as you couhl wish, examine yourself; perhaps it is the fault of your wishes or your other actions. — Guenther: Life and death are both set before us, we are to choose. The choice seems easy, and yet most make the mistake. — Taube : To be still before the Lord is the true test, whether we trust the Lord, have our delight in the Lord and commit our way to the Lord in deed and in truth. — It is particularly evil days which give especial proofs of the faithfulness of God to- ward the pious. — The pious may suffer want, but not ruin. — TilTM : If the end is good, all is good. 1) Therefore remain pious, although the cross weighs upon you; 2) deviate not from the nar- row way although the world may entice; 3) finally, if it is well with the pious, that outweighs all. — The righteous are never forsaken. 1) In life, the Lord leads them graciously; 2) in death, He sends them His angel of peace; 3) in eter- nity, He crowns them with the crown of victory. [Matt. Henry: Fretfulness and envy are sins that are their own punishment, they are the uneasiness of the spirit, and the rottenness of the bones. — We must follow providence, and not force it ; subscribe to Infinite Wisdom, and not prescribe. — If we take care to keep a good conscience, we may leave it to God to take care of our good name. — A fretful, discontented spirit lies open to many temptations and those that indulge it are in danger of doing evil. — They that are sure of an everlasting inheritance in the other world have no reason to envy the wicked their transitory possessions and pleasures in this world. — The law of God must be a commanding, ruling principle in the heart; it must be a light. there, a spring there, and then the conver- sation will be regular and uniform ; none of his steps will slide; it will effectually prevent back- sliding into sin, and the uneasiness that follows from it. — If we make conscience of keeping God's way, we may with cheerfulness wait on Him, and commit to Him our way; and we shall find Him a good master, both to His working ser- vants and to His waiting servants. — Barnes : The small property of one truly good man, with his character and hopes, is of more value than would be the aggregate wealth of many rich wicked men with their character and prospects. — Other things being equal, the honest, tempe- rate, pure, pious man will be the most prosperous in the world: for honesty, temperance, purity, and piety produce the industry, economy, and prudence on which prosperity depends. — As a great law, the children of the pious are not vagrants and beggars. As a great law they are sober, industrious, and pros- perous. The vagrants and the beggars of the world are from other classes; and whatever may be the bearing of religion on the destinies of men in the future world, in this world the effect is to make them virtuous, industrious, pru- dent and successful in their worldly affairs, so that their children are not left to beggary and want, but to respectability and to competence. — It is better to have God for our friend in life, and our support in death, than to have all the external prosperity of wicked men. — Spurgeon: Who envies the fat bullock the ribbons and gar- lands which decorate him as he is led to the shambles? Yet the case is a parallel one; for ungodly rich men are but as beasts fattened for the slaughter. — There is joy in holy activity which drives away the rust of discontent. — Very much of the outward depends upon the in- ward ; where there is heaven in the heart there will be heaven in the house. — A silent tongue in many cases not only shows a wise head, but a holy heart. — The evil man does not see how close his destruction i3 upon his heels ; he boasts of crushing others when the foot of justice is already uplifted to trample him as the mire of the streets. Sinners in the hand of an angry God, and yet plotting against His children! Poor souls, thus to run upon the point of Jeho- vah's spear. — Content finds multum in parvo, while for a wicked heart the whole world is too little. — Where the children of the righteous are not godly, there must be some reason for it in parental neglect, or some other guilty cause. The friend of the Father is the friend of the family. The God of Abraham is the God of Isaac and Jacob. — Among the legacies of wicked men the surest entail is a judgment on their family. — Policy slips and trips, it twists and tacks, and after all is worsted in the long run, but sincerity plods on its plain pathway and reaches the goal. — Good men are men of mark, and are worth our study. — C. A. B.] 260 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. PSALM XXXVIII. A Psalm of David, to briny to re?nembrarice. 1 O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath : Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 2 For thine arrows stick fast in me, And thy hand presseth me sore. 3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger ; Neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. 4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: As a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. 5 My wounds stink and are corrupt Because of my foolishness. 6 I am troubled ; I am bowed down greatly ; I go mourning all the day long. 7 For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease : And there is no soundness in my flesh. 8 I am feeble and sore broken : I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. 9 Lord, all my desire is before thee ; And my groaning is not hid from thee. 10 My heart panteth, my strength faileth me : As for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. 11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore ; And my kinsmen stand afar off. 12 They also that seek after my life lay snares for me; And they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, And imagine deceits all the day long. 13 But I, as a deaf man, heard not; And I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. 14 Thus I was as a man that heareth not, And in whose mouth are no reproofs. 15 For in thee, O Lord, do I hope : Thou wilt hear O Lord my God. 16 For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: When my foot slippeth they magnify themselves against me. 17 For I am ready to halt, And my sorrow is continually before me. 18 For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. 19 But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: And they that hate me wrongfulLy are multiplied. PSALM XXXVIII. 261 20 They also that render evil for good Are mine adversaries ; because I follow the thing that good is. 21 Forsake me not, O Lord : O my God, be not far from me. 22 Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation. EXEG£TICAL AND CRITICAL. For the Title comp. Introduct., \ 6, No. 8. The Psalm begins (ver. 7) with the same petition as Ps. vi., that God will bring the sufferings, en- dured by the petitioner as a punishment for his sins, to an end, that He will cease from His judgment of wrath. This prayer is based upon the fact, that the sufferings, sent upon him by God (ver. 2) and deserved by great sins (vers. 3, 4), have en- tirely worn him out .in body and soul (vers. 5-7), so that he can only sigh to God (ver. 8) in the greatest anguish and abandonment (ver. 9). For his friends have withdrawn from him (ver. 10), and his enemies, who aspire after his life, regard him as lost (ver. 11). But he does not heed them, or contradict them (vers. 13, 14), but has put his hope in Ood (vers. 15, 1G). For he is now in the most extreme bodily iveakness and anguish of heart, on account of his sins, the guilt of which he confesses (vers. 17, 18) ; and his enemies are active, numerous, and they hate him, although he has given them no reason, but rather has sought to do them good (vers. 19, 20), hence his sighing prayer for the help of Jehovah, whom his faith is still able to apprehend and confess as his God, and as his salvation (vers. 21, 22). Hengst. sup- poses that this Psalm did not originate from the circumstances of an individual, but was uttered by the righteous personified, and that the peculiar sufferings are due to the enmity of the wicked, whose number and superiority is regarded as an evidence of Divine visitation, which thus considered, make him miserable and worn out in body and soul. Others suppose that the sufferings of the entire people, or the pious portion of them, oc- casioned by heathen oppressors or ungodly ene- mies, are described by a late prophet (Chald., Isaki, Rosenm. II.), perhaps by Jeremiah (De Wette), under the figure of a sickness. These views, however, are opposed by the contents and statements of the Psalm A real man laments, sighs, and implores, on account of plagues which severely afflict him personally ; but the cause of his sufferings does not appear to be wicked ene- mies, who abuse him and wound him bodily (Hit- zig with reference to Jer. xx. 2, which however the strong self-accusations do not suit), or whose attacks and complaints had caused his sufferings, which are described partly under the figure of sickness, partly are brought under the idea of moral guilt (llupfeld). The enemies are not mentioned until the second half of the Psalm, and then, it is true, as deadly enemies, yet not as those which have caused the bodily sufferings described fully at the beginning, but rather as those who have used these things as snares and accusations against him. The bodily sufferings are represented as a real sickness, although not exactly as leprosy (Ewald, Kb'ster, Maurer) ; yet the sick man himself regards his miserable con- dition as sufferings sent by God as a punishment for his sins ; and from this visitation is developed his consciousness of guilt, his continued moral pain, his confession of sin, and at the same time his correct behaviour towards his adversaries and his God , towards his adversaries, which without rea- son, yea, against all right, are at enmity with him, instead of thanking him for the benefits they have received, and recognizing his moral efforts ; towards his God, on whom he ceases not to wait as his help, abandoning all self-help, and all excuses, and to whom as near to assist him, he exclusively directs his prayer. By this view the bond of unity between the two parts of this Psalm, often missed, may be shown, and its relationship with, as well as its difference from Ps. vi., be placed in a stronger light ; so likewise its order among David's penitential Psalms.* Sir I. ("Ver, 1. This verse is the same as ver. 1 of Psalm vi., with merely one verbal substitu- tion of the synonym HJfp for ^X Bakius has the following paraphrase* " Corripe sane per le- gem, castiga per crucem, 7?iillies promerui, negare non possum ; sed castiga, quseso, me ex amore ut paler, non ex furore etfervore, ut judex ; ne punias juslitiie rigore, sed misericordim dulcore." — C. A. B.] Ver. 2 For Thine arrows have sunk into me.— This figurative expression is used not only of leprosy (Job vi. 4), but likewise of hunger (Ezek. v. 1G), and generally of calamities of Di- vine visitation (Dent, xxxii. 23). Hence it fol- lows from this various use of the figure, that it is inadmissible to limit this to a particular kind of visitation, yet not that the following descrip- tion of sickness is to be regarded merely as figu rative. Str II Ver 3 Soundness.— The expres- sions in Isa. i. 6, which are entirely similar, do not imply that they are figurative in this Psalm. For Isaiah refers to the body of the people. In such a connection he might very well look upon sins as abscesses, and moral ruin under the figure of phases of sickness, without, danger of being misunderstood. But this explanation is inadmis- sible for this Psalm, although it has been pro- moted by the Vulgate after the Sept., which has in ver. 3b: non est pax ossibus meis, and in ver. * [Delitzsch : "In this Psalm a peculiarity of the peniten tial Psalms is repeated, namely, that the petitioner has to lament not only that his soul and body are worn out, but hk.-v. fee over external enemies, who come forth as his adver- sarles and make his gins an occasion of preparing ruin for him. This is owing to the fact that the Old Testament be* liever, whose consciousness of sin was not so spiritual and deep as in the believer of the New Testament, almost always was sensible of the external act of sin. The enemies which then would prepare for him ruin, are the instruments of the Satanic power Of evil, who desire his death, whilst God de- sires hitr'life, as is likewise felt by the New Testament be- liever even without external enemies." — C. A. P.J 262 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. 7 a, with many ancient Psalters after the Cod. Vat. of the Sept., animamea impleta est illusioni- bus, whilst the Cod. Alex., as likewise Symmach. has the reading iftvai instead of tyvxh- — [No health in my bones. — Perowne: " Such is the proper and original meaning of the word DlSty (shalom), integritas ; "peace," being the derived meaning, peace only there properly ex- isting, where all is complete and entire, nothing wanting." The same is true with the German Heil which is used here by most interpreters. — C. A. B.J [Ver. 4. Gone over my head. — A usual figure of danger and trouble taken from a flood of water, comp. Ps. xviii. 16. — Too heavy for me. — They are conceived as a burden weighing upon the conscience, incapable of being borne any longer. Comp. Gen. iv. 13, and Ps. xxxii. 4, where the hand of God is felt in them — C. A. B.] [Str. III. Ver. 5. My bruises stink and run. — Alexander: " The two verbs both denote suppuration, the first in reference to the offen- sive smell, the second to the running or dis- charge of matter." — Foolishness: — Perowne: " His sin, as seen now in its true light, showing itself to be folly, for all sin is self-destruction. This confession of his sin is in fact, at the same time, a confession of the justice of his punish- ment." Ver. 6. I am bent, I am bowed down exceedingly, all day long I go about squalid. — Delitzsch : '• Being so deeply sick in soul and body, he must be greatly bent and bowed down. HI^J of the writhing contraction of the body, Isa. xxi. 3, Tinty of the bowed- down attitude, Ps. xxxv. 14, ^jbn of a clumsy, drawling walk." Tip literally black with dirt, squalid, in allusion to the Oriental custom of put- ting ashes on the head, and going about with rent and soiled garments as a sign of mourning, vid. Ps. xxxv. 14.— C. A. B.] Str. IV. Ver. 7. For my loins are full of dryness. — H^pJ is understood by Sept. and Symmach. [vid. ver. 3] not of "blasted or kin- dled " (properly roasted, dried at the fire), but after another derivation (Isa. iii. 5), of disre- spect and scorn. The loins are brought into view as the seat of strength, but are here desig- nated not as dried out, dried up (Luther, Heng- stenberg), which, so far as they had become weak, would be full of that which contempt heaped upon the sick man, full of scorn, which issues from the loins (Schegg) ; they are here described as full of dryness. It is doubtful whether we could understand by this " blasted " (Camph.). Burning sores (Ewald) would be bet- ter. The reference is certainly not to a burning fever (Chald., Calvin, Geier, ct al.) in the bowels (many recent interpreters after Bochart); still less as a figurative expression of the withering, consuming power of sorrow (Hupf.). The con- struction demands a material object, leads rather to a special condition of sickness. Ver. 8. [I am benumbed, cold, chilly, tor- pid, in contrast with the warmth and ei\ergy of life. It is used of the disappearing of the warmth of life, and at the same time of the stopping of the pulse and even life itself. Perowne thinks that it refers to the alternations of a fever fit, and refers to the burning inflammation in the pre- ceding verse. But it is better with our author not to think of a fever, but of a state of feebleness, in connection with the real loathsome disease which was upon him. — C. A. B.] — I roar from the moaning of my heart. — Hitzig proposed the reading y2l or JO; instead of "3/ (Begriff der Kritik, S. 120 sq.), and to translate "I cry more than the roaring of the lion." Afterwards he rejected this conjecture, and contended against it, to the regret of Olsh. The words are not at all tautological, but express that the sighing of the mouth originates from the moaning of the heart. [Str. V. Ver. 10. My heart palpitates — Alexander : The palpitation of the heart, de- noting violent agitation, is combined with loss of strength and dimness of the eyes, so often men- tioned as a sign of extreme weakness. See above ou Ps. xiii. 3 and compare Pss. vi. 7 , xxxi. 9, xl 12"— C. A. B.] Str VI. Vers. 11, 12 Away from the pre- sence of my plague — The translation of Lu- ther originates from the Vulgate, amici mei — ad- versum me appropinquaverunt. It has likewise in the following line; vim faciebant [i^ejita^ovro), in- stead of: have laid snares. The Sept. has read Vli instead of E#pJ or confounded the two. But the latter is rendered evident here by a play upon the words in the Hebrew. [Str. VII. Ver. 13. Deaf— dumb.— Alexan- der: "The same two words for deaf and dumb are used together in Ex. iv. 11. Not only the idea, but the form of expression in this sentence, is copied by Isaiah in his prophetical description of Christ's sufferings (Isa. liii. 7), and seems to have been present to our Saviour's own mind when He ' held his peace ' before the High Priest (Matth. xxvi. 62, 63), and 'gave no answer' to the Roman Governor (John xix. 9)." Ver. 14. In whose mouth there are no replies. — Delitzsch: "The consciousness of guilt and resignation stop his mouth, so that he may not and cannot refute the false accusations of his enemies ; he has no counter evidence to justify himself." — C. A. B.]* Str. VIII. [Ver. 15. Thou wilt hear.— The thou is emphatic, and is thus contrasted strongly with the enemies before whom the Psalmist was dumb, making no replies, but pleading alone be- fore God. Riehm : "This expectation is based upon reasons adduced by three '3 following one another, yet co-ordinate; ver. 16, upon the wish which he has expressed, and to which God is to respond by hearing it ; ver. 17, upon the great- ness of his misery ; ver. 18, upon his penitence." — C. A. B.] Ver. 17. The Vulgate after the Sept. differs from the Hebrew text, and has: in flayella para- * [Calvin sees two reasons for his silence;(l) his enemies would not suffer him to sneak; (2) his own patient submission to the will of God. Perowne 'thinks that only the last is prominent here, but it seems better with Delitzsch to think of his own consciousness of guilt, under the severity of the Divine chastisement stopping his mouth with reference to the slanders of his enemies as he appeals to Uod to hear him as iu ver. l&sq. — C. A. B.] PSALM XXXVIII. 203 (us sum. [The Hebrew text is, however, correct, and the translation lam ready to halt or fall down sufficiently assured. — C. A. 15.] S/r. IX. Ver. 19. But mine enemies are lively, are numerous. — The reading main- tained by the ancient translations D"H may be interpreted after 1 Sam. xxv. G. Most recent interpreters suppose alter Iloubigant that this reading is a corruption from D3n, that is, with- out cause, Pss xxxv. 19 ; lxix. 4. Ver. 20. After this verse many Greek and La- tin, all the iEthiopic, and some of the Arabic, and one of the Syriac Psalters, have the addi- tional clause: et projecerunt me dilectum tanquam mortuum abominalum (comp. Isa. xiv. 19), ex- plained by Theodoret of Absalom's behaviour towards David. [Sir. X. Vers. 21, 22. These petitions are fre- quent in the Psalms. Comp. Pss. x. 1 ; xiii. 1 ; xxii. 1, 19; xxxv. 22. Delitzsch: "He closes with sighs for help. He does not gain that the darkness of wrath should be lighted up. The fides supplex does not become fides triumohans. But the closing words, 'Lord, my salvation,' show the difference between Cain's penitence and David's. True penitence has faith in itself, it doubts of self, but not of God." — C. A. I).] DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. When a man perceives the chastening hand of God in his severe sufferings, and tastes the righteousness of the Lord therein, his sufferings may be very painful, yet if he values his com- munion with God, the experience of the Divine wrath and his grief on account of his personal guill will be still more painful. Therefore he will pray first, not for the cessation of his bodily suf- ferings, his external plague, his temporal afflic- tion, although he may be laid upon a bed of painful sickness and worried even to the exhaus- tion of his strength ; he prays, first of all, for the removal of the angry judgment of God and the anxiety of heart on account of li is sins. 2. In severe sickness and other visitations of God, we learn, often for the first time, the crush- ing weight of the chastening hand of God, the depth of guilt which exceeds all human thought and imagination, the deadly power of sin which destroys soul and body. But this most torment' ing experience helps the sinner to permanent health, if he does not complain, in his cries over his misery or the treatment he has received, but charges himself with folly and sin, and if lie does not. despair, but confesses his guilt with penitence. 3. He has to undergo a severe conflict if his friends withdraw from him in the days of his necessity and anguish, when Divine chastisement has come upon him, and his enemies approach him with charges and accusations, especially if he is entitled to a very different treatment on ae- count of his previous relations with them. Thus the genuineness of his repentance is tested. The decision with reference to salvation takes place, when the afflicted man earnestly withstands every temptation to self justification, renounces all attempts to help himself, and resigns himself with sincere self-abnegation to God with confes- sion and prayer, and waits on God with the hope that his prayer will be heard. 4. The virtue of this patient, devout and trust- ing waiting upon God, consists in the faith of the penitent, by which, in all his ill desert, he yet apprehends God as his God, and trusts in Him as the God of his help notwithstanding the superiority of his enemies and the strong feeling of his own weakness. He leaves the manner &nd the means of help to God. But he may pray most pressingly that God will draio near; for this is a token to the penitent, of His mercy and a sign of His readiness to grant his supplication ; for although he is forsaken by nil the world and despairs of himself, yet he does not doubt, but knows and apprehends his salvation in God the Lord. Ps. xxii. 19; xxxv. 3. IIOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. Sin prepares wrath, and the wrath of God has sharp iveapons ; but God maybe sought by the penitent. — Sin involves the visitation of Divine wrath; but repentance implores and obtains forbearance. — Sin ruins people: but those who are converted to God will not be lost. — Fire in the conscience is worse than fire in the bones. — The fire of the Divine wrath should excite not only grief on account of the punishment of sin, but likewise sincere repentance in the heart of the sinner. — Stricken by the hand of God, accused by his own conscience, forsaken by his best friends, a/tacked by his worst enemies, the sinner is 3-et not ruined, but delivered, if he is converted to God in his misery by his sins. — Whom God visits with chastisement He will take to Himself but it is necessary that He should rescue him from the way of ruin. — It. is not enough to taste the consequences of sin, you must confess their punishableness, their folly, their guilt, if you would obtain deliverance. — He who totters under the hand of God may be saved from filling, if he grasps the hand which .smites him. — God chastises sinners earnestly, but not in order to kill them, but to give life, if they will only observe and learn to seek Him. — True repentance does not de- spair ; although abandoned by all the world, it seeks salvation in God. — The sick-bed may become a bed of victory, 1 ) by humiliation under the strong hand of God; 2) by penitent confession of sin; 3) by believing apprehension of God as the God of help and salvation. Starke: God can seldom bring us to repent- ance without chastisement, and He chastens us in order that we may not regard ourselves as guiltless. — No one knows what the anguish of conscience is, who has not experienced it, and been obliged to struggle with sin and the wrath of God , there is no grief in the world to be com- pared with it. — The hearts of many are like a rock from which the arrows rebound. Blessed are those whose souls are wounded unto salva- tion by God's arrows.— Sin wounds a man unto death, not only in his soul, but often it seizes upon his body and makes him utterly miserable. — It is lamentable, that whilst every animal helps his fellow, man alone causes all kinds of sufferings and mishaps to his fellows. — It is not necessary for you to hear and speak when God has taken this upon Himself for you. You may be entirely still. — The ungodly and hypocritical seek to deny and conceal their sins as far as 264 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. possible, but, the pious confess that they are guilty before God ami man.— The pious have their faults, but this is not the reason why they are persecuted by the world, it is because tbey will not live as the world would have them. — If it is your desire not to be forsaken by God, take care that you do not depart from Him by a wicked life and conformity to the world. Luther: Truly to feel sin and tremble on ac- count of a wicked conscience, is torture above all other torture. External persecutors boldly help to this; for they hunt a man in his con- science, boast against the righteous, that God is with them. — And because He withholds conso- lation, such terror of heart must ensue, as if God were angry on account of sin. But yet David teaches us to hold fast and not despair, and defends himself against their boasting with prayers, and rises upon Divine promises, and lays hold of his cause by the true handle Thus we should pray and not despair in any anxiety of soul, although we are sinners and feel deeply the burden of sin and its tempest. — Osiander: We should not pray that our Hea- venly Father should not chastise us at all (comp. Heb. xii. 5), but that He should chastise us with the rod of the parent and not punish us with the sword of justice. — Selnekker: I am well satis- fied with my cross, for my sinful nature needs it well. — Frisch: If God has shot His arrows from heaven into you, you must send the arrows of prayer to heaven, and implore His grace; if He has laid His heavy chastening hand upon your neck, you must lay your hand of faith on your heart ; thus will He bind up your wounds and quicken you after the affliction. — Rieger: At first David depends on the mercy of God; then he invokes the searching omniscience of God ; finally he supplicates the speedy help of God. — Tholuck: We acquire a deeper knowledge of the state of our hearts, by our behaviour when afflicted (impatient complaints, faint-heartedness, disinclination to prayer), than we ever could in good days. — If the tempter can convince the soul, when sufferings are long continued, that God does not trouble Himself at all about it, that is the hottest affliction. — Diedrich : God sends afflictions upon us that we may thereby be brought to a more thorough knowledge of our- selves.— Taube : In time of trouble we see how soon our own strength fails, and the humble knowledge of this is one of the blessings of re- pentance.— Thym : We are comforted uuder the severest pains. 1) By the word about Christ, 2) by prayer to Christ, 3) by strength from Christ. — The sufferings of earth : 1) their na- ture; 2) their origin; 3) our behaviour under them. [Matt. Henry: Our wounds, by sin, are oftentimes in a bad condition, no care taken of them, no application made to them, and it is owing to the siuner's foolishness, in not confess- ing sin. Ps. xxxii. 3, 4. A slight sore neglected may prove of fatal consequences, and so may a slight sin, slighted and left unrepented of. — The less notice we take of the unkindness and injuries that are done us, the more we consult the quiet of our own minds. — When our enemies are most clamorous, ordinarily it is our prudence to be silent, or to say little, lest we make ill worse. — If we are truly penitent for sin, that will make us patient under affliction, and par- ticularly under unjustcensures. — Barnes : Trou- ble never accomplishes its proper effect unless it leads us to God ; and anything that will lead us to Him is a gain in the end. — No Christian, when he comes to die, ever feels that he has been too much afflicted, or that any trial has come upon him for which there was not occasion, and which was not designed and adapted to do him good. — Spurgeon: It seems strange that the Lord should shoot at His own beloved ones, but in truth He shoots at their sins rather than them, and those who feel his sin-killing shafts in this life, shall not be slain with His hot thunderbolts in the next world. — It is well when sin is an intolerable load, and when the remembrance of our sins burdens us beyond endurance. — None more lonely than the broken-hearted sinner, yet hath he the Lord for his companion. — Until the Holy Ghost applies the precious blood of Jesus, a truly awakened sinner is covered with raw wounds which cannot be healed nor bound up, nor mollified with ointment. — We shall not be left of the Lord. His grace will succor us most opportunely, and in heaven we shall see that we had not one trial too many or one pang too severe. — C. A. B.] PSALM XXXIX. To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. 1 I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, While the wicked is before me. 2 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even, from good ; And my sorrow was stirred. PSALM XXXIX. 265 3 My heart was hot within me ; While I was musing the fire burned : Then spake I with my tongue, 4 Lord, make me to know mine end, And the measure of my days, what it is; That I may know how frail I am. 5 Behold, thou hast made my days as a hand-breadth ; And mine age is as nothing before thee: Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. 6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: Surely they are disquieted in vain : He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. 7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee. 8 Deliver me from all my transgressions : Make me not the reproach of the foolish. 9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; Because thou didst it. 10 Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand. 11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth : Surely every man is vanity. Selah. 12 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; Hold not thy peace at my tears : For I am a stranger with thee, And a sojourner, as all my fathers were. 13 O spare me, that I may recover strength, Before I go hence, and be no more. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. For the Title, comp. Introduct. § 12, No. 6. This Psalm is related in many particulars to Ps. lxii. and has likewise many features in common with Job, and in some respects with Ps. xxxviii. The Psalmist has undertaken to be silent respect- ing his sufferings, in the presence of the ungodly lest he should sin in his speech (ver. 1). He has been silent a short time in submission, but the burning and violent pain of his heart, enkindled to ill-humor in brooding over this unfortunate state of affairs, has found vent by the tongue (vers. 2-3). The context does not indicate that he has uttered such words in the presence of his enemies as have endangered his life, as Hitzig con- U'tuls referring to an older cotemporary of the prophet Jeremiah. Moreover the following words are not in favor of taking them as a statement of what the Psalmist, uttered when in ill-humor (Calvin, Hengst.). They do not ex- press the self-accusation, that he then desired death as the end of his sufferings and prayed for an indication of its nearness. They express the present petition and wish, that God will make the afflicted man conscious of the shortness of life (ver. 4), in accordance with the universal per- ishableness of man (ver. 5). If, namely, all mortal movements are a noise about nothing (ver. 6), the best thing for the Psalmist is waiting on the Lord (ver. 7), whom now he implores, to deliver him from all his transgressions and not make him the scorn of the ungodly. He does not desire nor does he venture to complain that God has involved him in these sufferings (ver. 9) ; on the contrary he implores the re- moval of the stroke of His hand, because this would destroy him (ver. 10), considering the guilt and weakness of man (ver. 11). Therefore he can pressingly implore the hearing of his prayer, which is accompanied with tears, be- fore his departure, on account of the shortness of his earthly pilgrimage (vers. 12-13). The same words as those in the second half of ver. 12 are found in David's mouth in 1 Chron. xxix. 15. The language is more transparent than usual and sticks closer to the subject. [Ewald: "It is the most beautiful of all the elegies in the Psalter." — " It has great and not accidental re- semblances to thediscourses of Job iii.-xxxi., and since the poets are different in the color of the language and the arrangement of the verses, cither this author has read the book of Job, or the author of the book of Job was stimulated by 26G THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. the lamentation of this Psalm to seek a higher solution, the latter is more probable." — C. A.B.] Str. I. Ver. 1. While the wicked is in my presence. — This expression, in itself, might refer to a sinful speaking against the present enemy (Flam., Ruding., Hitzig), or to expres- sions of ill-will on account of the prosperity of the wicked which was before his eyes, as Ps. xxxvii. (Geier, J. EL Mich., KSsrer, Delitzsch) ; but. since the poet is throughout the Psalm occu- pied only with his own situation (Hupfeld), it is best to think of murmuring against God on ac- count of his own severe sufferings, as Ps. xxxviii. 13sq.,comp. Job i. 22; ii. 10, (Kimchi, Calvin, De Wette, Ilengst.), in which he is in danger of becoming a scorn of fools (ver. 8.). Str. II. Ver. 2. Away from prosperity. — In the situation above described the afflicted man is silent for awhile, and indeed 31L30- Since words of silence never have their object with JO the explanation "about good," e.g., the law and praise of God, prosperity and joy, (Chald., Aquil., Rabbins, many of the older in- terpreters until Rosenm.), or what might serve as a justification against slander (Calvin, Ruding.), are inadmissible. It might possibly be interpreted, "I was silent respecting pros- perity," in so far as it was not asked for or was dispensed with (Ewald, Koster), or turned away from the prosperity of the wicked, since the poet sought to put the inconsistency to a dead silence (Delitzsch), which would certainly be better than: turned away from the prosperous (Maurer). We might likewise say: far away from good=without joy and comfort (Geier, J. H. Mich.) or: so that it was not well with me, gloomy (Hupf.), or: not for good=without good results (Hengst.). A hard ellipsis, difficult to be understood, would result from the interpre- tation that it is an abbreviation of the complete clause: from good even to evil=utterly, Gen. xxxi. 24; 2 Sam. xiii. 22, (Flam., De Wette, Hitzig). We refer the obscure and disputed ex- pression to the circumstance, in which the poet describes himself as an unfortunate man, whose pain has in vain fretted within him. [Ver. 3. Fire burned.— Hupfeld: "This is a usual figure of internal excitement and passion, as well as of the anxiety and pain resulting therefrom, when it is denied expression." Comp. Pss. xxii. 15; xxxii. 3; Is. xx. 9.— C. A. B.] Str. III. Ver. 4. Make me to know, etc. The entire manner of express. on shows, that the speaker does not inquire after the point of time of his death, because his sufferings would then be at an end, nor complain of his sufferings on account of the shortness of human life, because he has no longer hope of help; which then is taken as the subject of the previous complaint, derived from the time of his ill-humor, as in Job vi. 7sq. ; vii. 7; xiv. 1 sq.; xvi. 22, in contrasted reference to the present patient endurance of what God has done (ver. it), where Luther im- properly translates: Thou wilt make it right. The speaker, certainly does not implore instruc- tion respecting the perishableness of all earthly and human things, which indeed he has expe- rienced in the most direct way in his own suffer- ings and which is presupposed as the foundation of his prayer. Its purpose is: that God, by His operation upon the soul of the sufferer, may causa him to spiritually apprehend this for moral and practical purposes, in order that, when he ap- prehends his own person as a vanishing thing in the midst of the perishable, he may not make so much bustle about himself and his sufferings in the world, but may lay hold of God by faith, as the only true support. Thus there is unity in the entire Psalm and an advance in thought. The Psalmist speaks in a narrative form, vers. 1-3, but subsequently in prayer, arising out of the feelings which the reflection upon his previous action has excited in him, and from which the previous self-accusation as well as the increasing intensity and preasingness of the prayer have originated and are explained. If on the other hand ver. 4 sq., is regarded as the subject of the speech of the tongue mentioned in ver. 3, then we must either give an entirely new and independent beginning to the prayer, in ver. 7 (Calvin, Ruding., Hengst.), which thus divides the Psalm ia two halves, with which neither the refrain of ver. 5 in ver. 11, nor the double Selah would agree; or we must with Hupfeld regard all spoken after ver. 3, as the contents of that which in ver. 3 welled forth from the glowing heart upon the tongue. Then the unity of the Psalm would be preserved, since the first half would have the meaning of an In- troduction; but the contents do not suit the introduction at all, because there is no trace in the prayer of sinning with the tongue.* — I would know what a transitory thing I am. — It is not at all necessary to change Tin into "17H after Ps. lxxxix. 48, comp. Is. xxxviii. 11, (Kim- chi, Calvin, Cocc, Cleric, Hupfeld), whose meaning sevum is doubtful, and is taken by Bott- cher in the sense of: a little heap of earth, dust (rfe inferis, \ 274). Ver. 5. Hand-breadths. — Instead of this the Vulgate has mensurabdes, and the ancient Psalters veteres after the Sept. iraJ.aiac., which however is a corruption of waXacardc or 7ra/Uorac. which, as a literal translation of the Hebrew, is found in the Cod. Alex., and in Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzen and even was known to Am- brose and by him explained not as the palm but as rings. [Hupfeld: "It is used as a little mea- sure of length to indicate the shortness of life, ' as with us, a span. The construction is that of the double accusative." — C. A. B.] — Only mere breath is every man though he stand firmly. — It is best to connect 2X2 with D"IX in contrast with 7371. Man is thus described as vigorous, standing firm (Zech. xi. 16), strong in his own feelings, bold and stepping securely, and not merely as one " who lives" (Sept.). It is certainly, in no case, to be connected with the following Selah=standing he bowed. It is possible to connect this word with the entire clause=only to mere nothingness is every man appointed (Ilengst. [Alexander]), or better: * [Perowne agrees with Hupfeld in what is the best view. " The words that he ' spake with his tongue,' are those which follow to th-< end of the Psalm. The introduction is merely the record of that inward struggle out of which the Psalm itself arose. And the words that he does speak are directed to God in prayer for teaching, not to man in complaints." — C. A. B.]. PSALM XXXIX. 207 placed as mere breath (Brjttcher), constilutus est. But this interpretation is not necessary and it cannot be sustained by appealing to the previous lines. For the assertion that "before Thee" (=in Thine eyes) means "according to God's regulation" is just as untenable as that j'X never=" nothing," but always,=nullity. Hup- feld adduces as decisive against it, Is. xl. 17 ; xli. 12, 24. The confirming "yes" may be put instead of the restricting " only."* Usage al- lows the one as well as the other. Str. IV. Ver. G. Only as a shadow doth man walk. — The Rabbinical interpretation that man walketh "in darkness " is incorrect. The bcth is the so-called belhessenlix. [It intro- duces the predicate. He walks about consisting merely of an unsubstantial shadow like that image of himself in the shadow upon the ground. — Only for a breath do they make a noise. — Perowne: "All the fret and stir, all the eager clamor and rivalry of men, as they elbow and jostle one another to obtain wealth and rank, and the enjoyments of life, are but a breath. Comp. James iv. 13, 14."— C. A. B.].— He heapeth up. — It makes no difference in the sense whether we think particularly of treasure. (Job xxvii. 16, [A. V. riches']) or grain (Gen. xli. 35, 40). The following verb, however, is in favor of the gathering of the harvest, and the suffix refers to a nom. plur. masc, understood. f [Ver. 7. And now. — Perowne: "Turning away as it. were, with a sense of relief from the sad contemplation of man's fleeting, transitory life, to fix the eye of his heart on Him who abidcth forever. We seem almost to hear the deep sigh with which the words are uttered. It is remarkable that even here, it is on God Him- self, not on a life to come, that his hope sustains itself."— C. A. B.]. [Str. V. Ver. 8. Transgressions are regard- ed as the root of his sufferings and hence the prayer that they may be removed. Comp. Pss. xxxviii. 5, G; xxxi. 10. — Scorn of the fool. — Comp. Ps. xxii. G. They, beholding his suffer- ings, would mock him and scorn him for his transgression, charging many things against him of which he was guiltless. Ver. 9. Because Thou didst it. — The Thou is emphatic and indicates that his sufferings were the work of God and no one else. — C. A. B.l. [Sir. VI. Ver. 11. And like the moth makest what he desires to melt away. — As the moth consumes garments and they waste away, so that which is dearest and most desira- ble and precious to him, melts away under the stroke of Divine chastisement. This is a usual figure of pevishablencss, comp. Is. 1. 9; li. 8 ; Job xiii. 28. — Only a breath is every man — Vid. ver. 5, to which this clause refers back. — C. A. B.] Str. VII. Ver. 12. [To my tears.— Delitzsch : "Along-side of the words of prayer appear the * [A. V. has " verily " bat this is not so good. — C. A. B.l \ [Wordsworth: " He heapeth up wealth like sheaves on the threshing floor and knoweth not who shall gather the corn into the barn ; comp. Matt. xw.2i. 'gathering where thou hast not strawed ' or winnowed. David heaped up a great store of riches for the Temple of God, which be was not permitted to huild ; and he might sometimes feel mis- givings and apprehensions lest those preparations should be frustrated, and that provision be dissipated." — C. A. B.l tears likewise as a prayer understood by God, for when the doors of prayer appear to be closed, the doors of the tears remain open." — C. A. B.]— Fori am a guest with Thee, etc. The expression which is rendered in the Kept. by it a i mi hoc nal napeTrid*n/ioe (like I Peter ii. 11), originates from Gen. xxiii. 4, as a designation of the relation, in which Abraham stood to the natives of the land through which he wandered, and it was referred afterwards not only to the relation of foreign inhabitants of Canaan to the Israelites who were possessed of the full right of citizenship in the promised land, it being in their possession, Ex. xii. 49; Lev. xxiv. 1(J, 22; xxv. 6, et al. ; but likewise to the relation of the Israelites to God as the true and only Lord, Lev. xxv. 23. The additional clause: as all my fathers, points to a comprehensive relation of this kind. We have therefore to think not of a merely personal and transient helplessness and need of protection, or of a mere dependence upon God, which likewise remains to those within the fellowship of the people of God, but to in- clude in the idea, at the same time, the thought of the merely transient abode of man in this world, as likewise in 1 Chron. xxix. 15, and Heb. xi. 13 sq. — Most ancient Psalters have after apud te, which is missing in Cod. Vat. of the Sept., likewise in terra. The Cod. Vat. also has this reading, while the Cod. Alex, has both readings, f v nj y?J irapd aoi. Ver. 12. Look away from me, that I may cheer up. — God's looking away refers to the turning away His angry face, Pss. xxi. 9; xxxiv. 10; His look of wrath, Job vii. 19; xiv. 6, which has as its result the "cheering up" (Job ix. 27; x. 20) of the human countenance, since the clouds of care and shadows of trouble vanish DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. Even experienced believers are deceived at times as to the little reliance they can place upon good resolutions, but only for a short time. Temp- tation shows how weak we are, how little patience we have in affliction, how easy and how greatly we sin in our impatience and despondency in murmuring and complaining. " It is to be well pondered that. David in this Psalm does not de- clare his virtues in that he had formed his wishes after the rule of piety and sent them up to God, but that he rather complains of the weakness which misled him to foam in excessive pain and remonstrate with God. Ilesets before us in his person a mirror of human weakness, in order that we, being warned of the danger, may learn carefully to flee under the shadow of the wings of God." (Calvin). 2. When, however, in the fiery trial of temp- tation our good resolutions have not stood the test, the way to salvation is in the confession of our weakness and repentance for our foolish con- fidence in self. A truly pious man after such experiences of himself, will not justify himself by the plea of good intentions or excuse himself by the greatness of the temptation. He has learned, that he has trodden false paths, whilst he thought to con-ceal his weakness from the un- godly by a strength which he did not possess, and surrounded himself, without internal devo- 2G8 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. tion and tranquility, with the appearance of quiet and patience. Then the pain consumes still deeper the unbroken heart and if he has kindled in it the dull heat of consuming fret fulness, this soon enough finds vent with the violence of long suppressed resentment. 8. The quiet patience of the pfous, in the silence of resignation of oneself into the hands and will of God, is an entirely different thing from the defiant suppression of sullen fretfulness, or cold renunciation in mute resignation. The latter is followed too soon by the stormy outbreak of the enchained ill-humor and the lamentable pouring forth of the disquiet of the heart which is des- titute of peace and joy. The former is strength- ened by stern self-examination, by earnest reflec- tion upon the world, and by ardent prayer, unto perseverance under the sufferings and temptations in this transitory woi'ld. 4. The transiloriness of the world and the brevity of human life, afford the man who is at peace in God, no reasons for consuming ill-humor and despondent complaints. Nor does he seek in them any ground of comfort, when his suffer- ings pain him, or the riddle of life troubles him. He is not so miserable that he hopes that the one will soon come to an end with the other. He hopes and waits on the Lord as the only reliable and only abiding one, who cannot be carried away by the rushing stream of the perishable, and whose voice cannot be drowned in the roar- ing and yet vain noise which they make. " It is just this which is so heroic in the Old Testament faith, that in the midst of the riddles of the pre- sent, and in view of a future, losing itself in a night of gloom, it casts itself absolutely and without hesitation into the arms of God." (De- litzsch). Yet we must not forget, that herein is the root of the faith in immortality, resurrection and eternal life, for one of the characteristic names of Jehovah is 'n =the Living one. 5. But now the communion with God in life, is restricted in man by sin, yet it would be entirely destroyed, if there were no deliverance from the power of sin, if the judging and punishing hand of God should strike the sinner dead. Therefore the afflicted man, who in his sufferings not only receives but recognizes the Divine punish- ment of his sins, directs his prayer to deliverance from both, from his sins and his sufferings. The former is manifest in the latter in this temporal life and is even clear to his enemies. It is ac- cordingly in the interest of God as well, that He should not allow the man who waits upon Him, having been converted to Him, to be the scorn of the fool; and even the brevity of the human pilgrimage in the land of promise may under these circumstances be used as a motive for the speedy exhibition of the Divine mercy, as in Job. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. The sins of the tongue must be repented of by the entire man. — There is a time to be silent and a time to speak. — The silence of the sufferer who is resigned to the will of God is very different in its causes and effects from the silence of the tempted sinner in the pride of his self-righteousness, in the ive.akness of his despondency, in the stubbornness of his despair. — In the hour of temptation it is seen that we need another power than our good resolu- tions.— He who lives and suffers in faith in the righteous government of God, may have sore trials to bear, but he will not open his mouth in com- plaints, murmurings, and blasphemies, but in confession of sin, in appeals to the mercy of God, in praising the glory of the Lord. — He who can find no more words for prayer, may let his tears speak for him, and God knows what they mean. — The more severely we have to bear the burden of our sins under the pressure of sufferings, the more ardent is the prayer for release by the hand of God. — The sufferings of the penitent are a scorn of the fool, but God's eye observes them. — Even un- der long suffering the path which we walk is but short, and even the least burdened have heavy burdens to bear; so much the more necessary is it to find God early, for, without Him, everything is nothing. — Take care that thou dost not ex- change a short joy for long pain, and in chasing after perishable goods lose God, the everlasting good. — The explanation of our earthly pilgrimage; a stranger on earth, at home with God. Starke : In the pious the spirit has to wage a severe conflict with the flesh on account of the prosperity of the ungodly, and the misfortunes of the pious. — Secret fire and pain concealed within the heart, rage with all the more vio- lence; hence the best advice is to shake them out in God's lap, and besides manifest oneself a Christian well trained in the cross. — If your tongue is to be kept from sinning against God and your neighbors, your heart must first be pu- rified from pride, impatience, and envy. — If the days of our life are short and their end uncer- tain, let us be diligent not only to properly em- ploy a part, of them, but our whole time. — Where faith and living hope are, Christian patience and humility under the strong hand of God are as- sured of a desired issue. Osiander: Man, so far as he is regenerate, desires to quench the ill humor and impatience of his flesh — Selnekker : Faith and Hope must overcome all murmuring. — Dauderstadt: In every trouble our chief care should be not to transgress. — Bake: We build here so firmly and yet are stranger guests. — Bengel: David in this Psalm longs beyond measure for the heavenly native land. — Diedrich: Blessed is the man who has God left to him from the shipwreck of all temporal prosperity, so that he now properly chooses Him for himself, and considers Him. — Taube: Without revelation we understand nei- ther life nor death, with the everlasting lamp we understand both. — Thoughts of death foster the sense of our pilgrimage. — Ahlfeld: Be not de- ceived respecting your home by a foreign land: 1). Which is the foreign land? 2). Which is the home? 3). How may we hold fast to our home when abroad? — Thym: How does hope comfort in death? It fills us 1) with believing trust in our going home, 2) with glad prospects of home, 3) with comforting confidence of meeting again — Our life on earth is short and transitory. 1) All men know it ; 2) but only the disciples of the Lord think of it; 3) and yet it decides our ever- lasting welfare. — Deichert: The poor human heart attains rest only by resigning itself en- tirely to God. 1) Its vain struggles for rest and peace of soul without God ; '!) its bitter and PSALM XL. 2G9 searching importunity in prayer to God; 3) its final triumph with God. [Matiii. Henry: Those that are of a fretful, discontented spirit, ought, not to pore much, for while they suffer their thoughts to dwell upon the cause of their calamity the fire Of their dis- content is fed with fuel, anil burns the more fu- riously.— When creature confidences fail, it is our comfort that we have a God to go to, a God to trust to, and we should thereby be quickened to take so much the faster hold of Him by faith. — Robert Leighton: It is a piece of strange folly, that we defer the whole, or a great part of our day's work, to the twilight of the evening, and are so cruel to ourselves, as to keep the great load of our life for a few hours or days, and for a pained, sickly body. He who makes it his daily work to observe his ways, is not astonished when that day comes, which long before was fa- miliar to him every day. — We need not long lines to measure our lives by: each one carries a mea- sure about with him, his own hand. — There is a common imposture among people to read their fortunes by their hands; but this is true palm- istry indeed, to read the shortness of our life upon the palms of our hands. — Every man's fancy is to himself a gallery of pictures, and there lie walks up and down, and considers not how vain these are, and how vain a thing he him- self is. — Barnes: The most perfect calmness and peace in trouble is produced, not when we rely on our own reasonings, or when we attempt to comprehend and explain a mystery, but when we direct our thoughts simply to the fact that God has done it. — Spurgeon: To avoid sin one had need be very circumspect, and keep one's actions as with a guard or garrison. Unguarded ways are generally unholy ones. Heedless is another word for graceless. — If I have the fever myself, there is no reason why I should communicate it to my neighbors. If any on board the vessel of my soul are diseased, I will put my heart in qua- rantine, and allow none to go on shore in the boat of speech till I have a clean bill of health. — Nature may do her best to silence the expres- sion of discontent, but unless grace comes to her rescue, she will be sure to succumb. — Worldly men walk like travellers in a mirage, deluded, duped, deceived, soon to be filled with disap- pointment and despair. — Men fret, and fume, and worry, and all for mere nothing. They are sha- dows pursuing shadows, while death pursues them. — All our desires and delights are wretched moth-eaten things when the Lord visits us in His anger. — C. A. B.] PSALM XL. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. 1 I waited patiently for the Lord; And he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my goings. 3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, Even praise unto our God: Many shall see it, and fear, And shall trust in the Lord. 4 Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, And respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. 5 Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done and thy thoughts ivhich are to us-ward : They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee : if I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered. 270 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. 6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire ; Mine ears hast thou opened : Burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come : In the volume of the book it is written of me, 8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: Yea, thy law is within my heart. 9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation : Lo, I have not refrained my lips, 0 Lord, thou knowest. 10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; 1 have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy loving kindnessand thy truth from the great congregation 11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord : Let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. 12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about : Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up ; They are more than the hairs of mine head : Therefore mine heart faileth me. 13 Be pleased, 0 Lord, to deliver me : O Lord, make haste to help me. 14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together That seek after my soul to destroy it ; Let them be driven backward and put to shame That wish me evil. 15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame That say unto me, Aha, aha. 16 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee : Let such as love thy salvation Say continually, The Lord be magnified. 17 But I am poor and needy ; Yet the Lord thinketh upon me : Thou art my help and my deliverer ; Make no tarrying, O my God. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. , Its Contents and Composition. The Psalm- ist, narrates (ver. 1), how God has graciously accepted his trust and cry for help (ver. 2), de- livered him from a great danger and given him a new song (ver. 3), all for the strengthening of the faith of many. He pronounces those blessed who trust in God (ver. 4), and this forms the transition to the mention (ver. 5) of the in- numerable and unspeakable exhibitions of grace which have been marie to the believing, for which God would be thanked, not by external ritual offerings (ver. 6), but by willing obedience to the Divine will expressed in the written law (vers. 7-8). This the Psalmist, as God knows, has declared as a glad tidings, in the great con- gregation (vers. 9-10). In accordance with this he now prays (ver. 11) for the continuance of the Divine protection ; for innumerable evils, the con- sequences of his transgressions, have surrounded him (ver. 12) ; and therefore he prays importu- nately (ver. 13), that God will hasten to his help, and bring his enemies to shame (ver. 14), as a punishment for their scorn which they have de- lighted to heap upon him fver. 15). Those who seek God and love Him, are to rejoice and praise God (ver. 16), for though th« Psalmist is at present poor and miserable, yet he trusts in God's assistance firmly and prays to Him urgently (ver. 17). It follows from this analysis, that the assertion, that the Psalm is divided into two parts differing from one another in contents and tone, and in part inconsistent with one another, the one part thanksgiving the other prayer, does not accord with the circumstances of the case. It is true the so-called second part (vers. 12-17) is found with few alterations in an independent form, as Ps. lxx. But this does not prove that two songs originally different have here been subsequently united (Pareau instil, interpr. 330), or that the unity can be maintained only by the supposition that the poet speaks in the name of PSALM XL. 271 the people of Israel (Isaki, Roseum. II.), or the pious members of the people (De Wette). Still less can it be shown, that Ps. lxx. was t lie ori- ginal, and that it is here imitated aud attached as a prayer to a Psalm of thanksgiving (Hup- felil). There are rather iu Ps. lxx. many signs of its being a fragment. This portion of Ps. xl. moreover, might very easily and properly, owing to its character, have been separated for the special use of the congregation, although hardly by the author himself. The difference of tone in the various groups of this Psalm is sufficiently explained from the difference between narrative, thauksgiving and prayer. Hence arise the un- evenness of the strophes and the verses, and dis- similarity in the length of the lines. These cha- racteristics are not disclosed in any particular part, but pervade the whole Psalm. It is diffi- cult to decide respecting the author. It is not necessary that we should be referred to the time of the recovery of the book of the law (Ewald) ; for it is particularly in the Psalms of David in the time of the persecution by Saul, that many refer- ences to the law are found ; besides, there are re- semblances with Ps. xxii. 25; xxv. 21; xxxv. 18, 21, 2"). But the most striking similarities are with Ps. lxix., and in that Psalm there is so much in favor of its composition by Jeremiah (Hitzig), that even Delitzsch wavers in his judgment. Since both Psalms at any rate, have the same author, and Ps. lxix. contains many important evidences, the decision is to be drawn from a consideration of that Psalm. Here however, we may anticipate the result with the statement that there are weighty reasons in favor of David as the author, only not in the time of his flight before Absxlom (Kudinger, Venema, Muntinghe). Hence we hold fast to it, since no decisive reasons have thus far been adduced against it. — The words of vers. 6-8, are put in the mouth of Christ by the author of the epistle to the Hebrews x. 5-7. Most of the earlier interpreters have, therefore, supposed, that Christ here speaks by the mouth of David prophetically of his bringing the offer- ing of his life in his state of humiliation, ami therefore they have treated the Psalm either partly or entirely as directly Messianic, so recent- ly liohl. Hengstenberg has very properly given up this view, which lie advocated in the first edition of his Christology. Even the typical in- terpretation can be maintained only in the freer sense (Calvin, Raiding., Grotius, Cler., et al.) and not in the stricter sense (Stier). The epis- tle to the Hebrews, really makes a free use of the words in question and one deviating in many re- spects from the original text (Vid. Moll's Epist. to the Hebrews x. 5-7, in Lange's Commentary). Yet this is on the basis of the recognized typical relation of the Old Covenant to the New Cove- nant and particularly of the person and history of David. "The words of David, the anointed, yet only after he was on the way to the throne, are so formed by the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of prophecy, that they at the same time sound as the words of another David passing through suf- ferings to glory, whose offering of himself is the end of the animal offerings and whose person and work are the kernel and star of the roll of the law." (Delitzsch). Sir. I. Ver. 1. Waiting I waited.— The He- brew infin. als. does not so much strengthen the verbal idea, with which view the firmness, pa- tience, endurance and power of the trust would be expressed (Calvin, Geier, J. II. Mich., De- litzsch, et al.), but rather emphasizes it, whether with a parenetic view (Hengst.), or as an ante- cedent and in contrast to the consequences mentioned in the second member (Hupfeld). — He inclined unto me. — It is doubtful whether PIDJ (incline, bow), without an object, is here to be regarded as intransitive (Aben Ezra, J. H. Mich., De Wette, Hengst., Hitzig), the passages cited in favor of this, Gen. xxxviii. 16; Judges xvi. 30, not being entirely parallel, or whether we are to supply " ears " (Hupfeld, Delitzsch), since this combination frequently occurs, yet only with the Hiphil. Ver. 2. Pit of destruction — dirt of the mire — rock — made my footsteps firm. — Hit zig derives from the mention of pit, his ex- planation of the Psalm from the history of Jere- miah, but since even he does not take the rock, which is the usual figure of security (Pss. xviii. 2; xxvii. 5), in a literal sense, his grounds arc weak ; and the pit with its mire, in which the foot slides and can gain no firm foothold is figurative of danger, as the waters elsewhere (Ps. xviii. 15 and frequently). Put it does not follow from this or the circumstance that "iMit/ is likewise used of the rushing and roaring of water (Ps. lxv. 7 ; Jer. xvii. 12 sq.), that we must think here of a rushing depth of water (Hengst.) or a roaring pit (Kimchi, Calvin, Venema, Kosenm.) =pit of roaring water. The meaning: destruc- tion=ruin, is assured from Jer. xxv. 31 ; xlvi. 17 ; Ps. xxxv. 8. Ver. 3. [A new song. — Perowne: "One celebrating with all the power of a recent grati- tude a new and signal act of deliverance." Vid. Ps. xxxiii. 3. — C. A. B.]. — The same alliteration which is found here [ IJO^l-INT1 ], occurs like- L t • : : • •' wise in Ps. lii. 6, where it is followed by a clause like ver. 4. Sir. II. Ver. 4. His trust— Related with this clause are Pss. xxxiv. 8; lii. 6; lxv. 5; lxxi. 5; xci. 9; Job xxxi. 24 ; Isa. xx. 5; Jer. xvii. 7 ; so much more are the latter passages to be regarded as re-echoes of this the original pas- sage.— Blusterers and lying apostates — Most interpreters since Aben Ezra and Kimchi take D'3rn as a plural of an adjective which is not found elsewhere; others after the Sept., Syriac, Jerome, as the plural instead of the usual singular Dm=raging, daring, violent, particularly as a surname of Egypt, with the idea of an external, noisy, boastful bragging of their own power, whereby they mislead others to put their trust in them, which was then shamefully deceived (Hupf. ). The DID 'DSP are not those . TT "T " who incline themselves=turn to lies," whether we think of real lies (Stier) or idols and magic (Isaki, Kimchi, Hengst.). The verb BliP=rM3& expresses a stronger idea than that of inclining oneself and is not an intransitive. We must, therefore, translate: apostates of lies— lying, faithless apostates (Hupfeld, Delitzsch). A si- milar form of expression is found in Ps. lix. Hitzig, through the Arabic, refers to those who " shriek lies," which is more natural than to 272 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. make the reading "IDty and think of the tongue as a whip (Job v. 21 ; Sir. xxvi. 6), because, likewise flexible ; because it gossips and because it can likewise smite a person. (Jer. xviii. 18). Str. III. Ver. 5. There is no comparison with Thee, (else) would I declare and speak.— Comp. Ps. lxxxix. 8; Is. xl. 18; Job xxviii. 17, 19. Thus most recent interpreters after Sept., Isaki, Luther. The translation: there is no reckoning of them before thee (Sym- mach., Chald., Jerome, Kimchi, Calvin, Ruding., Piscator, Geier, Cleric, Rosenm., Stier, Hupf., [A. V.])=they are "unspeakable, innumerable," is especially opposed by the circumstance that such a reckoning is not usual before God, but before men. It is better to take the following words, in accordance with the accents, either as a parenthesis as Ps. li. 16 ; lv. 12, or as a hypo- thetical consequent to the immediately preceding statement. If we should neglect the accents, it might be an expression of a hypothetical ante- cedent to the assurance of the impossibility of numbering expressed in the following line (Sym- mach., Jerome, Isaki, Kimchi, Calvin, Geier). It is inadmissible to take it as a real future (Stier, Hengst.,) ; for then the statement would be of a real resolution in opposition to the preced- ing as well as the following statement. Sir. IV. Ver. 6. Ears hast Thou dug for me, that is created for me instruments for hear- ing. It is accordingly the business of man to use them in accordance with the Divine will. This may be partly by observing God's word, partly by following God's commands=obedience to the will of God expressed in His word. Both references often lead to one another, and the latter is certainly brought about by the former (Deut. xxix. 3; Is. vi. 9 sq.; Jer. vii. 24). That the position of the clause, if it is taken as a parenthesis, would make a change here and em- phasize the ears as the organ of a theoretical know- ledge (Hupf.), is so much the less to be conceded, as, according to Hupfeld's own view, parentheses occur frequently in this Psalm. Still less is the re- ference to the boring through or boring out the ears, parallel with the usual formula ; open the ear (Is. xlviii. 8; 1. 5), and uncover the ear (1 Sam. ix. 16; xx. 2, 12 sq. ; xxii. 8, 17; Job xxxiii. 16; xxxvi. 10, 15), or; open the eyes (Gen. iii. 7 ; xxi. 9), and uueovar the eyes (Num. xxii. 31 ; xxiv. 4; 16; Ps. cxix. 18), of the impartation or of the impression of knowledge by Divine revelation (Isaki, Calvin, Geier, Venema, Rosenm., De Wette, Stier). For, although the Hebrew verb with the meaning of " dig, bore " may under some circumstances pass over into that of perfodere (Ps. xxii. 16), yet we would be obliged to expect, in accordance with the paral- lels adduced, the singular instead of the plural, "ears." But now, furthermore, the -clause is not. really parenthetical, but rather the three verbs are entirely parallel in the three lines, aud the passage sounds very much like the re-echo of the words of Samuel, 1 Sam. xv. 22. This is partly in favor of its composition by David, partly in favor of a reference to obedience (Geier, Hengst., Von Hofm., Delitzsch). The expres- sion, however, is not a symbolical designation of the obedience of the servant, whose ear was nailed to ihe door posts of the Lord, by which he obligated himself to remain forever, Ex. xxi. 6 ; Deut. xv. 17, (after Geier et al. Hengst. pre- viously, Stier, in part, now Bohl) ; for there was a special technical expression for this, and more- over onlg one ear was thus treated (J. D. Mich., Rosenm.). The ancient interpreters explained the plural arbitrarily by reference to the double obedience of Christ, his active and passive obe- dience, but so, that the congregation, for whom he otfered himself, was composed of two parts, Jews and Gentiles. Bohl grants herein a free use of the symbol in question, and appeals moreover to Hos. iii. 2, for this meaning of 7"P3 =make oneself a bond slave by means of boring (after Hengst. Christology, 2 Edit. i. 219), whilst he at the same time disputes the fixedness of a term, techn. Yet he wavers as much in this, as in the explanation of the symbol itself. For if boring, which occurs as a symbol of obedience like- wise among the Mesopotamians, Arabs, Lydians, and Carthagenians, means nothing more than that the man who has been bored has open, hear- ing ears, and thus is to be attentive and obedient (Knobel upon Ex. xxi. 6), it cannot be, at the same time, regarded as a symbol of continued, everlasting servitude (Saalchiitz, das mos. Recht, S. 699). At any rate the emphasis in the con- text of the present passage is not upon the latter but the former point, and therefore the refe- rence to that symbol must be abandoned. The expression originates from the form of the bodily ear. This view renders the use of this passage in Heb. x. 5 much easier to understand, in ac- cordance with the enlarged and explanatory translation of the Sept., unless perhaps it is an ancient mistake in copying. The Vulgate Las aures, the Itala as likewise the Psalter. Roman., however, corpus. — Burnt offering and sin of- fering.— The so called spiritual interpretation of the offerings is found not first in Jer. vii. 21 ; (comp. vi. 20); or Isa. lxvi. 3; but already in Isa. i. 11; and besides Hos. vi. 6; Am. v. 21 sq. ; Mich. vi. 6sq. ; Prov. xv. 8; xxi. 3; like- wise Pss. 1. 8; li. 17. 1 Sam. xv. 22, may how- ever be regarded as the original passage in ac- cordance with the idea, which was already ex- pressed in the difference between the offerings of Cain and Abel, and which pervades the entire Mosaic legislation. So much the less are we to think here of a revelation of a new truth, but of an observation of the revealed will of God, which requires not an offering divorced from the heart, but obedience and consecration of the entire per- son, of which the offerings are the figurative ex- pression. " The offerings are named in a two- fold respect: a, according to their material, ror animal offering and nn,]0 meal offering (in- cluding the ^DJ wine offering, which is the in- separable accompaniment of the Mincha) ; h, according to their purpose, either as essentially T\n$ in order to procure Divine favor, or as essentially HNtan (here riXDn), in order to turn away the Divine displeasure. That n_3T and nVlJ? precede is due to the fact that nJT denotes partially the shelamim offering, and the thank- offering proper, namely, the toda-shelamim offer- ing belongs to this class, and that 7\n$ as the offering of worship, npoaevxv, which is ever PSALM XL. 273 likewise general thanksgiving, ivxapiaria, is in natural connection with the shelamim to the thankful." (Delitzsch). Ver. 7. Lo, I am come = here I am, as an expression of t,he obedient servant ready for the service of his Lord, and standing in this willing- ness before the Lord, (Num. xxii. 38 ; 1 Sam. iii. 4, 8 ; 2 Sam. xix. 21 ; Isa. vi. 8; Matth. viii. 9). It is not necessary to supply : before Thy face (Hupfeld). The translation: I have con- sented, namely, to the requirement, ver. 6 (Bott- chcr), is unsuitable. — With the roll of the book, written concerning me. — These words would have to be taken as a parenthesis, if the purpose of the coming were stated. But since this is not stated expressly, this supposition loses its support, so likewise the pretension to erase this line (Olsh.) It is admissible, how- ever, to take ver. 7 b as an independent clause=: in the roll of the book it is prescribed to me (Hengst., Hupfeld, in a different combination from itosenm. and Gesenius, from Umbreit and Maurer). It is particularly in connection with the recovery of the Pentateuch (2 Kings xxii. 13) that the construction of 2T\2 with i]f occurs in this signification. But really this so-called mean- ing is only a paraphrase, used in order to sim- plify it to the understanding. Taken literally, even there the persons are adduced with 7^, re- specting whom it is written, namely, the word of God, obligating them, and binding upon them; they are the ones to whom that which is written refers, Job xiii. 26. The ancient translation ■Kepi e/mv, upon which Ileb. x. 7 is based, is ac- cordingly altogether unobjectionable. This clause may now be connected likewise in language with the preceding clause, so that the preposition 2 expresses the accompaniment, as Ps. lxvi. 15 (Umbreit, Ewald, Maurer, et al.) But the book roll with which the Psalmist comes is not the roll of the written leaf, which Jeremiah carried with him (' /]£ =: with me) and upon which he had written the prophecy of future redemption, in order to read it to the people, as he himself had "eaten" its contents, Jer. xv. 16 (Hitzig), but the roll of the law written on skins, Jer. xxxvi. 2, 4; Ezek. ii. 9 (Hupf.), particularly the law respecting the king, Deut. xvii. 14 sq. (Von Hofm., Delitzsch), which the king of Israel was to keep constantly with him. This view explains the transfer of these words about David, who was already anointed king of Israel, but had not yet come into possession of the throne, to Christ, Heb. x., as one, for whom it is not necessary to suppose that the idea of the book-roll should be transferred unhistorically to the entire Old Tes- tament and its prophecies. The following ex- planations: written upon me (Sachs), which means, that the poet is himself the narrative of the wonders of God which have happened to him ; or written in me, that is, in my heart (De Wette), are inadmissible. It is first said in ver. 8 that David carried the law not only with him, but in himself. For this is a characteristic of the right- eous (Ps. xxxvii. 31, after Deut. vi. 6 ; comp. Prov. iii. 3; vii. 3). But this Divine purpose is not fulfilled in the entire people (Isa. Ii. 7) until the time of the Messiah (Jer. xxxi. 33). Heng- stenberg (Beitriige II. 489 sq.) has proved that the mention of the roll of the law as written upon skins does not lead to a later period of composi- tion. Still less is it necessary to think of a man, who, after the discovery of the law by Ilezekiah, went with the roll into the temple (Ewald). Str. V. Vers. 9, 10. I proclaimed, etc.— The perfects, vers. 9, 10, do not express continued action ( De Wette), but past, yet they refer not to the contents of the new revelation written upon the leaf (IIitz;g), but narrate parallel with ver. 7, that the Psalmist not only took his position as an obedient servant of Jehovah, and as a perso- nal thank-otfering at the disposal of God, but that he has expressed his thanks by proclaiming the praise of Jehovah in the congregation (comp. Ps. 1. 24 sq.) This proclamation is designated by the verb "^3 as glad tidings. [Perowne: " Words are heaped upon words to express the eager forwardness of a heart burning to show forth its gratitude. No elaborate description could so well have given us the likeness of one whose 'life was a thanksgiving.' " — C. A. B.] Str. VI. Ver. 11. Thou, Jehovah, wilt not shut up Thy mercies, etc. — This verse refers to ver. y in the use of shut up, and to ver. 10 in the use of " grace and truth." But it does not follow from this, that the so-called first part con- cludes with ver. 11 (Hupfeld); this is opposed by the connection with ver. 12 by means of " for," which it is entirely arbitrary to regard as merely an external and loose connection. But rather the importunity of the prayer for deliverance from present and recent trouble, rising on the basis of thanksgiving for previous deliverances, and basing itself on the assurance of Divine recom- pense, is grounded on the fact that the trans- gressions of the Psalmist, which followed him in vengeance, as the wrath of God (Ps. lxix. 25), and the curse (Deut. xxviii. 15), have overtaken him, and that there is accordingly no other help than through Jehovah. In the Messianic inter- pretation these transgressions are explained of those voluntarily taken upon himself by the suffering Messiah, and for the most part mada parallel with innumerable evils as the punish- ment of sins. Both of these ideas are again.-t the text which says that the transgressions of the Psalm- ist are his own, who feels that he has been seized upon by the innumerable evils which surround him and he has no prospect. This general explanation of the clause, I cannot see, corresponds closely as well with the context as with the wording of the clause. The explanation : I cannot see over them on account of their innumerableness (Hit- zig, Hupfeld), corresponds with the former; the interpretation of it from weakened sight, owing to great woe (Luther, Hengst.), correspond* with the latter. This physical inability (1 Sam. iii. 2 ; iv. 14 ; 1 Kings xiv. 4; Job xvi. 16; Pss. xiii. 3 ; xxxviii. 10), may be a sign that a man's strength (Ps. xxxviii. 10), or his heart (Ps. xl. 13) = courage, composure, joyfulness, have forsaken him, yet however is not to be placed alongside of the latter, and tobe explained of the obscuration of consciousness = inconsiderateness (Chald., Stier, Ewald). Least of all are we to think of invisible approach, whereby they overtake him unexpectedly (Hupf. alternately). Str. VII.' Vers. 13-15. Be pleased.— Although 274 THE FIRST BOOK OP PSALMS. Wl in this meaning and in construction with a following h and an infinitive, occurs only here (for in the parallel passage in Ps. lxx. this word is missing), yet it is indisputable, and refers to ver. 8, where the will of God is designated by the nouu of the same root. This again is in favor of the connection of both parts of this Psalm and of its antiquity. The cry for help is like Pss. xxii. 19 ; xxxviii. 22 ; the wish against his deadly enemies, like Ps. xxxv. 4, 2b" ; the description of their behaviour, like Ps. xxxv. 21, 2-3, only that " speak " is followed by " of me," (properly : with reference to me), which again is missing in Ps. lxx., where likewise the usual WW* (let them retire) is used instead of 'Sitf' (let them become numb, paralyzed with fright). The rea- son and ground of their numbness is stated in the following verse with i$, that shame is their reward ( [lit zig, Delitzsch), which is not like the accusative (Ilupfeld), which would merely say: on account of their shame (De Wette, Hengsten- berg). [For the expression Aha, aha, vid. Ps. xxxv. 21, 25.— C. A. B.] Sir. VIII. Ver. 17. The Lord will care for me. — It is not necessary to adopt the reading "^"Hi^n from Pss. lxx. 6; cxli. 1, instead of "•/"DuMT, as being the only reading consistent with usage (Venema, Ewald, Ilupfeld), and to translate accordingly : Lord, haste to me. The word 3i^n has indeed very different meanings, and here an unusual construction; yet the re- ference at once to the thoughts of God, ver. 5, mentioned by a noun of the same root, which favors the unity of the Psalm, does not leave it doubtful that the reference is neither to regard = value (Rabbins), nor to imputation, namely, of sins (Cocc, Gesen.), but to the thoughts of God in His providential care over those who turn to Him in prayer (the ancient translators and most interpreters). DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. Sometimes a deliverance from great danger, gives us the first knowledge of how many enemies and how great dangers there are surrounding us here below. But this knowledge should not weaken our thankfulness ; and although the song of thanksgiving to the praise of God must be fol- lowed immediately by a new petition, the ardor of prayer is the more impressive, and the con- fidence of being heard is more assured and joy- ous, the more vital and fresh the experience of the gracious turning of God to the necessity and prayer of him who waits in faith for the help of the Lord. 2. A man who has been delivered by the help of God, is stimulated to a new song by the new experience of grace; but when he on his part is personally confirmed anew in the old covenant of grace, he does not thus acquire any exclusive re- lation to God with peculiar rights and privileges. He is and remains a member of the congregation, in which God from of old has glorified Himself by innumerable tokens of His favor. Therefore all the people are to be benefited by that which happens to the individual, and they are to let their new song resound to the God of all in united praise, and to the general edification. These benefits are better fitted for this, the more they bear and maintain the character of a gift of God. 3. The thanksgiving which is well-pleasing to God is not in the legal fulfilment of the external offerings and similar performances, rites, and ce- remonies, but in obedience to the will of God by the whole person and life. This obedience is de- clared in particular actions and performances, is represented and illustrated by offerings, symbo- lized by rites and ceremonies ; but all these ex- pressions, representations, and symbols, cannot compensate for the absence of obedience. This sym- bolical and representative character of all the of- ferings of the Old Covenant is evidently declared in the roll of the law, which contains the directions for the actions of the people of God. There is no inconsistency therefore in the fact that it is said respecting the offerings expressly ordained by Divine command, that God hai not required or desired them. There is no value ascribed to them in the Mosaic law independent of obedience. God's requirement is directed rather immediately and unconditionally to entire obedience to the Divine will. It is not necessary therefore to suppose a new revelation for the explanation of the thoughts expressed in the text. The will of God has been revealed in the words of God, and God has given men ears to understand them. Whatever is missing is concretely expressed by the inclination and ability of unconditional obe- dience to completely fulfil the law: in the perfect servant of Jehovah, righteous in disposition and ability to justify many (Isa. liii. 11). When, now, David, under definite historical circum- stances, and with special reference to his royal calling, expresses his joy in the fulfilment of the Divine will, and his readiness to commit his person to the disposal of God, he not only says that obedience is the true offering, and that it has to do with the entire person, but he thus en- ters historically into the typically prophetical re- lation to Christ, in which, by the Spirit, his words acquire a meaning which allows, yes, calls forth, a deeper and more comprehensive interpretation within the Old Covenant. 4. The fulfilment of the Divine law is rendered subjectively possible to man, and accomplished, by his taking it up into his soul, and agreeing with his heart to this law which comes to him at first from without and by the ear. Thus the externality and the strangeness of the law are destroyed. Man, then, desires what God desires. He offers his own will in the obedience" of faith. But this offering is fulfilled only on the basis of a de- liverance which has taken place. The offering has thus essentially the meaning of a thank-offer- ing, and it is not at all propitiatory or justifying, although well-pleasing to God. This relation is expressed likewise in the typical reference of the Psalm. 5. He who is in this relation and has a vital experience of the power and truth of it in his own person, should testify of it by word and deer and help others to hear of it (Rom. x. 17), and should particularly proclaim the glad tidings of the righteousness, grace and truth of God, in the congregation. This may likewise be regarded aa PSALM XL. 275 an offering, and indeed of thanks, yet not merely in the sense of the presentation of words, but, at the same time, with the more particular meaning of saerijice and personal consecration, which can- not be fulfilled without self-conquest. For, in ad- dition to the natural slothfulness, forget fulness, unthankfulness, fearfulness, we are to regard not only quietistic inclinations, the disposition to contemplation, the luxury of feeling, but likewise a kind of timidity, dread and shyness of appearing in public, which occur even in men who are spiritually inclined and are decided servants of God. But he who overcomes in this conflict, and ventures to appeal to the testimony of God respecting his readiness to take part in this work, can rely with comforted spirit upon the fact that God will confess those who make Him known before men (Matth. x. 32). G. A true and courageous confessor may, ac- cordingly, rely upon being recognized by God; but the ground on which he bases his confidence is not his personal worth or the deserts of his actions, but the mercy and faithfulness of God. He has the more reason to hold fast to this, as he, with all his piety and devotion to God, and in the calling given him by God, is still not the perfectly righteous one, the sinless servant of God, but rather, in the innumerable sufferings which surround him, he recognizes the deserved punishments of his innumerable transgressions, and, in consequence of this, feels that every natural source of comfort, courage and strength in himself is sealed up. All things depend upon the help of the Lord. He recognizes more tho- roughly the indispensablencss of this, and experi- ences the more deeply its urgency, the stronger his feeling of his own misery and entire helpless- ness, under the painful impressions of the arro- gance of his enemies, who are intoxicated with victory. But the deeper the faith in the special providence of God for the individual, is impressed upon the heart of the sufferer, and the firmer the soul is established in confidence in the final vic- tory and the everlasting triumph of the congre- gation over all its enemies, through the power of God and to the praise of God, and the more this confidence is applied to the personal relation of the oppressed servant of God, the more urgent and sure of being heard is the prayer for the speedy coming of the Lord. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. God not only sends sufferings; but lie likewise scuds help; He works likewise thankfulness.— Hymns and songs belong to the gifts of God : by these we express our thanks, proclaim God's glory, edify the congregation. — Our life may be a long history of sufferings and yet constitute an edifying sermon respecting God's righteousness, grace and truth. — That which comes from the Lord should lead to the Lord.— The kindnesses of God are just as numerous as our sufferings and our transgressions. — We should take to heart what God has done to us and to our people, but not shut it up in our hearts, but let our thanks sound forth not only in ivords, even though they be expressed in new songs and hymns, but likewise in acts well pleasing to God.— What God does to us, is not an exception, but a confirmation of His special as well as general Providence. — The new songs of the pious contain only the old confession of the con- gregation of God. — The best thank-offering is the consecration of the entire person to the service of God in the obedience, of faith. — God desires ener- getical thanks for actual help. — By one and the same act God accomplishes our deliverance, the shame of the enemy, the edification of the congregation. — God's words are not only to come to our ears, but to enter our hearts. — God has given us ears to hear His word ; a mouth to confess it ; a heart to love it ; whence comes the strength to keep it, but from Him ? and who is the righteous one, whom he sends to fulfil it?— God shows Himself to be the faithful God to those who trust in Him, confesses those who confess Him ; will He neglect you, when you do not neglect Mm? — If we would gain God's help, we must seek God Himself. — Consecration and confession should agree with one another, but both be in accordance with God's icord. — He who can- not wait for the help of God, will never gain it; but he must pray for it and may urge his circum- stances in prayer. Starke: The cross conveys many advantages in itself; for it urges the sufferer to pray, his prayer is heard, he rejoices, praises God, seek3 to excite others to praise Him. — Take care that the new song, the gospel, be not sung and preached for your mere amusement, but that it produce in you true fear of God; else it were better that you should never have heard it. — You must not doubt of your sonship and the love of God on account of the postponement of help. He only tries your patience. Christ was a servant in obedience, yet a child of His Father in hearty readiness to do His will. Learn from Him to properly unite both together. — When the word of God comes unto a man in its true power, it cannot long remain concealed, the change of heart soon expresses itself in words and works. — God never lacks the power to help; we need only pray that He will show this power in accordance with His gracious will. Selnkkkeu: Even the law cannot be under- stood apart from Christ, for no one knows, what it requires and how to fulfil it. — Dai;l>eiistadt: We must draw near to God with humility. David calls himself not a king and prophet, but a poor miserable sinner. — Fiuscii: See to it, dear soul, that the new 6ong is not fcung to thee in vain. — The dear gospel does nothing but good to men and yet it has its enemies. — It is impossible that we should endure the cross and live under it without the consolation of God. — A. Bengel: I come! or I am here! was the symbolum of the Lord Jesus (Matth. v. 17; x. 34; xv. 24; xviii. 11; Mark i. 38; Luke v. 32; ix. 50; xii. 49; xix. 10; John vi. 38sq.; ix. 39; x. 10; xii. 40; xviii. o7). 0 Soul, let thy Saviour accomplish His design in thee. — Say: Why art thou in the world? Dost thou fulfil the will of God? How long since ? How? — (Jhbeeit: The mind of the converted is shown in deep humility and strong confidence. — The will of God is recorded in the roll of the book, but it is the desire of the pious to do it. — Without sincere confession of one's own misery and internal poverty there is no faith in Divine Providence. — Tiioluck: Thanksgiving should be an act, but he who strongly feels it, his words may be a hindrance 276 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. to him. — Taube: The greatest and truest skill of the Christian is to be able to wait; to learn to wait is the exercise of his entire life. — Poverty and misery, these are our names; yet this dust nature is in God's gracious thoughts.— There are typical heroes of faith and those who have fol- lowed Christ; the Lord Himself is in the midst with His heroic sufferings and sustains both classes with the strength and grace of His all- sufficient blessings of redemption. — Deichert: The offerings of a reasonable service well pleas- ing to God; 1) The incense of prayer before God; 2) the burnt-offering of an entire conse- cration of the heart to God ; 3) the meat-offering of the life and its works in the service of God. [Matth. Henry: There is power enough in God to help the weakest, and grace enough in God to help the unworthiest of all His people that trust in Him. — There is an order in all God's works, but they are so many that present them- selves to our view at once, that we know not where to begin nor which to name next; the order of them, and their natural references and dependences, and how the links of the golden chain are joined is a mystery to us, and what we shall not be able to account for till the veil be rent and the mystery of God finished. — The sight of our sins in their own colors would drive us to distraction if we had not at the same time some sight of a Saviour. — Barnes : All sorrow can be borne when we feel that God has not forgotten us; we may be calm when all the world forsakes us, if we can feel assured that the great and blessed God "thinks" on us, and will never cease to remember us. — Spurgeon : Note the way of salvation, a sight, a fear, a trust ! Do you know what these mean by possessing and prac- tising them in your own soul ? — God's thoughts of you are many, let not yours be few in return. — No maze to lose oneself in like the labyrinth of love. How sweet to be outdone, overcome and overwhelmed by the astonishing grace of the Lord our God. — Our Lord's life was a sermon eloquent beyond compare, and it is heard each day by myriads. — Lord Jesus, grant in all our adversities we may possess like precious faith, and be found like thee, more than conquerors. — C. A. B.]. PSALM XLI. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, 1 Blessed is he that considereth the poor : The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. 2 The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive ; And he shall be blessed upon the earth : And thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. 3 The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. 4 I said, Lord, be merciful unto me : Heal my soul ; for I have sinned against thee. 5 Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish ? 6 And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity : His heart gathereth iniquity to itself; When he goeth abroad, he telleth it. 7 All that hate me whisper together against me : Against me do they devise my hurt. 8 An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him f And now that he lieth he shall rise up no more. 9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, Which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. 10 But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, That I may requite them. PSALM XLI. 277 11 By this I know that thou favourest me, Because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. 12 And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, And settest me before thy face for ever. 13 Blessed he the Lord God of Israel From everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Its Contents and Composition. — The last Verse does not belong to this Psalm, but forms the doxology which concludes the entire first book, comp. Introduct. Twelve verses remain, three of which furm the introduction, three the conclusion, and between them the substance of the Psalm is contained in twice as many verses. The substance of this P.-alm consists of a de- scription how the Psalmist prayed for Divine grace and help in his sufferings, which he re- garded as a punishment for his sins (ver. 4), whilst his enemies reckoned upon his death (ver. 5), and false friends, in visiting him, abused the opportunity in gathering and spreading wicked, false and exaggerated accounts of his hopeless and languishing condition (vers. 6-8). One among them is conspicuous, who, as a previous friend and table-companion (ver. 9), deceived the trust bestowed upon him in the grossest manner. From this description a new and double petition arises (ver. 10) for grace and for help, because the Psalmist recognizes in the fact that his ene- mies do not triumph, the favor (ver. 11) with which God holds fast to his person in the integ- rity of his heart, so that his person will remain a continual mark for the eyes of His providence (ver. 12). Whence the Psalmist has derived this confidence of faith, which is finally expressed in prophetical perfects, is disclosed in the opening strophe, in which the man is pronounced blessed, who conducts himself properly towards the un- fortunate (ver. 1), because God will act in the same way towards him, as a recompense in his time of trouble (vers. 2-3). Since there is ex- pressly named here, protection against the rage of enemies, and assistance upon t lie bed of sick- ness; and the furm of the prayer (ver. 2 c) is al- ready broken through by the statement of the prosperity of such a man, the particular groups unite closely with one another, and serve mu- tually to explain one another. Only we must not suppose that it is a didactic Psalm, in which there is first expressed a general clause of expe- rience, and then an application of it to particu- lar relations (Olsh.), or in which David speaks from the ideal person of the righteous and t heir Bufferings under the figureot a sickness (Hengst.); or that it is a Psalm of lamentation, which speaks likewise figuratively of the sufferings of the bet- ter part of the people under the wickedness of domestic enemies (De Wette); or that it is pro- perly a Psalm of thanksgiving (Ewald), in which all is to be referred to a deliverance from a dan- gerous sickness (Maurer, Hitzig) which has al- ready transpired, and in which there is a report respecting what then took place in a narrative and commendatory form ; but that it is a, song of faith, in which a man lying upon a painful and dangerous bed of sickness, with open enemies lurking about him, and vexed by false and trea- cherous friends, prays and confesses himself a guilty sinner before God ; but, since he stands in an internal relation of sincere piety to God, he feels that he is therein supported by God, and with so much the greater confidence of being heard, implores the grace and help of God, as his own behaviour towards the suffering gives him a claim for recompense on the part of God, since, on the one side, men, his friends as well as enemies, treat him badly, and, on the other side, his relation to God and the good pleasure of God in him could not be made known, should the hopes of his adversaries be fulfilled. These are the pure and genuine features of the heart, faith, and life of David, yet not merely in the time of the rebellion of Absalom and the treachery prac- ticed by Ahithophel (Hofm. Weiss, und Erf. II. 122; Delitzsch). It is more in accordance with the advanced age of David, 1 Kings i. 1-4, the insurrection of Adonijah and the behaviour of Joab (Bohl). Since now David's history has a typical meauing, we can thus understand the ex- planation of Jesus, John xiii. 18, that the action of Judas Iscariot was in fulfilment of Scripture, under which circumstances ver. 9 of this Psalm is cited (yet not after the Sept., and even with an essential abbreviation of the Hebrew text), as then, John xvii. 12; Acts i. 16, likewise presup- pose in general that the act atul fate of the traitor were prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures. It is well, however, to limit the typical meaning to this verse, or, at most, to the description of this relation stated here (accord- ing to the scantiness of the citation in John), and not extend it to the whole Psalm (Calvin, Stier), or, indeed, regard it as directly Messianic (most of the older interpreters, particularly Luilier, more recently Bohl). But this is incon- sistent with the confession of personal sin (ver. 4) and witli the reference to the fulfilment of the recompense (ver. 10). For the reference ia not to the desire of revenge (Hupf. ), but yet not to the recompense with good and in love, as Christ suffers and prays on account of the sins o*' others (Cocc). or in the sense in which Joseph acted towards his brethren (Burk, v. Meyer, Stier), but to that recompense to which David was obli- 278 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. gated as the lawful king. This is more in ac- cordance with 1 Kings ii. 5 sq. (Bohl), than with his overcoming the rebellion of Absalom (De- litzsch). We cannot refer to the recompensing of Christ as the Judge of the world, because with the Messianic interpretation all else is referred only to the suffering Messiah in the state of humi- liation, which, when extended farther, must ex- plain likewise the sickness, the bed, and the rising of the recovered, with reference to the death, the grave, and the resurrection, as indeed some do with a false application of Typology. Ver. 4 is most decisive, as even Reinke admits. For it is ext'getically entirely inadmissible to put the last words in the mouth of the Messiah as the representative of sinful humanity, as many do, particularly after Theodoret, who explains the historical reference to king David or Hezekiah as rash and fool-hardy. This Psalm is related in contents with Ps. xxviii., and as a Jehovah-psalm belongs closely together with the Elohim-psalm lv. in like manner as Ps. xxxix. with Ps. lxii. The style is lively and expressive. Sir. I. Ver. 1. Attentive to an afflicted one. — This is either observing the needy with attention, in the sense of loving sympathy (Sept., Aquila, Theod., the Rabbins, Cocc, J. H. Mich., De Wette, etal.), as Neh. viii. 13 with bx as here, with 7j? Prov. xvi. 20, with / Prov. xxi. 11, 12, with 3 Ps. ci. 2; Dan. ix. 13 ; or as a ivise man considering that which is appro- priate (Symm., Luther, Calvin, Ruding., Venema, flengst.) ; perhaps the two may be combined (Geier, Stier). In connection with the Messianic interpretation of 7T (tenuis ; hence in a physi- cal sense, lean, thin, in a civil sense, insignifi- cant; as a general designation of the poor, Ex. xxx. 15, of the sick and weak Gen. xli. 19; 2 Sam. iii. 1, of sick in mind, 2 Sam. xiii. 4), reference is made to the believing consideration of his suffering, especially of his life in the state of humiliation, sometimes with the view of the summons to follow Him. — Since DV is masculine, T\y~\ DV3 can only mean; in the day of adver- sity, (Symmach.), not in the evil day (Sept.). Ver. 2. He shall be blessed.— "I^.X] is to be taken as an echo of ,^B'X ver- 1» as Prov- iii. 18; not declarative as Is. ix. 15; at any rate not after another derivation Prov. ix. 6,=be conducted in the right, straight way, that is, in the way of salvation (J. H. Mich.). — [And do not give him up. — A sudden transition from the future to the optative (Hupfeld) in an ap- peal to God in prayer. This is to be explained from the personal interest of the poet in the per- son of the Soti'O (Riehm).— C. A. B.] Ver. 3. Support him on the sick bed. — This is not the supporting of the head, Song Sol. ii. 6, in accordance with which ver. 3 b. is un- derstood of changing the bed of the couch (Men- dels ), but designates the contrast to the sinking down in death and the turning of a couch of sickness into one of health by virtue of his re- covery. [Sir. II. Ver. 4. I said— Perowne : "The pronoun is emphntic and marks both the transi- tion from the previous eulogy of the compassion- ate man to the poet's personal feelings and desires, and alsothe opposition to the 'enemies' in the next verse." — Fori have sinned, etc. — David constantly refers to sin as the inward cause of his sufferings. Vid. Pss. xxxi. 10 ; xxxii. 5; xxxviii. 3, 4, 18; xl. 12. — These words pre- vent an application of the whole Psalm to Christ. Ver. 5. Speak evil for me — Hupfeld: ",l7 with TOX elsewhere==;o me, as Ps. iii. 2; xi. 1, might here — since we are not to suppose an address to him and a consequent change to the third person as Ps. iii. 2, — simply mean about me, of me (as Gen. xx. 13), as all interpreters admit: but it is perhaps to be connected rather with ]?1 : evil for me (dat incommodi), or with ' speak =devise, wish me,' as ver. 7." Ver. 0. And if he come to see me. — This is not impersonal, but the Psalmist has a certain individual in mind, probably Joab, who visited him in his sickness, comp. 2 Sam. xiii. 5 sq.; 2 Kings viii. 29, gathered all the evil of his con- dition and prospects, and went forth abroad and published it to the conspirators. Ver. 7. Whisper together. — Comp. Ps. xii. 19. It refers here to deceitful plotting, conspi- racy as Ps. ii. 2, and is parallel with devise evil. — C. A. B.] Ver. 8. Some frightful thing is poured out upon him. — 7^?2~"On is properly a word or thing of worthlessness either in the moral sense as Ps. ci. 3, comp. Deut. xv. 9, (the an- cient versions and most ancient interpreters), or in the physical sense (Aben Ezra, Kimchi and most recent interpreters) as Ps. xviii. 4, of ruin- ous fate, frightful evil, at times as the curse of crime. The following expression is difficult. The literal translation "is poured upon him. " Ezek. xxiv. 3, seems to point to a kind of Divine, irresistible influence. This would force us to give up the reference to worthless disposition and act; for that such a worthless nature is poured upon him from on high, or that the devil has inspired him to evil as the Spirit of God elsewhere to good (comp. Is. xliv. 3), is itself in the mouth of enemies a charge which could be accepted only from convincing reasons. The context is likewise against this explanation, since the enemies can only have to do with the consequences, the curse of transgression and not with the source of it (Hupfeld). It is possible to explain it thus: ruin is poured out over him, namely, by the wrath of God (De Wette, Koster, Olsh.); but the usage of the language does not accord with it, still less does it accord with the explanation that he is poured full of it=entirely filled and pervaded by it (Rosenm., Gesenius). It is best to think of something which was poured upon him like metals on a mould holding him fast so that he cannot escape (Job xli. 15). This is not to be understood of a hateful designation of the resolution of David to prefer the young Solomon for his successor instead of the older Adonijah (Bohl), nor the villany witli which his enemies designed to give the final blow to the languishing man (Luther, Hengst.), but the miserable condition itself, which they regard as an evidence that he has been marked and judged by God. The prayer, ver. 11, is the contrast to this. PSALM XLI. 279 Ver. 9. Even the man of my friendship, etc. — We are here to notice the sacredness of the . rights of hospitality, the meaning of companion- ship at the table and the friendship of the guest among the ancients, especially in the Orient. It was a particular honor to eat at the kings table (2 Sam. ix. 10 sq.; 1 Kings xviii. 19; 2 Kings xxv. 29). There is no occasion to give up the very natural historical references and explain the expression typically of intimate intercourse (De Wette) or indeed of maintenance (Hupf.) and benefits in general. The conjecture of Bdttcher {Neue exeget. krit ^hrenlese Nr. 1102) is more appropriate: that 2pp (=heel) is here a general, already exclusively figurative 2py = deceit, as the masculine of i"13p>7 2 Kings x. 19. [Str. III. Ver. 10. But Thou Jehovah- cause me to arise. — The pronoun is emphatic distinguishing Jehovah from the enemies and false friends previously mentioned. He desires that Jehovah will enable him to rise up from his bed of sickness, and disappoint them of their hopes. — And I will requite them. — Words- worth: "David as king of Israel, and God's vice- gerent, was bound to execute judgment on the wicked. This is the reason of his directions to Solomon concerning Shimei and Joab." Ver. 11. That mine enemy doth not shout over me. — Barnes: "He felt assured now that all the machinations of his foes would be defeated; that all the hopes which they cher- ished that he was soon to die would be disap- pointed; that he himself would be recovered from his sickness, coutrary to their malicious anticipations and desires. This he regarded as an evidence that God was his friend." Ver. 12. And hast placed me before Thy face forever. — Alexander: "This seems here to mean making one the object of attention, keeping constantly in view. The reciprocal act of man towards God is spoken of in Ps. xvi. 8. As man sets God before him as an object of trust, so God sets man before Him as an object of protec- tion."—C. A. B.]. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. Sympathetic, compassionate regard for the situation, feelings and afflictions of a suffering and troubled man, which at the same time ob- serves the leadings of God, does not secure us from personal injury, or protect us from rough and unjust treatment on the part of hostile and violent men, but it is well pleasing to God and will not remain unrewarded on the part of God. In this there is no more reference to external reward than the merit of good works, but to the blessed consequences corresponding with their relationship to the Divine way of thinking and acting. Accordingly the heart which has tender feelings and is observant will be the quickest to obtain the comfort of the nearness of God and the helping strength of communion with God. But those who do not renounce the image of God expe- rience an especial gracious turning of God towards them. We may here recall the two promises Matth. v. 1: Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy, and Matth. xxv. 40: What you have done unto one among the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me. 2. The experience of the gracious turning of God's face towards U3 is accompanied even in the most miserable situation with the assurance of & change of fortune. Thus the severest cross is rendered lighter and the most bitter pain sweetened. The sick man begins to hope for recovery and the vexed man is filled with fresh courage. The arrows of hate and wicked slan- der lose their deadly bile, envy its poison, per- secution its purpose. God changes the cross ami heals in body and soul those, who are re- garded by the world as lost and feel themselves stricken even unto death. But the necessary condition of such a gracious change of a severe lot in life into blessing and health is the turning of the heart to the living God in penitence and desire for salvation. 3. Even a sincerely pious man has to confess himself guilty of many sins before God, and to endure his sufferings, often very severe, as punish- ments which are well deserved. But this gives his enemies no right to suspect his piety, or doubt his gracious state, or calumniate his name. It only discloses their own wickedness and badness of heart when they treat the man, whom God's hand has stricken, as a wicked villain, appointed to ruin, when they increase the sufferings of the af- flicted by scorn, reproach and mortifications of all kinds, and think to trample entirely in the dust the man whom God has prostrated. And when those who in prosperity acted as friends and sat down with him at a well spread table, basely turn away from him when fallen, and instead of the expected comfort, advice and assistance bring new and shameful weapons of attack, then the suf- ferings of the afflicted are greatly increased in the experience of such treachery, but the sufferings like- wise thereby approach their end, and from their greatest intensity there is afforded a prospect of a prosperous/u/wr« of victorious recovery, just re- compense and abiding health before God's face and through God's grace. For although perfection ia not reached here below, and therefore the heart of the pious man in times of suffering is pervaded with a feeliug of ill desert, yet the upright man feels iu the purity of his piety that even in the time of trouble he is taken hold of and supported by God, and is delivered from total ruin by an indestructible bond of communion with God, and is secure from entire destruc- tion by being placed and established before God's face. 4. There is a desire and hope of requital which has nothing in common with a spirit of revenge, but is an evidence that one knows himself to be so closely united in person, cause and honor with the revelation of the righteous government of God, that every unrepented and unreconciled mortifi- cation, violation, oppression of the former would be likewise a clouding and restricting the latter. There are, therefore, not only official relations, but likewise positions in life, with respect to which the personal inclination to pardon must yield to the duty of judicial decision and action, yes, in the desire for personal relief may be changed into the execution of Divine judgments. This likewise belongs to the history of the life of the servant of God, and is not opposed to Ps. vii. 4: Prov. xx. 22. But every one, who traces the inclination to such a desire in his heart should 280 THE FIRST BOOK OF PSALMS. take care that he has the good pleasure of God, and not merely desire to assert his position in the world, but to strengthen his position before the face of God. Such a position cannot be shaken by anything that originates from the world, but forms a bridge between time and eternity. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. We should not be vexed with human misery or be provoked with human vileness, but should learn from both, and overcome the one as well as the other by the grace of God. — Many learn only on the bed of sickness who their enemies are and who are their friends, but they likewise learn only then truly to know themselves and God. — There is a severe struggle, when torment of body and ne- cessity of soul are associated with the reproach of enemi,s and the treachery of friends ; but the se- verer the trial, the more brilliant the victory. — Many have been left in the lurch by their own strength and human faithfulness, but never yet has the Lord forsaken those who trust in him with sincerity of heart. — God does not leave good un- rewarded or evil unpunished; but he uses for both purposes human instruments. — To be raised from our prostrations is an evidence of the good pleasure of God. — He who is not separated from God by the cross, but driven to God, needs not to doubt of bis recovery, however severe the prostration may be. — We may have a bad situation in the world and yet a good place before God's face. — There are many changes on earth, in good as well as in evil, but only one sure place, namely before God's face through the hand of God ; and this reaches from time into eternity. — We can fulfil the pur- pose of our life only when we in good as well as in evil times hold on to God. — It is well for him who not only ends his day's work and crowns every labor with the praise of God, but likewise glorifies his time of suffering and finishes his course in life in this way. — He who would remain before God's face eternally, must in time diligently place himself before God's face, and be strengthened in this place by the hand and grace of God. Staeke : Since believers have good will to- wards all men, God causes them to experience His gracious and good will towards them as a reward, and prevents the will of their enemies. — The sick bed usually makes all refreshments and cordials bitter; well for those whose longing hearts can find comfort and strength in Jesus. — Our hurts are not incurable when we turn to the true physician and pray: Lord, heal me! — The race of Judas has not yet perished, his kiss is daily renewed. Well then! we must be- come accustomed to do good and receive evil for it. — The wickedness of men should not weaken our trust in Divine grace, but rather awaken it the more. — God gives with the cross sure tokens of His grace and good pleasure, He lets none perish therein. Selnekker: God preserves His children and brings their enemies to shame. — Dauderstadt: God is the best physician in all sicknesses. — Pious men discern in all their sufferings a pun- ishment of sin and seek therefore above all their forgiveness. — Renschel: God does not promise that we shall be entirely without the cross and trouble, but he promises, that he will redeem us from them. — Frisch : If your fellow-man fall into sin and misfortune, do not rejoice on account of this, do not press him closer to the earth ; rather help him up again. — The poverty of Christ regard as thy noblest riches, His shame as thy highest honor, His cross and His death as pure glory. — Arndt: Seek and hunt for mercy and thou wilt find it; if thou sowest unmerciful- ness thou wilt surely reap it. — Tholuck : Since God's judgment of us is milder the stronger our judgment of ourselves, the suffering singer in- troduces his prayer with a confession of his guilt. — Guenther : Lord, Lord, we suffer, teach us Thy patience; we are hated, pour Thy love into our heart; we trust in Thee; let us not be put to shame. — Taube : Communion with the Lord does not exclude but includes the constant confession of sin. — First the prayer for grace then for help. — Thym : The disciple of the Lord on his sick-bed. 1) He' knows that God sends the sufferings for his good; 2) therefore be feels refreshed under his woe, 3) and waits patiently for his everlasting deliverance. [Matth. Henry: The good will of a God that loves us is sufficient to secure us from the ill will of all that hate us, men or devils. — The soul shall by His grace be made to dwell at ease, when the body lies in pain. — Sin is the sickness of the soul; pardoning mercy heals it, renewing grace heals it; and this spiritual healing we should be more earnest for than for bodily health. When we can discern the favor of God to us in any mercy personal or public, that doubles it and sweetens it. — Spurgeon: Much blessedness they miss who stint their alms. The joy of doing good, the sweet reaction of another*s happiness, the approving smile of heaven upon the heart, if not upon the estate; all these the niggardly soul knows nothing of. — Oh, it is blessed fainting when one falls upon the Lord's own bosom, and is upborne thereby! — No phy- sician like the Lord, no tonic like His promise, no wine like His love. — Out of the sweetest flowers chemists can distil poison, and from the purest words and deeds malice can gather groundwork for calumnious report. — To stand before an earthly monarch is considered to be a singular honor, but what must it be to be a per- petual courtier in the palace of the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible? — C. A. B.] THE PSALTER, SECOND BOOK. PSALMS XLII.-LXXII. PSALM XLII. To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. 1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, So panteth my soul after thee, O God. 2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: When shall I come and appear before God ? 3 My tears have been my meat day and night, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God ? 4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: For I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday. 5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me ? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him For the help of his countenance. 6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me : therefore will I remember thee From the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. 7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts : All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. 8 Yet the Lord will command his lovingkinduess in the daytime. And in the night his song shall be with me, And my prayer unto the God of my life. 9 I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me ? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy ? 10 As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me: While they say daily unto me, Where is thy God ? 11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God : for I shall yet praise him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God. PSALM XLIII. Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation : O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. For thou art the God of my strength : why dost thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? O send out thy light and thy truth : let them lead me ; Let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. 281 THE SECOND BOOK OF PSALMS. Then will I go unto the altar of God, Unto God my exceeding joy : Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God : for I shall ytt praise him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Contknts and Composition. — In regard to the Title, see Introduction, § 8, and \ 2. The division of the matter into two distinct Psalms is very ancient, since we find it in all the ver- sions. But it does not follow from this that such w:is their original relation, and that we have here (Hengstenberg) a nearly connected pair of Psalms. Not only are the contents, the tone, the structure of the strophes, and particular turns of expression similar in both, but the progress of thought is such that the two strophes of Ps. xlii, taken by themselves might have been worked by P. Gerhardt into a regular Church hymn; and yet they by no means have such a complete rounding off, that Ps. xliii. can certainly be regarded as simply a later addition (Cocceius, Rudinger, Venema), nor need we (with Hofmann) insist upon its being wholly in- dependent of the former. On the contrary we find in Ps. xliii. the prayer which is necessary to link together the complaint and the hopeful submission of Ps. xlii; and hence in a certain relation it might be used independently as a Church prayer on Judica Sunday.* But if it be regarded as a third strophe organically connect- ed with the two preceding ones, it explains the very marked contrast of the second strophe. Hence most modern interpreters favor the view of their original unity, which is also supported by many MSS. The subsequent separation of the Psalms is by no means inconceivable (lleng- sten.), though the occasion of it is unknown. The third strophe, which has none of the local references of the second, might very easily have been used as an independent Church song (Clauss). For the fundamental thought in it is an eager desire to share in the services of the Temple with the great annual assemblies of wor- shippers,— a desire which was quickened by the lively remembrance of former festivals, and which was still more intensified by the sense of present deprivation, and by a forced residence in a strange country and amidst heathen ene- mies. With this sentiment, the elegiac tone of the Psalm and its rythmic structure exactly agree. Thus in the three closing groups we find the most charming and touching thoughts united in a manner corresponding to the threefold as- pect in which the fundamental sentiment is pre- sented. There is first the desire, then the complaint, and finally the prayer with its so strongly expressed confidence in God. Very riimilar to it is Ps. lxxxiv. in which the Psalmist prays for the Messiah. This may be accounted for by the fact that here the poet expresses not David's mind (Rosen., Hengsten., Tholuck), but speaks in his own name. Perhaps he was with * The Fifth Sunday in Lent.— [J. F.] David during his exile to the region east of Jor- dan, by reason of Absalom's rebellion (2 Sam. xvii. 24) ; for it closely resembles the Davidic Psalms of that period, (Del.) and in Ps. xlii. 7, express mention is made of the Psalmist's resi- dence in that country. We need not suppose that this expressed longing for the temple cainj from a priest (Paul, De Wette, Rosen., Maurj; nor from the people of Israel while in captivity (the Rabbins, Koster) ; nor does the supposed connection of Ps. xlii. 8, with Jonah ii. 4, and of Ps. xlii. 9, with Sirach xviii. 4, oblige us to re- fer it to a later age. These remarkable expres- sions originated with the Psalm and illustrate its thoroughly independent character. Nor is there any historical ground obliging us to sup- pose that they were uttered either by King Jechoniah (Ewald) ; or by one of the nobles who accompanied him to Babylon ; (Cleric); or by Priests (Reuss) ; or by a Levite banished by Athaliah (Vaihinger) ; or by the High-priest Onias III. who in the second century before Christ, after the conquest of Jerusalem by the Egyptian general Skopas, is said to have been carried by him as a hostage, to the sources of the Jordan (Hitzig); or to AntiochusEpiphanes, (Rud., Olshaus.). It is remarkable that the name Jehovah is used xlii. 9, while in other places Elohim is apparently employed for a special purpose, as for example in xliii. 4, we have Elohim Elohai instead of Jehovah Elohai. [Words- worth: "These two Psalms are used together in the Hebrew Synagogues at the Great Festival of Tabernacles, Ps. xliii. is appointed in the Gre- gorian use for Good-Friday, and in the present Latin Church for Easter eve." — J. F.] Ver. 1. Pantetn. — The radical idea of JTJ? is to direct oneself, to turn, to incline. (Hupfeld). [To ascend, i. e., the Arabic t^ Tregelles. — J. F.] This inclination may be both downwards and upwards; and hence its twofold construction with 1% and vX, the latter in Joel i. 20. From this latter passage translated by Sept. Vulg., Chald., "look up " Gesenius and most of the moderns, after the Sept., Chald., Je- rome, derive the sense of longing and desire. The word, however, does not mean a simp'y quiet longing and inward desire, but an audible panting produced by the agony of thirst. The rendering of it by the word "to cry" (Syr., Rabbins, Luth., Calvin, and most of the older expositors) is, however, too strong. Its appli- cation to the relation of the soul of man to God xlii. 2, and to the beasts of the field, Joel i. 20, is explained by the fact that the Living God is often set forth as a spring of living water for the re- freshment of the thirsty, Ps. xxxvi. 10 ; lxxxiv. 3; Jer. ii. 13; xvii. 13. — [Alexander: "The PSALMS XLII. AND XLIIL 283 essential idea is that of intense desire and an over- whelming sense of want." — J. F.] Names of ani- mals are often used for either sex, or for both sexes. Here the word for hart, must be taken in a feminine sense [Germ. Hinden], as it is an image of the soul, t lie term for which in Hebrew is feminine, and is associated with feminine pre- dicates. The pari icle of comparison refers, as the accent indicates, not to the whole sentence, but to the principal word in it, (Ewald, Gram., \ 3(i0), hence the verb must be taken as relative to it. Ver 2 refers, as is obvious from Exod. xxxiii. 20, to the festive appearances of the pe >ple "be- fore the Lord," Exod. xxiii. 17; xxxiv. 23, yet not in the sense of beholding the face of the Lord (Luther following some ancient expositors), though we find here the accusative but with- out the preposition which should stand before it. In this place the accusative is local and not ob- jective. Hence it is not to be supposed that the reading HJOX designed by the Poet (Bottch., Olshaus.), was afterwards changed, by a sort of religious fear into Hjpx, a reading which, by the way, is found in some MSS. and is favored by Dathe, Knapp, and others. The Septuagint has the right reading, but it translates the former line "my soul thirateth for the living God" or "after God the mighty the living," because when Elohim and El come together, the latter word is usually rendered iaropoc. [Alexander: "Of the two divine names here used, one (Elohim) de- scribes God as an object of religious worship, the other (El) as a Being of infinite power." — J. F.] Ver. 3. Tears become bread, not in the sense of nourishment, precious as bread (Calvin); nor of being a necessity like bread (De Wette) ; but of a substitute for bread. Job iii. 24. Some take the meaning here to be the same as in 1 Sam. i. 7, i. «., forgetting to take food through sorrow (Hengst., Schegg), but the phrase is sim- ply a picture of one's daily life (Stier, Hupfeld, Delitz.)as in Ps lxxx. 0; ciii. 10. 1 Kings xxii. 29; Is. xxx. 20. [Perownk: "My tears have been my daily portion." — J. F.] Ver. 4. When I remember, (or (kink of). Many refer this to the scorn of enemies, and regard the statement as a hypothetical one, (Luther, Stier, Ges., Ewald,) the pilgrimage or the "going witli the multitude " being the object of thought, i. e., of desire and hope. (So most ancient trans- lators, Luth., Flam., Geier, Cleric, Stier, Ros- ter). The description of the pilgrimage presents it, however, rather as an object of memory than desire. (Hup , Del., Hitzig). The imperfect form of the verb must not be taken in the sense of an optative future (that I might go), but as a preterite. [Barnes: "Though the future tense is used as denoting what the state of his mind would be, the immediate reference is to the past." Perowne: " Let me remember, fain would I remember." — J. F ] As he recalls those festive processions in which he had taken part, and contrasts them with his present condition, the soul of the Psalmist melts within him, like water, 1 Sam. vii. 6; Job xxx. 16. He now pours out his heart in tears (Lam. ii. 19,) as at other times he has poured it out in lamentation and prayer, 1 Sam. i. 2"> ; Ps. lxii. 9; cii. 1; cxlii. o. — " Multitude," lit. a mass of boughs, a thicket. ["The word t]D occurs no where else in Scrip- ture."— J. F.] A similar figure is used in Is. x. 17, in reference to the Assyrian army. — "The multitude that kept holy day," (2 Sain. vi. 19; comp. Is. xxx. 29), is in apposition with the personal suffix of the verb, which in the Hithpael signifies to go slowly, Is. xxxviii. 15. But as the Hithpael can have no transitive meaning, this suffix does not stand for an accusative of the ob- ject, but must be taken in the sense of, "in respect to it" (Hitzig). This suits very well the place in the procession, which the Psalmist may have held as a Levite. If, on the other hand, it be taken as in apposition to the whole sen- tence, (Hupfeld) the suffix is out of place. Either this must be removed from the text as in Isa. xxxviii. 15, (Cleric, Olsh.), or by a change of the vowel points the verb must be put into the Piel form (— that I might lead or guide them, as Aquil., Ewald, Vaihinger. and other.-). [Barnes: "This does not refer to what had been in the past, but to what he confidently expected would be in the future." — J. F.] Ver. 5. In the soul's address to itself its unrest is very strongly expressed, as in Ps lv. 18; lxxvii. 4, by a word which elsewhere signifies to rave. [Perowne: "The word is used elsewhere of the raging and roaring of the sea. His soul is tossed and agitated like an angry sea." — J. F.] The expression, "for I shall yet praise Him," proba- bly refers to such grateful praise as lives in one's memory (Stier). God will do again, as He has formerly done (Hupfeld). According to the com- mon text the first strophe ends with the words "the help of His countenance," and the follow- ing one, omits the "and," beginning with the vo- cative, "O my God." Most modern expositors, like the Sept., Vulgate, Syriac, have so arranged the conclusion that it is expressed in the re- maining final words. The defence (by Hengst., Ilofm.) of the textusreceptus is weak. Asa mat- ter of course slight variations occur in this re- frain as elsewhere, e.g., Ps. xlix. 13, 21 ; Ivi. 5, 11, and in this very Psalm they are found in several other single strophes; the phrase flijMBP VJD also gives a good sense, and frequently occurs, e.g., Ps. xliv. 4; Isa. lxiv. 9. The«only objection is their position. For being dependent upon the verb " praise," and placed parallel to the pre- ceding " Him," i. e., God, if the connecting "and" be omitted, there arises a hard construc- tion which requires a mental repetition of the verb, or the opposition is changed into a cold substitution. But to assert that the vocative ad- dress in the strophe " 0 my God " is absolutely indispensable (Hengst.), or that the poet should commence his strophe as he closes it, because at the end of the first one he must appeal to God as his God (Hofm.) is as gratuitous as it is untena- ble. By changing the text in the way proposed, we get not only a uniformity in the turn of the verse, but a suitable sense in an unobjectionable form, and a proper rhythmical cadence at t he close. — The " countenance " is neither a simple nor a poetical designation of a person, but a cha- racteristic manifestation of him in his moral and intellectual relations. It is often used not only in reference to God, Exod. xxxiii. 14, but also to man, Isa. iii. 15. The plural " helps " ex- 284 THE SECOND BOOK OF PSALMS. presses not merely manifold manifestations of help, but also the essential idea, the very sub- stance of help itself. Now while one may point to Elohim as the substance and idea of that help, which he should seek for and acknowledge, yet in a prayer he would hardly stop to explain Elo- him in this way, nor would he put on the same level, and as the objects of his praise, the mani- festations of Divine help and the person of God Himself. [Alexander: "Salvation, frequent or Complete deliverauce. His face, his propitious countenance or aspect, with allusion to the benediction in Num. vi. 25, 26." — J. F.] Ver. 6. My soul is cast down within me. In this beginning of the second strophe, we have a renewed account of the Psalmist's state of mind, which shows that in spite of the self-admonition and hope already expressed, his dejection and unrest were not yet overcome; the stream of his comfortable thoughts and feelings, the result of his hope in God, did not always flow onward without obstruction, but had its ebb as well as its flood-tide. But as before ver. 5 the mourner recalled to mind with a mixture of sadness and joy his former festive journeys to the temple, so now again, though an exile in a heathen land, and banished from the sanctuary, he maintains communion with God. Calvin's explanation of |3~7J7 in the sense of "therefore, because," in which he is followed by many commentators, is ungrammatical, and makes the remembrance of God the cause of the sadness of the poet, while seemingly forsaken of the Lord. The text, on the contrary, makes that mental depression which arises out of his own helplessness and his conscious need of aid the cause of his remem- brance of the living God. Comp. Jonah ii. 8. The beginning and end of the line "me" and "thee" are antithetic. From the land of Jordan. — The locality is indicated as Transjordanic (unclean, Josh, xxii. 19 ; because heathen) by the phrase " and of the Hermonites." Hermon was as characteristic a feature of the Transjordanic region as Tabor was of the Cisjordanic, Ps. lxxxix. 13, i. e., the land of Canaan in the strict sense of the words, or the land of Lebanon, Jos, xxii. 11 The plural Her monim is not used in allusion to the two sum- mits of Hermon,* because there is no reason why we should limit the locality to the northern side of the mountain, and the sources of the Jordan, but it is employed here in a sense analogous to that of OTj?iy, Lev. xvii. 7 (rendered in E. V devils) and Baalim, 1 Kings xviii. 18, either as having a representative meaning, (Hengst.), or as a plural of amplification (Diedrich), since Hermon with its mighty cone far exceeds in height all the other peaks of the South-Eastern portion of Anti-Lebanon. The precise residence of the Psalmist is indicated by the words tHO "Vp¥0, (lit., hill of littleness) not the Zoar men- tioned, Gen. xix. 20 (Ven.) but some mountain whose name is now unknown. The phrase can- not be taken as in apposition with Hermon, not * [" The gigantic Jebelesh Sheikh, or Hermon, lay before us. We had a view of two of its conspicuous summits on account of which it, is probably spoken of in Scripture as the hill of the Hermonites." Lands of the Bible, by Dr. J. Wilson, U. 161.-J. F.] only because the words are in the singular, but because they could be applied to the lofty Her- mon only in an ironical sense (Rosenm., Hengst., Hofm.), or as contrasting it contemptuously (mountain of contempt, Hupfeld) with Zion, and there is no evidence that the poet had any such idea in his mind. Yet many have thought that Zion, which while physically humble, in its moral relations far surpassed all other mountains, is meant. So Olshausen and Hitzig explain the phrase, but each of them in a very different way. For while the use of the preposition "]D, and its connection with ~^D1, very well agree with the assumption that an Israelite exiled from Pales- tine and the "little mountain" Zion (Olsh.), should have remembered Jehovah, yet the de- scription of Palestine as the land of Jordan and the Hermonites is inadmissible. The translation •• while I remember thee, 0 thou little hill " (Hitzig) requires an arbitrary change in the text, by striking out the preposition before Tl, and giving to the word rendered " therefore " the sense of " because." The choice of this phrase as a name of Zion, according to this interpreta- tion, must be for the purpose of presenting strongly the contrast between Zion and Hermon, which according to its Arabic etymology means a lofty mountain. All the geographical and his- torical relations of these two places are utterly perverted, if we suppose that Hermonim (the lofty mountain) is applied in a hyperbolic sense to the hills on which Jerusalem stands, by some one who had been banished or had fled to (Bottcher) the low, ridgy region beyond Jordan, and who there expresses his longing desire for the house of God and his native hills, in the words " there- fore I think of thee, from the land of Jordan, and of the high mountain from the hill of little- ness." Ver. 7 Deep calleth unto deep. — D1DP in all other places denotes not a single billow, but the confused noise of deep waters in motion. The force of the phrase here, lies in this, that the fact of one deep being heard by another is de- pendent on, or is connected with, (according to the sense assigned to 7) the great waterfalls which God makes. The image, therefore, is not that of waves rushing after each other in rapid succession, but that of a man in an abyss of water whose roaring joined with the voice of unseen and unmeasured cataracts impresses him with a sense of great and imminent danger. The rush and roar at once excite and stupify him. There is no proof in 2 Sam. v. 8, that by water- falls is meant heavy showers of rain, such as might remind one of the deluge (Vatab., Grot., Geier, Hengst.) That verse is very obscure and variously explained, but the Hebrew word (there rendered "gutter") which is found only in these two passages, probably means a waterfall or cata- ract (Ewald, Kiel). [Alexander: "The sense of waterfalls or cataracts, although supported by ancient versions has no foundation in etymology or usage." Barnes: "There are two forms in which waterspouts occur in the East. One of them is described by Dr. Thomson, The Land and Book, I. 498. — The Arabs call it sale, we, a waterspout or bursting of a cloud. In the neigh- borhood of Hermon I have witnessed it repeat- PSALMS XLII. AND XLIII. 285 edly, ami was caught in one last year, which in five minutes flooded the whole mountain side, and carried off whatever the tumultuous torrents en- countered, as they leaped madly down in noisy cascades." — J. F.] We need not, however, suppose that the waterfalls are those of the main source of the Jordan near Paneas (Bangas) on the south side of Hermon (Robinson, Bib. Re- searches, III, 309), nor the cataracts of the Lake Muzerib, which are from 60 to 80 feet high (Wet- stein in appendix to Delitzsch on Job, 524) and are said to be the only ones in Syria. For the design of the Psalmist is to give us not a geo- graphic but a symbolical description of his si- tuation, and of his feelings at the time. Ver. 8. Yet the Lord will command. — Most expositors since Kimchi, think that in these words, the Psalmist, as in ver. 5, recalls his ear- lier gracious experiences, and contrasts them with his present destitution, the painful sense of which is expressed in his complaint, ver. 10. But such a contrast of Then and Now, in this connection, as Calvin, Isaaki, and others admit, would have required, at least in ver. 9, the per- fect. To take the imperfect of ver. 9 as the pre- sent in ver. 10, is wholly arbitrary, and there is no need for it here, inasmuch as there is no evi- dence of any antithesis. Again, neither the connection nor the grammatical expression war- rants the exposition of Delitzsch, that, a confi- dently expected and not distant day of Divine grace would be followed by a night of thanks- giving, a night rendered so joyful with Psalms and hymns of praise, that the exulting Psalmist would be unable to sleep. "Day " and "night" are not to be taken here as symbols of times of prosperity and of adversity, but as a poetical pa- raphrase for that which is continuous, constant (Hengst., Hnpf. ) The assignment of the gifts of God's grace and the prayers and songs which they call forth, to different times, has little ground to stand on. The whole sentence is an expression of the Psalmist's present state of mind, which, as Hupfeld justly says, was a mixed one. This view is preferable because schiroh de- notes a song of which God is the author, (Heng., Hupf., Job xxxv. 19) rather than one of which God is the object (Hitzig, Del.); and tefillah in apposition with schir need not be taken in the limited sense of a petition (llengst.), nor in the larger sense of a prayer and thanksgiving, since in the verses that follow we have not the prayer itself, (Vaihinger), but a specimen of it (Hengst. ) — a specimen proving that in the midst of his troubles, and though God seemed to have forsaken him, the pious singer had received grace as a messenger from God, and prayer as a gift of God, so that he knew how to cleave to God as the God of his life, and to rest upon Him with a firm faith, as upon a rock, while amid the tossing and roaring waves. The Syriac text and that of some other MSS. " to the living God," is probably only a modification of ver. 3. In some copies, v. 11 — perhaps as an explanatory correction — begins with 3 Beth (Beth essential) instead of D Caph. It is not said here that re- proach should be added to oppression, but that the one should in some way be an effect of the other. " Oppression" does not necessarily (Heng- stenb.) mean "murder" (Symm., Aquil.); it is to be taken in its original sense, as in the Arabic, and in Pss. lxii. 4; lxix. 21; Isa. xlviii. 13; Ezek. xxi. 27. [Alexander: "The strong ex- pression in the first clause, ver. 11, is intended to denote excruciating pain." — J. F.] Ps. XLIII. 2. Why hast thou forsaken me. — The original here used is much stronger in meaning than that in Ps. xlii. 10, expressing much more than "forsaking" or "casting off." Its primary meaning is " to stink," " to become rancid," and it here conveys the idea of turning away as from something loathsome. In the Ger- man language there is no word exactly corres- ponding to it, for verstossen and verschmahen con- vey a different idea, and do not suit the phrase " God of my strength," which is parallel to the earlier used phrase "God of my rock." — The "deceitful man," or "man of deceit," must not be take.n as an ideal person, but as an individualized foe, probably with reference to some one specially prominent enemy. Viewed in connection with the previous verses, the locality indicates that this opposer was a heathen. This heathenish character, however, would be inferred neither from the word 'U, nor from the adjective TDTVk?, "ungodly," for the first word denotes a mass of people, Isa. i. 4, and the adjective does not of necessity deny their piety towards God, but only their gracious, kind, and merciful conduct towards men. — The light is that of Divine grace, which illumines and cheers the night of misery, Ps. xxxvi. 10; and it is sent with the Truth as a pledge that the promises of the faithful God shall be performed, Ps. lvii. 4, and that the Lord's people shall be at last brought to His own dwell- ing-place, Exod. xv. 13. [Perowxe: "Light and Truth — instead of the more usual Loving-kind- ness and Truth — these shall be to him, so he hopes, as angels of God, who shall lead him by the hand till they bring him to the holy moun- tain. Possibly there may be an allusion to the Urim and Thummim." — J. F.] DOCTRINAL AND ETIIICAL. 1. The Living God alone can be the object of desire of the human heart. This yearning after the Living God comprehends the deepest aspira- tions of the pious soul. During our life on earth, this desire finds its satisfaction by means of the acts of divine worship. If deprived of these means of grace by any external force, this spiritual longing only becomes the more intense, and, in a way not to be mistaken, it will mani- fest its liveliness, fervor, depth, and power. Communion in the public worship of God is not necessarily communion with God Himself, but it is both an expression and sign of it, and a means and help to it. It is the channel of the brook, through which the water smoothly flows, without the supply of which, the soul becomes like a "land of drought," Ps. lxii. 2; and, like the beasts of the field under such circumstances, it perishes of thirst, Joel i. 20. 2. Whenever the pious man finds himself in a condition, in which he is hindered from going to the house of God, which keeps him away from the congregation of the Lord, and from 286 TIIE SECOND BOOK OF PSALMS. using the appointed means of grace, he feels and recognizes not only the power of the ene- mies, or of the outward misfortunes that have occasioned this loss, but also the chastening hand of God. His sorrows are intensified partly by the unjustifiable scorn of his enemies, on account of his having been deserted by God, richly as he may have merited such dealing at God's hands, and partly by the sad yet sweet remembrance of the spiritual enjoyments of other days in the house of the Lord and the fellowship of His people. 3. The bread of tears, Ps. lxxx. 6, though very distasteful, is yet wholesome food, since it awakens and maintains hunger and thirst for the Living God, and the means of communion with Him. But though the pious man, under such circumstances, is, as it were, divided into two parts, is driven now in this direction, now in that by mixed and even antagonistic feelings, yet he finally struggles through and above all the impulses of the flesh, subdues the unrest and impatience of his soul, and learns to lean upon and trust in God alone. The remedy for weakness is hope in God; and the ground of hope is the assured faith of the Psalmist, that God, who is still his God, will in due time re- deem him, and give him cause for singing joyful songs of deliverance. (Heng.) 4. Temptations caused by times of trouble, and the growing insolence and number of ene- mies are specially grievous, when old doubts and anxious questions force themselves afresh upon the soul, when the feeling that God has forsaken us gains in strength, until it even reaches the point of apprehending that we may be cast off. But so long as the tempted man is able both to weep and to pray, so long as he can interweave his questionings and complaints with expressions of faith in God's grace and truth, there is good ground for confidence in his final deliverance and salvation. Even in the midst of troubles, the believer lays hold of God's grace, as a Light, sent by Him as a testimony of His mercy, to confirm His faithfulness and truth, and to be a guide to those who seek Him. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. The soul's longing for its home. — a. How it is awakened, b. Whither it is directed, c. By what it is quieted. — The bread of tears is bitter, but is often wholesome. — Happy the man who feels himself to be a stranger only in the world, but not in the house of God. — God never leaves those who sigh for Him without comfort, nor those who seek Him without guidance. — He alone who has first conversed earnestly with God, can speak comfortably to his own soul. — So great is the blessing connected with the service of God, that the mere memory of it can keep a tempted soul from despair. — The ordinances of divine worship are the open channels, the ordained methods, the appointed ways through which God in his mercy sends to us needy ones the water of life, the light of truth, the power of grace. — Suffering is painful ; scorn is still more so ; but most of all is guilt. — While each day has its prayer, and each night its song, the sources of divine help and comfort are open to the soul. — In a time of sorrow, he who begins with prayer, and continues to exhort his soul to be patient and trust in God, may confidentlj' hope that he will end with a hymn of praise. — We may enjoy communion with God even when exiled from the house of God; but there is an essential differ- ence between voluntary and compulsory exile. — The good man may fall into trouble, but he is not. disheartened ; he may come out of one tri- bulation only to go into another, but he is never destroyed. — The true longing of the soul is for communion with God Himself; but whoever de- sires to feel it, must not despise the means of grace in the ways of divine worship. — There is such a thing as yearning for the house, the word, the face of God. — Faith has a struggle with temptation in times of trouble, and with the weakness of the flesh. Luther: Where God's word is, there is God's house; and His countenance is His presence, where He manifests Himself, and through His word reveals His grace. Calvin : David presents himself to us here as if he had been divided into two parts. So far as he by faith rests on the promises of God, he is armed with a spirit of invincible courage, rises superior to fleshly feelings, and, at the same time, chides himself for his weakness. Without the grace of God, we can never over- come those evil thoughts, which are constantly rising within us. Stakke: Earthly things can never satisfy the soul, since they are transient and liable to change. The soul of man is immortal, and there- fore needs an immortal source of consolation, — one that has in itself eternal life. — We now see the face of God in His word and sacraments, but as the soul is created for eternity, it is ever longing to behold the Lord face to face. The highest enjoyment is to feel that God is our God ; and never is the soul so sorely troubled as when, instead of being certain of this, it imagines the contrary. — Sometimes the more lonesome a man is, the more trustingly he can tell God of his need3, and the Heavenly Father, who sees in secret, will hear and answer his complaint. — Even in our greatest temptations, nothing is better than prayer and confidence in God. — When God sends a cross, it is always in such a way that we should thank Him for it, as a costly and wholesome medicine. — In our greatest tribulations, if we have faith, we shall also have hope and patience. — When God's waves break upon us, it is not to destroy but to do us good; they are under His control, and by a word He caii assuage and still them. — Let us not be tender saints, but let us learn how to bear the cross. — When things go well with thee, gather up a treasure of divine promises, they will be useful to thee in times of trouble. — If thou neglectest to do so, how wilt thou sustain thyself? — A believer is not so much troubled by a personal injury as by dishonor done to the name of God, — he will willingly suffer any thing, even death itself, if only God is thereby praised. How easy is it for God to change complaint into joy, and the song of sadness into the hymn of praise. — We can have no better guide than God and His word ; but under whose conduct art thou? 0 soul! — What greater blessedness oan PSALMS XLII. AND XLIII. 287 one have than to be able to call God his delight aiia/■ mount Zion, on the sides of the north, The city of the great King. 3 God is known In her palaces for a refuge. 4 For, lo, the kings were assembled, They passed by together. 5 They saw it, and so they marvelled ; They were troubled, and hasted away. 6 Fear took hold upon them there, And pain, as of a woman in travail. 7 Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish With an east wind. 8 As we have heard, so have we seen In the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God : God will establish it for ever. Selah. 9 We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, In the midst of thy temple. 10 According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise Unto the ends of the earth : Thy right hand is full of righteousness. 11 Let mount Zion rejoice, Let the daughters of Judah be glad, Because of thy judgments. 12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: Tell the towers thereof ! 13 Mark ye well her bulwarks, Consider her palaces ; That ye may tell it to the generation following. 14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Contents and Composition. — The introduc- tion, in which the great God and His glorious city arc praised (vers. 1, 2), is followed (vers. 8-8) by a description of the deliverances of the city from threatened danger, effected by Jeho- vah, who disperses its terrified enemies. Vers. 9, 10 contain the expressions of gratitude for [ this interposition, while in vers. 11-14 the peo- ple are exhorted to guard all parts of the city, so that its safety may be manifest to all, and thus the glory of God be revealed to coming generations, to confirm their faith in His guidance. There are many points of resem- blance between these verses and Is. xxii. 29-33, but they do not warrant our supposing the Psalm to have been written by that Prophet. Still less can we imagine that the author belonged to the 308 THE SECOND BOOK OF PSALMS. party in opposition (i. e. to the delivered city), and that the occasion of it was the siege of Jeru- salem by the allied forces of Israel and Syria, which was frustrated by Tiglath Pileser, (Cred- ner, G Baur). We are uncertain whether the occasion of it was the siege by Sennacherib, in the time of Hezekiah, (Calvin, De Wette, Hitzig, Ewald, Hupf.), or the victory gained by Jehosa- phat over the allied kings named in 2 Chron. xx., (Rosen., Hengst., Del.). The older Chris- tian expositors apply the Psalm to the eternal glory of the spiritual Zion, while the Rabbins take it to be descriptive of Jerusalem in the Messianic times, after the victory over Gog and Vers. 2, 3. Beautiful for situation (in ele- vation.) The terms "perfection of beauty," "the joy of the whole earth," are taken as a single cu- mulative one in Lam. ii. 15, perhaps with refer- ence to this passage, and Ps. 1. 2 ; Is. lx. 15 ; Ezek. xvi. 14; xxiv. 25. The word fjlj was mis- understood by the ancients, and is wrongly ren- dered by Luther, (after the Chald. and Jerome), " Zvveiglein"=little branch. That it has the sense of " elevation " is established by a com- parison with the Arabic. That a geographical elevation is not meant is obvious from Ps. lxviii. 17, where the high hills of Bashan are said to envy the hill of Zion on account of its superior loftiness. (Comp. also Is. ii. 2; Ezek. xl. 2; Rev. xxi. 10). So too " the sides of the north," translated by Hitzig " the corner of the north," and by Hengstenberg and Hupfeld " the extreme north," must be understood not in a topographic but a religious sense ; as in Is. xiv. 13, where the mountain of God lies on the sides of the north. This mythologic idea in the last named passage comes from the lips of the Chaldean king, and cannot be at once transferred to the Biblical writers. Nor does Ezek. v. 5 accord with it, for here Jerusalem is placed in the midst of the nations and countries round about her. So in Ezek. xxxviii. 6, 15 ; xxxix. 2 the extreme north is the residence of Gog and Mugog. Now Mount Zion is not here compared to the supposed mountain homes of the gods of the Asiatic nations in the far north, nor is it presented as realizing that of which the heathen dreamed, (Hengst., Ewald, Hitzig and others). Both the phrase and the context suggest a defi- nite locality. It cannot, however, be the " north side of the city," (Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Calvin, etc. ), since Mount Zion is its most southerly hill ; nor can the meaning be " on the north side lies the city," (Luther, Rosen., etc.), for this does not agree with the order of the words. These are in opposition, not with "joy," as if Zion were the joy of the remote north, i. e. the most dis- tant nations (Gesen., De Wette), but with "Zion." The temple hill is thus designated as being the northeastern corner, or northern angle (Delitzsch, Schegg,) of Mount Zion, and so giv- ing a reason for the name of the city itself. This explanation is plainer than that of " in the ex- treme north the city of the Great King," (Hup- feld). Since Zion is thus contrasted with an- other mountain in the south, on which God ap- peared, viz., Sinai, to strike out the words that are obscure, as Olshausen proposes, is not admissible. [Stanley: Beautiful in elevation. To the traveller approaching Jerusalem from the west or east, it must have always presented the ap- pearance, beyond any other capital of the then known world — we may add, beyond any impor- tant city that has ever existed on the earth — of a mountain city; breathing, as compared with the sultry plains of the Jordan or of the coast, a mountain air ; enthroned, as compared with Jericho, or Damascus, Gaza or Tyre, on a mountain fastness. — Perowne : The sides of the north. The question is to what particular part of it the words refer. (1.) Now Jerusalem it- self did not lie on the north, but on the south side of the elevated table land. But the Temple did lie north, i. e., northeast of the city; and as the Temple was, in a peculiar sense, the dwell- ing-place of God, the Psalmist may have desig- nated this when he spoke of the " sides of the north," the expression being sufficiently accu- rate for the purpose of poetry. Hence we have the Holy City regarded from three different points of view, viz.: "the Mount Zion." (the city of David), " the sides of the north," (Mount Moriah and the Temple), "the city of the Great King," (Jerusalem proper). Compare Matt. v. 35. (2.) If, however, Zion be the peak now leveled on the north of the Temple mount, as Furguson and Thrupp suppose, " the Mount Zion (on) the sides of the north " may be the true rendering here. And this, too, might pecu- liarly be called "beautiful for situation," as it was the highest point of the whole plateau, and that which would most readily strike the eye. (3.) Another reason may be suggested why the north should be especially mentioned, because an enemy approaching like the Assyrians, would obtain their first view of the city on that side.— J. F.] Vers. 4-8. They passed by together. — The enemies, designated by the article as the well- known kings who had assembled according to agreement, at a certain place (comrt. Josh. xi. 5; Ps. lxxxiii. 4) passed by all at once, over the boundary, Judges xi. 29; 2 Kings viii. 21 ; Is. viii. 9, (Ancient Versions, Rabbins, Koster, Ewald, Hitzig, Del.). It is grammatically admis- sible to take "I3J? in the sense of disappear, (Calvin, Rosen., De Wette, Hengst., Hupf.), but this rendering presents, instead of a fitting pic- ture, immediately the result of an unsuccessful enterprise, the details of which are then given. If the reference be to the attack in the time of Jehosaphat, we must suppose that the allies were encamped about three miles from Jerusalem, in the desert of Tekoah, whence they had a view of the holy city, and where God caused a great terror to fall upon them (1 Sam. xiv. 15). The annihilation in ver. 8 is not alarm (Rosen.), nor flight (De Wette), but the figure expressing it must have been suggested by the remembrance of the foundering of the commercial fleet sent out by Jehosaphat in union with Ahaz, (1 Kings xxii. 49; 2 Chron. xx. 36). But it is by no means necessary to adopt this view, for ships are elsewhere used as symbols of worldly powers. The ships of Tarshish, as the largest and strongest of their class, are figures of mighty powers, Is. xxxiii. 21, 23. The east wind (Job xxvii. 21) illustrates the power of PSALM XLVIII. 309 God in overthrowing His enemies (Jer. xviii. 17), because it so frequently scattered the strongest ships, (Is. xxvii. 8 ; Ezek. xxvii. 26; Amos iv. 9; Jonah iv. 5). Hence there seems to be no special reason for supposing tliat4 there is an al- lusion to the destruction of an actual hostile fleet (Koster, Hitzig), but only that there is here a well-known illustration of the omnipotence of God. As the sentence is not joined to the pre- ceding one by a particle of comparison, we need not take the verb as a third person feminine= "like as by an east, wind which destroys," (Kimchi, Rosen., De Wette). It is better to re- gard it as a second person masculine, making God the subject of it, (the Ancient Versions, Cal- vin, Geier, and most others). In this case it would be proper to place here the beginning of a strophe, which, comprising all that has been thus far said, would make, in contents and structure, a good transition to the section in which God is directly addressed. [Perowne: As we have heard, ver. 8. — This marvellous deliverance is but a fresh proof, in our own experience, of that wonder-working Love, which in the days of old had so often manifested itself in Israel. The things which our fathers have told us, we have now witnessed with our own eyes, (compare Ps. xliv. 1). And therefore, also, the present is regarded as a pledge of the future. — J. F.] Vers. 9-11. We have thought. — The idea here is that of contemplation, reflecting, and comparing, rather than that of hopeful expecta- tion, (Sept., Syr., Sym., Jerome). The Rabbins are divided on this point. The Temple is named as being the place in which God had revealed His grace (Calvin, Hupfeld), or rather, as the place in which the Church commemorated that grace, by songs of praise (Ilengst. Ewald), or by the solemn services which preceded the marching forth to battle, mentioned in 2 Chron. xx. The "daughters of Judah " are not virgins who take part in the festive dance (De Wette, Ols.), but other outlying cities and villages, (Ps. lxix. 30; Josh. xv. 45; Is. xl. 9). The exhorta- tion carefully to consider and look about the city, which has remained inviolate, is not ad- dressed ironically to the enemies (Geier, Sachs., Ilitz.), but seriously to the inhabitants. The reading i"ITn / (on the bulwarks), found in many old editions, ancient versions, and in 18 Codd. of De Rossi, also occurs in Zech. ix. 4. If Mappik be omitted, we must insert a softened suffix, (Ewald, Gram. \ 247). There is no proof that JD3 has the sense of " to elevate," (Luther, following Jewish tradition) ; nor is it quite cer- tain that its meaning is " to regard a thing part by part, to consider attentively," (De Wette, Ilengst., Ewald, Hiiz.). The sense "to walk through," derived from that of "to intersect," [viz.: a vineyard in which there is no way), is based on a passage in the Talmud. The demon- strative pronoun is occasionally though rarely placed before the noun, (Ewald, Gram. \ 29:5). It is not necessary, therefore, to translate ver. 14 •• that here is God " (Hupf.) ; nor "for this is God," (De Wette, Ols., Bott., Ewald, Ilitz.). In this case "this" must be taken in the sense of ••such," siuce the allusion was not to God, but to the city (Camp.). The concluding phrase, J1ip~7j£, might be rendered " the point of death" (Ges., Hengst. ) ; or "until death" (Hupfeld, Kimchi, and most others). But the latter ex- pression would be unusual, and is liable to mis- conception, whilst the former would be more ap- propriate. For the reference is not to persons, but a community, and the allusion is not to dying, but the deliverance of the city, and the joy caused by it to the whole earth, as well as the renewed trust in the Divine guidance. We should look for something to indicate the dura- tion of that guidance, which forever secured the stability of the people. The rendering, there- fore, should not be " beyond death," (Syriac, Mendelssohn, Stier), which would give the idea of personal immortality — adavaoia (Aquila), but away past death, i. e. destruction (Campb.). It cannot be denied, however, that the idea which Hengstenberg finds here, viz.: that God delivers from the danger of death (Hab. i. 12; Pss. xlix. 16; lxviii. 21 ; lxxxv. 7), and saves His people from destruction, would be unusual and obscure. The same may be said of the rendering " in the eternities," (Sept., Chald., Symrn., Aben Ezra, J. II. Mich., Ewald). This sense would suit, but it supposes the reading to be JTIDIJJ, (found in 1 Cod. Kenn.), which occurs only in later and non-biblical Hebrew. It is, however, not impos- sible that this form of the word may stand in place of D'oSij?. But Luther's version, derived from the Chald., " like the youth," or " like the vir- gins," or " in youthfulness," is objectionable, partly because it is foreign to the context, and partly because it would require the particle D or 3 to be supplied. The reading J"ITD7>\ found in many ancient Codd. and early editions, must be very old, because most of the earliest versions, in the main, express the same idea. Under these circumstances we may suppose that these words, like those in Ps. ix. are a mark (Hitzig) to indi- cate the kind of music to be used, here as in Hab. iii. 19 placed exceptionally at the end in- stead of the beginning of the hymn (Del.) ; or as indicating the sort of verse (Bottcher). The rythm implies that nothing (Hitzig), rather than that something (Del.) has been omitted. DOCTRINAL AND ETniCAL. 1. God protects not only His people, but the city in which they dwell. He guards the very house in which they call upon Him. But He means that they should recognise this, should trust II is watchfulness and power, should be grateful for His help and goodness to them, and by proclaiming what He has done, induce others, especially their descendants, to exercise a like faith. For God is the same, yesterday, to-day, and forever. This God is our God. 2. The glory of the hill of Zion where God revealed Himself, and the beauty of Jerusalem, as God's city, symbolized the glory of the Church. God's promise of protection to Jeru- salem, the dispbiy of His power and goodness in regard to her and the whole land, and the solemn commemorative festivals of which she was the theatre, may all be regarded as types. In 310 THE SECOND BOOK OF PSALMS. the physical elevation, the Psalmist sees an image of the spiritual, and so far only has it any significance to him. Only when Jerusalem is contemplated with the spirit ual eye, does she appear so lovely that she ought to be a joy to the whole earth, Ezek. xvi. 14. What the hea- then dreamed about a mountain of gods, is only true of the hill of Zion. Its roots are on the earth, but its summit is in heaven (Ilengst.). 3. From the beginning, God's works, have made known His name and His praise oven all the earth, but. Zion is the place where His glory has been specially manifested. This is the cen- tral point of His historical revelations. And from this spot the triumphal proclamation of His name shall go forth throughout the world ; so that not only in the Promised Land but to the ends of the earth, the latest generation shall praise that God who hears prayer, who exercises justice to the joy of His people, who is their guide, helper, and protector. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. Where God's name is known, His help will be experienced and His praise proclaimed. — What does God do for His people, and what gratitude does He receive ? — Zion's beauty is a symbol and a type. — The contemplation of God's doings should lead us and others to proclaim His glory, and should strengthen our faith. — What we have heard of God we may ourselves experience, for He remains ever the same. — Protected by God, we can resist all attacks ; guided by Him, we can never perish. — How, and by what means does God eternally preserve His city ? — Is the joy produced by God's help as great as the fear of His chastisement? — The gradual development of the praises of God from generation to genera- tion.— The protection and eternal maintenance of the ciiy of God though His po\ve.r, an.d watch- fulness, and grace. Calvin : There is no nook so hidden that the wisdom, justice, and goodness of God are not displayed in it. — But as He means to make His perfections specially visible to His Church, the Psalmist holds up before our eyes the mirror in which His image is seen. Starke: We should magnify and praise the Great God by a proper confession of His grace, and reverence for His holy name. — The greatest ornament to any place, and the source of its purest joy, is to have a church and to maintain divine service. — How many earthly palaces are to-day the holy places of the Most High? — How many lords recognize Him as their Supreme Lord ? — When the promises of God's word are fulfilled in our experience, then our faith in that word is gloriously confirmed. — The Christian's best thoughts are those arising from the view of God's goodness, for then his heart becomes a holy temple of the Lord. — Why should not be- lievers rejoice over God's judgments' — Are they not all designed to glorify God, to comfort His people, to weaken and destroy His enemies? — Osiander: Though faith is founded ou God's word, and not on our experience, yet this faith is strengthened when our experience actually agrees with' the promises of that woid. — • Franke : The predictions of the Old Testament concerning Zion and Jerusalem are fulfilled in you who believe in Him who is established the true King on Mount Zion. — Bensohel: God is the shield of His Church. — Frisch : In the Church of God we are sife, not only because He is her protector, but because her members pos- sess the most excellent gifts. — Burk: As Thy name is so is Thy praise. — Vaihinger : The great deliverance should be made known to pos- terity, as a testimony to the everlasting covenant. — Tholuck : When God's grace mightily inter- poses in our temporal affairs, our faith will be- come all the stronger in a blessed eternity. — Guenther; God leads us not into, but through and beyond death. — Diedrich: We are His peo- ple only because we accept Him as our protector ; whoever looks for another protector, has already separated himself from His people. — Our true courage consists in allowing ourselves truly to be helped hy God, and in genuine trust in Him, who alone can do that by which His kingdom on earth is organized and preserved. — Taube : The city of God under the guardianship of her protector! a joy of the whole earth! a terror for her eifbmies! an everlasting remembrance to His people ! Come and see ! this is the way — through experience to knowledge. [Henry: The clearer discoveries are made to us of God and His greatness, the more it is ex- pected we should abound in His praises. — God can dispirit the stoutest of His Church's enemies, and soon put them in pain who live at ease. — God's latter appearances for His people, against His and their enemies, are consonant to His former appearances, and should put us in mind of them. — In the great things that God lias done, and is doing, for His Church, it is good to take notice of the fulfilling of the Scriptures, and this would help us the better to understand both the providence itself, and the Scripture that is ful- filled in it. — All the streams of mercy that flow down to us must be run up to the fountain of God's loving-kindness. — 1. If God be our God, He is ours forever, not only through all the ages of time, but to eternity ; for it is the everlasting blessedness of glorified saints that God Himself xoill be with them, and will be their God. — 2. If He be our God, He will be our Guide, our faithful, constant Guide, to show us our way, and to lead us in it; He will be so even unto death, which will be the period of our way, and will bring us to our rest. He will be our Guide above death, so some. He will so guide us as to be above the reach of death, so that it shall not be able to do us any real hurt. He will be our Guide be- yond death, so others. He will conduct us safe to a happiness on the other side of death, to a life in which there shall be no more death. If we take the Lord for our God, He will conduct and convey us safe to death, through death, and beyond death ; down to death, and up again to glory. — J. F.] PSALM XLIX. 311 PSALM XLIX. To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. Hear this, all ye people ; Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world : 2 Both low and high, Rich and poor, together. 3 My mouth shall speak of wisdom ; And the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. 4 I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp. 5 Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, When the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about ? 6 They that trust in their wealth, And boast themselves in the multitude of their riches 7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother. Nor give to God a ransom for him ; 8 (For the redemption of their soul is precious, And it ceaseth for ever :) 9 That he should still live for ever, And not see corruption. 10 For he seeth that wise men die, Likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, And leave their wealth to others. 11 Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, And their dwelling-places to all generations; They call their lands after their own names. 12 Nevertheless man being in honor abideth not : He is like the beasts that perish. 13 This their way is their folly : Yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah. 14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning ; And their beauty shall consume In the grave from their dwelling 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: For he shall receive me. Selah. 16 Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, When the glory of his house is increased ; 17 For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: His glory shall not descend after him. 18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul, (And men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself,) 19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They shall never see light. 20 Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, Is like the beasts that perish. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Contents and Exposition. The Psalmist In a solemn preface (vers. 1-4), addresses all persons without distinction of residence, race, or position in life. He calls upon them to attend to his voice — which is accompanied by his harp — because he means to teach them an important truth, salutary to all, — a truth, which he him- 312 THE SECOND BOOK OP PSALMS. self, a disciple of wisdom, has learned by reve- lation, and has received into his heart. This Maschal discusses the problem of temporal happi- ness, and the prosperity of the ungodly, and is therefore related to Ps. xxvii. and lxxiii. The fundamental idea is, that the pious have no ground to fear under such circumstances in this transitory world, because the rich man cannot with all his gold purchase exemption from death, but by his vanity and folly becomes more and more like mere brutes that perish, while the just man by God's grace is delivered from the power of the grave. This thought is expressed in two strophes, each of which terminates with a verse in almost the same words. In these strophes the relations of the thought and the parts of the verses are so artistically interwoven that in the first strophe the Psalmist testifies to his own fearlessness, and in the middle of the second exhorts others to be equally courageous, while in each of the two places there is a sort of con- clusion marked by Selah. His language is terse, pithy, and sometimes rough. The phrases are pointed, now and then bold, and in some places obscure, while the structure of the 'sen- tences is peculiar, having here and there a kind of artistic intricacy. There are great difficulties in some passages of the present text, which are nearly unintelligible, owing probably, to mis- takes of transcribers. If so, however, they must be very ancient, since the oldest translators were evidently perplexed by them, and propose very senseless explanations. Vers. 1-4. Hear this. — A like solemn call oc- curs Deut. xxxii. 1 ; 1 Kings xxii. 28 ; Mic. i. 2 ; Job xxxiv. 2. The "world" — Cheled — (seePs. xvii. 1-4), is not heaven and earth or the world of space, but an existence — a something — which has its course in time. In ver. 3, the gradation of the ideas of wisdom and understanding is ex- pressed in the plural form, as is often done in the Proverbs of Solomon. — " I will open," ver. 4, refers not to the solution but the statement of the problem, since heart and mouth are opened. Ps. cix. 30; Amos viii. 5; Prov. xxvi. Such a combination of problem and maxim we also find in Ps. lxxviii. 2; Prov. i. 6. — Playing on the harp harmonizes with the soul's vibrations, and the latter are both expressed and excited by it. 2 Kings iii. 15. [Perowne: The toorld; the term here used is that which indicates its temporary, fleeting character. — Alexander : The word translated world means primarily duration or continued ex- istence; then more specifically, human life, the present state of things ; and by a natural transi- tion, the world as the place where it is spent. — Perowne. Wisdom,, — Understanding. In the Heb. these words are plural, but apparently not so used with any intensification of meaning. — In the second clause of the verse, I have supplied the copula "is," for notwithstanding Hupfeld's remark to the contrary, I cannot think it a natu- ral construction, to repeat the verb from the first clause: " The meditation of my heart shall speak of understanding." — J. F.]. Ver. 5. The iniquity of my heels (or my sup- planters, or of those who have trodden on me). This explanation of the phrase (Syriac and most others) suggests the meaning of " evil days — days of adversity," i. e. not adverse times simply, but those in which bad men abuse their power and wealth (Geier and others). This explanation agrees best with the " fear" mentioned in vers. 6, and 16. The rendering (Sept., Chald., Symm., Jer., Rabb., and others), "guilt or sin of my heels," is not only obscure (for what sin is meant), but ambiguous, for we would naturally think of his own sin, which does not accord with the mean- ing of the passage. At any rate "heels" cannot be taken for "steps "=missteps. If the "heels" be regarded ns the ohject of the persecution and the waylaying (Calv., Hup., Ortenberg), the image used is unnatural, and many transposi- tions are necessary to bring out the sense, — when the iniquity upon my heels, i. e. on all sides, compass me about. [Alexander: The iniquity of my oppressors [or supplanters). The word translated oppressors commonly means heels; but as this yields no good sense here, it may be taken as a verbal noun, meaning either traders, tramplers, oppres- sors or supplanters, traitors, in a sense akin to which the verbal root is used Gen. xxvii. 36; Hos. xii. 4. In either case, it is clearly a de- scription of his enemies as practising fraud, or violence against him. — Perowne: When iniquity compasseth etc. Perhaps iniquity is supposed to be lying, like a serpent in his path, ready to fasten on the heel, as the most exposed and vul- nerable part. — Barnes : The true idea is, when I am exposed to the crafts, the tricks of those who lie in wait for me; I am liable to be at- tacked suddenly, or to be taken at unawares; but what have I to fear? — J. F.]. Vers. 7-10. His brother. Instead of VHX • T (his brother) which is generally used when re- lated to Isch, we have simply FIN as an accusa- tive before the emphatic negative, which also precedes the infinitive absolute. The stress laid upon the impossibility of redeeming a brother (i. e. a fellow-man) from death, instead of himself, becomes the more remarkable, be- cause we might expect his own redemption to be mentioned. This, however can hardly be de- duced from the suffix at the close of the following line=/»'s redemption (Hengsten. ); or redemption for himself (Hitzig), although in the following verse we have the comprehensive plural "their souls." It is not necessary to adopt the reading in some editions ^]X, (Ewald, Olsh., Bottcher,) and by changing the points in the verb that fol- lows, to make it reflective, =surely no one can redeem himself. Nor can t"IX be taken as a nominative, and subject of the sentence. (Luther and others). The true idea here is, not simply the solidarity of all men Godward (Hupfeld), but rather the impossibility of redemption of any one by the mutual assistance, or the united efforts of men ; and thus we are prepared for the subsequent declaration that God is the Redeem- er.— Most critics take ver. 8, as a parenthesis, but as this construction is harsh, it is better, not to strike it from the text, as a gloss, (Orten- berg), but to make ver. 9, dependent on it (Kimchi, Flamin., Hengsten., Hupfeld), though the connection between them is somewhat loose. (Baur). The translation "because so precious is the ransom price of the soul, that it is want- * PSALM XLIX. 313 ing forevermore " (Ewald, Ko'ster, Maurer), is admissible, (but needless), since the perfect Sin has this sense Ps. xxxvi. 4, "he has de- sisted, ceased, removed himself." — The idea that ver. 9, is a premise "though he still continue to live forever " (Luther, Geier, Hitz.), and ver. 10, a conclusion from it "he shall see," cannot be reconciled with the strong expression of living forever. — Most interpreters take "D (ver. 10), in a causative sense, as explaining why he ceaseth, i. e. because he sees that wise men die, (Isaki, Lulher, J. H. Michaelis). Others take this verse as an antecedent (although he sees, etc.) to vert 11, (it is still their delusion to dream of an eter- nal home). But in direct discourse this particle renders the contrast more emphatic. (Flamin. De Wette, and most critics). It would be both violent, and unnecessary to strike out the words "forheseeth" (Olshausen). There is nothing to indicate that they are the remains of a muti- lnted verse. They only stand in the way of the transposition of ver. 9, before ver. 8, and to the exposition "and he (man) ceases (to be) forever." [Alexander: Ver. 8. And cosily is the ransom of their soul, etc. This obscure verse admits of several constructions. Their soul refers most probably to the rich man and his brother. The soul or life of both requires so much to ransom it, that neither can redeem the other. The verb in the last clause may mean ceases to live, perishes, and agrees with either or with each of the sub- jects previously mentioned. The ransom of their life is so costly, that neither can be saved. Or the verb may agree with ransom, as in the Eng. Bible ; it is too costly to be paid, and therefore ceases, or remains unpaid, forever. The same sense substantially may be obtained by making cea.se mean cease (or fail) to pay, and construing it with one of the preceding nouns. The ransom is so costly that he fails to pay it, or ceases to attempt it forever. Upon any of these various suppositions, the essential idea is that, the ransom of their life is too expensive to be paid. — Perowne : Soul, i. e. as is evident from the whole scope of the context here, "life." It is much to be regretted that superficial readers of the Psalm so often give a totally false meaning to this and the preceding verse. The passage has been alleged to prove that our Lord, as the Redeemer of man, must be God as well as man. The doctrine is most true, but it is not in the Psalm, nor is there the remotest allusion to it. All that is here taught is, that no wealth can save a man from death, because the life of men is not in their own hands, or in that of their fellows, but only in the hand of God, who cannot be bribed. There is a kind of solemn irony in the idea of the richest man offering all his riches to God, to escape death. — J. F] Vers. 11, 12. Their inward thought, etc. The expression is obscure if the idea be that their hearts are deluded by the belief that their houses and descendants shall continue forever (Jerome, Isaki, Lath., Calv., and others). Still less can the meaning be that the " houses " themselves totally absorb their thoughts, as if the expres- sion was parallel to that in Ps. xlv. 9, "all her garments are myrrh" (Hupfeld), for this could not be reconciled with the word " forever." But as the heart is within us, and as the two phrases "the heart" and "the inward thought" — 3~>p — are synonymous (Ps. lxiv. 7, 1 Kings iii. 28; Ex. xxxvi. 2), and as the word rendered "in- ward thought," denotes both the organ and the seat of thought (Ps. v. 10, lxii. 5), it may here express not the product of mental activity, i. e. the delusion, but the essential activity of the organ as such by which their inward thought is filled. This activity here may be, not the thought, but the wish, (Hengsten., Del., Hitzig), — Nearly all the older versions give an entirely different sense, for they read i3p instead of 2 jj7 . — The meaning "their graves are their houses forever," or ironically, and better still "their .graves are their perpetual houses" (Ewald, Ols., Riehm), may be commended, since the grave is proverbially called " the perpetual house " Prov. xii. 5. [This is an error. There is no such expression in the place named. The re- ference must be to Eccles. xii. 5, "the long home (or Louse)." — J. F.]. But the conjectural reading on which this exposition is based, is not sustained by a single MSS. Nor does the closing sentence read "they who were highly praised every- where" (Ewald); nor " their names are cele- brated in their lands," (Rosen., De Wette, Ilit- zig), but"" they proclaim their names throughout the lands " i. e. they call them after their names. (TheOld Trans., Rabbins, Sachs, Bottcher, Hup- feld, Kurtz, Del.). For DSIX signifies the cultivated earth, arable land, and the subject must not be needlessly changed, while the for- mula " to proclaim or call the name " may be employed in various relations. — In ver. 12, Vr should not be changed to P31 as in ver. 20, (Sept., Syr., Cappel, Ewald), nor should it be substituted for the latter word in ver. 20, (Ols.). Parallel verses are not always perfectly asso- nant ; and here the change in a single consonant causes an ingenious play of words, (ohnc Besiand, ohne Verstand). — without continuance, without intelligence. The special meaning " to continue for a night" (Aben Ezra, Stier, Hengsten.), may be proper in Ps. xxx. 6, but not here, where J'7 is equivalent to " abide " as in Prov. xix. 23. [Alexander: Their inward thought, etc. The plural form at the end of the sentence occurs no- where else, but corresponds to our word grounds, when applied to cultivated lands. — A possible though not a probable construction makes the last two mean upon earth, the form of the Hebrew noun being assimilated to that of this particle before it.— J. F.] Ver. 13. This their way, etc. There is no reason for transposing vers. 13 and 12 as Hupfeld suggests. We must not translate it " this their sentiment is their hope " (De Wette). "Way "here does not signify moral conduci, but the " way of faring" in the world, and this not in the sense of " faring well," but of " faring ill." Hence we must not render the verse '• this their doing is their folly" (Aquil. Symm , Luth., Calv., and others ; nor " becomes to them a folly," t. e. a foolish security (Chald., Stier). The sense of " folly " has been derived from that of " assurance " (Eccles. vii. 25); but here the 814 THE SECOND BOOK OF PSALMS. original meaning must be adhered to, which is "a stubborn disposition " (Bottcher), manifest- ing itself by "boasting" (llitzig), and turning out to be "folly." — There is no contrast in the following verse, "and, notwithstanding they fol- low them " (Hengsten.) ; it is better to take it as simply a continuation of the attributive sentence (Del.) — in the more precise statement, it is not said what will happen to them after death (Ewald) ; nor to their descendants (Older Com- ment.) ; but what may happen to those who imi- tate them. [Perowne : Tliis their way. Both the meaning and construction of this clause are doubtful. It may mean (1) This their way (i.e. manner of life, course of conduct) is their folly: or (2) This their prosperous condition is (or becomes) their infatuation (blind confidence) ; for kesel may mean "a stupid security," or "pre- sumptuous confidence," as well as "folly." As regards the construction, it may be as above, or the clause may consist of two independent sen- tences. "This is their way ; they have confi- dence;" or finally, the latter part of it may be a relative sentence: " This is the way of those who are foolish." — J. F.]. Vers. 14-17. Like sheep, etc. This com- parison indicates, on the one hand their want of will and incapacity to resist, and on the other hand, it suggests the idea that those who during their life-time have fed in rich pastures, are now driven into Sheol, like sheep into their fold at night, and have Death, the king of terrors (Job xviii. 14), as their Shepherd, i. e. their keeper and master. (Geier, Isaki). The meaning is not that death gnaws them (Vulg., Luther and others), nor that he devours them as food. Job xviii. 13, (J. H. Michaelis, Geier). — In the pro- mise that "the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning," it is easy to discover a reference to the morning of the resurrection, and the universal reign of the saints in union with Messiah, (Isaki, Kimchi, Geier, Mendelsohn) ; but this is not presented as a positive dogma, nor as an express prediction (Older Expos.), but as the result of that indefinite presentiment of the future that marked Old Testament times (Stier); — as a parable (vcr. 4), exhibiting not the last great day (Delitzsch), but the certain triumph of the righteous over the ungodly. This is, however, expressed in terms not only which are applicable to the last judgment so clearly revealed in the New Testament, but the whole passage has a typical significance. It is, as Ewald says, a glimpse of the Messianic hope. — By "morning," (the word in the original occurs in a sentence connected by a vav consec. ), we are to understand not the morning of the resur- rection, which sh.ill come to all men after the night of death, but the morning that dawns upon the upright after the destruction of the ungodly. It is the morning of the future illuminated by the light of God's gracious countenance (Kurtz) and not limited in duration, during which they shall live by the power of God, while the wicked arc put beneath their feet, and given over to death. The rendering " to tread" (instead of "have dominion") i. e. upon their proud graves or corpses, needlessly weakens the statement, which, though figurative, conveys more than the simple contrast between the night of adversity and the morning of deliverance, especially if "morning" be taken to mean that which will "very soon" occur, and the expression be con- nected with the following verse (Ewald, llitzig), which would give a better sense, though not in eonformity with the accents. According to the present textual structure of the verse, only a tolerable meaning can be got out of it, by a forced and artificial exposition." Literally it would be, " for their form (beauty) is to be devoured by Sheol, out of the dwelling which is theirs," i e., they shall have no more a dwelling. If this ob- scure passage be understood to mean that the form of the deceased is devoured by Sheol, thus making an end of its bodily beauty and earthly glory with their former dwelling, (the Older Trans, and Commen., and more recently Claus, Stier, Del.), not only may it be asked why so simple an idea should be expressed in a way so odd and obscure, but the doubt might arise from this sin- gle text of Scripture, whether the decomposition of the human body that takes place in the grave, is not transferred to Sheol. This doubt becomes the stronger, since the explanation that there is here a confusion of ideas about the grave, de- composition, and the shadow life in Sheol (De Wette, Hup.) cannot be admitted on the stand- point of these expositors. Strictly speaking the idea would better accord with the sense of the first half of the sentence, that the form of the dead, elsewhere represented as shadowy, will at last be delivered over in Sheol to complete con- sumption, i. e. annihilation (Hupfeld). But with this, the seeond part of the sentence does not agree, and the admission would hardly be satis- factory, if a strange and illogical construction (Kurz), — the assurance that in Sheol the well known receptacle of the dead, the form of the deceased is consumed — is followed by another statement that in consequence of this consump- tion the form had no longer a dwelling, while, on the contrary, Sheol holds no longer any oc- cupants. But if we hold that/there is here a contrast between the time when they fancied they were building houses to last forever, and that future period when they shall exist without property, without bodies, and therefore in empty space, the first half of the sentence must be un- derstood to refer not to a consumption by, but of Sheol, i. e. its destruction. (Isaki, Hofrnann). This passage however, is too weak a ground for such an idea, which is nowhere else found it the Old Testament. Equally pointless are the attempts to explain the passage, by giving to "I1J? (Keri), the sense of "help" (Sept., Vulg. "defiance" (Luther), or "rock." By referring the word in its last named sense to Christ as the "rock" of the righteous, who will destroy the reign of Death by depriving him of his place of abode (De Dieu and others), they endeavor to get out of it a comforting eschato- logic idea. If we make a slight change in the points and accents (and on the whole this seems to be the best solution) we get a simple and na tural meaning, viz. that their form is wasting away, and that Sheol is their abode. (Ewald, llitzig). For VJp Is. xlv. 1(3, or "U.y=n'W Ezek. xliii. 11, means "that which is made," " the structure," and IT73 denotes the gradual ' T PSALM XLTX. 315 but sure wasting of the body, Job xiii. 23. In- stead of 7313, some Codices omit the Dagesch, and therefore lean to the explanation by the preposition JO — . There is no allusion in ver. 15, to God's protection against an early death (De Wette, Kurtz) ; nor to his delivery from some great danger that imperilled life. (Hengs., Hitzig), although it is proper to regard the statement as contrasting the condition of the godly and the ungodly, and as affirming that re- demption by man is impossible (ver. 7). The certainty of redemption by God, from the hand or the power of Sheol means deliverance from that dominion of Sheol to which all men are lia- ble. (Calvin, Geier, J. H. Mich., Clauss, Stier, Hoffman). But it is not presented here as a truth of which they were then conscious, but rather as a glimpse and hope obtained by a bold flight of fail h. Nor is there any definiie indi- cation of the ransom price, nor of the way and manner of this deliverance. Still there is an allusion to the "taking up" of Enoch, Gen. v. 24, and of Elijah, 2 Kings ii. 3, in the use of the word np; which, generally denotes, not "to take under one's protection," but "to take," i. e. "takeaway" (Aben Ezra, Kimchi), "take along," ver. 18, "take to oneself" (Isaki) Ps. Ixxiii. 24; lxxix. 4'.l ; Hos. xiii. 14. As this word in the impcrf. follows a fut. imperf. it cannot be regarded as a Preterites" for he has taken me." (Luther). It must be taken in an absolute sense in a line which is all the more comprehen- sive because of its brevity (Bottcher). For these reasons we cannot approve the otherwise possi- ble rendering "if" (Hitzig) or better still " when " (Ewald) "it [viz. the hand of Sheol) takes hold on me." [Perowne: Vers. 14-15. We have in this pas- sage the strong hope of eternal life with God, if not the hope of a resurrection. In the very midst of the gloomy picture which he draws of the end of the ungodly, there breaks forth one morning ray of light, the bright anticipation of the final triumph of the good over the evil. This is the inextinguishable hope which animates the Church of the Old Testament, as well as that of the New. Righteousness shall eventually, must in its very nature, reign on earth. The wicked shall find their end in Sheol (Ps. ix. 17, 18), and the righteous shall trample on their graves. This, and not more than this, seems to have been the meaning originally of the Psalmist, in the words, " And the righteous shall have dominion over them in the morning." But now that he comes to speak of himself, and his own personal relation to God, he rises into a higher strain. He who knows and loves God has the life of God, and can never perish. That life must survive the shock of death." " God," says the Psalmist, "shall redeem my soul from the hand of Hades, for He shall take me," as He took Enoch, and as He took Elijah to Himself. We are not, of course, to suppose that the Sacred Poet himself expected to be taken up alive to heaven; but those great facts of former ages were God's witnesses to man of his immortality, and of the reality of a life with Him beyond this world. It is a hope based on facts like these which here shines forth. It is a hope, not a revealed certainty. It rests on no distinct promise; it has not assumed the definite form of a doctrine. But it was enough to raise, to cheer, to encourage those who saw ungodliness prospering in the world. The end of the wicked was, after all, a thick darkness which had never been penetrated; the end of the righteous, life with God. — J. F.]. Vers. 18-20. Though (or, it may be that) he blessed his soul, etc. Many interpreters fake '3 in the sense of " because " (Syr., Flamin.,Calv., Heng., Hup ) as indicating the reason why such a termination must take place, still though the sense of "yea when" or "even though" Is. i. 15, (Del. and others), as granting something (Ewald, Gram. 362), yet we prefer to understand it in a hypothetic sense (as in ver. 1G), as presenting a possible case=" it may be that," 2 Sam. xvi. 10. (Hitzig)— To "bless his soul " is hardly =to "bless himself in his heart" Deut. xxix. 19 "to take his ease," (Syr., Flamin., and most others), with the positive enjoyments, of eating and drinking, (Hitzig). — In ver. 10, ~m must be understood, not as in the Arabic, in the rare sense of " habitations," i. e. Sheol, Is. xxxviii. 12, (De Wette), but in the usual one of "gene- rations," because it is more natural to make " the soul " the subject of this sentence (Aben Ezra, Kimchi, J. II. Mich., Sachs, Olshaus., Hoff- man, Kurtz, Ewald, Del..) than to suppose a di- rect address to the rich, (Geier, Hosen., De Wette, Hengsten., Hitzig) ; or to change NUil into R13' (Old Trans., Ilupfeld).— To "see the light " is a common expression for "to live" Ps. lviii. 9; Job iii. 1G ; Eceles. vi. 5, but the "light." is not necessarily that of the sun, (Hupfeld), unless it be the sun of eternal life. — The common saying that men must perish like the beasts, is changed into the more elevated one, that only those who have not a right under- standing of life shall perish like the beasts. (Hofmann). There is no reason for giving the conditional clause "if he understand not," a positive sense as in Ps. xciv. 7, "and he regards it not." (Hitzig). DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. It is one of the mysteries of the Divine government, that worldly men, often and for a long time, enjoy so great prosperity that they never think of the end, and are intent only to increase their wealth, careless of God and His will. This mystery may disturb even a gracious soul, may fill it with fear and doubt, and lead it astray, especially when it sees the godly suffer in days of adversity, from the malice of the worldly-minded, to such an extent that they hardly know what to do. In such cases we want an explanation that will satisfy all men ; and it is a thought full of comfort that God has fur- nished such a solution of the mystery, by the mouth of those who have formerly inclined to Him t heir ear. 2. To the godly — and to them alone — the con- tents of this revelation are more comforting than the form of it. For death puts an end to the worldly man himself, and to all the things of which he boasts, — an end from which all the 316 THE SECOND BOOK OF PSALMS. ■wealth of earth cannot ransom him ; — an end full of shame, because he has made himself like the irrational brutes, and he has no other pros- pect before him than that of going down to Sheol. The godly man shares, indeed, the uni- versal lot of mortals, but in his personal life, he is intimately united to God, and has a treasure far more precious than perishable and deceitful riches. If redemption from the power of Sheol be possible, God only can effect it. And well may the pious man rejoice that it is not merely death that lays hands upon him. but God Him- self, who will guide him in such a way that through the night he shall come to the light, and the morning of triumph. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. If we are led by God's word and held by His hand, we need fear neither the world, nor sin, nor death. — God conducts His own people into the light, through the night of suffering, doubt, and death. — Riches without God are not only an uncertain but a deceitful good. — The world's folly, and the wisdom from God. — The false security of the children of this world, and the needless fear of the godly. — The vanity of wealth acquired and enjoyed without God. — Poverty cannot disgrace, and misfortune cannot harm, if we find and hold fast to God. — The vanity of the worldly-minded man in his pur- poses and life. — He will not listen to God, will learn nothing salutary either in the world or from the world. Starke : Many wise sayings have been ut- tered ; Oh, that the many would diligently hear and act according to them ! — A Christian needs heavenly wisdom to guide him in seeking his salvation ; he needs an illuminated under- standing in order that he may flee from all that can injure his soul. — The proper use of music is to further devotion and the honor of God. — How great must be the Lord, who can gather all nations before Him! in whose presence the meanest beggar is of as much account as the richest man on earth ! — The fear of man is the first step towards apostacy from the known truth of God ; for this reason, a Christian, especially a teacher, should not allow himself to be seduced by it, but should contend against it with faith and prayer. — Ungodly men are called oppressors, because they act in an oppressive way, but here- after they shall be so dealt with themselves. — The ungodly rich men are foolish in supposing that they are the sole owners of their posses- sions: no, they are God's, and He can take them away at any moment, even if they are many kingdoms. — Great wealth easily begets pride and forgetfulness of God ; hence, those to whom God gives riches should keep their hearts with all diligence. — The longest life on earth is noth- ing, compared with eternity, yet our future state depends upon our conduct in this life. If we would be eternally happy, we must walk in con- stant readiness for eternity. — A sinner cannot redeem himself from death, much less from hell, by his earthly possessions, nor by his own power. — How different the judgments of God from those of men ! How many bow down before the rich and mighty, praise and pronounce them happy, though their doings are in God's eyes, simply folly and end only in misery ! — Those who in the day of grace are accepted by grace, shall never be cast off. — Riches, sensual pleasure, and worldly glory are the devil's dangerous baits. Ah! beware of this poisonous sugar! — The treasures which we cannot take with us when we die are not the true ones ; blessed, therefore, is he who gathers spiritual treasures, and aims to become rich in God. — Far better is it to be poor and pious, and retain God's grace forever, than to be rich and ungodly, and bring down upon ourselves God's eternal wrath. — In the day of grace labor diligently to become a child of light, and to walk as such, then you shall, hereafter, see the light of God's counte- nance forever. — Man'3 greatest dignity and honor, is to have the Divine image renewed in his soul by the Holy Ghost. But if forgetting his Creator, he gives himself to vain things and his own sensual appetites, he will sink almost below the level of the brute. Saladin ordered a long spear with a white flag attached to it to be carried through his camp, having on it this in- scription : "The mighty King Saladin, the con- queror of all Asia and of Egypt, takes with him when he dies none of his possessions but this linen flag for a shroud." The emperor Severus exclaimed upon his death-bed: " Omnia fui, et nihil mihi prodest." — Osiander : It is the duty of all men to listen attentively to the word of God, and to follow its precepts ; those who despise that word shall perish.— Selnekker : All the riches of the world are nothing compared with that genuine treasure which believers possess in their knowledge of a gracious God. — Menzel : The preacher should ever see one Lord, and two souls. The Lord is in heaven, and has called him to his office. Him he must keep before his eyes, regardless of men who trust in riches which they cannot retain forever. The two souls are described in Ezek. xxxiii. : one is the sinner's, the other is the preacher's. He is re- sponsible for the first, and must suffer for it, if through his fault it be given over to condemna- tion.— Franke : The proclamation of the word of life should also produce life. — Renschel : The service of mammon yields but a poor re- ward. Be not deceived. — Frisch : Whatever a child of the world most highly esteems, is noth- ing but folly. — A man possessed of earthly honors and happiness, if he be not wise in Divine things — as few are in the hour of pros- perity— will find his happiness quickly at an end, and his future state very miserable. — Tho- luck: Blessed is he who, when he departs, has no treasures which he is forced to leave to others. — A rich man who wishes to deceive him- self, will find many to help him. — The kingdom of God, though for a time not victorious, will conquer forever. — Umbreit : We can be deliv- ered from the bondage of fear, only by humble, quiet submission to God's will. — The pious man who though scorned by the world, never fears nor trembles, is God's hero. — The more a man'3 heart cleaves to the perishing things of this life, the less he enjoys them. — You may bargain for and prize all earthly things, but the soul has a priceless value, for it belongs to God. — Stier : Prosperous as the ungodly may be, there is PSALM L. 317 comfort in the certainty that death makes a sure decision, when the proud children of the world shall perish, while the pious shall be redeemed and accepted by God. — Guentuer : The worst kind of folly and self-deception is that of men who will not deem themselves to be higher than the brutes, nor truly learn to know themselves, nor work out their salvation with fear and trembling. — Diedrich : To live rightly is the highest wisdom, art, and courage. — If God be our daily aim, we need fear nothing from the world. — Taube : An appeal to every one con- cerning the folly of the worldly-minded, who can neither be feared nor called happy by the children of God. — The awful nothing out of which the All in this life is made. [Henry: The children of God, though ever so poor, are truly happy in this, above the most prosperous of the children of this world, that they are well guarded against the terrors of death, and the judgment to come. — The way of worldliness is a very foolish way ; they that lay up their treasures on earth, and set their affec- tions on thing3 below, act contrary both to right reason, and their own interest. — The love of the world is a disease that runs in the blood ; men have it by kind, till the grace of God cures it — The believing hopes of the soul's redemp- tion from the grave and reception to glory, are the great support and joy of the children of God in a dying hour. — They that are rich in the graces and comforts of the Spirit, have some- thing which, when they die, they shall carry away with them, something which death cannot strip them of. Bishop Horne : At the call of Folly, what multitudes are always ready to as- semble ! But Wisdom, eternal and essential Wisdom crieth without, she lifteth up her voice in the streets, and who is at leisure to attend her heavenly lectures ? — Scott : What good will it do any man to have his name perpetuated on earth, when he has no name in the registers of heaven?— J. F.] PSALM L. A Psalm of Asaph. The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. 2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. 3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence : A fire shall devour before him, Aud it shall be very tempestuous round about him. 4 He shall call to the heavens from above, And to the earth, that he may judge his people. 5 Gather my saints together unto me ; Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. 6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness : For God is judge himself. Selah. 7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak ; 0 Israel, and I will testify against thee : 1 am God, even thy God. 8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices Or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. i) I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he goats out of thy folds : 10 For every beast of the forest is mine, Aud the cattle upon a thousand hills. 11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: Aud the wild beasts of the field are mine. 12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee : For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. 13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats ? 318 THE SECOND BOOK OF PSALMS. 14 Offer unto God thanksgiving ; And pay thy vows unto the Most High : 15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. 16 But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, Or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth ? 17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, And castest my words behind thee. 18 When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, And hast been partaker with adulterers. 19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil, And thy tongue frameth deceit. 20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother ; Thou slanderest thine own mother's son. 21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself: Bat I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. 22 Now consider this, ye that forget God, Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. 23 Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me : And to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. Contents and Composition. — Out of Zion a sublime and terrible manifestation of God is made, like that on Mount Sinai, vers. 1-3. Heaven and earth are summoned as witnesses, while He sits in judgment, and pronounces sen- tence on His covenant people, vers. 4-6. He ex- plains to them the first table of the Law, vers. 7-15; rebukes them for their misconception and abuse of the ordinances of sacrifice, and at the same time encourages them to the true service of Himself, with the promise of His help. He next describes and threatens to punish the hypocrites who have His covenant on their lips, but break it in their lives, vers. 16-20, warning them to take good heed to this Divine reproof, vers. 21, 22, and concludes with a general and prophetic announcement of the fundamental idea of the whole address, ver. 23. This idea, expressed after the manner of the prophets, corresponds with Pss. xv. ; xxiv. 3-6 ; and still more closely with Pss. xl. 7-9 ; li. 8, 9 ; lxix. 31. All these passages have for their basis the truth uttered by Samuel to Saul (1 Sam. xv. 22). Of course the later prophets teach the same thing, but there is nothing in the character of this Psalm to oblige us to refer it, not to the times of David, but to those of Joaiah (Ewald), .or to those of the so-called Deutero-Isaiah (Hitzig). Nor is there any ground for objection to this, in the fact that Asaph (concerning whom see Introduc- tion, \ 2), as a Levite, belonged to the tribe whose duty it was to see that the sacrifices were offered in accordance with the rules of Divine service. For this is equally applicable to the prophet Jeremiah, (comp. chap. vi. 22, and Lam. ii. 15), and the opinion is certainly ill-founded, that there is here a general repudiation of the Mosaic sacrifices. In this view of it, many of the ancient expositors referred the whole Psalm to the abolition of the Mosaic law through Christ, while later ones think that there is some indication of hostility to it on the part of the author. Vers. 1-6. The mighty God, even the Lord (ElElohim Jehovah). — These three names of God are, by the accents, in apposition. Hupf. thinks, without reason, that this accumulation of titles is chilling. On the contrary, it awakens and in- tensifies attention, as in Josh. xxii. 22, where God is described as the Mighty One, the God de- manding reverence, who had revealed Himself in His Divine fulness in history. We do not approve the suggestion that the first two words should be combined— ingens Deus (Bottcher). or "the strong God" (Aquil., Symm.), or "the God of gods" (Sept., Isaki, Calviu, Ewald, Hupfeld) ; nor do we like the translation " God is Elohim Jehovah" (Chald.), nor "God, a God is Jehovah" (Hitzig). This last construction is connected with the rendering of the following line : " He speaks, the earth resounds." This is ingenious, but doubtful, on account of the change in the subjects of the two verbs standing in juxta- position ; nor is it at all necessary. For in ver. 4 the same word is not used as a call to the heavens and the earth (Ols., Hilz.), i. e. for the assem- bling of the Israelites given literally in ver. 6, as if heaven and earth were the judicial messen- gers (Hupfeld), or the instruments and servants of Divine justice (Stier). This does not agree with the well known idiom of Scripture, and would convey a monstrous idea. On the con- trary, it is quite common to call heaven and earth as witnesses, Deut. iv. 26 ; xxxii. 1 ; Isa. i. 2 ; Maccab. ii. 37. This also agrees well with the universal historic significance of the judg- ment seat before which God orders His people to assemble, and on which He shines forth in ter- rible m ijesty, as when He appeared as lawgiver PSALM L. 319 ou Mount Sinai. We would most naturally take the " messengers " — who are not expressly named — to be the angels who so often appeared in visions, and in Matth. xxiv. 31 are described as God's heavenly servants. Accordingly ver. b' declares, not the execution of the order, or that the heavens proclaimed the approaching judg- ment of God, i. e. announced to the parties that God would sit in judgment on them (Ilupfeld) ; but thtit among the witnesses those celestial in- habitants publicly proclaimed the justice of the Divine sentence. We must therefore regard ver. 1 as the call of God to the whole earth, its con- tents being akin to, though not synonymous with, the introductory formula of Go