,,the ,,expositor',s ,,bible ,,edited ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,,sir ,w4 ,,robertson ,,nicoll1 ,m4,a41 ,,ll4,d4 ,editor of ,the ,expositor1 etc4 ,,the ,,psalms ,,by ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,,volume #a4 ,,psalms ,i4--,,xxxviii4 ,,hodder ,,and ,,stoughton ,,london ,,new ,,york ,,toronto ,,the ,,expositor',s ,,bible4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 price #gs4 #f;d4 each vol4 ,,first ,,series4 ,colossians4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d41 ,d4,lit4 ,st4 ,mark4 ,by the ,right ,rev4 the ,bishop of ,derry4 ,genesis4 ,by ,prof4 ,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 #a ,samuel4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,g4 ,,blaikie1 ,d4,d4 #b ,samuel4 ,by the same ,author4 ,hebrews4 ,by ,principal ,t4 ,c4 ,,edwards1 ,d4,d4 ,,second ,,series4 ,galatians4 ,by ,prof4 ,g4 ,g4 ,,findlay1 ,b4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,the ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,plummer1 ,d4,d4 ,isaiah ,i4--,,xxxix4 ,by ,prin4 ,g4 ,a4 ,,smith1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,the ,book of ,revelation4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,,milligan1 ,d4,d4 #a ,corinthians4 ,by ,prof4 ,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,epistles of ,st4 ,john4 ,by the ,most ,rev4 the ,archbishop of ,armagh4 ,,third ,,series4 ,judges and ,ruth4 ,by the ,rev4 ,r4 ,a4 ,,watson1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,jeremiah4 ,by the ,rev4 ,c4 ,j4 ,,ball1 ,m4,a4 ,isaiah ,,xl4--,,lxvi4 ,by ,prin4 ,g4 ,a4 ,,smith1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,st4 ,matthew4 ,by the ,rev4 ,j4 ,,monro ,,gibson1 ,d4,d4 ,exodus4 ,by the ,right ,rev4 the ,bishop of ,derry4 ,st4 ,luke4 ,by the ,rev4 ,h4 ,,burton1 ,m4,a4 ,,fourth ,,series4 ,ecclesiastes4 ,by the ,rev4 ,,samuel ,,cox1 ,d4,d4 ,st4 ,james and ,st4 ,jude4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,plummer1 ,d4,d4 ,proverbs4 ,by the ,rev4 ,r4 ,f4 ,,horton1 ,d4,d4 ,leviticus4 ,by the ,rev4 ,s4 ,h4 ,,kellogg1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john4 ,by ,prof4 ,m4 ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,by ,prof4 ,,stokes1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,,fifth ,,series4 ,the ,psalms4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 #a and #b ,thessalonians4 ,by ,prof4 ,,james ,,denney1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,book of ,job4 ,by the ,rev4 ,r4 ,a4 ,,watson1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,ephesians4 ,by ,prof4 ,g4 ,g4 ,,findlay1 ,b4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john4 ,by ,prof4 ,m4 ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,by ,prof4 ,,stokes1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,,sixth ,,series4 #a ,kings4 ,by the ,very ,rev4 ,f4 ,w4 ,,farrar1 ,f4,r4,s4 ,philippians4 ,by ,principal ,,rainy1 ,d4,d4 ,ezra1 ,nehemiah1 ,esther4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,f4 ,,adeney1 ,m4,a4 ,joshua4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,g4 ,,blaikie1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,psalms4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,the ,epistles of ,st4 ,peter4 ,by ,prof4 ,,rawson ,,lumby1 ,d4,d4 ,,seventh ,,series4 #b ,kings4 ,by the ,very ,rev4 ,f4 ,w4 ,,farrar4 ,f4,r4,s4 ,romans4 ,by the ,right ,rev4 ,h4 ,c4 ,g4 ,,moule1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,books of ,chronicles4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,h4 ,,bennett1 ,d4,d41 ,d4,lit4 #b ,corinthians4 ,by ,prof4 ,,james ,,denney1 ,d4,d4 ,numbers4 ,by the ,rev4 ,r4 ,a4 ,,watson1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,the ,psalms4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,iii4 ,,eighth ,,series4 ,daniel4 ,by the ,very ,rev4 ,f4 ,w4 ,,farrar1 ,f4,r4,s4 ,the ,book of ,jeremiah4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,h4 ,,bennett1 ,d4,d41 ,d4,lit4 ,deuteronomy4 ,by ,prof4 ,,andrew ,,harper1 ,b4,d4 ,the ,song of ,solomon and ,lamentations4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,f4 ,,adeney1 ,m4,a4 ,ezekiel4 ,by ,prof4 ,,john ,,skinner1 ,m4,a4 ,the ,books of the ,twelve ,prophets4 ,by ,prin4 ,g4 ,a4 ,,smith1 ,d4,d4 ,two ,vols4 ,,the ,,psalms ,,by ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,,volume #a4 ,,psalms ,i4--,,xxxviii4 ,,hodder ,,and ,,stoughton ,,london ,,new ,,york ,,toronto ,printed by ,hazell1 ,watson ,viney1 ,ld41 ,london and ,aylesbury4 ,,preface4 ,a volume which appears in ,the ,expositor's ,bible should obviously1 first of all1 be expository4 ,i have tried to conform to that requirement1 and have therefore found it necessary to leave questions of date and authorship all but untouched4 ,they could not be adequately discussed in conjunction with ,exposition4 ,i venture to think that the deepest and most precious elements in the ,psalms are very slightly affected by the answers to these questions1 and that expository treatment of the bulk of the ,psalter may be separated from critical1 without condemning the former to incompleteness4 ,if ,i have erred in thus restricting the scope of this volume1 ,i have done so after due consideration2 and am not without hope that the restriction may commend itself to some readers4 ,a4 ,mc,l4 ,,manchester1 ,dec4 #ahib4 ,,contents4 ,,page ,,psalm ,i4 #a ,,ii4 #aa ,,iii4 #bc ,,iv4 #cj ,v4 #cg ,,vi4 #di ,,vii4 #eg ,,viii4 #fh ,,ix4 #gg ,x4 #hi ,,xi4 #aja ,,xii4 #aji ,,xiii4 #aag ,,xiv4 #abc ,,xv4 #acb ,,xvi4 #adj ,,xvii4 #aej ,,xviii4 #afc ,,xix4 #ahf ,,xx4 #aie ,,xxi4 #bja ,,xxii4 #bjh ,,xxiii4 #bbf ,,xxiv4 #bcc ,,xxv4 #bdj ,,xxvi4 #bea ,,xxvii4 #beh ,,xxviii4 #bfh ,,xxix4 #bgc ,,xxx4 #bhj ,,xxxi4 #bhi ,,xxxii4 #cjb ,,xxxiii4 #caa ,,xxxiv4 #cbj ,,xxxv4 #ccb ,,xxxvi4 #cdd ,,xxxvii4 #cef ,,xxxviii4 #cge ,,psalm ,i4 #a ,happy the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked1 ,and has not stood in the way of sinners1 ,and in the session of scorners has not sat4 #b ,but in the law of ,jehovah is his delight1 ,and in ,his law he meditates day and night4 #c ,and he is like a tree planted by the runnels of water1 ,which yields its fruit in its season1 ,and whose leafage does not fade1 ,and all which he does he prosperously accomplishes4 #d ,not so are the wicked1 ,but like chaff which the wind drives away4 #e ,therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment1 ,nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous4 #f ,for ,jehovah knows the righteous1 ,and the way of the wicked shall perish4 ,the ,psalter may be regarded as the heart's echo to the speech of ,god1 the manifold music of its wind-swept strings as ,god's breath sweeps across them4 ,law and ,prophecy are the two main elements of that speech1 and the first two psalms1 as a double prelude to the book1 answer to these1 the former setting forth the blessedness of loving and keeping the law1 and the latter celebrating the enthronement of ,messiah4 ,jewish tradition says that they were originally one1 and a well-attested reading of ,acts xiii4 #cc quotes ,thou art my ,son as part of the first ,psalm4 ,the diversity of subject makes original unity improbable1 but possibly our present first ,psalm was prefixed1 unnumbered4 ,its theme1 the blessedness of keeping the law1 is enforced by the juxtaposition of two sharply contrasted pictures1 one in bright light1 another in deep shadow1 and each heightening the other4 ,ebal and ,gerizim face one another4 ,the character and fate of the lover of the law are sketched in vv4 #a-c1 and that of the wicked in vv4 #d-f4 ,how abundantly is that word ,blessed multiplied in the ,book of ,psalms6 ,the book seems to be made out of that word1 and the foundation raised upon that word1 for it is the first word of the book4 ,but in all the book there is not one ,woe 7,donne74 ,it is usually taken as an exclamation1 but may equally well be a simple affirmation1 and declares a universal truth even more strongly1 if so regarded4 ,the characteristics which thus bring blessedness are first described negatively1 and that order is significant4 ,as long as there is so much evil in the world1 and society is what it is1 godliness must be largely negative1 and its possessors a people whose laws are different from all people that be on earth4 ,live fish swim against the stream2 dead ones go with it4 ,the tender graces of the devout soul will not flourish unless there be a wall of close-knit and unparticipating opposition round them1 to keep off nipping blasts4 ,the negative clauses present a climax1 notwithstanding the unquestionable correctness of one of the grounds on which that has been denied--namely1 the practical equivalence of wicked and sinner4 ,increasing closeness and permanence of association are obvious in the progress from walking to standing and from standing to sitting4 ,increasing boldness in evil is marked by the progress from counsel to way1 or course of life1 and thence to scoffing4 ,evil purposes come out in deeds1 and deeds are formularised at last in bitter speech4 ,some men scoff because they have already sinned4 ,the tongue is blackened and made sore by poison in the system4 ,therefore goodness will avoid the smallest conformity with evil1 as knowing that if the hem of the dress or the tips of the hair be caught in the cruel wheels1 the whole body will be drawn in4 ,but these negative characteristics are valuable mainly for their efficacy in contributing to the positive1 as the wall round a young plantation is there for the sake of what grows behind it4 ,on the other hand1 these positive characteristics1 and eminently that chief one of a higher love1 are the only basis for useful abstinence4 ,mere conventional1 negative virtue is of little power or worth unless it flow from a strong set of the soul in another direction4 ,so did not ,i is good and noble when we can go on to say1 as ,nehemiah did1 because of the fear of ,god4 ,the true way of floating rubbish out is to pour water in4 ,delight in the law will deliver from delight in the counsel of the wicked4 ,as the negative1 so the positive begins with the inward man4 ,the main thing about all men is the direction of their delight4 ,where do tastes run8 what pleases them most8 and where are they most at ease8 ,deeds will follow the current of desires1 and be right if the hidden man of the heart be right4 ,to the psalmist1 that law was revealed by ,pentateuch and prophets2 but the delight in it1 in which he recognises the germ of godliness1 is the coincidence of will and inclination with the declared will of ,god1 however declared4 ,in effect1 he reduces perfection to the same elements as the other psalmist who sang1 ,i delight to do ,thy will1 yea1 ,thy law is within my heart4 ,the secret of blessedness is self-renunciation1-- ,a love to lose my will in ,his1 ,and by that loss be free4 ,thoughts which are sweet will be familiar4 ,the command to ,joshua is the instinct of the devout man4 ,in the distractions and activities of the busy day the law beloved will be with him1 illuminating his path and shaping his acts4 ,in hours of rest it will solace weariness and renew strength4 ,that habit of patient1 protracted brooding on the revelation of ,god's will needs to be cultivated4 ,men live meanly because they live so fast4 ,religion lacks depth and volume because it is not fed by hidden springs4 ,the good man's character being thus all condensed into one trait1 the psalm next gathers his blessedness up in one image4 ,the tree is an eloquent figure to ,orientals1 who knew water as the one requisite to turn desert into garden4 ,such a life as has been sketched will be rooted and steadfast4 ,planted is expressed by a word which suggests fixity4 ,the good man's life is deeply anchored1 and so rides out storms4 ,it goes down through superficial fleeting things to that ,eternal ,will1 and so stands unmoved and upright when winds howl4 ,scotch firs lift massive1 corrugated boles1 and thrust out wide1 gnarled branches clothed in steadfast green1 and look as if they could face any tempest1 but their roots run laterally among the surface gravel1 and therefore they go down before blasts which feeble saplings1 that strike theirs vertically1 meet unharmed4 ,such a life is fed and refreshed4 ,the law of the ,lord is at once soil and stream4 ,in the one aspect fastening a life to it gives stability2 in the other1 freshening and means of growth4 ,truly loved1 that ,will becomes1 in its manifold expressions1 as the divided irrigation channels through which a great river is brought to the roots of each plant4 ,if men do not find it life-giving as rivers of water in a dry place1 it is because they do not delight in it4 ,opposed1 it is burdensome and harsh2 accepted1 this sweet image tells what it becomes--the true good1 the only thing that really nourishes and reinvigorates4 ,the disciples came back to ,jesus1 whom they had left too wearied and faint to go with them to the city1 and found ,him fresh and strong4 ,their wonder was answered by1 ,my meat is to do the will of ,him that sent me4 ,such a life is vigorous and productive4 ,it would be artificial straining to assign definite meanings to fruit and leaf4 ,all that belongs to vigorous vitality and beauty is included4 ,these come naturally when the preceding condition is fulfilled4 ,this stage of the psalm is the appropriate place for deeds to come into view4 ,by loving fellowship with ,god and delight in ,his law the man is made capable of good4 ,his virtues are growths1 the outcome of life4 ,the psalm anticipates ,christ's teaching of the good tree bringing forth good fruit1 and also tells how ,his precept of making the tree good is to be obeyed--namely1 by transplanting it from the soil of self-will to that of delight in the law4 ,how that transplanting is to be effected it does not tell4 ,but now being made free from sin1 and become servants of ,god1 ye have your fruit unto holiness1 and the fruit of the ,spirit in whatsoever things are lovely and of good report hangs in clusters on the life that has been shifted from the realm of darkness and rooted in ,christ4 ,the relation is more intimate still4 ,i am the vine1 ye are the branches4 ,he that abideth in me1 and ,i in him1 the same beareth much fruit4 ,such a life will be prosperous4 ,the figure is abandoned here4 ,the meaning is not affected whether we translate whatsoever he doeth shall prosper1 or whatsoever 444 he shall cause to succeed4 ,that is not unconditionally true now1 nor was it then1 if referred to what the world calls prospering1 as many a sad and questioning strain in the ,psalter proves4 ,he whose life is rooted in ,god will have his full share of foiled plans and abortive hopes1 and will often see the fruit nipped by frost or blown green from the boughs1 but still the promise is true in its inmost meaning4 ,for what is prosperity8 ,does the psalmist merely mean to preach the more vulgar form of the doctrine that religion makes the best of both worlds8 or are his hopes to be harmonised with experience1 by giving a deeper meaning to prosperity8 ,they to whom the will of ,god is delight can never be hurt by evil1 for all that meets them expresses and serves that will1 and the fellow-servants of the ,king do not wound one another4 ,if a life be rooted in ,god and a heart delight in ,his law1 that life will be prosperous and that heart will be at rest4 ,the second half of the psalm gives the dark contrast of the fruitless1 rootless life 7vv4 #d-f74 ,the ,hebrew flashes the whole dread antithesis on the view at once by its first word1 ,not so1 a universal negative1 which reverses every part of the preceding picture4 ,wicked is preferable to ungodly1 as the designation of the subjects4 ,whether we take the root idea of the word to be restless1 as most of the older and many modern commentators do1 or crooked 7,hupfeld71 or loose1 flaccid 7,delitzsch71 it is the opposite of righteous1 and therefore means one who lives not by the law of ,god1 but by his own will4 ,the psalmist has no need to describe him further nor to enumerate his deeds4 ,the fundamental trait of his character is enough4 ,two classes only1 then1 are recognised here4 ,if a man has not ,god's uttered will for his governor1 he goes into the category of wicked4 ,that sounds harsh doctrine1 and not corresponding to the innumerable gradations of character actually seen4 ,but it does correspond to facts1 if they are grasped in their roots of motive and principle4 ,if ,god be not the supreme delight1 and ,his law sovereign1 some other object is men's delight and aim1 and that departure from ,god taints a life1 however fair it may be4 ,it is a plain deduction from our relations to ,god that lives lived irrespective of ,him are sinful1 whatever be their complexion otherwise4 ,the remainder of the psalm has three thoughts--the real nullity of such lives1 their consequent disappearance in the judgment1 and the ground of both the blessedness of the one type of character and the vanishing of the other in the diverse attitude of ,god to each4 ,nothing could more vividly suggest the essential nothingness of the wicked than the contrast of the leafy beauty of the fruit-laden tree and the chaff1 rootless1 fruitless1 lifeless1 light1 and therefore the sport of every puff of wind that blows across the elevated and open threshing floor4 ,such is indeed a true picture of every life not rooted in ,god and drawing fertility from ,him4 ,it is rootless2 for what hold-fast is there but in ,him8 or where shall the heart twine its tendrils if not round ,god's stable throne8 or what basis do fleeting objects supply for him who builds elsewhere than on the enduring ,rock8 ,it is fruitless2 for what is fruit8 ,there may be much activity and many results satisfying to part of man's nature and admired by others4 ,one fruit there will be1 in character elaborated4 ,but if we ask what ought to be the products of a life1 man and ,god being what they are in themselves and to each other1 we shall not wonder if every result of godless energy is regarded by those clear eyes and perfect judgment of heaven as barrenness4 ,in the light of these higher demands1 achievements hymned by the world's acclamations seem infinitely small1 and many a man1 rich in the apparent results of a busy and prosperous life1 will find to his dismayed astonishment that he has nothing to show but unfruitful works of darkness4 ,chaff is fruitless because lifeless4 ,its disappearance in the winnowing wind is the consequence and manifestation of its essential nullity4 ,therefore draws the conclusion of necessary transiency4 ,just as the winnower throws up his shovel full into the breeze1 and the chaff goes fluttering out of the floor because it is light1 while the wheat falls on the heap because it is solid1 so the wind of judgment will one day blow and deal with each man according to his nature4 ,it will separate them1 whirling away the one1 and not the other4 ,one shall be taken and the other left4 ,when does this sifting take effect8 ,the psalmist does not date it4 ,there is a continually operative law of retribution1 and there are crises of individual or national life1 when the accumulated consequences of evil deeds fall on the doers4 ,but the definite article prefixed to judgment seems to suggest some special day of separation4 ,it is noteworthy and perhaps illuminative that ,john the ,baptist uses the same figures of the tree and the chaff in his picture of the ,messianic judgments1 and that epoch may have been in the psalmist's mind4 ,whatever the date1 this he is sure of--that the wind will rise some time1 and that1 when it does1 the wicked will be blown out of sight4 ,when the judgment comes1 the congregation of the righteous--that is1 the true ,israel within ,israel1 or1 to speak in ,christian language1 the true invisible ,church--will be freed from admixture of outward adherents1 whose lives give the lie to their profession4 ,men shall be associated according to spiritual affinity1 and being let go1 will go to their own company and place1 wherever that may be4 ,the ground of these diverse fates is the different attitude of ,god to each life4 ,each clause of the last verse really involves two ideas1 but the pregnant brevity of style states only half of the antithesis in each1 suppressing the second member in the first clause and the first member in the second clause1 and so making the contrast the more striking by emphasising the cause of an unspoken consequence in the former1 and the opposite consequence of an unspoken cause in the latter4 ,the ,lord knoweth the way of the righteous therefore it shall last4 ,the ,lord knoweth not the way of the wicked therefore it shall perish4 ,the way which the ,lord knows abides4 ,know is1 of course1 here used in its full sense of loving knowledge1 care1 and approval1 as in ,he knoweth my path and the like sayings4 ,the direction of the good man's life is watched1 guarded1 approved1 and blessed by ,god4 ,therefore it will not fail to reach its goal4 ,they who walk patiently in the paths which ,he has prepared will find them paths of peace1 and will not tread them unaccompanied1 nor ever see them diverging from the straight road to home and rest4 ,commit thy way unto the ,lord1 and let ,his way be thine1 and ,he shall make thy way prosperous4 ,the way or course of life which ,god does not know perishes4 ,a path perishes when1 like some dim forest track1 it dies out1 leaving the traveller bewildered amid impenetrable forests1 or when1 like some treacherous ,alpine track among rotten rocks1 it crumbles beneath the tread4 ,every course of life but that of the man who delights in and keeps the law of the ,lord comes to a fatal end1 and leads to the brink of a precipice1 over which the impetus of descent carries the reluctant foot4 ,the path of the just is as the shining light1 which shineth more and more till the noontide of the day4 ,the way of the wicked is as darkness2 they know not at what they stumble4 ,,psalm ,,ii4 #a ,why do the nations muster with tumult1 ,and the peoples meditate vanity8 #b ,the kings of the earth take up their posts1 ,and the chieftains sit in counsel together ,against ,jehovah and against ,his ,anointed4 #c ,let us wrench off their bands1 ,and let us fling off from us their cords4 #d ,he who sits in the heavens laughs2 ,the ,lord mocks at them4 #e ,then ,he speaks to them in ,his anger-wrath1 ,and in ,his wrath-heat puts them in panic4 #f 444 ,and yet ,i1 ,i have set my ,king ,upon ,zion1 my holy mountain4 #g ,i will tell of a decree3 ,jehovah said unto me1 ,my son art thou2 ,i have begotten thee this day4 #h ,ask from me and ,i will give thee the nations as thine inheritance1 ,and as thy possession the ends of the earth4 #i ,thou shalt break them with a rod of iron1 ,like a potter's vessel shalt thou shatter them4 #aj ,and now1 ,o kings1 be wise2 ,let yourselves be warned1 ,o judges of the earth4 #aa ,serve ,jehovah in fear1 ,and rejoice in trembling4 #ab ,kiss the ,son 7871 lest ,he be angry1 and ye perish in your way2 ,for easily may ,his wrath kindle4 ,blessed are all who take refuge in ,him6 ,various unsatisfactory conjectures as to a historical basis for this magnificent lyric have been made1 but none succeeds in specifying events which fit with the situation painted in it4 ,the banded enemies are rebels1 and the revolt is widespread2 for the kings of the earth is a very comprehensive1 if we may not even say a universal1 expression4 ,if taken in connection with the uttermost parts of the earth 7ver4 #h71 which are the ,king's rightful dominion1 it implies a sweep of authority and a breadth of opposition quite beyond any recorded facts4 ,authorship and date must be left undetermined4 ,the psalm is anonymous1 like ,psalm i41 and is thereby marked off from the psalms which follow in ,book ,i41 and with one exception are ascribed to ,david4 ,whether these two preludes to the ,psalter were set in their present place on the completion of the whole book1 or were prefixed to the smaller ,davidic collection1 cannot be settled4 ,the date of composition may have been much earlier than that of either the smaller or the larger collection4 ,the true basis of the psalm is not some petty revolt of subject tribes1 even if such could be adduced1 but ,nathan's prophecy in #b ,sam4 vii41 which sets forth the dignity and dominion of the ,king of ,israel as ,god's son and representative4 ,the poet-prophet of our psalm may have lived after many monarchs had borne the title1 but failed to realise the ideal there outlined1 and the imperfect shadows may have helped to lift his thoughts to the reality4 ,his grand poem may be called an idealising of the monarch of ,israel1 but it is an idealising which expected realisation4 ,the psalm is prophecy as well as poetry2 and whether it had contemporaneous persons and events as a starting-point or not1 its theme is a real person1 fully possessing the prerogatives and wielding the dominion which ,nathan had declared to be ,god's gift to the ,king of ,israel4 ,the psalm falls into four strophes of three verses each1 in the first three of which the reader is made spectator and auditor of vividly painted scenes1 while in the last the psalmist exhorts the rebels to return to allegiance4 ,in the first strophe 7vv4 #a-c7 the conspiracy of banded rebels is set before us with extraordinary force4 ,the singer does not delay to tell what he sees1 but breaks into a question of astonished indignation as to what can be the cause of it all4 ,then1 in a series of swift clauses1 of which the vivid movement cannot be preserved in a translation1 he lets us see what had so moved him4 ,the masses of the nations are hurrying tumultuously to the mustering-place2 the peoples are meditating revolt1 which is smitingly stigmatised in anticipation as vanity4 ,but it is no mere uprising of the common herd2 the kings of the earth take their stand as in battle-array1 and the men of mark and influence lay their heads together1 pressing close to one another on the divan as they plot4 ,all classes and orders are united in revolt1 and hurry and eagerness mark their action and throb in the words4 ,the rule against which the revolt is directed is that of ,jehovah and ,his ,anointed4 ,that is one rule1 not two1--the dominion of ,jehovah exercised through the ,messiah4 ,the psalmist had grasped firmly the conception that ,god's visible rule is wielded by ,messiah1 so that rebellion against one is rebellion against both4 ,their bands are the same4 ,pure monotheist as the psalmist was1 he had the thought of a king so closely associated with ,jehovah1 that he could name them in one breath as1 in some sense1 sharers of the same throne and struck at by the same revolt4 ,the foundation of such a conception was given in the designation of the ,davidic monarch as ,god's vicegerent and representative1 but its full justification is the relation of the historic ,christ to the ,father whose throne ,he shares in glory4 ,that eloquent why may include both the ideas of for what reason8 and to what purpose8 ,opposition to that ,king1 whether by communities or individuals1 is unreasonable4 ,every rising of a human will against the rule which it is blessedness to accept is absurd1 and hopelessly incapable of justification4 ,the question1 so understood1 is unanswerable by the rebels or by any one else4 ,the one mystery of mysteries is that a finite will should be able to lift itself against the ,infinite ,will1 and be willing to use its power4 ,in the other aspect1 the question1 like that pregnant vanity1 implies the failure of all rebellion4 ,plot and strive1 conspire and muster1 as men may1 all is vanity and striving of wind4 ,it is destined to break down from the beginning4 ,it is as hopeless as if the stars were to combine to abolish gravitation4 ,that dominion does not depend on man's acceptance of it1 and he can no more throw it off by opposition than he can fling a somersault into space and so get away from earth4 ,when we can vote ourselves out of submission to physical law1 we may plot or fight ourselves out of subjection to the reign of ,jehovah and of ,his ,anointed4 ,all the self-will in the world does not alter the fact that the authority of ,christ is sovereign over human wills4 ,we cannot get away from it2 but we can either lovingly embrace it1 and then it is our life1 or we can set ourselves against it1 like an obstinate ox planting its feet and standing stock-still1 and then the goad is driven deep and draws blood4 ,the metaphor of bands and cords is taken from the fastenings of the yoke on a draught bullock4 ,one can scarcely miss the lovely contrast of this truculent exhortation to rebellion with the gracious summons ,take my yoke upon you and learn of me4 ,the bands are already on our necks in a very real sense1 for we are all under ,christ's authority1 and opposition is rebellion1 not the effort to prevent a yoke being imposed1 but to shake off one already laid on4 ,but yet the consent of our own wills is called for1 and thereby we take the yoke1 which is a stay rather than a fetter1 and bear the burden which bears up those who bear it4 ,psalm i4 set side by side in sharp contrast the godly and the godless4 ,here a still more striking transition is made in the second strophe 7vv4 #d-f71 which changes the scene to heaven4 ,the lower half of the picture is all eager motion and strained effort2 the upper is full of ,divine calm4 ,hot with hatred1 flushed with defiant self-confidence and busy with plots1 the rebels hurry together like swarming ants on their hillock4 ,he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh4 ,that representation of the seated ,god contrasts grandly with the stir on earth4 ,he needs not to rise from ,his throned tranquillity1 but regards undisturbed the disturbances of earth4 ,the thought embodied is like that expressed in the ,egyptian statues of gods carved out of the side of a mountain1 moulded in colossal calm1 with their mighty hands laid in their laps and their wide-opened eyes gazing down on the little ways of the men creeping about their feet4 ,and what shall we say of that daring and awful image of the laughter of ,god8 ,the attribution of such action to ,him is so bold that no danger of misunderstanding it is possible4 ,it sends us at once to look for its translation1 which probably lies in the thought of the essential ludicrousness of opposition1 which is discerned in heaven to be so utterly groundless and hopeless as to be absurd4 ,when ,he came nigh and beheld the city1 ,he wept over it4 ,the two pictures are not incapable of being reconciled4 ,the ,christ who wept over sinners is the fullest revelation of the heart of ,god1 and the laughter of the psalm is consistent with the tears of ,jesus as ,he stood on ,olivet1 and looked across the glen to the ,temple glittering in the morning sun4 ,god's laughter passes into the utterance of ,his wrath at the time determined by ,him4 ,the silence is broken by ,his voice1 and the motionless form flashes into action4 ,one movement is enough to vex the enemies and fling them into panic1 as a flock of birds put to flight by the lifting of an arm4 ,there is a point1 known to ,god alone1 when ,he perceives that the fulness of time has come1 and the opposition must be ended4 ,by long-drawn-out1 gentle patience ,he has sought to win to obedience 7though that side of ,his dealings is not presented in this psalm71 but the moment arrives when in world-wide catastrophes or crushing blows on individuals sleeping retribution wakes at the right moment1 determined by considerations inappreciable by us3 ,then does ,he speak in ,his wrath4 ,the last verse of this strophe is parallel with the last of the preceding1 being1 like it1 the dramatically introduced speech of the actor in the previous verses4 ,the revolters' mutual encouragement is directly answered by the sovereign word of ,god1 which discloses the reason for the futility of their attempts4 ,the ,i of ver4 #f is emphatic4 ,on one side is that majestic ,i have set my ,king2 on the other a world of rebels4 ,they may put their shoulders to the throne of the ,anointed to overthrow it2 but what of that8 ,god's hand holds it firm1 whatever forces press on it4 ,all enmity of banded or of single wills breaks against and is dashed by it into ineffectual spray4 ,another speaker is next heard1 the ,anointed ,king1 who1 in the third strophe 7vv4 #g-i71 bears witness to ,himself and claims universal dominion as ,his by a ,divine decree4 ,thou art my son2 to-day have ,i begotten thee4 ,so runs the first part of the decree4 ,the allusion to ,nathan's words to ,david is clear4 ,in them the prophet spoke of the succession of ,david's descendants1 the king as a collective person1 so to speak4 ,the psalmist1 knowing how incompletely any or all of these had fulfilled the words which were the patent of their kingship1 repeats them in confident faith as certain to be accomplished in the ,messiah-king1 who fills the future for him with a great light of hope4 ,he knew not the historic person in whom the word has to be fulfilled1 but it is difficult to resist the conclusion that he had before him the prospect of a king living as a man1 the heir of the promises4 ,now1 this idea of sonship1 as belonging to the monarch1 is much better illustrated by the fact that ,israel1 the nation1 was so named1 than by the boasts of ,gentile dynasties to be sons of ,zeus or ,ra4 ,the relationship is moral and spiritual1 involving ,divine care and love and appointment to office1 and demanding human obedience and use of dignity for ,god4 ,it is to be observed that in our psalm the day of the ,king's self-attestation is the day of ,his being begotten4 ,the point of time referred to is not the beginning of personal existence1 but of investiture with royalty4 ,with accurate insight1 then1 into the meaning of the words1 the ,new ,testament takes them as fulfilled in the ,resurrection 7,acts xiii4 #cc2 ,rom4 i4 #d74 ,in it1 as the first step in the process which was completed in the ,ascension1 the manhood of ,jesus was lifted above the limitations and weaknesses of earth1 and began to rise to the throne4 ,the day of ,his resurrection was1 as it were1 the day of the birth of ,his humanity into royal glory4 ,built upon this exaltation to royalty and sonship follows the promise of universal dominion4 ,surely the expectation of the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession bursts the bonds of the tiny ,jewish kingdom6 ,the wildest national pride could scarcely have dreamed that the narrow strip of seaboard1 whose inhabitants never entered on any wide schemes of conquest1 should expand into a universal monarchy1 stretching even farther than the giant empires on either side4 ,if such were the psalmist's expectations1 they were never even approximately fulfilled2 but the reference of the glowing words to ,messiah's kingdom is in accordance with the current of prophetic hopes1 and need cause no hesitation to those who believe in prophecy at all4 ,universal dominion is ,god's gift to ,messiah4 ,even while putting ,his foot on the step of the throne1 ,jesus said1 ,all power is given unto me4 ,this dominion is founded not on ,his essential divinity1 but on ,his suffering and sacrifice4 ,his rule is the rule of ,god in ,him1 for ,he is the highest form of the ,divine self-revelation1 and whoso trusts1 loves1 and obeys ,christ1 trusts1 loves1 and obeys ,god in ,him4 ,the psalmist did not know in how much more profound a sense than he attached to his words they were true4 ,they had an intelligible1 great1 and true meaning for him4 ,they have a greater for us4 ,the ,divine voice foretells victory over opposition and destruction to opposers4 ,the sceptre is of iron1 though the hand that holds it once grasped the reed4 ,the word rendered break may also be translated1 with a different set of vowels1 shepherd1 and is so rendered by the ,,lxx4 7which ,rev4 ii4 #bg1 etc41 follows7 and by some other versions4 ,but1 in view of the parallelism of the next clause1 break is to be preferred4 ,the truth of ,christ's destructive energy is too often forgotten1 and1 when remembered1 is too often thrown forward into another world4 ,the history of this world ever since the ,resurrection has been but a record of conquered antagonism to ,him4 ,the stone cut out without hands has dashed against the images of clay and silver and gold and broken them all4 ,the ,gospel of ,christ is the great solvent of institutions not based upon itself4 ,its work is ,to cast the kingdoms old ,into another mould4 ,destructive work has still to be done1 and its most terrible energy is to be displayed in the future1 when all opposition shall be withered into nothingness by the brightness of ,his presence4 ,there are two kinds of breaking3 a merciful one1 when ,his love shatters our pride and breaks into penitence the earthen vessels of our hearts2 and a terrible one1 when the weight of ,his sceptre crushes1 and ,his hand casts down in shivers vessels of wrath1 fitted to destruction4 ,we have listened to three voices1 and now1 in vv4 #aj-ab1 the poet speaks in solemn exhortation3 ,be wise now1 ye kings4 ,the now is argumentative1 not temporal4 ,it means since things are so4 ,the kings addressed are the rebel monarchs whose power seems so puny measured against that of my ,king4 ,but not only these are addressed1 but all possessors of power and influence4 ,open-eyed consideration of the facts is true wisdom4 ,the maddest thing a man can do is to shut his eyes to them and steel his heart against their instruction4 ,this pleading invitation to calm reflection is the purpose of all the preceding4 ,to draw rebels to loyalty1 which is life1 is the meaning of all appeals to terror4 ,god and ,his prophet desire that the conviction of the futility of rebellion with a poor ten thousand against the king of twenty thousands should lead to sending an embassage to sue for peace4 ,the facts are before men1 that they may be warned and wise4 ,the exhortation which follows in vv4 #aa1 #ab points to the conduct which will be dictated by wise reception of instruction4 ,so far as regards ver4 #aa there is little difficulty4 ,the exhortation to serve ,jehovah with fear and rejoice with trembling points to obedience founded on awe of ,god's majesty1--the fear which love does not cast out1 but perfect2 and to the gladness which blends with reverence1 but is not darkened by it4 ,to love and cleave to ,god1 to feel the silent awe of ,his greatness and holiness giving dignity and solemnity to our gladness1 and from this inmost heaven of contemplation to come down to a life of practical obedience--this is ,god's command and man's blessedness4 ,the close connection between ,jehovah and ,messiah in the preceding sections1 in each of which the dominion of the latter is treated as that of the former and rebellion as against both at once1 renders it extremely improbable that there should be no reference to the ,king in this closing hortatory strophe4 ,the view-point of the psalm1 if consistently retained throughout1 requires something equivalent to the exhortation to kiss the ,son in token of fealty1 to follow1 serve ,jehovah4 ,but the rendering ,son is impossible4 ,the word so translated is ,bar1 which is the ,aramaic for son1 but is not found in that sense in the ,old ,testament except in the ,aramaic of ,ezra and ,daniel and in ,prov4 xxxi4 #b1 a chapter which has in other respects a distinct ,aramaic tinge4 ,no good reason appears for the supposition that the singer here went out of his way to employ a foreign word instead of the usual ,ben4 ,but it is probably impossible to make any good and certain rendering of the existing text4 ,the ,,lxx4 and ,targum agree in rendering1 ,take hold of instruction1 which probably implies another reading of ,hebrew text4 ,none of the various proposed translations--e4g41 ,worship purely1 ,worship the chosen ,one--are without objection2 and1 on the whole1 the supposition of textual corruption seems best4 ,the conjectural emendations of ,grtz1 ,hold fast by warning1 or reproof2 ,cheyne's alternative ones1 ,seek ye ,his face 7,book of ,psalms1 adopted from ,brll7 or ,put on again ,his bonds 7,orig4 of ,psalt41 p4 #cea1 adopted from ,lagarde71 and ,hupfeld's 7in his translation7 ,cleave to ,him1 obliterate the reference to the ,king1 which seems needful in this section1 as has been pointed out1 and depart from the well-established meaning of the verb--namely1 kiss4 ,these two considerations seem to require that a noun referring to ,messiah1 and grammatically object of the verb1 should stand in the place occupied by ,son4 ,the ,messianic reference of the psalm remains undimmed by the uncertainty of the meaning of this clause4 ,the transition from the representative of ,jehovah to ,jehovah ,himself1 which takes place in the next clause1 is in accordance with the close union between them which has marked the whole psalm4 ,it is henceforth ,jehovah only who appears till the close4 ,but the anger which is destructive1 and which may easily flash out like flames from a furnace mouth1 is excited by opposition to ,messiah's kingdom1 and the exclusive mention of ,jehovah in these closing clauses makes the picture of the anger the more terrible4 ,but since the disclosure of the danger of perishing in or as to the way or course of rebellious conduct is part of an exhortation1 the purpose of which is that the threatened flash of wrath may never need to shoot forth1 the psalmist will not close without setting forth the blessed alternative4 ,the sweet benediction of the close bends round to the opening words of the companion psalm of prelude1 and thus identifies the man who delights in the law of ,jehovah with him who submits to the kingdom of ,god's ,anointed4 ,the expression put their trust literally means to take refuge in4 ,the act of trust cannot be more beautifully or forcibly described than as the flight of the soul to ,god4 ,they who take shelter in ,god need fear no kindling anger4 ,they who yield to the ,king are they who take refuge in ,jehovah2 and such never know aught of ,his kingdom but its blessings1 nor experience any flame of ,his wrath1 but only the happy glow of ,his love4 ,,psalm ,,iii4 #a ,jehovah1 how many are my oppressors6 ,many are rising against me4 #b ,many are saying to my soul1 ,there is no salvation for him in ,god4 ,selah4 #c ,and yet ,thou1 ,jehovah1 art a shield round me2 ,my glory1 and the lifter up of my head4 #d ,with my voice to ,jehovah ,i cry aloud1 ,and ,he answers me from ,his holy mountain4 ,selah4 #e ,i laid myself down and slept2 ,i awaked2 for ,jehovah upholds me4 #f ,i am not afraid of ten thousands of people1 ,who round about have set themselves against me4 #g ,arise1 ,jehovah2 save me1 my ,god3 ,for ,thou hast smitten all my enemies on the cheek-bone2 ,the teeth of the wicked ,thou hast broken4 #h ,to ,jehovah belongs salvation3 ,upon ,thy people be ,thy blessing4 ,selah4 ,another pair of psalms follows the two of the ,introduction4 ,they are closely connected linguistically1 structurally1 and in subject4 ,the one is a morning1 the other an evening hymn1 and possibly they are placed at the beginning of the earliest psalter for that reason4 ,ewald and ,hitzig accept the ,davidic authorship1 though the latter shifts the period in ,david's life at which they were composed to the mutiny of his men at ,ziklag 7#a ,sam4 xxx474 ,cheyne thinks that you will find no situation which corresponds to these psalms1 though you search the story of ,david's life from end to end4 ,he takes the whole of the ,psalms from iii4 to xvii41 excepting viii41 xv41 xvi41 as a group1 the heart utterances of the ,church amidst some bitter persecution--namely1 the period when faithful ,israelites were so sorely oppressed both by traitors in their midst and by ,persian tyrants 7,orig4 of ,psalt41 pp4 #bbf1 #bbg74 ,but correspondences of the two psalms with ,david's situation will strike many readers as being at least as close as that which is sought to be established with the spiritual kernel of the nation during the ,persian domination1 and the absence of more specific reference is surely not unnatural in devout song1 however strange it would be in prosaic narrative4 ,we do not look for mention of the actual facts which wring the poet's soul and were peculiar to him1 but are content with his expression of his religious emotions1 which are common to all devout souls4 ,who expects ,cowper to describe his aberrations of intellect in the ,olney ,hymns8 ,but who cannot trace the connection of his pathetic strains with his sad lot8 ,if ever a seeming reference to facts is pointed out in a so-called ,davidic psalm1 it is brushed aside as prosaic1 but the absence of such is1 notwithstanding1 urged as an argument against the authorship4 ,surely that is inconsistent4 ,this psalm falls into four strophes1 three of which are marked by ,selah4 ,in the first 7vv4 #a1 #b7 the psalmist recounts his enemies4 ,if we regard this as a morning psalm1 it is touchingly true to experience that the first waking thought should be the renewed inrush of the trouble which sleep had for a time dammed back4 ,his enemies are many1 and they taunt him as forsaken of ,god4 ,surely it is a strong thing to say that there is no correspondence here with ,david's situation during ,absalom's revolt4 ,it was no partial conspiracy1 but practically the nation had risen against him1 ut totidem fere haberet hostes quot subditos 7,calvin74 ,shimei's foul tongue spoke the general mind3 ,the ,lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of ,absalom 7#b ,sam4 xvi4 #h74 ,there had been sin enough in the king's recent past to give colour to the interpretation of his present calamity as the sign of his being forsaken of ,god4 ,the conviction that such was the fact would swell the rebel ranks4 ,the multitude has delight in helping to drown a sinking man who has been prosperous4 ,the taunt went deep1 for the ,hebrew has to my soul1 as if the cruel scoff cut like a knife to the very centre of his personality1 and wounded all the more because it gave utterance to his own fears4 ,the ,lord hath bidden him1 said ,david about ,shimei's curses4 ,but the psalmist is finding refuge from fears and foes even in telling how many there are1 since he begins his complaint with ,jehovah4 ,without that word the exclamations of this first strophe are the voice of cowardice or despair4 ,with it they are calmed into the appeal of trust4 ,the ,selah which parts the first from the second strophe is probably a direction for an instrumental interlude while the singer pauses4 ,the second strophe 7vv4 #c1 #d7 is the utterance of faith1 based on experience1 laying hold of ,jehovah as defence4 ,by an effort of will the psalmist rises from the contemplation of surrounding enemies to that of the encircling ,jehovah4 ,in the thickest of danger and dread there is a power of choice left a man as to what shall be the object of thought1 whether the stormy sea or the outstretched hand of the ,christ4 ,this harassed man flings himself out of the coil of troubles round about him and looks up to ,god4 ,he sees in ,him precisely what he needs most at the moment1 for in that infinite nature is fulness corresponding to all emptiness of ours4 ,a shield around me1 as ,he had promised to be to ,abraham in his peril2 my glory1 at a time when calumny and shame were wrapping him about and his kingdom seemed gone2 the lifter up of my head1 sunk as it is both in sadness and calamity1 since ,jehovah can both cheer his spirit and restore his dignity4 ,and how comes this sudden burst of confidence to lighten the complaining soul8 ,ver4 #d tells4 ,experience has taught him that as often as he cries to ,jehovah he is heard4 ,the tenses in ver4 #d express a habitual act and a constant result4 ,not once or twice1 but as his wont1 he prays1 and ,jehovah answers4 ,the normal relation between him and ,jehovah is that of frank communion2 and since it has long been so and is so now1 even the pressure of present disaster does not make faith falter4 ,it is hard to begin to trust when in the grip of calamity1 but feet accustomed to the road to ,god can find it in the dark4 ,there may be an allusion to ,david's absence from sanctuary and ark in ver4 #d4 ,the expectation of being answered from ,his holy hill gains in pathetic force when the lovely scene of submissive sacrifice in which he sent back the ,ark is recalled 7#b ,sam4 xv4 #be74 ,though he be far from the place of prayer1 and feeling the pain of absence1 the singer's faith is not so tied to form as to falter in the assurance that his prayer is heard4 ,jehovah is shield1 glory1 and strengthener to the man who cries to ,him1 and it is by means of such crying that the heart wins the certitude that ,he is all these4 ,again the instruments sound and the singer pauses4 ,the third strophe 7vv4 #e1 #f7 beautifully expresses the tranquil courage which comes from trust4 ,since sleeping and safe waking again in ordinary circumstances is no such striking proof of ,divine help that one in the psalmist's situation would be induced to think especially of it and to found his confidence on it1 the view is to be taken that the psalmist in ver4 #e is contemplating the experience which he has just made in his present situation4 ,surrounded by enemies1 he was quite safe under ,god's protection and exposed to no peril even in the night 7,riehm1 in ,hupfeld in loc474 ,surely correspondence with ,david's circumstances may be traced here4 ,his little band had no fortress in ,mahanaim1 and ,ahithophel's counsel to attack them by night was so natural that the possibility must have been present to the king4 ,but another night had come and gone in safety1 disturbed by no shout of an enemy4 ,the nocturnal danger had passed1 and day was again brightening4 ,they were safe because the ,keeper of ,israel had kept them4 ,it is difficult to fit this verse into the theory that here the persecuted ,israelitish ,church is speaking1 but it suits the situation pointed to in the superscription4 ,to lie down and sleep in such circumstances was itself an act of faith1 and a sign of the quiet heart which faith gives4 ,like ,christ on the hard wooden pillow during the storm1 or like ,peter sleeping an infant's sleep the night before his purposed execution1 this man can shut his eyes and quiet himself to slumber1 though ten thousands have set themselves against him4 ,they ring him round1 but cannot reach him through his shield4 ,ver4 #f rises to bold defiance1 the result of the experience in ver4 #e4 ,how different the tone of reference to the swarms of the enemy here and in ver4 #a6 ,there the psalmist was counting them and cowering before them2 here their very number is an element in his triumphant confidence4 ,courage comes from thinking of the one ,divine ,ally1 before whom myriads of enemies are nothing4 ,one man with ,god to back him is always in the majority4 ,such courage1 based on such experience and faith1 is most modest and reasonable1 but it is not won without an effort of will1 which refuses to fear1 and fixes a trustful gaze not on peril1 but on the protector4 ,i will not be afraid speaks of resolve and of temptations to fear1 which it repels1 and from the nettle danger plucks the flower trust and the fruit safety4 ,selah does not follow here4 ,the tone of the strophe is that of lowly confidence1 which is less congruous with an instrumental interlude than are the more agitated preceding strophes4 ,the last strophe1 too1 is closely connected with the third1 since faith bracing itself against fear glides naturally into prayer4 ,the final strophe 7vv4 #g1 #h7 gives the culmination of faith in prayer4 ,arise1 ,jehovah1 is quoted from the ancient invocation 7,num4 x4 #ce71 and expresses in strongly anthropomorphic form the desire for some interposition of ,divine power4 ,fearlessness is not so complete that the psalmist is beyond the need of praying4 ,he is courageous because he knows that ,god will help1 but he knows1 too1 that ,god's help depends on his prayer4 ,the courage which does not pray is foolish1 and will break down into panic2 that which fears enough to cry ,arise1 ,jehovah1 will be vindicated by victory4 ,this prayer is built on experience1 as the preceding confidence was4 ,the enemies are now1 according to a very frequent figure in the ,psalter1 compared to wild beasts4 ,smiting on the cheek is usually a symbol of insult1 but here is better taken in close connection with the following breaking the teeth4 ,by a daring image ,jehovah is represented as dealing the beasts of prey1 who prowl round the psalmist with open mouth1 the buffets which shatter their jaws and dislodge their teeth1 thus making them powerless to harm him4 ,so it has been in the past1 and that past is a plea that so it will be now4 ,god will be but doing as ,he has done1 if now ,he arise4 ,if ,he is to be true to ,himself1 and not to stultify ,his past deliverances1 ,he must save his suppliant now4 ,such is the logic of faith1 which is only valid on the supposition that ,god's resources and purpose are inexhaustible and unchangeable4 ,the whole ends with confident anticipation of an answer4 ,salvation belongeth unto ,jehovah4 ,the full spiritual meaning of that salvation was not yet developed4 ,literally1 the word means breadth1 and so1 by a metaphor common to many languages1 deliverance as an act1 and well-being or prosperity as a state4 ,deliverance from his enemies is the psalmist's main idea in the word here4 ,it belongs to ,jehovah1 since its bestowal is ,his act4 ,thus the psalmist's last utterance of trust traverses the scoff which wounded him so much 7ver4 #b71 but in a form which beautifully combines affiance and humility1 since it triumphantly asserts that salvation is in ,god's power1 and silently implies that what is thus ,god's to will and do shall certainly be ,his suppliant's to enjoy4 ,intensely personal as the psalm is1 it is the prayer of a king2 and rebels as the bulk of the people are 7ten thousands of the people71 they are still ,god's4 ,therefore all are included in the scope of his pitying prayer4 ,in other psalms evil is invoked on evil-doers1 but here hate is met by love1 and the self-absorption of sorrow counteracted by wide sympathy4 ,it is a lower exemplification of the same spirit which breathed from the lips of the greater ,king the prayer1 ,father1 forgive them1 for they know not what they do4 ,,psalm ,,iv4 #a ,when ,i cry answer me1 ,o ,god of my righteousness2 ,thou hast in straits made space for me3 ,be gracious to me and hear my prayer4 #b ,sons of men6 how long shall my glory be mocked1 in that ye love vanity1 ,and seek after a lie8 ,selah4 #c ,but know that ,jehovah has set apart as ,his own him whom ,he favours3 ,jehovah hears when ,i cry to ,him4 #d ,stand in awe1 and sin not3 ,speak in your hearts on your beds1 and be silent4 ,selah4 #e ,sacrifice sacrifices of righteousness1 ,and trust on ,jehovah4 #f ,many are saying1 ,who will let us see good8 ,lift ,thou upon us the light of ,thy face1 ,o ,jehovah4 #g ,thou hast given gladness in my heart1 ,more than in the time of their corn and their wine when they abound4 #h ,in peace will ,i lie down and at once sleep3 ,for ,thou1 ,jehovah1 in my loneliness1 makest me dwell in safety4 ,psalms iii4 and iv4 are a pair4 ,they are similar in expression 7my glory1 there be many which say1 ,i laid me down and slept71 in the psalmist's situation1 and in structure 7as indicated by the ,selahs74 ,but they need not be cotemporaneous1 nor need the superscription of ,psalm iii4 be extended to ,psalm iv4 ,their tone is different1 the fourth having little reference to the personal danger so acutely felt in ,psalm iii41 and being mainly a gentle1 earnest remonstrance with antagonists1 seeking to win them to a better mind4 ,the strophical division into four parts of two verses each1 as marked by the ,selahs1 is imperfectly carried out1 as in ,psalm iii41 and does not correspond with the logical division--a phenomenon which occurs not infrequently in the ,psalter1 as in all poetry1 where the surging thought or emotion overleaps its bounds4 ,dividing according to the form1 we have four strophes1 of which the first two are marked by ,selah2 dividing by the flow of thought1 we have three parts of unequal length--prayer 7ver4 #a71 remonstrance 7vv4 #b-e71 communion and prayer 7vv4 #f-h74 ,the cry for an answer by deed is based on the name and on the past acts of ,god4 ,grammatically1 it would be possible and regular to render my ,god of righteousness1 i4e41 my righteous ,god2 but the pronoun is best attached to righteousness only1 as the consideration that ,god is righteous is less relevant than that ,he is the source of the psalmist's righteousness4 ,since ,he is so1 ,he may be expected to vindicate it by answering prayer by deliverance4 ,he who feels that all good in himself comes from ,god may be quite sure that1 sooner or later1 and by some means or other1 ,god will witness to ,his own work4 ,to the psalmist nothing was so incredible as that ,god should not take care of what ,he had planted1 or let the springing crop be trodden down or rooted up4 ,the ,old ,testament takes prosperity as the ,divine attestation of righteousness2 and though they who worship the ,man of ,sorrows have new light thrown on the meaning of that conception1 the substance of it remains true for ever4 ,the compellation ,god of my righteousness is still mighty with ,god4 ,the second ground of the prayer is laid in the past deeds of ,god4 ,whether the clause ,thou hast in straits made space for me be taken relatively or not1 it appeals to former deliverances as reasons for man's prayer and for ,god's act4 ,in many languages trouble and deliverance are symbolised by narrowness and breadth4 ,compression is oppression4 ,closely hemmed in by crowds or by frowning rocks1 freedom of movement is impossible and breathing is difficult4 ,but out in the open1 one expatiates1 and a clear horizon means an ample sky4 ,the strophe division keeps together the prayer and the beginning of the remonstrance to opponents1 and does so in order to emphasise the eloquent1 sharp juxtaposition of ,god and the sons of men4 ,the phrase is usually employed to mean persons of position1 but here the contrast between the varying height of men's molehills is not so much in view as that between them all and the loftiness of ,god4 ,the lips which by prayer have been purged and cured of quivering can speak to foes without being much abashed by their dignity or their hatred4 ,but the very slight reference to the psalmist's own share in the hostility of these sons of men is noticeable4 ,it is their false relation to ,god which is prominent throughout the remonstrance2 and that being so1 my glory1 in ver4 #b1 is probably to be taken1 as in iii4 #c1 as a designation of ,god4 ,it is usually understood to mean either personal or official dignity1 but the suggested interpretation is more in keeping with the tone of the psalm4 ,the enemies were really flouting ,god and turning that great name in which the singer gloried into a jest4 ,they were not therefore idolaters1 but practical heathen in ,israel1 and their vanity and lies were their schemes doomed to fail and their blasphemies4 ,these two verses bring most vividly into view the contrast between the psalmist clinging to his helping ,god and the knot of opponents hatching their plans which are sure to fail4 ,the ,selah indicates a pause in the song1 as if to underscore the question ,how long8 and let it soak into the hearts of the foes1 and then1 in vv4 #c and #d1 the remonstrating voice presses on them the great truth which has sprung anew in the singer's soul in answer to his prayer1 and beseeches them to let it stay their course and still their tumult4 ,by the godly is meant1 of course the psalmist4 ,he is sure that he belongs to ,god and is set apart1 so that no real evil can touch him2 but does he build this confidence on his own character or on ,jehovah's grace8 ,the answer depends on the meaning of the pregnant word rendered godly1 which here occurs for the first time in the ,psalter4 ,so far as its form is concerned1 it may be either active1 one who shows chesed 7lovingkindness or favour71 or passive1 one to whom it is shown4 ,but the usage in the ,psalter seems to decide in favour of the passive meaning1 which is also more in accordance with the general biblical view1 which traces all man's hopes and blessings1 not to his attitude to ,god1 but to ,god's to him1 and regards man's love to ,god as a derivative1 ,amati amamus1 amantes amplius meremur amari 7,bern74 ,out of ,his own deep heart of love ,jehovah has poured ,his lovingkindness on the psalmist1 as he thrillingly feels1 and ,he will take care that ,his treasure is not lost2 therefore this conviction1 which has flamed up anew since the moment before when he prayed1 brings with it the assurance that ,he hears when ,i cry1 as he had just asked ,him to do4 ,the slight emendation1 adopted by ,cheyne from ,grtz and others1 is tempting1 but unnecessary4 ,he would read1 with a small change which would bring this verse into parallelism with xxxi4 #bb1 ,see how passing great lovingkindness ,jehovah hath shown me2 but the present text is preferable1 inasmuch as what we should expect to be urged upon the enemies is not outward facts1 but some truth of faith neglected by them4 ,on such a truth the singer rests his own confidence2 such a truth he lays1 like a cold hand1 on the hot brows of the plotters1 and bids them pause and ponder4 ,believed1 it would fill them with awe1 and set in a lurid light the sinfulness of their assault on him4 ,clearly the rendering ,be ye angry instead of ,stand in awe gives a less worthy meaning1 and mars the picture of the progressive conversion of the enemy into a devout worshipper1 of which the first stage is the recognition of the truth in ver4 #c2 the second is the awestruck dropping of the weapons1 and the third is the silent reflection in the calm and solitude of night4 ,the psalm being an evening song1 the reference to your bed is the more natural2 but speak in your hearts--what8 ,the new fact which you have learned from my lips4 ,say it quietly to yourselves then1 when forgotten truths blaze on the waking eye1 like phosphorescent writing in the dark1 and the nobler self makes its voice heard4 ,speak 444 and be silent1 says the psalmist1 for such meditation will end the busy plots against him1 and in a wider application that dread voice1 heard in the awed spirit1 shrinks the streams of passion and earthly desires1 which otherwise brawl and roar there4 ,another strain of the stringed instruments makes that silence1 as it were1 audible1 and then the remonstrance goes on once more4 ,it rises higher now1 exhorting to positive godliness1 and that in the two forms of offering sacrifices of righteousness1 which here simply means those which are prescribed or which are offered with right dispositions1 and of trusting in ,jehovah--the two aspects of true religion1 which outwardly is worship and inwardly is trust4 ,the poet who could meet hate with no weapon but these earnest pleadings had learned a better lesson than the hate of hate1 the scorn of scorn1 the love of love1 and anticipated bless them which curse you4 ,the teacher who thus outlined the stages of the way back to ,god as recognition of ,his relation to the godly1 solitary meditation thereon1 forsaking of sin and hushing of the ,spirit thereby1 and finally worship and trust1 knew the discipline for rebellious souls4 ,ver4 #f seems at first sight to belong more closely to what follows than to what precedes1 and is taken by those who hold the ,davidic authorship as addressed to his followers beginning to despond4 ,but it may be the continuance of the address to the enemies1 carrying on the exhortation to trust4 ,the sudden appearance of the plural us suggests that the psalmist associates himself with the persons whom he has been addressing1 and1 while he glances at the vain cries of the many1 would make himself the mouthpiece of the nascent faith which he hopes may follow his beseechings4 ,the cry of the many would1 in that case1 have a general reference to the universal desire for good1 and would pathetically echo the hopelessness which must needs mingle with it1 so long as the heart does not know who is the only good4 ,the passionate weariness of the question1 holding a negation in itself1 is wonderfully contrasted with the calm prayer4 ,the eyes fail for want of seeing the yearned-for blessing2 but if ,jehovah lifts the light of ,his face upon us1 as ,he will certainly do in answer to prayer1 in ,his light we shall see light4 ,every good1 however various1 is sphered in ,him4 ,all colours are smelted into the perfect white and glory of ,his face4 ,there is no ,selah after ver4 #f1 but1 as in iii4 #f1 one is due1 though omitted4 ,vv4 #g and #h are separated from ver4 #f by their purely personal reference4 ,the psalmist returns to the tone of his prayer in ver4 #a1 only that petition has given place1 as it should do1 to possession and confident thankfulness4 ,the many ask1 ,who82 he prays1 ,lord4 ,they have vague desires after ,god2 he knows what he needs and wants4 ,therefore in the brightness of that ,face shining on him his heart is glad4 ,the mirth of harvest and vintage is exuberant1 but it is poor beside the deep1 still blessedness which trickles round the heart that craves most the light of ,jehovah's countenance4 ,that craving is joy and the fruition is bliss4 ,the psalmist here touches the bottom1 the foundation fact on which every life that is not vanity must be based1 and which verifies itself in every life that is so based4 ,strange and tragic that men should forget it and love vanity which mocks them1 and1 though won1 still leaves them looking wearily round the horizon for any glimmer of good6 ,the glad heart possessing ,jehovah can1 on the other hand1 lay itself down in peace and sleep1 though foes stand round4 ,the last words of the psalm flow restfully like a lullaby4 ,the expression of confidence gains much if alone be taken as referring to the psalmist4 ,solitary as he is1 ringed round by hostility as he may be1 ,jehovah's presence makes him safe1 and being thus safe1 he is secure and confidant4 ,so he shuts his eyes in peace1 though he may be lying in the open1 beneath the stars1 without defences or sentries4 ,the ,face brings light in darkness1 gladness in want1 enlargement in straits1 safety in peril1 and any and every good that any and every man needs4 ,,psalm ,v4 #a ,give ear to my words1 ,jehovah2 ,consider my meditation4 #b ,listen to the voice of my crying1 my ,king and my ,god1 ,for to ,thee do ,i make supplication4 #c ,jehovah1 in the morning ,thou shalt hear my voice2 ,in the morning will ,i order my prayer to ,thee and keep watch4 #d ,for not a ,god delighting in wickedness art ,thou2 ,evil cannot sojourn with ,thee4 #e ,fools cannot stand before ,thine eyes2 ,thou hatest all workers of iniquity4 #f ,thou destroyest the speakers of falsehood2 ,the man of blood and deceit ,jehovah loathes4 #g ,but ,i1 in the multitude of ,thy loving-kindness ,i dare come into ,thy house2 ,i dare fall prostrate before ,thy holy temple in ,thy fear4 #h ,jehovah1 lead me in ,thy righteousness1 because of them that are spies on me2 ,make ,thy way level before me4 #i ,for in his mouth is nothing trustworthy2 ,their inward part is destruction2 ,an open grave is their throat2 ,their tongue they smooth4 #aj ,hold them guilty1 ,jehovah3 let them fall by their own schemes2 ,in the multitude of their transgressions strike them down1 for they have rebelled against ,thee4 #aa ,then shall all those who take refuge in ,thee be glad2 ,for ever shall they shout for joy1 since ,thou dost shelter them2 ,and they that love ,thy name shall exult in ,thee4 #ab ,for ,thou dost bless the righteous2 ,jehovah1 as with a shield1 with favour dost ,thou compass him about4 ,the reference to the temple in ver4 #g is not conclusive against the ,davidic authorship of this psalm1 since the same word is applied in #a ,sam4 i4 #i and iii4 #c to the house of ,god in ,shiloh4 ,it means a palace1 and may well be used for any structure1 even if a hair tent1 in which ,god dwelt4 ,no doubt it is oftenest used for the ,solomonic temple1 but it does not necessarily refer to it4 ,its use here1 then1 cannot be urged as fatal to the correctness of the superscription4 ,at the same time1 it does create a certain presumption against it4 ,but there is nothing in the psalm to determine its date1 and its worth is quite independent of its authorship4 ,the psalmist is surrounded by foes1 and seeks access to ,god4 ,these are constant features of the religious life1 and their expression here fits as closely to the present time as to any past4 ,the psalm falls into two main parts3 vv4 #a-g and #h-ab4 ,the former division deals with the inner side of the devout life1 its access to ,god1 to whom sinful men cannot approach1 the latter with the outward side1 the conduct1 the way in which the psalmist seeks to be led1 and in which sinful men come to ruin because they will not walk4 ,naturally the inward comes first1 for communion with ,god in the secret place of the ,most ,high must precede all walking in ,his way and all blessed experience of ,his protection1 with the joy that springs from it4 ,these two halves of the psalm are arranged in inverted parallelism1 the first verse of the second part 7ver4 #h7 corresponding to the last verse of the first 7ver4 #g7 and being1 like it1 purely personal2 vv4 #i and #aj corresponding similarly to vv4 #d-f and1 like them1 painting the character and fate of evil-doers2 and1 finally1 vv4 #aa1 #ab1 answering to vv4 #a-c and representing the blessedness of the devout soul1 as in the one case led and protected by ,god and therefore glad1 and in the other abiding in ,his presence4 ,the whole is a prayerful meditation on the inexhaustible theme of the contrasted blessedness of the righteous and misery of the sinner as shown in the two great halves of life3 the inward of communion and the outward of action4 ,in the first part 7vv4 #a-g7 the central thought is that of access to ,god's presence1 as the desire and purpose of the psalmist 7#a-c71 as barred to evil-doers 7#d-f71 and as permitted to1 and embraced as his chief blessing by1 the singer 7#g74 ,the petition to be heard in vv4 #a and #b passes into confidence that he is heard in ver4 #c4 ,there is no shade of sadness nor trace of struggle with doubt in this prayer1 which is all sunny and fresh1 like the morning sky1 through which it ascends to ,god4 ,consider or ,understand my meditation--the brooding1 silent thought is spread before ,god1 who knows unspoken desires1 and understands thoughts afar off4 ,the contrast between understanding the meditation and hearkening to the voice of my cry is scarcely unintentional1 and gives vividness to the picture of the musing psalmist1 in whom1 as he muses1 the fire burns1 and he speaks with his tongue1 in a cry as loud as the silence from which it issued had been deep4 ,meditations that do not pass into cries and cries which are not preceded by meditations are alike imperfect4 ,the invocation my ,king is full of meaning if the singer be ,david1 who thus recognises the delegated character of his own royalty2 but whoever wrote the psalm1 that expression equally witnesses to his firm grasp of the true theocratic idea4 ,noteworthy is the intensely personal tone of the invocation in both its clauses1 as in the whole of these first verses1 in every clause of which my or ,i occurs4 ,the poet is alone with ,god and seeking to clasp still closer the guiding hand1 to draw still nearer to the sweet and awful presence where is rest4 ,the invocation holds a plea in itself4 ,he who says1 ,my ,king and my ,god1 urges the relation1 brought about by ,god's love and accepted by man's faith1 as a ground for the hearing of his petition4 ,and so prayer passes into swift assurance2 and with a new turn in thought1 marked by the repetition of the name ,jehovah 7ver4 #c71 he speaks his confidence and his resolve4 ,in the morning is best taken literally1 whether we suppose the psalm to have been composed for a morning song or no4 ,apparently the compilers of the first ,psalter placed it next to ,psalm iv41 which they regarded as an evening hymn1 for this reason4 ,i will lay me down and sleep is beautifully followed by ,in the morning shalt ,thou hear my voice4 ,the order of clauses in ver4 #c is significant in its apparent breach of strict sequence1 by which ,god's hearing is made to precede the psalmist's praying4 ,it is the order dictated by confidence1 and it is the order in which the thoughts rise in the trustful heart4 ,he who is sure that ,god will hear will therefore address himself to speak4 ,first comes the confidence1 and then the resolve4 ,there are prayers wrung from men by sore need1 and in which doubt causes faltering1 but the happier1 serener experience is like that of this singer4 ,he resolves to order his prayer1 using there the word employed for the priest's work in preparing the materials for the morning sacrifice4 ,thus he compares his prayer to it1 and stands at the same level as the writer of ,psalm iv41 with whose command to offer the sacrifices of righteousness this thought again presents a parallel4 ,a psalmist who has grasped the idea that the true sacrifice is prayer is not likely to have missed the cognate thought that the house of the ,lord1 of which he will presently speak1 is something other than any material shrine4 ,but to offer the sacrifice is not all which he rejoices to resolve4 ,he will keep watch1 as ,habakkuk said that he would do1 on his watch-tower2 and that can only mean that he will be on the outlook for the answer to his prayer1 or1 if we may retain the allusion to sacrifice1 for the downward flash of the ,divine fire1 which tells his prayer's acceptance4 ,many a prayer is offered1 and no eyes afterwards turned to heaven to watch for the answer1 and perhaps some answers sent are like water spilled on the ground1 for want of such observance4 ,the confidence and resolve ground themselves on ,god's holiness1 through which the necessary condition of approach to ,him comes to be purity--a conviction which finds expression in all religions1 but is nowhere so vividly conceived or construed as demanding such stainless inward whiteness as in the ,psalter4 ,the for of ver4 #d would naturally have heralded a statement of the psalmist's grounds for expecting that he would be welcomed in his approach1 but the turn of thought1 which postpones that1 and first regards ,god's holiness as shutting out the impure1 is profoundly significant4 ,thou art not a ,god that hath pleasure in wickedness means more than the simple ,thou hast not pleasure would do2 it argues from the character of ,god1 and glances at some of the foul deities whose nostrils snuff up sensual impurity as acceptable sacrifice4 ,the one idea of absolute contrariety between ,god and evil is put in a rich variety of shapes in vv4 #d-f1 which first deal with it negatively in three clauses 7not a ,god2 not dwell2 not stand in ,thy sight7 and then positively in other three 7hatest2 shalt destroy2 abhorreth74 ,evil shall not sojourn with ,thee4 ,the verb is to be taken in its full meaning of sojourning as a guest-friend1 who has the right to hospitality and defence4 ,it thus constitutes the antithesis to ver4 #g4 ,clearly the sojourning does not mean access to the temple1 but abiding with ,god4 ,the barriers are of the same nature as the communion which they hinder1 and something far deeper is meant than outward access to any visible shrine4 ,no one sojourned in the temple4 ,in like manner1 the standing in ,thy sight is a figure drawn from courts1 reminding us of my ,king in ver4 #b and suggesting the impossibility of evil or its doers approaching the ,divine throne4 ,but there is more than a negative side to the relation between ,god and evil1 which the psalm goes on to paint in sombre colours1 for ,god not only does not delight in sin1 but hates it with a hatred like the physical loathing of some disgusting thing1 and will gather all ,his alienation into one fatal lightning bolt4 ,such thoughts do not exhaust the truth as to the ,divine relation to sin4 ,they did not exhaust the psalmist's knowledge of that relation1 and still less do they exhaust ours1 but they are parts of the truth to-day as much as then1 and nothing in ,christ's revelation has antiquated them4 ,the psalmist's vocabulary is full of synonyms for sin1 which witness to the profound consciousness of it which law and ritual had evoked in devout hearts4 ,first1 he speaks of it in the abstract1 as wickedness and evil4 ,then he passes to individuals1 of whom he singles out two pairs1 the first a more comprehensive and the second a more specific designation4 ,the former pair are the foolish and workers of iniquity4 ,the word for foolish is usually translated by the moderns arrogant1 but the parallelism with the general expression workers of iniquity rather favours a less special meaning1 such as ,hupfeld's fools or the ,,lxx4's transgressors4 ,only in the last pair are special forms of evil mentioned1 and the two selected are significant of the psalmist's own experience4 ,liars and men of blood and craft are his instances of the sort of sinners most abominable to ,god4 ,that specification surely witnesses to his own sufferings from such4 ,in ver4 #g the psalmist comes back to the personal reference1 contrasting his own access to ,god with the separation of evil-doers from ,his presence4 ,but he does not assert that he has the right of entrance because he is pure4 ,very strikingly he finds the ground of his right of entry to the palace in ,god's multitude of mercy1 not in his own innocence4 ,answering to in ,thy righteousness is in ,thy fear4 ,the one phrase expresses ,god's disposition to man which makes access possible1 the other man's disposition to ,god which makes worship acceptable4 ,in the multitude of ,thy mercy and in ,thy fear1 taken together1 set forth the conditions of approach4 ,having regard to ver4 #d1 it seems impossible to restrict the meaning of ,thy house to the material sanctuary4 ,it is rather a symbol of communion1 protection1 and friendship4 ,does the meaning pass into the narrower sense of outward worship in the material temple in the second clause8 ,it may be fairly taken as doing so 7,hupfeld74 ,but it may be maintained that the whole verse refers to the spiritual realities of prayer and fellowship1 and not at all to the externalities of worship1 which are used as symbols1 just as in ver4 #c prayer is symbolised by the morning sacrifice4 ,but probably it is better to suppose that the psalmist's faith1 though not tied to form1 was fed by form1 and that symbol and reality1 the outward and the inward worship1 the access to the temple and the approach of the silent soul to ,god1 are fused in his psalm as they tended to be in his experience4 ,thus the first part of the psalm ends with the psalmist prostrate 7for so the word for worship means7 before the palace sanctuary of his ,king and ,god4 ,it has thus far taught the conditions of approach to ,god1 and given a concrete embodiment of them in the progress of the singer's thoughts from petition to assurance and from resolve to accomplishment4 ,the second part may be taken as his prayer when in the temple1 whether that be the outward sanctuary or no4 ,it is likewise a further carrying out of the contrast of the condition of the wicked and of the lovers of ,god1 expressed in terms applying to outward life rather than to worship4 ,it falls into three parts3 the personal prayer for guidance in life1 the contemplation of evil-doers1 and the vehement prayer for their destruction1 corresponding to vv4 #d-f1 and the contrasted prayer for the righteous1 among whom he implies his own inclusion4 ,the whole of the devout man's desires for himself are summed up in that prayer for guidance4 ,all which the soul needs is included in these two3 access to ,god in the depths of still prostration before ,his throne as the all-sufficient good for the inner life2 guidance1 as by a shepherd1 on a plain path1 chosen not by self-will but by ,god1 for the outward4 ,he who has received the former in any degree will in the same measure have the latter4 ,to dwell in ,god's house is to desire ,his guidance as the chief good4 ,in ,thy righteousness is capable of two meanings3 it may either designate the path by which the psalmist desired to be led1 or the ,divine attribute to which he appealed4 ,the latter meaning1 which is substantially equivalent to because ,thou art righteous1 is made more probable by the other instances in the psalm of a similar use of in 7in the multitude of ,thy mercy2 in ,thy fear2 in the multitude of their transgressions74 ,his righteousness is manifested in leading those who seek for ,his guidance 7compare ,psalm xxv4 #h2 xxxi4 #a1 etc474 ,then comes the only trace in the psalm of the presence of enemies1 because of whom the singer prays for guidance4 ,it is not so much that he fears falling into their hands as that he dreads lest1 if left to himself1 he may take some step which will give them occasion for malicious joy in his fall or his calamity4 ,wherever a man is earnestly ,god-fearing1 many eyes watch him1 and gleam with base delight if they see him stumble4 ,the psalmist1 whether ,david or another1 had that cross to carry1 like every thorough-going adherent of the religious ideal 7or of any lofty ideal1 for that matter72 and his prayer shows how heavy it was1 since thoughts of it mingled with even his longings for righteousness4 ,plain does not mean obvious1 but level1 and may possibly include both freedom from stumbling-blocks 7,lead us not into temptation7 and from calamities1 but the prevalent tone of the psalm points rather to the former4 ,he who knows his own weaknesses may legitimately shrink from snares and occasions to fall1 even though1 knowing the wisdom of his ,guide and the help that waits on his steps1 he may count it all joy when he encounters them4 ,the picture of the evil-doers in ver4 #i is introduced1 as in ver4 #d1 with a for4 ,the sinners here are evidently the enemies of the previous verse4 ,their sins are those of speech2 and the force of the rapid clauses of the picture betrays how recently and sorely the psalmist had smarted from lies1 flatteries1 slanders1 and all the rest of the weapons of smooth and bitter tongues4 ,he complains that there is no faithfulness or steadfastness in his mouth--a distributive singular1 which immediately passes into the plural--nothing there that a man can rely on1 but all treacherous4 ,their inward part is destruction4 ,the other rendering1 engulfing ruin or a yawning gulf1 is picturesque2 but destruction is more commonly the meaning of the word and yields a vigorous sense here4 ,they plot inwardly the ruin of the men whom they flatter4 ,the figure is bold4 ,down to this pit of destruction is a way like an open sepulchre1 the throat expanded in the act of speech2 and the falsely smoothed tongue is like a slippery approach to the descent 7so ,jennings and ,lowe74 ,such figures strike ,western minds as violent1 but are natural to the ,east4 ,the shuddering sense of the deadly power of words is a marked characteristic of the ,psalter4 ,nothing stirs psalmists to deeper indignation than ,god's great gift of speech abused1 and this generation would be all the better for relearning the lesson4 ,the psalmist is in the sanctuary1 and there understands their end1 and breaks into prayer which is also prophecy4 ,the vindication of such prayers for the destruction of evil-doers is that they are not the expressions of personal enmity 7,they have rebelled against ,thee71 and that they correspond to one side of the ,divine character and acts1 which was prominent in the ,old ,testament epoch of revelation1 and is not superseded by the ,new4 ,but they do belong to that lower level2 and to hesitate to admit their imperfection from the ,christian point of view is to neglect the plain teaching of our ,lord1 who built ,his law of the kingdom on the declared relative imperfection of the ethics of the ,old4 ,terrible indeed are the prayers here4 ,hold them guilty--that is1 probably1 treat them as such by punishing2 let them fall2 thrust them out--from ,thy presence1 if they have ventured thither1 or out into the darkness of death4 ,let us be thankful that we dare not pray such prayers1 but let us not forget that for the psalmist not to have prayed them would have indicated1 not that he had anticipated the tenderness of the ,gospel1 but that he had failed to learn the lesson of the law and was basely tolerant of baseness4 ,but we come into the sunshine again at the close1 and hear the contrasted prayer1 which thrills with gladness and hope4 ,when the wicked perish there is shouting4 ,the servants of ,god1 relieved from the incubus and beholding the fall of evil1 lift up their praises4 ,the order in which the designations of these servants occur is very noteworthy4 ,it is surely not accidental that we have them first described as those that trust in ,thee1 then as all them that love ,thy name1 and finally as the righteous4 ,what is this sequence but an anticipation of the evangelical order8 ,the root of all is trust1 then love1 then righteousness4 ,love follows trust4 ,we have known and believed the love which ,god hath to us4 ,righteousness follows trust and love1 inasmuch as by faith the new life enters the heart and inasmuch as love supplies the great motive for keeping the commandments4 ,so root1 stem1 and flower are here1 wrapped up1 as it were1 in a seed1 which unfolds into full growth in the ,new ,testament4 ,the literal meaning of the word rendered put their trust is flee as to a refuge1 and that beautifully expresses the very essence of the act of faith2 while the same metaphor is carried on in defendest1 which literally means coverest4 ,the fugitive who shelters in ,god is covered by the shadow of ,his wing4 ,faith1 love1 and righteousness are the conditions of the purest joy4 ,trust is joy2 love is joy2 obedience to a loved law is joy4 ,and round him who thus1 in his deepest self1 dwells in ,god's house and in his daily life walks1 with these angels for his companions1 on ,god's path1 which by choice he has made his own1 there is ever cast the broad buckler of ,god's favour4 ,he is safe from all evil on whom ,god looks with love1 and he on whom ,god so looks is he whose heart dwells in ,god's house and whose feet travel on life's common way in cheerful godliness4 ,,psalm ,,vi4 #a ,jehovah1 not in ,thine anger do ,thou correct me1 ,and not in ,thy hot wrath do ,thou chastise me4 #b ,be gracious to me1 ,jehovah1 for ,i am withered away2 ,heal me1 ,jehovah1 for my bones are dismayed3 #c ,and my soul is sorely dismayed2 ,and ,thou1 ,jehovah--how long8 #d ,return1 ,jehovah1 deliver my soul2 ,save me for the sake of ,thy loving-kindness4 #e ,for in death there is no remembrance of ,thee2 ,in ,sheol who gives thee thanks8 #f ,i am wearied out with my groaning2 ,every night ,i make my bed swim2 ,with my tears ,i melt away my couch4 #g ,my eye is wasted with trouble2 ,it is aged because of all my oppressors4 #h ,depart from me1 all ye workers of iniquity1 ,for ,jehovah has heard the voice of my weeping4 #i ,jehovah has heard my supplication2 ,jehovah will accept my prayer4 #aj ,ashamed and sore dismayed shall be all my enemies2 ,they shall turn back1 shall be ashamed in a moment4 ,the theme and progress of thought in this psalm are very common1 especially in those attributed to ,david4 ,a soul compassed by enemies1 whose hate has all but sapped the life out of it1 catches at ,god's skirts and prays1 and thence wins confidence which anticipates deliverance and victory4 ,there are numerous variations of this leitmotif1 and each of the psalms which embody it has its own beauty1 its own discords resolved into its own harmonies4 ,the representation of the trouble of spirit as producing wasting of the body is also frequent1 and is apparently not to be taken as metaphor1 though not to be pressed1 as if the psalmist were at once struck with the two calamities of hostility and disease1 but the latter is simply the result of the former1 and will disappear with it4 ,it is needless to look for a historical occasion of the psalm1 but to an ear that knows the tones of sorrow1 or to a heart that has itself uttered them1 the supposition that in these pathetic cries we hear only a representative ,israelite bewailing the national ruin sounds singularly artificial4 ,if ever the throb of personal anguish found tears and a voice1 it does so in this psalm4 ,whoever wrote it wrote with his blood4 ,there are in it no obvious references to events in the recorded life of ,david1 and hence the ascription of it to him must rest on something else than the interpretation of the psalm4 ,the very absence of such allusions is a fact to be dealt with by those who deny the accuracy of the attribution of authorship4 ,but1 however that question may be settled1 the worth of this little plaintive cry depends on quite other considerations than the discovery of the name of the singer or the nature of his sorrow4 ,it is a transcript of a perennial experience1 a guide for a road which all feet have to travel4 ,its stream runs turbid and broken at first1 but calms and clears as it flows4 ,it has four curves or windings1 which can scarcely be called strophes without making too artificial a framework for such a simple and spontaneous gush of feeling4 ,still the transitions are clear enough4 ,in vv4 #a-c we have a cluster of sharp1 short cries to ,god for help1 which all mean the same thing4 ,in each of these the great name of ,jehovah is repeated1 and in each the plea urged is simply the sore need of the suppliant4 ,these are no vain repetitions1 which are pressed out of a soul by the grip of the rack2 and it is not taking the name of the ,lord in vain when four times in three short verses the passionate cry for help is winged with it as the arrow with its feather4 ,two thoughts fill the psalmist's consciousness1 or rather one thought--the ,lord--and one feeling--his pains4 ,in ver4 #a the ,hebrew makes in ,thine anger and in ,thine hot wrath emphatic by setting these two phrases between the negative and the verb3 ,not in ,thine anger rebuke me2 not in ,thy heat chasten me4 ,he is willing to submit to both rebuke and chastisement2 but he shrinks appalled from that form of either which tends to destruction1 not to betterment4 ,there are chastisements in tenderness1 which express ,god's love1 and there are others which manifest ,his alienation and wrath4 ,this psalmist did not think that all ,divine retribution was intended for reformation4 ,to him there was such a thing as wrath which slew4 ,jeremiah has the same distinction 7x4 #bd71 and the parallel has been made an argument for the later date of the psalm4 ,cheyne and others assume that ,jeremiah is the original1 but that is simple conjecture1 and the prophet's conspicuous fondness for quotations from older authors makes the supposition more probable that the psalm is the earlier4 ,resignation and shrinking blend in that cry1 in which a heart conscious of evil confesses as well as implores1 recognises the justice and yet deprecates the utmost severity of the blow4 ,he who asks1 ,not in ,thine anger rebuke me1 thereby submits to loving chastisement4 ,then follow in vv4 #b and #c three short petitions1 which are as much cries of pain as prayers1 and as much prayers as cries of pain4 ,in the two former the prayer is put first1 and its plea second2 in the last the order is reversed1 and so the whole is1 as it were1 enclosed in a circlet of prayer4 ,two words make the petition in each clause1 ,have mercy on me1 ,jehovah 7tastelessly corrected by ,grtz into ,revive me71 and ,heal me1 ,jehovah4 ,the third petition is daring and pregnant in its incompleteness4 ,in that emphatic ,and ,thou1 ,jehovah1 the psalmist looks up1 with almost reproach in his gaze1 to the infinite ,personality which seems so unaccountably passive4 ,the hours that bring pain are leaden-footed1 and their moments each seem an eternity4 ,the most patient sufferer may cry1 ,how long8 and ,god will not mistake the voice of pain for that of impatience4 ,this threefold prayer1 with its triple invocation1 has a triple plea1 which is all substantially one4 ,his misery fills the psalmist's soul1 and he believes that ,god will feel for him4 ,he does not at first appeal to ,god's revealed character1 except in so far as the plaintive reiteration of the ,divine name carries such an appeal1 but he spreads out his own wretchedness1 and he who does that has faith in ,god's pity4 ,i am withered away1 like a faded flower4 ,my bones are vexed2--the physical effects of his calamity1 bones being put for the whole body1 and regarded as the seat of sensibility1 as is frequently the usage4 ,vexed is too weak a rendering4 ,the idea is that of the utmost consternation4 ,not only the body1 but the soul1 partakes in the dismay4 ,the soul is even more shaken than the bones2 that is to say1 mental agitation rather than physical disease 7and the latter as the result of the former7 troubles the psalmist4 ,we can scarcely fail to remember the added sanctity which these plaintive words have received1 since they were used by the ,prince of sufferers when all but in sight of the cross4 ,the next turn of thought includes vv4 #d1 #e1 and is remarkable for the new pleas on which it rests the triple prayer1 ,return2 deliver2 save4 ,god is ,his own motive1 and ,his self-revelation in act must always be self-consistent4 ,therefore the plea is presented1 for ,thy loving-kindness' sake4 ,it beseeches ,him to be what ,he is1 and to show ,himself as still being what ,he had always been4 ,the second plea is striking both in its view of the condition of the dead and in its use of that view as an argument with ,god4 ,like many other psalmists1 the writer thinks of ,sheol as the common gathering-place of the departed1 a dim region where they live a poor shadowy life1 inactive1 joyless1 and all but godless1 inasmuch as praise1 service1 and fellowship with ,him have ceased4 ,that view is equally compatible with the belief in a resurrection and the denial of it1 for it assumes continued individual consciousness4 ,it is the prevailing tone in the ,psalter and in ,job and ,ecclesiastes4 ,but in some psalms1 which embody the highest rapture of inward and mystical devotion1 the sense of present union with ,god bears up the psalmist into the sunlight of the assurance that against such a union death can have no power1 and we see the hope of immortality in the very act of dawning on the devout soul4 ,may we not say that the subjective experience of the reality of communion with ,god now is still the path by which the certainty of its perpetuity in a future life is reached8 ,the objective proof in the resurrection of ,jesus ,christ is verified by this experience4 ,the psalmists had not the former1 but1 having the latter1 they attained to at all events occasional confidence in a blessed life beyond4 ,but the tone of such triumphant glimpses as xvi4 #aj1 xvii4 #ae1 xlix4 #ae1 lxxiii4 #bd1 is of a higher mood than that of this and other psalms1 which probably represent the usual view of devout ,hebrews4 ,the fact1 as it appeared to those at the then stage of revelation1 that remembrance and praise of ,god were impossible in ,sheol1 is urged as a plea4 ,that implies the psalmist's belief that ,god cared for men's praise--a thought which may be so put as to make ,him an almighty ,selfishness1 but which in its true aspect is the direct inference from the faith that ,he is infinite ,love4 ,it is the same sweet thought of ,him which ,browning has when he makes ,god say1 ,i miss my little human praise4 ,god's joy in men's praise is joy in men's love and in their recognition of ,his love4 ,the third turn of feeling is in vv4 #f and #g4 ,the sense of his own pains which1 in the two previous parts of the psalm1 had been contending with the thought of ,god1 masters the psalmist in these dreary verses1 in which the absence of the name of ,god is noteworthy as expressive of his absorption in brooding over his misery4 ,the vehemence of the manifestations of sorrow and the frankness of the record of these manifestations in the song are characteristic of the emotional1 demonstrative ,eastern temperament1 and strike our more reticent dispositions as excessive4 ,but however expressed in unfamiliar terms1 the emotion which wails in these sad verses is only too familiar to men of all temperaments4 ,all sad hearts are tempted to shut out ,god and to look only at their griefs4 ,there is a strange pleasure in turning round the knife in the wound and recounting the tokens of misery4 ,this man feels some ease in telling how he had exhausted his strength with groaning and worn away the sleepless night with weeping4 ,night is ever the nurse of heavy thought1 and stings burn again then4 ,the hyperbolical expressions that he had set his bed afloat with his tears and melted it 7as the word means7 are matched by the other hyperboles which follow1 describing the effect of this unmeasured weeping on his eyes4 ,he had wept them away1 and they were bleared and dim like those of an old man4 ,the cause of this passion of weeping is next expressed1 in plain words1 which connect this turn of the thought with the next verses1 and seem to explain the previously mentioned physical pains as either metaphorical or consequent on the hostility of mine adversaries4 ,but even while thus his spirit is bitterly burying itself in his sorrows the sudden certainty of the answer to his prayer flashes on him4 ,sometimes a light surprises1 as ,cowper1 who too well knew what it was to be worn with groaning1 has sung4 ,that swift conviction witnesses its origin in a ,divine inspiration by its very suddenness4 ,nothing has changed in circumstances1 but everything has changed in aspect4 ,wonder and exultation throb in the threefold assurance that the prayer is heard4 ,in the two former clauses the hearing is regarded as a present act2 in the latter the receiving is looked for in the future4 ,the process1 which is usually treated as one simple act1 is here analysed4 ,god has heard2 therefore ,god will receive--i4e41 answer--my weeping prayer4 ,whence came that confidence but from the breath of ,god on the troubled spirit8 ,the peace of ,god is ever the reward of submissive prayer4 ,in this confidence a man can front the close-knit ring of enemies1 of whatever sort they be1 and bid them back4 ,their triumphant dismissal is a vivid way of expressing the certainty of their departure1 with their murderous hate unslaked and baulked4 ,mine enemies are workers of iniquity4 ,that is a daring assumption1 made still more remarkable by the previous confession that the psalmist's sorrow was ,god's rebuke and chastening4 ,but a man has the right to believe that his cause is ,god's in the measure in which he makes ,god's cause his4 ,in the confidence of prayer heard1 the psalmist can see things that are not as though they were1 and1 though no change has passed on the beleaguering hosts1 triumphs in their sure rout and retreat4 ,very significantly does he predict in ver4 #aj the same fate for them which he had bewailed as his own4 ,the dismay which had afflicted his soul shall pass to them 7sore vexed74 ,since ,god returns 7ver4 #d71 the enemy will have to return in baffled abandonment of their plans1 and be ashamed at the failure of their cruel hopes4 ,and all this will come as suddenly as the glad conviction had started up in the troubled heart of the singer4 ,his outward life shall be as swiftly rescued as his inward has been4 ,one gleam of ,god's presence in his soul had lit its darkness1 and turned tears into sparkling homes of the rainbow2 one flash of that same presence in his outward life shall scatter all his foes with like swiftness4 ,,psalm ,,vii4 #a ,jehovah1 my ,god1 in ,thee ,i take refuge2 ,save me from all my pursuers1 and deliver me1 #b ,lest like a lion he tear my soul1 breaking it while there is no deliverer4 #c ,jehovah1 my ,god1 if ,i have done this1 ,if there is iniquity in my hands1 #d ,if ,i have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me-- ,nay1 ,i have delivered him that was my enemy causelessly-- #e ,may the enemy chase my soul and overtake it1 and trample my life to the ground6 ,and may he lay my honour in the dust6 ,selah4 #f ,arise1 ,jehovah1 in ,thine anger2 ,lift up ,thyself against the ragings of my adversaries1 ,and awake for me3 judgment ,thou hast appointed4 #g ,and let a gathering of peoples stand round ,thee1 ,and above it sit ,thou on high4 #h ,jehovah will judge the peoples2 ,do me right1 ,jehovah1 according to my righteousness and according to my innocence that is upon me4 #i ,let the evil of the wicked come to an end1 and establish ,thou the righteous1 ,for a ,trier of hearts and reins is ,god the righteous4 #aj ,my shield is upon ,god1 ,the ,saviour of the upright-hearted4 #aa ,god is a righteous ,judge1 ,and a ,god who is angry every day4 #ab ,if a man turn not1 ,he will sharpen ,his sword2 ,his bow ,he has bent1 and made it ready4 #ac ,and at him ,he has aimed deadly weapons2 ,his arrows ,he will kindle into flaming darts4 #ad ,see6 he is in labour with wickedness2 ,yea1 he is pregnant with mischief1 and gives birth to a lie4 #ae ,a pit has he sunk1 and dug it out2 ,and he will fall into the hole he is making4 #af ,his mischief shall come back on his own head1 ,and upon his own skull shall his violence come down4 #ag ,i will thank ,jehovah according to ,his righteousness1 ,and sing with the harp to the name of ,jehovah most high4 ,this is the only psalm with the title ,shiggaion4 ,the word occurs only here and in ,hab4 iii4 #a1 where it stands in the plural1 and with the preposition upon1 as if it designated instruments4 ,the meaning is unknown1 and commentators1 who do not like to say so1 have much ado to find one4 ,the root is a verb1 to wander1 and the explanation is common that the word describes the disconnected character of the psalm1 which is full of swiftly succeeding emotions rather than of sequent thoughts4 ,but there is no such exceptional discontinuity as to explain the title4 ,it may refer to the character of the musical accompaniment rather than to that of the words4 ,the authorities are all at sea1 the ,,lxx4 shirking the difficulty by rendering psalm1 others giving error or ignorance1 with allusion to ,david's repentance after cutting off ,saul's skirt or to ,saul's repentance of his persecuting ,david4 ,the later ,jewish writers quoted by ,neubauer 7,studia ,biblic41 ii4 #cf1 sq47 guess at most various meanings1 such as love and pleasure1 occupation with music1 affliction1 humility1 while others1 again1 explain it as the name of a musical instrument4 ,clearly the antiquity of the title is proved by this unintelligibility4 ,if we turn to the other part of it1 we find further evidence of age and of independence4 ,who was ,cush1 a ,benjamite8 ,he is not mentioned elsewhere4 ,the author of the title1 then1 had access to some sources for ,david's life other than the ,biblical records2 and1 as ,hupfeld acknowledges1 we have here evidence of ancient ascription of authorship which has more weight than most of the others4 ,cush has been supposed to be ,shimei or ,saul himself1 and to have been so called because of his swarthy complexion 7,cush meaning an ,african7 or as a jest1 because of his personal beauty4 ,cheyne1 following ,krochmal1 would correct into because of ,mordecai the son of ,kish1 a ,benjamite1 and finds in this entirely conjectural and violent emendation an attestation that the psalm was very early regarded as a work of the ,persian age 7,orig4 of ,psalt41 p4 #bbi74 ,but there is really no reason of weight for denying the ,davidic authorship1 as ,ewald1 ,hitzig1 ,hupfeld1 and ,riehm allow2 and there is much in #a ,sam4 xxiv4-xxvi4 correspondent with the situation and emotions of the psalmist here1 such as1 e4g41 the protestations of innocence1 the calumnies launched at him1 and the call on ,god to judge4 ,the tone of the psalm is high and courageous1 in remarkable contrast to the depression of spirit in the former psalm1 up out of which the singer had to pray himself4 ,here1 on the contrary1 he fronts the enemy1 lion-like though he be1 without a quiver4 ,it is the courage of innocence and of trust4 ,psalm vi4 wailed like some soft flute2 ,psalm vii4 peals like the trumpet of judgment1 and there is triumph in the note4 ,the whole may be divided into three parts1 of which the close of the first is marked by the ,selah at the end of ver4 #e2 and the second includes vv4 #f-aj4 ,thus we have the appeal of innocence for help 7vv4 #a-e71 the cry for more than help--namely1 definite judgment 7vv4 #f-aj7--;and the vision of judgment 7vv4 #aa-ag74 ,the first section has two main thoughts3 the cry for help and the protestation of innocence4 ,it is in accordance with the bold triumphant tone of the psalm that its first words are a profession of faith in ,jehovah4 ,it is well to look to ,god before looking at dangers and foes4 ,he who begins with trust can go on to think of the fiercest antagonism without dismay4 ,many of the psalms ascribed to ,david begin thus1 but it is no mere stereotyped formula4 ,each represents a new act of faith1 in the presence of a new danger4 ,the word for put trust here is very illuminative and graphic1 meaning properly the act of fleeing to a refuge4 ,it is sometimes blended with the image of a sheltering rock1 sometimes with the still tenderer one of a mother-bird1 as when ,ruth came to trust under the wings of ,jehovah1 and in many other places4 ,the very essence of the act of faith is better expressed by that metaphor than by much subtle exposition4 ,its blessedness as bringing security and warm shelter and tenderness more than maternal is wrapped up in the sweet and instructive figure4 ,the many enemies are1 as it were1 embodied in one1 on whom the psalmist concentrates his thoughts as the most formidable and fierce4 ,the metaphor of the lion is common in the psalms attributed to ,david1 and is1 at all events1 natural in the mouth of a shepherd king1 who had taken a lion by the beard4 ,he is quite aware of his peril1 if ,god does not help him1 but he is so sure of his safety1 since he trusts1 that he can contemplate the enemy's power unmoved1 like a man standing within arm's length of the lion's open jaws1 but with a strong grating between4 ,this is the blessing of true faith1 not the oblivion of dangers1 but the calm fronting of them because our refuge is in ,god4 ,indignant repelling of slander follows the first burst of triumphant trust 7vv4 #c-e74 ,apparently the words of ,cush were calumnies poisoning ,saul's suspicious nature1 such as ,david refers to in #a ,sam4 xxiv4 #i3 ,wherefore hearkenest thou to men's words1 saying1 ,behold1 ,david seeketh thy hurt8 ,the emphatic and enigmatic ,this in ver4 #c is unintelligible1 unless it refers to some slander freshly coined1 the base malice of which stirs its object into flashing anger and vehement self-vindication4 ,the special point of the falsehood is plain from the repudiation4 ,he had been charged with attempting to injure one who was at peace with him4 ,that is exactly what men's words charged on ,david1 saying1 ,behold1 ,david seeketh thy hurt 7#a ,samuel1 as above74 ,if there be iniquity in my hands is very like ,see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand1 and ,i have not sinned against thee2 ,thou huntest after my soul to take it 7#a ,samuel7 is also like our ver4 #a3 them that pursue me1 and ver4 #e3 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it4 ,the specific form of this protestation of innocence finds no explanation in the now favourite view of the sufferer in the psalm as being the righteous nation4 ,the clause which is usually treated as a parenthesis in ver4 #d1 and translated1 as in the ,r4,v41 ,i have delivered him that without cause was mine adversary1 is needlessly taken by ,delitzsch and others as a continuation of the hypothetical clauses1 and rendered1 with a change in the meaning of the verb1 ,and if ,i have despoiled him1 etc42 but it is better taken as above and referred to the incident in the cave when ,david spared ,saul's life4 ,what meaning would that clause have with the national reference8 ,the metaphor of a wild beast in chase of its prey colours the vehement declaration in ver4 #e of readiness to suffer if guilty4 ,we see the swift pursuit1 the victim overtaken and trampled to death4 ,there may also be an echo of the ,song of ,miriam 7,exod4 xv4 #i73 ,the enemy said1 ,i will pursue2 ,i will overtake4 ,to lay my glory in the dust is equivalent to bring down my soul to the dust of death4 ,man's glory is his soul4 ,thus1 nobly throbbing with conscious innocence and fronting unmerited hate1 the rush of words stops1 to let the musical accompaniment blare on1 for a while1 as if defiant and confident4 ,the second section of the psalm 7vv4 #f-aj7 is a cry for the coming of the ,divine ,judge4 ,the previous prayer was content with deliverance1 but this takes a bolder flight1 and asks for the manifestation of the punitive activity of ,god on the enemies1 who1 as usually1 are identified with evil-doers4 ,the grand metaphors in ,arise1 ,lift up ,thyself1 ,awake1 mean substantially the same thing4 ,the long periods during which evil works and flaunts with impunity are the times when ,god sits as if passive and1 in a figure still more daring1 as if asleep4 ,when ,his destructive power flashed into act1 and some long-tolerated iniquity was smitten at a blow1 the ,hebrew singers saw therein ,god springing to ,his feet or awaking to judgment4 ,such long stretches of patient permission of evil and of swift punishment are repeated through the ages1 and individual lives have them in miniature4 ,the great judgments of nations and the small ones of single men embody the same principles1 just as the tiniest crystal has the same angles and lines of cleavage as the greatest of its kind4 ,so this psalmist has penetrated to a true discernment of the relations of the small and the great1 when he links his own vindication by the judicial act of ,god with the pomp and splendour of a world-wide judgment1 and bases his prayer for the former on the ,divine purpose to effect the latter4 ,the sequence1 ,the ,lord ministereth judgment to the peoples--therefore--judge me1 ,o ,lord1 does not imply that the me is the nation1 but simply indicates as the ground of the individual hope of a vindicating judgment the ,divine fact1 of which history had given him ample proof and faith gave him still fuller evidence1 that ,god1 though ,he sometimes seemed to sleep1 did indeed judge the nations4 ,the prerogative of the poet1 and still more1 the instinct of the inspired spirit1 is to see the law of the greatest exemplified in the small and to bring every triviality of personal life into contact with ,god and ,his government4 ,the somewhat harsh construction of the last clause of ver4 #f begins the transition from the prayer for the smaller to the assurance of the greater judgment which is its basis1 and similarly the first clause of ver4 #h closes the picture of that wider act1 and the next clause returns to the prayer4 ,this picture1 thus embedded in the heart of the supplication1 is majestic in its few broad strokes4 ,first comes the appointment of judgment1 then the assembling of the peoples1 which here may1 perhaps1 have the narrower meaning of the tribes1 since congregation is the word used for them in their national assembly1 and would scarcely be employed for the collection of ,gentile nations4 ,but whether the concourse be all ,israel or all nations1 they are gathered in silent expectance as in a great judgment-hall4 ,then enters the ,judge4 ,if we retain the usual reading and rendering of ver4 #g b1 the act of judgment is passed over in silence1 and the poet beholds ,god1 the judgment finished1 soaring above the awe-struck multitudes1 in triumphant return to the repose of ,his heavenly throne4 ,but the slight emendation of the text1 needed to yield the meaning ,sit ,thou above it1 is worthy of consideration4 ,in either case1 the picture closes with the repeated assurance of the ,divine judgment of the peoples1 and 7ver4 #h7 the prayer begins again4 ,the emphatic assertion of innocence must be taken in connection with the slanders already repudiated4 ,the matter in hand is the evils charged on the psalmist1 for which he was being chased as if by lions1 the judgment craved is the chastisement of his persecutors1 and the innocence professed is simply the innocence which they calumniated4 ,the words have no bearing at all on the psalmist's general relation to the ,divine law1 nor is there any need to have recourse to the hypothesis that the speaker is the righteous nation4 ,it is much more difficult to vindicate a member of that remnant from the charge of overestimating the extent and quality of even the righteous nation's obedience1 if he meant to allege1 as that interpretation would make him do1 that the nation was pure in life and heart1 than it is to vindicate the single psalmist vehemently protesting his innocence of the charges for which he was hunted4 ,cheyne confesses 7,commentary in loc47 that the psalmist's view may seem too rose-coloured1 which is another way of acknowledging that the interpretation of the protestation as the voice of the nation is at variance with the facts of its condition4 ,the accents require ver4 #i a to be rendered ,let wickedness make an end of the wicked1 but that introduces an irrelevant thought of the suicidal nature of evil4 ,it may be significant that the psalmist's prayer is not for the destruction of the wicked1 but of their wickedness4 ,such annihilation of evil is the great end of ,god's judgment1 and its consequence will be the establishment of the righteous4 ,again the prayer strengthens itself by the thought of ,god as righteous and as trying the hearts and reins 7the seat of feeling74 ,in the presence of rampant and all but triumphant evil1 a man needs to feed hopes of its overthrow that would else seem vainest dreams1 by gazing on the righteousness and searching power of ,god4 ,very beautifully does the order of the words in ver4 #i suggest the kindred of the good man with ,god by closing each division of the verse with righteous4 ,a righteous man has a claim on a righteous ,god4 ,most naturally then the prayer ends with the calm confidence of ver4 #aj3 ,my shield is upon ,god4 ,he ,himself bears the defence of the psalmist4 ,this confidence he has won by his prayer1 and in it he ceases to be a suppliant and becomes a seer4 ,the last section 7ver4 #aa to end7 is a vision of the judgment prayed for1 and may be supposed to be addressed to the enemy4 ,if so1 the hunted man towers above them1 and becomes a rebuker4 ,the character of ,god underlies the fact of judgment1 as it had encouraged the prayer for it4 ,what he had said to himself when his hope drooped1 he now1 as a prophet1 peals out to men as making retribution sure3 ,god is a righteous ,judge1 yea a ,god that hath indignation every day4 ,the absence of an object specified for the indignation makes its inevitable flow wherever there is evil the more vividly certain4 ,if ,he is such1 then of course follows the destruction of every one who turns not4 ,retribution is set forth with solemn vigour under four figures4 ,first1 ,god is as an armed enemy sharpening ,his sword in preparation for action1 a work of time which in the ,hebrew is represented as in process1 and bending ,his bow1 which is the work of a moment1 and in the ,hebrew is represented as a completed act4 ,another second1 and the arrow will whizz4 ,not only is the bow bent1 but 7ver4 #aa7 the deadly arrows are aimed1 and not only aimed1 but continuously fed with flame4 ,the ,hebrew puts ,at him 7the wicked7 emphatically at the beginning of the verse1 and uses the form of the verb which implies completed action for the aiming and that which implies incomplete for making the arrows burn4 ,so the stern picture is drawn of ,god as in the moment before the outburst of ,his punitive energy--the sword sharpened1 the bow bent1 the arrows fitted1 the burning stuff being smeared on their tips4 ,what will happen when all this preparation blazes into action8 ,the next figure in ver4 #ad insists on the automatic action of evil in bringing punishment4 ,it is the ,old ,testament version of ,sin when it is finished bringeth forth death4 ,the evil-doer is boldly represented as travailing with iniquity1 and that metaphor is broken up into the two parts ,he hath conceived mischief and ,he hath brought forth falsehood4 ,the falsehood1 which is the thing actually produced1 is so called1 not because it deceives others1 but because it mocks its producer with false hopes and never fulfils his purposes4 ,this is but the highly metaphorical way of saying that a sinner never does what he means to do1 but that the end of all his plans is disappointment4 ,the law of the universe condemns him to feed on ashes and to make and trust in lies4 ,a third figure brings out more fully the idea implied in falsehood1 namely1 the failure of evil to accomplish its doer's purpose4 ,crafty attempts to trap others have an ugly habit of snaring their contriver4 ,the irony of fortune tumbles the hunter into the pitfall dug by him for his prey4 ,the fourth figure 7ver4 #af7 represents the incidence of his evil on the evil-doer as being certain as the fall of a stone thrown straight up1 which will infallibly come back in the line of its ascent4 ,retribution is as sure as gravitation1 especially if there is an ,unseen ,hand above1 which adds impetus and direction to the falling weight4 ,all these metaphors1 dealing with the natural consequences of evil1 are adduced as guarantees of ,god's judgment1 whence it is clear both that the psalmist is thinking not of some final future judgment1 but of the continuous one of daily providence1 and that he made no sharp line of demarcation between the supernatural and the natural4 ,the qualities of things and the play of natural events are ,god's working4 ,so the end of all is thanksgiving4 ,a stern but not selfish nor unworthy thankfulness follows judgment1 with praise which is not inconsistent with tears of pity1 even as the act of judgment which calls it forth is not inconsistent with ,divine love4 ,the vindication of ,god's righteousness is worthily hymned by the choral thanksgivings of all who love righteousness4 ,by judgment ,jehovah makes ,himself known as most high1 supreme over all creatures2 and hence the music of thanksgiving celebrates ,him under that name4 ,the title ,elyon here employed is regarded by ,cheyne and others as a sign of late date1 but the use of it seems rather a matter of poetic style than of chronology4 ,melchizedek1 ,balaam1 and the king of ,babylon 7,isa4 xiv4 #ad7 use it2 it occurs in ,daniel1 but1 with these exceptions1 is confined to poetical passages1 and cannot be made out to be a mark of late date1 except by assuming the point in question--namely1 the late date of the poetry1 principally nineteen psalms1 in which it occurs4 ,,psalm ,,viii4 #a ,jehovah1 our ,lord1 ,how glorious is ,thy name in all the earth6 ,who hast set ,thy glory upon the heavens4 #b ,out of the mouth of children and sucklings hast ,thou founded a strength1 ,because of ,thine adversaries1 ,to still the enemy and the revengeful4 #c ,when ,i gaze on ,thy heavens1 the work of ,thy fingers1 ,moon and stars1 which ,thou hast established1 #d ,what is frail man1 that ,thou rememberest him1 ,and the son of man1 that ,thou visitest him8 #e ,for ,thou didst let him fall but little short of ,god1 ,and crownedst him with glory and honour4 #f ,thou madest him ruler over the works of ,thy hands2 ,thou hast put all things under his feet1 #g ,sheep and oxen1 all of them1 ,and likewise beasts of the field1 #h ,fowl of the heavens and fishes of the sea1 ,whatever traverses the paths of the seas4 #i ,jehovah1 our ,lord1 how glorious is ,thy name in all the earth6 ,the exclamation which begins and ends this psalm1 enclosing it as a jewel in a setting1 determines its theme as being neither the nightly heaven1 with all its stars1 nor the dignity of man1 but the name of the ,lord as proclaimed by both4 ,the ,biblical contemplation of nature and man starts from and ends in ,god4 ,the main thought of the psalm is the superiority of the revelation in man's nature and place to that in the vault of heaven4 ,the very smallness of man makes the revelation of ,god in ,his dealings with him great4 ,in his insignificance is lodged a ,divine spark1 and1 lowly as is his head as he stands beneath the midnight sky blazing with inaccessible lights1 it is crowned with a halo which reflects ,god's glory more brightly than does their lustre4 ,that one idea is the theme of both parts of the psalm4 ,in the former 7vv4 #a1 #b7 it is briefly stated2 in the latter 7vv4 #c-h7 it is wrought out in detail4 ,the movement of thought is by expansion rather than progress4 ,the name of the ,lord is ,his character as made known4 ,the psalmist looks beyond ,israel1 the recipient of a fuller manifestation1 and1 with adoring wonder1 sees far-flashing through all the earth1 as if written in light1 the splendour of that name4 ,the universal revelation in the depths of the sparkling heavens and the special one by which ,israel can say1 our ,lord1 are both recognised4 ,the very abruptness of the exclamation in ver4 #a tells that it is the end of long1 silent contemplation1 which overflows at last in speech4 ,the remainder of ver4 #a and ver4 #b present the two forms of ,divine manifestation which it is the main purpose of the psalm to contrast1 and which effect the world-wide diffusion of the glory of the ,name4 ,these are the apocalypse in the nightly heavens and the witness from the mouth of babes and sucklings4 ,as to the former1 there is some difficulty in the text as it stands2 and there may be a question also as to the connection with the preceding burst of praise4 ,the word rendered hast set is an imperative1 which introduces an incongruous thought1 since the psalm proceeds on the conviction that ,god has already done what such a reading would be asking ,him to do4 ,the simplest solution is to suppose a textual corruption1 and to make the slight change required for the rendering of the ,a4,v4 and ,r4,v4 ,god's name is glorious in all the earth1 first1 because ,he has set ,his glory upon the heavens1 which stretch their solemn magnificence above every land4 ,it is ,his glory of which theirs is the shimmering reflection1 visible to every eye upturned from this dim spot which men call earth4 ,may we attach significance to the difference between ,thy name and ,thy glory8 ,possibly there is a hint of the relative inferiority even of the heavenly proclamation1 inasmuch as1 while it rays out glory1 the lustre of power and infinitude1 it is only on earth that that revelation becomes the utterance of the ,name1 since here are hearts and minds to interpret4 ,the relative at the beginning of the last clause of ver4 #a seems to require that the initial exclamation should not be isolated1 as it is in the last verse2 but1 in any case1 the two methods of revelation must be taken in the closest connection1 and brought into line as parallel media of revelation4 ,ver4 #b gives the second of these4 ,the sudden drop from the glories of the heavens to the babble and prattle of infancy and childhood is most impressive1 and gives extraordinary force to the paradox that the latter's witness is more powerful to silence gainsayers than that of the former4 ,this conviction is expressed in a noble metaphor1 which is blurred by the rendering strength4 ,the word here rather means a strength in the old use of the term--that is1 a stronghold or fortress--and the image1 somewhat more daring than colder ,western taste finds permissible1 is that1 out of such frail material as children's speech1 ,god builds a tower of strength1 which1 like some border castle1 will bridle and still the restless enemy4 ,there seems no sufficient reason for taking children and sucklings in any but its natural meaning1 however the reference to lowly believers may accord with the spirit of the psalm4 ,the children's voices are taken as a type of feeble instruments1 which are yet strong enough to silence the enemy4 ,childhood1 with no language but a cry1 is1 if rightly regarded in its source1 its budding possibilities1 its dependence1 its growth1 a more potent witness to a more wondrous name than are all the stars4 ,in like manner1 man is man's clearest revelation of ,god4 ,the more lowly he is1 the more lofty his testimony4 ,what are all ,his servants' words but the babbling of children who do not know half the deep things they speak8 ,god's strongest fortress is built of weakest stones4 ,the rendering of the ,,lxx41 which is that used by our ,lord in the ,temple when ,he claimed the children's shrill hosannas as perfected praise1 is an explanation rather than a translation1 and as such is quite in the line of the psalmist's meaning4 ,to find in the children and sucklings a reference either to the humble believers in ,israel or to the nation as a whole1 and in the enemy and the vengeful man hostile nations1 introduces thoughts alien to the universality of the psalm1 which deals with humanity as a whole and with the great revelations wide as humanity4 ,if the two parts of the psalm are to be kept together1 the theme of the compendious first portion must be the same as that of the second1 namely1 the glory of ,god as revealed by nature and man1 but most chiefly by the latter1 notwithstanding and even by his comparative feebleness4 ,the second part 7vv4 #c-h7 expands the theme of the first4 ,the nightly sky is more overwhelming than the bare blue vault of day4 ,light conceals and darkness unveils the solemn glories4 ,the silent depths1 the inaccessible splendours1 spoke to this psalmist1 as they do to all sensitive souls1 of man's relative insignificance1 but they spoke also of the ,god whose hand had fashioned them1 and the thought of ,him carried with it the assurance of ,his care for so small a creature1 and therefore changed the aspect of his insignificance4 ,to an ear deaf to the witness of the heavens to their ,maker1 the only voice which sounds from their crushing magnificence is one which counsels unmitigated despair1 insists on man's nothingness1 and mocks his aspirations4 ,if we stop with ,what is man8 the answer is1 ,a fleeting nothing4 ,the magnitude1 the duration1 the multitudes of these awful suns and stars dwarf him4 ,modern astronomy has so far increased the impression that it has landed many minds in blank unbelief that ,god has visited so small a speck as earth1 and abundant ridicule has been poured on the arrogance which dreams that such stupendous events1 as the ,christian revelation asserts1 have been transacted on earth for man4 ,if we begin with man1 certainly his insignificance makes it supremely absurd to suppose him thus distinguished2 but if we begin at the other end1 the supposition takes a new appearance of probability4 ,if there is a ,god1 and men are ,his creatures1 it is supremely unlikely that ,he should not have a care of them4 ,nothing can be more absurd than the supposition of a dumb ,god1 who has never spoken to such a being as man4 ,the psalmist gives full weight to man's smallness1 his frailty1 and his lowly origin1 for his exclamation1 ,what is man8 means1 ,how little is he6 and he uses the words which connote frailty and mortality1 and emphasise the fact of birth as if in contrast with the work of ,thy fingers2 but all these points only enhance the wonderfulness of what is to the poet an axiom--that ,god has personal relations with ,his creature4 ,thou art mindful of him refers to ,god's thought1 ,thou visitest him to ,his acts of loving care2 and both point to ,god's universal beneficence1 not to ,his special revelation4 ,the bitter parody in ,job vii4 #ag1 #ah1 takes the truth by the other handle1 and makes the personal relations those of a rigid inspector on the one hand and a creature not worth being so strict with on the other4 ,mindfulness is only watchfulness for slips1 and visiting means penal visitation4 ,so the same fact may be the source of thankful wonder or of almost blasphemous murmuring4 ,vv4 #e-h draw out the consequences of ,god's loving regard1 which has made the insignificance of man the medium of a nobler manifestation of the ,divine name than streams from all the stars4 ,there is no allusion here to sin2 and its absence has led to the assertion that this psalmist knew nothing of a fall1 and was not in harmony with the prevalent ,old ,testament tone as to the condition of humanity4 ,but surely the contemplation of the ideal manhood1 as it came from ,god's hand1 does not need to be darkened by the shadows of the actual4 ,the picture of man as ,god made him is the only theme which concerns the psalmist2 and he paints it with colours drawn from the ,genesis account1 which tells of the fall as well as the creation of man4 ,the picture contains three elements3 man is ,deiform1 crowned with glory and honour1 and lord of the creatures on earth4 ,the rendering than the angels in the ,a4,v4 comes from the ,,lxx41 but though defensible1 is less probable than the more lofty conception contained in than ,god1 which is vindicated1 not only by lexical considerations1 but as embodying an allusion to the original creation in the image of ,god4 ,what then is the little which marks man's inferiority8 ,it is mainly that the spirit1 which is ,god's image1 is confined in and limited by flesh1 and subject to death4 ,the distance from the apex of creation to the ,creator must ever be infinite2 but man is so far above the non-sentient1 though mighty1 stars and the creatures which share earth with him1 by reason of his being made in the ,divine image--i4e41 having consciousness1 will1 and reason--that the distance is foreshortened4 ,the gulf between man and matter is greater than that between man and ,god4 ,the moral separation caused by sin is not in the psalmist's mind4 ,thus man is invested with some reflection of ,god's glory1 and wears this as a crown4 ,he is king on earth4 ,the enumeration of his subjects follows1 in language reminding again of the ,genesis narrative4 ,the catalogue begins with those nearest to him1 the long-tamed domestic animals1 and of these the most submissive 7sheep7 first2 it then passes to the untamed animals1 whose home is the field or uncultivated land1 and from them goes to the heights and depths1 where the free fowls of the air and fish of the sea and all the mysterious monsters that may roam the hidden ways of that unknown ocean dwell4 ,the power of taming and disciplining some1 the right to use all1 belong to man1 but his subjects have their rights and their king his limits of power and his duties4 ,such then is man1 as ,god meant him to be4 ,such a being is a more glorious revelation of the ,name than all stars and systems4 ,looked at in regard to his duration1 his years are a handbreadth before these shining ancients of days that have seen his generations fret their little hour and sink into silence2 looked at in contrast with their magnitude and numbers numberless1 he is but an atom1 and his dwelling-place a speck4 ,science increases the knowledge of his insignificance1 but perhaps not the impression of it made on a quiet heart by the simple sight of the heavens4 ,but besides the merely scientific view1 and the merely poetic1 and the grimly ,agnostic1 there is the other1 the religious1 and it is as valid to-day as ever4 ,to it the heavens are the work of ,god's finger1 and their glories are ,his1 set there by ,him4 ,that being so1 man's littleness magnifies the name1 because it enhances the condescending love of ,god1 which has greatened the littleness by such nearness of care and such gifts of dignity4 ,the reflection of ,his glory which blazes in the heavens is less bright than that which gleams in the crown of glory and honour on man's lowly yet lofty head4 ,the babe and suckling of creation has a mouth from which the strength of perfected praise issues and makes a bulwark against all gainsayers4 ,the use made of this psalm in the ,epistle to the ,hebrews proceeds on the understanding that it describes ideal humanity4 ,where1 then1 says the writer of the epistle1 shall we look for the realisation of that ideal8 ,do not the grand words sound liker irony than truth8 ,is this poor creature that crawls about the world1 its slave1 discrowned and sure to die1 the ,man whom the psalmist saw8 ,no4 ,then was the fair vision a baseless fabric1 and is there nothing to be looked for but a dreary continuance of such abortions dragging out their futile being through hopeless generations8 ,no2 the promise shall be fulfilled for humanity1 because it has been fulfilled in one ,man3 the ,man ,christ ,jesus4 ,he is the realised ideal1 and in ,him is a life which will be communicated to all who trust and obey ,him1 and they1 too1 will become all that ,god meant man to be4 ,the psalm was not intended as a prophecy1 but every clear vision of ,god's purpose is a prophecy1 for none of ,his purposes remain unfulfilled4 ,it was not intended as a picture of the ,christ1 but it is so2 for ,he1 and ,he alone1 is the ,man who answers to that fair ,divine ,ideal1 and ,he will make all ,his people partakers of ,his royalty and perfect manhood4 ,so the psalm ends1 as it began1 with adoring wonder1 and proclaims this as the result of the twofold witness which it has so nobly set forth3 that ,god's name shines glorious through all the earth1 and every eye may see its lustre4 ,,psalm ,,ix4 #a 77 ,i will thank ,jehovah with my whole heart2 ,i will recount all ,thy wonders4 #b ,i will be glad and exult in ,thee2 ,i will sing ,thy name1 ,most ,high1 #c 77 ,because mine enemies turn back2 ,they stumble and perish at ,thy presence4 #d ,for ,thou hast upheld my right and my suit2 ,thou didst seat ,thyself on ,thy throne1 judging righteously4 #e 77 ,thou hast rebuked the nations1 ,thou hast destroyed the wicked2 ,thou hast blotted out their name for ever and aye4 #f ,the enemy--they are ended1 they are desolations for ever1 ,and their cities hast ,thou rooted out2 perished is their memory4 #g 77 ,they are perished1 but ,jehovah shall sit throned for ever2 ,he hath prepared ,his throne for judgment4 #h ,and ,he--,he shall judge the world in righteousness2 ,he shall deal judgment to the peoples in equity4 #i 77 ,and ,jehovah shall be a lofty stronghold for the crushed1 ,a lofty stronghold in times of extremity4 #aj ,and they who know ,thy name will put trust in ,thee1 ,for ,thou hast not forsaken them that seek ,thee1 ,jehovah4 #aa 77 ,sing with the harp to ,jehovah1 sitting throned in ,zion2 ,declare among the peoples ,his doings4 #ab ,for ,he that makes inquisition for blood has remembered them2 ,he has not forgotten the cry of the humble4 #ac 77 ,have mercy on me1 ,jehovah2 ,look on my affliction from my haters1 ,thou who liftest me up from the gates of death #ad ,to the end that ,i may recount all ,thy praises4 ,in the gates of the daughter of ,zion1 ,i will rejoice in ,thy salvation4 #ae 77 ,the nations are sunk in the pit they made2 ,in the net which they spread their foot is caught4 #af ,jehovah makes ,himself known2 judgment hath ,he done1 ,snaring the wicked by the work of his own hands4 ,higgaion2 ,selah4 #ag 77 ,the wicked shall return to ,sheol1 ,all the nations who forget ,god #ah ,for not for ever shall the needy be forgotten1 ,nor the expectation of the afflicted perish for aye4 #ai 77 ,arise1 ,jehovah3 let not man grow strong2 ,let the nations be judged before ,thy presence4 #bj ,appoint1 ,jehovah1 terrors for them2 ,let the nations come to know that they are men4 ,psalms vii4 and ix4 are connected by the recurrence of the two thoughts of ,god as the ,judge of nations and the wicked falling into the pit which he digged4 ,probably the original arrangement of the ,psalter put these two next each other1 and ,psalm viii4 was inserted later4 ,psalm ix4 is imperfectly acrostic4 ,it falls into strains of two verses each1 which are marked by sequence of thought as well as by the acrostic arrangement4 ,the first begins with ,aleph1 the second with ,beth1 and so on1 the second verse of each pair not being counted in the scheme4 ,the fourth letter is missing1 and ver4 #g1 which should begin with it1 begins with the sixth4 ,but a textual correction1 which is desirable on other grounds1 makes the fifth letter 7,he7 the initial of ver4 #g1 and then the regular sequence is kept up till ver4 #ai1 which should begin with the soft ,k1 but takes instead the guttural ,q4 ,what has become of the rest of the alphabet8 ,part of it is found in ,psalm x41 where the first verse begins with the ,l1 which should follow the regular ,k for ver4 #ai4 ,but there is no more trace of acrostic structure in x4 till ver4 #ab1 which resumes it with the ,q which has already appeared out of place in ix4 #ai2 and it goes on to the end of the alphabet1 with only the irregularity that the ,r strain 7x4 #ad7 has but one verse4 ,verses with the missing letters would just about occupy the space of the non-acrostic verses in ,psalm x41 and the suggestion is obvious that the latter are part of some other psalm which has been substituted for the original2 but there are links of connection between the non-acrostic and acrostic portions of ,psalm x41 which make that hypothesis difficult4 ,the resemblances between the two psalms as they stand are close1 and the dissimilarities not less obvious4 ,the psalmist's enemies are different4 ,in the former they are foreign1 in the latter domestic4 ,psalm ix4 rings with triumph2 ,psalm x4 is in a minor key4 ,the former celebrates a judgment as accomplished which the latter almost despairingly longs to see begun4 ,on the whole1 the two were most probably never formally one1 but are a closely connected pair4 ,there is nothing to discredit the ,davidic authorship4 ,the singer's enemies are nations1 and the destruction of these foreign foes is equivalent to maintaining his cause4 ,that would be language natural in the mouth of a king1 and there were foreign wars enough in ,david's reign to supply appropriate occasions for such a song4 ,the psalm falls into two parts1 vv4 #a-ab and #ac to end1 of which the second substantially repeats the main thoughts of the first1 but with a significant difference4 ,in the first part the sequence is praise and its occasion 7,aleph and ,beth verses1 #a-d71 triumphant recounting of accomplished judgment 7,gimel verses1 #e1 #f71 confident expectation of future wider judgment 7amended ,he and ,vav pairs1 vv4 #g-aj71 and a final call to praise 7vii4 #ab74 ,thus set1 as it were1 in a circlet of praise1 are experience of past and consequent confidence of future deliverance4 ,the second part gives the same order1 only1 instead of praise1 it has prayer for its beginning and end1 the two central portions remaining the same as in part ,i4 ,the ,cheth pair 7vv4 #ac1 #ad7 is prayer1 the deliverance not being perfected1 though some foes have fallen2 the past act of accomplished judgment is again celebrated in the ,teth pair 7vv4 #ae1 #af71 followed1 as before1 by the triumphant confidence of future complete crushing of enemies 7,yod strain1 vv4 #ag1 #ah72 and all closes with prayer 7,qoph pair1 vv4 #ai1 #bj74 ,thus the same thoughts are twice dwelt on2 and the different use made of them is the explanation of the repetition1 which strikes a cursory reader as needless4 ,the diamond is turned a little in the hand1 and a differently tinted beam flashes from its facet4 ,in the first pair of verses1 the song rushes out like some river breaking through a dam and flashing as it hurries on its course4 ,each short clause begins with ,aleph2 each makes the same fervid resolve4 ,wholehearted praise is sincere1 and all the singer's being is fused into it4 ,all ,thy marvellous works include the great deliverances of the past1 with which a living sense of ,god's working associates those of the present1 as one in character and source4 ,to-day is as full of ,god to this man as the sacred yesterdays of national history1 and his deliverances as wonderful as those of old4 ,but high above the joy in ,god's work is the joy in ,himself to which it leads1 and ,thy name1 ,o thou ,most ,high1 is the ground of all pure delight and the theme of all worthy praise4 ,the second stanza 7,beth1 vv4 #c1 #d7 is best taken as giving the ground of praise4 ,render in close connection with preceding because mine enemies turn back2 they stumble and perish at or from ,thy presence4 ,god's face blazes out on the foe1 and they turn and flee from the field1 but in their flight they stumble1 and1 like fugitives1 once fallen can rise no more4 ,the underlying picture is of a battle-field and a disastrous rout4 ,it is ,god's coming into action that scatters the enemy1 as ver4 #d tells by its for4 ,when ,he took ,his seat on the throne 7of judgment rather than of royalty71 they fled2 and that act of assuming judicial activity was the maintaining of the psalmist's cause4 ,the third pair of verses 7,gimel1 #e1 #f7 dwells on the grand picture of judgment1 and specifies for the first time the enemies as the nations or heathen1 thus showing that the psalmist is not a private individual1 and probably implying that the whole psalm is a hymn of victory1 in which the heat of battle still glows1 but which writes no name on the trophy but that of ,god4 ,the metaphor of a judgment-seat is exchanged for a triumphant description of the destructions fallen on the land of the enemy1 in all which ,god alone is recognised as the actor4 ,thou hast rebuked2 and just as ,his creative word was all-powerful1 so ,his destructive word sweeps its objects into nothingness4 ,there is a grand and solemn sequence in that ,thou hast rebuked2 444 ,thou hast destroyed4 ,his breath has made2 ,his breath can unmake4 ,in ver4 #f the rendering to be preferred is substantially that of the ,r4,v43 ,the enemy are ended1 they are ruins for ever1 and cities hast ,thou rooted out2 perished is their memory4 ,to take enemy as a vocative breaks the continuity of the address to ,god1 and brings in an irrelevant reference to the former conquests of the foe 7,thou hast destroyed cities7 which is much more forcible if regarded as descriptive of ,god's destruction of his cities4 ,their memory refers to the enemy1 not to the cities4 ,utter1 perpetual ruin1 so complete that the very name is forgotten1 has fallen on the foe4 ,in the fourth pair of verses a slight emendation of the text is approved of by most critics4 ,the last word of ver4 #f is the pronoun they1 which1 though possible in such a position1 is awkward4 ,if it is transferred to the beginning of ver4 #g1 and it is further supposed that are perished has dropped out1 as might easily be the case1 from the verb having just occurred in the singular1 a staking antithesis is gained3 ,they perish1 but ,jehovah shall sit1 etc4 ,further1 the pair of verses then begins with the fifth letter2 and the only irregularity in the acrostic arrangement till ver4 #ai is the omission of the fourth letter3 ,daleth4 ,a very significant change in tenses takes place at this point4 ,hitherto the verbs have been perfects1 implying a finished act2 that is to say1 hitherto the psalm has been dealing with facts of recent but completed experience4 ,now the verbs change to imperfects or futures1 and continue so till ver4 #ab2 that is to say1 experience doth attain to something of prophetic strain1 and passes into confidence for the future4 ,that confidence is cast in the mould supplied by the deliverance on which it is founded4 ,the smaller act of judgment1 which maintained the psalmist's cause1 expands into a world-wide judgment in righteousness1 for which the preparations are already made4 ,he hath prepared ,his throne for judgment is the only perfect in the series4 ,this is the true point of view from which to regard the less comprehensive acts of judgment thinly sown through history1 when ,god has arisen to smite some hoary iniquity or some godless conqueror4 ,such acts are premonitions of the future1 and every day of the ,lord is a miniature of that final dies ir4 ,the psalmist probably was rather thinking of other acts of judgment which would free him and his people from hostile nations1 but his hope was built on the great truth that all such acts are prophecies of others like them1 and it is a legitimate extension of the same principle to view them all in relation to the last and greatest of the series4 ,the fifth pair 7,vav stanza1 vv4 #i1 #aj7 turns to the glad contemplation of the purpose of all the pomp and terror of the judgment thus hoped for4 ,the ,judge is seated on high1 and ,his elevation makes a lofty stronghold for the crushed or downtrodden4 ,the rare word rendered extremity in ver4 #i occurs only here and in x4 #a4 ,it means a cutting off1 i4e41 of hope of deliverance4 ,the notion of distress intensified to despair is conveyed4 ,god's judgments show that even in such extremity ,he is an inexpugnable defence1 like some hill fortress1 inaccessible to any foe4 ,a further result of judgment is the 7growing7 trust of devout souls 7ver4 #aj74 ,to know ,thy name is here equivalent to learning ,god's character as made known by ,his acts1 especially by the judgments anticipated4 ,for such knowledge some measure of devout trust is required1 but further knowledge deepens trust4 ,the best teacher of faith is experience2 and1 on the other hand1 the condition of such experience is faith4 ,the action of knowledge and of trust is reciprocal4 ,that trust is reinforced by the renewed evidence1 afforded by the judgments1 that ,jehovah does not desert them that seek ,him4 ,to seek ,him is to long for ,him1 to look for ,his help in trouble1 to turn with desire and obedience to ,him in daily life2 and anything is possible rather than that ,he should not disclose and give ,himself to such search4 ,trust and seeking1 fruition and desire1 the repose of the soul on ,god and its longing after ,god1 are inseparable4 ,they are but varying aspects of the one thing4 ,when a finite spirit cleaves to the infinite ,god1 there must be longing as an element in all possession and possession as an element in all longing2 and both will be fed by contemplation of the self-revealing acts which are the syllables of ,his name4 ,section #f1 the last of the first part 7,zayin1 vv4 #aa1 #ab71 circles round to section #a1 and calls on all trusters and seekers to be a chorus to the solo of praise therein4 ,the ground of the praise is the same past act which has been already set forth as that of the psalmist's thanksgiving1 as is shown by the recurrence here of perfect tenses 7hath remembered2 hath not forgotten74 ,the designation of ,god as dwelling in ,zion is perhaps better rendered1 with allusion to the same word in ver4 #g1 sitteth4 ,his seat had been there from the time that the ,ark was brought thither4 ,that earthly throne was the type of ,his heavenly seat1 and from ,zion ,he is conceived as executing judgment4 ,the world-wide destination of ,israel's knowledge of ,god inspires the call to show forth ,his doings to the peoples4 ,the nations are not merely the objects of destructive wrath1 but are to be summoned to share in the blessing of knowing ,his mighty acts4 ,the psalmist may not have been able to harmonise these two points of view as to ,israel's relation to the ,gentile world1 but both thoughts vibrate in his song4 ,the designation of ,god as making inquisition for blood thinks of ,him as the ,goel1 or ,avenger4 ,to seek means here to demand back as one who had entrusted property to another who had destroyed it would do1 thence to demand compensation or satisfaction1 and thus finally comes to mean to avenge or punish 7so ,hupfeld1 ,delitzsch1 etc474 ,the poor or meek 7,r4,v4 and margin7 whose cry is heard are the devout portion of the ,jewish people1 who are often spoken of in the ,psalms and elsewhere as a class4 ,the second part of the psalm begins with ver4 #ac4 ,the prayer in that verse is the only trace of trouble in the psalm4 ,the rest is triumph and exultation4 ,this1 at first sight discordant1 note has sorely exercised commentators2 and the violent solution that the whole ,cheth stanza 7vv4 #ac1 #ad7 should be regarded as the cry of the meek1 quoted by the psalmist1 and therefore be put in inverted commas 7though adopted by ,delitzsch and ,cheyne71 is artificial and cold4 ,if the view of the structure of the psalm given above is adopted1 there is little difficulty in the connection4 ,the victory has been completed over certain enemies1 but there remain others2 and the time for praise unmingled with petition has not yet come for the psalmist1 as it never comes for any of us in this life4 ,quatre ,bras is won1 but ,waterloo has to be fought to-morrow4 ,the prayer takes account of the dangers still threatening1 but it only glances at these1 and then once more turns to look with hope on the accomplished deliverance4 ,the thought of how ,god had lifted the suppliant up from the very gates of death heartens him to pray for all further mercy needed4 ,death is the lord of a gloomy prison-house1 the gates of which open inwards only and permit no egress4 ,on its very threshold the psalmist had stood4 ,but ,god had lifted him thence1 and the remembrance wings his prayer4 ,the gates of the daughter of ,zion are in sharp1 happy contrast with the frowning portals of death4 ,a city's gates are the place of cheery life1 stir1 gossip1 business4 ,anything proclaimed there flies far4 ,there the psalmist resolves that he will tell his story of rescue1 which he believes was granted that it might be told4 ,god's purpose in blessing men is that they may open their lips to proclaim the blessings and so bring others to share in them4 ,god's end is the spread of ,his name1 not for any good to ,him1 but because to know it is life to us4 ,the ,teth pair 7vv4 #ae1 #af7 repeats the thoughts of the ,gimel stanza 7#e1 #f71 recurring to the same significant perfects and dwelling on the new thought that the destruction of the enemy was self-caused4 ,as in ,psalm vii41 the familiar figure of the pitfall catching the hunter expresses the truth that all evil1 and especially malice1 recoils on its contriver4 ,a companion illustration is added of the fowler's 7or hunter's7 foot being caught in his own snare4 ,ver4 #af presents the other view of retribution1 which was the only one in vv4 #e1 #f1 namely that it is a ,divine act4 ,it is ,god who executes judgment1 and who snareth the wicked1 though it be the work of his own hands which weaves the snare4 ,both views are needed for the complete truth4 ,this close of the retrospect of deliverance which is the main motive of the psalm is appropriately marked by the musical direction ,higgaion4 ,selah1 which calls for a strain of instrumental music to fill the pause of the song and to mark the rapture of triumph in accomplished deliverance4 ,the ,yod stanza 7vv4 #ag1 #ah71 like the ,he and ,vav stanzas 7vv4 #g-aj71 passes to confidence for the future4 ,the correspondence is very close1 but the two verses of this stanza represent the four of the earlier ones2 thus ver4 #ag answers to vv4 #g and #h1 while ver4 #ah is the representative of vv4 #i and #aj4 ,in ver4 #ag the return to ,sheol is equivalent to destruction4 ,in one view1 men who cease to be may be regarded as going back to original nothingness1 as in ,psalm xc4 #c4 ,sheol is not here a place of punishment1 but is the dreary dwelling of the dead1 from the gates of which the psalmist had been brought up4 ,reduction to nothingness and yet a shadowy1 dim life or death-in-life will certainly be the end of the wicked4 ,the psalmist's experience in his past deliverance entitles him to generalise thus4 ,to forget ,god is the sure way to be forgotten4 ,the reason for the certain destruction of the nations who forget ,god and for the psalmist's assurance of it is 7ver4 #ah7 the confidence he has that the needy shall not always be forgotten4 ,that confidence corresponds precisely to vv4 #i1 #aj1 and also looks back to the hath remembered and not forgotten of ver4 #ab4 ,they who remember ,god are remembered by ,him2 and their being remembered--i4e41 by deliverance--necessitates the wicked's being forgotten1 and those who are forgotten by ,god perish4 ,the second clause of ver4 #ah echoes the other solemn word of doom from vv4 #c-f4 ,there the fate of the evil-doers was set forth as perishing2 their very memory was to perish4 ,but the expectation of the poor shall not perish4 ,apparently fragile and to the eye of sense unsubstantial as a soap-bubble1 the devout man's hope is more solid than the most solid-seeming realities1 and will outlast them all4 ,the final stanza 7vv4 #ai1 #bj7 does not take ,kaph as it should do1 but ,qoph4 ,hence some critics suspect that this pair of verses has been added by another hand1 but the continuity of sense is plain1 and is against this supposition4 ,the psalmist was not so bound to his form but that he could vary it1 as here4 ,the prayer of this concluding stanza circles round to the prayer in ver4 #ac1 as has been noticed1 and so completes the whole psalm symmetrically4 ,the personal element in ver4 #ac has passed away2 and the prayer is general1 just as the solo of praise in ver4 #a broadened into the call for a chorus of voices in ver4 #ab4 ,the scope of the prayer is the very judgment which the previous stanza has contemplated as certain4 ,the devout man's desires are moulded on ,god's promises1 and his prayers echo these4 ,let not mortal man grow strong1 or rather vaunt his strength4 ,the word for man here connotes weakness4 ,how ridiculous for him1 being such as he is1 to swell and swagger as if strong1 and how certain his boasted strength is to shrivel like a leaf in the fire1 if ,god should come forth1 roused to action by his boasting6 ,ver4 #bj closes the prayer with the cry that some awe-inspiring act of ,divine justice may be flashed before the nations1 in order to force the conviction of their own weakness home to them4 ,set terror for them1 the word terror meaning not the emotion1 but the object which produces it1 namely an act of judgment such as the whole psalm has had in view4 ,its purpose is not destruction1 but conviction1 the wholesome consciousness of weakness1 out of which may spring the recognition of their own folly and of ,god's strength to bless4 ,so the two parts of the psalm end with the thought that the nations may yet come to know the name of ,god1 the one calling upon those who have experienced ,his deliverance to declare among the peoples ,his doings1 the other praying ,god to teach by chastisement what nations who forget ,him have failed to learn from mercies4 ,,psalm ,x4 #a 77 ,why1 ,jehovah1 dost ,thou stand far off8 ,why veilest ,thine eyes in times of extremity8 #b ,through the pride of the wicked the afflicted is burned away2 ,they are taken in the plots which these have devised4 #c ,for the wicked boasts of his soul's desire1 ,and the rapacious man renounces1 contemns1 ,jehovah4 #d ,the wicked1 by 7lit41 according to7 the uplifting of his nostrils1 says1 ,he will not inquire2 ,there is no ,god1 is all his thought4 #e ,his ways are stable at all times2 ,high above him are ,thy judgments1 remote from before him2 ,his adversaries--he snorts at them4 #f ,he says in his heart1 ,i shall not be moved2 ,to generation after generation1 ,i am he who never falls into adversity4 #g ,of cursing his mouth is full1 and deceits1 and oppression2 ,under his tongue are mischief and iniquity4 #h ,he couches in the hiding-places of the villages2 ,in secret he slays the innocent2 ,his eyes watch the helpless4 #i ,he lies in wait in secret1 like a lion in his lair2 ,he lies in wait to seize the afflicted2 ,he seizes the afflicted1 dragging him in his net4 #aj ,he crouches1 he bows down1 ,and there falls into his strong claws the helpless4 #aa ,he says in his heart1 ,god forgets2 ,he hides ,his face1 ,he will not ever see it4 #ab 77 ,rise6 ,jehovah1 ,god6 lift up ,thy hand6 ,forget not the afflicted4 #ac ,wherefore does the wicked blaspheme ,god1 ,and say in his heart1 ,thou wilt not inquire8 #ad 77 ,thou hast seen1 for ,thou1 ,thou dost behold mischief and trouble1 to take it into ,thy hand2 ,to ,thee the helpless leaves himself2 ,the orphan1 ,thou1 ,thou hast been his ,helper4 #ae 77 ,break the arm of the wicked2 ,as for the evil man1 inquire for his wickedness till ,thou find none4 #af ,jehovah is ,king for ever and aye2 ,the nations are perished out of the land4 #ag 77 ,the desire of the meek ,thou hast heard1 ,jehovah2 ,thou wilt prepare their heart1 wilt make ,thine ear attentive #ah ,to do judgment for the orphan and downtrodden2 ,terrible no more shall the man of the earth be4 ,psalms ix4 and x4 are alike in their imperfectly acrostic structure1 the occurrence of certain phrases--e4g41 the very uncommon expression for times of trouble 7ix4 #i2 x4 #a71 ,arise1 ,o ,lord 7ix4 #ai2 x4 #ab7--;and the references to the nations' judgment4 ,but the differences are so great that the hypothesis of their original unity is hard to accept4 ,as already remarked1 the enemies are different4 ,the tone of the one psalm is jubilant thanksgiving for victory won and judgment effected2 that of the other is passionate portraiture of a rampant foe and cries for a judgment yet unmanifested4 ,they are a pair1 though why the psalmist should have bound together two songs of which the unlikenesses are at least as great as the likenesses it is not easy to discover4 ,the circumstances of his day may have brought the cruelty of domestic robbers close upon the heels of foreign foes1 as is often the case1 but that is mere conjecture4 ,the acrostic structure is continued into ,psalm x41 as if the last stanza of ix4 had begun with the regular ,kaph instead of the cognate ,qoph2 but it then disappears till ver4 #ab1 from which point it continues to the end of the psalm1 with the anomaly that one of the four stanzas has but one verse3 the unusually long verse #ad4 ,these four stanzas are allotted to the four last letters of the alphabet4 ,six letters are thus omitted1 to which twelve verses should belong4 ,the nine non-acrostic verses 7#c-aa7 are by some supposed to be substituted for the missing twelve1 but there are too many verbal allusions to them in the subsequent part of the psalm to admit of their being regarded as later than it4 ,why1 then1 the break in the acrostic structure8 ,it is noticeable that the 7acrostic7 psalm ix4 is wholly addressed to ,god1 and that the parts of x4 which are addressed to ,him are likewise acrostic1 the section vv4 #c-aa being the vivid description of the wicked1 for deliverance from whom the psalmist prays4 ,the difference of theme may be the solution of the difference of form1 which was intended to mark off the prayer stanzas and to suggest1 by the very continuity of the alphabetical scheme and the allowance made for the letters which do not appear1 the calm flow of devotion and persistency of prayer throughout the parenthesis of oppression4 ,the description of the wicked is as a black rock damming the river1 but it flows on beneath and emerges beyond4 ,the psalm falls into two parts after the introductory verse of petition and remonstrance3 vv4 #c-aa1 the grim picture of the enemy of the poor2 and vv4 #ab-ah1 the cry for deliverance and judgment4 ,the first stanza 7vv4 #a1 #b7 gives in its passionate cry a general picture of the situation1 which is entirely different from that of ,psalm ix4 ,the two opposite characters1 whose relations occupy so much of these early psalms1 the wicked and the poor1 are1 as usual1 hunter and hunted1 and ,god is passive1 as if far away1 and hiding ,his eyes4 ,the voice of complaining but devout remonstrance is singularly like the voice of arrogant godlessness 7vv4 #d-aa71 but the fact which brings false security to the one moves the other to prayer4 ,the boldness and the submissiveness of devotion are both throbbing in that ,why8 and beneath it lies the entreaty to break this apparent apathy4 ,ver4 #b spreads the facts of the situation before ,god4 ,through the pride of the wicked the afflicted is burned1 i4e41 with anguish1 pride being the fierce fire and burning being a vigorous expression for anguish1 or possibly for destruction4 ,the ambiguous next clause may either have the wicked or the poor for its subject4 ,if the former 7,r4 ,v471 it is a prayer that the retribution which has been already spoken of in ,psalm ix4 may fall1 but the context rather suggests the other construction1 carrying on the description of the sufferings of the poor1 with an easy change to the plural1 since the singular is a collective4 ,this1 then1 being how things stand1 the natural flow of thought would be the continuance of the prayer2 but the reference to the enemy sets the psalmist on fire1 and he burns in another fashion1 flaming out into a passionate portraiture of the wicked1 which is marked as an interruption to the current of his song by the cessation of the acrostic arrangement4 ,the picture is drawn with extraordinary energy1 and describes first the character 7vv4 #c-f7 and then the conduct of the wicked4 ,the style reflects the vehemence of the psalmist's abhorrence1 being full of gnarled phrases and harsh constructions4 ,as with a merciless scalpel the inner heart of the man is laid open4 ,observe the recurrence of saith1 thoughts1 and saith in his heart4 ,but first comes a feature of character which is open and palpable4 ,he boasts of his soul's desire4 ,what is especially flagrant in that8 ,the usual explanation is that he is not ashamed of his shameful lusts1 but glories in them1 or that he boasts of succeeding in all that he desires4 ,but what will a good man do with his heart's desires8 ,ver4 #g tells us1 namely breathe them to ,god2 and therefore to boast of them instead is the outward expression of godless self-confidence and resolve to consult inclination and not ,god4 ,the word rendered boast has the two significations of pray and boast1 and the use of it here1 in the worse one1 is parallel with the use of bless or renounce in the next clause4 ,the wicked is also rapacious1 for covetous is too weak4 ,he grasps all that he can reach by fair or foul means4 ,such a man in effect and by his very selfish greed renounces1 contemns ,god4 ,he may be a worshipper2 but his blessing is like a parting salutation1 dismissing ,him to whom it is addressed4 ,there is no need to suppose that conscious apostacy is meant4 ,rather the psalmist is laying bare the under-meaning of the earth-bound man's life1 and in effect anticipates ,christ's ,ye cannot serve ,god and mammon and ,paul's covetousness which is idolatry4 ,the next trait of character is practical atheism and denial of ,divine retribution4 ,the ,hebrew is rough and elliptical1 but the ,a4,v4 misses its point1 which the ,r4,v4 gives by the introduction of saith4 ,the pride of his countenance is literally the elevation of his nose4 ,translate those upturned nostrils into words1 and they mean that ,god will not require 7seek1 in the sense of punish74 ,but a ,god who does not punish is a dim shape1 through which the empty sky is seen1 and the denial 7or forgetfulness7 of ,god's retributive judgment is equivalent to denying that there is a ,god at all4 ,thus armed1 the wicked is in fancied security4 ,his ways are firm--i4e41 he prospers--and1 in the very madness of arrogance1 he scoffs at ,god's judgments as too high up to be seen4 ,his scoff is a truth1 for how can eyes glued to earth see the solemn lights that move in the heavens8 ,purblind men say1 ,we do not see them1 and mean1 ,they are not2 but all that their speech proves is their own blindness4 ,defiant of ,god1 he is truculent to men1 and snorts contempt at his enemies4 ,in his heart he says1 ,i shall not be moved4 ,the same words express the sane confidence of the devout soul and the foolish presumption of the man of the earth2 but the one says1 because ,he is at my right hand1 and the other trusts in himself4 ,to all generations ,i shall not be in adversity 7,r4,v474 ,the ,hebrew is gnarled and obscure2 and attempts to amend the text have been made 7compare ,cheyne1 ,grtz in loc471 but needlessly4 ,the confidence has become almost insane1 and has lost sight altogether of the brevity of life4 ,his inward thought is that he shall continue for ever 7,psalm xlix474 ,pride stifles reason4 ,the language of the heart cannot be translated into spoken words without seeming exaggeration 7,cheyne74 ,he who can be so blind to facts as to find no ,god may well carry his blindness a step further and wink hard enough to see no death1 or may live as if he did not4 ,following the disclosure of the inner springs of life in the secret thoughts comes1 in vv4 #g-aj1 the outcome of these in word and deed4 ,when the wicked lets the rank tongue blossom into speech1 the product is affronts to ,god and maledictions1 lies1 mischiefs1 for men4 ,these stuff the mouth full1 and lie under the tongue as sweet morsels for the perverted taste or as stored there1 ready to be shot out4 ,the deeds match the words4 ,the vivid picture of a prowling lion seems to begin in ver4 #h1 though it is sometimes taken as the unmetaphorical description of the wicked man's crime4 ,the stealthy couching of the beast of prey1 hiding among the cover round the unwalled village or poorly sheltered fold1 the eyes gleaming out of the darkness and steadfastly fixed on the victim with a baleful light in them1 belong to the figure1 which is abruptly changed in one clause 7ver4 #i c7 into that of a hunter with his net1 and then is resumed and completed in ver4 #aj1 where the ,r4,v4 is1 on the whole1 to be preferred--,he croucheth2 he boweth down--as resuming the figure at the point where it had been interrupted and finishing it in the next clause1 with the helpless victim fallen into the grip of the strong claws4 ,with great emphasis the picture is rounded off 7ver4 #aa7 with the repetition of the secret thought of ,god's forgetfulness1 which underlies the cruel oppression4 ,this whole section indicates a lawless condition in which open violence1 robbery1 and murder were common4 ,in ,hosea's vigorous language1 blood touched blood1 the splashes being so numerous that they met1 and the land was red with them4 ,there is no reason to suppose that the picture is ideal or exaggerated4 ,where in the turbulent annals of ,israel it is to be placed must remain uncertain2 but that it is a transcript of bitter experience is obvious1 and the aspect which it presents should be kept in view as a corrective of the tendency to idealise the moral condition of ,israel1 which at no time was free from dark stains1 and which offered only too many epochs of disorganisation in which the dark picture of the psalm could have been photographed from life4 ,the phrases for the victims in this section are noteworthy3 the innocent2 the helpless2 the poor4 ,of these the first and last are frequent1 and the meaning obvious4 ,there is a doubt whether the last should be regarded as the designation of outward condition or of disposition1 i4e4 whether meek or poor is the idea4 ,there are two cognate words in ,hebrew1 one of which means one who is bowed down1 i4e4 by outward troubles1 and the other one who bows himself down1 i4e4 is meek4 ,the margin of the ,hebrew ,bible is fond of correcting these words when they occur in the text and substituting the one for the other1 but arbitrarily2 and it is doubtful whether in actual usage there is any real distinction between them4 ,helpless is a word only found in this psalm 7vv4 #h1 #aj1 #ad71 which has received various explanations1 but is probably derived from a root meaning to be black1 and hence comes to mean miserable1 hapless1 or the like4 ,all the designations refer to a class--namely1 the devout minority1 the true ,israel within ,israel--and hence the plurals in vv4 #aj1 #ab1 and #ag4 ,the second part of the psalm 7ver4 #ab to end7 is the prayer1 forced from the heart of the persecuted remnant1 ,god's little flock in the midst of wolves4 ,no trace of individual reference appears in it1 nor any breath of passion or vengeance1 such as is found in some of the psalms of persecution2 but it glows with indignation at the blasphemies which are1 for the moment1 triumphant1 and cries aloud to ,god for a judicial act which shall shatter the dream that ,he does not see and will not requite4 ,that impious boast1 far more than the personal incidence of sufferings1 moves the prayer4 ,as regards its form1 the reappearance of the acrostic arrangement is significant1 as is the repetition of the prayer and letter of ix4 #ai1 which binds the two psalms together4 ,the acrostic reappears with the direct address to ,god4 ,the seven verses of the prayer are divided by it into four groups1 one of which is abnormal as containing but one verse1 the unusual length of which1 however1 somewhat compensates for the irregularity 7ver4 #ad74 ,the progress of thought in them follows the logic of emotional prayer rather than of the understanding4 ,first1 there are a vehement cry for ,god's intervention and a complaint of ,his mysterious apparent apathy4 ,the familiar figure for the ,divine flashing forth of judgment1 ,arise1 ,o ,lord1 is intensified by the other cry that ,he would lift ,his hand4 ,a ,god who has risen from ,his restful throne and raised ,his arm is ready to bring it down with a shattering blow2 but before it falls the psalmist spreads in ,god's sight the lies of the scornful men4 ,they had said 7ver4 #aa7 that ,he forgot2 the prayer pleads that ,he would not forget4 ,their confidence was that ,he did not see nor would requite2 the psalmist is bold to ask the reason for the apparent facts which permit such a thought4 ,the deepest reverence will question ,god in a fashion which would be daring1 if it were not instinct with the assurance of the clearness of ,his ,divine knowledge of evil and of the worthiness of the reasons for its impunity4 ,wherefore doest ,thou thus8 may be insolence or faith4 ,next1 the prayer centres itself on the facts of faith1 which sense does not grasp 7ver4 #ad74 ,the specific acts of oppression which force out the psalmist's cry are certainly seen by ,god1 for it is ,his very nature to look on all such 7,thou in ver4 #ad is emphatic72 and faith argues from the character to the acts of ,god and from the general relation of all sin towards ,him to that which at present afflicts the meek4 ,but is ,god's gaze on the evil an idle look8 ,no2 ,he sees1 and the sight moves ,him to act4 ,such is the force of to take it into ,thy hand1 which expresses the purpose and issue of the beholding4 ,what ,he sees ,he takes in hand1 as we say1 with a similar colloquialism4 ,if a man believes these things about ,god1 it will follow of course that he will leave himself in ,god's hand1 that uplifted hand which prayer has moved4 ,so ver4 #ad is like a great picture in two compartments1 as ,raphael's ,transfiguration4 ,above is ,god1 risen with lifted arm1 beholding and ready to strike2 beneath is the helpless man1 appealing to ,god by the very act of leaving himself to ,him4 ,that absolute reliance has an all-prevalent voice which reaches the ,divine heart1 as surely as her child's wail the mother's2 and wherever it is exercised the truth of faith which the past has established becomes a truth of experience freshly confirmed4 ,the form of the sentence in the ,hebrew 7the substantive verb with a participle1 ,thou hast been helping7 gives prominence to the continuousness of the action3 ,it has always been ,thy way1 and it is so still4 ,of course fatherless here is tantamount to the hapless1 or poor1 of the rest of the psalm4 ,then at last comes the cry for the descent of ,god's uplifted hand 7vv4 #ae1 #af74 ,it is not invoked to destroy1 but simply to break the arm of1 the wicked1 i4e4 to make him powerless for mischief1 as a swordsman with a shattered arm is4 ,one blow from ,god's hand lames1 and the arm hangs useless4 ,the impious denial of the ,divine retribution still affects the psalmist with horror2 and he returns to it in the second clause of ver4 #ae1 in which he prays that ,god would seek out--i4e41 require and requite1 so as to abolish and make utterly non-existent--the wicked man's wickedness4 ,the yearning of every heart that beats in sympathy with and devotion to ,god1 especially when it is tortured by evil experienced or beheld flourishing unsmitten1 is for its annihilation4 ,there is no prayer here for the destruction of the doer2 but the reduction to nothingness of his evil is the worthy aspiration of all the good1 and they who have no sympathy with such a cry as this have either small experience of evil1 or a feeble realisation of its character4 ,the psalmist was heartened to pray his prayer1 because the nations are perished out of ,his land4 ,does that point back to the great instance of exterminating justice in the destruction of the ,canaanites8 ,it may do so1 but it is rather to be taken as referring to the victories celebrated in the companion psalm4 ,note the recurrence of the words nations and perished1 which are drawn from it4 ,the connection between the two psalms is thus witnessed1 and the deliverance from foreign enemies1 which is the theme of ,psalm ix41 is urged as a plea with ,god and taken as a ground of confidence by the psalmist himself for the completion of the deliverance by making domestic oppressors powerless4 ,this lofty height of faith is preserved in the closing stanza1 in which the agitation of the first part and the yearning of the second are calmed into serene assurance that the ,ecclesia pressa has not cried nor ever can cry in vain4 ,into the praying1 trusting heart the peace of ,god1 which passeth understanding1 steals1 and the answer is certified to faith long before it is manifest to sense4 ,to pray and immediately to feel the thrilling consciousness1 ,thou hast heard1 is given to those who pray in faith4 ,the wicked makes a boast of his desire2 the humble makes a prayer of it1 and so has it fulfilled4 ,desires which can be translated into petitions will be converted into fruition4 ,if the heart is humble1 that ,divine breath will be breathed over and into it which will prepare it to desire only what accords with ,god's will1 and the prepared heart will always find ,god's ear open4 ,the cry of the hapless1 which has been put into their lips by ,god himself1 is the appointed prerequisite of the manifestations of ,divine judgment which will relieve the earth of the incubus of the man of the earth4 ,shall not ,god avenge ,his own elect1 though ,he bear long with them8 ,i tell you that ,he will avenge them speedily4 ,the prayer of the humble1 like a whisper amid the avalanches1 has power to start the swift1 white destruction on its downward path2 and when once that gliding mass has way on it1 nothing which it smites can stand4 ,,psalm ,,xi4 #a ,in ,jehovah have ,i taken refuge2 ,how say ye to my soul1 ,flee to the mountain as a bird8 #b ,for lo1 the wicked bend the bow1 ,they make ready their arrow upon the string1 ,to shoot in the dark at those who are upright of heart4 #c ,for the foundations are being destroyed2 ,the righteous--what hath he achieved8 #d ,jehovah in ,his holy palace1 ,jehovah1 whose throne is in heaven-- ,his eyes behold1 ,his eyelids try1 the children of men4 #e ,jehovah trieth the righteous1 ,but the wicked and lover of violence ,his soul hateth4 #f ,may ,he rain upon the wicked snares2 ,fire and brimstone and a burning wind be the portion of their cup6 #g ,for ,jehovah is righteous3 righteous deeds ,he loveth2 ,the upright shall behold ,his face4 ,the correctness of the superscription is1 in the present case1 defended by ,ewald and ,hitzig4 ,delitzsch refers the psalm to the eve of ,absalom's conspiracy1 while other supporters of the ,davidic authorship prefer the ,sauline persecution4 ,the situation as described in the psalm corresponds sufficiently well to either of these periods1 in both of which ,david was surrounded by stealthy hostility and counselled by prudence to flight4 ,but there are no definite marks of date in the psalm itself2 and all that is certain is its many affinities with the other psalms of the group which ,cheyne calls the persecution psalms1 including iii4-vii41 ix4-xiv41 xvii4 ,these resemblances make a common authorship probable4 ,the structure of the psalm is simple and striking4 ,there are two vividly contrasted halves2 the first gives the suggestions of timid counsellors who see only along the low levels of earth1 the second the brave answer of faith which looks up into heaven4 ,in the first part 7vv4 #a-c7 the psalmist begins with an utterance of faith1 which makes him recoil with wonder and aversion from the cowardly1 well-meant counsels of his friends4 ,in ,jehovah have ,i taken refuge--a profession of faith which in ,psalm vii4 #a was laid as the basis of prayer for deliverance and is here the ground for steadfastly remaining where he stands4 ,the metaphor of flight to a stronghold1 which is in the word for trust1 obviously colours the context1 for what can be more absurd than that he who has sought and found shelter in ,god ,himself should listen to the whisperings of his own heart or to the advice of friends and hurry to some other hiding-place8 ,he that believeth shall not make haste1 and1 even when the floods come1 shall not need to seek in wild hurry for an asylum above the rising waters4 ,safe in ,god1 the psalmist wonders why such counsel should be given1 and his question expresses its irrationality and his rejection of it4 ,but these timid voices spoke to his soul1 and the speakers are undefined4 ,is he apostrophising his own lower nature8 ,have we here a good man's dialogue with himself8 ,were there two voices in him3 the voice of sense1 which spoke to the soul1 and that of the soul1 which spoke authoritatively to sense8 ,calvin finds here the mention of spirituales luctas2 and whether there were actual counsellors of flight or no1 no doubt prudence and fear said to and in his soul1 ,flee4 ,if we might venture to suppose that the double thought of the oneness of the psalmist's personality and the manifoldness of his faculties was in his mind1 we should have an explanation of the strange fluctuation between singulars and plurals in ver4 #a b4 ,flee is plural1 but is addressed to a singular subject3 my soul2 your is also plural1 and bird singular4 ,the ,hebrew marginal correction smooths away the first anomaly by reading the singular imperative1 but that leaves the anomaly in your4 ,the ,,lxx4 and other old versions had apparently a slightly different text1 which got rid of that anomaly by reading 7with the addition of one letter and a change in the division of words71 ,flee to the mountain as a bird2 and that is probably the best solution of the difficulty4 ,one can scarcely fail to recall the comparison of ,david to a partridge hunted on the mountains4 ,cheyne finds in the plurals a proof that it is the ,church within the ,jewish nation of which the poet thinks4 ,the timid counsel is enforced by two considerations3 the danger of remaining a mark for the stealthy foe and the nobler thought of the hopelessness of resistance1 and therefore the quixotism of sacrificing one's self in a prolongation of it4 ,the same figure employed in ,psalm vii4 #ab of ,god's judgments on the wicked is here used of the wicked's artillery against the righteous4 ,the peril is imminent1 for the bows are bent1 and the arrows already fitted to the string4 ,in midnight darkness the assault will be made 7compare lxiv4 #c1 #d74 ,the appeal to the instinct of self-preservation is reinforced by the consideration 7ver4 #c7 of the impotence of efforts to check the general anarchy4 ,the particle at the beginning of the verse is best taken as in the same sense as at the beginning of ver4 #b1 thus introducing a second co-ordinate reason for the counsel4 ,the translation of it as hypothetical or temporal 7if or when7 rather weakens the urgency of ver4 #c as a motive for flight4 ,the probably exaggerated fears of the advisers1 who are still speaking1 are expressed in two short1 breathless sentences3 ,the foundations of society are being torn down2 the righteous--what has he achieved8 or possibly1 ,what can he do8 ,in either case1 the implication is1 ,why wage a hopeless conflict any longer at the peril of life8 ,all is lost2 the wise thing to do is to run4 ,it is obvious that this description of the dissolution of the foundations of the social order is either the exaggeration of fear1 or poetic generalisation from an individual case 7,david's71 or refers the psalm to some time of anarchy1 when things were much worse than even in the time of ,saul or ,absalom4 ,all these suggestions may well represent the voice of our own fears1 the whispers of sense and sloth1 which ever dwell on and exaggerate the perils in the road of duty1 and bid us abandon resistance to prevailing evils as useless and betake ourselves to the repose and security of some tempting nest far away from strife4 ,but such counsels are always base1 and though they be the result of prudence1 are short-sighted1 and leave out precisely the determining factor in the calculation4 ,the enemy may have fitted his arrows to the string1 but there is another bow bent which will be drawn before his 7,psalm vii4 #ab74 ,the foundations are not being destroyed1 however many and strong the arms that are trying to dig them up4 ,the righteous has done much1 and can do more1 though his work seem wasted4 ,self-preservation is not a man's first duty2 flight is his last4 ,better and wiser and infinitely nobler to stand a mark for the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and to stop at our post1 though we fall there1 better infinitely to toil on1 even when toil seems vain1 than cowardly to keep a whole skin at the cost of a wounded conscience or despairingly to fling up work1 because the ground is hard and the growth of the seed imperceptible4 ,prudent advices1 when the prudence is only inspired by sense1 are generally foolish2 and the only reasonable attitude is obstinate hopefulness and brave adherence to duty4 ,so the psalm turns1 in its second part1 from these creeping counsels1 which see but half the field of vision1 and that the lower1 to soar and gaze on the upper half4 ,god is in heaven2 all's right with the world1 and with the good men who are trying to help to make it right4 ,the poet opposes to the picture drawn by fear the vision of the opened heaven and the throned ,jehovah4 ,in ver4 #d the former part is not to be taken as a separate affirmation3 ,the ,lord is1 etc41 but ,jehovah is a nominative absolute1 and the weight of the sentence falls on the last clause4 ,the holy palace in which ,jehovah is beheld enthroned is not on earth1 as the parallelism of the clauses shows4 ,to the eyes that have seen that vision and before which it ever burns1 all earthly sorrows and dangers seem small4 ,there is the true asylum of the hunted soul2 that is the mountain to which it is wise to flee4 ,if the faint-hearted had seen that sight1 their timid counsels would have caught a new tone4 ,they are preposterous to him who does see it4 ,for not only does he behold ,jehovah enthroned1 but he sees ,him scrutinising all men's acts4 ,we bring the eyelids close when minutely examining any small thing4 ,so ,god is by a bold figure represented as doing1 and the word for beholds has to divide as its root idea1 and hence implies a keen discriminating gaze4 ,as fire tries metal1 so ,he tries men4 ,and the result of the trial is twofold1 as is described in the two clauses of ver4 #e1 which each require to be completed from the other3 ,the ,lord trieth the righteous 7and finding him approved1 loveth71 but the wicked 7,he trieth1 and finding him base metal71 ,his soul hateth4 ,in the former clause the process of trial is mentioned1 and its result omitted2 in the latter the process is omitted1 and the result described4 ,the strong anthropomorphism which attributes a soul to ,god and hatred to ,his soul is not to be slurred over as due to the imperfection of ,hebrew ideas of the ,divine nature4 ,there is necessarily in the ,divine nature an aversion to evil and to the man who has so completely given himself over to it as to love it4 ,such perverted love can only have turned to it that side of the ,divine character which in gravity of disapprobation and recoil from evil answers to what we call hate1 but neither desires to harm nor is perturbed by passion4 ,the ,new ,testament is as emphatic as the ,old in asserting the reality of the wrath of ,god4 ,but there are limitation and imperfection in this psalm in that it does not transcend the point of view which regards man's conduct as determining ,god's attitude4 ,retribution1 not forgiveness nor the possibility of changing the moral bias of character1 is its conception of the relations of man and ,god4 ,the ,divine estimate1 which in ver4 #e is the result of ,god's trial of the two classes1 is carried forward in vv4 #f and #g to its twofold issues4 ,but the form of ver4 #f is that of a wish1 not of a prediction2 and here again we encounter the tone which1 after all allowances1 must be regarded as the result of the lower stage of revelation on which the psalmist stood1 even though personal revenge need not be ascribed to him4 ,in the terrible picture of the judgment poured down from the open heavens into which the singer has been gazing1 there is a reproduction of the destruction of the cities of the plain1 the fate of which stands in the ,old ,testament as the specimen and prophecy of all subsequent acts of judgment4 ,but the rain from heaven is conceived as consisting of snares1 which is a strangely incongruous idea4 ,such mingled metaphors are less distasteful to ,hebrew poets than to ,western critics2 and the various expedients to smooth this one away1 such as altering the text and neglecting the accents and reading coals of fire1 are unnecessary sacrifices to correctness of style4 ,delitzsch thinks that the snares are a whole discharge of lassoes1 i4e4 lightnings1 the zigzag course of which may be compared to a noose thrown down from above6 ,the purpose of the snares is to hold fast the victims so that they cannot escape the fiery rain--a terrible picture1 the very incongruity of figure heightening the grim effect4 ,the division of the verse according to the accents parts the snares from the actual components of the fatal shower1 and makes the second half of the verse an independent clause1 which is probably to be taken1 like the former clause1 as a wish3 ,fire and brimstone and a burning wind ,zornhauch1 ,hupfeld be the portion of their cup1 again an incongruity making the representation more dreadful4 ,what a draught--flaming brimstone and a hot blast as of the simoom6 ,the tremendous metaphor suggests awful reality4 ,but the double judgment of ver4 #e has a gentler side1 and the reason for the tempest of wrath is likewise that for the blessed hope of the upright1 as the for of ver4 #g teaches4 ,jehovah is righteous4 ,that is the rock foundation for the indomitable faith of the ,psalter in the certain ultimate triumph of patient1 afflicted righteousness4 ,because ,god in ,his own character is so1 ,he must love righteous acts--,his own and men's4 ,the latter seems to be the meaning here1 where the fate of men is the subject in hand4 ,the ,divine love is here contrasted with both the wicked man's love of violence and ,god's hate 7ver4 #e71 and is the foundation of the final confidence1 ,the upright shall behold ,his face4 ,the converse rendering1 ,his countenance doth behold the upright 7,a4,v471 is grammatically permissible1 but would be flat1 tautological--since ver4 #d has already said so--and inappropriate to the close1 where a statement as to the upright1 antithetical to that as to the wicked1 is needed4 ,god looks on the upright1 as has been said2 and the upright shall gaze on ,him1 here and now in the communion of that faith which is a better kind of sight and hereafter in the vision of heaven1 which the psalmist was on the verge of anticipating4 ,that mutual gaze is blessedness4 ,they who1 looking up1 behold ,jehovah are brave to front all foes and to keep calm hearts in the midst of alarms4 ,hope burns like a pillar of fire in them when it is gone out in others2 and to all the suggestions of their own timidity or of others they have the answer1 ,in the ,lord have ,i put my trust2 how say ye to my soul1 ,flee8 ,here ,i stand2 ,i can do no otherwise4 ,god help me4 ,amen4 ,,psalm ,,xii4 #a ,save1 ,jehovah1 for the godly ceases1 ,for the trusty have vanished from the sons of men4 #b ,they speak vanity every man with his neighbour2 ,with smooth lip and a heart and a heart do they speak4 #c ,may ,jehovah cut off all smooth lips1 ,the tongue that speaks proud things1 #d ,that says1 ,to our tongues we give strength3 our lips are our own 7lit4 with us72 ,who is lord to us8 #e ,for the oppression of the afflicted1 for the sighing of the needy1 ,now ,i will arise1 saith ,jehovah2 ,i will set him in the safety he pants for4 #f ,the words of ,jehovah are pure words1 ,silver tried in a furnace and flowing down to the ground1 purified seven times4 #g ,thou1 ,jehovah1 shalt guard them2 ,thou shalt preserve him from this generation for ever4 #h ,all around the wicked swagger1 ,when vileness is set on high among the sons of men4 ,one penalty of living near ,god is keen pain from low lives4 ,the ears that hear ,god's word cannot but be stunned and hurt by the babble of empty speech4 ,this psalm is profoundly melancholy1 but without trace of personal affliction4 ,the psalmist is not sad for himself1 but sick of the clatter of godless tongues1 in which he discerns the outcome of godless lives4 ,his plaint wakes echoes in hearts touched by the love of ,god and the visions of man's true life4 ,it passes through four clearly marked stages1 each consisting of two verses3 despondent contemplation of the flood of corrupt talk which seems to submerge all 7#a1 #b72 a passionate prayer for ,divine intervention1 wrung from the psalmist by the miserable spectacle 7#c1 #d72 the answer to that cry from the voice of ,god1 with the rapturous response of the psalmist to it 7#e1 #f72 and the confidence built on the ,divine word1 which rectifies the too despondent complaint at the beginning1 but is still shaded by the facts which stare him in the face 7#g1 #h74 ,the cry for help 7,save1 ,,lxx47 abruptly beginning the psalm tells of the sharp pain from which it comes4 ,the psalmist has been brooding over the black outlook till his overcharged heart relieves itself in this single-worded prayer4 ,as he looks round he sees no exceptions to the prevailing evil4 ,like ,elijah1 he thinks that he is left alone1 and love to ,god and men and reliableness and truth are vanished with their representatives4 ,no doubt in all such despondent thoughts about the rarity of ,christian charity and of transparent truthfulness there is an element of exaggeration1 which in the present case is1 as we shall see1 corrected by the process of ,god-taught meditation4 ,but the clearer the insight into what society should be1 the sadder the estimate of what it is4 ,roseate pictures of it augur ill for the ideal which their painters have4 ,it is better to be too sensitive to evils than to be contented with them4 ,unless the passionate conviction of the psalmist has burned itself into us1 we shall but languidly work to set things right4 ,heroes and reformers have all begun with exaggerated estimates of corruption4 ,the judgment formed of the moral state of this or of any generation depends on the clearness with which we grasp as a standard the ideal realised in ,jesus ,christ and on the closeness of our communion with ,god4 ,as in ,psalm v41 sins of speech are singled out1 and of these vanity and smooth lips with a heart and a heart are taken as typical4 ,as in ,eph4 iv4 #be1 the guilt of falsehood is deduced from the bond of neighbourliness1 which it rends4 ,the sin1 to which a high civilisation is especially prone1 of saying pleasant things without meaning them1 seems to this moralist as grave as to most men it seems slight4 ,is the psalmist right or wrong in taking speech for an even more clear index of corruption than deeds8 ,what would he have said if he had been among us1 when the press has augmented the power of the tongue1 and floods of vanity1 not only in the form of actual lies1 but of inane trivialities and nothings of personal gossip1 are poured over the whole nation8 ,surely1 if his canon is right1 there is something rotten in the state of this land2 and the ,babel around may well make good men sad and wise men despondent4 ,shall we venture to follow the psalmist in the second turn of his thoughts 7vv4 #c1 #d71 where the verb at the beginning is best taken as an optative and rendered1 ,may ,jehovah cut off8 ,the deepest meaning of his desire every true man will take for his own1 namely the cessation of the sin2 but the more we live in the spirit of ,jesus1 the more we shall cherish the hope that that may be accomplished by winning the sinner4 ,better to have the tongue touched with a live coal from the altar than cut out4 ,in the one case there is only a mute1 in the other an instrument for ,god's praise4 ,but the impatience of evil and the certainty that ,god can subdue it1 which make the very nerve of the prayer1 should belong to ,christians yet more than to the psalmist4 ,a new phase of sinful speech appears as provoking judgment even more than the former did4 ,the combination of flattery and boastfulness is not rare1 discordant as they seem2 but the special description of the proud things spoken is that they are denials of responsibility to ,god or man for the use of lips and tongue4 ,insolence has gone far when it has formulated itself into definite statements4 ,twenty men will act on the principle for one who will put it into words4 ,the conscious adoption and cynical avowal of it are a mark of defiance of ,god4 ,to our tongues we give strength--an obscure expression which may be taken in various shades of meaning1 e4g4 as ,we have power over1 or ,through1 or as to1 our tongues we are strong1 or ,we will give effect to our words4 ,possibly it stands as the foundation of the daring defiance in the last clause of the verse1 and asserts that the speaker is the author of his power of speech and therefore responsible to none for its use4 ,our lips are with us may be a further development of the same godless thought4 ,with us is usually taken to mean our allies1 or confederates1 but signifies rather in our possession1 to do as we will with them4 ,who is lord over us8 ,there speaks godless insolence shaking off dependence1 and asserting shamelessly licence of speech and life1 unhindered by obligations to ,god and ,his law4 ,with dramatic swiftness the scene changes in the next pair of verses 7#e1 #f74 ,that deep voice1 which silences all the loud bluster1 as the lion's roar hushes the midnight cries of lesser creatures1 speaks in the waiting soul of the psalmist4 ,like ,hezekiah with ,sennacherib's letter1 he spreads before the ,lord the words with which they reproach ,thee1 and1 like ,hezekiah1 he has immediate answer4 ,the inward assurance that ,god will arise is won by prayer at once1 and changes the whole aspect of the facts which as yet remain unchanged4 ,the situation does not seem so desperate when we know that ,god is moving4 ,whatever delay may intervene before the actual ,divine act1 there is none before the assurance of it calms the soul4 ,many wintry days may have to be faced1 but a breath of spring has been in the air1 and hope revives4 ,the twofold reason which rouses the ,divine activity is very strikingly put first in ver4 #e4 ,not merely the oppression or spoiling of the meek1 but that conjoined with the sighing of the needy1 bring ,god into the field4 ,not affliction alone1 but affliction which impels to prayer1 moves ,him to stir up ,his strength4 ,now will ,i arise4 ,that solemn now marks the crisis1 or turning-point1 when long forbearance ends and the crash of retribution begins4 ,it is like the whirr of the clock that precedes the striking4 ,the swiftly following blow will ring out the old evil4 ,the purpose of ,god's intervention is the safety of the afflicted who have sighed to ,him2 but while that is clear1 the condensed language of ver4 #e is extremely obscure4 ,the ,a4,v4's rendering1 ,i will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him1 requires a too liberal use of supplemental words to eke out the sense2 and the rendering of the ,r4,v4 7margin71 the safety he panteth for1 is most congruous with the run of the sentence and of the thought4 ,what has just been described as a sigh is now1 with equal naturalness1 figured as a pant of eager desire4 ,the former is the expression of the weight of the affliction1 the latter of yearning to escape from it4 ,the latter is vain waste of breath unless accompanied with the former1 which is also a prayer2 but if so accompanied1 the desire of the humble soul is the prophecy of its own fulfilment3 and the measure of the ,divine deliverance is regulated by ,his servant's longing4 ,he will always1 sooner or later1 get the safety for which he pants4 ,faith determines the extent of ,god's gift4 ,the listening psalmist rapturously responds in ver4 #f to ,god's great word4 ,that word stands1 with strong force of contrast1 side by side with the arrogant chatter of irresponsible frivolity1 and sounds majestic by the side of the shrill feebleness of the defiance4 ,now the psalmist lifts his voice in trustful acceptance of the oracle4 ,the general sense of ver4 #f is clear1 and the metaphor which compares ,god's words to refined silver is familiar1 but the precise meaning of the words rendered in a furnace on the earth 7,r4,v47 is doubtful4 ,the word for furnace occurs only here1 and has consequently been explained in very different ways1 is omitted altogether by the ,,lxx41 and supposed by ,cheyne to be a remnant of an ancient gloss4 ,but the meaning of furnace or crucible is fairly made out and appropriate4 ,but what does tried in a furnace to the earth mean8 ,the on the earth of the ,r4,v4 is scarcely in accordance with the use of the preposition to1 and the best course is to adopt a supplement and read tried in a furnace and running down to the earth4 ,the sparkling stream of molten silver as1 free from dross1 it runs from the melting-pot to the mould on the ground1 is a beautiful figure of the word of ,god1 clear of all the impurities of men's words1 which the psalm has been bewailing and raining down on the world4 ,god's words are a silver shower1 precious and bright4 ,the last turn of the psalm builds hope on the pure words just heard from heaven4 ,when ,god speaks a promise1 faith repeats it as a certitude and prophesies in the line of the revelation4 ,thou shalt is man's answer to ,god's ,i will4 ,in the strength of the ,divine word1 the despondency of the opening strain is brightened4 ,the godly and faithful shall not cease from among the children of men1 since ,god will keep them2 and ,his keeping shall preserve them4 ,this generation describes a class rather than an epoch4 ,it means the vain talkers who have been sketched in such dark colours in the earlier part of the psalm4 ,these are the children of men among whom the meek and needy are to live1 not failing before them because ,god holds them up4 ,this hope is for the militant ,church1 whose lot is to stand for ,god amidst wide-flowing evil1 which may swell and rage against the band of faithful ones1 but cannot sweep them away4 ,not of victory which annihilates opposition1 but of charmed lives invulnerable in conflict1 is the psalmist's confidence4 ,there is no more lamenting of the extinction of good men and their goodness1 neither is there triumphant anticipation of present extinction of bad men and their badness1 but both are to grow together till the harvest4 ,but even the pure words which promise safety and wake the response of faith do not wholly scatter the clouds4 ,the psalm recurs very pathetically at its close to the tone of its beginning4 ,notice the repetition of the children of men which links ver4 #h with ver4 #a4 ,if the fear that the faithful should fail is soothed by ,god's promise heard by the psalmist sounding in his soul1 the hard fact of dominant evil is not altered thereby4 ,that vileness is set on high among the sons of men is the description of a world turned upside down4 ,beggars are on horseback1 and princes walking4 ,the despicable is honoured1 and corruption is a recommendation to high position4 ,there have been such epochs of moral dissolution2 and there is always a drift in that direction1 which is only checked by the influence of the faithful4 ,if vileness is set on high among the sons of men1 it is because the sons of men prefer it to the stern purity of goodness4 ,a corrupt people will crown corrupt men and put them aloft4 ,the average goodness of the community is generally fairly represented by its heroes1 rulers1 and persons to whom influence is given2 and when such topsy-turvydom as the rule of the worst is in fashion1 the wicked walk on every side4 ,impunity breeds arrogance2 and they swagger and swell1 knowing that they are protected4 ,impunity multiplies the number2 and on every side they swarm1 like vermin in a dirty house4 ,but even when such an outlook saddens1 the soul that has been in the secret place of the ,most ,high and has heard the words of ,his mouth will not fall into pessimistic despondency1 nor think that the faithful fail1 because the wicked strut4 ,when tempted to wail1 ,i1 even ,i only1 am left1 such a soul will listen to the still small voice that tells of seven thousands of ,god's hidden ones1 and will be of good cheer1 as knowing that ,god's men can never cease so long as ,god continues4 ,,psalm ,,xiii4 #a ,for how long1 ,jehovah1 wilt ,thou forget me for ever8 ,for how long wilt ,thou hide ,thy face from me8 #b ,for how long shall ,i brood on schemes 7i4e41 of deliverance7 in my soul1 ,trouble in my heart by day8 ,for how long shall my foe lift himself above me8 #c ,look hither1 answer me1 ,jehovah1 my ,god2 ,lighten mine eyes1 lest ,i sleep the death1 #d ,lest my foe say1 ,i have overcome him1 ,and oppressors exult when ,i am moved4 #e ,but as for me1 in ,thy mercy have ,i trusted2 ,let my heart exult in ,thy salvation3 #f ,i will sing to ,jehovah1 for ,he has dealt bountifully with me4 ,this little psalm begins in agitation1 and ends in calm4 ,the waves run high at first1 but swiftly sink to rest1 and at last lie peacefully glinting in sunshine4 ,it falls into three strophes1 of which the first 7vv4 #a1 #b7 is the complaint of endurance strained almost to giving way2 the second 7vv4 #c1 #d7 is prayer which feeds fainting faith2 and the third 7vv4 #e1 #f1 which are one in the ,hebrew7 is the voice of confidence1 which1 in the midst of trouble1 makes future deliverance and praise a present experience4 ,however true it is that sorrow is but for a moment1 it seems to last for an eternity4 ,sad hours are leaden-footed1 and joyful ones winged4 ,if sorrows passed to our consciousness as quickly as joys1 or joys lingered as long as sorrows1 life would be less weary4 ,that reiterated ,how long8 betrays how weary it was to the psalmist4 ,very significant is the progress of thought in the fourfold questioning plaint1 which turns first to ,god1 then to himself1 then to the enemy4 ,the root of his sorrow is that ,god seems to have forgotten him2 therefore his soul is full of plans for relief1 and the enemy seems to be lifted above him4 ,the sorrow of the world begins with the visible evil1 and stops with the inward pain2 the sorrow which betakes itself first to ,god1 and thinks last of the foe1 has trust embedded in its depths1 and may unblamed use words which sound like impatience4 ,if the psalmist had not held fast by his confidence1 he would not have appealed to ,god4 ,so the illogical combination in his first cry of ,how long8 and for ever is not to be smoothed away1 but represents vividly1 because unconsciously1 the conflict in his soul from the mingling of the assurance that ,god's seeming forgetfulness must have an end and the dread that it might have none4 ,luther1 who had trodden the dark places1 understood the meaning of the cry1 and puts it beautifully when he says that here hope itself despairs1 and despair yet hopes1 and only that unspeakable groaning is audible with which the ,holy ,spirit1 who moves over the waters covered with darkness1 intercedes for us4 ,the psalmist is tempted to forget the confidence expressed in ,psalm ix4 #ah and to sink to the denial animating the wicked in ,psalms x41 xi4 ,the heart wrung by troubles finds little consolation in the mere intellectual belief in a ,divine omniscience4 ,an idle remembrance which does not lead to actual help is a poor stay for such a time4 ,no doubt the psalmist knew that forgetfulness was impossible to ,god2 but a ,god who1 though ,he remembered1 did nothing for1 ,his servant1 was not enough for him1 nor is ,he for any of us4 ,heart and flesh cry out for active remembrance2 and1 however clear the creed1 the tendency of long-continued misery will be to tempt to the feeling that the sufferer is forgotten4 ,it takes much grace to cling fast to the belief that ,he thinks of the poor suppliant whose cry for deliverance is unanswered4 ,the natural inference is one or other of the psalmist's two here3 ,god has forgotten or has hidden ,his face in indifference or displeasure4 ,the ,evangelist's profound therefore is the corrective of the psalmist's temptation3 ,jesus loved the three sad ones at ,bethany2 when therefore ,he heard that he was sick1 ,he abode still two days in the place where ,he was4 ,left alone1 without ,god's help1 what can a man do but think and think1 plan and scheme to weariness all night and carry a heavy heart as he sees by daylight how futile his plans are8 ,probably by night should be supplied in ver4 #b a2 and the picture of the gnawing cares and busy thoughts which banish sleep and of the fresh burst of sorrow on each new morning appeals only too well to all sad souls4 ,a brother laments across the centuries1 and his long-silent wail is as the voice of our own griefs4 ,the immediate visible occasion of trouble appears only in the last of the fourfold cries4 ,god's apparent forgetfulness and the psalmist's own subjective agitations are more prominent than the enemy who lifts himself above him4 ,his arrogant airs and oppression would soon vanish if ,god would arise4 ,the insight which places him last in order is taught by faith4 ,the soul stands between ,god and the external world1 with all its possible calamities2 and if the relation with ,god is right1 and help is flowing unbrokenly from ,him1 the relation to the world will quickly come right1 and the soul be lifted high above the foe1 however lofty he be or think himself4 ,the agitation of the first strophe is somewhat stilled in the second1 in which the stream of prayer runs clear without such foam1 as the impatient questions of the first part4 ,it falls into four clauses1 which have an approximate correspondence to those of strophe #a4 ,look hither1 answer me1 ,jehovah1 my ,god4 ,the first petition corresponds to the hiding of ,god's face1 and perhaps the second1 by the law of inverted parallelism1 may correspond to the forgetting1 but in any case the noticeable thing is the swift decisiveness of spring with which the psalmist's faith reaches firm ground here4 ,mark the implied belief that ,god's look is not an otiose gaze1 but brings immediate act answering the prayer2 mark the absence of copula between the verbs1 giving force to the prayer and swiftness to the sequence of ,divine acts2 mark the outgoing of the psalmist's faith in the addition to the name ,jehovah 7as in ver4 #a71 of the personal my ,god1 with all the sweet and reverent appeal hived in the address4 ,the third petition1 ,lighten mine eyes1 is not for illumination of vision1 but for renewed strength4 ,dying eyes are glazed2 a sick man's are heavy and dull4 ,returning health brightens them4 ,so here the figure of sickness threatening to become death stands for trouble1 or possibly the enemy is a real foe seeking the life1 as will be the most natural interpretation if the ,davidic origin is maintained4 ,to sleep death is a forcible compressed expression1 which is only attenuated by being completed4 ,the prayer rests upon the profound conviction that ,jehovah is the fountain of life1 and that only by ,his continual pouring of fresh vitality into a man can any eyes be kept from death4 ,the brightest must be replenished from ,his hand1 or they fail and become dim2 the dimmest can be brightened by ,his gift of vigorous health4 ,as in the first strophe the psalmist passed from ,god to self1 and thence to enemies1 so he does in the second4 ,his prayer addresses ,god2 its pleas regard1 first1 himself1 and1 second1 his foe4 ,how is the preventing of the enemy's triumph in his being stronger than the psalmist and of his malicious joy over the latter's misfortune an argument with ,god to help8 ,it is the plea1 so familiar in the ,psalter and to devout hearts1 that ,god's honour is identified with ,his servant's deliverance1 a true thought1 and one that may reverently be entertained by the humblest lover of ,god1 but which needs to be carefully guarded4 ,we must make very sure that ,god's cause is ours before we can be sure that ours is ,his2 we must be very completely living for ,his honour before we dare assume that ,his honour is involved in our continuing to live4 ,as ,calvin says1 ,cum eo nobis communis erit hc precatio1 si sub ,dei imperio et auspiciis militamus4 ,the storm has all rolled away in the third strophe1 in which faith has triumphed over doubt and anticipates the fulfilment of its prayer4 ,it begins with an emphatic opposition of the psalmist's personality to the foe3 ,but as for me--however they may rage--,i have trusted in ,thy mercy4 ,because he has thus trusted1 therefore he is sure that that mercy will work for him salvation or deliverance from his present peril4 ,anything is possible rather than that the appeal of faith to ,god's heart of love should not be answered4 ,whoever can say1 ,i have trusted1 has the right to say1 ,i shall rejoice4 ,it was but a moment ago that this man had asked1 ,how long shall ,i have sorrow in my heart8 and now the sad heart is flooded with sudden gladness4 ,such is the magic of faith1 which can see an unrisen light in the thickest darkness1 and hear the birds singing amongst the branches even while the trees are bare and the air silent4 ,how significant the contrast of the two rejoicings set side by side3 the adversaries' when the good man is moved2 the good man's when ,god's salvation establishes him in his place6 ,the closing strain reaches forward to deliverance not yet accomplished1 and1 by the prerogative of trust1 calls things that are not as though they were4 ,he has dealt bountifully with me2 so says the psalmist who had begun with ,how long8 ,no external change has taken place2 but his complaint and prayer have helped him to tighten his grasp of ,god1 and have transported him into the certain future of deliverance and praise4 ,he who can thus say1 ,i will sing1 when the hoped-for mercy has wrought salvation1 is not far off singing even while it tarries4 ,the sure anticipation of triumph is triumph4 ,the sad minor of ,how long8 if coming from faithful lips1 passes into a jubilant key1 which heralds the full gladness of the yet future songs of deliverance4 ,,psalm ,,xiv4 #a ,the fool says in his heart1 ,there is no ,god2 ,they corrupt2 they make abominable their doings2 ,there is no one doing good4 #b ,jehovah looketh down from heaven upon the sons of men ,to see if there is any having discernment1 ,seeking after ,god4 #c ,they are all turned aside3 together they are become putrid2 ,there is no one doing good1 ,there is not even one4 #d ,do they not know1 all the workers of iniquity1 ,who devour my people as they devour bread8 ,on ,jehovah they do not call4 #e ,there they feared a great fear1 ,for ,god is in the righteous generation4 #f ,the counsel of the afflicted ye would put to shame1 ,for ,god is his refuge4 #g ,oh that the salvation of ,israel were come out of ,zion6 ,when ,jehovah brings back the captivity of ,his people1 ,may ,jacob exult1 may ,israel be glad6 ,this psalm springs from the same situation as ,psalms x4 and xii4 ,it has several points of likeness to both4 ,it resembles the former in its attribution to the fool of the heart-speech1 ,there is no ,god1 and the latter in its use of the phrases sons of men and generation as ethical terms and in its thought of a ,divine interference as the source of safety for the righteous4 ,we have thus three psalms closely connected1 but separated from each other by ,psalms xi4 and xiii4 ,now it is observable that these three have no personal references1 and that the two which part them have4 ,it would appear that the five are arranged on the principle of alternating a general complaint of the evil of the times with a more personal pleading of an individual sufferer4 ,it is also noticeable that these five psalms--a little group of wailing and sighs--are marked off from the cognate psalms iii4-vii4 and xvi41 xvii41 by two 7,psalms viii4 and xv47 in an entirely different tone4 ,a second recast of this psalm appears in the ,elohistic ,book 7,psalm liii471 the characteristics of which will be dealt with there4 ,this is probably the original4 ,the structure of the psalm is simple1 but is not carried out completely4 ,it should consist of seven verses each having three clauses1 and so having stamped on it the sacred numbers #c and #g1 but vv4 #e and #f each want a clause1 and are the more vehement from their brevity4 ,the heavy fact of wide-spread corruption presses on the psalmist1 and starts a train of thought which begins with a sad picture of the deluge of evil1 rises to a vision of ,god's judgment of and on it1 triumphs in the prospect of the sudden panic which shall shake the souls of the workers of iniquity when they see that ,god is with the righteous1 and ends with a sigh for the coming of that time4 ,the staple of the poem is but the familiar contrast of a corrupt world and a righteous ,god who judges1 but it is cast into very dramatic and vivid form here4 ,we listen first 7ver4 #a7 to the psalmist's judgment of his generation4 ,probably it was very unlike the rosy hues in which a heart less in contact with ,god and the unseen would have painted the condition of things4 ,eras of great culture and material prosperity may have a very seamy side1 which eyes accustomed to the light of ,god cannot fail to see4 ,the root of the evil lay1 as the psalmist believed1 in a practical denial of ,god2 and whoever thus denied ,him was a fool4 ,it does not need formulated atheism in order to say in one's heart1 ,there is no ,god4 ,practical denial or neglect of ,his working in the world1 rather than a creed of negation1 is in the psalmist's mind4 ,in effect1 we say that there is no ,god when we shut ,him up in a far-off heaven1 and never think of ,him as concerned in our affairs4 ,to strip ,him of ,his justice and rob ,him of ,his control is the part of a fool4 ,for the ,biblical conception of folly is moral perversity rather than intellectual feebleness1 and whoever is morally and religiously wrong cannot be in reality intellectually right4 ,the practical denial of ,god lies at the root of two forms of evil4 ,positively1 they have made their doings corrupt and abominable--rotten in themselves and sickening and loathsome to pure hearts and to ,god4 ,negatively1 they do no good things4 ,that is the dreary estimate of his cotemporaries forced on this sad-hearted singer1 because he himself had so thrillingly felt ,god's touch and had therefore been smitten with loathing of men's low ways and with a passion for goodness4 ,sursum corda is the only consolation for such hearts4 ,so the next wave of thought 7ver4 #b7 brings into his consciousness the solemn contrast between the godless noise and activity of earth and the silent gaze of ,god1 that marks it all4 ,the strong anthropomorphism of the vivid picture recalls the stories of the ,deluge1 of ,babel1 and of ,sodom1 and casts an emotional hue over the abstract thought of the ,divine omniscience and observance4 ,the purpose of the ,divine quest is set forth with deep insight1 as being the finding of even one good1 devout man4 ,it is the anticipation of ,christ's tender word to the ,samaritan that the ,father seeketh such to worship ,him4 ,god's heart yearns to find hearts that turn to ,him2 ,he seeks those who seek ,him2 they who seek ,him1 and only they1 are wise4 ,other ,scriptures present other reasons for that gaze of ,god from heaven1 but this one in the midst of its solemnity is gracious with revelation of ,divine desires4 ,what is to be the issue of the strongly contrasted situation in these two verses3 beneath1 a world full of godless lawlessness2 above1 a fixed eye piercing to the discernment of the inmost nature of actions and characters8 ,ver4 #c answers4 ,we may almost venture to say that it shows a disappointed ,god1 so sharply does it put the difference between what ,he desired to see and what ,he did see4 ,the psalmist's sad estimate is repeated as the result of the ,divine search4 ,but it is also increased in emphasis and in compass4 ,for the whole 7race7 is the subject4 ,universality is insisted on in each clause2 all1 together1 not one1 and strong metaphors are used to describe the condition of humanity4 ,it is turned aside1 i4e41 from the way of ,jehovah2 it is become putrid1 like a rotting carcase1 is rank1 and smells to heaven4 ,there is a sad cadence in that no1 not one1 as of a hope long cherished and reluctantly abandoned1 not without some tinge of wonder at the barren results of such a search4 ,this stern indictment is quoted by ,st4 ,paul in ,romans as confirmation of his thesis of universal sinfulness2 and1 however the psalmist had the wickedness of ,israel in the foreground of his consciousness1 his language is studiously wide and meant to include all the sons of men4 ,but this baffled quest cannot be the end4 ,if ,jehovah seeks in vain for goodness on earth1 earth cannot go on for ever in godless riot4 ,therefore1 with eloquent abruptness1 the voice from heaven crashes in upon the fools in the full career of their folly4 ,the thunder rolls from a clear sky4 ,god speaks in ver4 #d4 ,the three clauses of the ,divine rebuke roughly correspond with those of ver4 #a in so far as the first points to ignorance as the root of wrong-doing1 the second charges positive sin1 and the third refers to negative evil4 ,have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge8 ,the question has almost a tone of surprise1 as if even ,omniscience found matter of wonder in men's mysterious love of evil4 ,jesus marvelled at some men's unbelief2 and certainly sin is the most inexplicable thing in the world1 and might almost astonish ,god as well as heaven and earth4 ,the meaning of the word know here is best learned from ver4 #a4 ,not to know is the same thing as to be a fool4 ,that ignorance1 which is moral perversity as well as intellectual blindness1 needs not to have a special object stated4 ,its thick veil hides all real knowledge of ,god1 duty1 and consequences from men4 ,it makes evil-doing possible4 ,if the evil-doer could have flashed before him the realities of things1 his hand would stay its crime4 ,it is not true that all sin can be resolved into ignorance1 but it is true that criminal ignorance is necessary to make sin possible4 ,a bull shuts its eyes when it charges4 ,men who do wrong are blind in one eye at least1 for1 if they saw at the moment what they probably know well enough1 sin would be impossible4 ,this explanation of the words seems more congruous with ver4 #a than that of others1 made to know1 i4e4 by experience to rue4 ,ver4 #d b is obscure from its compressed brevity ,eating my people1 they eat bread4 ,the ,a4,v4 and ,r4,v4 take their introduction of the as of comparison from the old translations4 ,the ,hebrew has no term of comparison1 but it is not unusual to omit the formal term in rapid and emotional speech1 and the picture of the appetite with which a hungry man devours his food may well stand for the relish with which the oppressors swallowed up the innocent4 ,there seems no need for the ingenuities which have been applied to the interpretation of the clause1 nor for departing1 with ,cheyne1 from the division of the verse according to the accents4 ,the positive sins of the oppressors1 of which we have heard so much in the connected psalms1 are here concentrated in their cruel plundering of my people1 by which the whole strain of the psalm leads us to understand the devout kernel of ,israel1 in contrast with the mass of men of the earth in the nation1 and not the nation as a whole in contrast with heathen enemies4 ,the ,divine indictment is completed by ,they call not on ,jehovah4 ,practical atheism is1 of course1 prayerless4 ,that negation makes a dreary silence in the noisiest life1 and is in one aspect the crown1 and in another the foundation1 of all evil-doing4 ,the thunder-peal of the ,divine voice strikes a sudden panic into the hosts of evil4 ,there they feared a fear4 ,the psalmist conceives the scene and its locality4 ,he does not say there when he means then1 but he pictures the terror seizing the oppressors where they stood when the ,divine thunder rolled above their heads2 and with him1 as with us1 on the spot implies at the moment4 ,the epoch of such panic is left vague4 ,whensoever in any man's experience that solemn voice sounds1 conscience wakes fear4 ,the revelation by any means of a ,god who sees evil and judges it makes cowards of us all4 ,probably the psalmist thought of some speedily impending act of judgment2 but his juxtaposition of the two facts1 the audible voice of ,god and the swift terror that shakes the heart1 contains an eternal truth1 which men who whisper in their hearts1 ,there is no ,god1 need to ponder4 ,this verse #e is the first of the two shorter verses of our psalm1 containing only two clauses instead of the regular three2 but it does not therefore follow that anything has dropped out4 ,rather the framework is sufficiently elastic to allow of such variation according to the contents1 and the shorter verse is not without a certain increase of vigour1 derived from the sharp opposition of its two clauses4 ,on the one hand is the terror of the sinner occasioned by and contrasted with the discovery which stands on the other that ,god is in the righteous generation4 ,the psalmist sets before himself and us the two camps3 the panic-stricken and confused mass of enemies ready to break into flight and the little flock of the righteous generation1 at peace in the midst of trouble and foes because ,god is in the midst of them4 ,no added clause could heighten the effect of that contrast1 which is like that of the host of ,israel walking in light and safety on one side of the fiery pillar and the army of ,pharaoh groping in darkness and dread on the other4 ,the permanent relations of ,god to the two sorts of men who are found in every generation and community are set forth in that strongly marked contrast4 ,in ver4 #f the psalmist himself addresses the oppressors1 with triumphant confidence born of his previous contemplations4 ,the first clause might be a question1 but is more probably a taunting affirmation3 ,you would frustrate the plans of the afflicted--and you could not--for ,jehovah is his refuge4 ,here again the briefer sentence brings out the eloquent contrast4 ,the malicious foe1 seeking to thwart the poor man's plans1 is thwarted4 ,his desire is unaccomplished2 and there is but one explanation of the impotence of the mighty and the powerfulness of the weak1 namely that ,jehovah is the stronghold of ,his saints4 ,not by reason of his own wit or power does the afflicted baffle the oppressor1 but by reason of the strength and inaccessibleness of his hiding-place4 ,the conies are a feeble folk1 but they make their houses in the rocks1 where nothing that has not wings can get at them4 ,so1 finally1 the whole course of thought gathers itself up in the prayer that the salvation of ,israel--the true ,israel apparently--were come out of ,zion1 ,god's dwelling1 from which ,he comes forth in ,his delivering power4 ,the salvation longed for is that just described4 ,the voice of the oppressed handful of good men in an evil generation is heard in this closing prayer4 ,it is encouraged by the visions which have passed before the psalmist4 ,the assurance that ,god will intervene is the very life-breath of the cry to ,him that ,he would4 ,because we know that ,he will deliver1 therefore we find it in our hearts to pray that ,he would deliver4 ,the revelation of ,his gracious purposes animates the longings for their realisation4 ,such a sigh of desire has no sadness in its longing and no doubt in its expectation4 ,it basks in the light of an unrisen sun1 and feels beforehand the gladness of the future joys when the ,lord shall bring again the captivity of ,his people4 ,this last verse is by some regarded as a liturgical addition to the psalm2 but ver4 #f cannot be the original close1 and it is scarcely probable that some other ending has been put aside to make room for this4 ,besides1 the prayer of ver4 #g coheres very naturally with the rest of the psalm1 if only we take that phrase turns the captivity in the sense which it admittedly bears in ,job xlii4 #aj and ,ezek4 xvi4 #ec1 namely that of deliverance from misfortune4 ,thus almost all modern interpreters understand the words1 and even those who most strongly hold the late date of the psalm do not find here any reference to the historical bondage4 ,the devout kernel of the nation is suffering from oppressors1 and that may well be called a captivity4 ,for a good man the present condition of society is bondage1 as many a devout soul has felt since the psalmist did4 ,but there is a dawning hope of a better day of freedom1 the liberty of the glory of the children of ,god2 and the gladness of the ransomed captives may be in some degree anticipated even now4 ,the psalmist was thinking only of some intervention on the field of history1 and we are not to read loftier hopes into his song4 ,but it is as impossible for ,christians not to entertain1 as it was for him to grasp firmly1 the last1 mightiest hope of a last1 utter deliverance from all evil and of an eternal and perfect joy4 ,,psalm ,,xv4 #a ,jehovah1 who can be guest in ,thy tent8 ,who can dwell in ,thy holy hill8 #b ,the man walking blamelessly1 and doing righteousness1 ,and speaking truth with his heart4 #c ,he has not slander on his tongue1 ,he does not harm to his comrade1 ,and reproach he does not lay on his neighbour4 #d ,a reprobate is despised in his eyes1 ,but the fearers of ,jehovah he honours2 ,he swears to his own hurt1 and will not change4 #e ,his silver he does not give at usury1 ,and a bribe against the innocent he does not take2 ,he that does these things shall not be moved for ever4 ,the ideal worshipper of ,jehovah is painted in this psalm in a few broad outlines4 ,zion is holy because ,god's tent is there4 ,this is the only hint of date given by the psalm2 and all that can be said is that1 if that consecration of ,thy hill was recent1 the poet would naturally ponder all the more deeply the question of who were fit to dwell in the new solemnities of the abode of ,jehovah4 ,the tone of the psalm1 then1 accords with the circumstances of the time when ,david brought the ark to ,jerusalem2 but more than this cannot be affirmed4 ,much more important are its two main points3 the conception of the guests of ,jehovah and the statement of the ethical qualifications of these4 ,as to structure1 the psalm is simple4 ,it has1 first1 the general question and answer in two verses of two clauses each 7vv4 #a1 #b74 ,then the general description of the guest of ,god is expanded in three verses of three clauses each1 the last of which closes with an assurance of stability1 which varies and heightens the idea of dwelling in the tent of ,jehovah4 ,it is no mere poetic apostrophe with which the psalmist's question is prefaced4 ,he does thereby consult the ,master of the house as to the terms on which ,he extends hospitality1 which terms it is ,his right to prescribe4 ,he brings to his own view and to his readers' all that lies in the name of ,jehovah1 the covenant name1 and all that is meant by holiness1 and thence draws the answer to his question1 which is none the less ,jehovah's answer because it springs in the psalmist's heart and is spoken by his lips4 ,the character of the ,god determines the character of the worshipper4 ,the roots of ethics are in religion4 ,the ,old ,testament ideal of the righteous man flows from its revelation of the righteous ,god4 ,not men's own fancies1 but insight gained by communion with ,god and docile inquiry of ,him1 will reliably tell what manner of men they are who can abide in ,his light4 ,the thought1 expressed so forcibly in the question of the psalm1 that men may be ,god's guests1 is a very deep and tender one1 common to a considerable number of psalms 7v4 #e1 xxvii4 #d1 lxxxiv4 #e1 etc474 ,the word translated abide in the ,a4,v4 and sojourn in the ,r4,v4 originally implied a transient residence as a stranger1 but when applied to men's relations to ,god1 it does not always preserve the idea of transiency 7see1 for instance1 lxi4 #d3 ,i will dwell in ,thy tent for ever72 and the idea of protection is the most prominent4 ,the stranger who took refuge in the tent even of the wild ,beduin was safe1 much more the happy man who crept under the folds of the tent of ,jehovah4 ,if the holy hill of ,zion were not immediately mentioned1 one might be tempted to think that the tent here was only used as a metaphor2 but the juxtaposition of the two things seems to set the allusion to the dwelling-place of the ,ark on its hill beyond question4 ,in the gracious hospitality of the antique world1 a guest was sheltered from all harm2 his person was inviolable1 his wants all met4 ,so the guest of ,jehovah is safe1 can claim asylum from every foe and a share in all the bountiful provision of ,his abode4 ,taken accurately1 the two verbs in ver4 #a differ in that the first implies transient and the second permanent abode2 but that difference is not in the psalmist's mind1 and the two phrases mean the same thing1 with only the difference that the former brings out his conception of the rights of the guest4 ,clearly1 then1 the psalmist's question by no means refers only to an outward approach to an outward tabernacle2 but we see here the symbol in the very act of melting into the deep spiritual reality signified4 ,the singer has been educated by the husks of ritual to pass beyond these1 and has learned that there is a better dwelling-place for ,jehovah1 and therefore for himself1 than that pitched on ,zion and frequented by impure and pure alike4 ,ver4 #b sums the qualifications of ,jehovah's guest in one comprehensive demand1 that he should walk uprightly1 and then analyses that requirement into the two of righteous deeds and truthful speech4 ,the verbs are in the participial form1 which emphasises the notion of habitual action4 ,the general answer is expanded in the three following verses1 which each contain three clauses1 and take up the two points of ver4 #b in inverted order1 although perhaps not with absolute accuracy of arrangement4 ,the participial construction is in them changed for finite verbs4 ,ver4 #b sketches the figure in outline1 and the rest of the psalm adds clause on clause of description as if the man stood before the psalmist's vision4 ,habits are described as acts4 ,the first outstanding characteristic of this ideal is that it deals entirely with duties to men1 and the second is that it is almost wholly negative4 ,moral qualities of the most obvious kind1 and such as can be tested in daily life and are cultivated by rigid abstinence from prevailing evils1 and not any recondite and impalpable refinements of conduct1 still less any peculiar emotions of souls raised high above the dusty levels of common life1 are the qualifications for dwelling1 a guarded guest1 in that great pavilion4 ,such a stress laid on homely duties1 which the universal conscience recognises1 is characteristic of the ethics of the ,old ,testament as a whole and of the ,psalter in particular1 and is exemplified in the lives of its saints and heroes4 ,they come eating and drinking1 sharing in domestic joys and civic duties2 and however high their aspirations and vows may soar1 they have always their feet firmly planted on the ground and1 laying the smallest duties on themselves1 tread life's common road in cheerful godliness4 ,the ,christian answer to the psalmist's question goes deeper than his1 but is fatally incomplete unless it include his and lay the same stress on duties to men which all acknowledge1 as that does4 ,lofty emotions1 raptures of communion1 aspirations which bring their own fulfilment1 and all the experiences of the devout soul1 which are sometimes apt to be divorced from plain morality1 need the ballast of the psalmist's homely answer to the great question4 ,there is something in a religion of emotion not wholly favourable to the practice of ordinary duties2 and many men1 good after a fashion1 seem to have their spiritual nature divided into water-tight and uncommunicating compartments1 in one of which they keep their religion1 and in the other their morality4 ,the stringent assertion that these two are inseparable was the great peculiarity of ,judaism as compared with the old world religions1 from which1 as from the heathenism of to-day1 the conception that religion had anything to do with conduct was absent4 ,but it is not only heathenism that needs the reminder4 ,true1 the ideal drawn here is not the full ,christian one4 ,it is too merely negative for that1 and too entirely concerned with acts4 ,therein it reproduces the limitations of the earlier revelation4 ,it scarcely touches at all the deeper forms of love to our neighbour2 and1 above all1 it has no answer to the question which instinctively rises in the heart when the psalm has answered its own question4 ,how can ,i attain to these qualifications8 is a second interrogation1 raised by the response to the first1 and for its answer we have to turn to ,jesus4 ,the psalm1 like the law which inspired it1 is mainly negative1 deals mainly with acts1 and has no light to show how its requirements may be won4 ,but it yet stands as an unantiquated statement of what a man must be who dwells in the secret place of the ,most ,high4 ,how he may become such a one we must learn from ,him who both teaches us the way1 and gives us the power1 to become such as ,god will shelter in the safe recesses of ,his pavilion4 ,the details of the qualifications as described in the psalm are simple and homely4 ,they relate first to right speech1 which holds so prominent a place in the ethics of the ,psalter4 ,the triplets of ver4 #c probably all refer to sins of the tongue4 ,the good man has no slander on his tongue2 he does not harm his companion 7by word7 nor heap reproach on his neighbour4 ,these things are the staple of much common talk4 ,what a quantity of brilliant wit and polished sarcasm would perish if this rule were observed6 ,how dull many sparkling circles would become1 and how many columns of newspapers and pages of books would be obliterated1 if the censor's pencil struck out all that infringed it6 ,ver4 #d adds as characteristic of a righteous man that in his estimate of character he gives each his own1 and judges men by no other standard than their moral worth4 ,the reprobate may be a millionaire or a prince1 but his due is contempt2 the devout man may be a pauper or one of narrow culture1 but his due is respect1 and he gets it4 ,a terrible sagacity informs the good man's heart2 and he who is1 in his own inmost desires1 walking uprightly will not be seduced into adulation of a popular idol who is a bad man1 nor turned from reverence for lowly goodness4 ,the world will be a paradise when the churl is no more called bountiful4 ,apparently the utterance of these estimates is in the psalmist's mind1 and he is still thinking of speech4 ,neither calumny 7ver4 #c7 nor the equally ignoble flattery of evil-doers 7ver4 #d7 pollutes the lips of his ideal good man4 ,if this reference to spoken estimates is allowed1 the last clause of ver4 #d completes the references to the right use of speech4 ,the obligation of speaking truth with his heart is pursued into a third region3 that of vows or promises4 ,these must be conceived as not religious vows1 but1 in accordance with the reference of the whole psalm to duties to neighbours1 as oaths made to men4 ,they must be kept1 whatever consequences may ensue4 ,the law prohibited the substitution of another animal sacrifice for that which had been vowed 7,lev4 xxvii4 #aj72 and the psalm uses the same word for changeth1 with evident allusion to the prohibition1 which must therefore have been known to the psalmist4 ,usury and bribery were common sins1 as they still are in communities on the same industrial and judicial level as that mirrored in the psalm4 ,capitalists who bite the poor 7for that is the literal meaning of the words for usurious taking of interest7 and judges who condemn the innocent for gain are the blood-suckers of such societies4 ,the avoidance of such gross sin is a most elementary illustration of walking uprightly1 and could only have been chosen to stand in lieu of all other neighbourly virtues in an age when these sins were deplorably common4 ,this draft of a ,god-pleasing character is by no means complete even from the ,old ,testament ethical point of view4 ,there are two variations of it1 which add important elements3 that in ,psalm xxiv41 which seems to have been occasioned by the same circumstances2 and the noble adaptation in ,isa4 xxxiii4 #ac-af1 which is probably moulded on a reminiscence of both psalms4 ,add to these ,micah's answer to the question what ,god requires of man 7ch4 vi4 #h71 and we have an interesting series1 exhibiting the effects of the ,law on the moral judgments of devout men in ,israel4 ,the psalmist's last word goes beyond his question1 in the clear recognition that such a character as he has outlined not only dwells in ,jehovah's tent1 but will stand unmoved1 though all the world should rock4 ,he does not see how far onward that for ever may stretch1 but of this he is sure3 that righteousness is the one stable thing in the universe1 and there may have shone before him the hope that it was possible to travel on beyond the horizon that bounds this life4 ,i shall be a guest in ,jehovah's tent for ever1 says the other psalm already quoted2 ,he shall never be moved1 says this one4 ,both find their fulfilment in the great words of the ,apostle who taught a completer ideal of love to men1 because he had dwelt close by the perfect revelation of ,god's love3 ,the world passeth away1 and the lust thereof1 but he that doeth the will of ,god abideth for ever4 ,,psalm ,,xvi4 #a ,preserve me1 ,o ,god1 for ,i take refuge in ,thee #b ,i have said to ,jehovah1 ,thou art my ,lord2 ,good for me there is none besides ,thee4 #c ,as for the saints which are in the earth1 ,they are the excellent1 in whom is all my delight4 #d ,their griefs are many who change ,jehovah for another4 ,i will not pour out their drink offerings of blood1 ,and will not take their names on my lips4 #e ,jehovah is my allotted portion and my cup2 ,thou art continually my lot4 #f ,the measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant places1 ,and my inheritance is fair to me4 #g ,i will bless ,jehovah who has given me counsel2 ,yea1 in the night seasons my reins instruct me4 #h ,i set ,jehovah before me continually1 ,because ,he is at my right hand ,i shall not be moved4 #i ,therefore my heart rejoices1 and my glory exults2 ,yea1 my flesh dwells in safety4 #aj ,for ,thou wilt not leave my soul to ,sheol2 ,thou wilt not suffer ,thy ,beloved ,one to see the pit4 #aa ,thou wilt make me know the path of life2 ,before ,thy face is fulness of joys2 ,pleasures are in ,thy right hand for evermore4 ,the progress of thought in this psalm is striking4 ,the singer is first a bold confessor in the face of idolatry and apostasy 7vv4 #a-d74 ,then the inward sweetness of his faith fills his soul1 as is ever the reward of brave avowal1 and he buries himself1 bee-like in the pure delights of communion with ,jehovah 7vv4 #e-h74 ,finally1 on the ground of such experience1 he rises to the assurance that its very sweetness yieldeth proof that he and it are born for undying life 7vv4 #i-aa74 ,the conviction of immortality is then most vividly felt1 when it results from the consciousness of a present full of ,god4 ,the outpourings of a pure and wholesome mystic religion in the psalm are so entirely independent of the personality and environment of the singer that there is no need to encumber the study of it with questions of date4 ,if we accept the opinion that the conception of resurrection was the result of intercourse with ,persia1 we shall have to give a post-exilic date to the psalm4 ,but even if the general adoption of that belief was historically so motived1 that does not forbid our believing that select souls1 living in touch with ,god1 rose to it long before4 ,the peaks caught the glow while the valleys were filled with mists4 ,the tone of the last section sounds liker that of a devout soul in the very act of grasping a wonderful new thought1 which ,god was then and there revealing to him through his present experience1 than of one who was simply repeating a theological truth become familiar to all4 ,the first turn of thought 7vv4 #a-d7 is clear in its general purport4 ,it is a profession of personal adherence to ,jehovah and of attachment to ,his lovers1 in the face of idol worship which had drawn away some4 ,the brief cry for preservation at the beginning does not necessarily imply actual danger1 but refers to the possible antagonism of the idol worshippers provoked by the psalmist's bold testimony4 ,the two meanings of ,martyr1 a witness and a sufferer1 are closely intertwined in fact4 ,he needs to be preserved1 and he has a claim to be so1 for his profession of faith has brought the peril4 ,the remarkable expression in ver4 #b b is best understood as unfolding the depth of what lies in saying1 ,my ,god4 ,it means the cleaving to ,him of the whole nature as the all-comprehending supply of every desire and capacity4 ,good for me is none besides ,thee4 ,this is the same high strain as in the cognate ,psalm lxxiii4 #be1 where1 as here1 the joy of communion is seen in the very act of creating the confidence of immortality4 ,the purest expression of the loftiest devotion lies in these few words4 ,the soul that speaks thus to ,jehovah turns next to ,jehovah's friends and then to ,his foes4 ,to the former it speaks1 in ver4 #c1 of the gnarled obscurity of which the simplest clearing up is that adopted by the ,r4,v4 ,this requires a very small correction of the text1 the omission of one letter1 7,waw and7 before excellent1 and the transference to the second clause of these1 which the accents append clumsily to the first4 ,if we regard the to at the beginning1 as the ,r4,v4 does1 as marking simply reference 7as for71 the verse is an independent sentence2 but it is possible to regard the influence of ,i have said as still continuing1 and in that case we should have what the psalmist said to the saints1 following on what he said to ,jehovah1 which gives unity to the whole context1 and is probably best4 ,cheyne would expunge the first clause as a gloss crept in from the margin2 and that clears the sense1 though the remedy is somewhat drastic1 and a fine touch is lost1 ,i said to ,thy loved ones1--these 7and not the braggarts who strut as great men7 are the truly excellent1 in whom is all my delight4 ,when temptations to forsake ,jehovah are many1 the true worshipper has to choose his company1 and his devotion to his only ,god will lead to penetrating insight into the unreality of many shining reputations and the modest beauty of humble lives of godliness4 ,eyes which have been purged to see ,god1 by seeing ,him will see through much4 ,hearts that have learned to love ,jehovah will be quick to discern kindred hearts1 and1 if they have found all good in ,him1 will surely find purest delight in them4 ,the solitary confessor clasps the hands of his unknown fellows4 ,with dramatic abruptness he points to the unnamed recreants from ,jehovah4 ,their griefs are many--they exchange 7,jehovah7 for another4 ,apparently1 then1 there was some tendency in ,israel to idolatry1 which gives energy to the psalmist's vehement vow that he will not offer their libations of blood1 nor take the abhorred names of the gods they pronounced into his lips4 ,this state of things would suit but too much of ,israel's history1 during which temptations to idol worship were continually present1 and the bloody libations would point to such abominations of human sacrifice as we know characterised the worship of ,moloch and ,chemosh4 ,cheyne sees in the reference to these a sign of the post-exilic date of the psalm2 but was there any period after the exile in which there was danger of relapse to idolatry1 and was not rather a rigid monotheism the great treasure which the exiles brought back8 ,the trait seems rather to favour an earlier date4 ,in the second section 7vv4 #e-h7 the devout soul suns itself in the light of ,god1 and tells itself how rich it is4 ,the portion of mine inheritance might mean an allotted share of either food or land1 but ver4 #f favours the latter interpretation4 ,cup here is not so much an image for that which satisfies thirst1 though that would be beautiful1 as for that which is appointed for one to experience4 ,such a use of the figure is familiar1 and brings it into line with the other of inheritance1 which is plainly the principal1 as that of the cup is dropped in the following words4 ,every godly man has the same possession and the same prohibitions as the priests had4 ,like them he is landless1 and instead of estates has ,jehovah4 ,they presented in mere outward fashion what is the very law of the devout life4 ,because ,god is the only true ,good1 the soul must have none other1 and if it have forsaken all other by reason of the greater wealth of even partial possession of ,him1 it will be growingly rich in ,him4 ,he who has said unto the ,lord1 ,thou art my ,lord1 will with ever increasing decisiveness of choice and consciousness of sufficiency say1 ,the ,lord is the portion of mine inheritance4 ,the same figure is continued in ver4 #e b4 ,my lot is the same idea as my portion1 and the natural flow of thought would lead us to expect that ,jehovah is both4 ,that consideration combines with the very anomalous grammatical form of the word rendered maintainest to recommend the slight alteration adopted by ,cheyne following ,dyserinck and ,bickell1 by which continually is read for it4 ,what ,god is rather than what ,he does is filling the psalmist's happy thoughts1 and the depth of his blessedness already kindles that confidence in its perpetuity which shoots up to so bright a flame in the closing verses 7cf4 lxxiii474 ,the consciousness of perfect rest in perfect satisfaction of need and desires ever follows possession of ,god4 ,so the calm rapture of ver4 #f is the true utterance of the heart acquainted with ,god1 and of it alone4 ,one possession only bears reflection4 ,whatever else a man has1 if he has not ,jehovah for his portion1 some part of himself will stand stiffly out1 dissentient and unsatisfied1 and hinder him from saying ,my inheritance is fair to me4 ,that verdict of experience implies1 as it stands in the ,hebrew1 subjective delight in the portion and not merely the objective worth of it4 ,this is the peculiar pre-eminence of a ,god-filled life1 that the ,infinitely good is wholly ,good to it1 through all the extent of capacities and cravings4 ,who else can say the same8 ,blessed they whose delights are in ,god6 ,he will ever delight them4 ,no wonder that the psalmist breaks into blessing2 but it is deeply significant of the freedom from mere sentimental religion which characterises the highest flights of his devotion1 that his special ground of blessing ,jehovah is not inward peace of communion1 but the wise guidance given thereby for daily difficulties4 ,a ,god whose sweet sufficiency gives satisfaction for all desires and balm for every wound is much1 but a ,god who by these very gifts makes duty plain1 is more4 ,the test of inward devotion is its bearing on common tasks4 ,true wisdom is found in fellowship with ,god4 ,eyes which look on ,him see many things more clearly4 ,the reins are conceived of as the seat of the ,divine voice4 ,in ,old ,testament psychology they seem to stand for feelings rather than reason or conscience1 and it is no mistake of the psalmist's when he thinks that through them ,god's counsel comes4 ,he means much the same as we do when we say that devout instincts are of ,god4 ,he will purify1 ennoble and instruct even the lower propensities and emotions1 so that they may be trusted to guide1 when the heart is at rest in ,him4 ,prayer is better than sleep1 says the ,mohammedan call to devotion4 ,in the night seasons1 says the psalmist1 when things are more clearly seen in the dark than by day1 many a whisper from ,jehovah steals into his ears4 ,the upshot of all is a firm resolve to make really his what is his4 ,i set ,jehovah always before me--since ,he is always my lot4 ,that effort of faith is the very life of devotion4 ,we have any possession only while it is present to our thoughts4 ,it is all one not to have a great estate and never to see it or think about it4 ,true love is an intense desire for the presence of its object4 ,god is only ours in reality when we are conscious of ,his nearness1 and that is strange love of ,him which is content to pass days without ever setting ,him before itself4 ,the effort of faith brings an ally and champion for faith1 for ,he is at my right hand1 in so far as ,i set ,him before me4 ,at my right hand1--then ,i am at ,his left1 and the left arm wears the shield1 and the shield covers my head4 ,then ,he is close by my working hand1 to direct its activity and to lay ,his own great hand on my feeble one1 as the prophet did his on the wasted fingers of the sick king to give strength to draw the bow4 ,the ally of faith secures the stability of faith4 ,i shall not be moved1 either by the agitations of passions or by the shocks of fortune4 ,a calm heart1 which is not the same thing as a stagnant heart1 is the heritage of him who has ,god at his side2 and he who is fixed on that rock stands four-square to all the winds that blow4 ,foolhardy self-reliance says1 ,i shall never be moved 7x4 #f71 and the end of that boast is destruction4 ,a good man1 seduced by prosperity1 may forget himself so far as to say it 7xxx4 #f71 and the end of that has to be fatherly discipline1 to bring him right4 ,but to say ,because ,he is at my right hand ,i shall not be moved is but to claim the blessings belonging to the possession of the only satisfying inheritance1 even ,jehovah ,himself4 ,the heart that expands with such blessed consciousness of possessing ,god can chant its triumphant song even in front of the grave4 ,so1 in his closing strain the psalmist pours out his rapturous faith that his fellowship with ,god abolishes death4 ,no worthy climax to the profound consciousness of communion already expressed1 nor any satisfactory progress of thought justifying the therefore of ver4 #i1 can be made out with any explanation of the final verses1 which eliminates the assurance of immortal life from them4 ,the experiences of the devout life here are prophecies4 ,these aspirations and enjoyments are to their possessor1 not only authentic proofs that ,god is and that ,he is the rewarder of the heart that seeks ,him1 but also witnesses of immortality not to be silenced4 ,they were not born for death1 but1 in their sweetness and incompleteness alike1 point onwards to their own perpetuity and perfecting4 ,if a man has been able to say and has said ,my ,god1 nothing will seem more impossible to him than that such a trifle as death should have power to choke his voice or still the outgoings of his heart towards1 and its rest in1 his ,god4 ,whatever may have been the current beliefs of the psalmist's time in regard to a future life1 and whether his sunny confidence here abode with him in less blessed hours of less high communion with the living ,god1 or ebbed away1 leaving him to the gloomier thoughts of other psalms1 we need not try to determine4 ,here1 at all events1 we see his faith in the act of embracing the great thought1 which may have been like the rising of a new sun in his sky--namely1 the conviction that this his joy was joy for ever4 ,a like depth of personal experience of the sweetness of communion with ,god will always issue in like far-seeing assurance of its duration as unaffected by anything that touches only the physical husk of the true self4 ,if we would be sure of immortal life1 we must make the mortal a ,god-filled life4 ,the psalmist feels the glad certainty in all his complex nature1 heart1 soul1 and flesh4 ,all three have their portion in the joy which it brings4 ,the foundation of the exultation of heart and soul and of the quiet rest of flesh is not so much the assurance that after death there will be life1 and after the grave a resurrection1 as the confidence that there will be no death at all4 ,to see the pit is a synonym for experiencing death1 and what is hoped for is exemption from it altogether1 and a ,divine hand leading him1 as ,enoch was led1 along the high levels on a path of life which leads to ,god's right hand1 without any grim descent to the dark valley below4 ,such an expectation may be called vain1 but we must distinguish between the form and the substance of the psalmist's hope4 ,its essence was--unbroken and perfected communion with ,god1 uninterrupted sense of possessing ,him1 and therein all delights and satisfactions4 ,to secure these he dared to hope that for him death would be abolished4 ,but he died1 and assuredly he found that the unbroken communion for which he longed was persistent through death1 and that in dying his hope that he should not die was fulfilled beyond his hope4 ,the correspondence between his effort of faith in ver4 #h and his final position in ver4 #aa is striking4 ,he who sets ,jehovah continually before himself will1 in due time1 come where there are fulness of joys before ,god's face2 and he who here1 amid distractions and sorrows1 has kept ,jehovah at his right hand as his counsellor1 defender and companion1 will one day stand at ,jehovah's right hand1 and be satisfied for evermore with the uncloying and inexhaustible pleasures that there abide4 ,the singer1 whose clear notes thus rang above the grave1 died and saw corruption4 ,but1 as the apostolic use of this psalm as a prophecy of ,christ's resurrection has taught us1 the apparent contradiction of his triumphal chant by the fact of his death did not prove it to be a vain dream4 ,if there ever should be a life of absolutely unbroken communion1 that would be a life in which death would be abolished4 ,jesus ,christ is ,god's ,beloved as no other is4 ,he has conquered death as no other has4 ,the psalm sets forth the ideal relation of the perfectly devout man to death and the future1 and that ideal is a reality in ,him1 from whom the blessed continuity1 which the psalmist was sure must belong to fellowship so close as was his with ,god1 flows to all who unite themselves with ,him4 ,he has trodden the path of life which ,he shows to us1 and it is life1 at every step1 even when it dips into the darkness of what men call death1 whence it rises into the light of the ,face which it is joy to see1 and close to the loving strong ,hand which holds and gives pleasures for evermore4 ,,psalm ,,xvii4 #a ,hear a righteous cause1 ,jehovah1 attend to my cry2 ,give ear to my prayer from no lips of guile4 #b ,from ,thy face let my sentence go forth2 ,thine eyes behold rightly4 #c ,thou provest my heart1 searchest it by night1 ,triest me by fire3 ,thou findest not anything2 ,should ,i purpose evil1 it shall not pass my mouth 787 #d ,as for 7,during7 the doings of men1 by the word of ,thy lips ,i have kept me from the paths of the violent man4 #e ,my steps have held fast to ,thy ways2 ,my feet have not slipped4 #f ,i1 ,i call upon ,thee1 for ,thou wilt answer me1 ,o ,god2 ,incline ,thine ear unto me3 hear my speech4 #g ,magnify 7,make wonderful7 ,thy loving-kindnesses1 ,thou who savest those who seek refuge ,from those who rise against them8 by ,thy right hand4 #h ,keep me as the pupil1 the daughter of the eye2 ,in the shadow of ,thy wing hide me #i ,from the wicked1 who lay me waste1 ,my enemies at heart1 who ring me round4 #aj ,their heart they have shut up2 ,with their mouth they speak in arrogance4 #aa ,in our steps1 they already compass us about2 ,their eyes they fix1 to lay us on the ground4 #ab ,he is like a lion who longs to rend1 ,and a young lion crouching in coverts4 #ac ,arise1 ,jehovah3 meet his face3 make him crouch2 ,deliver my soul from the wicked with ,thy sword1 #ad ,from men by ,thy hand1 ,jehovah1 from men of the world1 ,having their portion in this life1 and with ,thy hidden treasure ,thou fillest their belly2 ,they are full of sons1 and leave their overabundance to their children4 #ae ,i1 ,i shall in righteousness behold ,thy face2 ,i shall be satisfied on awaking with ,thy likeness4 ,the investigations as to authorship and date yield the usual conflicting results4 ,davidic1 say one school2 undoubtedly post-exilic1 say another1 without venturing on closer definition2 late in the ,persian period1 says ,cheyne4 ,perhaps we may content ourselves with the modest judgment of ,baethgen in his last book 7,handcommentar1 #ahib1 p4 #de73 ,the date of composition cannot be decided by internal indications4 ,the background is the familiar one of causeless foes round an innocent sufferer1 who flings himself into ,god's arms for safety1 and in prayer enters into peace and hope4 ,he is1 no doubt1 a representative of the ,ecclesia pressa2 but he is so just because his cry is intensely personal4 ,the experience of one is the type for all1 and a poet's prerogative is to cast his most thoroughly individual emotions into words that fit the universal heart4 ,the psalm is called a prayer1 a title given to only four other psalms1 none of which are in the ,first ,book4 ,it has three movements1 marked by the repetition of the name of ,god1 which does not appear elsewhere1 except in the doubtful verse #ad4 ,these three are vv4 #a-e1 in which the cry for help is founded on a strong profession of innocence2 vv4 #f-ab1 in which it is based on a vivid description of the enemies2 and vv4 #ac-ae1 in which it soars into the pure air of mystic devotion1 and thence looks down on the transient prosperity of the foe and upwards1 in a rapture of hope1 to the face of ,god4 ,the petition proper1 in vv4 #a1 #b1 and its ground1 are both strongly marked by conscious innocence1 and therefore sound strange to our ears1 trained as we have been by the ,new ,testament to deeper insight into sin4 ,this sufferer asks ,god to hear righteousness1 i4e4 his righteous cause4 ,he pleads the bona fides of his prayer1 the fervour of which is marked by its designation as my cry1 the high-pitched note usually the expression of joy1 but here of sore need and strong desire4 ,boldly he asks for his sentence from ,thy face1 and the ground of that petition is that ,thine eyes behold rightly4 ,was there1 then1 no inner baseness that should have toned down such confidence8 ,was this prayer not much the same as the ,pharisee's in ,christ's parable8 ,the answer is partly found in the considerations that the innocence professed is specially in regard to the occasions of the psalmist's present distress1 and that the acquittal by deliverance which he asks is ,god's testimony that as to these he was slandered and clear4 ,but1 further1 the strong professions of heart-cleanness and outward obedience which follow are not so much denials of any sin as avowals of sincere devotion and honest submission of life to ,god's law4 ,they are the answer of a good conscience towards ,god1 expressed1 indeed1 more absolutely than befits ,christian consciousness1 but having nothing in common with ,pharisaic self-complacency4 ,the modern type of religion which recoils from such professions1 and contents itself with always confessing sins which it has given up hope of overcoming1 would be all the better for listening to the psalmist and aiming a little more vigorously and hopefully at being able to say1 ,i know nothing against myself4 ,there is no danger in such a saying1 if it be accompanied by ,yet am ,i not hereby justified and by ,who can understand his errors8 ,cleanse ,thou me from secret faults4 ,the general drift of vv4 #c-e is clear1 but the precise meaning and connection are extremely obscure4 ,probably the text is faulty4 ,it has been twisted in all sorts of ways1 the ,masoretic accents have been disregarded1 the division of verses set aside1 and still no proposed rendering of parts of vv4 #c1 #d1 is wholly satisfactory4 ,the psalmist deals with heart1 lips1 feet--that is1 thoughts1 words1 and deeds--and declares the innocence of all4 ,but difficulties begin when we look closer4 ,the first question is as to the meaning and connection of the word rendered in the ,a4,v4 and ,r4,v41 ,i am purposed4 ,it may be a first person singular or an infinitive used as a noun or even a noun1 meaning1 in both the latter cases1 substantially the same1 i4e4 my thinking or my thoughts4 ,it is connected by the accents with what follows2 but in that case the preceding verb find is left without an object1 and hence many renderings attach the word to the preceding clause1 and so get ,thou shalt find no evil thoughts in me4 ,this division of the clauses leaves the words rendered1 by ,a4,v4 and ,r4,v41 ,my mouth shall not transgress1 standing alone4 ,there is no other instance of the verb standing by itself with that meaning1 nor is mouth clearly the subject4 ,it may as well be the object1 and the clause be1 ,it shall not pass my mouth4 ,if that is the meaning1 we have to look to the preceding word as defining what it is that is thus to be kept unuttered1 and so detach it from the verb find1 as the accents do4 ,the knot has been untied in two ways3 ,my evil purpose shall not pass1 etc41 or1 taking the word as a verb and regarding the clause as hypothetical1 ,should ,i think evil1 it shall not pass1 etc4 ,either of these renderings has the advantage of retaining the recognised meaning of the verb and of avoiding neglect of the accent4 ,such a rendering has been objected to as inconsistent with the previous clause1 but the psalmist may be looking back to it1 feeling that his partial self-knowledge makes it a bold statement1 and thus far limiting it1 that if any evil thought is found in his heart1 it is sternly repressed in silence4 ,obscurity continues in ver4 #d4 ,the usual rendering1 ,as for or1 ,during the works of men1 by the word of ,thy mouth ,i have kept me1 etc41 is against the accents1 which make the principal division of the verse fall after lips2 but no satisfactory sense results if the accentuation is followed unless we suppose a verb implied1 such as1 e4g41 stand fast or the like1 so getting the profession of steadfastness in the words of ,god's lips1 in face of men's self-willed doings4 ,but this is precarious1 and probably the ordinary way of cutting the knot by neglecting the accents is best4 ,in any case the avowal of innocence passes here from thoughts and words to acts4 ,the contrast of the psalmist's closed mouth and ,god's lips is significant1 even if unintended4 ,only he who silences much that rises in his heart can hear ,god speaking4 ,i kept me from1 is a very unusual meaning for the word employed1 which generally signifies to guard or watch1 but here seems to mean to take heed so as to avoid4 ,possibly the preposition from1 denoted by a single letter1 has fallen out before paths4 ,this negative avoidance precedes positive walking in ,god's ways1 since the poet's position is amidst evil men4 ,goodness has to learn to say ,no to men1 if it is ever to say ,yes to ,god4 ,the foot has to be forcibly plucked and vigilantly kept from foul ways before it can be planted firmly in ,thy paths4 ,by holding fast to courses appointed by ,god stability is ensured4 ,thus the closing clause of this first part is rather an acknowledgment of the happy result of devoted cleaving to ,god than an assertion of self-secured steadfastness4 ,my feet do not slip1 not so much because they are strong as because the road is good1 and the ,guide's word and hand ready4 ,the second part repeats the prayer for help1 but bases it on the double ground of ,god's character and acts and of the suppliant's desperate straits2 and of these two the former comes first in the prayer1 though the latter has impelled to the prayer4 ,faith may be helped to self-consciousness by the sense of danger1 but when awakened it grasps ,god's hand first and then faces its foes4 ,in this part of the psalm the petitions1 the aspects of the ,divine character and working1 and the grim picture of dangers are all noteworthy4 ,the petitions by their number and variety reveal the pressure of trouble1 each new prick of fear or pain forcing a new cry and each cry recording a fresh act of faith tightening its grasp4 ,the ,i in ver4 #f is emphatic1 and may be taken as gathering up the psalmist's preceding declarations and humbly laying them before ,god as a plea3 ,i1 who thus cleave to ,thy ways1 call upon ,thee1 and my prayer is that of faith1 which is sure of answer4 ,but that confidence does not make petition superfluous1 but rather encourages it4 ,the assurance that ,thou wilt answer is the reason for the prayer1 ,incline ,thine ear4 ,naturally at such a moment the name of ,god springs to the psalmist's lips1 but significantly it is not the name found in the other two parts of the psalm4 ,there ,he is invoked as ,jehovah1 here as ,god4 ,the variation is not merely rhetorical1 but the name which connotes power is appropriate in a prayer for deliverance from peril so extreme4 ,magnify or make wonderful ,thy loving-kindnesses is a petition containing at once a glimpse of the psalmist's danger1 for escape from which nothing short of a wonder of power will avail1 and an appeal to ,god's delight in magnifying ,his name by the display of ,his mercy4 ,the prayer sounds arrogant1 as if the petitioner thought himself important enough to have miracles wrought for him2 but it is really most humble1 for the very wonder of the loving-kindness besought is that it should be exercised for such a one4 ,god wins honour by saving a poor man who cries to ,him2 and it is with deep insight into the heart of ,god that this man presents himself as offering an occasion1 in which ,god must delight1 to flash the glory of ,his loving power before dull eyes4 ,the petitions grow in boldness as they go on1 and culminate in two which occur in similar contiguity in the great ,song of ,moses in ,deut4 xxxii43 ,keep me as the pupil of ,thy eye4 ,what closeness of union with ,god that lovely figure implies1 and what sedulous guardianship it implores6 ,in the shadow of ,thy wings hide me4 ,what tenderness of fostering protection that ascribes to ,god1 and what warmth and security it asks for man6 ,the combination and order of these two petitions may teach us that1 if we are to be kept1 we must be hidden2 that if these frail lives of ours are to be dear to ,god as the apple of ,his eye1 they must be passed nestling close by ,his side4 ,deep1 secret communion with ,him is the condition of ,his protection of us1 as another psalm1 using the same image1 has it3 ,he that dwelleth in the secret place of the ,most ,high shall abide under the shadow of the ,almighty4 ,the aspects of the ,divine character1 which the psalmist employs to move ,god's heart and to encourage his own1 are contained first in the name ,god1 and next in the reference to ,his habitual dealings with trusting souls1 in ver #g4 ,from of old it has been ,his way to be the ,saviour of such as take refuge in ,him from their enemies1 and ,his right hand has shielded them4 ,that past is a prophecy which the psalmist grasps in faith4 ,he has in view instances enough to warrant an induction absolutely certain4 ,he knows the law of the ,divine dealings1 and is sure that anything may happen rather than that it shall fail4 ,was he wrong in thus characterising ,god8 ,much in his experience and in ours looks as if he were2 but they who most truly understand what help or salvation truly is will most joyously dwell in the sunny clearness of this confidence1 which will not be clouded for them1 though their own and others' trust is not answered by what sense calls deliverance4 ,the eye which steadily looks on ,god can look calmly at dangers4 ,it is with no failure of faith that the poet's thoughts turn to his enemies4 ,fears that have become prayers are already more than half conquered4 ,the psalmist would move ,god to help1 not himself to despair1 by recounting his perils4 ,the enemy spoil him or lay him waste1 the word used for the ravages of invaders4 ,they are enemies in soul--i4e41 deadly--or perhaps against my soul or life4 ,they are pitiless and proud1 closing their hearts1 which prosperity has made fat or arrogant1 against the entrance of compassion1 and indulging in gasconading boasts of their own power and contemptuous scoffs at his weakness4 ,they ring him round1 watching his steps4 ,the text has a sudden change here from singular to plural1 and back again to singular1 reading our steps1 and ,they have compassed me1 which the ,hebrew margin alters to us4 ,the wavering between the singular and plural is accounted for by the upholders of the ,davidic authorship by a reference to him and his followers1 and by the advocates of the theory that the speaker is the personified ,israel by supposing that the mask falls for a moment1 and the me1 which always means us1 gives place to the collective4 ,ver4 #aa b is ambiguous in consequence of the absence of an object to the second verb4 ,to set the eyes is to watch fixedly and eagerly2 and the purpose of the gaze is in the next clause stated by an infinitive with a preposition1 not by a participle1 as in the ,a4,v4 ,the verb is sometimes transitive and sometimes intransitive1 but the former is the better meaning here1 and the omitted object is most naturally us or me4 ,the sense1 then1 will be that the enemies eagerly watch for an opportunity to cast down the psalmist1 so as to lay him low on the earth4 ,the intransitive meaning to bow down is taken by some commentators4 ,if that is adopted 7as it is by ,hupfeld and others71 the reference is to our steps in the previous clause1 and the sense of the whole is that eager eyes watch for these bowing to the ground1 that is stumbling4 ,but such a rendering is harsh1 since steps are always on the ground4 ,baethgen 7,handcommentar71 on the strength of ,num4 xxi4 #bb1 the only place where the verb occurs with the same preposition as here1 and which he takes as meaning to turn aside to field or vineyard--i4e41 to plunder them--would translate1 ,they direct their eyes to burst into the land1 and supposes the reference to be to some impending invasion4 ,a similar variation in number to that in ver4 #aa occurs in ver4 #ab1 where the enemies are concentrated into one4 ,the allusion is supposed to be to some one conspicuous leader--e4g41 ,saul--but probably the change is merely an illustration of the carelessness as to such grammatical accuracy characteristic of emotional ,hebrew poetry4 ,the familiar metaphor of the lurking lion may have been led up to in the poet's imagination by the preceding picture of the steadfast gaze of the enemy1 like the glare of the green eyeballs flashing from the covert of a jungle4 ,the third part 7vv4 #ac-ae7 renews the cry for deliverance1 and unites the points of view of the preceding parts in inverted order1 describing first the enemies and then the psalmist1 but with these significant differences1 the fruits of his communion with ,god1 that now the former are painted1 not in their fierceness1 but in their transitory attachments and low delights1 and that the latter does not bemoan his own helplessness nor build on his own integrity1 but feeds his soul on his confidence of the vision of ,god and the satisfaction which it will bring4 ,the smoke clouds that rolled in the former parts have caught fire1 and one clear shoot of flame aspires heavenward4 ,he who makes his needs known to ,god gains for immediate answer the peace of ,god1 which passeth understanding1 and can wait ,god's time for the rest4 ,the crouching lion is still ready to spring2 but the psalmist hides himself behind ,god1 whom he asks to face the brute and make him grovel at his feet 7,make him bow down1 the same word used for a lion couchant in ,gen4 xlix4 #i and ,num4 xxiv4 #i74 ,the rendering of ver4 #ac b1 the wicked1 who is ,thy sword1 introduces an irrelevant thought2 and it is better to regard the sword as ,god's weapon that slays the crouching wild beast4 ,the excessive length of ver4 #ad and the entirely pleonastic from men 7by7 ,thy hand1 ,o ,lord1 suggest textual corruption4 ,the thought runs more smoothly1 though not altogether clearly1 if these words are omitted4 ,there remains a penetrating characterisation of the enemy in the sensuous limitations and mistaken aims of his godless being1 which may be satiated with low delights1 but never satisfied1 and has to leave them all at last4 ,he is no longer dreaded1 but pitied4 ,his prayer has cleared the psalmist's eyes and lifted him high enough to see his foes as they are4 ,they are men of the world1 belonging1 by the set of their lives1 to a transitory order of things--an anticipation of ,new ,testament language about the children of this world4 ,their portion is in this life1 while the psalmist's is ,god 7xvi4 #e74 ,they have chosen to have their good things in their lifetime4 ,hopes1 desires1 aims1 tastes1 are all confined within the narrow bounds of time and sense1 than which there can be no greater folly4 ,such limitation will often seem to succeed1 for low aims are easily reached2 and ,god sometimes lets men have their fill of the goods at which their perverted choice clutches4 ,but even so the choice is madness and misery1 for the man1 gorged with worldly good1 has yet to leave it1 however unwilling to loosen his hold4 ,he cannot use his goods2 and it is no comfort to him1 sent away naked into darkness of death1 that his descendants revel in what was his4 ,how different the contrasted conditions of the hunted psalmist and his enemies look when the light of such thoughts streams on them6 ,the helpless victim towers above his persecutors1 for his desires go up to ,him who abides and saturates with ,his blessed fulness the heart that aspires to ,him4 ,terrors vanish2 foes are forgotten2 every other wish is swallowed up in one1 which is a confidence as well as a desire4 ,the psalmist neither grudges1 nor is perplexed by1 the prosperity of the wicked4 ,the mysteries of men's earthly lot puzzle those who stand at a lower elevation2 but they do not disturb the soul on these supreme heights of mystic devotion1 where ,god is seen to be the only good1 and the hungry heart is filled with ,him4 ,assuredly the psalmist's closing expectation embodies the one contrast worth notice3 that between the present gross and partial satisfactions of sense-bound lives and the calm1 permanent1 full delights of communion with ,god4 ,but does he limit his hopes to such hours of high communion with the living ,god as may be ours1 even while the foe rings us round and earth holds us down8 ,possibly so1 but it is difficult to find a worthy meaning for when ,i awake unless it be from the sleep of death4 ,possibly1 too1 the allusion to the men of the world as leaving their substance makes the reference to a future beatific vision more likely4 ,death is to them the stripping off of their chosen portion2 it is to him whose portion is ,god the fuller possession of all that he loves and desires4 ,cheyne 7,orig4 of ,psalt41 p4 #djg7 regards the awaking as that from the sleep of the intermediate state by the passing of the soul into a resurrection body4 ,he is led to the recognition of the doctrine of the resurrection here by his theory of the late date of the psalm and the influence of ,zoroastrianism on it4 ,but it is not necessary to suppose an allusion to the resurrection4 ,rather the psalmist's confidence is the offspring of his profound consciousness of present communion1 and we see here the very process by which a devout man1 in the absence of a clear revelation of the future1 reached up to a conclusion to which he was led by his experience of the inmost reality of friendship with ,god4 ,the impotence of death on the relation of the devout soul to ,god is a postulate of faith1 whether formulated as an article of faith or not4 ,probably the psalmist had no clear conception of a future life2 but certainly he had a distinct assurance of it1 because he felt that the very sweetness of present fellowship with ,god yielded proof that it was born for immortality4 ,,psalm ,,xviii4 #a ,heartily do ,i love ,thee1 ,jehovah1 my strength6 #b ,jehovah1 my rock and my fortress and my deliverer1 ,my ,god1 my rock in whom ,i take refuge1 ,my shield and the horn of my salvation and my high tower6 #c ,i call upon ,him who is to be praised1 ,jehovah2 ,and from mine enemies am ,i saved4 #d ,the breakers of death ringed me round1 ,and streams of destruction terrified me4 #e ,the cords of ,sheol encircled me2 ,the snares of death fronted me4 #f ,in my distress ,i called on ,jehovah1 ,and to my ,god ,i loudly cried2 ,he heard my voice from ,his palace-temple1 ,and my loud crying before ,him entered ,his ears4 #g ,then the earth rocked and reeled1 ,and the foundations of the mountains quivered ,and rocked again1 for ,he was wroth4 #h ,smoke went up in ,his nostrils1 ,and fire from ,his mouth devoured2 ,brands came blazing from ,him4 #i ,and ,he bowed the heavens and came down1 ,and cloud gloom was below ,his feet4 #aj ,and ,he rode upon the cherub and flew1 ,and came swooping on the wings of the wind4 #aa ,he made darkness ,his covert1 ,his tent round about ,him1 ,darkness of waters and cloud masses of the skies4 #ab ,from the brightness before ,him there passed through ,his cloud-masses ,hail and brands of fire4 #ac ,and ,jehovah thundered in the heavens1 ,and the ,most ,high gave forth ,his voice4 #ad ,and ,he sent forth ,his arrows and scattered them1 ,and lightnings many1 and flung them into panic4 #ae ,and the beds of the waters were seen1 ,and the foundations of the earth bared1 ,at ,thy rebuke1 ,jehovah1 ,at the blast of the breath of ,thy nostrils4 #af ,he stretched from on high3 ,he took me2 ,he drew me from many waters4 #ag ,he rescued me from my strong enemy ,and from my haters1 because they were too mighty for me4 #ah ,they fell on me in the day of my calamity1 ,but ,jehovah became as a staff to me4 #ai ,and ,he brought me out into a wide place2 ,he delivered me1 because ,he delighted in me4 #bj ,jehovah treated me according to my righteousness2 ,according to the cleanness of my hands ,he returned recompense to me4 #ba ,for ,i kept the ways of ,jehovah1 ,and did not part myself by sin from my ,god4 #bb ,for all ,his judgments were before me1 ,and ,his statutes did ,i not put away from me4 #bc ,and ,i was without fault with ,him1 ,and ,i kept myself from my iniquity4 #bd ,therefore ,jehovah returned recompense to me according to my righteousness1 ,according to the cleanness of my hands before ,his eyes4 #be ,with the gracious man ,thou showest ,thyself gracious2 ,with the faultless man ,thou showest ,thyself faultless4 #bf ,with him who purifies himself ,thou showest ,thyself pure1 ,and with the perverse ,thou showest ,thyself froward4 #bg ,for ,thou savest humbled people1 ,and eyes uplifted ,thou dost bring low4 #bh ,for ,thou lightest my lamp2 ,jehovah my ,god brightens my darkness4 #bi ,for by ,thee ,i run down a troop1 ,and through my ,god ,i spring over a rampart4 #cj ,as for ,god1 ,his way is faultless2 ,the word of ,jehovah is tried 7as by fire73 ,a shield is ,he to all who take refuge in ,him4 #ca ,for who is ,god but ,jehovah1 ,and who is a rock besides our ,god8 #cb ,it is ,god who girded me with strength1 ,and made my way faultless2 #cc ,who made my feet like hinds' feet1 ,and made me stand upon my high places2 #cd ,who schooled my hands for war1 ,so that my arms bend a bow of brass4 #ce ,and ,thou didst give me the shield of ,thy salvation1 ,and ,thy right hand upheld me1 ,and ,thy humility made me great4 #cf ,thou didst broaden under me a path for my step1 ,and my ankles did not give4 #cg ,i pursued my enemies1 and overtook them2 ,and ,i did not turn till ,i had consumed them4 #ch ,i shattered them1 and they could not rise2 ,they fell beneath my feet4 #ci ,and ,thou girdedst me with might for battle2 ,thou didst bring my assailants to their knees under me4 #dj ,and my enemies ,thou madest to turn their backs to me1 ,and my haters--,i annihilated them4 #da ,they shrieked1 and there was no helper1 ,to ,jehovah1 and ,he answered them not4 #db ,i pounded them like dust before the wind2 ,like street mud ,i emptied them out4 #dc ,thou didst deliver me from the strifes of the people2 ,thou didst set me for a head of the nations2 ,a people whom ,i knew not served me4 #dd ,at the hearing of the ear they made themselves obedient to me2 ,the children of the foreigner came feigning to me4 #de ,the children of the foreigner faded away1 ,and came trembling from their strongholds4 #df ,jehovah lives1 and blessed be my rock2 ,and exalted be the ,god of my salvation1 #dg ,the ,god who gave me revenges ,and subdued peoples under me1 #dh ,my deliverer from my enemies3 ,yea1 from my assailants ,thou didst set me on high1 ,from the man of violence didst ,thou rescue me4 #di ,therefore will ,i give ,thee thanks among the nations1 ,jehovah2 ,and to ,thy name will ,i sing praise4 #ej ,he magnifies salvations for ,his king1 ,and works loving-kindness for ,his anointed1 ,for ,david and for his seed for evermore4 ,the description of the theophany 7vv4 #g-ai7 and that of the psalmist's ,god-won victories 7vv4 #cb-df7 appear to refer to the same facts1 transfigured in the former case by devout imagination and presented in the latter in their actual form4 ,these two portions make the two central masses round which the psalm is built up4 ,they are connected by a transitional section1 of which the main theme is the power of character to determine ,god's aspect to a man as exemplified in the singer's experience2 and they are preceded and followed by an introduction and a conclusion1 throbbing with gratitude and love to ,jehovah1 the ,deliverer4 ,the ,davidic authorship of this psalm has been admitted even by critics who are slow to recognise it4 ,cheyne asks1 as if sure of a negative answer1 ,what is there in it that suggests the history of ,david8 7,orig4 of the ,psalter1 p4 #bje74 ,baethgen1 who suspects that a ,davidic psalm has been worked over for use in public worship1 may answer the question3 ,the following points speak for the ,davidic authorship4 ,the poet is a military commander and king1 who wages successful wars1 and subdues peoples whom he hitherto did not know4 ,there is no ,israelite king to whom the expressions in question in the psalm apply so closely as is the case with ,david4 ,to these points may be added the allusions to earlier trials and perils1 and the distinct correspondence1 in a certain warmth and inwardness of personal relation to ,jehovah1 with the other psalms attributed to ,david1 as well as the pregnant use of the word to flee to a refuge1 applied to the soul's flight to ,god1 which we find here 7ver4 #b7 and in the psalms ascribed to him4 ,if the clear notes of the psalm be the voice of personal experience1 there is but one author possible--namely1 ,david--and the glow and intensity of the whole make the personification theory singularly inadequate4 ,it is much easier to believe that ,david used the word temple or palace for ,jehovah's heavenly dwelling1 than that the ,i of the psalm1 with his clinging sense of possession in ,jehovah1 his vivid remembrance of sorrows1 his protestations of integrity1 his wonder at his own victories1 and his triumphant praise1 is not a man1 but a frosty personification of the nation4 ,the preluding invocation in vv4 #a-c at once touches the high-water mark of ,old ,testament devotion1 and is conspicuous among its noblest utterances4 ,nowhere else in ,scripture is the form of the word employed which is here used for love4 ,it has special depth and tenderness4 ,how far into the centre this man had penetrated1 who could thus isolate and unite ,jehovah and himself1 and could feel that they two were alone and knit together by love6 ,the true estimate of ,jehovah's ways with a man will always lead to that resolve to love1 based on the consciousness of ,god's love to him4 ,happy they who learn that lesson by retrospect2 happier still if they gather it from their sorrows while these press6 ,love delights in addressing the beloved and heaping tender names on its object1 each made more tender and blessed by that appropriating my4 ,it seems more accordant with the fervent tone of the psalm to regard the reiterated designations in ver4 #b as vocatives1 than to take ,jehovah and ,god as subjects and the other names as predicates4 ,rather the whole is one long1 loving accumulation of dear names1 a series of invocations1 in which the restful heart murmurs to itself how rich it is and is never wearied of saying1 my delight and defence4 ,as in ,psalm xvii41 the name of ,jehovah occurs twice1 and that of ,god once4 ,each of these is expanded1 as it were1 by the following epithets1 and the expansion becomes more extended as it advances1 beginning with one member in ver4 #a1 having three in ver4 #b a and four in ver4 #b b4 ,leaving out the ,divine names proper1 there are seven in ver4 #b1 separated into two groups by the name of ,god4 ,it may be observed there is a general correspondence between the two sets1 each beginning with rock 7though the word is different in the two clauses71 each having the metaphor of a fortress1 and shield and horn of salvation1 roughly answering to ,deliverer4 ,the first word for rock is more properly crag or cliff1 thus suggesting inaccessibility1 and the second a rock mass1 thus giving the notion of firmness or solidity4 ,the shade of difference need not be pressed1 but the general idea is that of safety1 or by elevation above the enemy and by reason of the unchangeable strength of ,jehovah4 ,in that lofty eyrie1 a man may look down on all the armies of earth1 idly active on the plain4 ,that great ,rock towers unchangeable above fleeting things4 ,the river at its base runs past1 the woods nestling at its feet bud and shed their leaves1 but it stands the same4 ,david had many a time found shelter among the hills and caves of ,judah and the ,south land1 and it may not be fancy that sees reminiscences of these experiences in his song4 ,the beautiful figure for trust embodied in the word in #b b belongs to the metaphor of the rock4 ,it is found with singular appropriateness in ,psalm lvii41 which the title ascribes to ,david in the cave1 the sides of which bent above him and sheltered him1 like a great pair of wings1 and possibly suggested the image1 ,in the shadow of ,thy wings will ,i take refuge4 ,the difference between fortress and high tower is slight1 but the former gives more prominence to the idea of strength1 and the latter to that of elevation1 both concurring in the same thought as was expressed by rock1 but with the additional suggestion of ,jehovah as the home of the soul4 ,safety1 then1 comes through communion4 ,abiding in ,god is seclusion from danger4 ,deliverer stands last in the first set1 saying in plain words what the preceding had put in figures4 ,my shield and the horn of my salvation come in the centre of the second set1 in obedience to the law of variety in reiteration which the poet's artistic instincts impose4 ,they shift the figure to that of a warrior in actual conflict4 ,the others picture a fugitive from enemies1 these a fighter4 ,the shield is a defensive weapon2 horns are offensive ones1 and the combination suggests that in conflict we are safe by the interposition of ,god's covering power1 and are armed by the same power for striking at the foe4 ,that power ensures salvation1 whether in the narrower or wider sense4 ,thus ,jehovah is all the armour and all the refuge of ,his servant4 ,to trust ,him is to have ,his protection cast around and ,his power infused for conflict and victory4 ,the end of all life's experience is to reveal ,him in these characters1 and they have rightly learned its lessons whose song of retrospect begins with ,i will love ,thee1 ,jehovah1 and pours out at ,his feet all happy names expressive of ,his sufficiency and of the singer's rest in possessing ,him4 ,ver4 #c is not a resolution for the future--,i will call2 444 so shall ,i be saved--but the summing up of experience in a great truth3 ,i call1 444 and ,i am saved4 ,it unfolds the meaning of the previous names of ,god1 and strikes the key-note for the magnificent sequel4 ,the superb idealisation of past deliverances under the figure of a theophany is prepared for by a retrospect of dangers1 which still palpitates with the memory of former fears4 ,a sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things1 and a joy's crown of joy is remembering past perils4 ,no better description of ,david's early life could have been given than that contained in the two vivid figures of vv4 #d and #e4 ,if we adopt the more congruous reading of the other recension of the psalm in #b ,sam4 xxii41 we have in both members of ver4 #d a parallel metaphor4 ,instead of sorrows or cords 7both of which renderings are possible for the text of the psalm here71 it reads breakers1 corresponding with floods in the second clause4 ,destruction is better than ungodly men as the rendering of the unusual word ,belial4 ,thus the psalmist pictures himself as standing on a diminishing bit of solid ground1 round which a rising flood runs strong1 breaking on its crumbling narrowness4 ,islanded thus1 he is all but lost4 ,with swift transition he casts the picture of his distress into another metaphor4 ,now he is a hunted creature1 surrounded and confronted by cords and snares4 ,sheol and ,death have marked him for their prey1 and are drawing their nets round him4 ,what is left for him8 ,one thing only4 ,he has a voice1 and he has a ,god4 ,in his despair one piercing cry breaks from him2 and1 wonder of wonders1 that thin shoot of prayer rises right into the heavenly palace-temple and the ears of ,god4 ,the repetition of ,i called upon the ,lord connects this with ver4 #c as the experience on which the generalisation there is based4 ,his extremity of peril had not paralysed the psalmist's grasp of ,god as still my ,god1 and his confidence is vindicated4 ,there is an eloquent contrast between the insignificance of the cause and the stupendous grandeur of the effect3 one poor man's shrill cry and a shaking earth and all the dread pomp attending an interposing ,god4 ,a cupful of water poured into a hydraulic ram sets in motion power that lifts tons2 the prayer of faith brings the dread magnificence of ,jehovah into the field4 ,the reading of #b ,samuel is preferable in the last clause of ver4 #f1 omitting the superfluous before ,him4 ,the phenomena of a thunderstorm are the substratum of the grand description of ,jehovah's delivering self-manifestation4 ,the garb is lofty poetry2 but a definite fact lies beneath1 namely some deliverance in which the psalmist saw ,jehovah's coming in storm and lightning flash to destroy1 and therefore to save4 ,faith sees more truly because more deeply than sense4 ,what would have appeared to an ordinary looker-on as merely a remarkable escape was to its subject the manifestation of a present ,god4 ,which eye sees the things that are1--that which is cognisant only of a concatenation of events1 or that which discerns a ,person directing these8 ,the cry of this hunted man has for first effect the kindling of the ,divine wrath1 which is represented as flaming into action in the tremendous imagery of vv4 #g and #h4 ,the description of the storm in which ,god comes to help the suppliant does not begin with these verses1 as is commonly understood4 ,the ,divine power is not in motion yet1 but is1 as it were1 gathering itself up for action4 ,the complaining prayer is boldly treated as bringing to ,god's knowledge ,his servant's straits1 and the knowledge as moving ,him to wrath towards the enemies of one who takes shelter beneath ,his wings4 ,what have ,i here that my--servant is thus bestead8 saith the ,lord4 ,the poet can venture to paint a picture with the pen1 which the painter dare not attempt with the pencil4 ,the anger of ,jehovah is described in words of singular daring1 as rising like smoke from ,his nostrils and pouring in fire from ,his lips1 from which blazing brands issue4 ,no wonder that the earth reels even to the roots of the mountains1 as unable to endure that wrath6 ,the frank anthropomorphism of the picture1 of which the features are taken from the hard breathing of an angry man or animal 7compare ,job's crocodile in ,job xli4 #aj-ac71 and the underlying conception are equally offensive to many2 but as for the former1 the more gross the humanising of the picture1 the less likely is it to be mistaken for prose fact1 and the more easy to apprehend as symbol3 and as for the latter1 the ,new ,testament endorses the conception of the wrath of ,god1 and bids us take heed lest1 if we cast it away1 we maim ,his love4 ,this same psalm hymns ,jehovah's gentleness2 and the more deeply ,his love is apprehended1 the more surely will ,his wrath be discerned as its necessary accompaniment4 ,the dark orb and its radiant sister move round a common centre4 ,thus kindled1 ,god's wrath flashes into action1 as is wonderfully painted in that great storm piece in vv4 #i-ae4 ,the stages of a violent thunder tempest are painted with unsurpassable force and brevity4 ,first we see the low clouds3 far nearer the trembling earth than the hidden blue was1 and seeming to press down with leaden weight1 their boding blackness is above us2 but ,whose foot shall we see emerge1 ,whose from the straining topmost dark8 ,their low gathering is followed by the sudden rush of wind1 which breaks the awful calm4 ,in its sound1 the psalmist hears the winnowing of mighty wings3 those of the cherub on whom1 as a living chariot1 ,jehovah sits throned4 ,this is called mythology4 ,is it not rather a poetic personification of elemental powers1 which gives emphasis to their being ,god's instruments8 ,the cherubim are in ,scripture represented in varying forms and with different attributes4 ,in ,ezekiel they assume a composite form1 due apparently to ,babylonian influences2 but here there is no trace of that1 and the absence of such strongly supports a pre-exilic date4 ,blacker grows the gloom1 in which awed hearts are conscious of a present ,deity shrouded behind the livid folds of the thunder-clouds1 as in a tent4 ,down rushes the rain2 the darkness is a darkness of waters1 and also thick clouds of the skies1 or cloud masses1 a mingled chaos of rain and cloud4 ,then lightning tears a way through the blackness1 and the language becomes abrupt1 like the flash4 ,in vv4 #ab and #ac the fury of the storm rages4 ,blinding brightness and deafening thunder-claps gleam and rattle through the broken words4 ,probably ver4 #ab should be rendered1 ,from the brightness before ,him there came through ,his clouds hail and brands of fire4 ,hidden in the cloudy tent is the light of ,jehovah's presence1 sparkles from which1 flung forth by ,him1 pierce the solid gloom2 and men call them lightnings4 ,then thunder rolls1 the voice of the ,most ,high4 ,the repetition in ver4 #ac of hail and brands of fire gives much abrupt force1 and one is unwilling to part with it4 ,the reason for omitting it from the text is the want of grammatical connection1 but that is rather a reason for retaining it1 as the isolated clause breaks in on the continuity of the sentence1 just as the flash shoots suddenly out of the cloud4 ,these lightnings are ,god's arrows2 and1 as they are showered down in flights1 the psalmist's enemies1 unnamed since ver4 #c1 scatter in panic4 ,the ideal character of the whole representation is plain from the last element in it--the description in ver4 #ae of laying bare the sea's depths1 as the waters were parted at the ,exodus4 ,that voice and the fierce blast from these fire-breathing nostrils have dried the streams1 and the oozy bed is seen4 ,god's rebuke has power to produce physical changes4 ,the earthquake at the beginning and the empty ocean bed at the end are both somewhat outside the picture of the storm1 and complete the representation of all nature as moved by the theophany4 ,then comes the purpose of all the dread magnificence1 strangely small except to the psalmist4 ,heaven and earth have been shaken1 and lightnings set leaping through the sky1 for nothing greater than to drag one half-drowned man from the floods4 ,but the result of the theophany is small only in the same fashion as its cause was small4 ,this same poor man cried1 and the cry set ,jehovah's activity in motion4 ,the deliverance of a single soul may seem a small thing1 but if the single soul has prayed it is no longer small1 for ,god's good name is involved4 ,a nation is disgraced if its meanest subject is left to die in the hands of foreign enemies1 and blood and treasure are not wasted if poured out lavishly for his rescue4 ,god cannot let a suppliant who has taken shelter in ,his tent be dragged thence4 ,therefore there is no disproportion between the theophany and the individual deliverance which is its sole result4 ,the psalmist lays aside the figure in vv4 #ag1 #ah1 and comes to the bare fact of his deliverance from enemies1 and perhaps from one especially formidable 7my enemy1 ver4 #ag74 ,the prose of the whole would have been that he was in great danger and without means of averting it1 but had a hair-breadth escape4 ,but the outside of a fact is not all of it2 and in this mystical life of ours poetry gets nearer the heart of things than does prose1 and religion nearer than either4 ,it is no miracle1 in the narrow meaning of that word1 which the psalmist sings2 but his eye has seen the unseen force which moves all visible events4 ,we may see the same apocalypse of a present ,jehovah1 if our eyes are purged1 and our hearts pure4 ,it is always true that the cry of a trustful soul pierces heaven and moves ,god2 it is always true that ,he comes to ,his servant sinking and crying1 ,lord1 save me2 ,i perish4 ,the scene on the ,galilean lake when ,christ's strong grasp held ,peter up1 because his fear struck out a spark of faith1 though his faith was darkened with fear1 is ever being repeated4 ,the note slightly touched at the close of the description of the deliverance dominates the second part of the psalm 7vv4 #bj-ca71 of which the main theme is the correspondence of ,god's dealings with character1 as illustrated in the singer's experience1 and thence generalised into a law of the ,divine administration4 ,it begins with startling protestations of innocence4 ,these are rounded into a whole by the repetition1 at the beginning and end1 of the same statement that ,god dealt with the psalmist according to his righteousness and clean-handedness4 ,if the author is ,david1 this voice of a good conscience must have been uttered before his great fall1 after which he could1 indeed1 sing of forgiveness and restoring grace1 but never again of integrity4 ,unlike as the tone of these verses is to that deeper consciousness of sin which is not the least of ,christ's gifts1 the truth which they embody is as much a part of the ,christian as of the earlier revelation4 ,true1 penitence must now mingle with conscious rectitude more abundantly than it does in this psalm2 but it is still and for ever true that ,god deals with ,his servants according to their righteousness4 ,cherished sin separates from ,him1 and forces ,his love to leave cries for help many times unanswered1 in order that1 filled with the fruit of their doings1 ,his people may have a wholesome fear of again straying from the narrow way4 ,unless a ,christian can say1 ,i keep myself from mine iniquity1 he has no right to look for the sunshine of ,god's face to gladden his eyes1 nor for the strength of ,god's hand to pluck his feet from the net4 ,in noble and daring words1 the psalmist proclaims as a law of ,god's dealings his own experience generalised 7vv4 #be-bg74 ,it is a bold reversal of the ordinary point of view to regard man as taking the initiative and ,god as following his lead4 ,and yet is not life full of solemn facts confirmatory of the truth that ,god is to a man what the man is to ,god8 ,that is so1 both subjectively and objectively4 ,subjectively our conceptions of ,god vary with our moral nature1 and objectively the dealings of ,god are moulded according to that nature4 ,there is such a thing as colour blindness in regard to the ,divine character1 whereby some men cannot see the green of faithful love or the red of wrath1 but each beholds that in ,god which his vision fits him to see2 and the many-sided dealings of ,god are different in their incidence upon different characters1 so that the same heat melts wax and hardens clay2 and further the actual dealings are accurately adapted to the state of their objects1 so that each gets what he needs most3 the loving heart1 sweet love tokens from the ,divine ,lover2 the perverse1 thwartings which come from a ,god contrary to them who are contrary to ,him4 ,the history of the world is the judgment of the world4 ,but the first of the designations of character in ver4 #be hints that before man's initiative had been ,god's2 for merciful is the pregnant word occurring so often in the ,psalter1 and so impossible to translate by any one word4 ,it means1 as we have already had occasion to point out1 one who is the subject of the ,divine loving-kindness1 and who therefore loves ,god in return4 ,here it seems rather to be taken in the sense of loving than of beloved4 ,he who exercises this loving-kindness1 whether towards ,god or man1 shall find in ,god ,one who exercises it to him4 ,but the word itself regards man's loving-kindness towards ,god as being the echo of ,god's1 and so the very first step in determining the mutual relations is ,god's1 and but for it there would never have been that in man which ,god could answer by showing ,himself as loving4 ,the contrasted dealings and characters are summed up in the familiar antithesis of ver4 #bg4 ,the afflicted or humble are the type of ,god-pleasing character1 since humility1 such as befits dependent creatures1 is the mother of all goodness1 and high looks the master sin1 and the whole drift of ,providence is to lift the lowly and abase the proud4 ,the psalmist's swift thought vibrates throughout this part of the song between his own experience and the general truths exemplified in it4 ,he is too full of his own deliverance to be long silent about it1 and1 on the other hand1 is continually reminded by it of the wide sweep of the beneficent laws which have been so fruitful of good to him4 ,the most precious result of individual mercy is the vision obtained through it of the universal ,lover of souls4 ,my ,god will be widened into our ,god1 and our ,god will rest upon my ,god1 if either is spoken from the heart's depths4 ,so in vv4 #bg-bi the personal element comes again to the front4 ,the individualising name ,my ,god occurs in each verse1 and the deliverance underlying the theophany is described in terms which prepare for the fuller celebration of victory in the last part of the psalm4 ,god lights the psalmist's lamp1 by which is meant not the continuance of his family 7as the expression elsewhere means71 but the preservation of his own life1 with the added idea1 especially in ver4 #bh b1 of prosperity4 ,ver4 #bi tells how the lamp was kept alight1 namely by the singer's victory in actual battle1 in which his swift rush had overtaken the enemy1 and his agile limbs had scaled their walls4 ,the parallelism of the clauses is made more complete by the emendation adopted by ,lagarde1 ,cheyne1 ,baethgen1 etc41 who read ver4 #bi a1 ,i can break down a fence1 but this is unnecessary4 ,the same combination of running and climbing occurs in ,joel ii4 #g1 and the two clauses of ver4 #cc seem to repeat those of ver4 #bi4 ,the swift1 agile warrior1 then1 traces these physical powers to ,god1 as he does more at large in later verses4 ,once more1 the song passes1 in ver4 #cj1 to the wider truths taught by the personal deliverance4 ,our ,god takes the place of my ,god2 and all who take refuge in ,him are discerned as gathering1 a shadowy crowd1 round the solitary psalmist1 and as sharing in his blessings4 ,the large truths of these verses are the precious fruit of distress and deliverance4 ,both have cleared the singer's eyes to see1 and tuned his lips to sing1 a ,god whose doings are without a flaw1 whose word is like pure gold without alloy or falsehood1 whose ample protection shields all who flee to its shelter1 who alone is ,god1 the fountain of strength1 who stands firm for ever1 the inexpugnable defence and dwelling-place of men4 ,this burst of pure adoration echoes the tones of the glorious beginning of the psalm4 ,happy they who1 as the result of life's experience1 solve the riddle of this painful earth1 with these firm and jubilant convictions as the very foundation of their being4 ,the remainder of the psalm 7ver4 #cb to end7 describes the victorious campaign of the psalmist and the establishment of his kingdom4 ,there is difficulty in determining the tenses of the verbs in some verses1 and interpreters vary between pasts and futures4 ,the inclination of the greater number of recent commentators is to carry the historical retrospect uninterruptedly through the whole context1 which1 as ,hupfeld acknowledges1 allerdings das bequemste ist1 and those who suppose occasional futures interspersed 7as the ,r4,v4 and ,hupfeld7 differ in the places of their introduction4 ,everything here is retrospective1 says ,delitzsch1 and certainly that view is simplest and gives unity to the whole4 ,the name of ,god is never mentioned in the entire section1 except as vainly invoked by the flying foe4 ,not till the closing doxologies does it appear again1 with the frequency which marks the middle part of the psalm4 ,a similar sparse use of it characterises the description of the theophany4 ,in both cases there is a peculiar force given by the stream of verbs without expressed nominatives4 ,the hurrying clauses here vividly reproduce the haste of battle1 and each falls like the blow of a battle mace wielded by a strong arm4 ,the equipment of the king for the fight 7vv4 #cb-cf71 the fierce assault1 flight of the foe and their utter annihilation 7vv4 #cg-db71 the extension by conquest of the singer's kingdom 7vv4 #dc1 #dd71 successively pass before us as we listen to the panting words with the heat of battle in them2 and all rises at last into exuberant praise1 which re-echoes some strains of the introductory burst of thanksgiving4 ,many mythologies have told how the gods arm their champions1 but the psalmist reaches a loftier height than these4 ,he ventures to think of ,god as doing the humble office of bracing on his girdle1 but the girdle is itself strength4 ,god1 whose own way is perfect 7ver4 #cj71 makes ,his servant's way in some measure like ,his own2 and though1 no doubt1 the figure must be interpreted in a manner congruous with its context1 as chiefly implying perfection in regard to the purpose in hand--namely1 warfare--we need not miss the deeper truth that ,god's soldiers are fitted for conflict by their ways being conformed to ,god's4 ,this man's strength was as the strength of ten1 because his heart was pure4 ,strength and swiftness are the two characteristics of antique heroes1 and ,god's gift bestowed both on the psalmist4 ,light of foot as a deer and able to climb to the robber forts perched on crags1 as a chamois would1 his hands deft1 and his muscular arms strong to bend the bow which others could not use1 he is the ideal of a warrior of old2 and all these natural powers he again ascribes to ,god's gift4 ,a goddess gave ,achilles his wondrous shield1 but what was it to that which ,god binds upon this warrior's arm8 ,as his girdle was strength1 and not merely a means of strength1 his shield is salvation1 and not merely a means of safety4 ,the fact that ,god purposes to save and does act for saving is the defence against all dangers and enemies4 ,it is the same deep truth as the prophet expresses by making salvation the walls and bulwarks of the strong city where the righteous nation dwells in peace4 ,god does not thus arm ,his servant and then send him out alone to fight as he can1 but ,thy right hand holds me up4 ,what assailant can beat him down1 if that hand is under his armpit to support him8 ,the beautiful rendering of the ,a4,v41 ,thy gentleness1 scarcely conveys the meaning1 and weakens the antithesis with the psalmist's greatness1 which is brought out by translating ,thy lowliness1 or even more boldly ,thy humility4 ,there is that in ,god which answers to the peculiarly human virtue of lowliness2 and unless there were1 man would remain small and unclothed with ,god-given strength4 ,the devout soul thrills with wonder at ,god's stooping love1 which it discerns to be the foundation of all ,his gifts and therefore of its blessedness4 ,this singer saw deep into the heart of ,god1 and anticipated the great word of the one ,revealer1 ,i am meek and lowly in heart4 ,but ,god's care for him does not merely fit him for the fight3 it also orders circumstances so as to give him a free course4 ,having made his feet like hinds' feet1 ,god then prepares paths that he should walk in them4 ,the work is only half done when the man is endowed for service or conflict2 a field for his powers must be forthcoming1 and ,god will take care that no strength given by ,him lies idle for want of a wrestling ground4 ,sooner or later feet find the road4 ,then follow six verses 7#cg-db7 full of the stir and tumult of battle4 ,there is no necessity for the change to futures in the verbs of vv4 #cg1 #ch1 which the ,r4,v4 adopts4 ,the whole is a picture of past conflict1 for which the psalmist had been equipped by ,god4 ,it is a literal fight1 the triumph of which still glows in the singer's heart and flames in his vivid words4 ,we see him in swift pursuit1 pressing hard on the enemy1 crushing them with his fierce onset1 trampling them under foot4 ,they break and flee1 shrieking out prayers1 which the pursuer has a stern joy in knowing to be fruitless4 ,his blows fall like those of a great pestle1 and crush the fleeing wretches1 who are scattered by his irresistible charge1 like dust whirled by the storm4 ,the last clause of the picture of the routed foe is better given by the various reading in #b ,samuel1 which requires only a very slight alteration in one letter3 ,i did stamp them as the mire of the streets4 ,such delight in the enemy's despair and destruction1 such gratification at hearing their vain cries to ,jehovah1 are far away from ,christian sentiments2 and the gulf is not wholly bridged by the consideration that the psalmist felt himself to be ,god's anointed1 and enmity to him to be treason against ,god4 ,most natural as his feelings were1 perfectly consistent with the level of religion proper to the then stage of revelation1 capable of being purified into that triumph in the victory of good and ruin of evil without which there is no vigorous sympathy with ,christ's battle1 and kindling as they do by their splendid energy and condensed rapidity an answering glow in even readers so far away from their scene as we are1 they are still of another spirit from that which ,christ has breathed into the ,church1 and nothing but confusion and mischief can come of slurring over the difference4 ,the light of battle which blazes in them is not the fire which ,jesus longed to kindle upon earth4 ,thus far the enemies seem to have been native foes rebelling against ,god's anointed or1 if the reference to the ,sauline persecution is held by1 seeking to prevent his reaching his throne4 ,but1 in the concluding verses of this part 7#dc-de71 a transition is made to victory over strangers1 i4e4 foreign nations4 ,the strivings of the people seems to point back to the war described already1 while ,thou hast made me the head of the nations refers to external conquests4 ,in #b ,samuel the reading is my people1 which would bring out the domestic reference more strongly2 but the suffix for my may be a defective form of writing the plural2 if so1 the peoples in ver4 #dc a are the nations of #dc b4 ,in any case the royal singer celebrates the extension of his dominion4 ,the tenses in vv4 #dd1 #de1 which the ,r4,v4 again gives as futures 7as does ,hupfeld71 are better regarded1 like all the others1 as pasts4 ,the wider dominion is not inconsistent with ,davidic origin1 as his conquests were extended beyond the territory of ,israel4 ,the picture of the hasty surrender of the enemy at the very sound of the conqueror's name is graphic4 ,they lied unto me1 as the words in ver4 #dd b are literally1 gives forcibly the feigned submission covering bitter hate4 ,they fade away1 as if withered by the simoom1 the hot blast of the psalmist's conquering power4 ,they come trembling or1 as #b ,samuel reads1 come limping from their strongholds4 ,vv4 #df to end make a noble close to a noble hymn1 in which the singer's strong wing never flags nor the rush of thought and feeling slackens4 ,even more absolutely than in the rest of the psalm every victory is ascribed to ,jehovah4 ,he alone acts2 the psalmist is simply the recipient4 ,to have learned by life's struggles and deliverances that ,jehovah is a living ,god and my ,rock is to have gathered life's best fruit4 ,a morning of tempest has cleared into sunny calm1 as it always will1 if tempest drives to ,god4 ,he who cries to ,jehovah when the floods of destruction make him afraid will in due time have to set to his seal that ,jehovah liveth4 ,if we begin with ,the ,lord is my ,rock1 we shall end with ,blessed be my ,rock4 ,thankfulness does not weary of reiterating acknowledgments2 and so the psalmist gathers up once more the main points of the psalm in these closing strains and lays all his mass of blessings at the feet of the ,giver4 ,his deliverance from his domestic foes and his conquests over external enemies are wholly ,god's work1 and therefore supply both impulse and material for praises which shall sound out beyond the limits of ,israel4 ,the vow to give thanks among the nations has been thought fatal to the ,davidic origin of the psalm4 ,seeing1 however1 that some foreign peoples were conquered by him1 there was opportunity for its fulfilment4 ,his function to make known the name of ,jehovah was the reason for his victories4 ,david had learned the purpose of his elevation1 and recognised in an extended kingdom a wider audience for his song4 ,therefore ,paul penetrates to the heart of the psalm when he quotes ver4 #di in ,rom4 xv4 #i as a proof that the evangelising of the ,gentiles was an ,old ,testament hope4 ,the plain lesson from the psalmist's vow is that ,god's mercies bind1 and if felt aright will joyfully impel1 the receiver to spread ,his name as far as his voice can reach4 ,love is sometimes silent1 but gratitude must speak4 ,the most unmusical voice is tuned to melody by thankfulness1 and they need never want a theme who can tell what the ,lord has done for their soul4 ,the last verse of the psalm is sometimes regarded as a liturgical addition1 and the mention of ,david gratuitously supposed to be adverse to his authorship1 but there is nothing unnatural in a king's mentioning himself in such a connection nor in the reference to his dynasty1 which is evidently based upon the promise of perpetual dominion given through ,nathan4 ,the ,christian reader knows how much more wonderful than the singer knew was the mercy granted to the king in that great promise1 fulfilled in the ,son of ,david1 whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom1 and who bears ,god's name to all the nations4 ,,psalm ,,xix4 #a ,the heavens declare the glory of ,god1 ,and the work of ,his hands the firmament makes known4 #b ,day to day pours forth speech1 ,and night to night shows knowledge4 #c ,there is no speech and no words2 ,not heard is their voice4 #d ,in all the earth their line goes forth1 and in the end of the world their words2 ,for the sun has ,he set a tent in them1 #e ,and he is like a bridegroom going out from his chamber2 ,he rejoices like a hero to run 7his7 course4 #f ,from the end of the heavens is his going forth1 and his circuit unto their ends2 ,and nothing is hid from his heat4 #g ,the law of ,jehovah is perfect1 restoring the soul2 ,the testimony of ,jehovah is trusty1 making wise the simple4 #h ,the precepts of ,jehovah are right1 rejoicing the heart2 ,the commandment of ,jehovah is pure1 enlightening the eyes4 #i ,the fear of ,jehovah is clean1 standing for ever2 ,the judgments of ,jehovah are truth3 they are righteous altogether4 #aj ,they are more to be desired than gold and than abundant gold refined1 ,and they are sweeter than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb4 #aa ,moreover1 ,thy servant is warned by them2 ,in keeping them is reward abundant4 #ab ,inadvertencies who can discern8 ,from hidden sins absolve me4 #ac ,also from presumptuous sins keep back ,thy servant3 let them not rule over me2 ,then shall ,i be guiltless1 and ,i shall be absolved from great transgression4 #ad ,accepted be the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart in ,thy sight1 ,jehovah1 my ,rock and my ,kinsman-redeemer6 ,is this originally one psalm or bits of two1 pieced together to suggest a comparison between the two sources of knowledge of ,god1 which the authors did not dream of8 ,the affirmative is strongly maintained1 but1 we may venture to say1 not so strongly sustained4 ,the two parts are said to differ in style1 rhythm1 and subject4 ,certainly they do1 but the difference in style accounts for the difference in structure4 ,it is not an unheard-of phenomenon that cadence should change with theme2 and if the very purpose of the song is to set forth the difference of the two witnesses to ,god1 nothing can be more likely than such a change in measure4 ,the two halves are said to be put together abruptly without anything to smooth the transition4 ,so they are1 and so is ver4 #d put by the side of ver4 #c2 and so does the last turn of thought 7vv4 #ab-ad7 follow the second4 ,cyclopean architecture without mortar has a certain impressiveness4 ,the abruptness is rather an argument for than against the original unity1 for a compiler would have been likely to try to make some sort of glue to hold his two fragments together1 while a poet1 in the rush of his afflatus1 would welcome the very abruptness which the manufacturer would avoid4 ,surely the thought that binds the whole into a unity--that ,jehovah is ,el1 and that nature and law witness to the same ,divine ,person1 though with varying clearness--is not so strange as that we should have to find its author in some late editor unknown4 ,vv4 #a-f hymn the silent declaration by the heavens4 ,the details of exposition must first be dealt with4 ,declare and makes known are participles1 and thus express the continuity of the acts4 ,the substance of the witness is set forth with distinct reference to its limitations1 for glory has here no moral element1 but simply means what ,paul calls eternal power and ,godhead1 while the ,divine name of ,god 7,el7 is used in intended contrast to ,jehovah in the second half1 a nuance which must be obliterated if this is a conglomerate psalm4 ,his handiwork1 in like manner1 limits the revelation4 ,the heavens by day are so marvellously unlike the heavens by night that the psalmist's imagination conjures up two long processions1 each member of which passes on the word entrusted to him to his successor--the blazing days with heaven naked but for one great light1 and the still nights with all their stars4 ,ver4 #c has given commentators much trouble in attempting to smooth its paradox4 ,tastes are curiously different1 for some critics think that the familiar interpretation gives a flat1 prosaic meaning1 while ,cheyne takes the verse to be a gloss for dull readers1 and exclaims1 ,how much the brilliant psalm fragment gains by its omission6 ,de gustibus1 etc4 ,some of us may still feel that the psalmist's contrast of the awful silence in the depths of the sky and of the voice that speaks to opened ears thrills us with something very like the electric touch of poetry4 ,in ver4 #d the thought of the great voices returns4 ,their line is usually explained as meaning their sphere of influence1 marked out1 as it were1 by a measuring cord4 ,if that rendering is adopted1 ver4 #d b would in effect say1 ,their words go as far as their realm4 ,or the rendering sound may be deduced1 though somewhat precariously1 from that of line1 since a line stretched is musical4 ,but the word is not used as meaning the string of an instrument1 and the very slight conjectural emendation which gives voice instead of line has much to recommend it4 ,in any case the teaching of the verse is plain from the last clause1 namely the universality of the revelation4 ,it is singular that the mention of the sun should come in the close of the verse2 and there may be some error in the text1 though the introduction of the sun here may be explained as completing the picture of the heavens1 of which it is the crowning glory4 ,then follows the fuller delineation of his joyous energy1 of his swift strength in his course1 of his penetrating beams1 illuminating and warming all4 ,why should the glowing metaphors1 so natural and vigorous1 of the sun coming forth from his bridal chamber and1 hero-like1 running his race1 be taken to be traces of ancient myths now innocently reclaimed from the service of superstition8 ,to find in these two images a proof that the first part of the psalm belongs to the post-exilic literary revival of ,hebrew mythology is surely to lay more on them than they can bear4 ,the scientific contemplation of nature is wholly absent from ,scripture1 and the picturesque is very rare4 ,this psalmist knew nothing about solar spectra or stellar distances1 but he heard a voice from out of the else waste heavens which sounded to him as if it named ,god4 ,comte ventured to say that the heavens declare the glory of the astronomer1 not of ,god2 but1 if there be an order in them1 which it is a man's glory to discover1 must there not be a mind behind the order1 and must not the ,maker have more glory than the investigator8 ,the psalmist is protesting against stellar worship1 which some of his neighbours practised4 ,the sun was a creature1 not a god2 his race was marked out by the same hand which in depths beyond the visible heavens had pitched a tent for his nightly rest4 ,we smile at the simple astronomy2 the religious depth is as deep as ever4 ,dull ears do not hear these voices2 but whether they are stopped with the clay of earthly tastes and occupations1 or stuffed with scientific wadding of the most modern kind1 the ears that do not hear ,god's name sounded from the abysses above1 have failed to hear the only word which can make man feel at home in nature4 ,carlyle said that the sky was a sad sicht4 ,the sadness and awfulness are taken away when we hear the heavens telling the glory of ,god4 ,the unscientific psalmist who did hear them was nearer the very heart of the mystery than the scientist who knows everything else about them but that4 ,with an abrupt transition which is full of poetical force1 the singer turns to the praises of the better revelation of ,jehovah4 ,nature speaks in eloquent silence of the strong ,god1 but has no witness to ,his righteous will for men or ,his love to them which can compare with the clear utterances of ,his law4 ,the rhythm changes1 and in its cadence expresses the psalmist's exuberant delight in that law4 ,in vv4 #g-aa the clauses are constructed on a uniform plan1 each containing a name for the law1 an attribute of it1 and one of its effects4 ,the abundance of synonyms indicates familiarity and clear views of the many sides of the subject4 ,the psalmist had often brooded on the thought of what that law was1 because1 loving its ,giver1 he must needs love the gift4 ,so he calls it law1 or teaching1 since there he found the best lessons for character and life4 ,it was testimony1 for in it ,god witnessed what ,he is and what we should be1 and so witnessed against sin2 it was a body of precepts 7statutes1 ,a4,v47 giving rich variety of directions2 it was commandment1 blessedly imperative2 it was fear of the ,lord1 the effect being put for the cause2 it was judgments1 the decisions of infinite truth concerning duty4 ,these synonyms have each an attribute attached1 which1 together1 give a grand aggregate of qualities discerned by a devout heart to inhere in that law which is to so many but a restraint and a foe4 ,it is perfect1 as containing without flaw or defect the ideal of conduct2 sure or reliable1 as worthy of being absolutely followed and certain to be completely fulfilled2 right1 as prescribing the straight road to man's true goal2 pure or bright1 as being light like the sun1 but of a higher quality than that material brilliance2 clean1 as contrasted with the foulness bedaubing false faiths and making idol worship unutterably loathsome2 true and wholly righteous1 as corresponding accurately to the mind of ,jehovah and the facts of humanity and as being in full accordance with the justice which has its seat in the bosom of ,god4 ,the effects are summed up in the latter clauses of these verses1 which stand1 as it were1 a little apart1 and by the slight pause are made more emphatic4 ,the rhythm rises and falls like the upspringing and sinking of a fountain4 ,the law restores the soul1 or rather refreshes the life1 as food does2 it makes the simple wise by its sure testimony1 giving practical guidance to narrow understandings and wills open to easy beguiling by sin2 it rejoices the heart1 since there is no gladness equal to that of knowing and doing the will of ,god2 it enlightens the eyes with brightness beyond that of the created light which rules the day4 ,then the relation of clauses changes slightly in ver4 #i1 and a second attribute takes the place of the effect4 ,it endures for ever1 and1 as we have seen1 is wholly righteous4 ,the ,old ,testament law was relatively imperfect and destined to be done away1 but the moral core of it abides4 ,being more valuable than all other treasures1 there is wealth in the very desire after it more than in possessing these4 ,loved1 it yields sweetness in comparison with which the delights of sense are bitter2 done1 it automatically rewards the doer4 ,if obedience had no results except its inward consequences1 it would be abundantly repaid4 ,every true servant of ,jehovah will be willing to be warned by that voice1 even though it rebuke and threaten4 ,all this rapture of delight in the law contrasts with the impatience and dislike which some men entertain for it4 ,to the disobedient that law spoils their coarse gratifications4 ,it is as a prison in which life is wearisomely barred from delights2 but they who dwell behind its fences know that these keep evils off1 and that within are calm joys and pure pleasures4 ,the contemplation of the law cannot but lead to self-examination1 and that to petition4 ,so the psalmist passes into prayer4 ,his shortcomings appal1 for by the law is the knowledge of sin1 and he feels that beyond the sin which he knows1 there is a dark region in him where foul things nestle and breed fast4 ,secret faults are those hidden1 not from men1 but from himself4 ,he discovers that he has hitherto undiscovered sins4 ,lurking evils are most dangerous because1 like aphides on the under-side of a rose leaf1 they multiply so quickly unobserved2 small deeds make up life1 and small1 unnoticed sins darken the soul4 ,mud in water1 at the rate of a grain to a glassful1 will make a lake opaque4 ,happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth4 ,conscience needs educating2 and we have to compare ourselves with the ideal of perfect life in ,jesus1 if we would know our faults1 as young artists go over their copies in front of the masterpiece4 ,but the psalmist knows that1 servant of ,god though he is1 he is in danger from another class of sins1 and so prays to be held back from presumptuous sins1 i4e4 wilful conscious transgressions4 ,such deliberate contraventions of law tend to become habitual and despotic2 so the prayer follows that they may not have dominion4 ,but even that is not the lowest depth4 ,deliberate sin1 which has gained the upper hand1 is but too apt to end in apostacy4 ,great transgression is probably a designation for casting off the very pretence of worshipping ,jehovah4 ,that is the story of many a fall4 ,first1 some unsuspected evil habit gnaws away the substance of the life1 as white ants do wood1 leaving the shell apparently intact2 then come sins open and palpable1 and these enslave the will1 becoming habits1 and then follows entire abandonment of the profession of religion4 ,it is a slippery1 dark stairway1 and the only safety is in not setting foot on the top step4 ,god1 and ,god only1 can keep us back4 ,he will1 if we cling to ,him1 knowing our weakness4 ,thus clinging1 we may unblamed cherish the daring hope that we shall be upright and innocent1 since nothing less than entire deliverance from sin in all its forms and issues can correspond to the will of ,god concerning us and the power of ,god in us1 nor satisfy our deepest desires4 ,the closing aspiration is that ,jehovah would accept the song and prayer4 ,there is an allusion to the acceptance of a sacrifice1 for the phrase be acceptable is frequent in connection with the sacrificial ritual4 ,when the words of the mouth coincide with the meditation of the heart1 we may hope that prayers for cleansing from1 and defence against1 sin1 offered to ,him whom our faith recognises as our strength and our ,redeemer1 will be as a sacrifice of a sweet smell1 well-pleasing to ,god4 ,he best loves the law of ,jehovah who lets it teach him his sin1 and send him to his knees2 he best appreciates the glories of the silent heavens who knows that their witness to ,god is but the prelude of the deeper music of the ,scriptures' declaration of the heart and will of ,jehovah1 and who grasps ,him as his strength and his ,redeemer from all evil1 whether evil of sin or evil of sorrow4 ,,psalm ,,xx4 #a ,jehovah answer thee in the day of trouble1 ,the name of the ,god of ,jacob set thee on high2 #b ,send thy help from the holy place1 ,and from ,zion hold thee up2 #c ,remember all thy meal offerings1 ,and thy burnt offerings may ,he find fat2 ,selah4 #d ,give thee according to thy heart1 ,and all thy counsel may ,he fulfil4 #e ,may we exult in thy salvation1 and in the name of our ,god wave our standards2 ,jehovah fulfil all thy petitions6 #f ,now ,i know that ,jehovah saves ,his anointed2 ,he will answer him from his ,holy heaven1 with mighty deeds of the salvation of ,his right hand4 #g ,these boast in chariots1 and these in horses2 ,and we--in the name of ,jehovah our ,god we boast4 #h ,they--they are bowed down1 and fall2 ,and we--we are risen1 and stand firm4 #i ,jehovah1 save6 ,may the ,king hear us in the day when we call4 ,this is a battle song1 followed by a chant of victory4 ,they are connected in subject and probably in occasion1 but fight and triumph have fallen dim to us1 though we can still feel how hotly the fire once glowed4 ,the passion of loyalty and love for the king1 expressed in these psalms1 fits no reign in ,judah so well as the bright noonday of ,david's1 when whatever the king did pleased all the people4 ,cheyne1 indeed1 would bring them down to the ,maccabean period1 and suggests ,simon ,maccabus as the ruler referred to4 ,he has to put a little gentle pressure on king to contract it to fit the man of his choice1 and appeals to the good old ,semitic sense of consul4 ,but would not an appeal to ,hebrew usage have been more satisfactory8 ,if king means king1 great or small1 the psalm is not post-exilic1 and the ,davidic date will not seem impossible4 ,it does not seem impossible that a poet-king should have composed a national hymn praying for his own victory1 which was the nation's also4 ,the psalm has traces of the alternation of chorus and solo4 ,the nation or army first pours out its united prayer for victory in vv4 #a-e1 and is succeeded by a single voice 7possibly that of the officiating priest or the king himself7 in ver4 #f1 expressing confidence that the prayer is answered1 which1 again1 is followed by the closing chorus of many voices throbbing with the assurance of victory before a blow is struck1 and sending one more long-drawn cry to ,god ere battle is joined4 ,the prayer in vv4 #a-e breathes self-distrust and confidence in ,jehovah1 the temper which brings victory1 not only to ,israel1 but to all fighters for ,god4 ,here is no boasting of former victories1 nor of man's bravery and strength1 nor of a captain's skill4 ,one name is invoked4 ,it alone rouses courage and pledges triumph4 ,the name of the ,god of ,jacob set thee on high4 ,that name is almost regarded as a person1 as is often the case4 ,attributes and acts are ascribed to it which properly belong to the ,unnameable whom it names1 as if with some dim inkling that the agent of revealing a person must be a person4 ,the name is the revealed character1 which is contemplated as having existence in some sense apart from ,him whose character it is4 ,possibly there is a reference to ,gen4 xxxv4 #c1 where ,jacob speaks of the ,god who answered me in the day of my distress4 ,that ancient instance of ,his power to hear and help may have floated before the singer's mind as heartening faith for this day of battle4 ,to set on high is a familiar natural figure for deliverance4 ,the earthly sanctuary is ,jehovah's throne2 and all real help must come thence1 of which help ,his dwelling there is a pledge4 ,so in these two verses the extremity of need1 the history of past revelation1 and the special relation of ,jehovah to ,israel are woven into the people's prayer for their king4 ,in vv4 #c1 #d1 they add the incense of their intercession to his sacrifices4 ,the background of the psalm is probably the altar on which the accustomed offerings before a battle were being presented 7#a ,sam4 xiii4 #i74 ,the prayer for acceptance of the burnt offering is very graphic1 since the word rendered accept is literally esteem fat4 ,one wish moved the sacrificing king and the praying people4 ,their common desire was victory1 but the people are content to be obscure1 and their loyal love so clings to their monarch and leader that they only wish the fulfilment of his wishes4 ,this unity of feeling culminates in the closing petitions in ver4 #f1 where self-oblivion wishes ,may we exult in thy salvation1 arrogating none of the glory of victory to themselves1 but ascribing all to him1 and vows ,in the name of our ,god we will wave our standards1 ascribing victory to ,him1 its ultimate cause4 ,an army that prays1 ,jehovah fulfil all thy petitions1 will be ready to obey all its captain's commands and to move in obedience to his impulse as if it were part of himself4 ,the enthusiastic community of purpose with its chief and absolute reliance on ,jehovah1 with which this prayer throbs1 would go far towards securing victory anywhere4 ,they should find their highest exemplification in that union between ,christ and us in which all human relationships find theirs1 since1 in the deepest sense1 they are all ,messianic prophecies1 and point to ,him who is all the good that other men and women have partially been1 and satisfies all the cravings and necessities which human relationships1 however blessed1 but incompletely supply4 ,the sacrifice has been offered2 the choral prayer has gone up4 ,silence follows1 the worshippers watching the curling smoke as it rises2 and then a single voice breaks out into a burst of glad assurance that sacrifice and prayer are answered4 ,who speaks8 ,the most natural answer is1 ,the king2 and the fact that he speaks of himself as ,jehovah's anointed in the third person does not present a difficulty4 ,what is the reference in that now at the beginning of ver4 #f8 ,may we venture to suppose that the king's heart swelled at the exhibition of his subjects' devotion and hailed it as a pledge of victory8 ,the future is brought into the present by the outstretched hand of faith1 for this single speaker knows that ,jehovah has saved1 though no blow has yet been struck4 ,the prayer had asked for help from ,zion2 the anticipation of answer looks higher3 to the holier sanctuary1 where ,jehovah indeed dwells4 ,the answer now waited for in sure confidence is the mighty deeds of salvation of ,his right hand1 some signal forthputting of ,divine power scattering the foe4 ,a whisper may start an avalanche4 ,the prayer of the people has set ,omnipotence in motion4 ,such assurance that petitions are heard is wont to spring in the heart that truly prays1 and comes as a forerunner of fulfilment1 shedding on the soul the dawn of the yet unrisen sun4 ,he has but half prayed who does not wait in silence1 watching the flight of his arrow and not content to cease till the calm certainty that it has reached its aim fills his heart4 ,again the many voices take up the song1 responding to the confidence of the single speaker and1 like him1 treating the victory as already won4 ,looking across the field to the masses of the enemy's cavalry and chariots1 forces forbidden to ,israel1 though employed by them in later days1 the song grandly opposes to these the name of ,jehovah our ,god4 ,there is a world of contempt and confidence in the juxtaposition4 ,chariots and horses are very terrible1 especially to raw soldiers unaccustomed to their whirling onset2 but the ,name is mightier1 as ,pharaoh and his array proved by the ,red ,sea4 ,this reference to the army of ,israel as unequipped with cavalry and chariots is in favour of an early date1 since the importation and use of both began as soon as ,solomon's time4 ,the certain issue of the fight is given in ver4 #h in a picturesque fashion1 made more vigorous by the tenses which describe completed acts4 ,when the brief struggle is over1 this is what will be seen--the enemy prone1 ,israel risen from subjection and standing firm4 ,then comes a closing cry for help1 which1 according to the traditional division of the verse1 has one very short clause and one long drawn out1 like the blast of the trumpet sounding the charge4 ,the intensity of appeal is condensed in the former clause into the one word save and the renewed utterance of the name1 thrice referred to in this short psalm as the source at once of strength and confidence4 ,the latter clause1 as in the ,a4,v4 and ,r4,v41 transfers the title of ,king from the earthly shadow to the true ,monarch in the heavens1 and thereby suggests yet another plea for help4 ,the other division of the verse1 adopted in the ,,lxx4 and by some moderns1 equalises the clauses by transferring the king to the former 7,o ,lord1 save the king1 and answer us1 etc474 ,but this involves a violent change from the second person imperfect in the first clause to the third person imperfect in the second4 ,it would be intolerably clumsy to say1 ,do ,thou save2 may ,he hear1 and therefore the ,,lxx4 has had recourse to inserting and at the beginning of the second clause1 which somewhat breaks the jolt1 but is not in the ,hebrew4 ,the text1 as it stands1 yields a striking meaning1 beautifully suggesting the subordinate office of the earthly monarch and appealing to the true ,king to defend ,his own army and go forth with it to the battle which is waged for ,his name4 ,when we are sure that we are serving ,jehovah and fighting for ,him1 we may be sure that we go not a warfare at our own charges nor alone4 ,,psalm ,,xxi4 #a ,jehovah1 in ,thy strength the king rejoices1 ,and in ,thy salvation how greatly he exults6 #b ,the desire of his heart ,thou hast given to him1 ,and the request of his lips ,thou hast not refused4 #c ,for ,thou meetest him with blessings of good2 ,thou settest on his head a crown of pure gold4 #d ,life he asked from ,thee2 ,thou gavest it to him1 ,length of days for ever and ever4 #e ,great is his glory through ,thy salvation2 ,honour and majesty ,thou layest upon him4 #f ,for ,thou dost set him to be blessings for ever1 ,dost gladden him in joy with ,thy face4 #g ,for the king trusts in ,jehovah1 ,and in the loving-kindness of the ,most ,high he shall not be moved4 #h ,thine hand shall reach towards all thy foes2 ,thy right hand shall reach all thy haters4 #i ,thou shalt make them as a furnace of fire at the time of thine appearance 7face72 ,jehovah in ,his wrath shall swallow them up3 fire shall devour them4 #aj ,their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth1 ,and their seed from the sons of men4 #aa ,for they cause evil to hang over thee2 ,they meditate mischief3 they will achieve nothing4 #ab ,for thou shalt make them turn their back1 ,on thy bowstrings wilt aim arrows at their faces4 #ac ,lift ,thyself up1 ,jehovah1 in ,thy strength2 ,we will sing and harp1 praising ,thy might4 ,this psalm is a pendant to the preceding4 ,there the people prayed for the king2 here they give thanks for him3 there they asked that his desires might be fulfilled2 here they bless ,jehovah1 who has fulfilled them3 there the battle was impending2 here it has been won1 though foes are still in the field3 there the victory was prayed for2 here it is prophesied4 ,who is the king8 ,the superscription points to ,david4 ,conjecture has referred to ,hezekiah1 principally because of his miraculous recovery1 which is supposed to be intended in ver4 #d4 ,cheyne thinks of ,simon ,maccabus1 and sees his priestly crown in ver4 #c4 ,but there are no individualising features in the royal portrait1 and it is so idealised1 or rather spiritualised1 that it is hard to suppose that any single monarch was before the singer's mind4 ,the remarkable greatness and majesty of the figure will appear as we read4 ,the whole may be cast into two parts1 with a closing strain of prayer4 ,in the first part 7vv4 #a-g7 the people praise ,jehovah for ,his gifts to the king2 in the second 7vv4 #h-ab7 they prophesy to the king complete victory2 in ver4 #ac they end1 as in xx41 with a short petition1 which1 however1 here is1 in accordance with the tone of the whole1 more jubilant than the former and less shrill4 ,the former psalm had asked for strength to be given to the king2 this begins with thanks for the strength in which the king rejoices4 ,in the former the people had anticipated triumph in the king's salvation or victory2 here they celebrate his exceeding exultation in it4 ,it was his1 since he was victor1 but it was ,jehovah's1 since ,he was ,giver of victory4 ,loyal subjects share in the king's triumph1 and connect it with him2 but he himself traces it to ,god4 ,the extraordinarily lofty language in which ,jehovah's gifts are described in the subsequent verses has1 no doubt1 analogies in the ,assyrian hymns to which ,cheyne refers2 but the abject reverence and partial deification which these breathe were foreign to the relations of ,israel to its kings1 who were not separated from their subjects by such a gulf as divided the great sovereigns of the ,east from theirs4 ,the mysterious ,divinity which hedges the king in the royal psalms is in sharp contrast with the democratic familiarity between prince and people exhibited in the history4 ,the phenomena common to these psalms naturally suggest that the king whom they celebrate is rather the ideal than the real monarch4 ,the office rather than the individual who partially fulfils its demands and possesses its endowments seems to fill the singer's canvas4 ,but the ideal of the office is destined to be realised in the ,messiah1 and the psalm is in a true sense ,messianic1 inasmuch as1 with whatever mixture of conceptions proper to the then stage of revelation1 it still ascribes to the ideal king attributes which no king of ,judah exhibited4 ,the transcendant character of the gifts of ,jehovah enumerated here is obvious1 however the language may be pared down4 ,first1 we have the striking picture of ,jehovah coming forth to meet the conqueror with blessings of goodness1 as ,melchizedek met ,abraham with refreshments in his hands and benedictions on his lips4 ,victory is naturally followed by repose and enjoyment1 and all are ,jehovah's gift4 ,the subsequent endowments may possibly be regarded as the details of these blessings1 the fruits of the victory4 ,of these the first is the coronation of the conqueror1 not as if he had not been king before1 but as now more fully recognised as such4 ,the supporters of the ,davidic authorship refer to the crown of gold won at the capture of ,rabbath of ,ammon1 but there is no need to seek historical basis for the representation4 ,then comes a signal instance of the king's closeness of intercourse with ,jehovah and of his receiving his heart's desire in that he asked for life and received length of days for ever and ever4 ,no doubt the strong expression for perpetuity may be paralleled in such phrases as ,o king1 live for ever1 and others which are obviously hyperbolical and mean not perpetual1 but indefinitely protracted1 duration2 but the great emphasis of expression here and its repetition in ver4 #f can scarcely be disposed of as mere hyperbole4 ,if it is the ideal king who is meant1 his undying life is substantially synonymous with the continuance of the dynasty which #b ,sam4 vii4 represents as the promise underlying the ,davidic throne4 ,the figure of the king is then brought still nearer to the light of ,jehovah1 and words which are consecrated to express ,divine attributes are applied to him in ver4 #e4 ,glory1 honour and majesty1 are predicated of him1 not as if there were an apotheosis1 as would have been possible in ,assyrian or ,roman flattery1 but the royal recipient and the ,divine ,giver are clearly separated1 even while the lustre raying from ,jehovah is conceived of as falling in brightness upon the king4 ,these flashing emanations of the ,divine glory make their recipient blessings for ever1 which seems to include both the possession and the communication of good4 ,an eternal fountain of blessing and himself blessed1 he is cheered with joy which comes from ,jehovah's face1 so close is his approach and so gracious to him is that countenance4 ,nothing higher could be thought of than such intimacy and friendliness of access4 ,to dwell in the blaze of that face and to find only joy therein is the crown of human blessedness 7,psalm xvi4 #aa74 ,finally1 the double foundation of all the king's gifts is laid in ver4 #g3 he trusts and ,jehovah's loving-kindness gives1 and therefore he stands firm1 and his throne endures1 whatever may dash against it4 ,these daring anticipations are too exuberant to be realised in any but ,one1 whose victory was achieved in the hour of apparent defeat2 whose conquest was both ,his salvation and ,god's2 who prays knowing that ,he is always heard2 who is ,king of men because ,he endured the cross1--and wears the crown of pure gold because ,he did not refuse the crown of thorns2 who liveth for evermore1 having been given by the ,father to have life in ,himself2 who is the outshining of the ,father's glory1 and has all power granted unto ,him2 who is the source of all blessing to all1 who dwells in the joy to which ,he will welcome ,his servants2 and who ,himself lived and conquered by the life of faith1 and so became the first ,leader of the long line of those who have trusted and therefore have stood fast4 ,whomsoever the psalmist saw in his vision1 he has gathered into one many traits which are realised only in ,jesus ,christ4 ,the second part 7vv4 #h-ab7 is1 by ,hupfeld and others1 taken as addressed to ,jehovah2 and that idea has much to recommend it1 but it seems to go to wreck on the separate reference to ,jehovah in ver4 #i1 on the harshness of applying evil against thee and a mischievous device 7ver4 #aa7 to ,him1 and on the absence of a sufficient link of connection between the parts if it is adopted4 ,if1 on the other hand1 we suppose that the king is addressed in these verses1 there is the same dramatic structure as in ,psalm xx42 and the victory which has been won is now taken as a pledge of future ones4 ,the expectation is couched in terms adapted to the horizon of the singer1 and on his lips probably meant stern extermination of hostile nations4 ,the picture is that of a fierce conqueror1 and we must not seek to soften the features1 nor1 on the other hand1 to deny the prophetic inspiration of the psalmist4 ,the task of the ideal king was to crush and root out opposition to his monarchy1 which was ,jehovah's4 ,very terrible are the judgments of his hand1 which sound liker those of ,jehovah than those inflicted by a man1 as ,hupfeld and others have felt4 ,in ver4 #h the construction is slightly varied in the two clauses1 the verb reach having a preposition attached in the former1 and not in the latter1 which difference may be reproduced by the distinction between reach towards and reach4 ,the seeking hand is stretched out after1 and then it grasps1 its victims4 ,the comparison of the fiery oven is inexact in form1 but the very negligence helps the impression of agitation and terribleness4 ,the enemy are not likened to a furnace1 but to the fuel cast into it4 ,but the phrase rendered in ,a4,v4 in the time of thine anger is very remarkable1 being literally in the time of thy face4 ,the destructive effect of ,jehovah's countenance 7xxxiv4 #ag7 is here transferred to ,his king's1 into whose face has passed1 as he gazed in joy on the face of ,jehovah1 some of the lustre which kills where it does not gladden4 ,compare everlasting destruction from the face of the ,lord 7#b ,thess4 i4 #i74 ,the king is so completely representative of ,jehovah that the destruction of the enemy is the work of the one fire of wrath common to both4 ,the destruction extends to the whole generation of enemies1 as in the ferocious warfare of old days1 when a nation was wiped off the earth4 ,the psalmist sees in the extremest vengeance the righteous and inevitable consequence of hostility condemned by the nature of the case to be futile1 and yet criminal3 ,they cause evil to hang over thee3 they meditate mischief2 they will achieve nothing4 ,then1 in ver4 #ab1 the dread scene is completed by the picture of the flying foe and the overtaking pursuer1 who first puts them to flight1 and then1 getting in front of them1 sends his arrows full in their faces4 ,the ideal of the king has a side of terror2 and while his chosen weapon is patient love1 he has other arrows in his quiver4 ,the pictures of the destroying conqueror are taken up and surpassed in the ,new ,testament4 ,they do not see the whole ,christ who do not see the ,warrior ,christ1 nor have they realised all ,his work who slur over the solemn expectation that one day men shall call on rocks and hills to cover them from the steady whole of the ,judge's face4 ,as in ,psalm xx41 the close is a brief petition1 which asks the fulfilment of the anticipations in vv4 #h-ab1 and traces1 as in ver4 #a1 the king's triumph to ,jehovah's strength4 ,the loyal love of the nation will take its monarch's victory as its own joy1 and be glad in the manifestation thereby of ,jehovah's power4 ,that is the true voice of devotion which recognises ,god1 not man1 in all victories1 and answers the forthflashing of ,his delivering power by the thunder of praise4 ,,psalm ,,xxii4 #a ,my ,god1 my ,god1 why hast ,thou forsaken me8 ,why art ,thou afar from my help1 from the words of my roar8 #b ,my ,god1 ,i cry to ,thee by day1 and ,thou answerest not2 ,and by night1 but there is no rest for me4 #c ,yet ,thou art ,holy1 ,throned upon the praises of ,israel4 #d ,in ,thee our fathers trusted2 ,they trusted and ,thou deliveredst them4 #e ,to ,thee they cried and were delivered2 ,in ,thee they trusted and were not put to shame4 #f ,but ,i am a worm1 and not a man2 ,a reproach of men and despised of people4 #g ,all who see me mock at me2 ,they draw open the lips1 they nod the head4 #h ,roll thy cares on ,jehovah--let ,him deliver him2 ,let ,him rescue him1 for ,he delights in him4 #i ,yea1 ,thou art ,he who didst draw me from the womb ,didst make me trust when on my mother's breasts4 #aj ,upon ,thee was ,i thrown from birth2 ,from my mother's womb art ,thou my ,god4 #aa ,be not far from me1 for trouble is near2 ,for there is no helper4 #ab ,many bulls have surrounded me1 ,strong ones of ,bashan have encircled me4 #ac ,they gape upon me with their mouth1 ,like a lion tearing and roaring4 #ad ,like water ,i am poured out1 ,and all my bones are out of joint ,my heart has become like wax1 ,melted in the midst of my bowels4 #ae ,my strength 7palate87 is dried up like a potsherd1 ,and my tongue cleaves to my gums1 ,and ,thou layest me in the dust of death4 #af ,for dogs have surrounded me1 ,a pack of evil-doers closed round me1 ,they pierced my hands and my feet4 #ag ,i can count all my bones1 ,these--they gaze1 upon me they look4 #ah ,they divide my garments among them1 ,and on my vesture they cast lots4 #ai ,but ,thou1 ,jehovah1 be not far off2 ,my ,strength1 haste to my help4 #bj ,deliver my soul from the sword1 ,my only life from the paw of the dog4 #ba ,save me from the mouth of the lion1 ,and from the horns of the wild oxen--,thou hast answered me4 #bb ,i will declare ,thy name to my brethren1 ,in the midst of the congregation will ,i praise ,thee4 #bc ,ye that fear ,jehovah1 praise ,him1 ,all ye the seed of ,jacob1 glorify ,him1 ,and stand in awe of ,him1 all ye the seed of ,israel4 #bd ,for ,he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted one4 ,and has not hid ,his face from him1 ,and when he cried has hearkened to him4 #be ,from ,thee comes my praise in the great congregation2 ,my vows will ,i pay before them that fear ,him4 #bf ,the humble shall eat and be satisfied1 ,they shall praise ,jehovah that seek ,him2 ,let your heart live for ever4 #bg ,all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to ,jehovah4 ,and all the families of the nations shall bow before ,thee4 #bh ,for the kingdom is ,jehovah's2 ,and ,he is ruler among the nations4 #bi ,all the fat ones of the earth eat and bow down2 ,before ,his face kneel all they who were going down to the dust1 ,and he who could not keep his soul alive4 #cj ,a seed shall serve ,him2 ,and it shall be told of ,jehovah unto the next generation4 #ca ,they shall come and declare ,his righteousness ,unto a people that shall be born1 that ,he has done this4 ,who is the sufferer whose wail is the very voice of desolation and despair1 and who yet dares to believe that the tale of his sorrow will be a gospel for the world8 ,the usual answers are given4 ,the title ascribes the authorship to ,david1 and is accepted by ,delitzsch and others4 ,hengstenberg and his followers see in the picture the ideal righteous man4 ,others think of ,hezekiah1 or ,jeremiah1 with whose prophecies and history there are many points of connection4 ,the most recent critics find here the personalised ,genius of ,israel1 or more precisely the followers of ,nehemiah1 including the large-hearted psalmist 7,cheyne1 ,orig4 of ,psalt41 #bfd74 ,on any theory of authorship1 the startling correspondence of the details of the psalmist's sufferings with those of the ,crucifixion has to be accounted for4 ,how startling that correspondence is1 both in the number and minuteness of its points1 need not be insisted on4 ,not only does our ,lord quote the first verse on the cross1 and so show that the psalm was in his heart then1 but the gestures and words of mockery were verbally reproduced1 as ,luke significantly indicates by using the ,,lxx's word for laugh to scorn 7ver4 #g74 ,christ's thirst is regarded by ,john as the fulfilment of scripture1 which can scarcely be other than ver4 #ae4 ,the physical effects of crucifixion are described in the ghastly picture of vv4 #ad1 #ae4 ,whatever difficulty exists in determining the true reading and meaning of the allusion to my hands and my feet1 some violence or indignity to them is intended4 ,the peculiar detail of dividing the raiment was more than fulfilled1 since the apparently parallel and synonymous clauses were resolved into two distinct acts4 ,the recognition of these points in the psalm as prophecies is one thing2 the determination of their relation to the psalmist's own experience is quite another4 ,it is taken for granted in many quarters that every such detail in prophecy must describe the writer's own circumstances1 and the supposition that they may transcend these is said to be psychologically impossible4 ,but it is somewhat hazardous for those who have not been subjects of prophetic inspiration to lay down canons of what is possible and impossible in it1 and there are examples enough to prove that the relation of the prophets' speech to their consciousness and circumstances was singularly complex1 and not to be unravelled by any such obiter dicta as to psychological possibilities4 ,they were recipients of messages1 and did not always understand what the ,spirit of ,christ which was in them did signify4 ,theories which neglect that aspect of the case do not front all the facts4 ,certainty as to the authorship of this psalm is probably unattainable4 ,how far its words fitted the condition of the singer must therefore remain unsettled4 ,but that these minute and numerous correspondences are more than coincidences1 it seems perverse to deny4 ,the present writer1 for one1 sees shining through the shadowy personality of the psalmist the figure of the ,prince of ,sufferers1 and believes that whether the former's plaints applied in all their particulars to him1 or whether there is in them a certain element of hyperbole which becomes simple fact in ,jesus' sufferings1 the psalm is a prophecy of ,him and them4 ,in the former case the psalmist's experience1 in the latter case his utterances1 were divinely shaped so as to prefigure the sacred sorrows of the ,man of ,sorrows4 ,to a reader who shares in this understanding of the psalm1 it must be holy ground1 to be trodden reverently and with thoughts adoringly fixed on ,jesus4 ,cold analysis is out of place4 ,and yet there is a distinct order even in the groans1 and a manifest contrast in the two halves of the psalm 7vv4 #a-ba and #bb-ca74 ,thou answerest not is the key-note of the former2 ,thou hast answered me1 of the latter4 ,the one paints the sufferings1 the other the glory that should follow4 ,both point to ,jesus3 the former by the desolation which it breathes2 the latter by the world-wide consequences of these solitary sufferings which it foresees4 ,surely opposites were never more startlingly blended in one gush of feeling than in that plaint of mingled faith and despair1 ,my ,god1 my ,god1 why hast ,thou forsaken me8 which by its thus addressing ,god clings fast to ,him1 and by its wondering question discloses the dreary consciousness of separation from ,him4 ,the evidence to the psalmist that he was forsaken was the apparent rejection of his prayers for deliverance2 and if ,david be the speaker1 we may suppose that the pathetic fate of his predecessor hovered before his thoughts3 ,i am sore distressed 444 ,god is departed from me and answereth me no more4 ,but1 while lower degrees of this conflict of trust and despair belong to all deep religious life1 and are experienced by saintly sufferers in all ages1 the voice that rang through the darkness on ,calvary was the cry of ,him who experienced its force in supreme measure and in altogether unique manner4 ,none but ,he can ask that question ,why8 with conscience void of offence4 ,none but ,he have known the mortal agony of utter separation from ,god4 ,none but ,he have clung to ,god with absolute trust even in the horror of great darkness4 ,in ,christ's consciousness of being forsaken by ,god lie elements peculiar to it alone1 for the separating agent was the gathered sins of the whole world1 laid on ,him and accepted by ,him in the perfection of ,his loving identification of ,himself with men4 ,unless in that dread hour ,he was bearing a world's sin1 there is no worthy explanation of ,his cry1 and many a silent martyr has faced death for ,him with more courage derived from ,him than ,he manifested on ,his cross4 ,after the introductory strophe of two verses1 there come seven strophes1 of which three contain #c verses each 7vv4 #c-aa7 followed by two of #b verses each 7vv4 #ab-ae7 and these again by two with #c verses each4 ,can a soul agitated as this singer's was regulate its sobs thus8 ,yes1 if it is a singer's1 and still more if it is a saint's4 ,the fetters make the limbs move less violently1 and there is soothing in the ordered expression of disordered emotion4 ,the form is artistic not artificial2 and objections to the reality of the feelings on the ground of the regularity of the form ignore the witness of the masterpieces of literature in all tongues4 ,the desolation rising from unanswered prayer drives to the contemplation of ,god's holiness and past responses to trusting men1 which are in one aspect an aggravation and in another an alleviation4 ,the psalmist partly answers his own question ,why8 and preaches to ,himself that the reason cannot be in ,jehovah1 whose character and former deeds bind ,him to answer trust by help4 ,god's holiness is primarily ,his separation from1 by elevation above1 the creature1 both in regard of ,his freedom from limitations and of ,his perfect purity4 ,if ,he is thus holy1 ,he will not break ,his promise1 nor change ,his ways with those who trust4 ,it takes some energy of faith to believe that a silent and apparently deaf ,god is holy1 and the effect of the belief may either be to crush or to lift the spirit4 ,its first result with this psalmist seems to have been to crush1 as the next strophe shows1 but the more blessed consequence is won before the end4 ,here it is partly a plea urged with ,god1 as is that beautiful bold image of ,god enthroned on the praises of ,israel4 ,these praises are evoked by former acts of grace answering prayers1 and of them is built a yet nobler throne than the outstretched wings of the ,cherubim4 ,the daring metaphor penetrates deeply into ,god's delight in men's praise1 and the power of ,israel's voice to exalt ,him in the world4 ,how could a ,god thus throned cease to give mercies like those which were perpetually commemorated thereby8 ,the same half-wistful1 half-confident retrospect is continued in the remaining verses of this strophe 7vv4 #d1 #e71 which look back to the grey fathers' experience4 ,mark the plaintive reiteration of trust and deliver1 the two inseparables1 as the days of old attested1 which had now become so sadly parted4 ,not more certainly the flow of water in a pipe answers the application of thirsty lips to its opening than did ,god's rescuing act respond to the father's trust4 ,and now6-- ,the use of ,our in reference to the fathers has been laid hold of as favouring the hypothesis that the speaker is the personified nation2 but no individual member of a nation would speak of the common ancestors as ,my fathers4 ,that would mean his own family progenitors1 whereas the psalmist means the ,patriarchs and the earlier generations4 ,no argument for the national theory1 then1 can be drawn from the phrase4 ,can the reference to ,jesus be carried into this strophe8 ,assuredly it may1 and it shows us how truly ,he associated ,himself with ,his nation1 and fed ,his faith by the records of the past4 ,he also is a son of ,abraham4 ,such remembrances make the contrast of present sufferings and of a far-off ,god more bitter2 and so a fresh wave of agony rolls over the psalmist's soul4 ,he feels himself crushed and as incapable of resistance as a worm bruised in all its soft length by an armed heel4 ,the very semblance of manhood has faded4 ,one can scarcely fail to recall his visage was so marred more than any man 7,isa4 lii4 #ad71 and the designation of ,jehovah's servant ,israel as thou worm 7,isa4 xli4 #ad74 ,the taunts that wounded the psalmist so sorely have long since fallen dumb1 and the wounds are all healed2 but the immortal words in which he wails the pain of misapprehension and rejection are engraved for ever on the heart of the world4 ,no suffering is more acute than that of a sensitive soul1 brimming with love and eagerness to help1 and met with scorn1 rejection and ferocious mockery of its sacredest emotions4 ,no man has ever felt that pang with the intensity with which ,jesus felt it1 for none has ever brought such wealth of longing love to be thrown back on itself1 nor been so devoid of the callousness with which selfishness is shielded4 ,his pure nature was tender as an infant's hand1 and felt the keen edge of the spear as none but ,he can have done4 ,they are ,his sorrows that are painted here1 so vividly and truly that the evangelist ,luke takes the very word of the ,,lxx4 version of the psalm to describe the rulers' mockery 7,luke xxiii4 #ce74 ,they draw open the lips1 grinning with delight or contempt2 they nod the head in mockery and assent to the suffering inflicted2 and then the savage hate bursts into irony which defiles the sacredest emotions and comes near to blaspheming ,god in ridiculing trust in ,him4 ,the mockers thought it exquisite sarcasm to bid ,jesus roll ,his troubles on ,jehovah1 and to bid ,god deliver ,him since ,he delighted in ,him4 ,how little they knew that they were thereby proclaiming ,him as the ,christ of prophecy1 and were giving the unimpeachable testimony of enemies to ,his life of devout trust and ,his consciousness of ,divine favour6 ,roll 7it7 on ,god1 sneered they2 and the answer was1 ,father1 into ,thy hands ,i commit my spirit4 ,let ,him deliver ,him1 since ,he delighteth in ,him1 they impiously cried1 and they knew not that ,god's delight in ,him was the very reason why ,he did not deliver ,him4 ,because ,he was ,his ,son in whom ,he was well pleased1 it pleased the ,lord to bruise ,him4 ,the mockery of opponents brings into clear light the deepest secrets of that cross4 ,another wave of feeling follows in the next strophe 7vv4 #i-aa74 ,backwards and forwards1 from trust to complaint and from complaint to trust1 rolls the troubled sea of thought1 each mood evoking its opposite4 ,now reproach makes the psalmist tighten his grasp on ,god1 and plead former help as a reason for present hearing4 ,faith turns taunts into prayers4 ,this strophe begins with a ,yea1 and1 on the relationship with ,god which the enemies had ridiculed and which his heart knows to be true1 pleads that ,god would not remain1 as ver4 #a had wailed that ,he was1 far off from ,his help4 ,it goes back to the beginning of life1 and in the mystery of birth and the dependence of infancy finds arguments with ,god4 ,they are the personal application of the wide truth that ,god by ,his making us men gives us a claim on ,him1 that ,he has bound ,himself by giving life to give what is needful for its development and well-being4 ,he will not stultify ,himself by making a man and then leaving him to struggle alone1 as birds do with their young1 as soon as they can fly4 ,he is a faithful ,creator4 ,may we venture to find special reference here to the mystery of the ,incarnation8 ,it is noticeable that my mother is emphatically mentioned1 while there is no reference to a father4 ,no doubt the cast of the thought accounts for that1 but still the special agency of ,divine power in the birth of ,jesus gives special force to ,his prayer for ,divine help in the life so peculiarly the result of the ,divine hand4 ,but while the plea had singular force on ,christ's lips1 it is valid for all men4 ,the closing verse of this strophe takes the complaint of ver4 #a and turns it into prayer4 ,faith does not rest with plaintively crying ,why art ,thou so far8 but pleads ,be not far2 and makes the nearness of trouble and the absence of all other help its twofold pleas4 ,so much the psalmist has already won by his communing with ,god4 ,now he can face environing sorrows and solitary defencelessness1 and feel them to be reasons for ,god's coming1 not tokens of ,his distance4 ,we now come to two strophes of two verses each 7vv4 #ab-ae71 of which the former describes the encircling foes and the latter the psalmist's failure of vital power4 ,the metaphor of raging wild animals recurs in later verses1 and is common to many psalms4 ,bashan was a land of pastures over which herds of half wild cattle roamed4 ,they have surrounded me is a picturesque touch1 drawn direct from life1 as any one knows who has ever found himself in the midst of such a herd4 ,the gaping mouth is rather characteristic of the lion than of the bull4 ,the open jaws emit the fierce roar which precedes the fatal spring and the ravening on its prey4 ,the next short strophe passes from enemies around to paint inward feebleness4 ,all vital force has melted away2 the very bones are dislocated1 raging thirst has supervened4 ,these are capable of being construed as simply strong metaphors1 parallels to which may be found in other psalms2 but it must not be left unnoticed that they are accurate transcripts of the physical effects of crucifixion4 ,that torture killed by exhaustion1 it stretched the body as on a rack1 it was attended with agonies of thirst4 ,it requires considerable courage to brush aside such coincidences as accidental1 in obedience to a theory of interpretation4 ,but the picture is not completed when the bodily sufferings are set forth4 ,a mysterious attribution of them all to ,god closes the strophe4 ,thou hast brought me to the dust of death4 ,then1 it is ,god's hand that has laid all these on him4 ,no doubt this may be1 and probably was in the psalmist's thought1 only a devout recognition of ,providence working through calamities2 but the words receive full force only by being regarded as parallel with those of ,isa4 liii4 #aj1 ,he hath put ,him to grief4 ,in like manner the apostolic preaching regards ,christ's murderers as ,god's instruments4 ,the next strophe returns to the three-verse arrangement1 and blends the contents of the two preceding1 dealing both with the assailing enemies and the enfeebled sufferer4 ,the former metaphor of wild animals encircling him is repeated with variations4 ,a baser order of foes than bulls and lions1 namely a troop of cowardly curs1 are snarling and snapping round him4 ,the contemptuous figure is explained in ver4 #af b1 as meaning a mob of evildoers1 and is then resumed in the next clause1 which has been the subject of so much dispute4 ,it seems plain that the ,massoretic text is corrupt4 ,like a lion1 my hands and my feet can only be made into sense by violent methods4 ,the difference between the letters which yield like a lion and those which give they pierced is only in the length of the upright stroke of the final one4 ,,lxx4 ,vulg4 ,syr4 translate they dug or pierced1 and other ancient versions attest that they read the word as a verb4 ,the spelling of the word is anomalous1 if we take it to mean dig1 but the irregularity is not without parallels1 and may be smoothed away either by assuming an unusual form of a common verb or a rare root cognate with the more common one4 ,the word would then mean they dug rather than pierced1 but the shade of difference in meaning is not so great as to forbid the latter rendering4 ,in any case it is the best attested reading4 ,it is to be understood of the gaping wounds which are inflicted on the sufferer's hands and feet1 and which stare at him like holes 7,baethgen1 ,hand ,comment41 p4 #fe74 ,behold my hands and my feet1 said the risen ,lord1 and that calm word is sufficient proof that both bore the prints of nails4 ,the words might be written over this psalm4 ,strange and sad that so many should look on it and not see ,him6 ,the picture of bodily sufferings has one more touch in ,i can count all my bones4 ,emaciation would produce that effect4 ,but so would crucifixion which extended the frame and threw the bones of the thorax into prominence4 ,then the sufferer turns his eyes once more to his enemies1 and describes the stony gaze1 protracted and unfeeling1 with which they feed upon his agonies4 ,crucifixion was a slow process1 and we recall the long hours in which the crowds sated their hatred through their eyes4 ,it is extremely unlikely that the psalmist's garments were literally parted among his foes1 and the usual explanation of the singular details in ver4 #ah is that they are either a metaphor drawn from plundering the slain in battle or a proverbial expression4 ,what reference the words had to the original speaker of them must1 in our ignorance of his circumstances1 remain uncertain4 ,but they at all events depict his death as so sure that his enemies regard his dress as their perquisite4 ,surely this is a distinct instance of ,divine guidance moulding a psalmist's words so as to fill them with a deeper meaning than the speaker knew4 ,he who so shaped them saw the soldiers dividing the rest of the garments and gambling for the seamless cloak2 and ,he was the ,spirit of ,christ which was in the singer4 ,the next strophe closes the first part with petition which1 in the last words1 becomes thanksgiving1 and realises the answer so fervently besought4 ,the initial complaint of ,god's distance is again turned into prayer1 and the former metaphors of wild beasts are gathered into one long cry for deliverance from the dangerous weapons of each1 the dog's paw1 the lion's mouth1 the wild oxen's horns4 ,the psalmist speaks of his soul or life as my only one1 referring not to his isolation1 but to his life as that which1 once lost1 could never be regained4 ,he has but one life1 therefore he clings to it1 and cannot but believe that it is precious in ,god's eyes4 ,and then1 all at once1 up shoots a clear light of joy1 and he knows that he has not been speaking to a deaf or remote ,god1 but that his cry is answered4 ,he had been brought to the dust of death1 but even thence he is heard and brought out with no soil of it upon him4 ,such suddenness and completeness of deliverance from such extremity of peril may1 indeed1 have been experienced by many1 but receives its fullest meaning in its ,messianic application4 ,from the horns of the wild oxen1 says he1 as if the phrase were still dependent1 like the preceding ones1 on the prayer1 deliver me4 ,but1 as he thus cries1 the conviction that he is heard floods his soul1 and he ends1 not with a cry for help1 but with that one rapturous word1 ,thou hast answered me4 ,it is like a parting burst of sunshine at the end of a day of tempest4 ,a man already transfixed by a buffalo's horns has little hope of escape1 but even thence ,god delivers4 ,the psalmist did not know1 but the ,christian reader should not forget that the ,prince of sufferers was yet more wondrously delivered from death by passing through death1 and that by ,his victory all who cleave to ,him are1 in like manner1 saved from the horns even while these gore them1 and are then victors over death when they fall beneath its dart4 ,the consequences of the psalmist's deliverance are described in the last part 7vv4 #bb-ca7 in language so wide that it is hard to suppose that any man could think his personal experiences so important and far-reaching4 ,the whole congregation of ,israel are to share in his thanksgiving and to learn more of ,god's name through him 7vv4 #bb-f74 ,nor does that bound his anticipations1 for they traverse the whole world and embrace all lands and ages1 and contemplate that the story of his sufferings and triumph will prove a true gospel1 bringing every country and generation to remember and turn to ,jehovah4 ,the exuberant language becomes but one mouth4 ,such consequences1 so wide-spread and agelong1 can follow from the story of but one life4 ,if the sorrows of the preceding part can only be a description of the passion1 the glories of the second can only be a vision of the universal and eternal kingdom of ,christ4 ,it is a gospel before the ,gospels and an ,apocalypse before ,revelations4 ,in the first strophe 7vv4 #bb-f7 the delivered singer vows to make ,god's name known to ,his brethren4 ,the epistle to the ,hebrews quotes the vow as not only expressive of our ,lord's true manhood1 but as specifying its purpose4 ,jesus became man that men might learn to know ,god2 and the knowledge of ,his name streams most brightly from the cross4 ,the death and resurrection1 the sufferings and glory of ,christ open deeper regions in the character of ,god than even ,his gracious life disclosed4 ,rising from the dead and exalted to the throne1 ,he has a new song in ,his immortal lips1 and more to teach concerning ,god than ,he had before4 ,the psalm calls ,israel to praise with the singer1 and tells the ground of their joyful songs 7vv4 #bc1 #bd74 ,here the absence of any reference to the relation which the ,new ,testament reveals between these sufferings and that praise is to be noted as an instance of the gradual development of prophecy4 ,we are not yet on the level of ,isaiah liii4 7,kirkpatrick1 ,psalms1 #abb74 ,the close of this part speaks of a sacrifice of which the humble shall eat and be satisfied--,i will pay my vows--i4e4 the thank-offerings vowed when in trouble4 ,the custom of feasting on the sacrifices for peace-offering for thanksgiving 7,lev4 vii4 #ae7 is here referred to1 but the ceremonial garb covers spiritual truth4 ,the condition of partaking in this feast is humility1 that poverty of spirit which knows itself to be hungry and unable to find food for itself4 ,the consequence of partaking is satisfaction--a deep truth reaching far beyond the ceremonial emblem4 ,a further result is that your heart shall live for ever--an unmeaning hyperbole1 but in one application of the words4 ,we penetrate to the core of the psalm in this part1 when we read it in the light of ,christ's words4 ,my flesh is meat indeed1 and my blood is drink indeed1 and when we connect it with the central act of ,christian worship1 the ,lord's ,supper4 ,the universal and perpetual diffusion of the kingdom and knowledge of ,god is the theme of the closing strain 7vv4 #bg-ca74 ,that diffusion is not definitely stated as the issue of the sufferings or deliverance1 but the very fact that such a universal knowledge comes into view here requires that it should be so regarded1 else the unity of the psalm is shattered4 ,while1 therefore1 the ground alleged in ver4 #bh for this universal recognition of ,god is only ,his universal dominion1 we must suppose that the history of the singer as told to the world is the great fact which brings home to men the truth of ,god's government over and care for them4 ,true1 men know ,god apart from revelation and from the gospel1 but ,he is to them a forgotten ,god1 and the great influence which helps them to remember and turn to ,jehovah is the message of the ,cross and the ,throne of ,jesus4 ,the psalm had just laid down the condition of partaking in the sacrificial meal as being lowliness1 and 7ver4 #bi7 it prophecies that the fat shall also share in it4 ,that can only be1 if they become humble4 ,great and small1 lofty and low must take the same place and accept the food of their souls as a meal of charity4 ,the following words are very difficult1 as the text stands4 ,there would appear to be a contrast intended between the obese self-complacency of the prosperous and proud1 and the pauper-like misery of those who are going down to the dust and who cannot keep their soul alive1 that is1 who are in such penury and wretchedness that they are all but dead4 ,there is a place for ragged outcasts at the table side by side with the fat on earth4 ,others take the words as referring to those already dead1 and see here a hint that the dim regions of ,sheol receive beams of the great light and some share in the great feast4 ,the thought is beautiful1 but too remote from anything else in the ,old ,testament to be adopted here4 ,various attempts at conjectural emendations and redivision of clauses have been made in order to lighten the difficulties of the verse4 ,however attractive some of these are1 the existing reading yields a not unworthy sense1 and is best adhered to4 ,as universality in extent1 so perpetuity in duration is anticipated for the story of the psalmist's deliverance and for the praise to ,god thence accruing4 ,a seed shall serve ,him4 ,that is one generation of obedient worshippers4 ,it shall be told of ,jehovah unto the next generation4 ,that is1 a second1 who shall receive from their progenitors1 the seed that serves1 the blessed story4 ,they 444 shall declare ,his righteousness unto a people that shall be born4 ,that is1 a third1 which in its turn receives the good news from parents' lips4 ,and what is the word which thus maintains itself living amid dying generations1 and blesses each1 and impels each to bequeath it as their best treasure to their successors8 ,that ,he hath done4 ,done what8 ,with eloquent silence the psalm omits to specify4 ,what was it that was meant by that word on the cross which1 with like reticence1 forbore to tell of what it spoke8 ,he hath done4 ,it is finished4 ,no one word can express all that was accomplished in that sacrifice4 ,eternity will not fully supply the missing word1 for the consequences of that finished work go on unfolding for ever1 and are for ever unfinished1 because for ever increasing4 ,,psalm ,,xxiii4 #a ,jehovah is my ,shepherd2 ,i do not want4 #b ,in pastures of fresh grass ,he leads me2 ,by waters of rest ,he makes me lie4 #c ,my soul ,he refreshes2 ,he guides me in paths of righteousness straight paths for ,his name's sake4 #d ,even if ,i walk in a gorge of gloom1 ,i fear not evil1 for ,thou art with me2 ,thy rod and ,thy staff--they comfort me4 #e ,thou spreadest before me a table in presence of my foes2 ,thou anointest with oil my head3 my cup is overfulness4 #f ,only good and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life1 ,and my dwelling shall be in the house of ,jehovah for length of days4 ,the world could spare many a large book better than this sunny little psalm4 ,it has dried many tears and supplied the mould into which many hearts have poured their peaceful faith4 ,to suppose that the speaker is the personified nation chills the whole4 ,the tone is too intense not to be the outcome of personal experience1 however admissible the application to the nation may be as secondary4 ,no doubt ,jehovah is the ,shepherd of ,israel in several ,asaphite psalms and in ,jeremiah2 but1 notwithstanding great authorities1 ,i cannot persuade myself that the voice which comes so straight to the heart did not come from the heart of a brother speaking across the centuries his own personal emotions1 which are universal just because they are individual4 ,it is the pure utterance of personal trust in ,jehovah1 darkened by no fears or complaints and so perfectly at rest that it has nothing more to ask4 ,for the time desire is stilled in satisfaction4 ,one tone1 and that the most blessed which can sound in a life1 is heard through the whole4 ,it is the psalm of quiet trust1 undisturbed even by its joy1 which is quiet too4 ,the fire glows1 but does not flame or crackle4 ,the one thought is expanded in two kindred images3 that of the shepherd and that of the host4 ,the same ideas are substantially repeated under both forms4 ,the lovely series of vivid pictures1 each but a clause long1 but clear-cut in that small compass1 like the fine work incised on a gem1 combines with the depth and simplicity of the religious emotion expressed1 to lay this sweet psalm on all hearts4 ,vv4 #a-d present the realities of the devout life under the image of the ,divine ,shepherd and ,his lamb4 ,the comparison of rulers to shepherds is familiar to many tongues1 and could scarcely fail to occur to a pastoral people like the ,jews1 nor is the application to ,jehovah's relation to the people so recondite that we need to relegate the psalms in which it occurs to a late era in the national history4 ,the psalmist lovingly lingers on the image1 and draws out the various aspects of the shepherd's care and of the flock's travels1 with a ripeness and calmness which suggests that we listen to a much-experienced man4 ,the sequence in which the successive pictures occur is noteworthy4 ,guidance to refreshment comes first1 and is described in ver4 #b1 in words which fall as softly as the gentle streams of which they speak4 ,the noontide is fierce1 and the land lies baking in the sun-blaze2 but deep down in some wady runs a brook1 and along its course the herbage is bright with perpetual moisture1 and among the lush grass are cool lairs where the footsore1 panting flock may couch4 ,the shepherd's tenderness is beautifully hinted at in the two verbs3 he leads1 not drives1 but in ,eastern wise precedes and so draws the trustful sheep2 he makes me to lie down1 taking care that the sheep shall stretch weary limbs in full enjoyment of repose4 ,god thus guides to rest and lays to rest the soul that follows ,him4 ,why does the psalmist begin with this aspect of life8 ,because it is fittest to express the shepherd's care1 and because it is1 after all1 the predominant aspect to the devout heart4 ,life is full of trial and effort1 but it is an unusually rainy region where rain falls on more than half the days of the year4 ,we live so much more vividly and fully in the moments of agony or crisis that they seem to fill more space than they really do4 ,but they are only moments1 and the periods of continued peaceful possession of blessings are measured by years4 ,but the sweet words of the psalm are not to be confined to material good4 ,the psalmist does not tell us whether he is thinking more of the outer or of the inner life1 but both are in his mind1 and while his confidence is only partially warranted by the facts of the former1 it is unlimitedly true in regard to the latter4 ,in that application of the words the significance of the priority given to the pastures of fresh springing grass and the waters of repose is plain1 for there the rest of trust and the drinking of living water must precede all walking in paths of righteousness4 ,food and drink and rest refresh fainting powers1 and this reinvigoration is meant by restoring my soul or life4 ,but the midday or nightly rest is intended to fit for effort1 and so a second little picture follows in ver4 #c1 presenting another aspect of the shepherd's care and of the sheep's course4 ,out again on to the road1 in spite of heat and dust1 the flock goes4 ,paths of righteousness is perhaps best taken as straight paths1 as that rendering keeps within the bounds of the metaphor2 but since the sheep are men1 straight paths for them must needs be paths of righteousness4 ,that guidance is for ,his name's sake4 ,god has regard to ,his revealed character in shepherding ,his lamb1 and will give direction because ,he is what ,he is1 and in order that ,he may be known to be what ,he has declared ,himself4 ,the psalmist had learned the purpose of repose and refreshment which1 in all regions of life1 are intended to prepare for tasks and marches4 ,we are to drink for strength1 and not for drunkenness4 ,a man may lie in a bath till strength is diminished1 or may take his plunge and come from it braced for work4 ,in the religious life it is possible to commit an analogous error1 and to prize so unwisely peaceful hours of communion1 as to waive imperative duty for the sake of them2 like ,peter with his ,let us make here three tabernacles1 while there were devil-ridden sufferers waiting to be healed down on the plain4 ,moments of devotion1 which do not prepare for hours of practical righteousness1 are very untrustworthy4 ,but1 on the other hand1 the paths of righteousness will not be trodden by those who have known nothing of the green pastures and waters where the wearied can rest4 ,but life has another aspect than these two--rest and toil2 and the guidance into danger and sorrow is as tender as its other forms are4 ,the singular word rendered shadow of death should probably simply be gloomy darkness1 such1 for instance1 as in the shaft of a mine 7,job xxviii4 #c74 ,but1 even if the former rendering is retained1 it is not to be interpreted as meaning actual death4 ,no wise forward look can ignore the possibility of many sorrows and the certainty of some4 ,hope has ever something of dread in her eyes4 ,the road will not be always bright and smooth1 but will sometimes plunge down into grim caons1 where no sunbeams reach4 ,but even that anticipation may be calm4 ,thou art with me is enough4 ,he who guides into the gorge will guide through it4 ,it is not a cul de sac1 shut in with precipices at the far end2 but it opens out on shining table-lands1 where there is greener pasture4 ,the rod and staff seem to be two names for one instrument1 which was used both to beat off predatory animals and to direct the sheep4 ,the two synonyms and the appended pronoun express by their redundancy the full confidence of the psalmist4 ,he will not fear1 though there are grounds enough for terror1 in the dark valley2 and though sense prompts him to dread1 he conquers fear because he trusts4 ,comfort suggests a struggle1 or1 as ,calvin says1 ,quorsum enim consolatio ipsa1 nisi quia metus eum solicitat8 ,the second image of the ,divine ,host and ,his guest is expanded in vv4 #e1 #f4 ,the ideas are substantially the same as in the first part4 ,repose and provision1 danger and change1 again fill the foreground2 and again there is forecast of a more remote future4 ,but all is intensified1 the need and the supply being painted in stronger colours and the hope being brighter4 ,the devout man is ,god's guest while he marches through foes1 and travels towards perpetual repose in the house of ,jehovah4 ,jehovah supplies ,his servants' wants in the midst of conflict4 ,the table spread in the sight of the enemy is a more signal token of care and power than the green pastures are4 ,life is not only journey and effort1 but conflict2 and it is possible not only to have seasons of refreshment interspersed in the weary march1 but to find a sudden table spread by the same unseen hand which holds back the foes1 who look on with grim eyes1 powerless to intercept the sustenance or disturb the guests4 ,this is the condition of ,god's servant--always conflict1 but always a spread table4 ,joy snatched in the face of danger is specially poignant4 ,the flowers that bloom on the brink of a cataract are bright1 and their tremulous motion adds a charm4 ,special experiences of ,god's sufficiency are wont to come in seasons of special difficulty1 as many a true heart knows4 ,it is no scanty meal that waits ,god's soldier under such circumstances1 but a banquet accompanied with signs of festivity1 viz41 the head anointed with oil and the cup which is fulness4 ,god's supplies are wont to surpass the narrow limits of need and even to transcend capacity1 having a something over which as yet we are unable to take in1 but which is not disproportioned or wasted1 since it widens desire and thereby increases receptivity4 ,in the last verse we seem to pass to pure anticipation4 ,memory melts into hope1 and that brighter than the forecast which closed the first part4 ,there the psalmist's trust simply refused to yield to fear1 while keenly conscious of evil which might warrant it2 but here he has risen higher1 and the alchemy of his happy faith and experience has converted evil into something fairer4 ,only good and mercy shall follow me4 ,there is no evil for the heart wedded to ,jehovah2 there are no foes to pursue1 but two bright-faced angels walk behind him as his rear-guard4 ,it is much when the retrospect of life can1 like ,jacob on his deathbed1 see the ,angel which redeemed me from all evil2 but it is perhaps more when the else fearful heart can look forward and say that not only will it fear no evil1 but that nothing but blessings1 the outcome of ,god's mercy1 will ever reach it4 ,the closing hope of dwelling in the house of ,jehovah to length of days rises above even the former verse4 ,the singer knew himself a guest of ,god's at the table spread before the foe1 but that was1 as it were1 refreshment on the march1 while this is continual abiding in the home4 ,such an unbroken continuity of abode in the house of ,jehovah is a familiar aspiration in other psalms1 and is always regarded as possible even while hands are engaged in ordinary duties and cares4 ,the psalms which conceive of the religious life under this image are marked by a peculiar depth and inwardness4 ,they are wholesomely mystical4 ,the hope of this guest of ,god's is that1 by the might of fixed faith and continual communion1 he may have his life so hid in ,god that wherever he goes he may still be in ,his house1 and whatever he does he may still be inquiring in ,his temple4 ,the hope is here confined to the earthly present1 but the ,christian reading of the psalm can scarcely fail to transfer the words to a future4 ,god will bring those whom ,he has fed and guided in journeying and conflict to an unchanging mansion in a home beyond the stars4 ,here we eat at a table spread with pilgrims' food1 manna from heaven and water from the rock4 ,we eat in haste and with an eye on the foe1 but we may hope to sit down at another table in the perfected kingdom4 ,the end of the fray is the beginning of the feast4 ,we shall go no more out4 ,,psalm ,,xxiv4 #a ,jehovah's is the earth1 and what fills it1 ,the world and the dwellers therein4 #b ,for ,he--upon the seas ,he founded it1 ,and upon the floods established it4 #c ,who may ascend into the hill of ,jehovah1 ,and who may stand in ,his holy place8 #d ,the clean-handed and pure-hearted1 ,who lifts not his desire to vanity1 ,and swears not to falsehood4 #e ,he shall receive blessing from ,jehovah ,and righteousness from the ,god of his salvation4 #f ,this is the generation of them that seek ,him1 ,that seek ,thy face2 this is ,jacob4 ,selah4 #g ,lift up1 ,o gates1 your heads1 ,yea1 lift up yourselves1 ,o ancient doors1 ,that the ,king of glory may come in4 #h ,who then is the ,king of glory8 ,jehovah1 strong and a ,champion1 ,jehovah1 a ,champion in battle4 #i ,lift up1 ,o gates1 your heads1 ,yea1 lift them up1 ,o ancient doors1 ,that the ,king of glory may come in4 #aj ,who is ,he1 then1 the ,king of glory8 ,jehovah of hosts1 ,he is the ,king of glory4 ,selah4 ,ewald's widely accepted view that this psalm is a composite of two fragments rests on a somewhat exaggerated estimate of the differences in tone and structure of the parts4 ,these are obvious1 but do not demand the hypothesis of compilation2 and the original author has as good a right to be credited with the uniting thought as the supposed editor has4 ,the usually alleged occasion of the psalm fits its tone so well and gives such appropriateness to some of its phrases that stronger reasons than are forthcoming are required to negative it4 ,the account in #b ,sam4 vi4 tells of exuberant enthusiasm and joy1 of which some echo sounds in the psalm4 ,it is a processional hymn1 celebrating ,jehovah's entrance to ,his house2 and that one event1 apprehended on its two sides1 informs the whole4 ,hence the two halves have the same interchange of question and answer1 and the two questions correspond1 the one inquiring the character of the men who dare dwell with ,god1 the other the name of the ,god who dwells with men4 ,the procession is climbing the steep to the gates of the ancient ,jebusite fortress1 recently won by ,david4 ,as it climbs1 the song proclaims ,jehovah as the universal ,lord1 basing the truth of ,his special dwelling in ,zion upon that of ,his world-wide rule4 ,the question1 so fitting the lips of the climbers1 is asked1 possibly in solo1 and the answer describing the qualifications of true worshippers1 and possibly choral 7vv4 #c-f71 is followed by a long-drawn musical interlude4 ,now the barred gates are reached4 ,a voice summons them to open4 ,the guards within1 or possibly the gates themselves1 endowed by the poet with consciousness and speech1 ask who thus demands entrance4 ,the answer is a triumphant shout from the procession4 ,but the question is repeated1 as if to allow of the still fuller reiteration of ,jehovah's name1 which shakes the grey walls2 and then1 with clang of trumpets and clash of cymbals1 the ancient portals creak open1 and ,jehovah enters into ,his rest1 ,he and the ark of ,his strength4 ,jehovah's dwelling on ,zion did not mean ,his desertion of the rest of the world1 nor did ,his choice of ,israel imply ,his abdication of rule over1 or withdrawal of blessings from1 the nations4 ,the light which glorified the bare hilltop1 where the ,ark rested1 was reflected thence over all the world4 ,the glory was there concentrated1 not confined4 ,this psalm guards against all superstitious misconceptions1 and protests against national narrowness1 in exactly the same way as ,exod4 xix4 #e bases ,israel's selection from among all peoples on the fact that all the earth is ,mine4 ,who may ascend8 was a picturesquely appropriate question for singers toning upwards1 and who may stand8 for those who hoped presently to enter the sacred presence4 ,the ,ark which they bore had brought disaster to ,dagon's temple1 so that the ,philistine lords had asked in terror1 ,who is able to stand before this holy ,lord ,god8 and at ,beth-shemesh its presence had been so fatal that ,david had abandoned the design of bringing it up and said1 ,how shall the ark of the ,lord come to me8 ,the answer1 which lays down the qualifications of true dwellers in ,jehovah's house1 may be compared with the similar outlines of ideal character in ,psalm xv4 and ,isa4 xxxiii4 #ad4 ,the one requirement is purity4 ,here that requirement is deduced from the majesty of ,jehovah1 as set forth in vv4 #a1 #b1 and from the designation of ,his dwelling as holy4 ,this is the postulate of the whole ,psalter4 ,in it the approach to ,jehovah is purely spiritual1 even while the outward access is used as a symbol2 and the conditions are of the same nature as the approach4 ,the general truth implied is that the character of the ,god determines the character of the worshippers4 ,worship is supreme admiration1 culminating in imitation4 ,its law is always ,they that make them are like unto them2 so is every one that trusteth in them4 ,a god of war will have warriors1 and a god of lust sensualists1 for his devotees4 ,the worshippers in ,jehovah's holy place must be holy4 ,the details of the answer are but the echoes of a conscience enlightened by the perception of ,his character4 ,in ver4 #d it may be noted that of the four aspects of purity enumerated the two central refer to the inward life 7pure heart2 lifts not his desire unto vanity71 and these are embedded1 as it were1 in the outward life of deeds and words4 ,purity of act is expressed by clean hands--neither red with blood1 nor foul with grubbing in dunghills for gold and other so-called good4 ,purity of speech is condensed into the one virtue of truthfulness 7swears not to a falsehood74 ,but the outward will only be right if the inward disposition is pure1 and that inward purity will only be realised when desires are carefully curbed and directed4 ,as is the desire1 so is the man4 ,therefore the prime requisite for a pure heart is the withdrawal of affection1 esteem1 and longing from the solid-seeming illusions of sense4 ,vanity has1 indeed1 the special meaning of idols1 but the notion of earthly good apart from ,god is more relevant here4 ,in ver4 #e the possessor of such purity is represented as receiving a blessing1 even righteousness1 from ,god1 which is by many taken to mean beneficence on the part of ,god1 inasmuch as1 according to the ,hebrew religious view of the world1 all good is regarded as reward from ,god's retributive righteousness1 and consequently as that of man's own righteousness or right conduct 7,hupfeld74 ,the expression is thus equivalent to salvation in the next clause4 ,but1 while the word has this meaning in some places1 it does not seem necessary to adopt it here1 where the ordinary meaning is quite appropriate4 ,such a man as is described in ver4 #d will have ,god's blessing on his efforts after purity1 and a ,divine gift will furnish him with that which he strives after4 ,the hope is not lit by the full sunshine of ,new ,testament truth1 but it approximates thereto4 ,it dimly anticipates ,blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness2 and it feels after the great thought that the highest righteousness is not to be won1 but to be accepted1 even while it only asserts that man's effort after must precede his possession of righteousness4 ,we can give the words a deeper meaning1 and see in them the dawn of the later teaching that righteousness must be received from the ,god of salvation4 ,ver4 #f seems to carry the adumbration of truth not yet disclosed a step further4 ,a great planet is trembling into visibility1 and is divined before it is seen4 ,the emphasis in ver4 #f is on seek1 and the implication is that the men who seek find4 ,if we seek ,god's face1 we shall receive purity4 ,there the psalm touches the foundation4 ,the ,divine heart so earnestly desires to give righteousness that to seek is to find4 ,in that region a wish brings an answer1 and no outstretched hand remains empty4 ,things of less worth have to be toiled and fought for2 but the most precious of all is a gift1 to be had for the asking4 ,that thought did not stand clearly before the ,old ,testament worshippers1 but struggles towards expression in many a psalm1 as it could not but do whenever a devout heart pondered the problems of conduct4 ,we have abundant warnings against the anachronism of thrusting ,new ,testament doctrine into the ,psalms1 but it is no less one-sided to ignore anticipations which could not but spring up where there was earnest wrestling with the thoughts of sin and of the need for purity4 ,are we to adopt the supplement1 ,o ,god of1 before the abrupt ,jacob8 ,the clause is harsh in any construction4 ,the preceding thy seems to require the addition1 as ,god is not directly addressed elsewhere in the psalm4 ,on the other hand1 the declaration that such seekers are the true people of ,god is a worthy close of the whole description1 and the reference to the face of ,god verbally recalls ,peniel and that wonderful incident when ,jacob became ,israel4 ,the seeker after ,god will have that scene repeated1 and be able to say1 ,i have seen ,god4 ,the abrupt introduction of ,jacob is made more emphatic by the musical interlude which closes the first part4 ,there is a pause1 while the procession ascends the hill of the ,lord1 revolving the stringent qualifications for entrance4 ,it stands before the barred gates1 while possibly part of the choir is within4 ,the advancing singers summon the doors to open and receive the incoming ,jehovah4 ,their portals are too low for ,him to enter1 and therefore they are called upon to lift their lintels4 ,they are grey with age1 and round them cluster long memories2 therefore they are addressed as gates of ancient time4 ,the question from within expresses ignorance and hesitation1 and dramatically represents the ancient gates as sharing the relation of the former inhabitants to the ,god of ,israel1 whose name they did not know1 and whose authority they did not own4 ,it heightens the force of the triumphant shout proclaiming ,his mighty name4 ,he is ,jehovah1 the self-existent ,god1 who has made a covenant with ,israel1 and fights for ,his people1 as these grey walls bear witness4 ,his warrior might had wrested them from their former possessors1 and the gates must open for their ,conqueror4 ,the repeated question is pertinacious and animated3 ,who then is ,he1 the ,king of glory8 as if recognition and surrender were reluctant4 ,the answer is sharp and authoritative1 being at once briefer and fuller4 ,it peals forth the great name ,jehovah of hosts4 ,there may be reference in the name to ,god's command of the armies of ,israel1 thereby expressing the religious character of their wars2 but the hosts include the angels1 ,his ministers who do ,his pleasure1 and the stars1 of which ,he brings forth the hosts by number4 ,in fact1 the conception underlying the name is that of the universe as an ordered whole1 a disciplined army1 a cosmos obedient to ,his voice4 ,it is the same conception which the centurion had learned from his legion1 where the utterance of one will moved all the stern1 shining ranks4 ,that mighty name1 like a charge of explosives1 bursts the gates of brass asunder1 and the procession sweeps through them amid yet another burst of triumphant music4 ,,psalm ,,xxv4 #a 77 ,unto ,thee1 ,jehovah1 ,i uplift my soul2 ,on ,thee ,i wait all the day1 ,o my ,god64 #b 77 ,on ,thee ,i hang3 let me not be put to shame2 ,let not my enemies exult over me4 #c 77 ,yea1 all who wait on ,thee shall not be put to shame2 ,put to shame shall they be who faithlessly forsake ,thee without cause4 #d 77 ,thy ways1 ,jehovah1 make me to know1 ,thy paths teach ,thou me4 #e 77 ,make me walk in ,thy troth1 and teach me1 ,for ,thou art the ,god of my salvation4 #f 77 ,remember ,thy compassions1 ,jehovah1 and ,thy loving-kindnesses1 ,for from of old are they4 #g 77 ,sins of my youth and my transgression remember not2 ,according to ,thy loving-kindness remember me1 ,for ,thy goodness' sake1 ,jehovah4 #h 77 ,good and upright is ,jehovah2 ,therefore ,he instructs sinners in the way4 #i 77 ,he will cause the meek to walk in that which is right1 ,and will teach the meek ,his way4 #aj 77 ,all the paths of ,jehovah are loving-kindness and troth ,to keepers of ,his covenant and ,his testimonies4 #aa 77 ,for ,thy name's sake1 ,jehovah1 ,pardon my iniquity1 for great is it4 #ab 77 ,who1 then1 is the man who fears ,jehovah8 ,he will instruct him in the way he should choose4 #ac 77 ,himself shall dwell in prosperity1 ,and his seed shall possess the land4 #ad 77 ,the secret of ,jehovah is told to them that fear ,him1 ,and ,his covenant ,he makes them know4 #ae 77 ,my eyes are continually toward ,jehovah1 ,for ,he1 ,he shall bring out my feet from the net4 #af 77 ,turn ,thee unto me1 and be gracious to me1 ,for solitary and afflicted am ,i4 #ag 77 ,the straits of my heart do ,thou enlarge 7871 ,and from my distresses bring me out4 #ah 77 ,look on my affliction and my travail1 ,and lift away all my sins4 #ai 77 ,look on my enemies1 for they are many1 ,and they hate me with cruel hate4 #bj 77 ,keep my soul and deliver me2 ,let me not be put to shame1 for ,i have taken refuge in ,thee4 #ba 77 ,let integrity and uprightness guard me1 ,for ,i wait on ,thee4 #bb ,redeem ,israel1 ,o ,god1 ,from all his straits4 ,the recurrence of the phrase lift up the soul may have determined the place of this psalm next to ,psalm xxiv4 ,it is acrostic1 but with irregularities4 ,as the text now stands1 the second1 not the first1 word in ver4 #b begins with ,beth2 ,vav is omitted or represented in the and teach me of the ,he verse 7ver4 #e72 ,qoph is also omitted1 and its place taken by a supernumerary ,resh1 which letter has thus two verses 7#ah1 #ai72 and ver4 #bb begins with ,pe1 and is outside the scheme of the psalm1 both as regards alphabetic structure and subject4 ,the same peculiarities of deficient ,vav and superfluous ,pe verses reappear in another acrostic psalm 7xxxiv471 in which the initial word of the last verse is1 as here1 redeem4 ,possibly the two psalms are connected4 ,the fetters of the acrostic structure forbid freedom and progress of thought1 and almost compel repetition4 ,it is fitted for meditative reiteration of favourite emotions or familiar axioms1 and results in a loosely twined wreath rather than in a column with base1 shaft1 and capital4 ,a slight trace of consecution of parts may be noticed in the division of the verses 7excluding ver4 #bb7 into three sevens1 of which the first is prayer1 the second meditation on the ,divine character and the blessings secured by covenant to them who fear ,him1 and the third is bent round1 wreath-like1 to meet the first1 and is again prayer4 ,such alternation of petition and contemplation is like the heart's beat of the religious life1 now expanding in desire1 now closing in possession4 ,the psalm has no marks of occasion or period4 ,it deals with the permanent elements in a devout man's relation to ,god4 ,the first prayer-section embraces the three standing needs3 protection1 guidance1 and forgiveness4 ,with these are intertwined their pleas according to the logic of faith--the suppliant's uplifted desires and ,god's eternal tenderness and manifested mercy4 ,the order of mention of the needs proceeds from without inwards1 for protection from enemies is superficial as compared with illumination as to duty1 and deeper than even that1 as well as prior in order of time 7and therefore last in order of enumeration71 is pardon4 ,similarly the pleas go deeper as they succeed each other2 for the psalmist's trust and waiting is superficial as compared with the plea breathed in the name of the ,god of my salvation2 and that general designation leads to the gaze upon the ancient and changeless mercies1 which constitute the measure and pattern of ,god's working 7according to1 ver4 #g71 and upon the self-originated motive1 which is the deepest and strongest of all arguments with ,him 7for ,thy goodness' sake1 ver4 #g74 ,a qualification of the guest in ,god's house was in ,psalm xxiv4 the negative one that he did not lift up his soul--i4e41 set his desires--on the emptinesses of time and sense4 ,here the psalmist begins with the plea that he has set his on ,jehovah1 and1 as the position of ,unto ,thee1 ,jehovah1 at the beginning shows1 on ,him alone4 ,the very nature of such aspiration after ,god demands that it shall be exclusive4 ,all in all or not at all is the requirement of true devotion1 and such completeness is not attained without continual withdrawal of desire from created good4 ,the tendrils of the heart must be untwined from other props before they can be wreathed round their true stay4 ,the irregularity in ver4 #b1 where the second1 not the first1 word of the verse begins with ,beth1 may be attenuated by treating the ,divine name as outside the acrostic order4 ,an acute conjecture1 however1 that the last clause of ver4 #e really belongs to ver4 #a and should include my ,god now in ver4 #b1 has much in its favour4 ,its transposition restores to both verses the two-claused structure which runs through the psalm1 gets rid of the acrostical anomaly1 and emphasises the subsequent reference to those who wait on ,jehovah in ver4 #c4 ,in that case ver4 #b begins with the requisite letter4 ,it passes from plea to petition3 ,let me not be shamed4 ,trust that was not vindicated by deliverance would cover the face with confusion4 ,hopes that breed not shame are the treasure of him whose hope is in ,jehovah4 ,foes unnamed threaten2 but the stress of the petitions in the first section of the psalm is less on enemies than on sins4 ,one cry for protection from the former is all that the psalmist utters1 and then his prayer swiftly turns to deeper needs4 ,in the last section the petitions are more exclusively for deliverance from enemies4 ,needful as such escape is1 it is less needful than the knowledge of ,god's ways1 and the man in extremest peril orders his desires rightly1 if he asks holiness first and safety second4 ,the cry in ver4 #b rests upon the confidence nobly expressed in ver4 #c1 in which the verbs are not optatives1 but futures1 declaring a truth certain to be realised in the psalmist's experience1 because it is true for all who1 like him1 wait on ,jehovah4 ,true prayer is the individual's sheltering himself under the broad folds of the mantle that covers all who pray4 ,the double confidence as to the waiters on ,jehovah and the treacherous without cause is the summary of human experience as read by faith4 ,sense has much to adduce in contradiction1 but the dictum is nevertheless true1 only its truth does not always appear in the small arc of the circle which lies between cradle and grave4 ,the prayer for deliverance glides into that for guidance1 since the latter is the deeper need1 and the former will scarcely be answered unless the suppliant's will docilely offers the latter4 ,the soul lifted to ,jehovah will long to know ,his will and submit itself to ,his manifold teachings4 ,thy ways and ,thy paths necessarily mean here the ways in which ,jehovah desires that the psalmist should go4 ,in ,thy truth is ambiguous1 both as to the preposition and the noun4 ,the clause may either present ,god's truth 7i4e41 faithfulness7 as ,his motive for answering the prayer1 or ,his truth 7i4e41 the objective revelation7 as the path for men4 ,predominant usage inclines to the former signification of the noun1 but the possibility still remains of regarding ,god's faithfulness as the path in which the psalmist desires to be led1 i4e4 to experience it4 ,the cry for forgiveness strikes a deeper note of pathos1 and1 as asking a more wondrous blessing1 grasps still more firmly the thought of what ,jehovah is and always has been4 ,the appeal is made to ,thy compassions and loving-kindnesses1 as belonging to ,his nature1 and to their past exercise as having been from of old4 ,emboldened thus1 the psalmist can look back on his own past1 both on his outbursts of youthful passion and levity1 which he calls failures1 as missing the mark1 and on the darker evils of later manhood1 which he calls rebellions1 and can trust that ,jehovah will think upon him according to ,his mercy1 and for the sake of ,his goodness or love4 ,the vivid realisation of that ,eternal ,mercy as the very mainspring of ,god's actions1 and as setting forth1 in many an ancient deed1 the eternal pattern of ,his dealings1 enables a man to bear the thought of his own sins4 ,the contemplation of the ,divine character prepares the way for the transition to the second group of seven verses1 which are mainly meditation on that character and on ,god's dealings and the blessedness of those who fear ,him 7vv4 #h-ad74 ,the thought of ,god beautifully draws the singer from himself4 ,how deeply and lovingly he had pondered on the name of the ,lord before he attained to the grand truth that ,his goodness and very uprightness pledged ,him to show sinners where they should walk6 ,since there is at the heart of things an infinitely pure and equally loving ,being1 nothing is more impossible than that ,he should wrap ,himself in thick darkness and leave men to grope after duty4 ,revelation of the path of life in some fashion is the only conduct consistent with ,his character4 ,all presumptions are in favour of such ,divine teaching2 and the fact of sin makes it only the more certain4 ,that fact may separate men from ,god1 but not ,god from men1 and if they transgress1 the more need1 both in their characters and in ,god's1 is there that ,he should speak4 ,but while their being sinners does not prevent ,his utterance1 their disposition determines their actual reception of ,his teaching1 and the meek or lowly of heart are ,his true scholars4 ,his instruction is not wasted on them1 and1 being welcomed1 is increased4 ,a fuller communication of ,his will rewards the humble acceptance of it4 ,sinners are led in the way2 the meek are taught ,his way4 ,here the conception of ,god's way is in transition from its meaning in ver4 #d to that in ver4 #aj1 where it distinctly must mean ,his manner of dealing with men4 ,they who accept ,his teaching1 and order their paths as ,he would have them do1 will learn that the impulse and meaning of all which ,he does to them are mercy and truth1 the two great attributes to which the former petitions appealed1 and which the humble of heart1 who observe the conditions of ,god's covenant which is witness of ,his own character and of their duty1 will see gleaming with lambent light even in calamities4 ,the participators1 then1 in this blessed knowledge have a threefold character3 sinners2 humble2 keepers of the covenant and testimonies4 ,the thought of these requirements drives the psalmist back on himself1 as it will do all devout souls1 and forces from him a short ejaculation of prayer1 which breaks with much pathos and beauty the calm flow of contemplation4 ,the pleas for forgiveness of the iniquity which makes him feel unworthy of ,jehovah's guidance are remarkable4 ,for ,thy name's sake appeals to the revealed character of ,god1 as concerned in the suppliant's pardon1 inasmuch as it will be honoured thereby1 and ,god will be true to ,himself in forgiving4 ,for it is great speaks the boldness of helplessness4 ,the magnitude of sin demands a ,divine intervention4 ,none else than ,god can deal with it4 ,faith makes the very greatness of sin and extremity of need a reason for ,god's act of pardon4 ,passing from self1 the singer again recurs to his theme1 reiterating in vivid language and with some amplification the former thoughts4 ,in vv4 #h-aj the character of ,jehovah was the main subject1 and the men whom ,he blessed were in the background4 ,in vv4 #ab-ad they stand forward4 ,their designation now is the wide one of those who fear ,jehovah1 and the blessings they receive are1 first1 that of being taught the way1 which has been prominent thus far1 but here has a new phase1 as being the way that he should choose2 i4e41 ,god's teaching illuminates the path1 and tells a man what he ought to do1 while his freedom of choice is uninfringed4 ,next1 outward blessings of settled prosperity shall be his1 and his children shall have the promises to ,israel fulfilled in their possession of the land4 ,these outward blessings belong to the ,old ,testament epoch1 and can only partially be applied to the present stage of ,providence4 ,but the final element of the good man's blessedness 7ver4 #ad7 is eternally true4 ,whether we translate the first word secret or friendship1 the sense is substantially the same4 ,obedience and the true fear of ,jehovah directly tend to discernment of ,his purposes1 and will besides be rewarded by whispers from heaven4 ,god would not hide from ,abraham what ,he would do1 and still ,his friend will know ,his mind better than the disobedient4 ,the last clause of ver4 #ad is capable of various renderings4 ,his covenant may be in the accusative1 and the verb a periphrastic future1 as the ,a4,v4 takes it1 or the former word may be nominative1 and the clause be rendered1 ,and ,his covenant is to make them to know4 ,but the absolute use of the verb without a specification of the object taught is somewhat harsh1 and probably the former rendering is to be preferred4 ,the deeper teaching of the covenant which follows on the fear of the ,lord includes both its obligations and blessings1 and the knowledge is not mere intellectual perception1 but vital experience4 ,in this region life is knowledge1 and knowledge life4 ,whoso keeps ,his covenant 7ver4 #aj7 will ever grow in appropriation of its blessings and apprehension of its obligations by his submissive will4 ,the third heptad of verses returns to simple petition1 and that1 with one exception 7ver4 #ah b71 for deliverance from enemies4 ,this recurrence1 in increased intensity1 of the consciousness of hostility is not usual1 for the psalms which begin with it generally pray themselves out of it4 ,the peace which passeth understanding1 which is the best answer to prayer1 has not fully settled on the heaving sea4 ,a heavy ground swell runs in these last short petitions1 which all mean substantially the same thing4 ,but there is a beginning of calm2 and the renewed petitions are a pattern of that continual knocking of which such great things are said and recorded in ,scripture4 ,the section begins with a declaration of patient expectance3 ,mine eyes are ever towards ,jehovah1 with wistful fixedness which does not doubt though it has long to look4 ,nets are wrapped round his feet1 inextricably but for one hand4 ,we can bear to feel our limbs entangled and fettered1 if our eyes are free to gaze1 and fixed in gazing1 upwards4 ,the desired deliverance is thrice presented 7ver4 #af1 turn unto2 ver4 #ah1 look upon2 ver4 #ai1 consider1 lit4 look upon7 as the result of ,jehovah's face being directed towards the psalmist4 ,when ,jehovah turns to a man1 the light streaming from ,his face makes darkness day4 ,the pains on which ,he looks are soothed2 the enemies whom ,he beholds shrivel beneath ,his eye4 ,the psalmist believes that ,god's presence1 in the deeper sense of that phrase1 as manifested partly through delivering acts and partly through inward consciousness1 is his one need1 in which all deliverances and gladnesses are enwrapped4 ,he plaintively pleads1 ,for ,i am alone and afflicted4 ,the soul that has awakened to the sense of the awful solitude of personal being1 and stretched out yearning desires to the only ,god1 and felt that with ,him it would know no pain in loneliness1 will not cry in vain4 ,in ver4 #ag a slight alteration in the text1 the transference of the final ,vav of one word to the beginning of the next1 gets rid of the incongruous phrase are enlarged as applied to troubles 7lit4 straits71 and gives a prayer which is in keeping with the familiar use of the verb in reference to afflictions3 ,the troubles of my heart do ,thou enlarge cf4 iv4 #b2 xviii4 #cf1 and from my distresses1 etc4 ,ver4 #ah should begin with ,qoph1 but has ,resh1 which is repeated in the following verse1 to which it rightly belongs4 ,it is at least noteworthy that the anomaly makes the petition for ,jehovah's look more emphatic1 and brings into prominence the twofold direction of it4 ,the look on the psalmist's affliction and pain will be tender and sympathetic1 as a mother eagle's on her sick eaglet2 that on his foes will be stern and destructive1 many though they be4 ,in ver4 #aa the prayer for pardon was sustained by the plea that the sin was great2 in ver4 #ai that for deliverance from foes rests on the fact that they are many1 for which the verb cognate with the adjective of ver4 #aa is used4 ,thus both dangers without and evils within are regarded as crying out1 by their multitude1 for ,god's intervention4 ,the wreath is twined so that its end is brought round to its beginning4 ,let me not be ashamed1 for ,i trust in ,thee1 is the second petition of the first part repeated2 and ,i wait on ,thee1 which is the last word of the psalm1 omitting the superfluous verse1 echoes the clause which it is proposed to transfer to ver4 #a4 ,thus the two final verses correspond to the two initial1 the last but one to the first but one1 and the last to the first4 ,the final prayer is that integrity 7probably complete devotion of heart to ,god7 and uprightness 7in relation to men7 may preserve him1 as guardian angels2 but this does not assert the possession of these1 but is a petition for the gift of them quite as much as for their preserving action4 ,the implication of that petition is that no harm can imperil or destroy him whom these characteristics guard4 ,that is true in the whole sweep of human life1 however often contradicted in the judgment of sense4 ,like ,psalm xxxiv41 this concludes with a supplementary verse beginning with ,pe1 a letter already represented in the acrostic scheme4 ,this may be a later addition1 for liturgical purposes4 ,,psalm ,,xxvi4 #a ,judge me1 ,jehovah1 for ,i--in my integrity do ,i walk1 ,and in ,jehovah do ,i trust unwavering4 #b ,test me1 ,jehovah1 and try me1 ,my reins and my heart4 #c ,for ,thy loving-kindness is before my eyes1 ,and ,i walk in ,thy troth4 #d ,i sit not with men of vanity1 ,and with those who mask themselves do ,i not go4 #e ,i hate the congregation of evil-doers1 ,and with the wicked ,i do not sit4 #f ,i will wash my hands in innocence1 ,that ,i may compass ,thine altar1 ,jehovah1 #g ,to cause the voice of praise to be heard1 ,and to tell forth all ,thy wonders4 #h ,jehovah1 ,i love the shelter of ,thy house1 ,and the place of the dwelling of ,thy glory4 #i ,take not away with sinners my soul1 ,nor with men of blood my life1 #aj ,in whose hands is outrage1 ,and their right hand is full of bribery4 #aa ,but ,i--in my integrity will ,i walk2 ,redeem me1 and be gracious to me4 #ab ,my foot stands on level ground2 ,in the congregations will ,i bless ,jehovah4 ,the image of the way which is characteristic of ,psalm xxv4 reappears in a modified form in this psalm1 which speaks of walking in integrity and truth and of feet standing in an even place4 ,other resemblances to the preceding psalm are the use of redeem1 be merciful2 the references to ,god's loving-kindness and truth1 in which the psalmist walks1 and to his own integrity4 ,these similarities may or may not indicate common authorship1 but probably guided the compilers in placing the psalm here4 ,it has not clear marks of date or of the writer's circumstances4 ,its two ground tones are profession of integrity and of revulsion from the society of the wicked and prayer for vindication of innocence by the fact of deliverance4 ,the verses are usually grouped in couples1 but with some irregularity4 ,the two key-notes are both struck in the first group of three verses1 in which vv4 #b and #c are substantially an expansion of ver4 #a4 ,the prayer1 ,judge me1 asks for a ,divine act of deliverance based upon a ,divine recognition of the psalmist's sincerity and unwavering trust4 ,both the prayer and its ground are startling4 ,it grates upon ears accustomed to the tone of the ,new ,testament that a suppliant should allege his single-eyed simplicity and steadfast faith as pleas with ,god1 and the strange tone sounds on through the whole psalm4 ,the threefold prayer in ver4 #b courts ,divine scrutiny1 as conscious of innocence1 and bares the inmost recesses of affection and impulse for testing1 proving by circumstances1 and smelting by any fire4 ,the psalmist is ready for the ordeal1 because he has kept ,god's loving-kindness steadily in sight through all the glamour of earthly brightnesses1 and his outward life has been all1 as it were1 transacted in the sphere of ,god's truthfulness2 i4e41 the inward contemplation of ,his mercy and faithfulness has been the active principle of his life4 ,such self-consciousness is strange enough to us1 but1 strange as it is1 it cannot fairly be stigmatised as ,pharisaic self-righteousness4 ,the psalmist knows that all goodness comes from ,god1 and he clings to ,god in childlike trust4 ,the humblest ,christian heart might venture in similar language to declare its recoil from evil-doers and its deepest spring of action as being trust4 ,such professions are not inconsistent with consciousness of sin1 which is1 in fact1 often associated with them in other psalms 7xxv4 #bj1 #ba1 and vii4 #aa1 #ah74 ,they do indicate a lower stage of religious development1 a less keen sense of sinfulness and of sins1 a less clear recognition of the worthlessness before ,god of all man's goodness1 than belong to ,christian feeling4 ,the same language when spoken at one stage of revelation may be childlike and lowly1 and be swelling arrogance and self-righteous self-ignorance1 if spoken at another4 ,such high and sweet communion cannot but breed profound distaste for the society of evil-doers4 ,the eyes which have ,god's loving-kindness ever before them are endowed with penetrative clearness of vision into the true hollowness of most of the objects pursued by men1 and with a terrible sagacity which detects hypocrisy and shams4 ,association with such men is necessary1 else we must needs go out of the world1 and leaven must be in contact with dough in order to do its transforming work2 but it is impossible for a man whose heart is truly in touch with ,god not to feel ill at ease when brought into contact with those who have no share in his deepest convictions and emotions4 ,men of vanity is a general designation for the ungodly1 pronouncing on every such life the sentence that it is devoted to empty unrealities and partakes of the nature of that to which it is given up4 ,one who has ,jehovah's loving-kindness before his eyes cannot sit with such men in friendly association1 as if sharing their ways of thinking1 nor go with them in their course of conduct4 ,those who mask themselves are another class1 namely hypocrites who conceal their pursuit of vanity under the show of religion4 ,the psalmist's revulsion is intensified in ver4 #e into hate1 because the evil-doers and sinners spoken of there are of a deeper tint of blackness1 and are banded together in a congregation1 the opposite and parody of the assemblies of the righteous1 whom he feels to be his kindred4 ,no doubt separateness from evil-doers is but part of a godly man's duty1 and has often been exaggerated into selfish withdrawal from a world which needs good men's presence all the more the worse it is2 but it is a part of his duty1 and ,come out from among them and be separate is not yet an abrogated command4 ,no man will ever mingle with men of vanity1 so as to draw them from the shadows of earth to the substance in ,god1 unless his loving association with them rests on profound revulsion from their principles of action4 ,none comes so near to sinful men as the sinless ,christ2 and if ,he had not been ever separate from sinners1 ,he would never have been near enough to redeem them4 ,we may safely imitate ,his free companionship1 which earned ,him ,his glorious name of their ,friend1 if we imitate ,his remoteness from their evil4 ,from the uncongenial companionship of the wicked the psalmist's yearnings instinctively turn to his heart's home1 the sanctuary4 ,the more a man feels out of sympathy with a godless world1 the more longingly he presses into the depths of communion with ,god2 and1 conversely1 the more he feels at home in still communion1 the more does the tumult of sense-bound crowds grate on his soul4 ,the psalmist1 then1 in the next group of verses 7#f1 #g71 opposes access to the house of ,god and the solemn joy of thankful praises sounding there to the loathed consorting with evil4 ,he will not sit with men of vanity because he will enter the sanctuary4 ,outward participation in its worship may be included in his vows and wishes1 but the tone of the verses rather points to a symbolical use of the externalities of ritual4 ,cleansing the hands alludes to priestly lustration2 compassing the altar is not known to have been a ,jewish practice1 and probably is to be taken as simply a picturesque way of describing himself as one of the joyous circle of worshippers2 the sacrifice is praise4 ,the psalmist rises to the height of the true ,israelite's priestly vocation1 and ritual has become transparent to him4 ,none the less may he have clung to the outwardnesses of ceremonial worship1 because he apprehended them in their highest significance and had learned that the qualification of the worshipper was purity1 and the best offering praise4 ,well for those who1 like him1 are driven to the sanctuary by the revulsion from vanities and from those who pursue them6 ,ver4 #h is closely connected with the two preceding1 but is perhaps best united with the following verse1 as being the ground of the prayer there4 ,hate of the congregation of evil-doers has love to ,god's house for its complement or foundation4 ,the measure of attachment is that of detachment4 ,the designations of the sanctuary in ver4 #h show the aspects in which it drew the psalmist's love4 ,it was the shelter of ,thy house1 where he could hide himself from the strife of tongues and escape the pain of herding with evil-doers2 it was the place of the dwelling of ,thy glory1 the abode of that symbol of ,divine presence which flamed between the cherubim and lit the darkness of the innermost shrine4 ,because the singer felt his true home to be there1 he prayed that his soul might not be gathered with sinners1 i4e4 that he might not be involved in their fate4 ,he has had no fellowship with them in their evil1 and therefore he asks that he may be separate from them in their punishment4 ,to gather the soul is equivalent to taking away the life4 ,god's judgments sort out characters and bring like to like1 as the tares are bound in bundles or as1 with so different a purpose1 ,christ made the multitudes sit down by companies on the green sward4 ,general judgments are not indiscriminate4 ,the prayer of the psalmist may not have looked beyond exemption from calamities or from death1 but the essence of the faith which it expresses is eternally true3 that distinction of attitude towards ,god and goodness must secure distinction of lot1 even though external circumstances are identical4 ,the same things are not the same to men so profoundly different4 ,the picture of the evil-doers from whom the psalmist recoils is darker in these last verses than before4 ,it is evidently a portrait and points to a state of society in which violence1 outrage1 and corruption were rampant4 ,the psalmist washed his hands in innocency1 but these men had violence and bribes in theirs4 ,they were therefore persons in authority1 prostituting justice4 ,the description fits too many periods too well to give a clue to the date of the psalm4 ,once more the consciousness of difference and the resolve not to be like such men break forth in the closing couple of verses4 ,the psalm began with the profession that he had walked in his integrity2 it ends with the vow that he will4 ,it had begun with the prayer ,judge me2 it ends with the expansion of it into ,redeem me--i4e41 from existing dangers1 from evil-doers1 or from their fate--and ,be gracious unto me1 the positive side of the same petition4 ,he who purposes to walk uprightly has the right to expect ,god's delivering and giving hand to be extended to him4 ,the resolve to walk uprightly unaccompanied with the prayer for that hand to hold up is as rash as the prayer without the resolve is vain4 ,but if these two go together1 quiet confidence will steal into the heart2 and though there be no change in circumstances1 the mood of mind will be so soothed and lightened that the suppliant will feel that he has suddenly emerged from the steep gorge where he had been struggling and shut up1 and stands on the level ground of the shining table-lands1 whereof our ,god ,himself is sun and moon4 ,such peaceful foretaste of coming security is the forerunner which visits the faithful heart4 ,gladdened by it1 the psalmist is sure that his desire of compassing ,god's altar with praise will be fulfilled1 and that1 instead of compulsory association with the congregation of evil-doers1 he will bless ,jehovah in the congregations where ,his name is loved and find himself among those who1 like himself1 delight in ,his praise4 ,,psalm ,,xxvii4 #a ,jehovah is my light and my salvation2 whom should ,i fear8 ,jehovah is the fortress of my life2 for whom should ,i tremble8 #b ,when evil-doers drew near against me1 to devour my flesh1 ,my oppressors and my foes1 they stumbled and fell4 #c ,though a host encamp against me1 ,my heart fears not2 ,though war rises against me1 ,even then am ,i confident4 #d ,one thing have ,i asked from ,jehovah2 that will ,i seek3 ,that ,i may dwell in the house of ,jehovah all the days of my life1 ,to gaze upon the pleasantness of ,jehovah and to meditate in ,his palace4 #e ,for ,he will hide me in a bower in the day of evil2 ,he will secrete me in the secret of ,his tent2 ,on a rock will ,he lift me4 #f ,and now shall my head be lifted above my foes around me1 ,and ,i will sacrifice in ,his tent sacrifices of joy2 ,i will sing and ,i will harp to ,jehovah4 #g ,hear1 ,jehovah1 when ,i cry with my voice2 ,and be gracious to me1 and answer me4 #h ,to ,thee hath my heart said1 7when ,thou saidst7 ,seek ye my face2 ,that face of ,thine1 ,jehovah1 will ,i seek4 #i ,hide not ,thy face from me3 ,repulse not ,thy servant in anger2 ,my help ,thou hast been3 ,cast me not off1 and forsake me not1 ,o ,god of my salvation #aj ,for my father and my mother have forsaken me2 ,but ,jehovah will take me up4 #aa ,show me1 ,jehovah1 ,thy way1 ,and lead me in a level path1 because of those who lie in wait for me4 #ab ,give me not up to the desire of my oppressors1 ,for false witnesses have risen against me1 and such as breathe out violence4 #ac ,if ,i had not believed that ,i should see the goodness of ,jehovah ,in the land of the living----6 #ad ,wait on ,jehovah2 ,be strong1 and let thine heart take courage1 and wait on ,jehovah4 ,the hypothesis that two originally distinct psalms or fragments are here blended has much in its favour4 ,the rhythm and style of the latter half 7ver4 #g to end7 are strikingly unlike those of the former part1 and the contrast of feeling is equally marked1 and is in the opposite direction from that which is usual1 since it drops from exultant faith to at least plaintive1 if not anxious1 petition4 ,but while the phenomena are plain and remarkable1 they do not seem to demand the separation suggested4 ,form and rhythm are elastic in the poet's hands1 and change in correspondence with his change of mood4 ,the flowing melody of the earlier part is the natural expression of its sunny confidence1 and the harsher strains of the later verses fit no less well their contents4 ,why may not the key change to a minor1 and yet the voice be the same8 ,the fall from jubilant to suppliant faith is not unexampled in other psalms 7cf4 ix4 and xxv471 nor in itself unnatural4 ,dangers1 which for a moment cease to press1 do recur1 however real the victory over fear has been1 and in this recrudescence of the consciousness of peril1 which yet does not loosen1 but tighten1 the grasp of faith1 this ancient singer speaks the universal experience2 and his song becomes more precious and more fitted for all lips than if it had been unmingled triumph4 ,one can better understand the original author passing in swift transition from the one to the other tone1 than a later editor deliberately appending to a pure burst of joyous faith and aspiration a tag which flattened it4 ,the more unlike the two halves are1 the less probable is it that their union is owing to any but the author of both4 ,the fire of the original inspiration could fuse them into homogeneousness2 it is scarcely possible that a mechanical patcher should have done so4 ,if1 then1 we take the psalm as a whole1 it gives a picture of the transitions of a trustful soul surrounded by dangers1 in which all such souls may recognise their own likeness4 ,the first half 7vv4 #a-f7 is the exultant song of soaring faith4 ,but even in it there sounds an undertone4 ,the very refusal to be afraid glances sideways at outstanding causes for fear4 ,the very names of ,jehovah as ,light1 ,salvation1 the ,stronghold of my life1 imply darkness1 danger1 and besetting foes4 ,the resolve to keep alight the fire of courage and confidence in the face of encamping foes and rising wars is much too energetic to be mere hypothetical courage4 ,the hopes of safety in ,jehovah's tent1 of a firm standing on a rock1 and of the head being lifted above surrounding foes are not the hopes of a man at ease1 but of one threatened on all sides1 and triumphant only because he clasps ,jehovah's hand4 ,the first words of the psalm carry it all in germ4 ,by a noble dead-lift of confidence1 the singer turns from foes and fears to stay himself on ,jehovah1 his light and salvation1 and then1 in the strength of that assurance1 bids back his rising fears to their dens4 ,i will trust1 and not be afraid1 confesses the presence of fear1 and1 like our psalm1 unveils the only reasonable counteraction of it in the contemplation of what ,god is4 ,there is much to fear unless ,he is our light1 and they who will not begin with the psalmist's confidence have no right to repeat his courage4 ,to a devout man the past is eloquent with reasons for confidence1 and in ver4 #b the psalm points to a past fact4 ,the stumbling and falling of former foes1 who came open-mouthed at him1 is not a hypothetical case1 but a bit of autobiography1 which lives to nourish present confidence4 ,it is worth notice that the language employed has remarkable correspondence with that used in the story of ,david's fight with ,goliath4 ,there the same word as here is twice employed to describe the ,philistine's advance 7#a ,sam4 xvii4 #da1 #dh74 ,goliath's vaunt1 ,i will give thy flesh to the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field1 may have supplied the mould for the expression here1 and the fall of the giant1 with his face to the earth and the smooth stone in his brain1 is narrated with the same word as occurs in the psalm4 ,it might well be that when ,david was a fugitive before ,saul the remembrance of his victory over ,goliath should have cheered him1 just as that of his earlier prowess against bear and lion heartened him to face the ,philistine bully2 and such recollections would be all the more natural since jealousy of the fame that came to him from that feat had set the first light to ,saul's hatred4 ,ver4 #c is not to be left swinging in vacuo1 a cheap vow of courage in hypothetical danger4 ,the supposed case is actual fact1 and the expressions of trust are not only assertions for the future1 but statements of the present temper of the psalmist3 ,i do not fear2 ,i am confident4 ,the confidence of ver4 #c is rested not only on ,jehovah's past acts1 but on the psalmist's past and present set of soul towards ,him4 ,that seems to be the connecting link between vv4 #a-c and #d-f4 ,such desire1 the psalmist is sure1 cannot but be answered1 and in the answer all safety is included4 ,the purest longing after ,god1 as the deepest1 most fixed yearning of a heart1 was never more nobly expressed4 ,clearly the terms forbid the limitation of meaning to mere external presence in a material sanctuary4 ,all the days of my life points to a continuance inward and capable of accomplishment1 wherever the body may be4 ,the exclusiveness and continuity of the longing1 as well as the gaze on ,god which is its true object1 are incapable of the lower meaning1 while1 no doubt1 the externals of worship supply the mould into which these longings are poured4 ,but what the psalmist wants is what the devout soul in all ages and stages has wanted3 the abiding consciousness of the ,divine presence2 and the prime good which makes that presence so infinitely and exclusively desirable to him is the good which draws all such souls in yearning1 namely the vision of ,god4 ,the lifelong persistence and exclusiveness of the desire are such as all must cherish if they are to receive its fruition4 ,blessed are they who are delivered from the misery of multiplied and transient aims which break life into fragments by steadfastly and continually following one great desire1 which binds all the days each to each1 and in its single simplicity encloses and hallows and unifies the else distracting manifoldness6 ,that life is filled with light1 however it may be ringed round with darkness1 which has the perpetual vision of ,god1 who is its light4 ,very beautifully does the psalm describe the occupation of ,god's guest as gazing upon the pleasantness of ,jehovah4 ,in that expression the construction of the verb with a preposition implies a steadfast and penetrating contemplation1 and the word rendered beauty or pleasantness may mean friendliness1 but is perhaps better taken in a more general meaning1 as equivalent to the whole gathered delightsomeness of the ,divine character1 the supremely fair and sweet4 ,to inquire may be rendered to consider2 but the rendering meditate or contemplate in is better1 as the palace would scarcely be a worthy object of consideration2 and it is natural that the gaze on the goodness of ,jehovah should be followed by loving meditation on what that earnest look had seen4 ,the two acts complete the joyful employment of a soul communing with ,god3 first perceiving and then reflecting upon ,his uncreated beauty of goodness4 ,such intimacy of communion brings security from external dangers4 ,the guest has a claim for protection4 ,and that is a subsidiary reason for the psalmist's desire as well as a ground of his confidence4 ,therefore the assurance of ver4 #e follows the longing of ver4 #d4 ,a pavilion1 as the ,hebrew text reads1 has been needlessly corrected in the margin into ,his pavilion 7,a4,v474 ,it is not ,god's dwelling1 as the following 'tent' is1 but a booth 444 as an image of protection from heat and inclemency of weather 7,isa4 iv4 #f7 7,hupfeld74 ,god's dwelling is a tent1 where ,he will shelter ,his guests4 ,the privilege of asylum is theirs4 ,then1 with a swift change of figure1 the psalmist expresses the same idea of security by elevation on a rock1 possibly conceiving the tent as pitched there4 ,the reality of all is that communion with ,god secures from perils and enemies1 an eternal truth1 if the true meaning of security is grasped4 ,borne up by such thoughts1 the singer feels himself lifted clear above the reach of surrounding foes1 and1 with the triumphant now of ver4 #f1 stretches out his hand to bring future deliverance into the midst of present distress4 ,faith can blend the seasons1 and transport ,june and its roses into ,december's snows4 ,deliverance suggests thankfulness to a true heart1 and its anticipation calls out prophetic songs in the night4 ,but the very brightness of the prospect recalls the stern reality of present need1 and the firmest faith cannot keep on the wing continually4 ,in the first part of the psalm it sings and soars2 in the second the note is less jubilant1 and it sings and sinks2 but in both it is faith4 ,prayer for deliverance is as really the voice of faith as triumph in the assurance of deliverance is1 and he who sees his foes and yet believes to see the goodness of ,jehovah is not far below him who gazes only on the beauty of the ,lord4 ,there is a parallelism between the two halves of the psalm worth noting4 ,in the former part the psalmist's confidence reposed on the two facts of past deliverance and of his past and continuous seeking after the one good2 in the second his prayers repose on the same two grounds1 which occur in inverted order4 ,that will ,i seek after 7ver4 #d71 is echoed by ,thy face will ,i seek 7ver4 #h74 ,to seek the face is the same substantially as to desire to gaze on the pleasantness of ,jehovah4 ,the past experience of the fall of foes 7ver4 #b7 is repeated in ,thou hast been my help4 ,on these two pleas the prayer in which faith speaks itself founds4 ,the former is urged in vv4 #h and #i with some harshness of construction1 which is smoothed over1 rightly as regards meaning1 in the ,a4,v4 and ,r4,v4 ,but the very brokenness of the sentence adds to the earnestness of the prayer3 ,to ,thee my heart has said1 ,seek ye my face2 ,thy face1 ,jehovah1 will ,i seek4 ,the answering heart repeats the invitation which gave it courage to seek before it responds with its resolve4 ,the insertion of some such phrase as in answer to ,thy word before seek ye helps the sense in a translation1 but mars the vigour of the original4 ,the invitation is not quoted from any ,scripture1 but is the summary of the meaning of all ,god's self-revelation4 ,he is ever saying1 ,seek ye my face4 ,therefore ,he cannot but show it to a man who takes ,him at ,his word and pleads that word as the warrant for his petition4 ,i have never said to the seed of ,jacob1 ,seek ye my face in vain4 ,the consistency of the ,divine character ensures ,his satisfying the desires which ,he has implanted4 ,he will neither stultify ,himself nor tantalise men by setting them on quests which end in disappointment4 ,in a similar manner1 the psalm urges the familiar argument from ,god's past1 which reposes on the confidence of unalterable grace and inexhaustible resources4 ,the psalmist had no cold abstract doctrine of immutability as a ,divine attribute4 ,his conception was intensely practical4 ,since ,god has helped in the past1 ,he will help in the future1 because ,he is ,god1 and because ,he is the ,god of my salvation4 ,he cannot reverse ,his action nor stay ,his hand until ,his dealings with ,his servants have vindicated that name by completing the process to which it binds ,him4 ,the prayer ,forsake me not is based upon a remarkable ground in ver4 #aj3 ,for my father and my mother have forsaken me4 ,that seems a singular plea for a mature man1 who has a considerably varied experience of life behind him1 to urge4 ,it is generally explained as a proverbial expression1 meaning no more than the frequent complaints in the ,psalter of desertion by friends and lovers4 ,cheyne 7,commentary in loc47 sees in it a clear indication that the speaker is the afflicted nation1 comparing itself to a sobbing child deserted by its parents4 ,but it is at least noteworthy that1 when ,david was hard pressed at ,adullam1 he bestowed his father and mother for safety with the king of ,moab 7#a ,sam4 xxi4 #c1 #d74 ,it is objected that this was not their forsaking him1 but it was1 at least1 their leaving him1 and might well add an imaginative pang as well as a real loss to the fugitive4 ,so specific a statement as that of the psalm can scarcely be weakened down into proverb or metaphor4 ,the allusion may be undiscoverable1 but the words sound uncommonly like the assertion of a fact1 and the fact referred to is the only known one which in any degree fits them4 ,the general petitions of vv4 #g-aj become more specific as the song nears its close4 ,as in ,psalm xxv41 guidance and protection are the psalmist's needs now4 ,the analogy of other psalms suggests an ethical meaning for the plain path of ver4 #aa2 and that signification1 rather than that of a safe road1 is to be preferred1 for the sake of preserving a difference between this and the following prayer for deliverance4 ,the figures of his enemies stand out more threateningly than before 7ver4 #ab74 ,is that all his gain from his prayer8 ,is it not a faint-hearted descent from ver4 #f1 where1 from the height of his ,divine security1 he looked down on them far below1 and unable to reach him8 ,now they have risen up1 and he has dropped down among them4 ,but such changes of mood are not inconsistent with unchanged faith1 if only the gaze which discerns the precipice at either side is not turned away from the goal ahead and above1 nor from ,him who holds up ,his servant4 ,the effect of that clearer sight of the enemies is very beautifully given in the abrupt half-sentence of ver4 #ac3 ,if ,i had not believed to see the goodness of ,jehovah in the land of the living6 ,as he thinks of his foes1 he breaks into an exclamation1 which he leaves unfinished4 ,the omission is easy to supply4 ,he would have been their victim but for his faith4 ,the broken words tell of his recoil from the terrible possibility forced on him by the sight of the formidable enemies4 ,well for us if we are but driven the closer to ,god1 in conscious helplessness1 by the sight of dangers and antagonisms6 ,faith does not falter1 though it is keenly conscious of difficulties4 ,it is not preserved by ignoring facts1 but should be by them impelled to clasp ,god more firmly as its only safety4 ,so the psalm goes back to the major key at last1 and in the closing verse prayer passes into self-encouragement4 ,the heart that spoke to ,god now speaks to itself4 ,faith exhorts sense and soul to wait on ,jehovah4 ,the self-communing of the psalmist1 beginning with exultant confidence and merging into prayer thrilled with consciousness of need and of weakness1 closes with bracing him up to courage1 which is not presumption1 because it is the fruit of waiting on the ,lord4 ,he who thus keeps his heart in touch with ,god will be able to obey the ancient command1 which had rung so long before in the ears of ,joshua in the plains of ,jericho and is never out of date1 ,be strong and of a good courage2 and none but those who wait on the ,lord will be at once conscious of weakness and filled with strength1 aware of the foes and bold to meet them4 ,,psalm ,,xxviii4 #a ,unto ,thee1 ,jehovah1 ,i cry2 ,my ,rock1 be not deaf to me1 ,lest ,thou be silent to me1 ,and ,i become as those who go down to the pit4 #b ,hear the voice of my supplications in my crying to ,thee for help1 ,in my lifting my hands to ,thy holy shrine4 #c ,drag me not away with wicked men1 and with workers of iniquity1 ,speaking peace with their neighbours1 ,and evil is in their hearts4 #d ,give them according to their doings and according to the evil of their deeds2 ,according to the work of their hands give them2 ,return their desert to them4 #e ,for they pay no heed to the doings of ,jehovah ,nor to the work of ,his hands2 ,he shall cast them down1 and not build them up4 #f ,blessed be ,jehovah ,for ,he has heard the voice of my supplications4 #g ,jehovah is my fortress and my shield2 ,in ,him has my heart trusted1 and ,i am helped2 ,so my heart leaps for joy1 and by my song will ,i praise ,him4 #h ,jehovah is their strength 7or the strength of ,his people71 ,and a fortress of salvation for ,his anointed is ,he4 #i ,save ,thy people1 and bless ,thine inheritance ,and shepherd them1 and carry them even for evermore4 ,the unquestionable resemblances to ,psalm xxvi4 scarcely require that this should be considered its companion4 ,the differences are as obvious as the likenesses4 ,while the prayer ,draw me not away with the wicked and the characterisation of these are alike in both1 the further emphatic prayer for retribution here and the closing half of this psalm have nothing corresponding to them in the other4 ,this psalm is built on the familiar plan of groups of two verses each1 with the exception that the prayer1 which is its centre1 runs over into three4 ,the course of thought is as familiar as the structure4 ,invocation is followed by petition1 and that by exultant anticipation of the answer as already given2 and all closes with wider petitions for the whole people4 ,vv4 #a1 #b1 are a prelude to the prayer proper1 bespeaking the ,divine acceptance of it1 on the double ground of the psalmist's helplessness apart from ,god's help and of his outstretched hands appealing to ,god enthroned above the mercy-seat4 ,he is in such straits that1 unless his prayer brings an answer in act1 he must sink into the pit of ,sheol1 and be made like those that lie huddled there in its darkness4 ,on the edge of the slippery slope1 he stretches out his hands toward the innermost sanctuary 7for so the word rendered1 by a mistaken etymology1 oracle means74 ,he beseeches ,god to hear1 and blends the two figures of deafness and silence as both meaning the withholding of help4 ,jehovah seems deaf when prayer is unanswered1 and is silent when ,he does not speak in deliverance4 ,this prelude of invocation throbs with earnestness1 and sets the pattern for suppliants1 teaching them how to quicken their own desires as well as how to appeal to ,god by breathing to ,him their consciousness that only ,his hand can keep them from sliding down into death4 ,the prayer itself 7vv4 #c-e7 touches lightly on the petition that the psalmist may be delivered from the fate of the wicked1 and then launches out into indignant description of their practices and solemn invocation of retribution upon them4 ,drag away is parallel with1 but stronger than1 ,gather not in xxvi4 #i4 ,commentators quote ,job xxiv4 #bb1 where the word is used of ,god's dragging the mighty out of life by ,his power1 as a struggling criminal is haled to the scaffold4 ,the shuddering recoil from the fate of the wicked is accompanied with vehement loathing of their practices4 ,a man who keeps his heart in touch with ,god cannot but shrink1 as from a pestilence1 from complicity with evil1 and the depth of his hearty hatred of it is the measure of his right to ask that he may not share in the ruin it must bring1 since ,god is righteous4 ,one type of evil-doers is the object of the psalmist's special abhorrence3 false friends with smooth tongues and daggers in their sleeves1 the dissemblers of ,psalm xxvi42 but he passes to the more general characterisation of the class1 in his terrible prayer for retribution1 in vv4 #d1 #e4 ,the sin of sins1 from which all specific acts of evil flow1 is blindness to ,god's deeds and to the work of ,his hands1 ,his acts both of mercy and of judgment4 ,practical atheism1 the indifference which looks upon nature1 history1 and self1 and sees no signs of a mighty hand tender1 pure1 and strong1 ever active in them all1 will surely lead the purblind ,agnostics to do works of their hands which1 for lack of reference to ,him1 fail to conform to the highest ideal and draw down righteous judgment4 ,but the blindness to ,god's work here meant is that of an averted will rather than that of mistaken understanding1 and from the stem of such a thorn the grapes of holy living cannot be gathered4 ,therefore the psalmist is but putting into words the necessary result of such lives when from suppliant he becomes prophet1 and declares that ,he shall cast them down1 and not build them up4 ,the stern tone of this prayer marks it as belonging to the older type of religion1 and its dissimilarity to the ,new ,testament teaching is not to be slurred over4 ,no doubt the element of personal enmity is all but absent1 but it is not the prayer which those who have heard ,father1 forgive them1 are to copy4 ,yet1 on the other hand1 the wholesome abhorrence of evil1 the solemn certitude that sin is death1 the desire that it may cease from the world1 and the lowly petition that it may not drag us into fatal associations are all to be preserved in ,christian feeling1 while softened by the light that falls from ,calvary4 ,as in many psalms1 the faith which prays passes at once into the faith which possesses4 ,this man1 when he stood praying1 believed that he had what he asked1 and1 so believing1 had it4 ,there was no change in circumstances1 but he was changed4 ,there is no fear of going down into the pit now1 and the rabble of evil-doers have disappeared4 ,this is the blessing which every true suppliant may bear away from the throne1 the peace which passeth understanding1 the sure pledge of the ,divine act which answers prayer4 ,it is the first gentle ripple of the incoming tide2 high water is sure to come at the due hour4 ,so the psalmist is exuberant and happily tautological in telling how his trusting heart has become a leaping heart1 and help has been flashed back from heaven as swiftly as his prayer had travelled thither4 ,the closing strophe 7vv4 #h1 #i7 is but loosely connected with the body of the psalm except on one supposition4 ,what if the singer were king over ,israel1 and if the dangers threatening him were public perils8 ,that would explain the else singular attachment of intercession for ,israel to so intensely personal a supplication4 ,it is most natural that ,god's anointed1 who has been asking deliverance for himself1 should widen his petitions to take in that flock of which he was but the under-shepherd1 and should devolve the shepherding and carrying of it on the ,divine ,shepherd-,king1 of whom he was the shadowy representative4 ,the addition of one letter changes their in ver4 #h into to ,his people1 a reading which has the support of the ,,lxx4 and of some manuscripts and versions and is recommended by its congruity with the context4 ,cheyne's suggestion that ,his anointed is the high-priest is only conjecture4 ,the reference of the expression to the king who is also the psalmist preserves the unity of the psalm4 ,the ,christian reader cannot but think of the true ,king and ,intercessor1 whose great prayer before ,his passion began1 like our psalm1 with petitions for ,himself1 but passed into supplication for ,his little flock and for all the unnumbered millions who should believe on ,him through their word4 ,,psalm ,,xxix4 #a ,give to ,jehovah1 ye sons of ,god1 ,give to ,jehovah glory and strength4 #b ,give to ,jehovah the glory of ,his name2 ,bow down to ,jehovah in holy attire4 #c ,the voice of ,jehovah is upon the waters2 ,the ,god of glory thunders2 ,jehovah is on many waters4 #d ,the voice of ,jehovah is with power2 ,the voice of ,jehovah is with majesty4 #e ,the voice of ,jehovah shivers the cedars2 ,yea1 ,jehovah shivers the cedars of ,lebanon1 #f ,and makes them leap like a calf1 ,lebanon and ,sirion like a young wild ox4 #g ,the voice of ,jehovah hews out flames of fire4 #h ,the voice of ,jehovah shakes the wilderness2 ,jehovah shakes the wilderness of ,kadesh4 #i ,the voice of ,jehovah makes the hinds calve1 and strips the woods3 ,and in ,his palace every one is saying1 ,glory6 #aj ,jehovah sat enthroned for the ,flood2 ,and ,jehovah sits ,king for ever4 #aa ,jehovah will give strength to ,his people2 ,jehovah will bless ,his people with peace4 ,the core of this psalm is the magnificent description of the thunderstorm rolling over the whole length of the land4 ,that picture is framed by two verses of introduction and two of conclusion1 which are connected1 inasmuch as the one deals with the glory to ,god in the highest which is the echo of the tempest in angels' praises1 and the other with the peace on earth in which its thunders die away4 ,the invocation in vv4 #a1 #b1 is addressed to angels1 whatever may be the exact rendering of the remarkable title by which they are summoned in ver4 #a4 ,it is all but unique1 and the only other instance of its use 7,psalm lxxxix4 #f7 establishes its meaning1 since holy ones is there given as synonymous in the verses preceding and following4 ,the most probable explanation of the peculiar phrase 7,b'ne ,elim7 is that of ,gesenius1 ,ewald1 ,delitzsch1 and ,riehm in his edition of ,hupfeld's ,commentary3 that it is a double plural1 both members of the compound phrase being inflected4 ,similarly mighty men of valour 7#a ,chron4 vii4 #e7 has the second noun in the plural4 ,this seems more probable than the rendering sons of the gods4 ,the psalmist summons these lofty beings to give glory and strength to ,jehovah1 that is1 to ascribe to ,him the attributes manifested in ,his acts1 or1 as ver4 #b puts it1 the glory of ,his name1 i4e41 belonging to ,his character as thus revealed4 ,the worship of earth is regarded as a type of that of heaven1 and as here1 so there1 they who bow before ,him are to be clothed in holy attire4 ,the thought underlying this ringing summons is that even angels learn the character of ,god from the exhibitions of ,his power in the ,creation1 and as they sang together for joy at first1 still attend its manifestations with adoration4 ,the contrast of their praise with the tumult and terror on earth1 while the thunder growls in the sky1 is surely not unintended4 ,it suggests the different aspects of ,god's dread deeds as seen by them and by men1 and carries a tacit lesson true of all calamities and convulsions4 ,the thunder-cloud hangs boding in its piled blue blackness to those who from beneath watch the slow crumbling away of its torn edges and the ominous movements in its sullen heart or hear the crashes from its depths1 but1 seen from above1 it is transfigured by the light that falls on its upper surface2 and it stretches placid before the throne1 like the sea of glass mingled with fire4 ,whatever may be earth's terror1 heaven's echo of ,god's thunders is praise4 ,then the storm bursts4 ,we can hear it rolling in the short periods1 mostly uniform in structure and grouped in verses of two clauses each1 the second of which echoes the first1 like the long-drawn roll that pauses1 slackens1 and yet persists4 ,seven times the voice of ,jehovah is heard1 like the apocalyptic seven thunders before the throne4 ,the poet's eye travels with the swift tempest1 and his picture is full of motion1 sweeping from the waters above the firmament to earth and from the northern boundary of the land to the far south4 ,first we hear the mutterings in the sky 7ver4 #c74 ,if we understood the waters as meaning the ,mediterranean1 we should have the picture of the storm working up from the sea2 but it is better to take the expression as referring to the super-terrestrial reservoirs or the rain flood stored in the thunder-clouds4 ,up there the peals roll before their fury shakes the earth4 ,it was not enough in the poet's mind to call the thunder the voice of ,jehovah1 but it must be brought into still closer connection with ,him by the plain statement that it is ,he who thunders and who rides on the storm-clouds as they hurry across the sky4 ,to catch tones of a ,divine voice1 full of power and majesty1 in a noise so entirely explicable as a thunderclap1 is1 no doubt1 unscientific2 but the ,hebrew contemplation of nature is occupied with another set of ideas than scientific1 and is entirely unaffected by these4 ,the psalmist had no notion of the physical cause of thunder1 but there is no reason why a man who can make as much electricity as he wants by the grinding of a dynamo and then use it to carry his trivial messages should not repeat the psalmist's devout assertion4 ,we can assimilate all that physicists can tell us1 and then1 passing into another region1 can hear ,jehovah speaking in thunder4 ,the psalm begins where science leaves off4 ,while the psalmist speaks the swift tempest has come down with a roar and a crash on the northern mountains1 and ,lebanon and ,sirion 7a ,sidonian name for ,hermon7 reel1 and the firm-boled1 stately cedars are shivered4 ,the structure of the verses already noticed1 in which the second clause reduplicates1 with some specialising1 the thought of the first1 makes it probable that in ver4 #f a the mountains1 and not the cedars1 are meant by them4 ,the trees are broken2 the mountains shake4 ,an emendation has been proposed1 by which ,lebanon should be transferred from ver4 #e to ver4 #f and substituted for them so as to bring out this meaning more smoothly1 but the roughness of putting the pronoun in the first clause and the nouns to which it refers in the second is not so considerable as to require the change4 ,the image of the mountains skipping sounds exaggerated to ,western ears1 but is not infrequent in ,scripture1 and in the present instance is simply a strong way of expressing the violence of the storm1 which seems even to shake the steadfast mountains that keep guard over the furthest borders of the land4 ,nor are we to forget that here there may be some hint of a parable in nature4 ,the heights are thunder-smitten2 the valleys are safe4 ,the day of the ,lord shall be upon all the cedars of ,lebanon that are high and lifted up1 444 and upon all the high mountains 7,isa4 ii4 #ac1 #ad74 ,the two-claused verses are interrupted by one of a single clause 7ver4 #g71 the brevity of which vividly suggests the suddenness and speed of the flash3 ,the voice of ,jehovah cleaves or1 hews out fire flames4 ,the thunder is conceived of as the principal phenomenon and as creating the lightning1 as if it hewed out the flash from the dark mass of cloud4 ,a corrected accentuation of this short verse divides it into three parts1 perhaps representing the triple zigzag2 but in any case the one solitary1 sudden fork1 blazing fiercely for a moment and then swallowed up in the gloom1 is marvellously given4 ,it is further to be noted that this single lightning gleam parts the description of the storm into two1 the former part painting it as in the north1 the latter as in the extreme south4 ,it has swept over the whole length of the land1 while we have been watching the flash4 ,now it is rolling over the wide plain of the southern desert4 ,the precise position of ,kadesh is keenly debated1 but it was certainly in the eastern part of the desert region on the southern border4 ,it1 too1 shakes1 low-lying as it is2 and far and wide over its uninhabited levels the tempest ranges4 ,its effects there are variously understood4 ,the parallelism of clauses and the fact that nowhere else in the picture is animal life introduced give great probability to the very slight alteration required in ver4 #i a1 in order to yield the rendering pierces the oaks 7,cheyne71 instead of makes the hinds calve which harmonises admirably with the next clause2 but1 on the other hand1 the premature dropping of the young of wild animals from fear is said to be an authentic fact1 and gives a defensible trait to the picture1 which is perhaps none the less striking for the introduction of one small piece of animated nature4 ,in any case the next clause paints the dishevelled forest trees1 with scarred bark1 broken boughs1 and strewn leaves1 after the fierce roar and flash1 wind and rain1 have swept over them4 ,the southern border must have been very unlike its present self1 or the poet's thoughts must have travelled eastwards1 among the oaks on the other side of the ,arabah1 if the local colouring of ver4 #i is correct4 ,while tumult of storm and crash of thunder have been raging and rolling below1 the singer hears a deeper voice across the storm1 the songs of the sons of ,god in the temple palace above1 chanting the praise to which he had summoned them4 ,in ,his temple every one is saying1 ,glory6 ,that is the issue of all storms4 ,the clear eyes of the angels see1 and their loud uplifted trumpets celebrate1 the lustrous self-manifestation of ,jehovah1 who rides upon the storm1 and makes the rush of the thunder minister to the fruitfulness of earth4 ,but what of the effects down here8 ,the concluding strophe 7vv4 #aj1 #aa7 tells4 ,its general sense is clear1 though the first clause of ver4 #aj is ambiguous4 ,the source of the difficulty in rendering is twofold4 ,the preposition may mean for--i4e41 in order to bring about--or1 according to some1 on1 or above1 or at4 ,the word rendered flood is only used elsewhere in reference to the ,noachic deluge1 and here has the definite article1 which is most naturally explained as fixing the reference to that event2 but it has been objected that the allusion would be far-fetched and out of place1 and therefore the rendering rain-storm has been suggested4 ,in the absence of any instance of the word's being used for anything but the ,deluge1 it is safest to retain that meaning here4 ,there must1 however1 be combined with that rendering an allusion to the torrents of thunder rain1 which closed the thunderstorm4 ,these could scarcely be omitted4 ,they remind the singer of the downpour that drowned the world1 and his thought is that just as ,jehovah sat--i4e41 solemnly took ,his place as ,king and ,judge--in order to execute that act of retribution1 so1 in all subsequent smaller acts of an analogous nature1 ,he will sit enthroned for ever4 ,the supremacy of ,jehovah over all transient tempests and the judicial punitive nature of these are the thoughts which the storm has left with him4 ,it has rolled away2 ,god1 who sent it1 remains throned above nature and floods3 they are ,his ministers4 ,and all ends with a sweet1 calm word1 assuring ,jehovah's people of a share in the strength which spoke in the thunder1 and1 better still1 of peace4 ,that close is like the brightness of the glistening earth1 with freshened air1 and birds venturing to sing once more1 and a sky of deeper blue1 and the spent clouds low and harmless on the horizon4 ,beethoven has given the same contrast between storm and after-calm in the music of the ,pastoral ,symphony4 ,faith can listen to the wildest crashing thunder in quiet confidence that angels are saying1 ,glory6 as each peal rolls1 and that when the last1 low mutterings are hushed1 earth will smile the brighter1 and deeper peace will fall on trusting hearts4 ,,psalm ,,xxx4 #a ,thee will ,i exalt1 ,jehovah1 for me hast ,thou lifted up1 ,and not made my foes rejoice over me4 #b ,jehovah1 my ,god1 ,i cried loudly to ,thee1 and ,thou healedst me4 #c ,jehovah1 ,thou hast brought up from ,sheol my soul2 ,thou hast revived me from among those who descend to the pit4 #d ,make music to ,jehovah1 ye who are favoured by ,him2 ,and thank ,his holy ,name4 #e ,for a moment passes in ,his anger1 ,a life in ,his favour2 ,in the evening comes weeping as a guest1 ,and at morn there is a shout of joy4 #f ,but ,i--,i said in my security1 ,i shall not be moved for ever4 #g ,jehovah1 by ,thy favour ,thou hadst established strength to my mountain2 ,thou didst hide ,thy face3 ,i was troubled4 #h ,to ,thee1 ,jehovah1 ,i cried2 ,and to the ,lord ,i made supplication4 #i ,what profit is in my blood when ,i descend to the pit8 ,can dust thank ,thee8 can it declare ,thy faithfulness8 #aj ,hear1 ,jehovah1 and be gracious to me2 ,jehovah1 be my ,helper6 #aa ,thou didst turn for me my mourning to dancing2 ,thou didst unloose my sackcloth and gird me with gladness1 #ab ,to the end that my glory should make music to ,thee1 and not be silent3 ,jehovah1 my ,god1 for ever will ,i thank ,thee4 ,the title of this psalm is apparently a composite1 the usual ,psalm of ,david having been enlarged by the awkward insertion of ,a ,song at the ,dedication of the ,house1 which probably indicates its later liturgical use1 and not its first destination4 ,its occasion was evidently a deliverance from grave peril2 and1 whilst its tone is strikingly inappropriate if it had been composed for the inauguration of temple1 tabernacle1 or palace1 one can understand how the venerable words1 which praised ,jehovah for swift deliverance from impending destruction1 would be felt to fit the circumstances and emotions of the time when the ,temple1 profaned by the mad acts of ,antiochus ,epiphanes1 was purified and the ceremonial worship restored4 ,never had ,israel seemed nearer going down to the pit2 never had deliverance come more suddenly and completely4 ,the intrusive title is best explained as dating from that time and indicating the use then found for the song4 ,it is an outpouring of thankfulness1 and mainly a leaf from the psalmist's autobiography1 interrupted only by a call to all who share ,jehovah's favour to help the single voice to praise ,him 7vv4 #d1 #e74 ,the familiar arrangement in pairs of verses is slightly broken twice1 vv4 #a-c being linked together as a kind of prelude and vv4 #h-aj as a repetition of the singer's prayer4 ,his praise breaks the barrier of silence and rushes out in a flood4 ,the very first word tells of his exuberant thankfulness1 and stands in striking relation to ,god's act which evokes it4 ,jehovah has raised him from the very sides of the pit1 and therefore what shall he do but exalt ,jehovah by praise and commemoration of ,his deeds8 ,the song runs over in varying expressions for the one deliverance1 which is designated as lifting up1 disappointment of the malignant joy of enemies1 healing1 rescue from ,sheol and the company who descend thither1 by restoration to life4 ,possibly the prose fact was recovery from sickness1 but the metaphor of healing is so frequent that the literal use of the word here is questionable4 ,as ,calvin remarks1 sackcloth 7ver4 #aa7 is not a sick man's garb4 ,these glad repetitions of the one thought in various forms indicate how deeply moved the singer was1 and how lovingly he brooded over his deliverance4 ,a heart truly penetrated with thankfulness delights to turn its blessings round and round1 and see how prismatic lights play on their facets1 as on revolving diamonds4 ,the same warmth of feeling1 which glows in the reiterated celebration of deliverance1 impels to the frequent direct mention of ,jehovah4 ,each verse has that name set on it as a seal1 and the central one of the three 7ver4 #b71 not content with it only1 grasps ,him as my ,god1 manifested as such with renewed and deepened tenderness by the recent fact that ,i cried loudly unto ,thee1 and ,thou healedst me4 ,the best result of ,god's goodness is a firmer assurance of a personal relation to ,him4 ,this is an enclosure of a common without damage3 to make ,god mine own1 to find that all that ,god says is spoken to me 7,donne74 ,the stress of these three verses lies on the reiterated contemplation of ,god's fresh act of mercy and on the reiterated invocation of ,his name1 which is not vain repetition1 but represents distinct acts of consciousness1 drawing near to delight the soul in thoughts of ,him4 ,the psalmist's vow of praise and former cry for help could not be left out of view1 since the one was the condition and the other the issue of deliverance1 but they are slightly touched4 ,such claiming of ,god for one's own and such absorbing gaze on ,him are the intended results of ,his deeds1 the crown of devotion1 and the repose of the soul4 ,true thankfulness is expansive1 and joy craves for sympathy4 ,so the psalmist invites other voices to join his song1 since he is sure that others there are who have shared his experience4 ,it has been but one instance of a universal law4 ,he is not the only one whom ,jehovah has treated with loving-kindness1 and he would fain hear a chorus supporting his solo4 ,therefore he calls upon the favoured of ,god to swell the praise with harp and voice and to give thanks to ,his holy memorial1 i4e4 the name by which ,his deeds of grace are commemorated4 ,the ground of their praise is the psalmist's own case generalised4 ,a tiny mirror may reflect the sun1 and the humblest person's history1 devoutly pondered1 will yield insight into ,god's widest dealings4 ,this1 then1 is what the psalmist had learned in suffering1 and wishes to teach in song3 that sorrow is transient and joy perennial4 ,a cheerful optimism should be the fruit of experience1 and especially of sorrowful experience4 ,the antitheses in ver4 #e are obvious4 ,in the first part of the verse anger and favour are plainly contrasted1 and it is natural to suppose that a moment and life are so too4 ,the rendering1 then1 is1 ,a moment passes in ,his anger1 a life i4e41 a lifetime in ,his favour4 ,sorrow is brief2 blessings are long4 ,thunderstorms occupy but a small part of summer4 ,there is usually less sickness than health in a life4 ,but memory and anticipation beat out sorrow thin1 so as to cover a great space4 ,a little solid matter1 diffused by currents1 will discolour miles of a stream4 ,unfortunately we have better memories for trouble than for blessing1 and the smart of the rose's prickles lasts longer in the flesh than its fragrance in the nostril or its hue in the eye4 ,but the relation of ideas here is not merely that of contrast4 ,may we not say that just as the moment is included in the life1 so the anger is in the favour8 ,probably that application of the thought was not present to the psalmist1 but it is an ,old ,testament belief that whom the ,lord loveth ,he chasteneth1 and ,god's anger is the aversion of holy love to its moral opposite4 ,hence comes the truth that varying and sometimes opposite ,divine methods have one motive and one purpose1 as the same motion of the earth brings summer and winter in turn4 ,since the desire of ,god is to make men partakers of ,his holiness1 the root of chastisement is love1 and hours of sorrow are not interruptions of the continuous favour which fills the life4 ,a like double antithesis moulds the beautiful image of the last clause4 ,night and morning are contrasted1 as are weeping and joy2 and the latter contrast is more striking1 if it be observed that joy is literally a joyful shout1 raised by the voice that had been breaking into audible weeping4 ,the verb used means to lodge for a night1 and thus the whole is a picture of two guests1 the one coming1 sombre-robed1 in the hour befitting her1 the other1 bright-garmented1 taking the place of the former1 when all things are dewy and sunny1 in the morning4 ,the thought may either be that of the substitution of joy for sorrow1 or of the transformation of sorrow into joy4 ,no grief lasts in its first bitterness4 ,recuperative forces begin to tell by slow degrees4 ,the low beginnings of content appear4 ,the sharpest-cutting edge is partially blunted by time and what it brings4 ,tender green drapes every ruin4 ,sorrow is transformed into something not undeserving of the name of joy4 ,griefs accepted change their nature4 ,your sorrow shall be turned into joy4 ,the man who in the darkness took in the dark guest to sit by his fireside finds in the morning that she is transfigured1 and her name is ,gladness4 ,rich vintages are gathered on the crumbling lava of the quiescent volcano4 ,even for irremediable losses and immedicable griefs1 the psalmist's prophecy is true1 only that for these the morning is beyond earth's dim dawns1 and breaks when this night which we call life1 and which is wearing thin1 is past4 ,in the level light of that sunrise1 every raindrop becomes a rainbow1 and every sorrow rightly--that is1 submissively--borne shall be represented by a special and particular joy4 ,but the thrilling sense of recent deliverance runs in too strong a current to be long turned aside1 even by the thought of others' praise2 and the personal element recurs in ver4 #f1 and persists till the close4 ,this latter part falls into three well-marked minor divisions3 the confession of self-confidence1 bred of ease and shattered by chastisement1 in vv4 #f1 #g2 the prayer of the man startled into renewed dependence in vv4 #h-aj2 and the closing reiterated commemoration of mercies received and vow of thankful praise1 which echoes the first part1 in vv4 #aa1 #ab4 ,in ver4 #f the psalmist's foolish confidence is emphatically contrasted with the truth won by experience and stated in ver4 #e4 ,the law of ,god's dealings is so1 but ,i--,i thought so and so4 ,the word rendered prosperity may be taken as meaning also security4 ,the passage from the one idea to the other is easy1 inasmuch as calm days lull men to sleep1 and make it hard to believe that to-morrow shall not be as this day4 ,even devout hearts are apt to count upon the continuance of present good4 ,because they have no changes1 therefore they fear not ,god4 ,the bottom of the crater of ,vesuvius had once great trees growing1 the produce of centuries of quiescence4 ,it would be difficult to think1 when looking at them1 that they would ever be torn up and whirled aloft in flame by a new outburst4 ,while continual peril and change may not foster remembrance of ,god1 continuous peace is but too apt to lull to forgetfulness of ,him4 ,the psalmist was beguiled by comfort into saying precisely what the wicked said in his heart 7,psalm x4 #f74 ,how different may be the meaning of the same words on different lips6 ,the mad arrogance of the godless man's confidence1 the error of the good man rocked to sleep by prosperity1 and the warranted confidence of a trustful soul are all expressed by the same words2 but the last has an addition which changes the whole3 ,because ,he is at my right hand1 ,i shall not be moved4 ,the end of the first man's boast can only be destruction2 that of the third's faith will certainly be pleasures for evermore2 that of the second's lapse from dependence is recorded in ver4 #g4 ,the sudden crash of his false security is graphically reproduced by the abrupt clauses without connecting particles4 ,it was the favour already celebrated which gave the stability which had been abused4 ,its effect is described in terms of which the general meaning is clear1 though the exact rendering is doubtful4 ,thou hast or hadst established strength to my mountain is harsh1 and the proposed emendation 7,hupfeld1 ,cheyne1 etc471 hast set me on strong mountains1 requires the addition to the text of the pronoun4 ,in either case1 we have a natural metaphor for prosperity4 ,the emphasis lies on the recognition that it was ,god's work1 a truth which the psalmist had forgotten and had to be taught by the sudden withdrawal of ,god's countenance1 on which followed his own immediate passage from careless security to agitation and alarm4 ,the word troubled is that used for ,saul's conflicting emotions and despair in the witch's house at ,endor1 and for the agitation of ,joseph's brethren when they heard that the man who had their lives in his hand was their wronged brother4 ,thus alarmed and filled with distracting thoughts was the psalmist4 ,thou didst hide ,thy face1 describes his calamities in their source4 ,when the sun goes in1 an immediate gloom wraps the land1 and the birds cease to sing4 ,but the trouble was preferable to security1 for it drove to ,god4 ,any tempest which does that is better than calm which beguiles from ,him2 and1 since all ,his storms are meant to drive us to ,his breast1 they come from ,his favour4 ,the approach to ,god is told in vv4 #h-aj1 of which the two latter are a quotation of the prayer then wrung from the psalmist4 ,the ground of this appeal for deliverance from a danger threatening life is as in ,hezekiah's prayer 7,isa4 xxxviii4 #ah1 #ai71 and reflects the same conception of the state of the dead as ,psalm vi4 #e4 ,if the suppliant dies1 his voice will be missed from the chorus which sings ,god's praise on earth4 ,the dust 7i4e41 the grave7 is a region of silence4 ,here1 where life yielded daily proofs of ,god's truth 7i4e41 faithfulness71 it could be extolled1 but there dumb tongues could bring ,him no profit of praise4 ,the boldness of the thought that ,god is in some sense advantaged by men's magnifying of ,his faithfulness1 the cheerless gaze into the dark realm1 and the implication that to live is desired not only for the sake of life's joys1 but in order to show forth ,god's dealings1 are all remarkable4 ,the tone of the prayer indicates the imperfect view of the future life which shadows many psalms1 and could only be completed by the historical facts of the ,resurrection and ,ascension4 ,concern for the honour of the ,old ,testament revelation may1 in this matter1 be stretched to invalidate the distinctive glory of the ,new1 which has brought life and immortality to light4 ,with quick transition1 corresponding to the swiftness of the answer to prayer1 the closing pair of verses tells of the instantaneous change which that answer wrought4 ,as in the earlier metaphor weeping was transformed into joy1 here mourning is turned into dancing1 and ,god's hand unties the cord which loosely bound the sackcloth robe1 and arrays the mourner in festival attire4 ,the same conception of the sweetness of grateful praise to the ear of ,god which was presented in the prayer recurs here1 where the purpose of ,god's gifts is regarded as being man's praise4 ,the thought may be construed so as to be repulsive1 but its true force is to present ,god as desiring hearts' love and trust1 and as seeking such to worship ,him1 because therein they will find supreme and abiding bliss4 ,my glory1 that wonderful personal being1 which in its lowest debasement retains glimmering reflections caught from ,god1 is never so truly glory as when it sings praise to ,thee1 and never so blessed as when1 through a longer for ever than the psalmist saw stretching before him1 it gives thanks unto ,thee4 ,,psalm ,,xxxi4 #a ,in ,thee1 ,jehovah1 have ,i taken refuge3 let me never be ashamed2 ,in ,thy righteousness deliver me4 #b ,bend down ,thine ear to me3 speedily extricate me2 ,be to me for a refuge-rock1 for a fortress-house1 to save me4 #c ,for my rock and my fortress art ,thou1 ,and for ,thy name's sake wilt guide me and lead me4 #d ,thou wilt bring me from the net which they have hidden for me1 ,for ,thou art my defence4 #e ,into ,thy hand ,i commend my spirit2 ,thou hast redeemed me1 ,jehovah1 ,god of faithfulness4 #f ,i hate the worshippers of empty nothingnesses2 ,and ,i--to ,jehovah do ,i cling4 #g ,i will exult and be joyful in ,thy loving-kindness1 ,who hast beheld my affliction1 ,and hast taken note of the distresses of my soul1 #h ,and hast not enclosed me in the hand of the enemy2 ,thou hast set my feet at large4 #i ,be merciful to me1 ,jehovah1 for ,i am in straits2 ,wasted away in grief is my eye1--my soul and my body4 #aj ,for my life is consumed with sorrow1 ,and my years with sighing2 ,my strength reels because of mine iniquity1 ,and my bones are wasted4 #aa ,because of all my adversaries ,i am become a reproach ,and to my neighbours exceedingly1 and a fear to my acquaintances2 ,they who see me without flee from me4 #ab ,i am forgotten1 out of mind1 like a dead man2 ,i am like a broken vessel4 #ac ,for ,i hear the whispering of many1 ,terror on every side2 ,in their consulting together against me1 ,to take away my life do they scheme4 #ad ,and ,i--on ,thee ,i trust1 ,jehovah2 ,i say1 ,my ,god art ,thou4 #ae ,in ,thy hand are my times2 ,rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my pursuers4 #af ,make ,thy face to shine upon ,thy servant2 ,save me in ,thy loving-kindness4 #ag ,jehovah1 ,i shall not be shamed1 for ,i cry to ,thee2 ,the wicked shall be shamed1 shall be silent in ,sheol4 #ah ,dumb shall the lying lips be made1 ,that speak arrogance against the righteous1 ,in pride and contempt4 #ai ,how great is ,thy goodness which ,thou dost keep in secret for them who fear ,thee1 ,dost work before the sons of men for them who take refuge in ,thee4 #bj ,thou dost shelter them in the shelter of ,thy face from the plots of men2 ,thou keepest them in secret in an arbour from the strife of tongues4 #ba ,blessed be ,jehovah1 ,for ,he has done marvels of loving-kindness for me in a strong city6 #bb ,and ,i--,i said in my agitation1 ,i am cut off from before ,thine eyes1 ,but truly ,thou didst hear the voice of my supplication in my crying aloud to ,thee4 #bc ,love ,jehovah1 all ,his beloved2 ,jehovah keeps faithfulness1 ,and repays overflowingly him that practises pride4 #bd ,be strong1 and let your heart take courage1 ,all ye that wait on ,jehovah4 ,the swift transitions of feeling in this psalm may seem strange to colder natures whose lives run smoothly1 but reveal a brother-soul to those who have known what it is to ride on the top of the wave and then to go down into its trough4 ,what is peculiar to the psalm is not only the inclusion of the whole gamut of feeling1 but the force with which each key is struck and the persistence through all of the one ground tone of cleaving to ,jehovah4 ,the poetic temperament passes quickly from hope to fear4 ,the devout man in sorrow can sometimes look away from a darkened earth to a bright sky1 but the stern realities of pain and loss again force themselves in upon him4 ,the psalm is like an ,april day1 in which sunshine and rain chase each other across the plain4 ,the beautiful uncertain weather1 ,where gloom and glory meet together1 makes the landscape live1 and is the precursor of fruitfulness4 ,the stream of the psalmist's thoughts now runs in shadow of grim cliffs and vexed by opposing rocks1 and now opens out in sunny stretches of smoothness2 but its source is ,in ,thee1 ,jehovah1 do ,i take refuge 7ver4 #a73 and its end is ,be strong1 and let your heart take courage1 all ye that wait for ,jehovah 7ver4 #bd74 ,the first turn of the stream is in vv4 #a-d1 which consist of petitions and their grounds4 ,the prayers reveal the suppliant's state4 ,they are the familiar cries of an afflicted soul common to many psalms1 and presenting no special features4 ,the needs of the human heart are uniform1 and the cry of distress is much alike on all lips4 ,this sufferer asks1 as his fellows have done and will do1 for deliverance1 a swift answer1 shelter and defence1 guidance and leading1 escape from the net spread for him4 ,these are the commonplaces of prayer1 which ,god is not wearied of hearing1 and which fit us all4 ,the last place to look for originality is in the sighing of such as be sorrowful4 ,the pleas on which the petitions rest are also familiar4 ,the man who trusts in ,jehovah has a right to expect that his trust will not be put to shame1 since ,god is faithful4 ,therefore the first plea is the psalmist's faith1 expressed in ver4 #a by the word which literally means to flee to a refuge4 ,the fact that he has done so makes his deliverance a work of ,god's righteousness4 ,the metaphor latent in flee for refuge comes into full sight in that beautiful plea in ver4 #c1 which unsympathetic critics would call illogical1 ,be for me a refuge-rock1 for 444 ,thou art my rock4 ,be what ,thou art2 manifest ,thyself in act to be what ,thou art in nature3 be what ,i1 ,thy poor servant1 have taken ,thee to be4 ,my heart has clasped ,thy revelation of ,thyself and fled to this strong tower4 ,let me not be deceived and find it incapable of sheltering me from my foes4 ,therefore for ,thy name's sake1 or because of that revelation and for its glory as true in men's sight1 deliver me4 ,god's nature as revealed is the strongest plea with ,him1 and surely that cannot but be potent and acceptable prayer which says1 ,be what ,thou art1 and what ,thou hast taught me to believe ,thee4 ,vv4 #e-h prolong the tone of the preceding1 with some difference1 inasmuch as ,god's past acts are more specifically dwelt on as the ground of confidence4 ,in this turn of the stream1 faith does not so much supplicate as meditate1 plucking the flower of confidence from the nettle of past dangers and deliverances1 and renewing its acts of surrender4 ,the sacred words which ,jesus made ,his own on the cross1 and which have been the last utterance of so many saints1 were meant by the psalmist to apply to life1 not to death4 ,he laid his spirit as a precious deposit in ,god's hand1 assured that ,he was able to keep that which was committed to ,him4 ,often had he done this before1 and now he does it once more4 ,petitions pass into surrender4 ,resignation as well as confidence speaks4 ,to lay one's life in ,god's hand is to leave the disposal of it to ,him1 and such absolute submission must come as the calm close and incipient reward of every cry for deliverance4 ,trust should not be hard to those who can remember4 ,so ,jehovah's past redemptions--i4e41 deliverances from temporal dangers--are its ground here2 and these avail as pledges for the future1 since ,he is the ,god of truth1 who can never falsify ,his past4 ,the more nestlingly a soul clings to ,god1 the more vehemently will it recoil from other trust4 ,attraction and repulsion are equal and contrary4 ,the more clearly it sees ,god's faithfulness and living power as a reality operating in its life1 the more penetrating will be its detection of the falseness of other helpers4 ,nothingnesses of emptiness are they all to one who has felt the clasp of that great1 tender hand2 and unless the soul feels them to be such1 it will never strongly clutch or firmly hold its true stay4 ,such trust has its crown in joyful experience of ,god's mercy even before the actual deliverance comes to pass1 as wind-borne fragrance meets the traveller before he sees the spice gardens from which it comes4 ,the cohortative verbs in ver4 #g may be petition 7,let me exult71 or they may be anticipation of future gladness1 but in either case some waft of joy has already reached the singer1 as how could it fail to do1 when his faith was thus renewing itself1 and his eyes gazing on ,god's deeds of old8 ,the past tenses in vv4 #g1 #h1 refer to former experiences4 ,god's sight of the psalmist's affliction was not idle contemplation1 but implied active intervention4 ,to take note of the distresses of my soul 7or possibly1 of my soul in distresses7 is the same as to care for it4 ,it is enough to know that ,god sees the secret sorrows1 the obscure trials which can be told to none4 ,he loves as well as knows1 and looks on no griefs which ,he will not comfort nor on any wounds which ,he is not ready to bind up4 ,the psalmist was sure that ,god had seen1 because he had experienced ,his delivering power1 as he goes on joyfully to tell4 ,the figure in ver4 #h a points back to the act of trust in ver4 #e4 ,how should ,god let the hand of the enemy close round and crush the spirit which had been entrusted to ,his own hand8 ,one sees the greedy fingers of the foe drawing themselves together on their prey as on a fly1 but they close on nothing4 ,instead of suffering constraint the delivered spirit walks at liberty4 ,they who are enclosed in ,god's hand have ample room there2 and unhindered activity1 with the ennobling consciousness of freedom1 is the reward of trust4 ,is it inconceivable that such sunny confidence should be suddenly clouded and followed1 as in the third turn of thought 7vv4 #i-ac71 by plaintive absorption in the sad realities of present distress8 ,the very remembrance of a brighter past may have sharpened the sense of present trouble4 ,but it is to be noted that these complaints are prayer1 not aimless1 self-pitying wailing4 ,the enumeration of miseries which begins with ,have mercy upon me1 for----1 has a hidden hope tinging its darkness1 like the faint flush of sunrise on clouds4 ,there is no such violent change of tone as is sometimes conceived2 but the pleas of the former parts are continued in this section1 which adds the psalmist's sore need to ,god's past and the suppliant's faith1 as another reason for ,jehovah's help4 ,he begins with the effects of his trouble on himself in body and soul2 thence he passes to its consequences on those around him1 and finally he spreads before ,god its cause3 plots against his life4 ,the resemblances to ,psalm vi4 and to several parts of ,jeremiah are unmistakable4 ,in vv4 #i1 #aj1 the physical and mental effects of anxiety are graphically described4 ,sunken eyes1 enfeebled soul1 wasted body1 are gaunt witnesses of his distress4 ,cares seem to him to have gnawed his very bones1 so weak is he4 ,all that he can do is to sigh4 ,and worse than all1 conscience tells him that his own sin underlies his trouble1 and so he is without inward stay4 ,the picture seems exaggerated to easy-going1 prosperous people2 but many a sufferer has since recognised himself in it as in a mirror1 and been thankful for words which gave voice to his pained heart and cheered him with the sense of companionship in the gloom4 ,vv4 #aa1 #ab1 are mainly the description of the often-repeated experience of friends forsaking the troubled4 ,because of all my adversaries somewhat anticipates ver4 #ac in assigning the reason for the cowardly desertion4 ,the three phrases neighbours1 acquaintance1 and those who see me without indicate concentric circles of increasing diameter4 ,the psalmist is in the middle2 and round him are1 first1 neighbours1 who pour reproach on him1 because of his enemies1 then the wider range of acquaintances1 afraid to have anything to do with one who has such strong and numerous foes1 and remotest of all1 the chance people met on the way who fly from ,him1 as infected and dangerous4 ,they all forsook ,him and fled4 ,that bitter ingredient mingles in every cup of sorrow4 ,the meanness of human nature and the selfishness of much apparent friendship are commonplaces1 but the experience of them is always as painful and astonishing1 as if nobody besides had ever suffered therefrom4 ,the roughness of structure in ver4 #aa b1 and unto my neighbours exceedingly1 seems to fit the psalmist's emotion1 and does not need the emendation of exceedingly into burden 7,delitzsch7 or shaking of the head 7,cheyne74 ,in ver4 #ab the desertion is bitterly summed up1 as like the oblivion that waits for the dead4 ,the unsympathising world goes on its way1 and friends find new interests and forget the broken man1 who used to be so much to them1 as completely as if he were in his grave1 or as they do the damaged cup1 flung on the rubbish heap4 ,ver4 #ac discloses the nature of the calamity which has had these effects4 ,whispering slanders buzz round him2 he is ringed about with causes for fear1 since enemies are plotting his death4 ,the use of the first part of the verse by ,jeremiah does not require the hypothesis of his authorship of the psalm1 nor of the prophet's priority to the psalmist4 ,it is always a difficult problem to settle which of two cases of the employment of the same phrase is original and which quotation4 ,the criteria are elastic1 and the conclusion is very often arrived at in deference to preconceived ideas4 ,but ,jeremiah uses the phrase as if it were a proverb or familiar expression1 and the psalmist as if it were the freshly struck coinage of his own experience4 ,again the key changes1 and the minor is modulated into confident petition4 ,it is the test of true trust that it is deepened by the fullest recognition of dangers and enemies4 ,the same facts may feed despair and be the fuel of faith4 ,this man's eyes took in all surrounding evils1 and these drove him to avert his gaze from them and fix it on ,jehovah4 ,that is the best thing that troubles can do for us4 ,if they1 on the contrary1 monopolise our sight1 they turn our hearts to stone2 but if we can wrench our stare from them1 they clear our vision to see our ,helper4 ,in vv4 #ad-ah we have the recoil of the devout soul to ,god1 occasioned by its recognition of need and helplessness4 ,this turn of the psalm begins with a strong emphatic adversative3 ,but ,i--,i trust in ,jehovah4 ,we see the man flinging himself into the arms of ,god4 ,the word for trust is the same as in ver4 #f1 and means to hang or lean upon1 or1 as we say1 to depend on4 ,he utters his trust in his prayer1 which occupies the rest of this part of the psalm4 ,a prayer1 which is the voice of trust1 does not begin with petition1 but with renewed adherence to ,god and happy consciousness of the soul's relation to ,him1 and thence melts into supplication for the blessings which are consequences of that relation4 ,to feel1 on occasion of the very dreariness of circumstances1 that ,god is mine1 makes miraculous sunrise at midnight4 ,built on that act of trust claiming its portion in ,god1 is the recognition of ,god's all-regulating hand1 as shaping the psalmist's times1 the changing periods1 each of which has its definite character1 responsibilities1 and opportunities4 ,every man's life is a series of crises1 in each of which there is some special work to be done or lesson to be learned1 some particular virtue to be cultivated or sacrifice made4 ,the opportunity does not return4 ,it might have been once2 and we missed it1 lost it for ever4 ,but the psalmist is thinking rather of the varying complexion of his days as bright or dark2 and looking beyond circumstances1 he sees ,god4 ,the hand of mine enemies seems shrivelled into impotence when contrasted with that great hand1 to which he has committed his spirit1 and in which are his times2 and the psalmist's recognition that it holds his destiny is the ground of his prayer for deliverance from the foes' paralysed grasp4 ,they who feel the tender clasp of an almighty hand need not doubt their security from hostile assaults4 ,the petitions proper are three in number3 for deliverance1 for the light of ,god's face1 and for salvation4 ,the central petition recalls the priestly blessing 7,num4 vi4 #be74 ,it asks for consciousness of ,god's friendship and for the manifestation thereof in safety from present dangers4 ,that face1 turned in love to a man1 can make a sunshine in a shady place1 and brings healing on its beams4 ,it seems best to take the verbs in vv4 #ag1 #ah1 as futures and not optatives4 ,the prayer passes into assurance of its answer1 and what was petition in ver4 #a is now trustful prediction3 ,i shall not be ashamed1 for ,i cry to ,thee4 ,with like elevation of faith1 the psalmist foresees the end of the whispering defamers round him3 shame for their vain plots and their silent descent to the silent land4 ,the loudest outcry against ,god's lovers will be hushed some day1 and the hands that threatened them will be laid motionless and stiff across motionless breasts4 ,he who stands by ,god and looks forward1 can1 by the light of that face1 see the end of much transient bluster1 with pride and contempt1 against the righteous4 ,lying lips fall dumb2 praying lips1 like the psalmist's1 are opened to show forth ,god's praise4 ,his prayer is audible still across the centuries2 the mutterings of his enemies only live in his mention of them4 ,that assurance prepares the way for the noble burst of thanksgiving1 as for accomplished deliverance1 which ends the psalm1 springing up in a joyous outpouring of melody1 like a lark from a bare furrow4 ,but there is no such change of tone as to warrant the supposition that these last verses 7#ai-bd7 are either the psalmist's later addition or the work of another1 nor do they oblige us to suppose that the whole psalm was written after the peril which it commemorates had passed4 ,rather the same voice which triumphantly rings out in these last verses has been sounding in the preceding1 even in their saddest strains4 ,the ear catches a twitter hushed again and renewed more than once before the full song breaks out4 ,the psalmist has been absorbed with his own troubles till now1 but thankfulness expands his vision1 and suddenly there is with him a multitude of fellow-dependants on ,god's goodness4 ,he hungers alone1 but he feasts in company4 ,the abundance of ,god's goodness is conceived of as a treasure stored1 and in part openly displayed1 before the sons of men4 ,the antithesis suggests manifold applications of the contrast1 such as the inexhaustibleness of the mercy which1 after all revelation1 remains unrevealed1 and1 after all expenditure1 has not perceptibly diminished in its shining mass1 as of bullion in some vault2 or the varying dealings of ,god1 who sometimes1 while sorrow is allowed to have its scope1 seems to keep ,his riches of help under lock and key1 and then again flashes them forth in deeds of deliverance2 or the difference between the partial unfolding of these on earth and the full endowment of ,his servants with riches in glory hereafter4 ,all these carry the one lesson that there is more in ,god than any creature or all creatures have ever drawn from ,him or can ever draw4 ,the repetition of the idea of hiding in ver4 #bj is a true touch of devout poetry4 ,the same word is used for laying up the treasure and for sheltering in a pavilion from the jangle of tongues4 ,the wealth and the poor men who need it are stored together1 as it were2 and the place where they both lie safe is ,god ,himself4 ,how can they be poor who are dwelling close beside infinite riches8 ,the psalmist has just prayed that ,god would make ,his face to shine upon him2 and now he rejoices in the assurance of the answer1 and knows himself and all like-minded men to be hidden in that glorious privacy of light1 where evil things cannot live4 ,as if caught up to and clothed with the sun1 he and they are beyond the reach of hostile conspiracies1 and have outsoared the shadow of earth's antagonisms4 ,the great thought of security in ,god has never been more nobly expressed than by that magnificent metaphor of the light inaccessible streaming from ,god's face to be the bulwark of a poor man4 ,the personal tone recurs for a moment in vv4 #ba1 #bb1 in which it is doubtful whether we hear thankfulness for deliverance anticipated as certain and so spoken of as past1 since it is as good as done1 or for some recently experienced marvel of loving-kindness1 which heartens the psalmist in present trouble4 ,if this psalm is ,david's1 the reference may be to his finding a city of refuge1 at the time when his fortunes were very low1 in ,ziklag1 a strange place for a ,jewish fugitive to be sheltered4 ,one can scarcely help feeling that the allusion is so specific as to suggest historical fact as its basis4 ,at the same time it must be admitted that the expression may be the carrying on of the metaphor of the hiding in a pavilion4 ,the strong city is worthily interpreted as being ,god ,himself1 though the historical explanation is tempting4 ,god's mercy makes a true man ashamed of his doubts1 and therefore the thanksgiving of ver4 #ba leads to the confession of ver4 #bb4 ,agitated into despair1 the psalmist had thought that he was cut off from ,god's eyes--i4e41 hidden so as not to be helped--but the event has showed that ,god both heard and saw him4 ,if alarm does not so make us think that ,god is blind to our need and deaf to our cry as to make us dumb1 we shall be taught the folly of our fears by ,his answers to our prayers4 ,these will have a voice of gentle rebuke1 and ask us1 ,o thou of little faith1 wherefore didst thou doubt8 ,he delivers first1 and lets the deliverance stand in place of chiding4 ,the whole closes with a summons to all whom ,jehovah loves to love ,him for ,his mercy's sake4 ,the joyful singer longs for a chorus to join his single voice1 as all devout hearts do4 ,he generalises his own experience1 as all who have for themselves experienced deliverance are entitled and bound to do1 and discerns that in his single case the broad law is attested that the faithful are guarded whatever dangers assail1 and the proud doer abundantly repaid for all his contempt and hatred of the just4 ,therefore the last result of contemplating ,god's ways with ,his servants is an incentive to courage1 strength1 and patient waiting for the ,lord4 ,,psalm ,,xxxii4 #a ,blessed he whose transgression is taken away1 whose sin is covered1 #b ,blessed the man to whom ,jehovah reckons not iniquity1 ,in whose spirit is no guile4 #c ,when ,i kept silence1 my bones rotted away1 ,through my roaring all the day4 #d ,for day and night ,thy hand weighed heavily upon me2 ,my sap was turned as in droughts of summer4 ,selah4 #e ,my sin ,i acknowledged to ,thee1 and my iniquity ,i covered not1 ,i said1 ,i will confess because of my transgressions to ,jehovah1 ,and ,thou--,thou didst take away the iniquity of my sin4 ,selah4 #f ,because of this let every one beloved of ,thee pray to ,thee in a time of finding2 ,surely when great waters are in flood1 to him they shall not reach4 #g ,thou art a shelter for me2 from trouble wilt ,thou preserve me1 ,with shouts of deliverance wilt encircle me4 ,selah4 #h ,i will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shouldest go2 ,i will counsel thee1 with mine eye upon thee4 #i ,be not ye like horse1 like mule1 without understanding1 ,whose harness to hold them in is bit and bridle1 ,else no coming near to thee4 #aj ,the wicked has many sorrows1 ,and he who trusts in ,jehovah--with loving-kindness will ,he encircle him4 #aa ,rejoice in ,jehovah1 and exult1 ye righteous2 ,and shout joyfully1 all ye upright of heart4 ,one must have a dull ear not to hear the voice of personal experience in this psalm4 ,it throbs with emotion1 and is a burst of rapture from a heart tasting the sweetness of the new joy of forgiveness4 ,it is hard to believe that the speaker is but a personification of the nation1 and the difficulty is recognised by ,cheyne's concession that we have here principally1 though not exclusively1 a national psalm4 ,the old opinion that it records ,david's experience in the dark time when1 for a whole year1 he lived impenitent after his great sin of sense1 and was then broken down by ,nathan's message and restored to peace through pardon following swiftly on penitence1 is still defensible1 and gives a fit setting for this gem4 ,whoever was the singer1 his song goes deep down to permanent realities in conscience and in men's relations to ,god1 and therefore is not for an age1 but for all time4 ,across the dim waste of years1 we hear this man speaking our sins1 our penitence1 our joy2 and the antique words are as fresh1 and fit as close to our experiences1 as if they had been welled up from a living heart to-day4 ,the theme is the way of forgiveness and its blessedness2 and this is set forth in two parts3 the first 7vv4 #a-e7 a leaf from the psalmist's autobiography1 the second 7ver4 #f to end7 the generalisation of individual experience and its application to others4 ,in each part the prevailing division of verses is into strophes of two1 each containing two members1 but with some irregularity4 ,the page from the psalmist's confessions 7vv4 #a-e7 begins with a burst of rapturous thankfulness for the joy of forgiveness 7vv4 #a1 #b71 passes to paint in dark colours the misery of sullen impenitence 7vv4 #c1 #d71 and then1 in one longer verse1 tells with glad wonder how sudden and complete was the transition to the joy of forgiveness by the way of penitence4 ,it is a chart of one man's path from the depths to the heights1 and avails to guide all4 ,the psalmist begins abruptly with an exclamation 7,oh1 the blessedness1 etc474 ,his new joy wells up irrepressibly4 ,to think that he who had gone so far down in the mire1 and had locked his lips in silence for so long1 should find himself so blessed6 ,joy so exuberant cannot content itself with one statement of its grounds4 ,it runs over in synonyms for sin and its forgiveness1 which are not feeble tautology4 ,the heart is too full to be emptied at one outpouring1 and though all the clauses describe the same things1 they do so with differences4 ,this is true with regard to the words both for sin and for pardon4 ,the three designations of the former present three aspects of its hideousness4 ,the first1 rendered 7transgression17 conceives of it as rebellion against rightful authority1 not merely breach of an impersonal law1 but breaking away from a rightful king4 ,the second 7sin7 describes it as missing a mark4 ,what is in regard to ,god rebellion is in regard to myself missing the aim1 whether that aim be considered as that which a man is1 by his very make and relations1 intended to be and do1 or as that which he proposes to himself by his act4 ,all sin tragically fails to hit the mark in both these senses4 ,it is a failure as to reaching the ideal of conduct1 the chief end of man1 and not less so as to winning the satisfaction sought by the deed4 ,it keeps the word of promise to the ear1 and breaks it to the hope1 ever luring by lying offers2 and if it gives the poor delights which it holds out1 it ever adds something that embitters them1 like spirits of wine methylated and made undrinkable4 ,it is always a blunder to do wrong4 ,the last synonym 7iniquity7 means crookedness or distortion1 and seems to embody the same idea as our words right and wrong1 namely the contrast between the straight line of duty and the contorted lines drawn by sinful hands4 ,what runs parallel with law is right2 what diverges is wrong4 ,the three expressions for pardon are also eloquent in their variety4 ,the first word means taken away or lifted off1 as a burden from aching shoulders4 ,it implies more than holding back penal consequences2 it is the removal of sin itself1 and that not merely in the multitudinousness of its manifestations in act1 but in the depth of its inward source4 ,this is the metaphor which ,bunyan has made so familiar by his picture of the pilgrim losing his load at the cross4 ,the second 7covered7 paints pardon as ,god's shrouding the foul thing from ,his pure eyes1 so that ,his action is no longer determined by its existence4 ,the third describes forgiveness as ,god's not reckoning a man's sin to him1 in which expression hovers some allusion to cancelling a debt4 ,the clause in whose spirit is no guile is best taken as a conditional one1 pointing to sincerity which confesses guilt as a condition of pardon4 ,but the alternative construction as a continuation of the description of the forgiven man is quite possible2 and if thus understood1 the crowning blessing of pardon is set forth as being the liberation of the forgiven spirit from all guile or evil4 ,god's kiss of forgiveness sucks the poison from the wound4 ,retrospect of the dismal depth from which it has climbed is natural to a soul sunning itself on high4 ,therefore on the overflowing description of present blessedness follows a shuddering glance downwards to past unrest4 ,sullen silence caused the one2 frank acknowledgment brought the other4 ,he who will not speak his sin to ,god has to groan4 ,a dumb conscience often makes a loud-voiced pain4 ,this man's sin had indeed missed its aim2 for it had brought about three things3 rotting bones 7which may be but a strong metaphor or may be a physical fact71 the consciousness of ,god's displeasure dimly felt as if a great hand were pressing him down1 and the drying up of the sap of his life1 as if the fierce heat of summer had burned the marrow in his bones4 ,these were the fruits of pleasant sin1 and by reason of them many a moan broke from his locked lips4 ,stolid indifference may delay remorse1 but its serpent fang strikes soon or later1 and then strength and joy die4 ,the ,selah indicates a swell or prolongation of the accompaniment1 to emphasise this terrible picture of a soul gnawing itself4 ,the abrupt turn to description of the opposite disposition in ver4 #e suggests a sudden gush of penitence4 ,as at a bound1 the soul passes from dreary remorse4 ,the break with the former self is complete1 and effected in one wrench4 ,some things are best done by degrees2 and some1 of which forsaking sin is one1 are best done quickly4 ,and as swift as the resolve to crave pardon1 so swift is the answer giving it4 ,we are reminded of that gospel compressed into a verse1 ,david said unto ,nathan1 ,i have sinned against the ,lord4 ,and ,nathan said unto ,david1 ,the ,lord also hath put away thy sin4 ,again the three designations of sin are employed1 though in different order2 and the act of confession is thrice mentioned1 as that of forgiveness was4 ,the fulness and immediateness of pardon are emphatically given by the double epithet the iniquity of thy sin and by the representation that it follows the resolve to confess1 and does not wait for the act4 ,the ,divine love is so eager to forgive that it tarries not for actual confession1 but anticipates it1 as the father interrupts the prodigal's acknowledgment with gifts and welcome4 ,the ,selah at the end of ver4 #e is as triumphant as that at the close of ver4 #d had been sad4 ,it parts the autobiographical section from the more general one which follows4 ,in the second part the solitary soul translates its experience into exhortations for all1 and woos men to follow on the same path1 by setting forth in rich variety the joys of pardon4 ,the exhortation first dwells on the positive blessings associated with penitence 7vv4 #f1 #g71 and next on the degradation and sorrow involved in obstinate hard-heartedness 7vv4 #h-aj74 ,the natural impulse of him who has known both is to beseech others to share his happy experience1 and the psalmist's course of thought obeys that impulse1 for the future shall pray 7,r4,v47 is better regarded as hortatory let 444 pray4 ,because of this does not express the contents of the petitions1 but their reason4 ,the manifestation of ,god as infinitely ready to forgive should hearten to prayer2 and1 since ,god's beloved need forgiveness day by day1 even though they may not have fallen into such gross sin as this psalmist1 there is no incongruity in the exhortation being addressed to them4 ,he that is washed still needs that feet fouled in muddy ways should be cleansed4 ,every time of seeking by such prayer is a time of finding2 but the phrase implies that there is a time of not finding1 and1 in its very graciousness1 is heavy with warning against delay4 ,with forgiveness comes security4 ,the penitent1 praying1 pardoned man is set as on a rock islet in the midst of floods1 whether these be conceived of as temptation to sin or as calamities4 ,the hortatory tone is broken in ver4 #g by the recurrence of the personal element1 since the singer's heart was too full for silence2 but there is no real interruption1 for the joyous utterance of one's own faith is often the most winning persuasive1 and a devout man can scarcely hold out to others the sweetness of finding ,god without at the same time tasting what he offers4 ,unless he does1 his words will ring unreal4 ,thou art a shelter for me 7same word as in xxvii4 #e1 xxxi4 #bj71 is the utterance of trust2 and the emphasis is on my4 ,to hide in ,god is to be preserved from trouble1 not in the sense of being exempt1 but in that of not being overwhelmed1 as the beautiful last clause of v4 #g shows1 in which shouts of deliverance from trouble which had pressed are represented by a bold1 but not harsh1 metaphor as ringing the psalmist round4 ,the air is filled with jubilant voices1 the echoes of his own4 ,the word rendered songs or preferably shouts is unusual1 and its consonants repeat the last three of the preceding word 7shalt preserve me74 ,these peculiarities have led to the suggestion that we have in it a dittograph4 ,if so1 the remaining words of the last clause would read1 ,thou wilt compass me about with deliverance1 which would be a perfectly appropriate expression4 ,but probably the similarity of letters is a play upon words1 of which we have another example in the preceding clause where the consonants of the word for trouble1 reappear in their order in the verb wilt preserve4 ,the shout of joy is caught up by the ,selah4 ,but now the tone changes into solemn warning against obstinate disregard of ,god's leading4 ,it is usual to suppose that the psalmist still speaks1 but surely ,i will counsel thee1 with mine eye upon thee1 does not fit human lips4 ,it is to be observed1 too1 that in ver4 #h a single person is addressed1 who is most naturally taken to be the same as he who spoke his individual faith in ver4 #g4 ,in other words1 the psalmist's confidence evokes a ,divine response1 and that brief interchange of clinging trust and answering promise stands in the midst of the appeal to men1 which it scarcely interrupts4 ,ver4 #i may either be regarded as the continuance of the ,divine voice1 or perhaps better1 as the resumption by the psalmist of his hortatory address4 ,god's direction as to duty and protection in peril are both included in the promise of ver4 #h4 ,with ,his eye upon ,his servant1 ,he will show him the way1 and will keep him ever in sight as he travels on it4 ,the beautiful meaning of the ,a4,v41 that ,god guides with a glance those who dwell near enough to ,him to see ,his look1 is scarcely contained in the words1 though it is true that the sense of pardon binds men to ,him in such sweet bonds that they are eager to catch the faintest indications of ,his will1 and ,his looks command1 ,his lightest words are spells4 ,vv4 #i1 #aj1 are a warning against brutish obstinacy4 ,the former verse has difficulties in detail1 but its drift is plain4 ,it contrasts the gracious guidance which avails for those made docile by forgiveness and trust with the harsh constraint which must curb and coerce mulish natures4 ,the only things which such understand are bits and bridles4 ,they will not come near to ,god without such rough outward constraint1 any more than an unbroken horse will approach a man unless dragged by a halter4 ,that untamableness except by force is the reason why many sorrows must strike the wicked4 ,if these are here compared to bit and bridle1 they are meant to drive to ,god1 and are therefore regarded as being such mercies as the obstinate are capable of receiving4 ,obedience extorted by force is no obedience1 but approach to ,god compelled by sorrows that restrain unbridled licence of tempers and of sense is accepted as a real approach and then is purged into access with confidence4 ,they who are at first driven are afterwards drawn1 and taught to know no delight so great as that of coming and keeping near ,god4 ,the antithesis of wicked and he that trusteth in ,jehovah is significant as teaching that faith is the true opposite of sinfulness4 ,not less full of meaning is the sequence of trust1 righteousness1 and uprightness of heart in vv4 #aj1 #aa4 ,faith leads to righteousness1 and they are upright1 not who have never fallen1 but who have been raised from their fall by pardon4 ,the psalmist had thought of himself as compassed with shouts of deliverance4 ,another circle is cast round him and all who1 with him1 trust ,jehovah4 ,a ring of mercies1 like a fiery wall1 surrounds the pardoned1 faithful soul1 without a break through which a real evil can creep4 ,therefore the encompassing songs of deliverance are continuous as the mercies which they hymn1 and in the centre of that double circle the soul sits secure and thankful4 ,the psalm ends with a joyful summons to general joy4 ,all share in the solitary soul's exultation4 ,the depth of penitence measures the height of gladness4 ,the breath that was spent in roaring all the day long is used for shouts of deliverance4 ,every tear sparkles like a diamond in the sunshine of pardon1 and he who begins with the lowly cry for forgiveness will end with lofty songs of joy and be made1 by ,god's guidance and ,spirit1 righteous and upright in heart4 ,,psalm ,,xxxiii4 #a ,rejoice aloud1 ye righteous1 in ,jehovah1 ,for the upright praise is seemly4 #b ,give thanks to ,jehovah with harp2 ,with ten-stringed psaltery play unto ,him4 #c ,sing to ,him a new song1 ,strike well the strings with joyful shouts4 #d ,for upright is the word of ,jehovah1 ,and all ,his work is in faithfulness4 #e ,he loves righteousness and judgment1 ,of ,jehovah's loving-kindness the earth is full4 #f ,by the word of ,jehovah the heavens were made1 ,and all their host by the breath of ,his mouth4 #g ,who gathereth as an heap the waters of the sea1 ,who layeth up the deeps in storehouses4 #h ,let all the earth fear ,jehovah1 ,before ,him let all inhabitants of the world stand in awe4 #i ,for ,he1 ,he spoke and it was2 ,he1 ,he commanded and it stood4 #aj ,jehovah has brought to nothing the counsel of the nations1 ,he has frustrated the designs of the peoples4 #aa ,the counsel of ,jehovah shall stand for ever1 ,the designs of ,his heart to generation after generation4 #ab ,blessed is the nation whose ,god is ,jehovah1 ,the people ,he has chosen for an inheritance for ,himself4 #ac ,from heaven ,jehovah looks down1 ,he beholds all the sons of men4 #ad ,from the place where ,he sits1 ,he gazes ,on all the inhabitants of earth3-- #ae ,even ,he who forms the hearts of them all1 ,who marks all their works4 #af ,a king is not saved by the greatness of his army1 ,a hero is not delivered by the greatness of his strength4 #ag ,a horse is a vain thing for safety2 ,and by the greatness of its strength it does not give escape4 #ah ,behold the eye of ,jehovah is on them who fear ,him1 ,on them who hope for ,his loving-kindness1 #ai ,to deliver their soul from death1 ,and to keep them alive in famine4 #bj ,our soul waits for ,jehovah1 ,our help and our shield is ,he4 #ba ,for in ,him shall our heart rejoice1 ,for in ,his holy name have we trusted4 #bb ,let ,thy loving-kindness1 ,jehovah1 be upon us1 ,according as we have hoped for ,thee4 ,this is the last of the four psalms in ,book ,i4 which have no title1 the others being ,psalms i41 ii41 which are introductory1 and x4 which is closely connected with ix4 ,some have endeavoured to establish a similar connection between xxxii4 and xxxiii42 but1 while the closing summons to the righteous in the former is substantially repeated in the opening words of the latter1 there is little other trace of connection1 except the references in both to the eye of ,jehovah 7xxxii4 #h1 xxxiii4 #ah72 and no two psalms could be more different in subject and tone than these4 ,the one is full of profound1 personal emotion1 and deals with the depths of experience2 the other is devoid of personal reference1 and is a devout1 calm contemplation of the creative power and providential government of ,god4 ,it is kindred with the later type of psalms1 and has many verbal allusions connecting it with them4 ,it has probably been placed here simply because of the similarity just noticed between its beginning and the end of the preceding4 ,the reasons for the arrangement of the psalter were1 so far as they can be traced1 usually such merely verbal coincidences4 ,to one who has been travelling through the heights and depths1 the storms and sunny gleams of the previous psalms1 this impersonal didactic meditation1 with its historical allusions and entire ignoring of sins and sorrows1 is indeed a new song4 ,it is apparently meant for liturgical use1 and falls into three unequal parts2 the first three verses and the last three being prelude and conclusion1 the former summoning the righteous to praise ,jehovah1 the latter putting words of trust and triumph and prayer into their mouths4 ,the central mass 7vv4 #d-ai7 celebrates the creative and providential work of ,god1 in two parts1 of which the first extends these ,divine acts over the world 7vv4 #d-aa7 and the second concentrates them on ,israel 7vv4 #ab-ai74 ,the opening summons to praise takes us far away from the solitary wrestlings and communings in former psalms4 ,now ,the singers lift up their voice1 ,and the trumpets make endeavour1 ,sounding1 ',in ,god rejoice6 ,in ,him rejoice for ever6' ,but the clear recognition of purity as the condition of access to ,god speaks in this invocation as distinctly as in any of the preceding4 ,the righteous whose lives conform to the ,divine will1 and only they can shout aloud their joy in ,jehovah4 ,praise fits and adorns the lips of the upright only1 whose spirits are without twist of self-will and sin4 ,the direction of character expressed in the word is horizontal rather than vertical1 and is better represented by straight than upright4 ,praise gilds the gold of purity and adds grace even to the beauty of holiness4 ,experts tell us that the kinnor 7harp1 ,a4,v4 and ,r4,v47 and nebel 7psaltery7 were both stringed instruments1 differing in the position of the sounding board1 which was below in the former and above in the latter1 and also in the covering of the strings 7v4 ,delitzsch1 ,eng4 transl4 of latest ed41 ,i4 #g1 n474 ,the new song is not necessarily the psalm itself1 but may mean other thanksgivings evoked by ,god's meditated-on goodness4 ,but1 in any case1 it is noteworthy that the occasions of the new song are very old acts1 stretching back to the first creation and continued down through the ages4 ,the psalm has no trace of special recent mercies1 but to the devout soul the old deeds are never antiquated1 and each new meditation on them breaks into new praise4 ,so inexhaustible is the theme that all generations take it up in turn1 and find songs unheard and sweeter with which to celebrate it4 ,each new rising of the old sun brings music from the lips of ,memnon1 as he sits fronting the east4 ,the facts of revelation must be sung by each age and soul for itself1 and the glowing strains grow cold and archaic1 while the ancient mercies which they magnify live on bright and young4 ,there is always room for a fresh voice to praise the old gospel1 the old creation1 the old providence4 ,this new song is saturated with reminiscences of old ones1 and deals with familiar thoughts which have come to the psalmist with fresh power4 ,he magnifies the moral attributes manifested in ,god's self-revelation1 ,his creative ,word1 and ,his providential government4 ,the word of ,jehovah1 in ver4 #d1 is to be taken in the wide sense of every utterance of ,his thought or will 7non accipi pro doctrina1 sed pro mundi gubernandi ratione1 ,calvin74 ,it underlies ,his works1 as is more largely declared in the following verses4 ,it is upright1 the same word as in ver4 #a1 and here equivalent to the general idea of morally perfect4 ,the acts which flow from it are in faithfulness1 correspond to and keep ,his word4 ,the perfect word and works have for source the deep heart of ,jehovah1 which loves righteousness and judgment1 and therefore speaks and acts in accordance with these4 ,therefore the outcome of all is a world full of ,god's loving-kindness4 ,the psalmist has won that serene and blessed mood in which the problem of life seems easy1 and all harsh and gloomy thoughts have melted out of the sky4 ,there is but one omnipotent ,will at work everywhere1 and that is a ,will whose law for itself is the love of righteousness and truth4 ,the majestic simplicity and universality of the cause are answered by the simplicity and universality of the result1 the flooding of the whole world with blessing4 ,many another psalm shows how hard it is to maintain such a faith in the face of the terrible miseries of men1 and the more complex civilisation becomes1 the harder it grows2 but it is well to hear sometimes the one clear note of gladness without its chord of melancholy4 ,the work of creation is set forth in vv4 #f-i1 as the effect of the ,divine word alone4 ,the psalmist is fascinated not by the glories created1 but by the wonder of the process of creation4 ,the ,divine will uttered itself1 and the universe was4 ,of course the thought is parallel with that of ,genesis1 ,god said1 ,let there be 444 and there was4444 ,nor are we to antedate the ,christian teaching of a personal ,word of ,god1 the agent of creation4 ,the old versions and interpreters1 followed by ,cheyne1 read as in a bottle for as an heap1 vocalising the text differently from the present pointing2 but there seems to be an allusion to the wall of waters at the passage of the ,red ,sea1 the same word being used in ,miriam's song2 with depths in the next clause1 there as here 7,exod4 xv4 #h74 ,what is meant1 however1 here1 is the separation of land and water at first1 and possibly the continuance of the same power keeping them still apart1 since the verbs in ver4 #g are participles1 which imply continued action4 ,the image of an heap is probably due to the same optical delusion which has coined the expression the high seas1 since1 to an eye looking seawards from the beach1 the level waters seem to rise as they recede2 or it may merely express the gathering together in a mass4 ,away out there1 in that ocean of which the ,hebrews knew so little1 were unplumbed depths in which1 as in vast storehouses1 the abundance of the sea was shut up1 and the ever-present ,word which made them at first was to them instead of bolts and bars4 ,possibly the thought of the storehouses suggested that of the ,flood when these were opened1 and that thought1 crossing the psalmist's mind1 led to the exhortation in ver4 #h to fear ,jehovah1 which would more naturally have followed ver4 #i4 ,the power displayed in creation is1 however1 a sufficient ground for the summons to reverent obedience1 and ver4 #i may be but an emphatic repetition of the substance of the foregoing description4 ,it is eloquent in its brevity and juxtaposition of the creative word and the created world4 ,it stood1--the word includes much3 first1 the coming into being 7,entstehen71 then1 the continued subsistence 7,bestehen71 lastly1 attendance 7,dastehen7 in readiness for service 7,stier74 ,from the original creation the psalmist's mind runs over the ages between it and him1 and sees the same mystical might of the ,divine ,will working in what we call providential government4 ,god's bare word has power without material means4 ,nay1 ,his very thoughts unspoken are endowed with immortal vigour1 and are at bottom the only real powers in history4 ,god's thoughts stand1 as creation does1 lasting on through all men's fleeting years4 ,with reverent boldness the psalm parallels the processes 7if we may so speak7 of the ,divine mind with those of the human2 counsel and thoughts being attributed to both4 ,but how different the issue of the solemn thoughts of ,god and those of men1 in so far as they are not in accordance with ,his6 ,it unduly narrows the sweep of the psalmist's vision to suppose that he is speaking of a recent experience when some assault on ,israel was repelled4 ,he is much rather linking the hour of creation with to-day by one swift summary of the net result of all history4 ,the only stable1 permanent reality is the will of ,god1 and it imparts derived stability to those who ally themselves with it1 yielding to its counsels and moulding their thoughts by its4 ,he that doeth the will of ,god abideth for ever1 but the shore of time is littered with wreckage1 the sad fragments of proud fleets which would sail in the teeth of the wind and went to pieces on the rocks4 ,from such thoughts the transition to the second part of the main body of the psalm is natural4 ,vv4 #ab-ai are a joyous celebration of the blessedness of ,israel as the people of so great a ,god4 ,the most striking feature of these verses is the pervading reference to the passage of the ,red ,sea which1 as we have already seen1 has coloured ver4 #g4 ,from ,miriam's song come the designation of the people as ,god's inheritance1 and the phrase the place of ,his habitation 7,exod4 xv4 #ag74 ,the looking upon the inhabitants of the earth1 and the thought that the eye of ,jehovah is upon them that fear ,him1 to deliver their soul in death 7vv4 #ad1 #ah71 remind us of the ,lord's looking from the pillar on the host of ,egyptians and the terrified crowd of fugitives1 and of the same glance being darkness to the one and light to the other4 ,the abrupt introduction of the king not saved by his host1 and of the vanity of the horse for safety1 are explained if we catch an echo of ,miriam's ringing notes1 ,pharaoh's chariots and his host hath ,he cast into the sea4444 ,the horse and his rider hath ,he thrown into the sea 7,exod4 xv4 #d1 #ba74 ,if this historical allusion be not recognised1 the connection of these verses is somewhat obscure1 but still discernible4 ,the people who stand in special relation to ,god are blessed1 because that eye1 which sees all men1 rests on them in loving-kindness and with gracious purpose of special protection4 ,this contrast of ,god's universal knowledge and of that knowledge which is accompanied with loving care is the very nerve of these verses1 as is shown by the otherwise aimless repetition of the thought of ,god's looking down on men4 ,there is a wide all-seeingness1 characterised by three words in an ascending scale of closeness of observance1 in vv4 #ac1 #ad4 ,it is possible to ,god as being ,creator3 ,he fashions their hearts individually1 or one by one1 seems the best interpretation of ver4 #ae a1 and thence is deduced ,his intimate knowledge of all ,his creatures' doings4 ,the sudden turn to the impotence of earthly might1 as illustrated by the king and the hero and the battle-horse1 may be taken as intended to contrast the weakness of such strength both with the preceding picture of ,divine omniscience and almightiness1 and with the succeeding assurance of safety in ,jehovah4 ,the true reason for the blessedness of the chosen people is that ,god's eye is on them1 not merely with cold omniscience nor with critical considering of their works1 but with the direct purpose of sheltering them from surrounding evil4 ,but the stress of the characterisation of these guarded and nourished favourites of heaven is now laid not upon a ,divine act of choice1 but upon their meek looking to ,him4 ,his eye meets with love the upturned patient eye of humble expectance and loving fear4 ,what should be the issue of such thoughts1 but the glad profession of trust1 with which the psalm fittingly ends1 corresponding to the invocation to praise which began it8 ,once in each of these three closing verses do the speakers profess their dependence on ,god4 ,the attitude of waiting with fixed hope and patient submission is the characteristic of ,god's true servants in all ages4 ,in it are blended consciousness of weakness and vulnerability1 dread of assault1 reliance on ,divine ,love1 confidence of safety1 patience1 submission and strong aspiration4 ,these were the tribal marks of ,god's people1 when this was a new song2 they are so to-day1 for1 though the ,name of the ,lord be more fully known by ,christ1 the trust in it is the same4 ,a threefold good is possessed1 expected and asked as the issue of this waiting4 ,god is help and shield to those who exercise it4 ,its sure fruit is joy in ,him1 since ,he will answer the expectance of ,his people1 and will make ,his name more fully known and more sweet to those who have clung to it1 in so far as they knew it4 ,the measure of hope in ,god is the measure of experience of ,his loving-kindness1 and the closing prayer does not allege hope as meriting the answer which it expects1 but recognises that desire is a condition of possession of ,god's best gifts1 and knows it to be most impossible of all impossibilities that hope fixed on ,god should be ashamed4 ,hands1 lifted empty to heaven in longing trust1 will never drop empty back and hang listless1 without a blessing in their grasp4 ,,psalm ,,xxxiv4 #a 77 ,i will bless ,jehovah at all times1 ,continually shall ,his praise be in my mouth4 #b 77 ,in ,jehovah my soul shall boast herself1 ,the humble shall hear and rejoice4 #c 77 ,magnify ,jehovah with me1 ,and let us exalt ,his name together4 #d 77 ,i sought ,jehovah and ,he answered me1 ,and from all my terrors did ,he deliver me4 #e 77 ,they looked to ,him and were brightened1 77 ,and their faces did not blush4 #f 77 ,this afflicted man cried and ,jehovah heard1 ,and from all his distresses saved him4 #g 77 ,the angel of ,jehovah encamps round them that fear ,him1 ,and delivers them4 #h 77 ,taste and see that ,jehovah is good2 ,happy the man that takes refuge in ,him4 #i 77 ,fear ,jehovah1 ye ,his holy ones2 ,for there is no want to them that fear ,him4 #aj 77 ,young lions famish and starve1 ,but they that seek ,jehovah shall not want any good4 #aa 77 ,come my sons1 hearken to me2 ,i will teach you the fear of ,jehovah4 #ab 77 ,who is the man who desires life1 ,who loves many days1 in order to see good8 #ac 77 ,keep thy tongue from evil1 ,and thy lips from speaking deceit4 #ad 77 ,depart from evil and do good2 ,seek peace and pursue it4 #ae 77 ,the eyes of ,jehovah are toward the righteous1 ,and ,his ears are towards their loud cry4 #af 77 ,the face of ,jehovah is against the doers of evil ,to cut off their remembrance from the earth4 #ag 77 ,the righteous cry and ,jehovah hears2 ,and from all their straits ,he rescues them4 #ah 77 ,jehovah is near to the broken in heart1 ,and the crushed in spirit ,he saves4 #ai 77 ,many are the afflictions of the righteous2 ,but from them all ,jehovah delivers him4 #bj 77 ,he keeps all his bones1 ,not one of them is broken4 #ba 77 ,evil shall slay the wicked2 ,and the haters of the righteous shall be held guilty4 #bb 77 ,jehovah redeems the soul of ,his servants2 ,and not held guilty shall any be who take refuge in ,him4 ,the occasion of this psalm1 according to the superscription1 was that humiliating and questionable episode1 when ,david pretended insanity to save his life from the ruler of ,goliath's city of ,gath4 ,the set of critical opinion sweeps away this tradition as unworthy of serious refutation4 ,the psalm is acrostic1 therefore of late date2 there are no references to the supposed occasion2 the careless scribe has blundered blindly 7,hupfeld7 in the king's name1 mixing up the stories about ,abraham and ,isaac in ,genesis with the legend about ,david at ,gath2 the didactic1 gnomical cast of the psalm speaks of a late age4 ,but the assumption that acrostic structure is necessarily a mark of late date is not by any means self-evident1 and needs more proof than is forthcoming2 the absence of plain allusions to the singer's circumstances cuts both ways1 and suggests the question1 how the attribution to the period stated arose1 since there is nothing in the psalm to suggest it2 the blunder of the king's name is perhaps not a blunder after all1 but1 as the ,genesis passages seem to imply1 ,abimelech 7the father of the ,king7 may be a title1 like ,pharaoh1 common to ,philistine kings1 and ,achish may have been the name of the reigning ,abimelech2 the proverbial style and somewhat slight connection and progress of thought are necessary results of acrostic fetters4 ,if the psalm be ,david's1 the contrast between the degrading expedient which saved him and the exalted sentiments here is remarkable1 but not incredible4 ,the seeming idiot scrabbling on the gate is now saint1 poet1 and preacher2 and1 looking back on the deliverance won by a trick1 he thinks of it as an instance of ,jehovah's answer to prayer6 ,it is a strange psychological study2 and yet1 keeping in view the then existing standard of morality as to stratagems in warfare1 and the wonderful power that even good men have of ignoring flaws in their faith and faults in their conduct1 we may venture to suppose that the event which evoked this song of thanksgiving and is transfigured in ver4 #d is the escape by craft from ,achish4 ,to ,david his feigning madness did not seem inconsistent with trust and prayer4 ,whatever be the occasion of the psalm1 its course of thought is obvious4 ,there is first a vow of praise in which others are summoned to unite 7vv4 #a-c72 then follows a section in which personal experience and invocation to others are similarly blended 7vv4 #d-aj72 and finally a purely didactic section1 analysing the practical manifestations of the fear of the ,lord and enforcing it by the familiar contrast of the blessedness of the righteous and the miserable fate of the ungodly4 ,throughout we find familiar turns of thought and expression1 such as are usual in acrostic psalms4 ,the glad vow of unbroken praise and undivided trust1 which begins the psalm1 sounds like the welling over of a heart for recent mercy4 ,it seems easy and natural while the glow of fresh blessings is felt1 to rejoice in the ,lord always1 and again to say ,rejoice4 ,thankfulness which looks forward to its own cessation1 and takes into account the distractions of circumstance and changes of mood which will surely come1 is too foreseeing4 ,whether the vow be kept or no1 it is well that it should be made2 still better is it that it should be kept1 as it may be1 even amid distracting circumstances and changing moods4 ,the incense on the altar did not flame throughout the day1 but1 being fanned into a glow at morning and evening sacrifice1 it smouldered with a thread of fragrant smoke continually4 ,it is not only the exigencies of the acrostic which determine the order in ver4 #b3 ,in ,jehovah shall my soul boast1--in ,him1 and not in self or worldly ground1 of trust and glorying4 ,the ideal of the devout life1 which in moments of exaltation seems capable of realisation1 as in clear weather ,alpine summits look near enough to be reached in an hour1 is unbroken praise and undivided reliance on and joy in ,jehovah4 ,but alas--how far above us the peaks are6 ,still to see them ennobles1 and to strive to reach them secures an upward course4 ,the solitary heart hungers for sympathy in its joy1 as in its sorrow2 but knows full well that such can only be given by those who have known like bitterness and have learned submission in the same way4 ,we must be purged of self in order to be glad in another's deliverance1 and must be pupils in the same school in order to be entitled to take his experience as our encouragement1 and to make a chorus to his solo of thanksgiving4 ,the invocation is so natural an expression of the instinctive desire for companionship in praise that one needs not to look for any particular group to whom it is addressed2 but if the psalm be ,david's1 the call is not inappropriate in the mouth of the leader of his band of devoted followers4 ,the second section of the psalm 7vv4 #d-aj7 is at first biographical1 and then generalises personal experience into broad universal truth4 ,but even in recounting what befell himself1 the singer will not eat his morsel alone1 but is glad to be able at every turn to feel that he has companions in his happy experience4 ,vv4 #d1 #e are a pair1 as are vv4 #f1 #g1 and in each the same fact is narrated first in reference to the single soul1 and then in regard to all the servants of ,jehovah4 ,this poor man is by most of the older expositors taken to be the psalmist1 but by the majority of moderns supposed to be an individualising way of saying1 poor men4 ,the former explanation seems to me the more natural1 as preserving the parallelism between the two groups of verses4 ,if so1 the close correspondence of expression in vv4 #d and #f is explained1 since the same event is subject of both4 ,in both is the psalmist's appeal to ,jehovah presented2 in the one as seeking with anxious eagerness1 and in the other as crying with the loud call of one in urgent need of immediate rescue4 ,in both1 ,divine acceptance follows close on the cry1 and in both immediately ensues succour4 ,he delivered me from all my fears1 and saved him out of all his troubles1 correspond entirely1 though not verbally4 ,in like manner vv4 #e and #g are alike in extending the blessing of the unit so as to embrace the class4 ,the absence of any expressed subject of the verb in ver4 #e makes the statement more comprehensive1 like the ,french on1 or ,english they4 ,to look unto ,him is the same thing as is expressed in the individualising verses by the two phrases1 sought1 and cried unto1 only the metaphor is changed into that of silent1 wistful directing of beseeching and sad eyes to ,god4 ,and its issue is beautifully told1 in pursuance of the metaphor4 ,whoever turns his face to ,jehovah will receive reflected brightness on his face2 as when a mirror is directed sunwards1 the dark surface will flash into sudden glory4 ,weary eyes will gleam4 ,faces turned to the sun are sure to be radiant4 ,the hypothesis of the ,davidic authorship gives special force to the great assurance of ver4 #g4 ,the fugitive1 in his rude shelter in the cave of ,adullam1 thinks of ,jacob1 who1 in his hour of defenceless need1 was heartened by the vision of the angel encampment surrounding his own little band1 and named the place ,mahanaim1 the two camps4 ,that fleeting vision was a temporary manifestation of abiding reality4 ,wherever there is a camp of them that fear ,god1 there is another1 of which the helmed and sworded angel that appeared to ,joshua is ,captain1 and the name of every such place is ,two ,camps4 ,that is the sight which brightens the eyes that look to ,god4 ,that mysterious personality1 the ,angel of the ,lord1 is only mentioned in the ,psalter here and in ,psalm xxxv4 ,in other places1 ,he appears as the agent of ,divine communications1 and especially as the guide and champion of ,israel4 ,he is the angel of ,god's face1 the personal revealer of ,his presence and nature4 ,his functions correspond to those of the ,word in ,john's ,gospel1 and these1 conjoined with the supremacy indicated in his name1 suggest that the ,angel of the ,lord is1 in fact1 the everlasting ,son of the ,father1 through whom the ,christology of the ,new ,testament teaches that all ,revelation has been mediated4 ,the psalmist did not know the full force of the name1 but he believed that there was a ,person1 in an eminent and singular sense ,god's messenger1 who would cast his protection round the devout1 and bid inferior heavenly beings draw their impregnable ranks about them4 ,christians can tell more than he could1 of the ,bearer of the name4 ,it becomes them to be all the surer of ,his protection4 ,just as the vow of ver4 #a passed into invocation1 so does the personal experience of vv4 #d-g glide into exhortation4 ,if such be the experience of poor men1 trusting in ,jehovah1 how should the sharers in it be able to withhold themselves from calling on others to take their part in the joy8 ,the depth of a man's religion may be roughly1 but on the whole fairly1 tested by his irrepressible impulse to bring other men to the fountain from which he has drunk4 ,very significantly does the psalm call on men to taste and see1 for in religion experience must precede knowledge4 ,the way to taste is to trust or to take refuge in ,jehovah4 ,crede et manducasti1 says ,augustine4 ,the psalm said it before him4 ,just as the act of appealing to ,jehovah was described in a threefold way in vv4 #d-f1 so a threefold designation of devout men occurs in vv4 #h-aj4 ,they trust1 are saints1 they seek4 ,faith1 consecration and aspiration are their marks4 ,these are the essentials of the religious life1 whatever be the degree of revelation4 ,these were its essentials in the psalmist's time1 and they are so to-day4 ,as abiding as they1 are the blessings consequent4 ,these may all be summed up in one--the satisfaction of every need and desire4 ,there are two ways of seeking for satisfaction3 that of effort1 violence and reliance on one's own teeth and claws to get one's meat2 the other that of patient1 submissive trust4 ,were there lions prowling round the camp at ,adullam1 and did the psalmist take their growls as typical of all vain attempts to satisfy the soul8 ,struggle and force and self-reliant efforts leave men gaunt and hungry4 ,he who takes the path of trust and has his supreme desires set on ,god1 and who looks to ,him to give what he himself cannot wring out of life1 will get first his deepest desires answered in possessing ,god1 and will then find that the ,one great ,good is an encyclopdia of separate goods4 ,they that seek ,jehovah shall assuredly find ,him1 and in ,him everything4 ,he is multiform1 and ,his goodness takes many shapes1 according to the curves of the vessels which it fills4 ,seek ye first the kingdom of ,god 444 and all these things shall be added unto you4 ,the mention of the fear of the ,lord prepares the way for the transition to the third part of the psalm4 ,it is purely didactic1 and1 in its simple moral teaching and familiar contrast of the fates of righteous and ungodly1 has affinities with the ,book of ,proverbs2 but these are not so special as to require the supposition of contemporaneousness4 ,it is unfashionable now to incline to the ,davidic authorship2 but would not the supposition that the children1 who are to be taught the elements of religion1 are the band of outlaws who have gathered round the fugitive1 give appropriateness to the transition from the thanksgiving of the first part to the didactic tone of the second8 ,we can see them sitting round the singer in the half-darkness of the cave1 a wild group1 needing much control and yet with faithful hearts1 and loyal to their leader1 who now tells them the laws of his camp1 at the same time as he sets forth the broad principles of that morality1 which is the garment and manifestation among men of the fear of the ,lord4 ,the relations of religion and morals were never more clearly and strikingly expressed than in the simple language of this psalm1 which puts the substance of many profound treatises in a nutshell1 when it expounds the fear of ,jehovah as consisting in speaking truth1 doing good1 abhorring evil and seeking peace even when it seems to flee from us4 ,the primal virtues are the same for all ages and stages of revelation4 ,the definition of good and evil may vary and become more spiritual and inward1 but the dictum that it is good to love and do good shines unalterable4 ,the psalmist's belief that doing good was the sure way to enjoy good was a commonplace of ,old ,testament teaching1 and under a ,theocracy was more distinctly verified by outward facts than now2 but even then1 as many psalms show1 had exceptions so stark as to stir many doubts4 ,unquestionably good in the sense of blessedness is inseparable from good in the sense of righteousness1 as evil which is suffering is from evil which is sin1 but the conception of what constitutes blessedness and sorrow must be modified so as to throw most weight on inward experiences1 if such necessary coincidence is to be maintained in the face of patent facts4 ,the psalmist closes his song with a bold statement of the general principle that goodness is blessedness and wickedness is wretchedness2 but he finds his proof mainly in the contrasted relation to ,jehovah involved in the two opposite moral conditions4 ,he has no vulgar conception of blessedness as resulting from circumstances4 ,the loving-kindness of ,jehovah is1 in his view1 prosperity1 whatever be the aspect of externals4 ,so with bold symbols1 the very grossness of the letter of which shields them from misinterpretation1 he declares this as the secret of all blessedness1 that ,jehovah's eyes are towards the righteous and ,his ears open to their cry4 ,the individual experiences of vv4 #e and #f are generalised4 ,the eye of ,god--i4e4 ,his loving observance--rests upon and blesses those whose faces are turned to ,him1 and ,his ear hears the poor man's cry4 ,the grim antithesis1 which contains in itself the seeds of all unrest1 is that the face of ,jehovah--i4e4 ,his manifested presence1 the same face in the reflected light of which the faces of the righteous are lit up with gladness and dawning glory--is against evil doers4 ,the moral condition of the beholder determines the operation of the light of ,god's countenance upon him4 ,the same presence is light and darkness1 life and death4 ,evil and its doers shrivel and perish in its beams1 as the sunshine kills creatures whose haunt is the dark1 or as ,apollo's keen light-arrows slew the monsters of the slime4 ,all else follows from this double relationship4 ,the remainder of the psalm runs out into a detailed description of the joyful fate of the lovers of good broken only by one tragic verse 7#ba71 like a black rock in the midst of a sunny stream1 telling how evil and evil-doers end4 ,in ver4 #ag1 as in ver4 #e1 the verb has no subject expressed1 but the supplement of ,a4,v4 and ,r4,v41 the righteous1 is naturally drawn from the context and is found in the ,,lxx41 whether as part of the original text1 or as supplement thereto1 is unknown4 ,the construction may1 as in ver4 #f1 indicate that whoever cries to ,jehovah is heard4 ,hitzig and others propose to transpose vv4 #ae and #af1 so as to get a nearer subject for the verb in the righteous of ver4 #ae1 and defend the inversion by referring to the alphabetic order in ,lam4 ii41 iii41 iv41 where similarly ,pe precedes ,ayin2 but the present order of verses is better as putting the principal theme of this part of the psalm--the blessedness of the righteous--in the foreground1 and the opposite thought as its foil4 ,the main thought of vv4 #ag-bj is nothing more than the experience of vv4 #d-g thrown into the form of general maxims4 ,they are the commonplaces of religion1 but come with strange freshness to a man1 when they have been verified in his life4 ,happy they who can cast their personal experience into such proverbial sayings1 and1 having by faith individualised the general promises1 can re-generalise the individual experience6 ,the psalmist does not promise untroubled outward good4 ,his anticipation is of troubled lives1 delivered because of crying to ,jehovah4 ,many are the afflictions1 but more are the deliverances4 ,many are the blows and painful is the pressure1 but they break no bones1 though they rack and wrench the frame4 ,significant1 too1 is the sequence of synonyms--righteous1 broken-hearted1 crushed in spirit1 servants1 them that take refuge in ,jehovah4 ,the first of these refers mainly to conduct1 the second to that submission of will and spirit which sorrow rightly borne brings about1 substantially equivalent to the humble or afflicted of vv4 #b and #f1 the third again deals mostly with practice1 and the last touches the foundation of all service1 submission1 and righteousness1 as laid in the act of faith in ,jehovah4 ,the last group of vv4 #ba1 #bb1 puts the teaching of the psalm in one terrible contrast1 ,evil shall slay the wicked4 ,it were a mere platitude if by evil were meant misfortune4 ,the same thought of the inseparable connection of the two senses of that word1 which runs through the context1 is here expressed in the most terse fashion4 ,to do evil is to suffer evil1 and all sin is suicide4 ,its wages is death4 ,every sin is a strand in the hangman's rope1 which the sinner nooses and puts round his own neck4 ,that is so because every sin brings guilt1 and guilt brings retribution4 ,much more than desolate is meant in vv4 #ba and #bb4 ,the word means to be condemned or held guilty4 ,jehovah is the ,judge2 before ,his bar all actions and characters are set3 ,his unerring estimate of each brings with it1 here and now1 consequences of reward and punishment which prophesy a future1 more perfect judgment4 ,the redemption of the soul of ,god's servants is the antithesis to that awful experience2 and they only1 who take refuge in ,him1 escape it4 ,the full ,christian significance of this final contrast is in the ,apostle's words1 ,there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in ,christ ,jesus4 ,,psalm ,,xxxv4 #a ,plead my cause1 ,jehovah1 with those who plead against me2 ,fight with those who fight with me4 #b ,grasp target and shield1 ,and stand up in my help1 #c ,and unsheathe lance and battle-axe 787 against my pursuers2 ,say to my soul1 ,thy salvation am ,i4 #d ,be the seekers after my life put to shame and dishonoured2 ,be the plotters of my hurt turned back and confounded #e ,be they as chaff before the wind1 ,and the angel of ,jehovah striking them down6 #f ,be their path darkness and slipperiness1 ,and the angel of ,jehovah pursuing them6 #g ,for without provocation have they hidden for me their net2 ,without provocation have they dug a pit for my life4 #h ,may destruction light on him unawares1 ,and his net which he hath hidden snare him2 ,into destruction 7the pit87--may he fall therein6 #i ,and my soul shall exult in ,jehovah1 ,shall rejoice in ,his salvation4 #aj ,all my bones shall say1 ,jehovah1 who is like ,thee1 ,delivering the afflicted from a stronger than he1 ,even the afflicted and poor from his spoiler8 #aa ,unjust witnesses rise up2 ,of what ,i know not they ask me4 #ab ,they requite me evil for good-- ,bereavement to my soul6 #ac ,but ,i--in their sickness my garment was sackcloth1 ,i afflicted my soul by fasting1 ,and my prayer--may it return again 7do thou return87 to my own bosom4 #ad ,as for my friend or brother1 ,i dragged myself about 7bowed myself down872 ,as one mourning for a mother1 ,i bowed down 7dragged myself about87 in squalid attire4 #ae ,and at my tottering they rejoice and assemble themselves2 ,abjects and those whom ,i know not assemble against me2 ,they tear me1 and cease not1 #af ,like the profanest of buffoons for a bit of bread1 ,gnashing their teeth at me4 #ag ,lord1 how long wilt ,thou look on8 ,bring back my soul from their destructions1 ,my only one from the young lions4 #ah ,i will praise ,thee in the great congregation2 ,among people strong in number will ,i sound ,thy praise4 #ai ,let not my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me1 ,nor my haters without provocation wink the eye4 #bj ,for it is not peace they speak1 ,and against the quiet of the land they plan words of guile4 #ba ,and they open wide their mouth against me2 ,they say1 ,oho6 ,oho6 our eyes have seen4 #bb ,thou hast seen1 ,jehovah3 be not deaf2 ,lord1 be not far from me6 #bc ,arouse ,thyself1 and awake for my judgment1 ,my ,god and my ,lord1 for my suit6 #bd ,judge me according to ,thy righteousness1 ,jehovah1 my ,god1 ,and let them not rejoice over me4 #be ,let them not say in their hearts1 ,oho6 our desire6 ,let them not say1 ,we have swallowed him4 #bf ,be those who rejoice over my calamity put to shame and confounded together6 ,be those who magnify themselves against me clothed in shame and dishonour6 #bg ,may those who delight in my righteous cause sound out their gladness and rejoice1 ,and say continually1 ,magnified be ,jehovah1 ,who delights in the peace of ,his servant4 #bh ,and my tongue shall meditate ,thy righteousness1 ,all day long ,thy praise4 ,the psalmist's life is in danger4 ,he is the victim of ungrateful hatred4 ,false accusations of crimes that he never dreamed of are brought against him4 ,he professes innocence1 and appeals to ,jehovah to be his ,advocate and also his ,judge4 ,the prayer in ver4 #a a uses the same word and metaphor as ,david does in his remonstrance with ,saul 7#a ,sam4 xxiv4 #ae74 ,the correspondence with ,david's situation in the ,sauline persecution is1 at least1 remarkable1 and goes far to sustain the ,davidic authorship4 ,the distinctly individual traits in the psalm are difficulties in the way of regarding it as a national psalm4 ,jeremiah has several coincidences in point of expression and sentiment1 which are more naturally accounted for as reminiscences by the prophet than as indications that he was the psalmist4 ,his genius was assimilative1 and liked to rest itself on earlier utterances4 ,the psalm has three parts1 all of substantially the same import1 and marked off by the conclusion of each being a vow of praise and the main body of each being a cry for deliverance1 a characterisation of the enemy as ungrateful and malicious1 and a profession of the singer's innocence4 ,we do not look for melodious variations of note in a cry for help4 ,the only variety to be expected is in its shrill intensity and prolongation4 ,the triple division is in accordance with the natural feeling of completeness attaching to the number4 ,if there is any difference between the three sets of petitions1 it may be observed that the first 7vv4 #a-aj7 alleges innocence and vows praise without reference to others2 that the second 7vv4 #aa-ah7 rises to a profession not only of innocence1 but of beneficence and affection met by hate1 and ends with a vow of public praise2 and that the final section 7vv4 #ai-bh7 has less description of the machinations of the enemy and more prolonged appeal to ,jehovah for ,his judgment1 and ends1 not with a solo of the psalmist's gratitude1 but with a chorus of his friends1 praising ,god for his prosperity4 ,the most striking features of the first part are the boldness of the appeal to ,jehovah to fight for the psalmist and the terrible imprecations and magnificent picture in vv4 #e1 #f4 ,the relation between the two petitions of ver4 #a1 ,plead with those who plead against the and ,fight with them that fight against me1 may be variously determined4 ,both may be figurative1 the former drawn from legal processes1 the latter from the battle-field4 ,but more probably the psalmist was really the object of armed attack1 and the fighting was a grim reality4 ,the suit against him was being carried on1 not in a court1 but in the field4 ,the rendering of the ,r4,v4 in ver4 #a1 ,strive with 444 who strive against me1 obscures the metaphor of a lawsuit1 which1 in view of its further expansion in vv4 #bc1 #bd 7and in witnesses in ver4 #aa871 is best retained4 ,that is a daring flight of reverent imagination which thinks of the armed ,jehovah as starting to ,his feet to help one poor man4 ,the attitude anticipates ,stephen's vision of the ,son of man standing1 not throned in rest1 but risen in eager sympathy and intent to succour4 ,but the panoply in which the psalmist's faith arrays ,jehovah1 is purely imaginative and1 of course1 has nothing parallel in the martyr's vision4 ,the target was smaller than the shield 7#b ,chron4 ix4 #ae1 #af74 ,both could not be wielded at once1 but the incongruity helps to idealise the bold imagery and to emphasise the ,divine completeness of protecting power4 ,it is the psalmist1 and not his heavenly ,ally1 who is to be sheltered4 ,the two defensive weapons are probably matched by two offensive ones in ver4 #c4 ,the word rendered in the ,a4,v4 stop 7the way being a supplement7 is more probably to be taken as the name of a weapon1 a battle-axe according to some1 a dirk or dagger according to others4 ,the ordinary translation gives a satisfactory sense1 but the other is more in accordance with the following preposition1 with the accents1 and with the parallelism of target and shield4 ,in either case1 how beautifully the spiritual reality breaks through the warlike metaphor6 ,this armed ,jehovah1 grasping shield and drawing spear1 utters no battle shout1 but whispers consolation to the trembling man crouching behind his shield4 ,the outward side of the ,divine activity1 turned to the foe1 is martial and menacing2 the inner side is full of tender1 secret breathings of comfort and love4 ,the previous imagery of the battle-field and the ,warrior ,god moulds the terrible wishes in vv4 #d-f1 which should not be interpreted as having a wider reference than to the issue of the attacks on the psalmist4 ,the substance of them is nothing more than the obverse of his wish for his own deliverance1 which necessarily is accomplished by the defeat of his enemies4 ,the moral difficulty of such wishes is not removed by restricting them to the special matter in hand1 but it is unduly aggravated if they are supposed to go beyond it4 ,however restricted1 they express a stage of feeling far beneath the ,christian1 and the attempt to slur over the contrast is in danger of hiding the glory of midday for fear of not doing justice to the beauty of morning twilight4 ,it is true that the imprecations of the ,psalter are not the offspring of passion1 and that the psalmists speak as identifying their cause with ,god's2 but when all such considerations are taken into account1 these prayers against enemies remain distinctly inferior to the code of ,christian ethics4 ,the more frankly the fact is recognised1 the better4 ,but1 if we turn from the moral to the poetic side of these verses1 what stern beauty there is in that awful picture of the fleeing foe1 with the angel of ,jehovah pressing hard on their broken ranks6 ,the hope which has been embodied in the legends of many nations1 that the gods were seen fighting for their worshippers1 is the psalmist's faith1 and in its essence is ever true4 ,that angel1 whom we heard of in the previous psalm as defending the defenceless encampment of them that fear ,jehovah1 fights with and scatters the enemies like chaff before the wind4 ,one more touch of terror is added in that picture of flight in the dark1 on a slippery path1 with the celestial avenger close on the fugitives' heels1 as when the ,amorite kings fled down the pass of ,beth-horon1 and ,jehovah cast great stones from heaven upon them4 schylus or ,dante has nothing more concentrated or suggestive of terror and beauty than this picture4 ,the psalmist's consciousness of innocence is the ground of his prayer and confidence4 ,causeless hatred is the lot of the good in this evil world4 ,their goodness is cause enough2 for men's likes and dislikes follow their moral character4 ,virtue rebukes1 and even patient endurance irritates4 ,no hostility is so hard to turn into love as that which has its origin1 not in the attitude of its object1 but in instinctive consciousness of contrariety in the depths of the soul4 ,whoever wills to live near ,god and tries to shape his life accordingly may make up his mind to be the mark for many arrows of popular dislike1 sometimes lightly tipped with ridicule1 sometimes dipped in gall1 sometimes steeped in poison1 but always sharpened by hostility4 ,the experience is too uniform to identify the poet by it1 but the correspondence with ,david's tone in his remonstrances with ,saul is1 at least1 worthy of consideration4 ,the familiar figures of the hunter's snare and pitfall recur here1 as expressing crafty plans for destruction1 and pass1 as in other places1 into the wish that the lex talionis may fall on the would-be ensnarer4 ,the text appears to be somewhat dislocated and corrupted in vv4 #g1 #h4 ,the word pit is needless in ver4 #g a1 since snares are not usually spread in pits1 and it is wanted in the next clause1 and should therefore probably be transposed4 ,again1 the last clause of ver4 #h1 whether the translation of the ,a4,v4 or of the ,r4,v4 be adopted1 is awkward and feeble from the repetition of destruction1 but if we read pit1 which involves only a slight change of letters1 we avoid tautology1 and preserve the reference to the two engines of craft3 ,let his net which he spread catch him2 in the pit--let him fall therein6 ,the enemy's fall is the occasion of glad praise1 not because his intended victim yields to the temptation to take malicious delight in his calamity 7,schadenfreude74 ,his own deliverance1 not the other's destruction1 makes the singer joyful in ,jehovah1 and what he vows to celebrate is not the retributive1 but the delivering1 aspect of the ,divine act4 ,in such joy there is nothing unworthy of the purest forgiving love to foes4 ,the relaxation of the tension of anxiety and fear brings the sweetest moments1 in the sweetness of which soul and body seem to share1 and the very bones1 which were consumed and waxed old 7vi4 #c1 xxxii4 #c71 are at ease1 and1 in their sense of well-being1 have a tongue to ascribe it to ,jehovah's delivering hand4 ,no physical enjoyment surpasses the delight of simple freedom from long torture of pain1 nor are there many experiences so poignantly blessed as that of passing out of tempest into calm4 ,well for those who deepen and hallow such joy by turning it into praise1 and see even in the experiences of their little lives tokens of the incomparable greatness and unparalleled love of their delivering ,god6 ,once more the singer plunges into the depths1 not because his faith fails to sustain him on the heights which it had won1 but because it would travel the road again1 in order to strengthen itself by persistent prayers which are not vain repetitions4 ,the second division 7vv4 #aa-ah7 runs parallel with the first1 with some differences4 ,the reference to unjust witnesses and their charges of crimes which he had never dreamed of may be but the reappearance of the image of a lawsuit1 as in ver4 #a1 but is more probably fact4 ,we may venture to think of the slanders which poisoned ,saul's too jealous mind1 just as in ,they requite me evil for good we have at least a remarkable verbal coincidence with the latter's burst of tearful penitence 7#a ,sam4 xxiv4 #ag73 ,thou art more righteous than ,i1 for thou hast rendered unto me good1 whereas ,i have rendered unto thee evil4 ,what a wail breaks the continuity of the sentence in the pathetic words of ver4 #ab b6--,bereavement to my soul6 ,the word is used again in ,isa4 xlviii4 #g1 #h1 and there is translated loss of children4 ,the forlorn man felt as if all whom he loved were swept away1 and he left alone to face the storm4 ,the utter loneliness of sorrow was never more vividly expressed4 ,the interjected clause sounds like an agonised cry forced from a man on the rack4 ,surely we hear in it not the voice of a personified nation1 but of an individual sufferer1 and if we have been down into the depths ourselves1 we recognise the sound4 ,the consciousness of innocence marking the former section becomes now the assertion of active sympathy1 met by ungrateful hate4 ,the power of kindness is great1 but there are ill-conditioned souls which resent it4 ,there is too much truth in the cynical belief that the sure way to make an enemy is to do a kindness4 ,it is all too common an experience that the more abundantly one loves1 the less he is loved4 ,the highest degree of unrequited participation in others' sorrows is seen in ,him who ,himself took our sicknesses4 ,this psalmist so shared in those of his foes that in sackcloth and with fasting he prayed for their healing4 ,whether the prayer was answered to them or not1 it brought reflex blessing to him1 for self-forgetting sympathy is never waste1 even though it does not secure returns of gratitude4 ,your peace shall return to you again1 though it may not bring peace to nor with a jangling household4 ,riehm 7in ,hupfeld7 suggests the transposition of the verbs in #ad a and b3 ,i bowed down as though he had been my friend or brother2 ,i went in mourning1 etc41 the former clause painting the drooping head of a mourner1 the latter his slow walk and sad attire1 either squalid or black4 ,the reverse of this picture of true sympathy is given in the conduct of its objects when it was the psalmist's turn to sorrow4 ,gleefully they flock together to mock and triumph4 ,his calamity was as good as a feast to the ingrates4 ,vv4 #ae and #af are in parts obscure1 but the general sense is clear4 ,the word rendered abjects is unique1 and consequently its meaning is doubtful1 and various conjectural emendations have been proposed--e4g41 foreigners1 which1 as ,hupfeld says1 is as foreign to the connection as can be1 smiting1 and others--but the rendering abjects1 or men of low degree1 gives an intelligible meaning4 ,the comparison in ver4 #af a is extremely obscure4 ,the existing text is harsh2 profane of mockers for a cake needs much explanation to be intelligible4 ,mockers for a cake are usually explained to be hangers-on at feasts who found wit for dull guests and were paid by a share of good things1 or who crept into favour and entertainment by slandering the objects of the host's dislike4 ,another explanation1 suggested by ,hupfeld as an alternative1 connects the word rendered mockers with the imagery in tear 7ver4 #ae7 and gnash 7ver4 #af7 and swallow 7ver4 #be71 and by an alteration of one letter gets the rendering like profane cake-devourers1 so comparing the enemies to greedy gluttons1 to whom the psalmist's ruin is a dainty morsel eagerly devoured4 ,the picture of his danger is followed1 as in the former part1 by the psalmist's prayer4 ,to him ,god's beholding without interposing is strange1 and the time seems protracted2 for the moments creep when sorrow-laden1 and ,god's help seems slow to tortured hearts4 ,but the impatience which speaks of itself to ,him is soothed1 and1 though the man who cries1 ,how long8 may feel that his life lies as among lions1 he will swiftly change his note of petition into thanksgiving4 ,the designation of the life as my only one1 as in xxii4 #bj1 enhances the earnestness of petition by the thought that1 once lost1 it can never be restored4 ,a man has but one life2 therefore he holds it so dear4 ,the mercy implored for the single soul will be occasion of praise before many people4 ,not now1 as in vv4 #i1 #aj1 is the thankfulness a private soliloquy4 ,individual blessings should be publicly acknowledged1 and the praise accruing thence may be used as a plea with ,god1 who delivers men that they may show forth the excellencies of ,him who hath called them out of trouble into ,his marvellous peace4 ,the third division 7ver4 #ah to end7 goes over nearly the same ground as before1 with the difference that the prayer for deliverance is more extended1 and that the resulting praise comes from the great congregation1 joining in as chorus in the singer's solo4 ,the former references to innocence and causeless hatred1 lies and plots1 open-mouthed rage1 are repeated4 ,our eyes have seen1 say the enemies1 counting their plots as good as successful and snorting contempt of their victim's helplessness2 but he bethinks him of another eye1 and grandly opposes ,god's sight to theirs4 ,usually that ,jehovah sees is1 in the ,psalter1 the same as ,his helping2 but here1 as in ver4 #ag1 the two things are separated1 as they so often are1 in fact1 for the trial of faith4 ,god's inaction does not disprove ,his knowledge1 but the pleading soul presses on ,him ,his knowledge as a plea that ,he would not be deaf to its cry nor far from its help4 ,the greedy eyes of the enemy round the psalmist gloat on their prey2 but he cries aloud to his ,god1 and dares to speak to ,him as if ,he were deaf and far off1 inactive and asleep4 ,the imagery of the lawsuit reappears in fuller form here4 ,my cause in ver4 #bc is a noun cognate with the verb rendered plead or strive in ver4 #a2 ,judge me in ver4 #bd does not mean1 ,pronounce sentence on my character and conduct1 but1 ,do me right in this case of mine versus my gratuitous foes4 ,again recurs the prayer for their confusion1 which clearly has no wider scope than concerning the matter in hand4 ,it is no breach of ,christian charity to pray that hostile devices may fail4 ,the vivid imagination of the poet hears the triumphant exclamations of gratified hatred3 ,oho6 our desire6 ,we have swallowed him1 and sums up the character of his enemies in the two traits of malicious joy in his hurt and self-exaltation in their hostility to him4 ,at last the prayer1 which has run through so many moods of feeling1 settles itself into restful contemplation of the sure results of ,jehovah's sure deliverance4 ,one receives the blessing2 many rejoice in it4 ,in significant antithesis to the enemies' joy is the joy of the rescued man's lovers and favourers4 ,their saying stands over against the silenced boastings of the losers of the suit4 ,the latter magnified themselves1 but the end of ,jehovah's deliverance will be that true hearts will magnify ,him4 ,the victor in the cause will give all the praise to the ,judge1 and he and his friends will unite in self-oblivious praise4 ,those who delight in his righteousness are of one mind with ,jehovah1 and magnify ,him because ,he delights in the peace of ,his servant4 ,while they ring out their praises1 the humble suppliant1 whose cry has brought the ,divine act which has waked all this surging song1 shall musingly speak in the low murmur of one entranced by a sweet thought 7,cheyne71 or1 if we might use a fine old word1 shall croon over ,god's righteousness all the day long4 ,that is the right end of mercies received4 ,whether there be many voices to join in praise or no1 one voice should not be silent1 that of the receiver of the blessings1 and1 even when he pauses in his song1 his heart should keep singing day-long and life-long praises4 ,,psalm ,,xxxvi4 #a ,the wicked has an ,oracle of ,transgression within his heart2 ,there is no fear of ,god before his eyes4 #b ,for it speaks smooth things to him in his imagination 7eyes7 ,as to finding out his iniquity1 as to hating it4 #c ,the words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit2 ,he has ceased being wise1 doing good4 #d ,he plots mischief upon his bed2 ,he sets himself firmly in a way that is not good2 ,evil he loathes not4 #e ,jehovah1 ,thy loving-kindness is in the heavens1 ,thy faithfulness is unto the clouds4 #f ,thy righteousness is like the mountains of ,god1 ,thy judgments a mighty deep2 ,man and beast preservest ,thou1 ,jehovah4 #g ,how precious is ,thy loving-kindness1 ,jehovah1 ,o ,god6 ,and the sons of men in the shadow of ,thy wings take refuge4 #h ,they are satisfied from the fatness of ,thy house1 ,and of the river of ,thy delights ,thou givest them to drink4 #i ,for with ,thee is the fountain of life2 ,in ,thy light do we see light4 #aj ,continue ,thy loving-kindness to those who know ,thee1 ,and ,thy righteousness to the upright in heart4 #aa ,let not the foot of pride come against me1 ,and the hand of the wicked--let it not drive me forth4 #ab ,there the workers of iniquity are fallen2 ,they are struck down1 and are not able to rise4 ,the supposition that the sombre picture of the wicked in vv4 #a-d was originally unconnected with the glorious hymn in vv4 #e-i fails to give weight to the difference between the sober pace of pedestrian prose and the swift flight of winged poetry4 ,it fails also in apprehending the instinctive turning of a devout meditative spectator from the darkness of earth and its sins to the light above4 ,the one refuge from the sad vision of evil here is in the faith that ,god is above it all1 and that ,his name is ,mercy4 ,nor can the blackness of the one picture be anywhere so plainly seen as when it is set in front of the brightness of the other4 ,a religious man1 who has laid to heart the miserable sights of which earth is full1 will scarcely think that the psalmist's quick averting of his eyes from these to steep them in the light of ,god is unnatural1 or that the original connection of the two parts of this psalm is an artificial supposition4 ,besides this1 the closing section of prayer is tinged with references to the first part1 and derives its raison d'tre from it4 ,the three parts form an organic whole4 ,the gnarled obscurity of the language in which the wicked is described corresponds to the theme1 and contrasts strikingly with the limpid flow of the second part4 ,the line1 too1 labours as it tries to tell the dark thoughts that move to dark deeds4 ,vv4 #a1 #b1 unveil the secret beliefs of the sinner1 vv4 #c1 #d1 his consequent acts4 ,as the text stands1 it needs much torturing to get a tolerable meaning out of ver4 #a1 and the slight alteration1 found in the ,,lxx4 and in some old versions1 of his heart instead of my heart smooths the difficulty4 ,we have then a bold personification of ,transgression as speaking in the secret heart of the wicked1 as in some dark cave1 such as heathen oracle-mongers haunted4 ,there is bitter irony in using the sacred word which stamped the prophets' utterances1 and which we may translate oracle1 for the godless lies muttered in the sinner's heart4 ,this is the account of how men come to do evil3 that there is a voice within whispering falsehood4 ,and the reason why that bitter voice has the shrine to itself is that there is no fear of ,god before the man's eyes4 ,the two clauses of ver4 #a are simply set side by side1 leaving the reader to spell out their logical relation4 ,possibly the absence of the fear of ,god may be regarded as both the occasion and the result of the oracle of ,transgression1 since1 in fact1 it is both4 ,still more obscure is ver4 #b4 ,who is the flatterer8 ,the answers are conflicting4 ,the wicked1 say some1 but if so1 in his own eyes is superfluous2 ,god1 say others1 but that requires a doubtful meaning for flatters--namely1 treats gently--and is open to the same objection as the preceding in regard to in his own eyes4 ,the most natural supposition is that transgression1 which was represented in ver4 #a as speaking1 is here also meant4 ,clearly the person in whose eyes the flattery is real is the wicked1 and therefore its speaker must be another4 ,sin beguiled me1 says ,paul1 and therein echoes this psalmist4 ,transgression in its oracle is one of those juggling fiends that palter with us in a double sense1 promising delights and impunity4 ,but the closing words of ver4 #b are a crux4 ,conjectural emendations have been suggested1 but do not afford much help4 ,probably the best way is to take the text as it stands1 and make the best of it4 ,the meaning it yields is harsh1 but tolerable3 to find out his sin1 to hate 7it874 ,who finds out sin8 ,god4 ,if ,he is the finder1 it is ,he who also hates2 and if it is sin that is the object of the one verb1 it is most natural to suppose it that of the other also4 ,the two verbs are infinitives1 with the preposition of purpose or of reference prefixed4 ,either meaning is allowable4 ,if the preposition is taken as implying reference1 the sense will be that the glosing whispers of sin deceive a man in regard to the discovery of his wrong-doing and ,god's displeasure at it4 ,impunity is promised1 and ,god's holiness is smoothed down4 ,if1 on the other hand1 the idea of purpose is adopted1 the solemn thought emerges that the oracle is spoken with intent to ruin the deluded listener and set his secret sins in the condemning light of ,god's face4 ,sin is cruel1 and a traitor4 ,this profound glimpse into the depths of a soul without the fear of ,god is followed by the picture of the consequences of such practical atheism1 as seen in conduct4 ,it is deeply charged with blackness and unrelieved by any gleam of light4 ,falsehood1 abandonment of all attempts to do right1 insensibility to the hallowing influences of nightly solitude1 when men are wont to see their evil more clearly in the dark1 like phosphorus streaks on the wall1 obstinate planting the feet in ways not good1 a silenced conscience which has no movement of aversion to evil--these are the fruits of that oracle of ,transgression when it has its perfect work4 ,we may call such a picture the idealisation of the character described1 but there have been men who realised it1 and the warning is weighty that such a uniform and all-enwrapping darkness is the terrible goal towards which all listening to that bitter voice tends4 ,no wonder that the psalmist wrenches himself swiftly away from such a sight6 ,the two strophes of the second division 7vv4 #e1 #f1 and #g-i7 present the glorious realities of the ,divine name in contrast with the false oracle of vv4 #a1 #b1 and the blessedness of ,god's guests in contrast with the gloomy picture of the wicked in vv4 #c1 #d4 ,it is noteworthy that the first and last-named attributes are the same4 ,loving-kindness begins and ends the glowing series4 ,that stooping1 active love encloses1 like a golden circlet1 all else that men can know or say of the perfection whose name is ,god4 ,it is the white beam into which all colours melt1 and from which all are evolved4 ,as science feels after the reduction of all forms of physical energy to one1 for which there is no name but energy1 all the adorable glories of ,god pass into one1 which ,he has bidden us call love4 ,thy loving-kindness is in the heavens1 towering on high4 ,it is like some ,divine ther1 filling all space4 ,the heavens are the home of light4 ,they arch above every head2 they rim every horizon2 they are filled with nightly stars2 they open into abysses as the eye gazes2 they bend unchanged and untroubled above a weary earth2 from them fall benedictions of rain and sunshine4 ,all these subordinate allusions may lie in the psalmist's thought1 while its main intention is to magnify the greatness of that mercy as heaven-high4 ,but mercy standing alone might seem to lack a guarantee of its duration1 and therefore the strength of faithfulness1 unalterable continuance in a course begun1 and adherence to every promise either spoken in words or implied in creation or providence1 is added to the tenderness of mercy4 ,the boundlessness of that faithfulness is the main thought1 but the contrast of the whirling1 shifting clouds with it is striking4 ,the realm of eternal purpose and enduring act reaches to and stretches above the lower region where change rules4 ,but a third glory has yet to be flashed before glad eyes1 ,god's righteousness1 which here is not merely nor mainly punitive1 but delivering1 or1 perhaps in a still wider view1 the perfect conformity of ,his nature with the ideal of ethical completeness4 ,right is the same for heaven as for earth1 and whatsoever things are just have their home in the bosom of ,god4 ,the point of comparison with the mountains of ,god is1 as in the previous clauses1 their loftiness1 which expresses greatness and elevation above our reach2 but the subsidiary ideas of permanence and sublimity are not to be overlooked4 ,the mountains shall depart1 and the hills be removed1 but ,his righteousness endures for ever4 ,there is safe hiding there1 in the fastnesses of that everlasting hill4 ,from character the psalmist passes to acts1 and sets all the ,divine dealings forth under the one category of judgments1 the utterances in act of ,his judicial estimate of men4 ,mountains seem highest and ocean broadest when the former rise sheer from the water's edge1 as ,carmel does4 ,the immobility of the silent hills is wonderfully contrasted with the ever-moving sea1 which to the ,hebrew was the very home of mystery4 ,the obscurity of the ,divine judgments is a subject of praise1 if we hold fast by faith in ,god's loving-kindness1 faithfulness1 and righteousness4 ,they are obscure by reason of their vast scale1 which permits the vision of only a fragment4 ,how little of the ocean is seen from any shore6 ,but there is no arbitrary obscurity4 ,the sea is of glass mingled with fire2 and if the eye cannot pierce its depths1 it is not because of any darkening impurity in the crystal clearness1 but simply because not even light can travel to the bottom4 ,the higher up on the mountains men go1 the deeper down can they see into that ocean4 ,it is a hymn1 not an indictment1 which says1 ,thy judgments are a great deep4 ,but however the heights tower and the abysses open1 there is a strip of green1 solid earth on which man and beast live in safe plenty4 ,the plain blessings of an all-embracing providence should make it easier to believe in the unmingled goodness of acts which are too vast for men to judge and of that mighty name which towers above their conceptions4 ,what they see is goodness2 what they cannot see must be of a piece4 ,the psalmist is in that serene and blessed mood when the terrible mysteries of creation and providence do not interfere with his steadfast faith that all which he beholds is full of blessings4 ,there are times when these mysteries press with agonising force on devout souls1 but there should also be moments when the pure love of the perfectly good ,god is seen to fill all space and outstretch all dimensions of height and depth and breadth4 ,the awful problems of pain and death will be best dealt with by those who can echo the rapture of this psalm4 ,if ,god is such1 what is man's natural attitude to so great and sweet a name8 ,glad wonder1 accepting ,his gift as the one precious thing1 and faith sheltering beneath the great shadow of ,his outstretched wing4 ,the exclamation in ver4 #h1 ,how precious is ,thy loving-kindness6 expresses not only its intrinsic value1 but the devout soul's appreciation of it4 ,the secret of blessedness and test of true wisdom lie in a sane estimate of the worth of ,god's loving-kindness as compared with all other treasures4 ,such an estimate leads to trust in ,him1 as the psalmist implies by his juxtaposition of the two clauses of ver4 #g1 though he connects them1 not by an expressed therefore1 but by the simple copula4 ,the representation of trust as taking refuge reappears here1 with its usual suggestions of haste and peril4 ,the wing of ,god suggests tenderness and security4 ,and the reason for trust is enforced in the designation sons of men1 partakers of weakness and mortality1 and therefore needing the refuge which1 in the wonderfulness of ,his loving-kindness1 they find under the pinions of so great a ,god4 ,the psalm follows the refugees into their hiding-place1 and shows how much more than bare shelter they find there4 ,they are ,god's guests1 and royally entertained as such4 ,the joyful priestly feasts in the ,temple colour the metaphor1 but the idea of hospitable reception of guests is the more prominent4 ,the psalmist speaks the language of that true and wholesome mysticism without which religion is feeble and formal4 ,the root ideas of his delineation of the blessedness of the fugitives to ,god are their union with ,god and possession of ,him4 ,such is the magical might of lowly trust that by it weak dying sons of men are so knit to the ,god whose glories the singer has been celebrating that they partake of ,himself and are saturated with ,his sufficiency1 drink of ,his delights in some deep sense1 bathe in the fountain of life1 and have ,his light for their organ and medium and object of sight4 ,these great sentences beggar all exposition4 ,they touch on the rim of infinite things1 whereof only the nearer fringe comes within our ken in this life4 ,the soul that lives in ,god is satisfied1 having real possession of the only adequate object4 ,the variety of desires1 appetites1 and needs requires manifoldness in their food1 but the unity of our nature demands that all that manifoldness should be in ,one4 ,multiplicity in objects1 aims1 loves1 is misery2 oneness is blessedness4 ,we need a lasting good and an ever-growing one to meet and unfold the capacity of indefinite growth4 ,nothing but ,god can satisfy the narrowest human capacity4 ,union with ,him is the source of all delight1 as of all true fruition of desires4 ,possibly a reference to ,eden may be intended in the selection of the word for pleasures1 which is a cognate with that name4 ,so there may be allusion to the river which watered that garden1 and the thought may be that the present life of the guest of ,god is not all unlike the delights of that vanished paradise4 ,we may perhaps scarcely venture on supposing that ,thy pleasures means those which the blessed ,god ,himself possesses2 but even if we take the lower and safer meaning of those which ,god gives1 we may bring into connection ,christ's own gift to ,his disciples of ,his own peace1 and ,his assurance that faithful servants will enter into the joy of their ,lord4 ,shepherd and sheep drink of the same brook by the way and of the same living fountains above4 ,the psalmist's conception of religion is essentially joyful4 ,no doubt there are sources of sadness peculiar to a religious man1 and he is necessarily shut out from much of the effervescent poison of earthly joys drugged with sin4 ,much in his life is inevitably grave1 stern1 and sad4 ,but the sources of joy opened are far deeper than those that are closed4 ,surface wells 7many of them little better than open sewers7 may be shut up1 but an unfailing stream is found in the desert4 ,satisfaction and joy flow from ,god1 because life and light are with ,him2 and therefore he who is with ,him has them for his4 ,with ,thee is the fountain of life is true in every sense of the word life4 ,in regard to life natural1 the saying embodies a loftier conception of the ,creator's relation to the creature than the mechanical notion of creation4 ,the fountain pours its waters into stream or basin1 which it keeps full by continual flow4 ,stop the efflux1 and these are dried up4 ,so the great mystery of life in all its forms is as a spark from a fire1 a drop from a fountain1 or1 as ,scripture puts it in regard to man1 a breath from ,god's own lips4 ,in a very real sense1 wherever life is1 there ,god is1 and only by some form of union with ,him or by the presence of ,his power1 which is ,himself1 do creatures live4 ,but the psalm is dealing with the blessings belonging to those who trust beneath the shadow of ,god's wing2 therefore life here1 in this verse1 is no equivalent to mere existence1 physical or self-conscious1 but it must be taken in its highest spiritual sense4 ,union with ,god is its condition1 and that union is brought to pass by taking refuge with ,him4 ,the deep words anticipated the explicit teaching of the ,gospel in so far as they proclaimed these truths1 but the greatest utterance still remained unspoken3 that this life is in ,his ,son4 ,light and life are closely connected4 ,whether knowledge1 purity1 or joy is regarded as the dominant idea in the symbol1 or whether all are united in it1 the profound words of the psalm are true4 ,in ,god's light we see light4 ,in the lowest region the seeing eye is from the ,lord4 ,the inspiration of the ,almighty giveth understanding4 ,faculty and medium of vision are both of ,him4 ,but hearts in communion with ,god are illumined1 and they who are in the light cannot walk in darkness4 ,practical wisdom is theirs4 ,the light of ,god1 like the star of the ,magi1 stoops to guide pilgrims' steps4 ,clear certitude as to sovereign realities is the guerdon of the guests of ,god4 ,where other eyes see nothing but mists1 they can discern solid land and the gleaming towers of the city across the sea4 ,nor is that light only the dry light by which we know1 but it means purity and joy also2 and to see light is to possess these too by derivation from the purity and joy of ,god ,himself4 ,he is the master light of all our seeing4 ,the fountain has become a stream1 and taken to itself movement towards men2 for the psalmist's glowing picture is more than fulfilled in ,jesus ,christ1 who has said1 ,i am the ,light of the world2 he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness1 but shall have the light of life4 ,the closing division is prayer1 based both upon the contemplation of ,god's attributes in vv4 #e1 #f1 and of the wicked in the first part4 ,this distinct reference to both the preceding sections is in favour of the original unity of the psalm4 ,the belief in the immensity of ,divine loving-kindness and righteousness inspires the prayer for their long-drawn-out 7so continue means literally7 continuance to the psalmist and his fellows4 ,he will not separate himself from these in his petition1 but thinks of them before himself4 ,those who know ,thee are those who take refuge under the shadow of the great wing4 ,their knowledge is intimate1 vital2 it is acquaintanceship1 not mere intellectual apprehension4 ,it is such as to purge the heart and make its possessors upright4 ,thus we have set forth in that sequence of trust1 knowledge1 and uprightness stages of growing ,godlikeness closely corresponding to the ,gospel sequence of faith1 love1 and holiness4 ,such souls are capaces ,dei1 fit to receive the manifestations of ,god's loving-kindness and righteousness2 and from such these will never remove4 ,they will stand stable as ,his firm attributes1 and the spurning foot of proud oppressors shall not trample on them1 nor violent hands be able to stir them from their steadfast1 secure place4 ,the prayer of the psalm goes deeper than any mere deprecation of earthly removal1 and is but prosaically understood1 if thought to refer to exile or the like4 ,the dwelling-place from which it beseeches that the suppliant may never be removed is his safe refuge beneath the wing1 or in the house1 of ,god4 ,christ answered it when ,he said1 ,no man is able to pluck them out of my ,father's hand4 ,the one desire of the heart which has tasted the abundance1 satisfaction1 delights1 fulness of life1 and clearness of light that attend the presence of ,god is that nothing may draw it thence4 ,prayer wins prophetic certitude4 ,from his serene shelter under the wing1 the suppliant looks out on the rout of battled foes1 and sees the end which gives the lie to the oracle of transgression and its flatteries4 ,they are struck down1 the same word as in the picture of the pursuing angel of the ,lord in ,psalm xxxv4 ,here the agent of their fall is unnamed1 but one power only can inflict such irrevocable ruin4 ,god1 who is the shelter of the upright in heart1 has at last found out the sinners' iniquity1 and ,his hatred of sin stands ready to smite once1 and smite no more4 ,,psalm ,,xxxvii4 #a 77 ,heat not thyself because of the evil-doers2 ,be not envious because of the workers of perversity #b ,for like grass shall they swiftly fade1 ,and like green herbage shall they wither4 #c 77 ,trust in ,jehovah1 and do good2 ,inhabit the land1 and feed on faithfulness4 #d ,and delight thyself in ,jehovah1 ,and ,he shall give thee the desires of thy heart4 #e 77 ,roll thy way upon ,jehovah1 ,and trust in ,him1 and ,he shall do all that thou dost need4 #f ,and ,he shall bring forth as the light thy righteousness1 ,and thy judgment as the noonday4 #g 77 ,be silent to ,jehovah1 and wait patiently for ,him2 ,heat not thyself because of him who makes his way prosperous1 ,because of the man who carries out intrigues4 #h 77 ,cease from anger1 and forsake wrath2 ,heat not thyself3 it leads only to doing evil4 #i ,for evil-doers shall be cut off2 ,and they who wait on ,jehovah--they shall inherit the land4 #aj 77 ,and yet a little while1 and the wicked is no more1 ,and thou shalt take heed to his place1 and he is not there4 #aa ,and the meek shall inherit the land1 ,and delight themselves in the abundance of peace4 #ab 77 ,the wicked intrigues against the righteous1 ,and grinds his teeth at him4 #ac ,the ,lord laughs at him1 ,for ,he sees that his day is coming4 #ad 77 ,the wicked draw sword and bend their bow1 ,to slay the afflicted and poor1 ,to butcher the upright in way2 #ae ,their sword shall enter into their own heart1 ,and their bows shall be broken4 #af 77 ,better is the little of the righteous ,than the abundance of many wicked4 #ag ,for the arms of the wicked shall be broken1 ,and ,jehovah holds up the righteous4 #ah 77 ,jehovah has knowledge of the days of the perfect1 ,and their inheritance shall be for ever2 #ai ,they shall not be put to shame in the time of evil1 ,and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied4 #bj 77 ,for the wicked shall perish1 ,and the enemies of ,jehovah shall be like the beauty of the pastures2 ,they melt away in smoke3 they melt away4 #ba 77 ,the wicked borrows1 and does not pay2 ,and the righteous deals generously1 and gives4 #bb ,for ,his blessed ones shall inherit the earth1 ,and ,his cursed ones shall be cut off4 #bc 77 ,from ,jehovah are a man's steps established1 ,and ,he delighteth in his way2 #bd ,if he falls1 he shall not lie prostrate1 ,for ,jehovah holds up his hand4 #be 77 ,a youth have ,i been1 now ,i am old1 ,and ,i have not seen a righteous man forsaken1 ,or his seed begging bread4 #bf ,all day long he is dealing generously and lending1 ,and his seed is blessed4 #bg 77 ,depart from evil1 and do good2 ,and dwell for evermore4 #bh ,for ,jehovah loves judgment1 ,and forsakes not them whom ,he favours4 77 ,they are preserved for ever 7,the unrighteous are destroyed for ever871 ,and the seed of the wicked is cut off4 #bi ,the righteous shall inherit the land1 ,and dwell thereon for ever4 #cj 77 ,the mouth of the righteous meditates wisdom1 ,and his tongue speaks judgment4 #ca ,the law of his ,god is in his heart2 ,his steps shall not waver4 #cb 77 ,the wicked watches the righteous1 ,and seeks to slay him2 #cc ,jehovah will not leave him in his hand1 ,and will not condemn him when he is judged4 #cd 77 ,wait for ,jehovah1 and keep ,his way1 ,and ,he will exalt thee to inherit the land2 ,when the wicked is cut off1 thou shalt see it4 #ce 77 ,i have seen the wicked terror-striking ,and spreading himself abroad like a tree native to the soil and green4 #cf ,and he passed 7,i passed by871 and lo1 he was not there2 ,and ,i sought for him1 and he was not to be found4 #cg 77 ,mark the perfect1 and behold the upright2 ,for there is a posterity to the man of peace4 #ch ,and apostates are destroyed together2 ,the posterity of the wicked is cut off4 #ci 77 ,and the salvation of the righteous is from ,jehovah1 ,their stronghold in time of trouble4 #dj ,and ,jehovah helps them and rescues them2 ,he rescues them from the wicked1 and saves them1 ,because they take refuge in ,him4 ,there is a natural connection between acrostic structure and didactic tone1 as is shown in several instances1 and especially in this psalm4 ,the structure is on the whole regular1 each second verse beginning with the required letter1 but here and there the period is curtailed or elongated by one member4 ,such irregularities do not seem to mark stages in the thought or breaks in the sequence1 but are simply reliefs to the monotony of the rhythm1 like the shiftings of the place of the pause in blank verse1 the management of which makes the difference between a master and a bungler4 ,the psalm grapples with the problem which tried the faith of the ,old ,testament saints--namely1 the apparent absence of correlation of conduct with condition--and solves it by the strong assertion of the brevity of godless prosperity and the certainty that well-doing will lean to well-being4 ,the principle is true absolutely in the long run1 but there is no reference in the psalm to the future life4 ,visible material prosperity is its promise for the righteous1 and the opposite its threatening for the godless4 ,no doubt retribution is not wholly postponed till another life1 but it does not fall so surely and visibly as this psalm would lead us to expect4 ,the relative imperfection of the ,old ,testament revelation is reflected in the ,psalms1 faith's answer to ,heaven's word4 ,the clear light of ,new ,testament revelation of the future is wanting1 nor could the truest view of the meaning and blessedness of sorrow be adequately and proportionately held before ,christ had taught it by ,his own history and by ,his words4 ,the ,cross was needed before the mystery of righteous suffering could be fully elucidated1 and the psalmist's solution is but provisional4 ,his faith that infinite love ruled and that righteousness was always gain1 and sin loss1 is grandly and eternally true4 ,nor is it to be forgotten that he lived and sang in an order of things in which the ,divine government had promised material blessings as the result of spiritual faithfulness1 and that1 with whatever anomalies1 modest prosperity did1 on the whole1 attend the true ,israelite4 ,the ,scripture books which wrestle most profoundly with the standing puzzle of prosperous evil and afflicted goodness are late books1 not merely because religious reflectiveness was slowly evolved1 but because decaying faith had laid ,israel open to many wounds1 and the condition of things which accompanied the decline of the ancient order abounded with instances of triumphant wickedness4 ,but though this psalm does not go to the bottom of its theme1 its teaching of the blessedness of absolute trust in ,god's providence is ever fresh1 and fits close to all stages of revelation2 and its prophecies of triumph for the afflicted who trust and of confusion to the evil-doer need only to be referred to the end to be completely established4 ,as a theodicy1 or vindication of the ways of ,god with men1 it was true for its age1 but the ,new ,testament goes beneath it4 ,as an exhortation to patient trust and an exhibition of the sure blessings thereof1 it remains what it has been to many generations3 the gentle encourager of meek faith and the stay of afflicted hearts4 ,marked progress of thought is not to be looked for in an acrostic psalm4 ,in the present instance the same ideas are reiterated with emphatic persistence1 but little addition or variation4 ,to the didactic poet to write the same things is not grievous1 for they are his habitual thoughts2 and for his scholars it is safe1 for there is no better aid to memory than the cadenced monotony of the same ideas cast into song and slightly varied4 ,but a possible grouping may be suggested by observing that the thought of the cutting off of the wicked and the inheritance of the land by the righteous occurs three times4 ,if it is taken as a kind of refrain1 we may cast the psalm into four portions1 the first three of which close with that double thought4 ,vv4 #a-i will then form a group1 characterised by exhortations to trust and assurances of triumph4 ,the second section will then be vv4 #aj-bb1 which1 while reiterating the ground tone of the whole1 does so with a difference1 inasmuch as its main thought is the destruction of the wicked1 in contrast with the triumph of the righteous in the preceding verses4 ,a third division will be vv4 #bc-bi1 of which the chief feature is the adduction of the psalmist's own experience as authenticating his teaching in regard to the ,divine care of the righteous1 and that extended to his descendants4 ,the last section 7vv4 #cj-dj7 gathers up all1 reasserts the main thesis1 and confirms it by again adducing the psalmist's experience in confirmation of the other half of his assurances1 namely the destruction of the wicked4 ,but the poet does not wish to close his words with that gloomy picture1 and therefore this last section bends round again to reiterate and strengthen the promises for the righteous1 and its last note is one of untroubled trust and joy in experienced deliverance4 ,the first portion 7vv4 #a-i7 consists of a series of exhortations to trust and patience1 accompanied by assurance of consequent blessing4 ,these are preceded and followed by a dehortation from yielding to the temptation of fretting against the prosperity of evil-doers1 based upon the assurance of its transitoriness4 ,thus the positive precepts inculcating the ideal temper to be cultivated are framed in a setting of negatives1 inseparable from them4 ,the tendency to murmur at flaunting wrong must be repressed if the disposition of trust is to be cultivated2 and1 on the other hand1 full obedience to the negative precepts is only possible when the positive ones have been obeyed with some degree of completeness4 ,the soul's husbandry must be busied in grubbing up weeds as well as in sowing2 but the true way to take away nourishment from the baser is to throw the strength of the soil into growing the nobler crop4 ,fret not thyself 7,a4,v47 is literally1 ,heat not thyself1 and ,be not envious is ,do not glow1 the root idea being that of becoming fiery red4 ,the one word expresses the kindling emotion1 the other its visible sign in the flushed face4 ,envy1 anger1 and any other violent and ,god-forgetting emotion are included4 ,there is nothing in the matter in hand worth getting into a heat about1 for the prosperity in question is short-lived4 ,this leading conviction moulds the whole psalm1 and1 as we have pointed out1 is half of the refrain4 ,we look for the other half to accompany it1 as usual1 and we find it in one rendering of ver4 #c1 which has fallen into discredit with modern commentators1 and to which we shall come presently2 but for the moment we may pause to suggest that the picture of the herbage withering as soon as cut1 under the fierce heat of the ,eastern sun1 may stand in connection with the metaphors in ver4 #a4 ,why should we blaze with indignation when so much hotter a glow will dry up the cut grass8 ,let it wave in brief glory1 unmeddled with by us4 ,the scythe and the sunshine will soon make an end4 ,the precept and its reason are not on the highest levels of ,christian ethics1 but they are unfairly dealt with if taken to mean1 ,do not envy the wicked man's prosperity1 nor wish it were yours1 but solace yourself with the assurance of his speedy ruin4 ,what is said is far nobler than that4 ,it is1 ,do not let the prosperity of unworthy men shake your faith in ,god's government1 nor fling you into an unwholesome heat1 for ,god will sweep away the anomaly in due time4 ,in regard to the positive precepts1 the question arises whether ver4 #c b is command or promise1 with which is associated another question as to the translation of the words rendered by the ,a4,v41 ,verily thou shalt be fed1 and by the ,r4,v41 ,follow after faithfulness4 ,the relation of the first and second parts of the subsequent verses is in favour of regarding the clause as promise1 but the force of that consideration is somewhat weakened by the non-occurrence in ver4 #c of the copula which introduces the promises of the other verses4 ,still its omission does not seem sufficient to forbid taking the clause as corresponding with these4 ,the imperative is similarly used as substantially a future in ver4 #bg3 and dwell for evermore4 ,the fact that in every other place in the psalm where dwelling in the land is spoken of it is a promise of the sure results of trust1 points to the same sense here1 and the juxtaposition of the two ideas in the refrain leads us to expect to find the prediction of ver4 #b followed by its companion there4 ,on the whole1 then1 to understand ver4 #c b as promise seems best4 7,so ,,lxx41 ,ewald1 ,grtz1 etc47 ,what1 then1 is the meaning of its last words8 ,if they are a continuation of the promise1 they must describe some blessed effect of trust4 ,two renderings present themselves1 one that adopted in the ,r4,v4 margin1 ,feed securely1 and another ,feed on faithfulness 7i4e41 of ,god74 ,hupfeld calls this an arbitrary and forced reference of faithfulness2 but it worthily completes the great promise4 ,the blessed results of trust and active goodness are stable dwelling in the land and nourishment there from a faithful ,god4 ,the thoughts move within the ,old ,testament circle1 but their substance is eternally true1 for they who take ,god for their portion have a safe abode1 and feed their souls on ,his unalterable adherence to ,his promises and on the abundance flowing thence4 ,the subsequent precepts bear a certain relation to each other1 and1 taken together1 make a lovely picture of the inner secret of the devout life3 ,delight thyself in ,jehovah2 roll thy way on ,him2 trust in ,him2 be silent to ,jehovah4 ,no man will commit his way to ,god who does not delight in ,him2 and unless he has so committed his way1 he cannot rest in the ,lord4 ,the heart that delights in ,god1 finding its truest joy in ,him and being well and at ease when consciously moving in ,him as an all-encompassing atmosphere and reaching towards ,him with the deepest of its desires1 will live far above the region of disappointment4 ,for it desire and fruition go together4 ,longings fixed on ,him fulfil themselves4 ,we can have as much of ,god as we wish4 ,if ,he is our delight1 we shall wish nothing contrary to nor apart from ,him1 and wishes which are directed to ,him cannot be in vain4 ,to delight in ,god is to possess our delight1 and in ,him to find fulfilled wishes and abiding joys4 ,commit thy way unto ,him1 or ,roll it upon ,him in the exercise of trust2 and1 as the verse says with grand generality1 omitting to specify an object for the verb1 ,he will do--all that is wanted1 or will finish the work4 ,to roll one's way upon ,jehovah implies subordination of will and judgment to ,him and quiet confidence in ,his guidance4 ,if the heart delights in ,him1 and the will waits silent before ,him1 and a happy consciousness of dependence fills the soul1 the desert will not be trackless1 nor the travellers fail to hear the voice which says1 ,this is the way2 walk ye in it4 ,he who trusts is led1 and ,god works for him1 clearing away clouds and obstructions4 ,his good may be evil spoken of1 but the vindication by fact will make his righteousness shine spotless2 and his cause may be apparently hopeless1 but ,god will deliver him4 ,he shall shine forth as the sun1 not only in such earthly vindication as the psalmist prophesied1 but more resplendently1 as ,christian faith has been gifted with long sight to anticipate1 in the kingdom of my ,father4 ,thus delighting and trusting1 a man may be silent4 ,be still before ,jehovah1 in the silence of a submissive heart1 and let not that stillness be torpor1 but gather thyself together and stretch out thy hope towards ,him4 ,that patience is no mere passive endurance without murmuring1 but implies tension of expectance4 ,only if it is thus occupied will it be possible to purge the heart of that foolish and weakening heat which does no harm to any one but to the man himself4 ,heat not thyself2 it only leads to doing evil4 ,thus the section returns upon itself and once more ends with the unhesitating assurance1 based upon the very essence of ,god's covenant with the nation1 that righteousness is the condition of inheritance1 and sin the cause of certain destruction4 ,the narrower application of the principle1 which was all that the then stage of revelation made clear to the psalmist1 melts away for us into the ,christian certainty that righteousness is the condition of dwelling in the true land of promise1 and that sin is always death1 in germ or in full fruitage4 ,the refrain occurs next in ver4 #bb1 and the portion thus marked off 7vv4 #aj-bb7 may be dealt with as a smaller whole4 ,after a repetition 7vv4 #aj1 #aa7 of the main thesis slightly expanded1 it sketches in vivid outline the fury of the wicked against the just and the grim retribution that turns their weapons into agents of their destruction4 ,how dramatically are contrasted the two pictures of the quiet righteous in the former section and of this raging enemy1 with his gnashing teeth and arsenal of murder6 ,and with what crushing force the thought of the awful laughter of ,jehovah1 in foresight of the swift flight towards the blind miscreant of the day of his fall1 which has already1 as it were1 set out on its road1 smites his elaborate preparations into dust6 ,silently the good man sits wrapped in his faith4 ,without are raging1 armed foes4 ,above1 the laughter of ,god rolls thunderous1 and from the throne the obedient day is winging its flight1 like an eagle with lightning bolts in its claws4 ,what can the end be but another instance of the solemn lex talionis1 by which a man's evil slays himself8 ,various forms of the contrast between the two classes follow1 with considerable repetition and windings4 ,one consideration which has to be taken into account in estimating the distribution of material prosperity is strongly put in vv4 #af1 #ag4 ,the good of outward blessings depends chiefly on the character of their owner4 ,the strength of the extract from a raw material depends on the solvent applied1 and there is none so powerful to draw out the last drop of most poignant and pure sweetness from earthly good as is righteousness of heart4 ,naboth's vineyard will yield better wine1 if ,naboth is trusting in ,jehovah1 than all the vines of ,jezreel or ,samaria4 ,many wicked have not as much of the potentiality of blessedness in all their bursting coffers as a poor widow may distil out of two mites4 ,the reasons for that are manifold1 but the prevailing thought of the psalm leads to one only being named here4 ,for1 says ver4 #ag1 the arms of the wicked shall be broken4 ,little is the good of possessions which cannot defend their owners from the stroke of ,god's executioners1 but themselves pass away4 ,the poor man's little is much1 because1 among other reasons1 he is upheld by ,god1 and therefore needs not to cherish anxiety1 which embitters the enjoyments of others4 ,again the familiar thought of permanent inheritance recurs1 but now with a glance at the picture just drawn of the destruction coming to the wicked4 ,there are days and days4 ,god saw that day of ruin speeding on its errand1 and ,he has loving sympathetic knowledge of the days of the righteous 7i4 #f71 and holds their lives in ,his hand2 therefore continuance and abundance are ensured4 ,the antithetical structure of vv4 #af-bb is skilfully varied1 so as to avoid monotony4 ,it is elastic within limits4 ,we note that in the ,teth strophe 7vv4 #af1 #ag7 each verse contains a complete contrast1 while in the ,yod strophe 7vv4 #ah1 #ai7 one half only of the contrast is presented1 which would require a similar expansion of the other over two verses4 ,instead of this1 however1 the latter half is compressed into one verse 7#bj71 which is elongated by a clause4 ,then in the ,lamed strophe 7vv4 #ba1 #bb7 the briefer form recurs1 as in vv4 #af1 #ag4 ,thus the longer antithesis is enclosed between two parallel shorter ones1 and a certain variety breaks up the sameness of the swing from one side to the other1 and suggests a pause in the flow of the psalm4 ,the elongated verse 7#bj7 reiterates the initial metaphor of withering herbage 7ver4 #b7 with an addition1 for the rendering fat of lambs must be given up as incongruous1 and only plausible on account of the emblem of smoke in the next clause4 ,but the two metaphors are independent4 ,just as in ver4 #b1 so here1 the gay beauty of the pastures1 so soon to wilt and be changed into brown barrenness1 mirrors the fate of the wicked4 ,ver4 #b shows the grass fallen before the scythe2 ver4 #bj lets us see it in its flush of loveliness1 so tragically unlike what it will be when its day has come4 ,the other figure of smoke is a stereotype in all tongues for evanescence4 ,the thick wreaths thin away and melt4 ,another peculiar form of the standing antithesis appears in the ,lamed strophe 7vv4 #ba1 #bb71 which sets forth the gradual impoverishment of the wicked and prosperity as well as beneficence of the righteous1 and1 by the for of ver4 #bb1 traces these up to the curse and blessing of ,god1 which become manifest in the final destiny of the two 7,delitzsch74 ,not dishonesty1 but bankruptcy1 is the cause of not paying again2 while1 on the other hand1 the blessing of ,god not only enriches1 but softens1 making the heart which has received grace a well-spring of grace to needy ones1 even if they are foes4 ,the form of the contrast suggests its dependence on the promises in ,deut4 xii4 #dd1 xv4 #f1 #bh4 ,thus the refrain is once more reached1 and a new departure taken4 ,the third section is shorter than the preceding 7vv4 #bc-bi71 and has1 as its centre1 the psalmist's confirmation from his own experience of the former part of his antithesis1 the fourth section similarly confirming the second4 ,all this third part is sunny with the ,divine favour streaming upon the righteous1 the only reference to the wicked being in the refrain at the close4 ,the first strophe 7vv4 #bc1 #bd7 declares ,god's care for the former under the familiar image of guidance and support to a traveller4 ,as in vv4 #e1 #g1 the way is an emblem of active life1 and is designated as his who treads it4 ,the intention of the psalm1 the context of the metaphor1 and the parallelism with the verses just referred to1 settle the reference of the ambiguous pronouns he and his in ver4 #bc b4 ,god delights in the good man's way 7i4 #f71 and that is the reason for ,his establishing his goings4 ,quoniam ,deo grata est piorum via1 gressus ipsum ad ltum finem adducit 7,calvin74 ,that promise is not to be limited to either the material or moral region4 ,the ground tone of the psalm is that the two regions coincide in so far as prosperity in the outer is the infallible index of rightness in the inner4 ,the dial has two sets of hands1 one within and one without1 but both are1 as it were1 mounted on the same spindle1 and move accurately alike4 ,steadfast treading in the path of duty and successful undertakings are both included1 since they are inseparable in fact4 ,true1 even the fixed faith of the psalmist has to admit that the good man's path is not always smooth4 ,if facts had not often contradicted his creed1 he would never have sung his song2 and hence he takes into account the case of such a man's falling1 and seeks to reduce its importance by the considerations of its recoverableness and of ,god's keeping hold of the man's hand all the while4 ,the ,nun strophe brings in the psalmist's experience to confirm his doctrine4 ,the studiously impersonal tone of the psalm is dropped only here and in the complementary reference to the fall of the wicked 7vv4 #ce1 #cf74 ,observation and reflection yield the same results4 ,experience seals the declarations of faith4 ,his old eyes have seen much2 and the net result is that the righteous may be troubled1 but not abandoned1 and that there is an entail of blessing to their children4 ,in general1 experience preaches the same truths to-day1 for1 on the whole1 wrong-doing lies at the root of most of the hopeless poverty and misery of modern society4 ,idleness1 recklessness1 thriftlessness1 lust1 drunkenness1 are the potent factors of it2 and if their handiwork and that of the subtler forms of respectable godlessness and evil were to be eliminated1 the sum of human wretchedness would shrink to very small dimensions4 ,the mystery of suffering is made more mysterious by ignoring its patent connection with sin1 and by denying the name of sin to many of its causes4 ,if men's conduct were judged by ,god's standard1 there would be less wonder at ,god's judgments manifested in men's suffering4 ,the solidarity of the family was more strongly felt in ancient times than in our days of individualism1 but even now the children of the righteous1 if they maintain the hereditary character1 do largely realise the blessing which the psalmist declares is uniformly theirs4 ,he is not to be tied down to literality in his statement of the general working of things4 ,what he deals with is the prevailing trend1 and isolated exceptions do not destroy his assertion4 ,of course continuance in paternal virtues is presupposed as the condition of succeeding to paternal good4 ,in the strength of the adduced experience1 a hortatory tone1 dropped since ver4 #h1 is resumed1 with reminiscences of that earlier series of counsels4 ,the secret of permanence is condensed into two antithetical precepts1 to depart from evil and do good1 and the key-note is sounded once more in a promise1 cast into the guise of a commandment 7compare ver4 #c71 of unmoved habitation1 which is1 however1 not to be stretched to refer to a future life1 of which the psalm says nothing4 ,such permanent abiding is sure1 inasmuch as ,jehovah loves judgment and watches over the objects of ,his loving-kindness4 ,the acrostic sequence fails at this point1 if the ,masoretic text is adhered to4 ,there is evident disorder in the division of verses1 for ver4 #bh has four clauses instead of the normal two4 ,if the superfluous two are detached from it and connected as one strophe with ver4 #bi1 a regular two-versed and four-claused strophe results4 ,its first word 7,l'olam for ever7 has the ,ayin1 due in the alphabetical sequence1 in its second letter1 the first being a prefixed preposition1 which may be passed over1 as in ver4 #ci the copula ,vav is prefixed to the initial letter4 ,delitzsch takes this to be the required letter2 but if so1 another irregularity remains1 inasmuch as the first couplet of the strophe should be occupied with the fate of the wicked1 as antithetical to that of the righteous in ver4 #bi4 ,they are preserved for ever throws the whole strophe out of order4 ,probably1 therefore1 there is textual corruption here1 which the ,,lxx4 helps in correcting4 ,it has an evidently double rendering of the clause1 as is not unfrequently the case where there is ambiguity or textual difficulty1 and gives side by side with ,they shall be preserved for ever the rendering ,the lawless shall be hunted out1 which can be re-turned into ,hebrew so as to give the needed initial ,ayin either in a somewhat rare word1 or in one which occurs in ver4 #ce4 ,if this correction is adopted1 the anomalies disappear1 and strophe1 division1 acrostic1 and antithetical refrain are all in order4 ,the last section 7ver4 #cj to end71 like the preceding1 has the psalmist's experience for its centre1 and traces the entail of conduct to a second generation of evil-doers1 as the former did to the seed of the righteous4 ,both sections begin with the promise of firmness for the goings or steps of the righteous1 but the later verses expand the thought by a fuller description of the moral conditions of stability4 ,the law of his ,god is in his heart4 ,that is the foundation on which all permanence is built4 ,from that as centre there issue wise and just words on the one hand and stable deeds on the other4 ,that is true in the psalmist's view in reference to outward success and continuance1 but still more profoundly in regard to steadfast progress in paths of righteousness4 ,he who orders his footsteps by ,god's known will is saved from much hesitancy1 vacillation1 and stumbling1 and plants a firm foot even on slippery places4 ,once more the picture of the enmity of the wicked recurs1 as in vv4 #ab-ad1 with the difference that there the emphasis was laid on the destruction of the plotters1 and here it is put on the vindication of the righteous by acts of deliverance 7vv4 #cb1 #cc74 ,in ver4 #cd another irregularity occurs1 in its being the only verse in a strophe and being prolonged to three clauses4 ,this may be intended to give emphasis to the exhortation contained in it1 which1 like that in ver4 #bg1 is the only one in its section4 ,the two key words inherit and cut off are brought together4 ,not only are the two fates set in contrast1 but the waiters on ,jehovah are promised the sight of the destruction of the wicked4 ,satisfaction at the sight is implied4 ,there is nothing unworthy in solemn thankfulness when ,god's judgments break the teeth of some devouring lion4 ,divine judgments minister occasion for praise even from pure spirits before the throne1 and men relieved from the incubus of godless oppression may well draw a long breath of relief1 which passes into celebration of ,his righteous acts4 ,no doubt there is a higher tone1 which remembers ruth and pity even in that solemn joy2 but ,christian feeling does not destroy but modify the psalmist's thankfulness for the sweeping away of godless antagonism to goodness4 ,his assurance to those who wait on ,jehovah has his own experience as its guarantee 7ver4 #ce71 just as the complementary assurance in ver4 #bd had in ver4 #be4 ,the earlier metaphors of the green herbage and the beauty of the pastures are heightened now4 ,a venerable1 wide-spreading giant of the forests1 rooted in its native soil1 is grander than those humble growths2 but for lofty cedars or lowly grass the end is the same4 ,twice the psalmist stood at the same place2 once the great tree laid its large limbs across the field1 and lifted a firm bole3 again he came1 and a clear space revealed how great had been the bulk which shadowed it4 ,not even a stump was left to tell where the leafy glory had been4 ,vv4 #cg1 #ch1 make the ,shin strophe1 and simply reiterate the antithesis which has moulded the whole psalm1 with the addition of that reference to a second generation which appeared in the third and fourth parts4 ,the word rendered in the ,a4,v4 and ,r4,v4 latter end here means posterity4 ,the perfect man is further designated as a man of peace4 ,the psalm might have ended with this gathering together of its contents in one final emphatic statement1 but the poet will not leave the stern words of destruction as his last4 ,therefore he adds a sweet1 long-drawn-out close1 like the calm1 extended clouds1 that lie motionless in the western sky after a day of storm1 in which he once more sings of the blessedness of those who wait on ,jehovah4 ,trouble will come1 notwithstanding his assurances that righteousness is blessedness2 but in it ,jehovah will be a fortress home1 and out of it ,he will save them4 ,however the teaching of the psalm may need modification in order to coincide with the highest ,new ,testament doctrine of the relation between righteousness and prosperity1 these confidences need none4 ,for ever and absolutely they are true3 in trouble a stronghold1 out of trouble a ,saviour1 is ,god to all who cling to ,him4 ,very beautifully the closing verse lingers on its theme1 and wreathes its thoughts together1 with repetition that tells how sweet they are to the singer3 ,jehovah helps them1 and rescues them2 ,he rescues them1 444 and saves them4 ,so the measure of the strophe is complete1 but the song flows over in an additional clause1 which points the path for all who seek such blessedness4 ,trust is peace4 ,they who take refuge in ,jehovah are safe1 and their inheritance shall be for ever4 ,that is the psalmist's inmost secret of a blessed life4 ,,psalm ,,xxxviii4 #a ,jehovah1 not in ,thine indignation do ,thou rebuke me1 ,nor in ,thy hot anger chastise me4 #b ,for ,thine arrows are come down into me1 ,and down upon me comes ,thy hand4 #c ,there is no soundness in my flesh because of ,thy wrath ,there is no health in my bones because of my sin4 #d ,for my iniquities have gone over my head2 ,as a heavy burden1 they are too heavy for me4 #e ,my bruises smell foully1 they run with matter1 ,because of my folly4 #f ,i am twisted with pain2 ,i am bowed down utterly2 ,all the day ,i drag about in squalid attire4 #g ,for my loins are full of burning1 ,and there is no soundness in my flesh4 #h ,i am exhausted and crushed utterly2 ,i roar for the sighing of my heart4 #i ,lord1 present to ,thee is all my desire1 ,and my sighing is not hid from ,thee4 #aj ,my heart flutters1 my strength has left me1 ,and the light of my eyes--even it is no more with me4 #aa ,my lovers and friends stand aloof from my stroke1 ,and my near kin stand far off4 #ab ,and they who seek after my life set snares for me1 ,and they who desire my hurt speak destruction1 ,and meditate deceits all the day4 #ac ,and ,i1 like a deaf man1 do not hear1 ,and am like one dumb1 who opens not his mouth4 #ad ,yea1 ,i am become like a man who hears not1 ,and in whose mouth are no counter-pleas4 #ae ,for for ,thee1 ,jehovah1 do ,i wait2 ,thou1 ,thou wilt answer1 ,o ,lord1 my ,god4 #af ,for ,i said1 ,lest they should rejoice over me1 ,and when my foot slips1 should magnify themselves over me #ag ,for ,i am ready to fall1 ,and my sorrow is continually present to me4 #ah ,for ,i must declare my guilt1 ,be distressed for my sin4 #ai ,and my enemies are lively1 they are strong1 7,and my enemies without cause are strong87 ,and they who wrongfully hate me are many2 #bj ,and1 requiting evil for good1 ,they are my adversaries because ,i follow good4 #ba ,forsake me not1 ,jehovah2 ,my ,god1 be not far from me4 #bb ,haste to my help1 ,o ,god1 my salvation4 ,this is a long-drawn wail1 passionate at first1 but gradually calming itself into submission and trust1 though never passing from the minor key4 ,the name of ,god is invoked thrice 7vv4 #a1 #i1 #ae71 and each time that the psalmist looks up his burden is somewhat easier to carry1 and some low beginnings of content steal into his heart and mingle with his lament4 ,sorrow finds relief in repeating its plaint4 ,it is the mistake of cold-blooded readers to look for consecution of thought in the cries of a wounded soul2 but it is also a mistake to be blind to the gradual sinking of the waves in this psalm1 which begins with deprecating ,god's wrath1 and ends with quietly nestling close to ,him as my salvation4 ,the characteristic of the first burst of feeling is its unbroken gloom4 ,it sounds the depths of darkness1 with which easy-going1 superficial lives are unfamiliar1 but whoever has been down into them will not think the picture overcharged with black4 ,the occasion of the psalmist's deep dejection cannot be gathered from his words4 ,he1 like all poets who teach in song what they learn in suffering1 translates his personal sorrows into language fitting for others' pains4 ,the feelings are more important to him and to us than the facts1 and we must be content to leave unsettled the question of his circumstances1 on which1 after all1 little depends4 ,only1 it is hard for the present writer1 at least1 to believe that such a psalm1 quivering1 as it seems1 with agony1 is not the genuine cry of a brother's tortured soul1 but an utterance invented for a personified nation4 ,the close verbal resemblance of the introductory deprecation of chastisement in anger to ,psalm vi4 #a has been supposed to point to a common authorship1 and ,delitzsch takes both psalms1 along with ,psalms xxxii41 and li4 as a series belonging to the time of ,david's penitence after his great fall from purity4 ,but the resemblance in question would rather favour the supposition of difference of authorship1 since quotation is more probable than self-repetition4 ,jer4 x4 #bc is by some held to be the original1 and either ,jeremiah himself or some later singer to have been the author of the psalm4 ,the question of which of two similar passages is source and which is copy is always ticklish4 ,jeremiah's bent was assimilative1 and his prophecies are full of echoes4 ,the priority1 therefore1 probably lies with one or other of the psalmists1 if there are two4 ,the first part of the psalm is entirely occupied with the subjective aspect of the psalmist's affliction4 ,three elements are conspicuous3 ,god's judgments1 the singer's consciousness of sin1 and his mental and probably physical sufferings4 ,are the arrows and crushing weight of ,god's hand1 which he deprecates in the first verses1 the same as the sickness and wounds1 whether of mind or body1 which he next describes so pathetically8 ,they are generally taken to be so1 but the language of this section and the contents of the remainder of the psalm rather point to a distinction between them4 ,it would seem that there are three stages1 not two1 as that interpretation would make them4 ,unspecified calamities1 recognised by the sufferer as ,god's chastisements1 have roused his conscience1 and its gnawing has superinduced mental and bodily pain4 ,the terribly realistic description of the latter may1 indeed1 be figurative1 but is more probably literal4 ,the reiterated synonyms for ,god's displeasure in vv4 #a1 #c1 show how all the aspects of that solemn thought are familiar4 ,the first word regards it as an outburst1 or explosion1 like a charge of dynamite2 the second as glowing1 igniting2 the third as effervescent1 bubbling like lava in a crater4 ,the metaphors for the effects of this anger in ver4 #b deepen the impression of its terribleness4 ,it is a fearful fate to be the target for ,god's arrows1 but it is worse to be crushed under the weight of ,his hand4 ,the two forms of representation refer to the same facts1 but make a climax4 ,the verbs in ver4 #b are from one root1 meaning to come down1 or to lie upon4 ,in #b a the word is reflexive1 and represents the arrows as endowed with volition1 hurling themselves down4 ,they penetrate with force proportionate to the distance which they fall1 as a meteoric stone buries itself in the ground4 ,such being the wounding1 crushing power of the ,divine anger1 its effects on the psalmist are spread out before ,god1 in the remaining part of this first division1 with plaintive reiteration4 ,the connection which a quickened conscience discerns between sorrow and sin is strikingly set forth in ver4 #c1 in which thine indignation and my sin are the double fountain-heads of bitterness4 ,the quivering frame first felt the power of ,god's anger1 and then the awakened conscience turned inwards and discerned the occasion of the anger4 ,the three elements which we have distinguished are clearly separated here1 and their connection laid bare4 ,the second of these is the sense of sin1 which the psalmist feels as taking all peace or well-being out of his bones1 as a flood rolling its black waters over his head1 as a weight beneath which he cannot stand upright1 and again as foolishness1 since its only effect has been1 to bring to him not what he hoped to win by it1 but this miserable plight4 ,then1 he pours himself out1 with the monotonous repetition so natural to self-pity1 in a graphic accumulation of pictures of disease1 which may be taken as symbolic of mental distress1 but are better understood literally4 ,with the whole1 ,isa4 i4 #e1 #f1 should be compared1 nor should the partial resemblances of ,isa4 liii4 be overlooked4 ,no fastidiousness keeps the psalmist from describing offensive details4 ,his body is scourged and livid with parti-coloured1 swollen weals from the lash1 and these discharge foul-smelling matter4 ,with this compare ,isa4 liii4 #e1 ,his stripes 7same word74 ,whatever may be thought of the other physical features of suffering1 this must obviously be figurative4 ,contorted in pain1 bent down by weakness1 dragging himself wearily with the slow gait of an invalid1 squalid in attire1 burning with inward fever1 diseased in every tortured atom of flesh1 he is utterly worn out and broken 7same word as bruised1 ,isa4 liii4 #e74 ,inward misery1 the cry of the heart1 must have outward expression1 and1 with ,eastern vehemence in utterance of emotions which ,western reticence prefers to let gnaw in silence at the roots of life1 he roars aloud because his heart groans4 ,this vivid picture of the effects of the sense of personal sin will seem to superficial modern ,christianity1 exaggerated and alien from experience2 but the deeper a man's godliness1 the more will he listen with sympathy1 with understanding and with appropriation of such piercing laments as his own4 ,just as few of us are dowered with sensibilities so keen as to feel what poets feel1 in love or hope1 or delight in nature1 or with power to express the feelings1 and yet can recognise in their winged words the heightened expression of our own less full emotions1 so the truly devout soul will find1 in the most passionate of these wailing notes1 the completer expression of his own experience4 ,we must go down into the depths and cry to ,god out of them1 if we are to reach sunny heights of communion4 ,intense consciousness of sin is the obverse of ardent aspiration after righteousness1 and that is but a poor type of religion which has not both4 ,it is one of the glories of the ,psalter that both are given utterance to in it in words which are as vital to-day as when they first came warm from the lips of these long dead men4 ,everything in the world has changed1 but these songs of penitence and plaintive deprecation1 like their twin bursts of rapturous communion1 were not born for death4 ,contrast the utter deadness of the religious hymns of all other nations with the fresh vitality of the ,psalms4 ,as long as hearts are penetrated with the consciousness of evil done and loved1 these strains will fit themselves to men's lips4 ,because the psalmist's recounting of his pains was prayer and not soliloquy or mere cry of anguish1 it calms him4 ,we make the wound deeper by turning round the arrow in it1 when we dwell upon suffering without thinking of ,god2 but when1 like the psalmist1 we tell all to ,him1 healing begins4 ,thus1 the second part 7vv4 #i-ad7 is perceptibly calmer1 and though still agitated1 its thought of ,god is more trustful1 and silent submission at the close takes the place of the roaring1 the shrill cry of agony which ended the first part4 ,a further variation of tone is that1 instead of the entirely subjective description of the psalmist's sufferings in vv4 #a-h1 the desertion by friends and the hostility of foes1 are now the main elements of trial4 ,there is comparative peace for a tortured heart in the thought that all its desire and sighing are known to ,god4 ,that knowledge is prior to the heart's prayer1 but does not make it needless1 for by the prayer the conviction of the ,divine knowledge has entered the troubled soul1 and brought some prelude of deliverance and hope of answer4 ,the devout soul does not argue ,thou knowest1 and ,i need not speak1 but ,thou knowest1 therefore ,i tell ,thee2 and it is soothed in and after telling4 ,he who begins prayer1 by submitting to chastisement and only deprecating the form of it inflicted by wrath1 will pass to the more gracious thought of ,god as lovingly cognisant of both his desire and his sighing1 his wishes and his pains4 ,the burst of the storm is past1 when that light begins to break through clouds1 though waves still run high4 ,how high they still run is plain from the immediate recurrence of the strain of recounting the singer's sorrows4 ,this recrudescence of woe after the clear calm of a moment is only too well known to us all in our sorrows4 ,the psalmist returns to speak of his sickness in ver4 #aj1 which is really a picture of syncope or fainting4 ,the heart's action is described by a rare word1 which in its root means to go round and round1 and is here in an intensive form expressive of violent motion1 or possibly is to be regarded as a diminutive rather than an intensive1 expressive of the thinner though quicker pulse4 ,then come collapse of strength and failure of sight4 ,but this echo of the preceding part immediately gives place to the new element in the psalmist's sorrow1 arising from the behaviour of friends and foes4 ,the frequent complaint of desertion by friends has to be repeated by most sufferers in this selfish world4 ,they keep far away from his stroke1 says the psalm1 using the same word as is employed for leprosy1 and as is used in the verb in ,isa4 liii4 #d 7stricken74 ,there is a tone of wonder and disappointment in the untranslatable play of language in ver4 #aa b4 ,my near relations stand far off4 ,kin are not always kind4 ,friends have deserted because foes have beset him4 ,probably we have here the facts which in the previous part are conceived of as the arrows of ,god4 ,open and secret enemies laying snares for him1 as for some hunted wild creature1 eagerly seeking his life1 speaking destructions as if they would fain kill him with their words1 and perpetually whispering lies about him1 were recognised by him as instruments of ,god's judgment1 and evoked his consciousness of sin1 which again led to actual disease4 ,but the bitter schooling led to something else more blessed--namely1 to silent resignation4 ,like ,david1 when he let ,shimei shriek his curses at him from the hillside and answered not1 the psalmist is deaf and dumb to malicious tongues4 ,he will speak to ,god1 but to man he is silent1 in utter submission of will4 ,isaiah liii4 #g gives the same trait in the perfect ,sufferer1 a faint foreshadowing of whom is seen in the psalmist2 and #a ,peter ii4 #bc bids all who would follow the ,lamb whithersoever ,he goeth1 like ,him open not their mouths when reviled1 but commit themselves to the righteous ,judge4 ,once more the psalmist lifts his eyes to ,god1 and the third invocation of the ,name is attended by an increase of confidence4 ,in the first part1 ,jehovah was addressed2 in the second the designation ,lord was used2 in the third1 both are united and the appropriating name my ,god is added4 ,in the closing invocation 7v4 #bb-c7 all three reappear1 and each is the plea of a petition4 ,the characteristics of these closing verses are three3 humble trust1 the marshalling of its reasons1 and the combination of acknowledgment of sin and professions of innocence4 ,the growth of trust is very marked1 if the first part1 with its synonyms for ,god's wrath and its deprecation of unmeasured chastisement and its details of pain1 be compared with the quiet hope and assurance that ,god will answer1 and with that great name my ,salvation4 ,the singer does not indeed touch the heights of triumphant faith2 but he who can grasp ,god as his1 and can be silent because he is sure that ,god will speak by delivering deeds for him and can call ,him his ,salvation1 has climbed far enough to have the sunshine all round him1 and to be clear of the mists among which his song began4 ,the best reason for letting the enemy speak on unanswered is the confidence that a mightier voice will speak4 ,but thou wilt answer1 ,lord1 for me may well make us deaf and dumb to temptations and threats1 calumnies and flatteries4 ,how does this confidence spring in so troubled a heart8 ,the fourfold ,for beginning each verse from #ae to #ah weaves them all into a chain4 ,the first gives the reason for the submissive silence as being quiet confidence2 and the succeeding three may be taken as either dependent on each other1 or1 as is perhaps better1 as co-ordinate and all-assigning reasons for that confidence4 ,either construction yields worthy and natural meanings4 ,if the former be adopted1 trust in ,god's undertaking of the silent sufferer's cause is based upon the prayer which broke his silence4 ,dumb to men1 he had breathed to ,god his petition for help1 and had buttressed it with this plea ,lest they rejoice over me1 and he had feared that they would1 because he knew that he was ready to fall and had ever before him his pain1 and that because he felt himself forced to lament and confess his sin4 ,but it seems to yield a richer meaning1 if the ,for's be regarded as co-ordinate4 ,they then become a striking and instructive example of faith's logic1 the ingenuity of pleading which finds encouragements in discouragements4 ,the suppliant is sure of answer because he has told ,god his fear1 and yet again because he is so near falling and therefore needs help so much1 and yet again because he has made a clean breast of his sin4 ,trust in ,god's help1 distrust of self1 consciousness of weakness1 and penitence make anything possible rather than that the prayer which embodies them should be flung up to an unanswering ,god4 ,they are prevalent pleas with ,him in regard to which ,he will not be as a man that heareth not1 and in whose mouth there is no reply4 ,they are grounds of assurance to him who prays4 ,the juxtaposition of consciousness of sin in ver4 #ah with the declaration that love of good was the cause of being persecuted1 brings out the twofold attitude1 in regard to ,god and men1 which a devout soul may permissibly and sometimes must necessarily assume4 ,there may be the truest sense of sinfulness1 along with a clear-hearted affirmation of innocence in regard to men1 and a conviction that it is good and goodwill to them1 not evil in the sufferer1 which makes him the butt of hatred4 ,not less instructive is the double view of the same facts presented in the beginning and end of this psalm4 ,they were to the psalmist first regarded as ,god's chastisement in wrath1 ,his arrows and heavy hand1 because of sin4 ,now they are men's enmity1 because of his love of good4 ,is there not an entire contradiction between these two views of suffering1 its cause and source8 ,certainly not1 but rather the two views differ only in the angle of vision1 and may be combined1 like stereoscopic pictures1 into one rounded1 harmonious whole4 ,to be able so to combine them is one of the rewards of such pleading trust as breathes its plaintive music through this psalm1 and wakes responsive notes in devout hearts still4 ,,works ,,by ,,the ,,same ,,author ,bible ,class ,expositions4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 #cs4 #f;d4 each volume4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,matthew4 7,,two ,,vols47 ,the ,leeds ,mercury says3 ,they are all written in clear1 forcible language1 and bring abundant illustration from science1 the facts of life and history and ,scripture4 ,all through they manifest a true philosophical spirit1 and a deep knowledge of human nature4 ,none can read them without profit4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,mark4 ,the ,christian ,world says3 ,as clear1 luminous1 and pellucid as is everything that comes from the pen of the great ,manchester preacher4 ,even in treating the simplest incident he surprises his readers1 and that without once forcing the note1 or seeking sensationalism4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,luke4 ,the ,london ,quarterly ,review says3 ,dr4 ,maclaren is a prince of expositors1 and his expositions are as wholesome as they are able1 and as interesting as they are instructive and edifying4 ,every paragraph is luminous with vivid expressions4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john4 ,the ,glasgow ,herald says3 ,there is much freshness and suggestiveness in these pages4 ,dr4 ,maclaren has studied the art of compression with great success1 and no teacher of a class could desire anything better for his purpose than these lessons4 ,they may be heartily recommended to all teachers as about the best things of the kind to be had4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,the ,presbyterian says3 ,the more this volume is read and studied the more do we admire the humility that ranks such a book as for ,bible ,classes only4 ,it is for them beyond all question1 and better fare has nowhere been provided for them4 ,whether they be ,bible ,classes or preachers who study this volume1 they will be enriched and strengthened by it4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton4 ,,works ,,by ,,the ,,same ,,author4 ,expositions of ,holy ,scripture4 ,by the ,rev4 ,,alexander ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d41 ,litt4,d41 ,manchester4 ,complete in about #cj volumes4 ,handsomely bound in cloth1 #hvo1 #gs4 #f;d4 each volume4 ,to be published also by subscription1 six volumes in a series1 price #bds4 net per series4 ,first ,series1 ,six volumes1 comprising3-- ,the ,book of ,genesis4 ,the ,prophecies of ,isaiah4 ,the ,books of ,isaiah 7,chapters xlix-lxvi7 and ,jeremiah4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,matthew 7,three ,volumes74 ,the ,british ,weekly says3 ,it is a matter of deep satisfaction that ,dr4 ,maclaren's expositions are to be collected and arranged in permanent form4 ,unless we are very much mistaken1 they will have a permanent place in the library alike of thoughtful laymen and of preachers generally4 ,the ,expository ,times says3 ,the ,publishers have never done a greater service to ,christian teaching than they have done now in determining to republish these expository papers4 ,the ,church ,family ,newspaper says3 ,it is a gigantic task for one man to carry through1 covering1 as apparently is intended1 the whole ,bible4 ,but if the subsequent volumes are up to the standard of the first1 it will indeed be a 'great work1' not only in bulk but in usefulness4 ,the ,baptist ,times says3 ,to have the expository utterances of so great a teacher before us in a systematic and connected form is a priceless boon to the ,churches4 ,the ,bishop of ,manchester1 ,dr4 ,,moorhouse1 at ,dr4 ,maclaren's ,jubilee said3 ,thirty years ago ,i was studying with great profit the published sermons of the man whom we are honouring to-day4 ,in an age which has been charmed and inspired by the sermons of ,newman and ,robertson of ,brighton1 there were no published discourses which for profundity of thought1 logical arrangement1 eloquence of appeal1 and power of the human heart1 exceeded in merit those of ,dr4 ,maclaren4 ,second ,series1 comprising3-- ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,mark 7,two ,volumes74 ,the ,books of ,exodus1 ,leviticus1 ,numbers1 and ,deuteronomy 7,one ,volume74 ,the ,books of ,joshua1 ,judges1 ,ruth1 ,samuel1 and ,kings 7,two ,volumes74 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles1 ,vol4 ,i4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton4 ,,works ,,by ,,the ,,same ,,author4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 price #es4 each4 ,a ,year's ,ministry4 ,,first ,,series4 ,sixth ,edition4 ,a ,year's ,ministry4 ,,second ,,series4 ,sixth ,edition4 ,christ in the ,heart2 ,and other ,sermons4 ,second ,edition4 ,week-,day ,evening ,addresses4 ,fourth ,edition4 ,after the ,resurrection4 ,second ,edition4 ,last ,sheaves4 ,second ,edition4 ,,dr4 ,,joseph ,,parker says3 ,there is no greater preacher than ,alexander ,maclaren1 of ,manchester1 in the ,english-speaking pulpit4 ,dr4 ,maclaren has long been recognised as one of the foremost preachers in the ,british pulpit4--,glasgow ,herald4 ,his discourses may be studied by preachers as admirable specimens of what a sermon ought to be4--,north ,british ,daily ,mail4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton4 ,,works ,,by ,,the ,,same ,,author4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 price #es4 each4 ,the ,victor's ,crowns4 ,triumphant ,certainties4 ,the ,secret of ,power4 ,manchester ,sermons4 ,,first ,,series4 ,manchester ,sermons4 ,,second ,,series4 ,manchester ,sermons4 ,,third ,,series4 ,the ,god of the ,amen4 ,the ,holy of ,holies4 ,the ,wearied ,christ4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton4 ,,works ,,by ,,the ,,same ,,author4 ,paul's ,prayers4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 #es4 ,the ,christian ,world says3 ,as striking and suggestive as any ,dr4 ,maclaren has published4444 ,the book is full of helpful thoughts4 ,the ,new ,york ,observer says3 ,they are plain enough to be understood by the unlearned1 and yet have sufficient richness and cogency to attract the most cultivated4 ,the ,unchanging ,christ4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 #es4 ,the ,freeman says3 ,the work of a master of pulpit oratory4 ,the ,christian ,leader says3 ,distinguished by the finest scholarship and most exquisite literary finish4 ,the ,independent says3 ,few preachers combine so many elements of effective pulpit address4 ,the ,beatitudes4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 #es4 ,the ,british ,weekly says3 ,an excellent exposition of the ,beatitudes 444 full of thought and knowledge and power4 ,christ's ,musts4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 #es4 ,word and ,work says3 ,felicitous exposition1 rugged1 intense eloquence1 and beautiful illustration4 ,the ,presbyterian says3 ,forcible1 clear1 gracious1 suggestive4 ,the ,music of the ,soul4 ,daily ,readings for a ,year4 ,selected and ,arranged from the ,writings of ,the ,rev4 ,,alexander ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,by the ,rev4 ,g4 ,,coates4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 #es4 ,the ,aberdeen ,free ,press says3 ,dr4 ,maclaren's utterances are exceptionally rich in devotional thought1 and in the choice and arrangement of extracts ,mr4 ,coates has evidently exercised much care4 ,the ,record says3 ,an excellent gift-book for those who like the theology and the expositions of the ,rev4 ,alexander ,maclaren will be found in this dainty volume of daily readings4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton4 ,,works ,,by ,,the ,,same ,,author4 ,the ,life of ,david1 as ,reflected in his ,psalms4 ,,in ,,the ,,household ,,library ,,of ,,exposition4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 #cs4 #f;d4 ,the ,expositor says3 ,real gems of exposition are found in this slight work1 which might be sought in vain from more erudite and ponderous tomes4444 ,we have nothing but admiration and praise for this valuable little reprint4 ,the ,guardian says3 ,just the book we should give to awaken a living and historical interest in the ,psalms4 ,colossians and ,philemon4 ,,in ,,the ,,expositor',s ,,bible1 ,,first ,,series4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 #gs4 #f;d4 ,the ,leeds ,mercury says3 ,with great analytical skill1 and with a spiritual insight which almost amounts to genius1 ,dr4 ,maclaren lays bare the gist of ,paul's message1 and does so in terms which cannot fail to appeal deeply and at once to the common heart of ,christians of all sorts and conditions4 ,in moral fervour1 spiritual beauty1 and an unfailing charm of literary expression1 this volume is worthy to rank with the noblest results of ,christian scholarship and culture4 ,the ,baptist ,magazine says3 ,dr4 ,maclaren's lectures on the ,colossians are among his best works4 ,he has thoroughly grasped the argument of this profound ,epistle1 followed the sequences of its thoughts1 traced the connections and dependences of its different parts1 and applied its principles and lessons to the religious and social needs of our own day4 ,he seems almost to have 'changed eyes' with ,st4 ,paul1 and to have elucidated his thoughts with a vividness of imagination1 an intensity of feeling1 and an incisiveness of speech which have rarely been equalled4 ,the ,scotsman says3 ,there will be found in it much that is instructive and much that is practical1 many sound views of life and religion as well as considerable insight into the spirit and meaning of the ,apostle4 ,dr4 ,maclaren1 at any rate1 knows how to apply the lessons of ,scripture to the needs and the questionings of our own day2 and his views1 which are evangelical1 and opposed to ritualism and asceticism1 will be widely acceptable4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton4 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,obvious punctuation and spelling errors have been fixed throughout4 ,inconsistent hyphenation left as in the original text4