The Psalms

The Psalms are divided into five books or volumes; and this not by external marks only, but by internal distinctions full of interest. The first closes with Psa. 41 where a conclusion is manifest; the second, with Psalm 72, the last three verses marking closure; the third, with Psalm 89, of which verse 52 is the end; the fourth, with Psalm 106, with verse 48 concluding; the fifth to the end of all. (Psalm. 107-150) The internal characters which distinguish these five books will appear as we pass on.

There is no part of scripture more evidently inspired of God, none more frequently cited by the Holy Spirit throughout the N.T., none more important for the believer to understand by divine teaching, so as on the one hand to enjoy truth needful, fertile, and strengthening for the affections, and on the other hand to keep clear of mistaken applications which might darken and even destroy all right sense of our proper relationship as Christians. The latter danger is not a mere apprehension; in fact it has caused ruinous mischief since the second century, and is no less rife in our own days, and nearly as prevalent among Protestants as among Romanists and others who profess to represent the ancient Catholic church. On scarce any question is Christendom more at one than the assumption that the Psalms compose the most fitting help for Christian comfort and devotion, and the best, because divinely purposed, expression of church worship. The evil result of what is miscalled spiritualizing is the handle it gives the Romanists. If Judah and Israel, if Zion and Jerusalem point to the church, men logically infer that the righteous destruction of the enemies, wicked, etc., warrants the office of the inquisition, and the punishment of heretics even to death.

Yet one may fairly suppose that no believer has ever used them thus, privately and publicly, without finding himself face to face with unanswerable difficulties, to escape which he is continually exposed to the evil of “accommodating” and perverting God's word. Compare Psalm 5:10; 7:6; 10:2,12,15; 17:13, 14; 18:37-42; 28:4; 31:17, 8; 35:1-8; 40:14, 5. In the second book are portions no less energetic for the destruction of enemies, as Psalm 68:12, 23; 69:22-28; 70:2,3; 71:13. Nor is it otherwise in the third book: see Psalm 74:11; 79:6,10-12; 83:9-18. So, yet more sparingly, in the fourth book, as in Psalm 94:1, 2; 104:35. So, to say nothing of 109, the last book, as Psalm 129:5,6; 137:8,9: 1378 8,9, 140:9,10; 10; 143: 12; 144:6; 149:6-9. Thus uniformly earthly judicial righteousness is the atmosphere, not heavenly grace according to which the Christian is called now to feel, and pray, and walk. Far be it to say that all is not right. It was what characterized the saints in Israel of old; it will be so once more in their midst when the former dominion shall come still more gloriously in the day of the Lord, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. But we, called out meanwhile from Jews and Gentiles, and composing the one body of Christ, have the privilege and the duty of showing forth His grace Who suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps. We are not Jews, even if once we had been, but members of His body Who is rejected by the world, exalted at God's right hand, and Who sends the gospel to His foes, all the time of our calling. Communion with Him thus is Christianity, and hence the church and the Christian (objects and channels of grace, in His energy Who rests on us as the Spirit of glory and of God) make and sing their own suited psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). For it is demonstrable that these mean Christian compositions, and in no way the Psalms of David.

Is it meant that the Psalms are not most precious to the believer? If divinely inspired, as indeed they are, how could it be otherwise? No part of the Bible is more redolent of Messiah; and this too, not so much facts and doctrines, as His heart's experience in all circumstances, and His innermost feelings not only about His people, but about and to God Himself. The Psalms not infrequently present His entering into earthly sorrows like His own, besides that in which none could be found but Himself, suffering for our sins; and in both His absolutely perfect affections and expressions, not merely those of Moses, David, Asaph, or any other. This is an inestimable boon for us who, besides what is peculiar, have our earthly path of trial and sorrow, and know His sympathy in this intimate way, as Israel will another day. But it is Modified by the relations to the Jew supposed throughout, and by no means rises up to the unfolding of what is distinctly heavenly as in the Gospels and N.T. in general.

Hence Bp. Home labors in vain, and indeed to his own loss as well as that of all swayed by his thoughts, in seeking to mitigate the spirit of imprecating vengeance in many Psalms. He says that “the offense taken” at this ceases immediately if we change the imperative into the future, and read, not “let them be confounded,” etc., but “they shall be confounded,” etc., of which the Hebrew is equally capable! In this unwarrantable boldness he follows Dr. Hammond, as the latter no doubt was led by others. He is compelled to allow that the N. T. preserves the imperative form, instead of changing it into the future. For this he tries to account, as well as to explain away the impression, as no more than a solemn ratification of God's just judgment. But the criticism is as bad as the doctrine; and the phraseology undoubtedly stands in Hebrew as in English, and no doubt in all other languages. It is the difference in divine dealing which clears all up without violence. When God is judging enemies as of old and by-and-by, His people share it in measure. Now He is displaying sovereign grace, and another spirit of action becomes them, as the N. T. conclusively proves as to the Christian and the church. For all that the Psalms are a rich treasure to the believer. The Spirit of Christ ever speaks therein, though it be not Christ personally save in such as 2, 8, 16, 18, 22, 40, etc.

Psalms, Book 1, Palms 1-2

Psalm 1

The book begins with the beautiful picture of man blessed in dependence and obedience. His character is as marked as his happiness. He has not walked in the counsels of wicked men, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of scorners (ver. 1). With evil in any form he has had no fellowship. But, positively (vers. 2), the law of Jehovah is his delight, and in it he will meditate day and night. In no way is this inconsistent with Gal. 3:10. For he was not “of the works of the law,” as the principle of his standing before God: all such are and were “cursed.” They never repented and never believed. They which be of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham, as they are truly his eons. No more in the O.T. than in the N.T. is a man justified with God in virtue of law; as the prophets prove only less clearly than the apostles. None but those who looked by faith for the Messiah walked blamelessly in God's ordinances. Still more evidently is it so with the Christian. “The law” here, as usually in the Psalms and elsewhere, means God's word then revealed. This is ever the delight of the believer, as well as his directory.

Hence in verse 3 we see the issue in the righteous government of God; and to this the book points as the rule. “And he is [or will be] as a tree planted on streams of water, that yieldeth its fruit in its season, and whose leaf fadeth not; and all that he doeth prospereth.” There is life, fruitfulness seasonably, abiding beauty, and unfailing prosperity. This will be manifest in the kingdom only; now it cannot be more than morally true.

The contrast appears in the second stanza of the third verse. “Not so the wicked, but are like the chaff that the wind driveth away” (ver. 4). They are worthless and vanish under pressure. The N.T. adds the divine judgment as burning by unquenchable fire. “Therefore the wicked shall not rise in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous” (vers. 5). When judgment comes (and the Book of Psalms as a whole contemplates it), the present mixed state will give place to a manifest severance, and an execution of God's sentence on earth before the final one for eternity. This is no secret to faith which enters into His mind and will before that day. “For Jehovah knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish” (verse 6).

Plainly then the Psalm describes ideally rather than as a fact the just Israelite, as compared with the wicked mass. It is therefore the Spirit of Christ in the righteous remnant, not Christ personally, though He was the sole absolutely Righteous One. Thus is refuted at the starting point the fond and inveterate delusion of the people that every Jew had a good and true title in God's sight. On the contrary not all are Israel which are of Israel. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in spirit, not in letter, whose praise is not of men but of God.

Psalm 2

This again is prefatory like the first (to which its structure corresponds, only with double the length), and both not only to the first book (1-41), but to the entire collection. Here the Messiah is as evident and express, as His own are in the preceding psalm. The antagonistic Gentiles and their kings are in full view, not the wicked as such, though wicked indeed those are.

“ Why are the nations tumultuously assembled, and do (lit. will) the peoples imagine vanity? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers consult together against Jehovah and against His Anointed (Messiah). Let us break their bonds and cast away their cords from us.” Such is the first stanza of three verses in which the godless revolt against Jehovah and His Christ is set before us, with no less amazement than indignation. In Acts 4 it is applied to the rebellious union of Romans and Jews, of Pilate and Herod, against the Lord.

But Jehovah's counsel stands, and He answers the fool according to his folly, with a strikingly parallel reference to the rebellious agitation of the peoples and their rulers (4, 6). “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord (Adonai) shall mock at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger, and in His wrath terrify them: And I have anointed My King on Zion, hill of My holiness.” Those doings and sayings in each case are an exact counterpart.

The constituted earthly royalty of Messiah in Zion opens the way to the next strophe (7-10). “I will declare the decree: Jehovah said to Me, Thou [art] My Son: I this day have begotten Thee. Ask of Me and I will give nations as Thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a scepter of iron; as a potter's vessel Thou shalt shiver them.” It is the Son of God born in time, the Messiah; neither eternal Sonship as in John's Gospel and elsewhere, nor resurrection as in Paul's Epistles. Sonship on earth and in time suits the kingdom here announced. But that kingdom, though with Zion its center, embraces the uttermost parts of the earth, and so the nations or Gentiles. It is the Messiah of Whom Solomon was but a type like David. But here the Christ only is described throughout. It is exclusively future. He had not yet asked the earth, but is occupied with relations above it, of heaven and for eternity. Soon He will come in His Kingdom, and receive the world at His demand, when He will rule with the rod of iron, (how different from the gospel!) and shiver men as a potter's vessel. What can be more contrasted with beseeching men and building up His body, the church?

And now, O kings, be wise; be warned, O judges of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest He be angry, and ye perish in the way, for soon His anger burneth. Blessed [are] all those trusting Him” (verses 10-12).

Even here kings and judges are before us, for it is strictly a Messianic psalm. But it is the Son about to execute vengeance on a hostile and haughty world. Yet is He a blessing, the only blessing object of trust for any or all: the secret spring, at the end of Psalm 2, of the blessings for the righteous proclaimed at the beginning of Psalm 1. These are unquestionably a pair, and in the only place suitable, were we to search for one in all the hundred and fifty.

Psalms, Book 1, Psalms 3-8

Having Christ clearly brought in as the hope in Israel, as well as distinct from the mass the happy or blessed man, just and one of those justified by faith in Him, we have next a series (from Psa. 3), which concludes with the Lord Jesus, not merely Son of God born here below and King on Zion, but Son of Man, and so humbled and so exalted on high over all things. (Psalm 8)

Here the Spirit of Christ expresses the feelings He inspires in the righteous remnant as experiencing rejection like that which was His portion in an infinitely greater degree. Circumstances are sad in the extreme; for these bitter but blessed lessons are learned among God's people when alas! alienated and hostile. Christ entered into it as none ever did; but His Spirit it is that works in the godly, directs their hearts, and expresses aright what ought to flow from them in the same path.

Psalm 3

Here, though it be only the general principle, it. is a momentous starting-point. The historical fact that gave occasion is stated in our title, the first verse in the Hebrew: “a psalm of David on his fleeing from the face of Absalom his son”. No enemy is so trying as the traitor in the midst of God's people; and the nearer to the king, the more of pain, sorrow, and shame. The king had known more than one profound humiliation, never one so heart-breaking, yet so public, as this. But in him it was far from being unalloyed; in Christ it was in every sense pure sorrow. And His Spirit operates so that His own may unaffectedly and without presumption make His words. theirs. The first word settles all questions, silences all fears: “Jehovah!” No doubt the dangers look great. “How have my persecutors multiplied! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying concerning my soul, There is no deliverance for him in God. Selah" (ver. 1, 2). But the righteous one is calm, far from the least self-reliance. His one feeling is confidence in Jehovah. “But Thou, Jehovah, [art] a shield round about me; my glory and the lifter up of my head” (ver. 3). Nor is true confidence silent: “I cry [with] my voice unto Jehovah, and He answereth me from the mountain of His holiness. Selah” (ver. 4). Then and there the saint can rest and rise unperturbed. “I have lain down and slept, I have awaked; for Jehovah sustaineth me. I will not be afraid of myriads of the people which round about have set themselves in array against me” (ver. 5, 6). It is not doubt but faith that bade him say, “Arise, O Jehovah, save me, O my God; for Thou hast smitten all mine enemies [on] the cheek; Thou hast broken in pieces the teeth of the wicked” (ver. 7). His confidence anticipates, and, in the spirit of prophecy, sees the end from the beginning. “To Jehovah [belongeth] salvation; Thy blessing [is] upon Thy people, Selah.” The Christian can sing in still loftier strains. We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

Psalm 4

This is inscribed “to the chief musician on stringed instruments: a psalm of David.” It appears to spring from the same occasion, but goes out more in expostulation to others, with directions for the godly; and was meant for public service, as the companion Psalm 3 seems rather private or personal. It breathes no less confidence in looking to Jehovah, but pleads righteousness also. There is a practically good conscience, no ground of standing before God, but good for his appeal: “When I call, answer Thou me, O God of my righteousness; in adversity Thou hast made room for me; be merciful to me, and hear my prayer. Sons of man, how long [shall be] my glory for a shame? Ye love vanity, ye seek a lie. Selah” (verses 1, 2). It was not merely evil done to a man, but to him whom God had set over His people, to be His king. Yet their heart went out to a worthless thing, their zeal was spent on a false object. So we can say that he that does the will of God abides forever. Here the word is, “But know that Jehovah hath set apart him that is godly for Himself: Jehovah will hear when I call up to Him” (verse 3). If he prayed, he counted on the answer. It is not the offended dignity of the king, nor yet the claims of the separated priest. The object of grace looks for grace, even if he were a king; and all the more, because Jehovah set him apart to Himself. How Christ entered into this, who can tell? Nor does Jehovah fail to direct the gracious godly one: “Tremble and sin not; commune with your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. Sacrifice the sacrifices of righteousness, and trust in Jehovah” (ver. 4, 5). Thus self-judgment, integrity of worship, and confidence are cherished. “Many are saying, “Who will show us good?” The saint's answer is ready and it is a prayer of faith and love, “Lift up the light of Thy countenance upon us, O Jehovah. Thou hast put joy into my heart more than at the times their corn and their wine were increased” (ver. 6, 7). What are men's passing benefits to compare with the light of Jehovah's countenance? He alone is peace and security too, and the godly man loves to have it thus. So the close is, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for Thou alone, O Jehovah, causest me to dwell safely” (verse 8).

Psalm 5

This goes farther, and is also “for the chief musician with the Nehiloth” (which some regard as wind instruments): “a psalm of David”. It expresses the cry of the godly to God for judgment; a characteristically Jewish sentiment, and righteous altogether when the day approaches for the vindication of His people. The nearest approach to it from Christ's life as the Sent but Rejected One is in John 17:25; for the “Righteous” Father was and is not indifferent to the world's wickedness. But “Holy” Father expresses His actual ways, as the Christian should well know. In its due time He will surely hear and judge the wicked on the earth when His public kingdom comes. His righteousness is everlasting, but there is a fitting season for its display, and this in and by Jesus His rejected King, which will fill the remnant by-and-by with just confidence. As they look to enjoy the earth under His reign, they rightly, when God livingly works in them, cry for judgment. We one with Christ in heaven look for Him to fetch us there where He is, and pray for grace as He did, even for His blinded murderers. “Give ear to my prayers, O Jehovah; consider my meditation. Hearken to the voice of my cry for help, my King and my God, for to Thee will I pray. O Jehovah, in the morning Thou shalt hear my voice, in the morning will I set [it] in order to Thee, and will look out. For Thou art not a God delighting in wickedness: evil dwelleth not with Thee. The proud shall not stand before Thine eyes; Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou wilt destroy all those that speak lies: a man of blood and deceit Jehovah abhorreth. But as for me, in the greatness of Thy mercy I will come into Thy house, I will worship toward the temple of Thy holiness in Thy fear. Lead me, O Jehovah, in Thy righteousness because of mine enemies, make Thy way straight before me. For there is nothing certain in his mouth; their inward part [is wickedness; an open sepulcher is their throat; they make smooth their tongue. Treat them as guilty, O God; they shall fall from their counsels; in the multitude of their transgressions cast them down; for they have rebelled against Thee. But all those that trust in Thee shall rejoice; forever shall they shout for joy, and Thou wilt protect them, and those who love Thy name shall exult in Thee. For Thou, O Jehovah, wilt bless the righteous; like the shield with favor Thou wilt encompass him” (ver. 1-12). For their joy and blessing they must await His deliverance, when judgment falls on His foes before all the world.

Psalm 6

As the three psalms just looked at are a cluster marked by growing confidence, the next two express the heart's experience in sorrowful trial. Divine anger is deprecated, and mercy appealed to, in the sixth; with the prayer in the seventh which spreads before Jehovah their persecutors' ways and the remnant's in view of desired judgment.

Psa. 6 is “for the chief musician on stringed instruments upon Sheminith,” or the octave. We must bear in mind that David was a great inventor of musical instruments (Amos 6:5), and that they will most appropriately celebrate Jehovah's praise in the kingdom when it comes for the world (Ps. 150, Rev. 11:15). Meanwhile we worship in spirit and in truth, as true worshippers of the Father, and are to sing with the spirit and also with the understanding (John 4; Cor. 14)

“O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thine anger, and chasten me not in Thy hot displeasure. Be merciful to me, O Jehovah, for I am languishing; heal me, O Jehovah, for my bones are terrified. And my soul is greatly terrified; and Thou, O Jehovah, how long? Return, O Jehovah, deliver my soul; save me for Thy mercy's sake. For in death there is no remembrance of Thee; in Sheol who shall praise Thee?” (ver. 1-5.) How plainly it is Jewish sentiment, true, holy, and proper for a people “living in the world,” as the apostle reproaches the Colossian saints that they were doing; whereas, as he insists, our relation to God is wholly and blessedly different, having died and being raised with Christ to seek and set our minds on things above. “I am weary with my sighing; all the night make I my bed to swim; I cause my couch to flow down with my tears. Mine eye is consumed through grief, it has grown old because of all my adversaries. Depart from me, all workers of iniquity; for Jehovah hath heard the voice of my weeping, Jehovah hath heard my supplication, Jehovah will receive my prayer. All mine enemies shall be greatly ashamed and terrified; they shall turn back, they shall be ashamed suddenly” (ver. 6-10). Thus, though nationally the Jews had deserved Jehovah's anger and wrath, the remnant know He has heard and will deliver.

Psalm 7

Here we have a wider range, not mourning like its predecessor, but pleading their justice with their adversaries. It is more manifestly as Jews that they pray for Jehovah's arising in His anger against the wicked, their enemy. For the desire is that not Israel only but the congregation of nations compass Jehovah about. Then would be His judgment of the peoples. “Shiggayon of David which he sang to Jehovah because of the words of Cush the Benjamite” is the title. It is a song on occasion of wandering: whether Saul or Shimei is meant may be questioned under Cush.

“ O Jehovah my God, in Thee have I trusted; save me from all those who persecute me, and deliver me, lest like a lion he tear my soul, tearing it in pieces, and there is none to deliver. O Jehovah my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; if I have recompensed with evil him that is at peace with me; if I have spoiled mine adversary without a cause; let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him tread down my life to the ground, and let him cause mine honor to lie in the dust. Selah. Arise, O Jehovah, in Thine anger, lift up Thyself because of the wrath of mine enemies, and wake up for me the judgment which Thou hast commanded. And the congregation of nations will encompass Thee; because of it return Thou to the height. Jehovah will govern the peoples: judge me, O Jehovah, according to my righteousness and according to mine integrity [that is] on me. Let now the evil of the wicked come to an end, and establish Thou the righteous: even One that trieth the heart and reins (art Thou), O righteous God. My shield [is] on God who saveth the upright in heart. God judgeth righteously, and God is angry every day. If one turn not, He will whet his sword; He hath bent His bow and made it ready. And at him He hath aimed the weapon of death; He maketh His arrows burning. Behold, he travaileth [with] iniquity, and he hath conceived mischief and brought forth falsehood. He dug a pit and enlarged it, and he falleth into the pit which he maketh. His mischief shall return on his own head, and upon the crown of his head shall his violence come down. I will praise. Jehovah according to His righteousness, and I will sing forth the name of Jehovah Most High” (1-17).

This is not the Christian glorying in tribulation and suffering with Christ that he may be glorified together with Him. It is the zeal and prayer of a Jewish saint appealing to God's sure judgment at the appearing of Christ.

Psalm 8

This closes and crowns the series founded on the two prefatory psalms, the righteous man in the midst of the wicked (Jews though they were), and the Messiah the object of his trust and of the opposition of Gentiles and peoples, both the righteous and the Christ assured of God's favor and establishment in blessing and glory according to promise. But even the Messiah was rejected beyond all, and the righteous meanwhile share His experience, to which His Spirit gives a voice as He directs their hearts purified by faith as they pass through varied trials. This we have been tracing in Psa. 3-7. Psa. 8 is “for the chief musician on Gittith: a psalm of David". Learned men suggest an instrument invented at Gath, or an air of the vintage festivity: a holy but happy season for a pious Jew. Fürst regards it as a hollow instrument from the verb “to deepen.” It is, however, sensibly distinct from the psalms before and after, as the anticipation of God's counsels, and specially cited as such in the N.T. for the exaltation of the glorified Man over all things after His humiliation even to death.

“ O Jehovah our Lord, how glorious Thy name in all the earth! Who hast set Thy majesty above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou established praise because of Thine adversaries, to still the enemy and the revenger. When I behold Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast established, what [is] man that Thou rememberest him, and the son of man that Thou visitest him? And Thou makest him a little lower than the angels and (with) honor and glory Thou crownest him. Thou makest him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put everything under his feet, sheep and oxen, all of them, and also the beasts of the field, birds of the heavens, and fishes of the sea, [that which] passeth the paths of the seas. O Jehovah our Lord, how glorious Thy name in all the earth” (ver. 1-9).

Psalms, Book 1, Psalms 9-15

Here also two psalms (9-10) open a new series which follows them, as Psa. 1 ii. prepared the way for those which last occupied us. It is not here the great principles of man righteous and the Messiah, with the experience of sorrow and trial to which this leads, and the heart's expression to God which it forms, and the greater glory that results at last (as in Psa. 3-8). The new prefatory pair treats of the actual circumstances which the remnant are called to face (Psa. 9-10), which plunges us in the crisis of the latter day, leading to the experience suitable to them and formed by the Spirit of Christ in the righteous accordingly (Psa. 11-15). This may serve to show what divine order reigns in that which might seem to a superficial reader the least consecutive or mutually connected book of all scripture, and how much more light from God is given than those look for who are verbally familiar with them every day.

Psalm 9

The title is “To the chief musician Muthlabben (or, death to the son), a psalm of David”. This singular term is supposed to be the name of an air.

It is a striking distinction from the New Testament and its links of truth, that the glorification of the rejected Messiah, which is there followed by the formation of the church, His body, here instantly brings in the troubles at the end of the age which lead to His setting up His throne in Zion. Jehovah is the covenant name for Israel, Most High that indicative of the Kingdom in power when heaven and earth are displayed as His. Christ identifies Himself with the righteous remnant to make His cause and His right theirs (ver. 4). Whatever the mischief from the enemy Jehovah sits forever. And meanwhile He is a refuge for an oppressed one in times of trouble. But Zion is His eventual dwelling, and judgment (not the gospel) settles all questions.

“ I will praise Jehovah with my whole heart; I will recount all Thy marvelous works, I will be glad and rejoice in Thee; I will sing forth Thy name, O Most High. When mine enemies turned back, they stumbled and perished from before Thee. For Thou hast maintained my cause and my right; Thou satest on the throne a judge of righteousness. Thou hast rebuked the Gentiles, Thou hast destroyed the wicked, their name hast Thou blotted out forever. O enemy, the desolations are completed forever, and thou hast destroyed cities: the remembrance of them hath perished. But Jehovah sitteth forever; He hath established His throne for judgment. And He it is will judge the world in righteousness, He will judge nations in equity. And Jehovah will be a refuge to the oppressed one, a refuge in times of distress. And they that know Thy name will trust in Thee; for Thou hast not forsaken those that seek Thee, O Jehovah. Sing praises to Jehovah Who dwelleth in Zion; tell among the peoples His doings. For He that inquireth after blood remembereth them; He hath not forgotten the cry of the afflicted. Be merciful to us, O Jehovah, look on mine affliction from those that hate me, lifting me up from the gates of death, that I may declare all Thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in Thy salvation. The Gentiles are sunk into the pit they made; in the very net they laid is their foot taken. Jehovah is known; judgment He hath executed. In the work of his own hands the wicked one is ensnared. Higgayon (or Meditation), Selah. The wicked shall be turned into Sheol, all the Gentiles that forget God. For the poor one shall not be forgotten forever, nor the hope of the humble perish everlastingly. Arise, O Jehovah, let not man be strong; let Gentiles be judged before Thy face. Put fear into them, O Jehovah: the Gentiles shall know that they are but men. Selah” (1-21).

Any one acquainted with O. T. prophecy will recognize the allusions to its predictions, especially when the rod of Messiah's strength shall be sent by Jehovah out of Zion, and He strikes through kings in the day of His wrath and judges among the Gentiles. What a change from His sitting at God's right hand waiting to crush His foes, and meanwhile gathering His friends and joint-heirs!

Psalm 10

This untitled psalm, dependent on the preceding one, of which it is the supplement, is occupied with the wicked internal enemy that hates and afflicts the righteous Jew. As Psa. 9 looks at the Gentile oppressors generally as the object of Jehovah's judgment at the close, so this details the enemy within, though it binds up with the expected judgment the perishing of the Gentiles from His land (ver. 16) when Jehovah is King forever.

“ Wherefore, O Jehovah, standest Thou afar off? Hidest Thou Thyself in times of distress? In the pride of the wicked he doth hotly pursue the afflicted. They are taken in the very devices they devised. For the wicked boasteth of his soul's desire; and the covetous he blesseth; he despiseth Jehovah. According to the pride of his countenance, the wicked seeketh not: all his thoughts [are], There is no God. His ways are firm in every season; Thy judgments [are] a height away from him; all, his adversaries—he puffeth at them. He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved; to generation and generation I shall be in no adversity. Of cursing his mouth is full, and of deceit, and violence: under his tongue is mischief and iniquity. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages; in the secret places he slayeth the innocent; his eyes lurk for the wretched. He lieth in wait in the covert like a lion in his den; he lieth in wait to catch the afflicted; he catcheth the afflicted when he draweth him into his net. He croucheth, he boweth down, and the wretched hath fallen by his strong ones. He saith in his heart, God hath forgotten, He hath hidden His face, He will not see forever. Arise, O Jehovah; O God, lift up Thy hand; forget not the afflicted. Wherefore hath the wicked one despised God? He hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require. Thou hast seen; Thou beholdest mischief and spite to requite it with Thy hand; the wretched committeth himself unto Thee: of the orphans Thou hast been the helper. Break Thou the arm of the wicked one, and for the evil, seek out his wickedness [till] Thou find none. Jehovah is King forever and ever: the Gentiles have perished from His land. The desire of the afflicted Thou hast heard, O Jehovah; Thou strengthenest their heart, Thou causest Thine ear to hearken, to judge the orphan and the oppressed, that man from the earth may be terrible no more” (1-18). When the wicked one rises up from character to a person, it will be realized in the antichrist of the last days and in the midst of the Jews as here. As the Lord is from heaven, so he is emphatically from the earth, frail man but energized by Satan. The Psalm answers much to the cry of the elect, according to the parable of the importunate widow, whom God at length avenges.

Psalm 11

The psalms that follow to the fifteenth give the experience proper to such a crisis Gentile and Jewish, and have the form of results.

The first of them is inscribed “to the chief musician, by David,” and expresses the resolve not to flee. To the righteous it was a question of absolute trust in Jehovah whatever the ungodly might do or say. If every recourse failed, it was but the moment for Him to act for Himself and His own.

“ In Jehovah put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee to your mountain [as] a bird? For lo! the wicked bend the bow, they have fixed their arrow on the string to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. If the foundations are broken down, what can the righteous do? Jehovah [is] in the temple of His holiness, Jehovah—His throne [is] in the heavens. His eyes behold, His eyelids prove the sons of men. Jehovah proveth the righteous; but the wicked and him that loveth violence His soul hateth. Upon the wicked He will rain snares; fire and brimstone and burning wind, the portion of their cup. For Jehovah [is] righteous; He loveth righteousness; His face beholdeth the upright” (1-7).

There is no wavering. Not only Jehovah abides immutably, but faith cleaves to His house; and whatever come of His representative on earth His throne is in heaven; and He governs on earth in the face of appearances, though His public Kingdom be not yet come. Hence in due time is condign punishment for the wicked, while the saint knows all the while that He is righteous, loves righteousness, and regards the upright.

Psalm 12

This is “to the chief musician on the octave, a psalm of David”, as in Psa. 6. It is the plaintive prayer of the gracious man in presence of growing lawlessness; then comes in the value of Jehovah's words before Himself arises to judge. Wickedness increases where righteousness was looked for.

“ Save, O Jehovah, for the godly hath ceased, for the faithful have failed from among the sons of men. They speak falsehood, every one with his neighbor: a slippery lip with a double heart do they speak. Jehovah will cut off all slippery lips, a tongue that speaketh great things, who have said, With our tongues will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord to us? Because of the oppression of the afflicted, because of the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith Jehovah. I will set in safety him at whom they puff. The words of Jehovah [are] pure words, silver refined in a crucible of earth, purified seven times. Thou, Jehovah, wilt keep them, Thou wilt preserve them from this generation forever. The wicked walk around when vileness is exalted among the sons of men” (1-8). Such was the dreary state when Christ Himself was on earth, Who speaks of “this generation “: clearly a moral estimate which still abides and will be found more and more till judgment overtake. It has nothing to do with a human life or chronology, as the context here unequivocally proves. Compare Psa. 14:5.

Psalm 13

Here things are no better, but the heart is more urgent, and “How long” is the key-note. It also is inscribed “To the chief musician, a psalm of David". If deferred hope makes the righteous sick, confidence grows up to joy and gladness.

“ How long, O Jehovah? wilt Thou forget me forever? How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me? How long shall I lay up counsels in my soul, grief in my soul daily? How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? Behold, answer me, O Jehovah my God, lighten mine eyes lest I sleep the [sleep of] death; lest the enemy say, I have overcome him, [and] mine adversaries exult when I am moved. But I in Thy mercy, have trusted; my heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation? I will sing unto Jehovah, for He hath dealt well with me” (1-5).

It is the patience of the saints, waiting for the Kingdom in power and praise.

Psalm 14

This raises the question what Jehovah has to say of the people on whom His name is called. The psalm is inscribed “To the chief musician by David". It is really a dirge.

“ The fool hath said in his heart, [There is] no God. They have corruptly acted; they have done abominably [in] work; [there is] none doing good. Jehovah hath looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there were [one] acting wisely, seeking God. They have all turned aside, they have together been corrupted; [there is] none doing good, not even one. Have they not known, all the workers of iniquity, eating My people [as] they eat bread? They call not upon Jehovah. There were they in great fear; for God [is] in the generation of the righteous. Ye put to shame the counsel of the afflicted, because Jehovah [is] his refuge. Who shall give out of Zion the salvation of Israel? When Jehovah bringeth back the captivity of His people, Jacob shall rejoice, Israel shall be glad” (1-7).

It is for the substance the same as Psa. 53 with differences which strikingly illustrate the two books in which they respectively occur. Yet in the due place it will be shown that the apostle in Rom. 3 cites the later of the two, not the earlier before us. But they both speak of those “under the law”, that is of the Jews. The heathen were self-evidently wicked. It might have been argued that the Jews were not, as latterly they eschewed idols. But no, exclaims the apostle, What the law saith, it saith to those who are under the law, and quotes from the psalm what He says to and of His ancient people. It is thus emphatic and overwhelming. I doubt not that prophetically it looks on to the age when antichrist and his followers are in question. But the truth is that the first coming of Christ brought out morally what will be manifest at His second. This is man at his best estate without Christ and denying God; and the Judge on earth pronounced on him. He is lost; not merely man carried away after every vain folly, but man under priesthood, law, sacrifice, temple, and every other religious privilege conceivable. Remnant there is, but they renounce man and rest on Christ from God, as all saints since man fell. But it is salvation out of Zion they look for, and this to gladden Israel: not the indiscriminate mercy of God (His righteousness withal in the gospel) to any poor sinner as we know now.

Psalm 15

Here we have the moral qualities of the remnant, the spared ones, when righteousness governs with Zion as the earthly center. It is simply entitled “a psalm of David”.

“O Jehovah, who shall sojourn in Thy tent? Who shall dwell in the hill of Thy holiness? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart; he slandereth not with his tongue nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against him that is near him; in his eyes a reprobate [is] despised and the fearers of Jehovah he will honor; he hath sworn to his hurt, he will not change; he hath not put his money to usury, and a bribe against the innocent he hath not taken. He that doeth these things shall never be moved” (1-5).

These are “the wise” in contrast with “the fool” of the preceding psalm. It is not the sinner converted to God by grace, as we may see even in Psa. 25; 32 It is the character that grace forms in the remnant for the Kingdom, described positively (2) and negatively (3), and this again (4, 5). The heavenly life which should be in the Christian (and this not dissociated from earthly duties) is not here before us; but the relative responsibilities which a Jew (or any other) would surely neglect without the true fear of God; and the more in a religion of outward observances.

Psalms, Book 1, Psalms 16-18

Next follows a deeply affecting group, in which Christ appears, more evidently perhaps than in Psa. 8, and as distinctly as in Psa. 2 This is marked in the first and last of the three.

Psalm 16

“Michtam of David,” a heading of doubtful import, which means “golden” or “jewel,” or both, according to many. It is without doubt David's writing, but of Christ, Who is here seen taking His place personally with God among the godly Jews here below. “Preserve Me, O God [El], for in Thee put I My trust. Thou hast said unto Jehovah, Thou [art] the Lord, My goodness [is] not to Thee; unto the saints that are on the earth and the excellent, all My delight [is] in them” (ver. 1-3). Deigning to be man, He is the perfectly dependent and trusting One (compare Isa. 8 and Heb. ii.). He identifies Himself here with the saints and the excellent on the earth, as we know He did when He took His place to be baptized in Jordan, to the astonishment of the Baptist; as to which Matt. 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18 afford inspired illustration, one might say comment. Jehovah is loyally owned as the Lord. This is what Christ said to Him. In the place He had freely taken, the bondman's place, He would not put Himself on a level with the Master; He said, “My goodness [is] not to Thee.” He was here to obey, not to assert co-equality. So He would not be called “Good Master” by one that knew not who He is, only what He became. None the less, but the more, was His heart with the feeblest of Israel who turned to the God of Israel in genuine repentance, though He needed none, but John rather to be baptized of Him. Therefore said He to such, “All My delight [is] in them.” “Their sorrows shall increase [who] have hastened after another: I will not pour out their drink-offerings of blood, and will not take their names upon My lips. Jehovah is the portion of Mine inheritance and My cup; Thou maintainest My lot. The lines have fallen unto Me in pleasant places, yea, I have a goodly portion. I will bless Jehovah Who hath counseled Me; also by night My reins have instructed Me. I have set Jehovah before Me always; because He is at My right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore My heart hath been glad and My glory [tongue, or soul] rejoiceth; My flesh also shall lie down in confidence. For Thou wilt not leave My soul to Sheol, Thou wilt not suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show Me the path of life, fullness of joys in Thy presence, pleasures at Thy right hand forever” (ver. 4-17.). It is Messiah's trust in Jehovah through life and death into resurrection and glory. Associated with the saints, He had His hope in God only and forever, and was shown the path of life, resurrection-life, and joy. It is glory in His presence for Christ.

Psalm 17

Here consequently Christ takes His place with the godly in contrast with the wicked and oppressive. It is rather righteousness before God and from Him, than grace in dependence on Him, and being with Him. “A prayer of David: Hear the right, O Jehovah, attend unto my cry: give ear unto My prayer [which is] not out of lips of deceit. My judgment goeth forth from Thy presence; Mine eyes behold that which is right. Thou host proved My heart, Thou hast visited Me by night; Thou hast tried Me, Thou shall find nothing; have purposed, My mouth shall not transgress. As to the works of men, by the words of Thy lips I have watched the paths of the violent [maul, to hold fast My feet in Thy paths; My footsteps were not moved. I have called upon Thee, for Thou answeredst Me, O God [El]; incline Thine ear unto Me; hear My speech, distinguish Thy mercies [O Thou] Who by Thy right hand savest those that trust from those that rise up [against them]. Keep Me as the apple of the eye; Thou wilt hide Me under the shadow of Thy wings, from the wicked who oppressed Me; Mine enemies in soul will surround Mc. They are shut up with their fat; [with] their mouths they speak in pride. [In] our steps they have now surrounded us; their eyes they set to stretch over the earth. His likeness [is] as a lion: he longeth to tear in pieces, and as a young lion sitting in secret places. Arise, O Jehovah, go before his face, cause him to bend down: deliver my soul from the wicked [man], Thy sword; from men, Thy hand, O, Jehovah, from men of the world (age): their portion [is] in this life, and with Thy treasure Thou fillest their belly; they are satisfied with sons and leave their abundance to their babes. As for Me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied in awakening with Thy likeness” (ver. 1-15).

It will be observed, that though right is appealed to, there is no vengeance any more than self-seeking, but reliance on Jehovah. As regards the saints, it answers to Rom. 8:2-9, as the preceding psalm to Rom. 5:2. The one is more inward, the other rather display; but both are entire trust in God. Hence deliverance is looked for here, not in Psa. 16

Psalm 18

“To the chief musician, by a servant of Jehovah, by David, who spoke to Jehovah the words of this song in the day Jehovah delivered from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul; and he said, I will love Thee, O Jehovah, My strength. Jehovah [is] My high rock and My fortress and My deliverer; My God [El], My rock, I will trust in Him; My shield and horn of My salvation, My refuge. Worthy to be praised will I call Jehovah, and from Mine enemies shall I be delivered. Pains [cords] of death encompassed Me, and streams of Belial terrified Me. Pains of Sheol surrounded Me, snares of death fell upon Me. In my distress I called upon Jehovah, and unto My God I cry for help; from His temple He heareth My voice, and My supplication before Him cometh into His ears. Then the earth shaketh and trembleth, and the foundations of mountains are moved; they are shaken because He was angry. Then went up a smoke in His anger, and fire out of His mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. And He boweth the heavens and cometh down, and darkness [is] under His feet. And He rideth upon a cherub and flieth: yea, He flieth upon wings of the wind. He maketh darkness His covering, His tent round about Him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness before Him the thick clouds passed away: hail and coals of fire. And Jehovah thundereth in the heavens hail and coals of fire. And He sendeth His arrows and scattereth them, and lightning in abundance and discomfited them. And the beds of the waters are seen, and the foundations of the world are made bare through Thy rebuke, O Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils. He reacheth forth from above, He calleth Me, He draweth Me out of great waters. He delivereth Me from strong enemies and from My haters, for they were stronger than I. They fell upon Me in the day of My trouble; but Jehovah was My stay. And He bringeth Me forth into the wide place; He delivereth Me because He delighted in Me. Jehovah recompenseth Me according to My righteousness; according to the cleanness of My hands He requiteth Me. For I have kept the ways of Jehovah and have not wickedly departed from My God. For all His ordinances were before Me, and I did not put away His statutes from Me. And I am upright before Him and keep Myself from Mine iniquity. And Jehovah requiteth Me according to My righteousness, according to the cleanness of My hands before His eyes. With the merciful Thou showiest Thyself merciful, with the upright man Thou showest Thyself upright. With the pure Thou showest Thyself pure, and with the perverse Thou showest Thyself contrary. For Thou savest an afflicted people and lofty eyes Thou bringest down. For Thou lightest My lamp; Jehovah My God enlighteneth My darkness. For by Thee I run [through] a troop, and by My God I leap over a wall. [As for] God, His way is perfect; the word of Jehovah [is] tried: a shield [is] He to all that trust in Him. For who [is] God beside Jehovah? and who is a rock except our God? It is God [El) that girdeth Me, with strength, and He maketh My way perfect. He maketh My feet like hinds, and upon My high places He causeth Me to stand, instructing My hands for the war; and a bow of brass is bent [by] mine arms. And Thou givest unto Me a shield, Thy salvation; and Thy right hand upholdeth Me, and Thy meekness maketh Me great. Thou enlargest My steps under Me, and Mine ancles have not slipped. I pursue Mine enemies and overtake them, and I turn not back till they are destroyed. I break them in pieces, and they are not able to rise; they fall under My feet. And Thou girdest Me with strength for the battle, Thou causest to bow down under Me those that rise up against Me. And Mine enemies—Thou turnest their back to Me; and My haters—Thou wilt destroy them. They cry for help, but there is no deliverer—unto Jehovah, but He answereth them not. And I bruise them as dust before the wind, and as mire of the streets I pour them out. Thou deliverest Me from the strivings of the people; Thou makest Me the head of Gentiles: a people that I have not known serve Me. At the hearing of the ear they obey Me; sons of a stranger feign submission to Me. Sons of a stranger fade away, and they tremble out of their enclosed places. Jehovah liveth, and blessed [is] My rock, and exalted the God of My salvation, the God [El] that avengeth Me and subdueth peoples under Me, My deliverer from Mine enemies: yea, Thou hast lifted Me up from among those who rise up against Me, from a man of violence Thou deliverest Me. Therefore I give thanks unto Thee, O Jehovah, among the Gentiles, and unto Thy name I sing praises. Great deliverances He giveth to His King, and showeth kindness to His Anointed, to David, and to His seed forever” (vers. 1-50).

Here again we have the Messiah, and this not so much as having His joy in God, or looking for righteous vindication in resurrection glory, but as identifying Himself from first to last, with Israel's history from Moses to David, and to His own reign yet future as David's greater Son. Thus viewed (and less or other than this is not the truth) it is a grand close and complement of the two psalms before it. It is strictly Jewish, as any unprejudiced must see. Even “Mine iniquity” in ver. 23 (Heb. 24) is no real difficulty, as it is allowed to mean, not indwelling sin which it never does, but that evil which was in His way, from which He absolutely kept Himself. Others indeed were naturally prone to it, He never and in no respect. We see how truly the suffering Christ is the final and full Deliverer of Israel, and the Head of the Gentiles too—glories to come. But in all their affliction He was afflicted, and in association with Israel, (not only in atonement for us) knew the sorrows of death. The psalm however contemplates Him as the delivered One at the beginning long before He delivers at the end. This the Jews have failed and refuse to see. The veil is still on their heart. But the day is at hand when their heart will turn to the Lord, and the veil be taken away. Meanwhile we who now believe in the rejected but risen and glorified Christ triumph in that grace which has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ; and so we await the day when Zion's light shall come and the glory of Jehovah rise on her. Surely He Will hasten it in its time.

Psalms, Book 1, Psalms 19-21

The next group of Psalms has the common character of testimony, culminating in Psa. 22, which however, as expressing the expiatory sufferings of our Lord and their results may be viewed apart. Here again after the introduction of Psa. 19 the Messiah is prominent.

Psalm 19

It is inscribed “to the chief musician: a psalm of David.” “The heavens [are] telling the glory of God, and the expanse [is] showing the work of His hands. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. No speech and no words—their voice is not heard. To all the earth their line is gone forth, and their speech unto the end of the world: in them hath He set a tent for the sun; and He [is] a bridegroom going forth from his chamber; He rejoiceth as a mighty man to run the race. From the end of the heavens [is] His going forth, and His circuit unto their ends, and there is nothing hidden from its heat” (ver. 1-7). It is the witness of creation, especially of what is heavenly, and therefore universal. The heavens, with the day, the night, and the sun, bear their testimony for God to all mankind. Here we may note the beautiful propriety of the apostle's citation in Rom. 10 for sovereign indiscriminate mercy in the gospel; as of our Lord in Matt. 5:45 when enjoining grace to the worst independently of desert and in contradistinction from legal injunctions. Here therefore “God” only is spoken of. Man is in view.

But there is another testimony to the greater value and more restricted character, of the law of Jehovah, which is set out in the rest of this striking psalm. “The law of Jehovah [is] upright, restoring the soul; the testimony of Jehovah [is] true, making wise the simple. The precepts of Jehovah [are] right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of Jehovah [is] pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of Jehovah [is] clean, standing forever; the judgments of Jehovah [are] truth, they are righteous altogether, to be desired more than gold, yea, than much fine gold, and sweeter than honey and the dropping of the honey-comb. Moreover by them is Thy servant warned, in keeping them [is] great reward. Errors, who discerneth? Cleanse me from hidden [ones]; moreover from presumptuous [ones] keep back Thy servant: let them not have dominion over me. Then shall I be upright and be clean from great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before Thee, O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer” (ver. 8-15). Here not the work of God is in question, but His word Who has covenant with His people on earth. It is the godly man's estimate of what was divinely given to act on the conscience. Its excellent powers are confessed, not only in its intrinsic qualities but as expressive of God's nature and authority, and hence above all pleasant and prized. There is needed admonition, God's people being what and where they are, and serving Him withal. Hence one cannot discern his wanderings, but desires cleansing, and entreats to be kept from what is presumptuous, feeling that secret snares unjudged expose to great transgression, and that what is acceptable to God in word and heart is above all to be cultivated. But if He be Rock and Redeemer, why distrust?

Psalm 20

This, again, is the personal Witness for the God-fearing Jew, Messiah in the day of trouble. “To the chief musician, a psalm of David.” “Jehovah hear thee in the day of trouble: the name of the God of Jacob set Thee up on high; may He send Thee help from the sanctuary and sustain Thee from Zion; remember all Thine offerings and accept Thy burnt sacrifices (Selah); grant Thee according to Thy heart and fulfill all Thy counsels. We rejoice in Thy salvation, and in the name of our God set up a banner: Jehovah fulfill all Thy petitions” (ver. 1-6). It is not Messiah as Jewish unbelief and carnality conceived, but Messiah in the day of distress. How could it be otherwise if He were found in an ungodly people? But He is ever, whatever come, the faithful Witness: and God takes care to have those who see Him thus and love Him the more for it; whose heart is drawn to Him because He is so unworthily hated and despised. Hence the outburst of confidence which closes the psalm. “Now I know that Jehovah saveth His anointed [Messiah]: He answereth Him from the heavens of His holiness with the might of the salvation of His right hand. Some of chariots, some of horses, but we of the name of Jehovah our God make mention. They have bowed and fallen, but we have risen and keep ourselves upright. Save, Jehovah: may the King answer in the day we call “ (ver. 7-10). Thus the godly remnant in the latter-day trouble see Christ as their object and hope, where the ungodly are to fall under the deceit of the enemy and a willful king after their heart, son of perdition for himself and them. In the Messiah that disdains not but enters into Jacob's trouble they discern the Anointed of Jehovah, appreciate His piety God-ward as well as His desires and counsels which embrace them as His own. Hence their assurance of His triumph as identified with Jehovah's name and glory, and of the King's hearing them. They were learning the secret of His person.

Psalm 21

Here we have the answer to their desires, perhaps we may add to His also, as far as they could enter in. It too is “To the chief musician, a psalm of David.” “The king rejoiceth in Thy strength, Jehovah, and in Thy salvation how exceedingly doth He exult! Thou hast given Him His heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of His lips. Selah. For Thou hast met Him with the blessings of goodness; Thou hast set a crown of pure gold on His head. He asked life of Thee: Thou gavest [it] Him—length of days forever and ever. Great [is] His glory in Thy salvation: majesty and honor Thou puttest on Him. For Thou gavest Him blessings forever; Thou makest Him glad with joy by Thy countenance. For the King trusteth in Jehovah; and through the mercy of the most High He is not moved” (ver. 1-8).

As it was into their trouble the remnant saw the Messiah enter, and therefore prayed that He might be heard of Jehovah, so now in the Spirit of prophecy they behold in His deliverance and exaltation the answer to their petitions as to His. Indeed they see more—that Jehovah had not only heard and given, but gone beyond, and of Himself anticipated with the blessings of goodness, and, if He with death before Him asked life, gave length of days forever and ever. We may observe how completely Messianic all is, and bounded by Jewish hopes: not at all the far deeper truth of His eternal glory that dawned through the clouds of His rejection on those who so feebly followed to the cross and learned all better in the light of His heavenly place and of His person. This is our portion, and therefore should we be the last to slight and the first to understand the very distinct relations of the godly remnant of Jews who are to succeed us and take up His testimony for the earth when we shall have passed to heaven. It is the confusion of the earthly and the heavenly, of Jewish expectation in the Christian, that hinders our intelligence of either. Thus the enemy wrought from the beginning, first to hinder, then to darken and corrupt, the church; as all recovery, for such as by grace discern God's mind to do His will, is by seeing in Christ the key to all, for He is the Head of the church in the heavenly places, as surely as He is Messiah of Israel and Son of man to rule all nations. Distinguishing things that differ (and the difference is immense) is the secret of learning by the word and Spirit of God.

So we see that the second part of the psalm anticipates Messiah's proper action on His earthly foes. “Thy hand shall find out all Thine enemies; Thy right hand shall find out those that hate Thee. Thou shalt make them as a furnace of fire at the time of Thy presence; Jehovah shall swallow them up in His anger, and the fire shall devour them; their fruit shalt Thou destroy from the earth and their seed from among the sons of men. For they stretched out evil over Thee, they devised a wicked device, they could not accomplish [it]. For Thou makest them to turn their back (lit., shoulder), when Thou preparest Thy bow-strings against their face. Be exalted, Jehovah, in Thine own strength; we will sing and celebrate Thy power” (ver. 9-14).

Thus the opposition and enmity of those who would not have Him to reign over them are met by their overthrow and destruction before all; and Jehovah and His Anointed are identified, not more in public exaltation, than in the fire that devours their enemies. Messiah's sufferings at the hands of men bring sure and unsparing judgments on them, as surely as His glories follow His sufferings, though, none of Israel understood but the godly who merged in the church and rose to higher hopes and better blessings by the power of the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. So there will be godly ones to understand in the latter day after those who now compose the church are translated to meet the Lord. For when the heavenly counsels are fulfilled, at least virtually, the question of a godly people for the earth has to be solved; and these are the souls who will take up and make good the Jewish aspirations in that day, that the Lord may have not only His blessed associates on high, but hearts to welcome Him on earth for long eclipsed Zion.

Psalms, Book 1, Psalms 22-24

Though this group has been well regarded as associated with the three preceding psalms, they may also form appropriately their most impressive supplement and crown.

Psalm 22

In the first of them we hear Messiah bemoan His going down into the depth of suffering where none can follow, that shame and butt of man, the forsaken of God on behalf of guilty man, and very especially for the most guilty of all that said they saw, but rejected Him Who shone in fullness of light and love even for the blind that felt their need and cried to Him. Here it is not “the day of trouble” merely, but of God's abandoning His elect and beloved Servant that He might abandon none who repent and believe, and that He might proclaim pardon to the vilest in His name. It is Christ made sin; and then from the middle of 21 The resulting grace triumphant, as unmingled as the judgment which had befallen Him without mitigation, as described in the previous verses. It is therefore most fittingly His own voice exclusively that is heard, first in His lonely sorrow, then in the joy that imparts the fruits of His deliverance in an ever-widening circle: “to My brethren,” and “in the midst of the congregation” (22); next “in the great congregation” (25); then “all the ends of the earth” and all tribes of the Gentiles share the blessing and praise; and this abidingly. How striking the contrast with the result of Psa. 21! Both are perfectly in season.

“ To the chief musician, upon the hind of the dawn, a psalm of David. My God [El], My God [El], why hast Thou forsaken Me? [Why] far from My deliverance—the words of My roaring? O My God [El], I shall call by day and Thou wilt not answer, and by night and no silence for Me: and Thou [art] holy, inhabiting the praises of Israel. In Thee our fathers trusted; they trusted, and Thou deliveredst them. They cried to Thee and were delivered; in Thee they trusted and were not ashamed. But I [am] a worm and not a man, a reproach of men and despised of the people. All those that see Me mock Me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head: Roll Thyself on Jehovah; let Him deliver Him because He delighted in Him. For Thou [art] He that didst bring Me forth from the womb, causing me to hang from the breasts of My mother. Upon Thee was I cast from the womb: from the belly of My mother Thou [art] My God [El]. Be not far from Me, for trouble [is] near, for there is no helper. Many bulls have surrounded Me; mighty ones of Bashan have beset Me round. They gape upon Me with their mouths—a lion ravening and roaring. Like water I have been poured out, and all My bones have been separated; My heart is become like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels. My strength has been dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue is cleaving to My jaws; and in the dust of death Thou settest Me. For dogs have surrounded Me; a congregation of evil-doers have encompassed Me; they pierced My hands and My feet. I number all My bones. They look, they stare upon Me. They divide My garments among them, and upon My clothing they cast lots. But Thou, Jehovah, be not far off, O My strength, haste to My help. Deliver My soul from the sword, Mine only one from the power [hand] of the dog. Save Me from the lion's mouth. Yea, from the horns of the buffaloes Thou hast answered Me!” (ver. 1-21).

Here is the transition. At this point when He is transfixed, the Lord is conscious of being heard. He bows His head in death, His blood is shed. So it must be in atonement. Without this there would be no adequate offering for sin; but He Who so died can commend His soul to His Father, and say, It is finished. The verses that succeed express the deep joy of a deliverance out of such a death, commensurate with a death so unfathomable, which He first sings in the midst of those who share His rejection, and pursues with enlarging circles of blessing into the kingdom, though the fellowship then will not be so profound as that which is immediately consequent on His death and resurrection. Compare John 20:17-23; John 20: 26-29; and John 21:1-14.

“ I will declare Thy name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee. Ye that fear Jehovah praise Him, all ye the seed of Jacob glorify Him, and fear Him all ye the seed of Israel. For He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; and He hath not hidden His face from Him, and when He cried unto Him, He heard. Of Thee [cometh] My praise in the great congregation; My vows will I pay before those that fear Him. The humble eat and are satisfied; those praise Jehovah that seek Him your heart shall live forever. There shall remember and turn to Jehovah all the ends of the earth, and there shall bow down before Thee all the tribes of the Gentiles. For the kingdom [is] Jehovah's, and He ruleth among the Gentiles. All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and bowed down; before Him shall bend all those that descend to the dust, even he that kept not alive his soul. A seed shall serve Him: it shall be declared for Jehovah to the generation. They shall come and show His righteousness to a people that shall be born, that He hath done [it]” (ver. 22-31).

Such is this wondrous psalm; the sufferings that pertain to Christ, and the glories after these. Ne voice is heard throughout but Christ's; none could be with His atoning cries to God, though we may join in praising God and the Lamb, and are well assured that the truth that He was alone in those sorrows is the guarantee of that efficacious work, whereby all our evil is annulled and we stand in His acceptance as believers in Him, Who contrasts Himself with those before Him that cried and were heard. And how different all since, who if they fear have only to praise! Nothing but grace flows out of His atonement.

Psalm 23

Here it is not sufferings from man answered by judgments from God executed by Messiah; nor is it sufferings from God issuing in His blessing and His people's praise, yea from all that fear Him; but Jehovah's constant and tender care when death is still ravaging and the enemy not yet expelled, not His blessings only but Himself, proved and tested, faithful and good now and evermore. Though Christ was the Shepherd, yet He traversed the path Himself alone, absolutely dependent and perfectly confiding in His Father.

“ A psalm of David. Jehovah [is] My Shepherd: I shall not want. In pastures of tender herb He maketh me lie down, by the waters of rest He leadeth me. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou [art] with me: Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest before me a table, in the presence of mine adversaries: Thou hast anointed my head with oil: my cup [is] overflowing. Surely [or only] goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in Jehovah's house to length of days” (forever) (ver. 1-6).

Whatever the present power of evil, and the consequent trials of the faithful, Jehovah does not, cannot, fail in His love and care, but rather makes the things directed against His own the occasion of proving what He is for and to them, as He will forever.

Psalm 24

Lastly the One Who was really the Shepherd, but Who trod the wilderness in a trust and obedience and lowliness without parallel, is shown to be Himself Jehovah, the King of glory, when the earth and its fullness are manifested to be His on the overthrow of all hostile power.

“ A psalm of David. To Jehovah [belongeth] the earth and its fullness, the world and those that dwell in it. For upon the seas He founded it, and upon the rivers He establisheth it. Who shall ascend into Jehovah's mount, and who shall stand in the place of His holiness? The clean of hands, and pure of heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity and hath not sworn unto deceit. He shall receive blessing from Jehovah and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This [is] the generation of those that seek Him, that seek Thy face [in] Jacob (or [O God of] Jacob). Selah.” (ver. 1-6).

Thus we have all the earth in His hands Who suffered here, not only for righteousness and in love, but once for all for sins And here is proclaimed who is to be near Him in the day of His power here below: not Jews as such, for the mass were and are ungodly, nor of course Gentiles still more gross; but only the righteous whoever they may be, while of such Jacob according to immutable promise has the pre-eminence on earth.

Then follows the outburst of triumph. “Lift up, O gates, your heads, and be ye lifted up, O everlasting doors; and the King of the glory shall come in. Who [is] He, this King of the glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle. Lift up, O gates, your heads, and lift up yourselves, O everlasting doors, and the King of the glory shall come in. Who [is] He, this King of the glory? Jehovah of hosts, He [is] the King of the glory. Selah” (ver. 7-10). It is evidently the world-kingdom of our Lord and His Christ come in that day of dominion without limit or end, when the holy Sufferer is owned beyond dispute to be Himself Jehovah, the King of the glory which then dwells in the land of Israel, Jehovah that shall fight for them on their last siege as when He fought in the day of battle. Zech. 14

Psalms, Book 1, Psalms 25-28

Now that Christ's place in reference to the godly Jewish remnant has been fully developed from the position He took on earth till He be owned by-and-by in His glory as Jehovah (16-24), we have the experience formed by that revelation, and pre-eminently by the prophecy of Him crucified and atoning as made sin (22). This opens the heart to God as nothing else can. Only then can our sins be confessed without disguise or doubt.

Psalm 25

“Of David. Unto Thee, O Jehovah, do I lift up my soul. My God, in Thee have I trusted; let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, all those that wait on Thee shall not be ashamed; they shall be ashamed who deal falsely without a cause. Make me to know Thy ways, O Jehovah; teach me to know Thy paths. Lead me in Thy truth and teach me, for Thou [art] the God of my salvation; for Thee have I waited all the day” (vers. 1-5). Such is the introduction: the God-fearing wait on Jehovah, in contrast with the deceitful who shall know shame and everlasting contempt. Then follows the plea of mercy.

“Remember Thy tender mercies, O Jehovah, and Thy kindness, for they [are] from everlasting. The sins of my youth and my transgressions remember Thou not; according to Thy mercy remember Thou Me for Thy goodness' sake, O Jehovah. Good and upright [is] Jehovah; therefore He teacheth dinners in the way. He guideth the meek in judgment, and He teacheth the meek His way. All the paths of Jehovah [are] mercy and truth to those that keep His covenant and His testimonies. For Thy name's sake, O Jehovah, Thou wilt even pardon My iniquity, for it [is] great” (vers. 6-11). Can anything surpass this in the confidence of divine peace? It is the prospect by faith of Messiah suffering for sin that casts wholly on God's mercy; and the very greatness of the sin is openly urged as the reason for His pardon Whose thoughts are not ours, any more than our ways are His. He can well afford through that cross which emboldens the believer. Man's sin is too great for any one but the God that saves through Christ.

“Who [is] this—the man fearing Jehovah? He teacheth him in the way He chooseth. His soul abideth in goodness, and his seed shall inherit the earth. The confidence of Jehovah [is] for those that fear Him, and His covenant, to instruct them. Mine eyes [are] continually unto Jehovah, for He bringeth forth my feet from a net. Turn Thyself unto me and be gracious to me, for I [am] desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart have been enlarged: bring me out of mine afflictions. Look on mine affliction and my travail, and forgive all my sins. Look on mine enemies, for they are many; and they hate me with violent hatred. Keep my soul and deliver me; let me not be ashamed, for I have trusted in Thee. Integrity and uprightness shall preserve me, for I have waited on Thee. Redeem Israel, O God, from all his distresses” (vers. 12-22). The sinners whom Jehovah guides and teaches, as He forgives, are the meek who are to inherit, as they only have uprightness and integrity. This last is the burden of the companion psalm that follows. Psa. 25 is the first of the alphabetical psalms, though not strictly such; for two verses begin with the first letter (Aleph), and two with our R, two being omitted, and the last as well as the title being outside this order.

Psalm 26

“Of David. Judge me, O Jehovah, for I have walked in mine integrity, and in Jehovah have I trusted; I shall not slip. Prove me, O Jehovah, and try me; purify my reins and my heart. For Thy mercy [is] before mine eyes; and I have walked in Thy truth. I have not sat with vain men, and with dissemblers I go not. I have hated the congregation of evil-doers, and with the wicked I sit not. I wash my hands in innocency, and I compass Thine altar, O Jehovah, to proclaim with voice of thanksgiving and to declare all Thy marvelous deeds. O Jehovah, I have loved the habitation of Thy house and the place where Thy glory dwelleth. Gather not my soul with sinners nor my life with men of blood; in whose hands [is] an evil device, and their right hand is filled with a bribe. But for me I walk in mine integrity: redeem me and be gracious to me. My foot standeth in an even place; in the congregation will I bless Jehovah” (vers. 1-12). Integrity is the inseparable accompaniment of pardon. So will it be with the Jews in the end of the age: so it is with the Christian now. If there is faith, there is also repentance. The feast of unleavened bread goes with the paschal lamb. But sense of the need of grace is thereby deepened, not lost or lowered, for all born of God.

Psalm 27

Here, we begin exercises of heart corresponding with the remnant's view of Messiah thus known in measure; for it is only after they have seen Him and the Spirit is poured out afresh that they will enter into His work in power. It is the confidence inspired by the Spirit of Him Who was all alone in His sufferings for them. Now that there is integrity of heart as well as a purged conscience, they can boldly face the enemy.

“ Jehovah [is] my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? Jehovah [is] the stronghold of my life: of whom shall I be afraid? When evil-doers draw near against me to eat my flesh, mine adversaries mine enemies unto me; they, stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart cloth not fear; though war rise up against me, in this [am] confident. One [thing] I asked from Jehovah, that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of Jehovah and to inquire in His temple. For in the day of evil He will hide me in His tabernacle; in the secret of His tent will He secrete me; He will set me upon a rock. And now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me, and I will sacrifice in His tent sacrifices of joyful noise; I will sing, yea I will sing praises unto Jehovah” (vers. 1-6). Such is the starting-point, simple-hearted confidence in Jehovah, be the enemies who or what they may.

But there is trial felt and prayer poured out to Jehovah. “Hear, O Jehovah, my voice [when] I call; and be Thou merciful unto me and answer me. To thee My heart said, Seek ye My face: Thy face, O Jehovah, I seek; hide not Thy face from me, turn not away in anger Thy servant. Thou hast been my help: leave me not and forsake me not, O God of my salvation. For my father and may mother have forsaken me, but Jehovah receiveth me. Teach me Thy way, O Jehovah, and lead me in an even path because of watchers for me. Give me not unto the will of mine adversaries; for false witnesses are risen up against me, and he that breatheth out violence” (vers. 7-12). Such is the cry of distress, but of confidence withal funded on Jehovah's heart saying, Seek ye My face: a plea somewhat obscured in both the A. and R. versions as elsewhere. There is some difficulty because of Jehovah's call suddenly remembered and acted on; but when duly weighed, the resulting sense seems decidedly good and striking, whereas the ordinary way is confused and pointless.

The closing aposiopesis (as the figure is called) is beautiful. “If I had not trusted to look upon the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living! Wait for Jehovah; he strong and may He strengthen thine heart; yea, wait for Jehovah” (vers. 13, 14).

Psalm 28

This is a still more distressful cry, and more judicial in experiencing what the ungodly are. “Of David. Unto Thee, O Jehovah, do I call; my rock, be not silent to me, lest Thou be silent to me, and I become like unto those that go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry unto Thee, when I lift up my hands toward Thy holy oracle. Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the doers of iniquity, who speak peace with their neighbors and evil is in their hearts. Give unto them according to their deed and according to the evil of their works; according to the work of their hands give Thou to them; return their desert to them. For they regard not the deeds of Jehovah nor the works of His hands: He will destroy them and not build them up” (ver. 1-5).

Then comes the prophetic answer, on which they lay hold and rejoice. “Blessed [be] Jehovah, for He hath heard the voice of my supplications. Jehovah [is] my strength, and my shield; in Him hath my heart trusted, and I have been helped; my heart also exulteth and with my song do I praise Him. Jehovah [is] strength to him, yea a stronghold of the salvation of His anointed [is] He. Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance, and feed them and lift them up forever” (ver. 6-9).

Psalms, Book 1, Psalms 29-31

These psalms fall fitly together: not only so, but the first of the three appears to be an answer to the call in Psa. 28 For the encouragement of the faithful, Jehovah is proclaimed mightier than the mightiest, who are challenged to give Him glory. We see in the beginning of Job how the elements of nature as well as human passions may be left for a moment in the enemy's hand; but God is over all, and is faithful to His people; and all things work together for good to those that love Him.

Psalm 29

“ A psalm of David. Give unto Jehovah, ye sons of the mighty, give unto Jehovah glory and strength. Give unto Jehovah the glory of His name; bow down to Jehovah in the beauty of holiness. Jehovah's voice upon the waters! the God [El] of glory thundereth—Jehovah upon many waters. Jehovah's voice in the power! Jehovah's voice in majesty! Jehovah's voice breaketh cedars in pieces; Jehovah even breaketh the cedars of Lebanon; and He maketh them skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young buffalo (a son of buffalo). Jehovah's voice heweth out flames of fire. Jehovah's voice shaketh a wilderness, Jehovah shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. Jehovah's voice maketh the hinds to calve and layeth bare the forests; and in His temple every one (or everything) saith, Glory! Jehovah sitteth upon the flood, and Jehovah sitteth King forever. Jehovah giveth strength to His people, Jehovah blesseth His people with peace” (1-11). Magnificent in its range, it is a triumphant assertion of Jehovah's power asserted to bless Israel. But He has a temple where everyone says, Glory!— a center for His people who know His name, the revelation of what He is to them.

Psalm 30

Death however is beyond the powers of nature. There all ends, now that sin is come in, and with consequences yet more awe-inspiring and agonizing to the spirit. Hence the danger, for man who trusts human thoughts, of utter moral degradation in present enjoyment, with nothing but the darkness of despair before him. It was not so with the godly Jew who clung to God in hope of Messiah, though he too shrank back from death before the Advent; he had not passed that way heretofore. Yet it was his shame to doubt resurrection, whether of just or unjust, though his longing was for His reign Who annuls the power of death: even the book of Job clearly reveals the two resurrections, separate in time as well as character, as may be seen in chaps. 14 and 19. Altogether different and far superior is the ground of the Christian who in the death and resurrection of Christ reads his justification, is dead and risen with Christ already, and awaits with joy His coming to present him with Himself in the Father's house. Here it is but the deprecation of death, while the Jew learns the deliverance of Jehovah to be better than any prosperity He gave, or the strength He established in His favor for his mountain: a lesson of enduring praise. “A psalm and dedication song of the house, by David. I extol Thee, O Jehovah, for Thou hast drawn me up, and hast not made mine enemies to rejoice over me. O Jehovah my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me. Thou, O Jehovah, hast brought up my soul from Sheol; Thou hast kept me alive from going down to the pit. Sing praises unto Jehovah, ye His holy (gracious) ones, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness. For a moment [is] in His anger, a life in His favor: at even weeping lodgeth, and at the morn rejoicing. And for me, I said in my prosperity I shall not be moved forever. O Jehovah, in Thy favor Thou hast established strength for my mountain; Thou didst hide Thy face, I have been confounded. Unto Thee, O Jehovah, I call, and unto Jehovah I make supplication: what profit [is] in my blood, in my going down to corruption? Shall dust praise Thee? Shall it declare Thy truth? Hear, O Jehovah, and be gracious to me; O Jehovah, be a helper to me. Thou hast turned my lamentation into a dance; for me Thou hast loosed my sackcloth, and Thou girdest me with joy; so that glory may sing praise to Thee and not be silent. O Jehovah my God, forever will I give Thee thanks” (1-13).

Psalm 31

It is not triumph over the grave here, but the heart exercised in distress, and the Jew dying in the confidence which the proved knowledge of Jehovah gives. Hence the Lord did not hesitate to adopt its words for Himself at that moment (Luke 23:46), only substituting as became Him “Father” for Jehovah; as now He risen from the dead authorizes us to do in the faith of His redemption, as later the Spirit of adoption was given to be its power. But it is not as a whole His utterance, still less in resurrection power.

“ To the chief musician; a psalm of David. In Thee, O Jehovah, have I trusted; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Thy righteousness. Incline Thine ear to me, deliver me speedily; be a rock of strength to me, a house of defense to save me. For Thou [art] my rock and my fortress, and for Thy name's sake Thou guidest and leadest me. Thou bringest me forth from the net which they hid for me, for Thou [art] my fortress. Into Thy hand I commit my spirit; Thou hast redeemed me, O Jehovah God [El] of truth. I have hated those that observe lying vanities; and for me I have trusted in Jehovah. I will exalt and rejoice in Thy mercy, Who hast seen mine affliction; Thou hast known my soul in distresses. And Thou hast not shut me up in the enemy's hand; Thou hast set my feet in the large place. Be gracious with me, O Jehovah, for I am distressed; consumed with grief [is] mine eye, my soul, and my belly. For my life is wasted in sorrow and my years in sighing; my strength hath been feeble through mine iniquity, and my bones have been consumed. I have been a reproach among all mine oppressors, and especially to my neighbors, and a fear to mine acquaintances: they that saw me from without fled from me. I have been forgotten as a dead man from the heart: have been as a perishing vessel. For I have heard the slander of many; fear is round about when they consult together against me; they devised to take my life. But I have trusted in Thee, O Jehovah I have said, Thou [art] my God. My times [are] in Thy hand; deliver me from the hand of mine enemies and from my persecutors. Cause Thy face to shine upon Thy servant; in Thy mercy save me. O Jehovah, I shall not be ashamed, for I have called on Thee; the wicked shall be ashamed, they shall be silent in Sheol. The lips of falsehood shall be dumb, which speak against the righteous one insolently with pride and contempt. How great [is] Thy goodness which Thou hast laid up for those that fear Thee, [which] Thou hast wrought for those that trust in Thee before the sons of men! Thou hidest them in the secret place of Thy presence from the plots of man, Thou concealest them in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Blessed [be] Jehovah, for He hath made His mercy wonderful to me in a city of defense. And for me, I said in my haste, I have been cut off from before Thine eyes; surely Thou hast heard the voice of my supplication when I cried unto Thee. Love ye Jehovah, all His holy (gracious) ones. Jehovah preserveth the faithful, abundantly requiteth the proud doer. Be strong, and He will strengthen your heart, all ye that wait for Jehovah” (1-25).

The closing rise of the soul from verse 20 is very fine after varied trials, with solemn sense of the judgment awaiting persecuting foes and the haughty wicked. He realizes the pavilion of the divine presence, and the great goodness laid up for the God-fearing. It is the Spirit of Christ in the tried and delivered soul, rather than Christ personally.

Psalms, Book 1, Psalms 32-34

There is another want of the soul still deeper than the distress we have seen, deeper than death; the need that transgression be forgiven, that sin be covered by God, and that Jehovah should impute no iniquity. Thus only is guile effaced from the spirit. This is now prophetically announced; for it is not actually enjoyed till they look on their pierced Messiah: see Zech. 12 xiii. Self-justification on the contrary hinders all blessing.

Psalm 32

“ Of David: instruction. Blessed the one forgiven [as to] transgression, covered [as to] sin. Blessed the man to whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity, and in his spirit guile is not. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day. For by day and by night Thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture hath been changed into the droughts of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity I covered not. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto Jehovah, and Thou, forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. Because of this shall every godly one pray unto Thee at a time of finding: surely in a flood of great waters unto him they will not draw near. Thou art a hiding place for me; Thou preservest me from distress; Thou surroundest me with shouts of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way wherein thou shalt go; I will counsel—Mine eye upon thee. Be ye not as a horse, as a mule, [in which] there is no understanding: with bit and bridle his mouth is to be held in lest one come near unto thee. Many sorrows [hath] the wicked; but he that trusteth in Jehovah, mercy shall surround him. Be glad in Jehovah and rejoice, ye righteous; and shout for joy, all ye upright of heart” (vers. 1-11).

It is indeed an “instruction.” The Jew had long resisted genuine confession without which as there is no truth of heart, no integrity, so also there can be no sense of divine forgiveness, though of course all were vain without Messiah made sin on the cross. But at length he does confess, and Jehovah forgives plenteously, verses 3, 4 showing how painfully he was forced by grace to that point. If verse 7 gives the heart's consequent expression of confidence in Jehovah, verse 8 is the consoling and strengthening answer. Verses 9, 10 are an exhortation which the assured Jew addresses to all around, closing with a call to the righteous and upright in heart to rejoice and be glad in Jehovah. We know how the apostle in Rom. 4 was led to use the introductory verses in the most unrestricted way to illustrate the gospel of God. Its blessedness through Christ dead and risen comes on all that believe. It is in reserve for Israel in the latter day, when they bowing to Jesus at length confess their sins.

Psalm 33

This is clearly a pendant on its predecessor and begins where it left off, carrying on the joy and praise.

“ Shout for joy, ye righteous in Jehovah: praise [is] comely for the upright. Give ye thanks unto Jehovah with the harp; with a psaltery of ten strings sing ye praises unto Him. Sing unto Him a new song; be skilful to play with shouting. For Jehovah's word [is] upright, and all His works in truth. He loveth righteousness and judgment. The earth is full of Jehovah's mercy. By Jehovah's word heavens were made and by breath of His mouth all their host. He gathereth together as the heap waters of the sea; He putteth deeps in storehouses. All the earth shall fear because of Jehovah; all inhabitants of the world shall be afraid because of Him. For He said, and it was; He commanded, and it stood. Jehovah hath made void the Gentiles' counsel; He hath broken the devices of the peoples. Jehovah's counsel shall stand forever, His heart's devices to all generations. Blessed the nation, whose God [is] Jehovah, the people He hath chosen to Himself for an inheritance. From the heavens Jehovah beheld; He saw all the sons of Man. From the place of His dwelling He looked upon all the inhabitants of the earth, He Who formeth their heart together, Who considereth all their works. The king is not saved by the multitude of a host; a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. Vanity [is] the horse for safety, and by greatness of his might will he not deliver. Behold, Jehovah's eye [is] toward those that fear Him, to those that hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in the famine. Our soul hath waited for Jehovah; He [is] our help and our shield. For in Him our heart shall rejoice, for in the name of His holiness have we trusted. Thy mercy, O Jehovah, shall be upon us according as we have hoped in Thee” (vers. 1-22).

When deliverance, and especially of an inward sort, is known, joy flows. Jehovah in word and deed is manifest and celebrated. The nations, once dreaded, are nothing before Him. Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah, Whose counsel alone stands when theirs is made void. He saw all, when it seemed not. His eye is toward those that feared Him and hoped in His mercy, as the remnant did. He would have His people happy in the knowledge of Himself; and Israel will know Him in displays of power on their behalf here below. We ought to know our God still better, viewing the cross of Christ in the light of His heavenly glory. Compare John 15:9-14.

Psalm 34

This again is a distinct advance on the preceding psalm, beautiful and seasonable as it is. For here it is the heart rising from the most abject circumstances, if we heed the title, to bless Jehovah at every season; as the afflicted are expected to join when they hear. It is full of encouragement founded on proved deliverance.

“ Of David, in his changing his judgment (i. e., feigning madness) before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he went. I will bless Jehovah at all times, His praise continually in my mouth. In Jehovah shall my soul glory; the afflicted (or poor) shall hear and rejoice. Magnify ye Jehovah with me, and let us extol His name together. I sought Jehovah, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto Him, and they shone, and their faces were not confounded. This afflicted one called, and Jehovah heard; and out of all his distresses He saved him. Jehovah's angel encampeth around those that fear Him, and delivereth them. Taste ye and see that Jehovah [is] good: blessed the man that trusteth in Him. Fear Jehovah, ye His holy ones; for there is no want to those that fear Him. Young lions have been in want and hungered; but those that seek Jehovah shall not lack any good thing. Come, ye sons, hearken unto me I will teach you fear of Jehovah. Who [is] the man that desireth life, loving days that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Jehovah's eyes [are] upon the righteous, and His ears toward their cry. Jehovah's face [is] against those that do evil, to cut off their remembrance from the earth. They cried, and Jehovah heard, and from all their distresses He delivered them. Jehovah [is] near to those of a broken heart, and He saveth those of a contrite spirit. Many [are] the distresses of a righteous one, and out of them all Jehovah delivereth him, keeping all his bones; not one of them hath been broken. Evil shall destroy a wicked one; and those that hate a righteous one shall incur guilt (or condemnation). Jehovah redeemeth the soul of His servants, and none of those that trust in Him shall incur guilt” (ver. 1-23).

It may be noticed that vers. 6-10 appear to be, not so much a continuation of what inspired David had been drawing from his experience, as an episode of the Spirit of Christ confirming and deepening all. From ver. 11 The psalmist pursues his task with a heart now the more inviting others to join the chorus of praise. Ver. 20, we know, was literally true of the Lord, though Ex. 12 seems rather the scripture referred to in John 19

Psalms, Book 2, Psalms 35-37

These psalms are occupied with the evil, not only so hostile to the righteous, but so wicked in God's sight and against His rights, as we see in Psa. 35 As usual, it is the Spirit of Christ guiding the remnant in feeling and estimating all relatively to their state and position. It is not at all Christ personally simply suffering all to God's glory, nor the members of His body as now in the power of the Spirit having the moral mind which was in Him. Here He pleads for judgment on the wicked which will surely come to deliver the Jews. We have His portion as caught up to heaven entirely apart from it, and previously suffering with Him and it may be for Him.

Psalm 35

“ Of David. Strive, O Jehovah, with mine adversaries; fight with them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and arise for my help, and draw out the spear, and shut [the way] to meet my pursuers: say unto my soul, Thy salvation [am] I. They shall be ashamed and put to shame that seek after my soul; they shall be driven backward and confounded who devise my hurt. They shall be as chaff before the wind, and Jehovah's angel overthrowing [them]. Their way shall be dark and slippery, and Jehovah's angel pursuing them. For without cause have they laid for me a pit, their net; without cause have dug [it] for my soul. Let destruction come upon him unaware, and his net which he hid catch him; in to destruction let him fall. And my soul shall rejoice in Jehovah and be joyful in his salvation. All my bones shall say, O Jehovah, Who [is] like Thee, delivering a poor one from him that is stronger than he, and a poor and needy from him that spoileth him? False witnesses rise up; they ask me things which I know not. They requite me evil for good, bereaving to my soul. And for me, when they were sick, my clothing [was] sackcloth; I humbled my soul with the fasting, and my prayers returned into my bosom. As [to] a neighbor, as a brother to me, I behaved myself. As mourning a mother, mourning I bowed down. But in my halting they rejoiced and were gathered together; the slanderers were gathered together, and I knew it not; they tore and ceased not, with profane mockers for bread gnashing their teeth upon me. O Lord, now wilt Thou see? Restore my soul from their destructions, mine only one from young lions. I will give Thee thanks in the great congregation and in a mighty people I will praise Thee. Let not mine enemies rejoice over me falsely, [nor] my haters without cause wink the eye. For they speak not peace; and against the quiet ones of the earth (or land) they devise deceitful words. And they opened wide their mouth upon me; they said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen. Thou hast seen, O Jehovah; be not silent, O Lord, be not far from me. Arouse Thyself and awake for my judgment, my God and my Lord, for my cause. Judge me according to Thy righteousness, O Jehovah my God, and let them not rejoice over me. Let them not say in their heart, Aha our soul! Let them not say, We have swallowed him up. They shall be ashamed and confounded together who rejoice at my hurt; they shall be clothed with shame and reproach that magnify themselves against me. They shall shout for joy and rejoice that delight in my righteousness, and they shall say continually, Jehovah be magnified Who delighteth in the peace of His servant. And my tongue shall celebrate Thy righteousness, Thy praise all the day” (ver. 1-28).

Psalm 36

This Psalm follows up the last in the expression given to the enormous evil of the wicked, but with the comfort of the still richer, deeper, higher, blessedness of what Jehovah is for His own. Why then doubt or fear?

“ To the chief musician; of Jehovah's servant, of David. The transgression of the wicked one uttereth in the midst of my heart, There is no fear of God before his eyes, For he hath flattered himself in his own eyes to find his iniquity hateful. The words of his mouth [are] falsehood and deceit; he hath left off to be wise, to do well. He deviseth falsehood upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way [that is] not good; he abhorreth not evil.

“ O Jehovah, Thy mercy [is] in the heavens, and Thy truth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness [is] as the high mountains (of God, El), Thy judgments a, great deep: man and beast Thou preservest, O Jehovah. How precious Thy mercy, O God! And the sons of men shall trust in the shadow of Thy wings. They shall be drenched with the abundance of Thy house, and Thou shalt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures. For with Thee [is] the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see light. Continue Thy mercy to those that know Thee, and Thy righteousness to the upright in heart. Let not the foot of pride come unto me, and let not the hand of the wicked move me. There have fallen the workers of iniquity: they have been thrust down and are not able to rise” (ver. 1-13).

Psalm 37

This beautiful psalm is a moral and, one might say, aphoristic application from the wicked and his doom to the profit of the righteous who can abide in Jehovah. It has an alphabetic order not carried out perfectly.

“ Of David. Fret not thyself at the evil-doers; be not envious at the workers of iniquity. For like grass they are speedily cut off, and like the greenness of the tender herb they fade. Trust in Jehovah, and do good; dwell in the land (or, earth) and feed on truth (or faithfulness). Delight thyself also in Jehovah, and He will give thee the requests of thy heart. Roll thy way upon Jehovah; trust also in Him, and He will do [it]; and He will bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in (or be silent to) Jehovah, and wait patiently for Him; fret not thyself at him that prospereth in his way, at the man that doeth wicked devices. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not thyself—only to do evil. For evil doers shall be cut off; and those that wait for Jehovah, they shall inherit the land. And yet a little, and the wicked one is not; and thou considerest his place, and he (or, it) is not. And the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundance of peace. The wicked one deviseth mischief against the righteous one and gnasheth his teeth upon him. The Lord laugheth at him, for He hath seen that his day is come. A sword have the wicked drawn, and they have bent their bow, to cause the poor and needy to fall, to slay the upright in way. Their sword shall come into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. Better [is] little to the righteous one than the abundance of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but Jehovah upholdeth the righteous. Jehovah knoweth the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the time of evil, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. For the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of Jehovah as the fat of lambs; they have vanished, into smoke they have vanished. The wicked one borroweth and payeth not, but the righteous hath compassion and giveth. For His blessed ones shall inherit the land, but His accursed ones shall be cut off. By Jehovah the steps of a man are established, and He delighteth in his way. If he falleth, he is not cast down, for Jehovah upholdeth his hand. I have been a youth, I have also become old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. All the day [is he] gracious and lending, and his seed for a blessing. Depart from evil and do good, and dwell forever. For Jehovah loveth judgment and forsaketh not His saints: forever are they kept, but the seed of the wicked is cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and shall dwell forever upon it. The mouth of the righteous meditateth wisdom and his tongue speaketh judgment, The law of his God [is] in his heart; none of his steps slide. The wicked lieth in wait for the righteous and seeketh to kill him. Jehovah will not leave him in his hand, and will not condemn when he is judged. Wait for Jehovah and keep His ways, and He will exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see [it]. I have seen the wicked strong and spreading himself like a native tree green; and he passed away and, behold, he was not; and I sought him, and he was not found, Mark the perfect, and behold the upright, for the latter end to [that] man [is] peace; but the transgressors shall be destroyed together, the latter end of the wicked shall be cut off. And the salvation of the righteous [is] from Jehovah; [He is] their refuge in the time of trouble. And Jehovah helpeth and delivereth them; He will deliver them and save them, because they have trusted in Him” (ver. 1-40).

As the preceding psalm rises as far as was possible under the law, though of course only in faith, to enjoy mercy and loving-kindness in God, yea the fatness of His house and the river of His pleasures, wonderfully suggestive of what is our portion as Christians—the communion of the Father and the Son in the power of the Spirit, here we are shown the blessedness of faith in the moral government of God, which delivers from fretfulness no less than envy—a government which is yet to be displayed in “the land” as nowhere else. But it is ever true in its principles, though for the Christian now in a less visible way. Hence the allusions to the psalm in the N. T., as citations from Psa. 34 in 1 Peter 3. The Lord Himself refers to it in Matt. 5.

Psalms, Book 2, Psalms 38-39

These two psalms constitute a pair, distinct from and rightly following those that precede, and as duly followed by Psa. 40; 41 They do not express the path of the just sustained by trusting in Jehovah, and tried in the face of confident prosperous enemies, with the land in full view spite of all. Here it is the far deeper distress under Jehovah's anger because of sins. Nevertheless God is unhesitatingly looked to in the sense of His arrows and utter corruption in themselves. This is carried out yet more in the companion psalm, where it is rather the sense of self, and man at large, being mere breath or vanity, and all under God's consuming hand; but the hope is in the Lord, as before in Jehovah.

Psalm 38

“ A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. O Jehovah, rebuke me not in Thine anger, nor chasten me in Thy hot displeasure. For Thine arrows have entered into me, and Thy hand hath come down upon me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of Thine anger; there is no peace in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities have passed over my head; as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds have stunk, they have dissolved, because of my folly. I have been bowed down, I have been brought low to the utmost, all the day have I walked mourning. For my loins are filled with burning, and there is no goodness in my flesh. I have been feeble and broken to the utmost, I have groaned because of the groanings of my heart. O Lord, before Thee [is] all my desire, and my sighing is not hid from Thee. My heart hath panted and my strength hath left me, and the light of mine eyes—even they are not with me. My lovers and my neighbors stand aloof from my stroke, and my kinsman have stood afar off. And those that seek after my soul have laid snares, and those that seeking hurt have spoken mischievous things, and all the day do they meditate deceits. But I as a deaf [man] hear not, and I am as a dumb [man that] openeth not his mouth. And I am as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in Thee, O Jehovah, do I hope: Thou wilt answer, O Lord My God. For I said, Lest they rejoice over me! at the moving of my foot they magnified themselves against me. For I am ready to halt, and my pain [is] continually before me. For I will declare mine iniquity, I am afflicted because of my sin. But mine enemies of life [i.e., deadly ones] are strong, and those that hate me falsely [i.e., without a cause] are multiplied. And those that render evil for good will oppose me because of my pursuing good. Forsake me not, O Jehovah; O my God, be not far from me. Make, haste to my help, O Lord my salvation” (ver. 1-23).

Though there is no right ground for ancients or moderns applying this psalm to Christ, yet His Spirit breathes unequivocally through it as through all. Indeed without questioning the peculiar comfort it will prove to the godly Jew when awakened in the latter day to feel its value, it is most suitable to the Christian suffering under the chastening hand of the Lord for folly and sin. Then is the time to cherish confidence in Him, as the Christian may do even more deeply and dropping all thought of enemies save of a spiritual kind. We can cry even then, Abba, Father.

Psalm 39

“ To the chief musician, to Jeduthun; a psalm of David. I said, I will keep my ways, from sinning with my tongue; I will keep a muzzle for my mouth, while the wicked is before me. I was dumb in silence, I held my peace from good, and my sorrow was stirred. My heart glowed in my midst; in my meditation the fire burned: I spoke with my tongue, Make me know, O Jehovah, mine end, and the measure of my days, what it [is]; let me know when I shall cease. Behold, spans hast thou given my days, and my age as nothing before Thee. Surely all a breath [is] every man standing firm. Selah. Surely in an image doth a man walk; surely a breath are they disquieted; he will heap up and not know who shall gather them. And now what wait I for, O Lord? My hope [is] in Thee. From all my transgressions deliver me; a reproach of the fool do not set me. I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; for Thou hast done [it]. Remove from me Thy stroke: from the conflict of Thy hand I am consumed. With chastisement for iniquity Thou correctest man, and consumest like the moth his vanity [or, delights]; surely a breath [is] every man. Selah. Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, and to my cry give ear; at my tears be not silent: for a stranger [am] I with Thee, a sojourner, like all my fathers. Look from me, and let me brighten up, before I go and am no more” (vers. 1-13).

As the saint felt nothing before God, and therefore checked himself in presence of the wicked, so much the more could he speak, when the fire burned, in turning to Jehovah Who was using His stroke for correction, and this of iniquity. He owned himself a stranger and sojourner like saints of old, his fathers. To be strong and great here below was not his desire, but in his weakness he would be dependent on Jehovah. This closes the exercises of heart expressed to God by the tried godly. A vast change appears when Christ is introduced personally, as we shall see in the psalms that follow.

Psalms, Book 2, Psalms 40-41

Here again we have a pair of psalms, where Christ appears unmistakably, even if the latter be not so exclusively personal as the former, in which Christ chants His deliverance in connection with Israel and the earth. Hence Psa. 40 is more mixed with judgment at the close than we hear in Psa. 22. But His coming as incarnate to do God's will in the setting aside of the sacrificial system by His own obedience unto death is as plain as all-important.

Psalm 40

“ To the chief musician: a psalm of David. Waiting I waited for Jehovah, and He bowed to me and heard my cry. And He brought me up from a pit of noise, from the miry clay, and set my feet on a rock; He fixed my steps. And He put in my mouth a new song, praise to our God: many shall see and fear and trust in Jehovah. Blessed the man that hath made Jehovah his trust and hath not turned to proud [men] and swerving to falsehood. Great things hast Thou done, O Jehovah my God; Thy wondrous deeds and Thy thoughts toward us none can set in order unto Thee: would I declare and speak, they are more than can be numbered. Sacrifice and oblation Thou didst not desire; Mine ears didst Thou dig; burnt-offering and sin-offering Thou didst not ask. Then said I, Behold, I come—in the roll of the book it is written of Me—to do Thy will, O My God; and Thy law [is] within My heart. I published righteousness in the great congregation. Behold, I will not refrain My lips, O Jehovah, Thou knowest. Thy righteousness I hid not within My heart; Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation I declared; I concealed not Thy mercy and Thy truth from the great congregation. Thou, O Jehovah, wilt not withhold Thy compassions from Me; let Thy mercy and Thy truth always preserve Me. For evils innumerable compassed upon Me, My sins have overtaken Me, and I am unable to see. They are more than the hairs of My head, and My heart hath forsaken Me. Be pleased, O Jehovah, to deliver Me; O Jehovah, for My help hasten. Ashamed and confounded together be [those] that seek after My soul to destroy it: driven back and disgraced be [those] that delight in My hurt; desolate for a reward of their shame be [those] that say to Me, Aha, Aha. Let all that seek Thee be glad and rejoice in Thee; let those that love Thy salvation say always, Jehovah, be magnified. And I poor and needy—Jehovah thinketh on Me; My help and Deliverer [art] Thou; O My God, delay not” (vers. 1-18).

Psalm 41

“ To the chief musician: a psalm of David. Blessed he that payeth heed to the poor one; in the day of evil Jehovah will deliver him. Jehovah will preserve him and keep him alive; he shall be blessed in the land [or, earth]; and give him not up to the will of his enemies, Jehovah will sustain him on the couch of languishing; all his bed Thou hast turned in his sickness. As for me, I said, O Jehovah, be merciful to me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee. Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die and his name perish? And if he come to see, vanity he will speak, his heart gathereth iniquity to itself, he goeth abroad, he speaketh. Together against me, all that hate me whisper; against me they devise my hurt. A word [or, matter] of Belial is poured into him, and he that lieth down will no more rise. Even a man of my peace, in whom I confided, eating my bread, lifted up [or, magnified] the heel against me. But Thou, O Jehovah, be merciful to me, and raise me up, and I will requite them. By this I know that Thou delightest in me, because mine enemy shall not exult in me. And as for me Thou upholdest me in mine integrity and settest me before Thy face forever. Blessed [be] Jehovah the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen” (vers. 1-14).

That this psalm embraces Christ as betrayed by Judas is beyond dispute. He indeed was the One Who being rich made Himself poor for His own.

Psalms, Book 2, Psalms 42-44

The second collection of the Psalms begins here and closes with Psa. 72 It is characterized by the prevalence of “Elohim,” as the first by that of “Jehovah “: not of course that Jehovah is absent from Book II. or that Elohim is lacking in Book I., for both occur where they are required in these books; but that the predominance of each divine term appears as just stated. Of this a comparison of Psa. 14 with Psa. 53 is a striking illustration to the sober enquirer. Yet in Psa. 14 “God” is used thrice appropriately; in Psa. 53 it is uniformly and with no less propriety “God,” and in no case Jehovah.

The reason underlying this difference is not the superficial assumption of two authors thus distinguished, which Psa. 14 dissipates as mere windy talk, but that the second book contemplates the Jews as driven from Jerusalem, and the house of God then in possession of His enemies both Gentile and Jewish. Those whose cry to Him is given in these psalms of book II. are no longer in the enjoyment of the ordinary privileges of the covenant through the apostacy of Jewish as well as the oppression of Gentile foes. Hence they are cast on the Unfailing faithfulness, mercy, and goodness of God. Thereby a deepening work goes on in their souls, as they learn more of what God is intrinsically when His outward blessings are cut off and the worst evil seems to prosper; and this most painfully to them, in the circumcised still in Jerusalem, under the man of sin seating himself as God in the temple of God.

Hence we may notice that the sons of Korah appear first in the inscriptions, though there are many of David, that most fertile of singers and with the most varied experience expressed in his songs; and Asaph is not wanting, though abundant in book 3 where a few psalms for the sons of Korah come in before the end. It suffices here to recall the awful crisis in Israel's history when Korah's sons were saved so as by fire. Compare Num. 16 with Num. 26:11. Mercy that day gloried against judgment, as it will in the future when the power of evil appears so overwhelming that judgment might appear the sole possible issue. If testimony fails to Jehovah for the present, God cannot cease to be God and infinitely good; and who more suited to sing than the delivered sons of the rebellious Levite? So it was in a measure in David's time, when most clouded; so it will be in days to come, when all things come out definitively and fatally for man on earth, before the Man of Peace reigns over it publicly in power.

In harmony with this peculiarity even Messiah is acknowledged in this book as “God,” and His throne as forever and ever, Psa. 45:7 (6); yet the same psalm both before and after fully shows His manhood, and consequently both blessing and anointing by God. This may be a difficulty to an unbeliever; it is the essential truth of His person to every Christian's heart. But as a whole it is a clear anticipation of His Messianic victories and reign, yet suitably to the book of which it forms a part. So Most High occurs in Psa. 46; for His supremacy is before the heart at that fearful time when “God” is the sole refuge, no matter what the desolations, no matter how the nations rage. In the psalm following Most High is coupled not with El, but with Jehovah, and this a call to all the peoples, though “God” is still the prevailing term.

So it is even in the touching psalm of Messiah's sufferings (69): He begins with “God” and ends with “God,” though Jehovah occurs with the usual fitness. It is even so in the closing psalm “of Solomon,” the beautiful melody for the millennial day, when “the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” Christ had sorrows set forth in Psa. 69, no less than in Psa. 22 which is the characteristic psalm of His sufferings suitable for book 1. As Christians we are entitled to enter into His mind in both; but it ought to need no argument to prove that the latter has a closer application to ourselves (especially in vers. 22-24, A. and R. Vv.); whereas Psa. 69 passes by our present blessing, and anticipates the judgment of His foes and God's saving Zion and building the cities of Judah, when heaven and earth praise Jehovah, the seas and everything that moved.) therein. The death and the resurrection of Christ do not appear in this book; but in Psa. 68 is His exaltation on high that He might dwell among the rebellious: what grace to them what glory His!

Psalm 42

“To the chief musician. Instruction. For the sons of Korah. As the hart longeth after the brooks of water, so my soul longeth after thee, O God. My soul hath thirsted for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been food for me by day and by night, whilst they say unto me all the day, Where [is] thy God? These things I remember and pour out my soul within me, how I passed with the crowd, and went on with them to the house of God, with the voice of singing and praise, a festive multitude. Why art thou cast down, my soul, and disquieted within me? Wait for God, for I shall yet praise him [for] the help [or, health, lit. salvations] of his countenance. My God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore do I remember thee from the land of the Jordan and the Hermons, from mount Mizar. Deep calleth to deep at the noise of thy cataracts; all thy breakers and thy rollers are gone over me. By day Jehovah will command his lovingkindness, and by night his song shall be with me, a prayer unto the God of my life! I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of mine enemy? With a sword in my hones mine oppressors have reproached me, when they say unto me all the day, Where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Wait for God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance, and my God” (vers. 1-12).

Psalm 43

“Judge me, O God, and plead my cause with an ungodly nation; from a man of deceit and iniquity deliver me. For thou art the God of my refuge; why hast thou cast me off? Why do I walk mourning under the oppression of the enemy? Send out thy light and thy truth: they shall lead me, they shall bring me unto the mountain of thy holiness and unto thy tabernacles. And I will go unto the altar of God, unto God the gladness of my joy; and I will give thanks unto thee on the harp, O God, my God. Why art thou cast down, my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Wait for God, for I shall yet praise him, the help of my countenance, and my God” (vers. 1-5).

These are clearly companion psalms, and so under one title. The prophetic aspect is the remnant cast out or fled: compare with Matt. 24:15 et seqq., Mark 13:14 &c., Joel 2:17. The historic occasion was when David and his faithful following abandoned Jerusalem under Absalom's conspiracy. The closing days of our Lord had in the highest degree this character, though modified by other considerations; for what sorrows had not He, the Holy One of God? Yet the former of the twain is more general and looks at Gentile enemies as much as or more than any; whereas the force of the later psalm is the complaint against the Jews as “an ungodly nation.” Professedly holy (in the sense here of piety from being the object of divine mercy), they had none; they were now goi lo-chasid. How true, yet how bitter, that the driven out godly ones should so speak to God of the chosen people! And so in fact it will be. The one psalm without the other could not adequately express the grief of the remnant at this juncture, when the Antichrist sets up the abomination of desolation in the sanctuary, instigated and protected the Beast (or Emperor of the Western powers). See Rev. 13 The thirst here is to drink once more of the waters, whence the abominable amalgam of Gentile self-will and Jewish apostacy had driven them out; so they confidently expect from God Who cannot deny Himself, and loves His people.

Psalm 44

“To the chief musician. For the sons of Korah. Instruction. O God, with our ears have we heard, our fathers have declared unto us the work thou didst work in their days, in the days of old. Thou by thy hand didst drive out the Gentiles, and plant them; thou didst evil to nations, and didst spread them out. For not with their sword did they inherit the land, nor did their arm deliver them; but thy right hand and thine arm and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst pleasure in them. Thou [art] he, my King, O God; command deliverances [lit. salvations] for Jacob. By thee will we push down our adversaries; in thy name will we tread under foot them that rise up against us. For not in my bow will I trust, and my sword shall not save me. For thou hast saved us from our adversaries, and those that hate us thou hast put to shame. In God have we praised all the day, and we will give thanks to thy name forever. Selah.”

“But thou hast cast off and put unto shame and goest not forth with our hosts. Thou had made us turn back from the adversary, and those that hate us have spoiled for themselves. Thou givest us as sheep [for] food, and among the Gentiles hast Thou scattered us. Thou sellest thy people for naught [lit. without wealth], and hast not increased by their price. Thou settest us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and a derision to those that are around us. Thou settest us a by-word among the Gentiles, a shaking of the head among the nations. All the day my shame [is] before me, and the confusion of my face hath covered me, for the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth, because of the enemy and avenger. All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, and we have not been false in thy covenant. Our heart is not turned back, nor hath our step declined from thy path, that thou hast broken us in the place of dragons [or, jackals] and hast covered us with death-shadow. If we have forgotten the name of our God and have stretched out our hands to a strange god, will not God search this out? For he knoweth the secrets of the heart. For because of thee are we killed all the day; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Awake: why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise, cast not off forever. For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly cleaveth to the earth. Arise, a help unto us, and redeem us because of thy mercy” (vers.. 1-27).

From their now outcast condition, which they knew to be just, they cry to God, Who had done all the good their fathers had ever experienced; and God abides the same, he is their God.

Psalms, Book 2, Psalms 45-49

The first group continues to 49 which is a sort of homily concluding them. As the saint in the extreme trial endured could only look to God as his King (44:5), here we have the prophetic intervention immediately following. It is of course in the Messiah that the kingdom of God is anticipated. His personal grace is celebrated; His divine nature and glory, at the very time that He is anointed by God as man above His companions; for such He has and will have. But it is His triumph and rule and association with the godly Jews, no longer cast out of all but honored beyond all that had been in the psalmist's days of Israel; and Jerusalem is no longer trodden down by Gentiles, no more desolate and sitting on the ground, but the city of righteousness, the faithful city, the queen at Messiah's right hand in fine gold of Ophir. The virgins her companions are presumably the cities of Judah; and the peoples to give thanks forever are the nations of that future day in relationship with the Jews. It is in no way the Bride, the Lamb's wife in heavenly glory. (Rev. 19-22)

Psalm 45

“To the chief musician upon Shoshannim [or lilies]; for the sons of Korah; instruction, a song of loves. My heart hath overflowed [with] a good matter; I am declaring my works to the king: my tongue [is] the pen of a ready writer. Thou hast been very fair above the sons of men; grace hath been poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee forever. Gird thy sword upon the thigh, O mighty one, thy glory and thy majesty; and [in] thy majesty ride prosperously for the cause of truth and meekness of righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows [are] sharpened—the peoples fall under thee—in the heart of the king's enemies. Thy throne, O God, [is] forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness [is] the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy. companions. Myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, [are] all thy garments; from palaces of ivory stringed instruments have gladdened thee. Daughters of kings [are] among thine honorable women; at thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir. Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear; and forget thy people and thy father's house. And the king will greatly desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him. And the daughter of Tire with a gift, the rich of the people, shall entreat thy face. All glorious [is] the king's daughter within; of gold embroidery [is] her clothing: in needlework she shall be led to the king; the virgins after her, her companions, shall be brought unto thee. They shall be led with rejoicings and gladness; they shall enter into the king's palace. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons, thou shalt set them for princes in all the earth [or, land]. I will make mention of thy name throughout all generations; therefore peoples shall give thee thanks forever and ever” (vers. 1-18).

Psalm 46

This is the calm but joyful answer to the taunts of all their foes without who asked, Where is thy God? Their refuge and strength, their refuge in distress very readily found, God is owned Most High and Jehovah of hosts, the God of Jacob, but God as He is in His own nature exalted among the nations and in the earth.

“To the chief musician, for the sons of Korah, upon Alamoth, a song. God [is] to us a refuge and strength, a help in distresses exceedingly found. Therefore will we not fear in changing of the earth and in moving of mountains into the heart of the seas. Its waters roar, they are troubled; the mountains tremble with its pride. Selah. [There is] a river; its streams make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. God [is] in her midst: she shall not be moved: God shall help her at the dawn of morning. Gentiles raged, kingdoms were moved; he uttered his voice, the earth melted. Jehovah of hosts [is] with us; the God of Jacob [is] a refuge unto us. Selah. Come, behold the works of Jehovah, who hath set desolations in the earth; he breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear; he burneth the chariots in the fire. Be still and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the Gentiles; I will be exalted in the earth. Jehovah of hosts [is] with us, the God of Jacob [is] a refuge unto us. Selah” (vers. 1-12).

Psalm 47

Here there is more: a call to all the peoples who seek association to join in their triumph and joy, but the deep sense that it is God Who has rights and glory on the earth; and therefore all is of grace to those whom He loved, and for whom He chose their inheritance. It is the millennial day which faith sees and sings.

“To the chief musician, for the sons of Korah, a psalm. Clap your hands, all ye peoples, shout unto God with voice of rejoicing. For Jehovah Most High is terrible, a great king over all the earth. He destroyeth peoples under us, and nations under our feet. He chooseth our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he hath loved. Selah. God hath gone up with a shout, Jehovah with the voice of a trumpet. Sing praises unto God, sing praises unto our king. For king to all the earth [is] God; sing psalms of instruction [or, understanding]. God hath reigned over the Gentiles, God hath sat down upon the throne of his holiness. The princes of the peoples are gathered together [with] the people of the God of Abraham; for unto God [belong] the shields of the earth; he hath been greatly exalted” (vers. 1-10).

Psalm 48

The remnant rise in the expression of their faith and can now begin with Jehovah, as they see the vision of Zion in its beauty and glory, and all confederacies confounded, yea, vanished away. It is an advance even on the last. The glory of the king penetrates as it were place and people. So predicted Isa. 2; 60; Mic. 4; 5, Zech. 14.

“A song, a psalm for the sons of Korah. Great [is] Jehovah and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, the hill of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth [is] the mount Zion, [on] the side of the north, the joy of the great king. God hath been known in her palaces as a refuge. For lo! the kings met, they passed through together, they saw, so they wondered, they were terrified, they fled in alarm. Trembling seized them there, pain as of one bringing forth. With an east wind thou hast broken the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so we have seen, in the city of Jehovah of hosts, in the city of our God; God will establish her forever. We have meditated, O God, on thy mercy in the midst of thy temple. According to thy name, O God, so [is] thy praise unto the ends of the earth; of righteousness is thy right hand full. Mount Zion rejoiceth, the daughters of Judah exult because of thy judgments. Surround ye Zion and encompass her; count ye her towers. Set your heart to her rampart; consider her palaces, that ye may recount it to the generation following. For this God [is] our God forever and ever; he will direct us until death” (vers. 1-15).

Psalm 49

This is a word of exhortation founded on the moral truth of the crisis just surveyed. The Jews understood not God's ways more than the Gentiles, and hence the abominable amalgam at the end of the age which is fast approaching. Both idolize present wealth and power, ease and honor: God will be in the thoughts of neither. But as a vapor all passes away that is not of God and in God and with God, and nothing is apart from Christ. Only God can and does raise from the dust of death; and as we know this now for heaven, so the godly Jews at the close will learn and preach as here for the earth, the honored ones to welcome Him when He comes to take Zion and all the earth.

“To the chief musician, for the sons of Korah, a psalm. Hear this, all ye peoples, give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together. My mouth speaketh wisdom, and the meditation of my heart [is] understanding, I incline mine ear to a parable, I open upon a harp my riddle. Why should I fear in days of evil? The iniquity of my supplanters surroundeth me, those trusting in their wealth and boasting themselves in the multitude of their riches. In no way can a man redeem a brother, nor give to God a ransom for him (and precious [is] the redemption-price of their soul and it hath ceased forever), that he should still live forever and not see corruption [or, the pit]. For he seeth [that] wise men die; together the fool and the brutish man perish and have left their wealth to others; their inward [thought is] that their houses [are] forever, their dwelling-places to generation and generation; they have called their lands after their own names. But man in honor abideth not; he hath become like the cattle; they have been cut off. This their way [is] folly for them; yet those who come after them will take pleasure in their words. Selah. Like the sheep are they laid in Sheol: death feedeth upon them, and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; but their comeliness is for Sheol to consume, that there be no dwelling for it. Surely God will redeem my soul from the hand of Sheol, for he will take me. Selah. Fear not when a man becometh rich, when the glory of his house increaseth. For he taketh not all this away when he dieth; his glory shall not descend after him. Though he blessed his soul in his life (and men will praise thee when thou doest good to thyself), it [his soul] shall go to the generation of his fathers: they shall never see light. Man in honor and not understanding becometh as the cattle that perish” (vers. 1-21).

Psalms, Book 2, Psalms 50-54

A new series appropriately follows in this cluster of Psalms, which opens with God's summons of His people to judgment; and this calls forth the remnant's confession of corruption and blood-guilt, in both acknowledging the insufficiency of legal sacrifice and offering without brokenness of spirit and confidence in divine grace. In Zion we have an instruction that takes the shape of a plaint against their violent and deceitful oppressor with the assurance of his destruction on God's part, Who will deliver and bless His godly ones in His lovingkindness forever. Then comes the moral exposure of the lawless one, but in terms which the apostle in Rom. 3 applies to those under the law; for indeed the Jews as a mass will be first as their chief, the son of perdition; and the heart of a sinner, where not law only but Christ in grace is abandoned, is no better than an Antichrist; and this is morally true since the cross and the rejection of the gospel. The sense of this in the remnant turns by the Spirit into desire for Israel's salvation when God has scattered the bones of the foes who beleaguered the object of His choice. In Psa. 54 the Spirit of Christ identifies the godly with Himself in resting every expectation on the name of God when covenant mercies are gone; but the end is thanksgiving to Jehovah when He has delivered the godly Jew out of all trouble in the displayed judgment of his enemies.

“A psalm of Asaph. God (El), Elohim-Jehovah, hath spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God will come and not be silent: a fire before him shall devour, and around him it shall be tempestuous. He calleth to the heavens from above and to the earth to judge his people. Gather unto me my saints making my covenant by (over) sacrifice. And the heavens declare his righteousness, for God [is] judge himself. Selah. Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify unto (against) thee: God, thy God, [am] I. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices and thy burnt offerings continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, [nor] he-goats out of thy folds. For mine [is] every beast of the forest, cattle upon a thousand hills; I know every bird of the mountains, and the wealth of the field [is] mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee, for mine [is] the world and its fullness. Shall I eat the bulls (strong ones), and drink the blood of he-goats? Sacrifice unto God thanksgiving and pay unto the Most High thy vows: and call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and the), shalt glorify me. And to the wicked God saith, What [is it] to thee, to declare my statutes? And thou hast taken my covenant into thy mouth, and thou hast hated correction, and hast cast my words behind thee. When thou saweth a thief, thou didst take pleasure in him, and with adulterers [was] thy portion. Thy mouth thou hast sent (let loose) unto evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sitteth, thou speakest against thy brother; against thy mother's son thou utterest slander.

These things hast thou done, and I kept silence, thou thoughtest I was altogether like thee. I will reprove thee and set (them) in order before thine eyes. Now consider this, forgetters of God (Eloah), lest I tear in pieces, and there be no deliverer. He that sacrificeth praise glorifieth me, and to him that ordereth [his] way will I show the salvation of God” (vss. 1-23).

Psalm 50

“To the chief musician a psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him after he went unto Bathsheba. Be gracious unto me, O God, according to thy mercy; according to the multitude of thy compassions blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sins. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is continually before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and have done the evil in thy sight (eyes); that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, and be near when thou judgest. Behold, in iniquity was I born, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou hast desired truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden [part] thou wilt make me to know wisdom. Thou wilt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; thou wilt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Thou wilt make me to hear joy and gladness; the bones thou hast broken shall rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create for me a pure heart, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out from thy presence, and the spirit of thy holiness take not from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and let a free spirit uphold me. I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall turn unto thee. Deliver me from blood, O God, God of my salvation; my tongue shall celebrate thy righteousness. O Lord, thou wilt open my lips, and my mouth shall declare thy praise. For thou delightest not in sacrifice, else would I give it; in burnt offering thou dost not take pleasure. The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit; a heart broken and contrite, O God, thou wilt not despise. Do good in thy good pleasure to Zion; thou wilt build the walls of Jerusalem. Then thou shalt delight in sacrifices of righteousness, burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar” (vss. 1-21).

Plainly these two psalms are closely bound together, though the first is a public and general summons, the second a private and personal confession, which at the end the godly remnant will take up as their own in view of corruption and the blood shedding of the Messiah, the great transgression. Real godliness is requisite, not sacrifice, in the former; in the latter not sacrifice but genuine repentance. Ceremonial observances are in vain, when God judges us even on the earth, yet more for eternity. Boasting of the law serves only the more to condemn the sinner

Psalm 52

“To the chief musician upon Mahaleth; a psalm of instruction of David, when Doeg the Edomite went in, and told Saul and said to him, David went to the house of Ahimelech. Why boastest thou thyself in evil, O mighty man? The mercy of God [is] all the day. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs, as a sharp razor, working deceit. Thou hast loved evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking righteousness. Selah. Thou hast loved all words of destruction, O tongue of deceit. God shall also destroy thee forever; he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of tent, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah. The righteous also shall see and fear, and laugh at him. Behold the man (strong one) that made not God his strength, but confided in the abundance of his riches; he strengthened himself in his wickedness. But for me, I [am] like a green olive-tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise thee forever, for thou hast done [it], and I will hope in thy name, for it is good before thy saints (vss. 1-9).

As we had the saints brought to renounce ceremonies as a substitute for righteousness and repentance, now we have the treacherous enemy portrayed, and the saints in their helpless exposure suffering, but delivered by the destruction that falls on the Edomite at the end, when good shall flourish like the olive and give thanks forever.

Psalm 53

“To the chief musician upon Mahaleth; a psalm of instruction of David. The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They have corrupted themselves, they have done abominable iniquity; there is none doing good. God looked down from the heavens upon the sons of man to see if there were one understanding, seeking God. Every one hath departed; together they are become corrupt; there is none doing good, there is not even one. Have not the workers of iniquity known, eating my people [as] they have eaten bread? They called not upon God. There have they greatly feared [where] no fear was; for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee. Thou hast put [them] to shame, for God hath rejected them. Who will give; out of Zion the salvation of Israel? When God turneth the captivity of His people, Jacob shall rejoice, Israel shall be glad” (vss. 1-8).

This is the great folly of man, but most guiltily among the Jews, denying Him to Whom we owe all, Who had above all chosen and favored them. Their fear is to come, whatever their contempt and hatred of God's people now. As for the righteous, they had no reason to fear: God's judgment will fall when least expected. And His word proclaims it across the ages.

Psalm 54

“To the chief musician upon Neginoth (stringed instruments); a psalm of instruction of David, when the Ziphites went in and said to Saul, Is not David hiding himself with me? O God, by thy might judge (vindicate) me. O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors sought after my soul; they set not God before them. Selah. Behold, God [is] a helper for me; the Lord. [is] with them that uphold my soul. He will requite the evil to my adversaries: in thy truth cut them off. With a freewill offering I will sacrifice unto thee; I will praise thy name, O Jehovah, for [it is] good. For out of trouble, he delivered me; and mine eye hath looked (seen its desire) upon mine enemies” (vss. 1-9).

The name of God (Elohim) will be everything in that dark hour to the godly Jews in the latter day, when they find themselves driven away by their apostate brethren amalgamated with the lawless Gentiles, and Antichrist at their head. God's. name is the revelation of what He is, and to this they cling in faith, when they have lost all else. As they besought by it, so they will give thanks and praise it when it emerges as Jehovah (ver. 8), in the power and glory of His day when His hand makes good what His mouth had spoken.

Psalms, Book 2, Psalms 55-58

These psalms continue in various forms the feelings produced by Christ's spirit in circumstances which look on to the last crisis when the godly Jews suffer from Antichrist and his partisans, especially in Jerusalem and the land. David had these trials in the case of Absalom, and Ahithophel; our Lord far more deeply through the treachery of Judas. But the Spirit of prophecy links all that is past with the coming hour, when the outward oppression and inward apostasy bring the sense of evil at its worst on the true-hearted Jews; and God is more and more looked to as the result, not man or circumstances, not only to sustain the sufferers in patience, but to bring in deliverance and blessing in power.

Psalm 55

“To the chief musician, on Neginoth (stringed instruments): an instruction of David. Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not thyself from my supplications. Attend unto me and answer me. I am restless in my plaint and moan, because of the noise of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked; for they cast iniquity upon me, and in anger they persecute me. My heart is pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Who will give me a wing as the dove? I would fly away and be at rest. Behold, I would flee far off, I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah. I would hasten my escape from stormy wind, from tempest. Swallow up, O Lord, divide their tongues; for I have seen violence and strife in the city. Day and night they surround it upon its walls; and iniquity and mischief are in its midst. Mischiefs [are] in its midst; and so oppression and deceit depart not from its streets. For [it was] not an enemy reproached me: then I had borne [it]; neither did he that hateth me magnify [himself] against me: then hidden myself from him; but thou, a man mine equal, mine intimate, my familiar! we who together sweetened counsel, in the house of God we walked in the throng. Let death seize on them, let them go down alive [to] Sheol. For evils [are] in their dwelling, in their midst. As for me, unto God will I call; and Jehovah will save me. Evening and morning and noon I will complain and moan; and he will hear my voice. He redeemed my soul in peace from the war against me, for many were [contending] with me. God will hear and answer [afflict] them—he that is seated of old, Selah—who have no changes and feat not God. He put forth his hands against those at peace with him; he profaned his covenant. Smooth was the butter [words] of his mouth, and war his heart; his words were softer than oil, and they [were] drawn swords. Cast upon Jehovah thy burden (what he giveth thee), and he will sustain thee; he will not suffer the righteous one to be moved. And thou, O God, wilt bring them down to the pit of corruption: men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days. But for me, I will trust in thee” (ver. 1-24).

It was an awful time for a godly Jew to feel and to say that the wilderness was better than the city; but so it is here. The worst was within, in the nearest circle. How Christ was moved at this, John 13 testifies. But it looks onward to a day of more literal and wider accomplishment. In all their affliction He was afflicted. Divine judgment alone will solve and fulfill all.

Psalm 56

“To the chief musician, as the silent dove of the distant, Michtam; when the Philistines took him in Gath. Be gracious unto me, O God; for man would swallow me. up; all the day fighting he oppresseth me. They that lie in wait for me would swallow [me] up all the day, for many fight proudly against me. The day I am afraid I will trust in thee. In God will I praise his word. In God have I trusted, I will not fear: what can flesh do unto me? All the day they wrest my words; all their devices [are] against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they mark my steps while they wait for my soul. Shall they escape iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, O God. Thou, countest my wanderings: put my tears in thy bottle; [are] they not in thy book? Then shall mine enemies turn back in the day I shall call: this I know, for God [is] for me. In God will I praise [the] word; in Jehovah will I praise [the] word. In God have I trusted, I will not fear: what shall man do unto me? Upon me, O God, [are] thy vows: I will render thank-offerings unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: [wilt thou] not [deliver] my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living” (ver. 1-14).

This is a distinct advance on the overwhelming anguish of the preceding psalm, where the cry to God comes late, and confidence is attained only at the close. Here the soul begins with an appeal to His mercy; and enemies are in view, without the aggravated bitterness of traitors in those who were once near friends. The haughty fighting of foes threw him in the day of his fear on God, and, what is more, on His word as especial ground of praise. All this our Lord knew more calmly and profoundly; and this is our portion, the, clearer to us as impressed with His name, as the Spirit is given us to make it good. But the godly Jews will also know what God's word is in their day of supreme trial when imposture and blasphemy succeed existing incredulity and superstition.

Psalm 57

“To the chief musician; Al-tascheth (destroy not), of David, Michtam, on his fleeing from Saul in the cave. Be gracious unto me, O God, be gracious unto me; for my soul [is] trusting in thee; and in the shadow of thy wings will I trust until mischiefs (or calamities) shall pass. I will call unto God most High, unto God that perfecteth for me. He will send from the heavens rand save me (he that would swallow up reviled! Selah). God will send His mercy and His truth. My soul [is] in the midst of lions; I will lie down with those on fire, the sons of men, their teeth spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be exalted above the heavens, O God, above all the earth thy glory! A net they prepared for my steps; my soul was bowed down; they digged a pit before me they fell into the midst of it. Selah. Fixed [is] my heart, O God, fixed my heart: I will sing, yea I will sing psalms (play). Awake, my glory! awake, lute and harp! I will wake the dawn (or with it). O Lord, among the peoples, I will give thee thanks. For thy mercy [is] great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God, thy glory above all the earth!” (ver. 1-12).

In this psalm, the evidently close companion of Psa. 56, the progress of soul in confidence is more complete. It is no longer the plea, “for man would swallow me up,” but the quiet assurance, “for my soul is trusting in thee.” And God's word was not praised in vain. Intervention from heaven is counted on, God's loving-kindness too and truth, with the grand result of His exaltation above the heavens, and His glory above all the earth. All things work together for good to those that love Him, as the godly remnant will; and as we do now by grace.

Psalm 58

“To the chief musician, Al-tascheth, of David, Michtam. Silence indeed! do ye speak righteousness? Do ye judge equitably, sons of men? Yea, in heart ye work iniquities; in the earth ye weigh the violence of your hands. The wicked are estranged from the womb; they err from the birth (belly), speaking lies. They have poison after the likeness of the poison of a serpent, as the deaf adder which stoppeth its ears, which will not hearken to the voice of enchanters, of one charming charms most wise. O God, destroy their teeth in their mouth; shatter the great teeth of the young lions, O Jehovah. Let them melt away as waters, let them go away. He will send his arrows as at those cut off. As a snail melteth, let them pass; as abortion of a woman, let them not see the sun. Before your pots feel a thorn, whether green or burning, he will whirl them away. The righteous one shall rejoice, for he hath seen vengeance; his steps he shall wash in the blood of the wicked one; and a man shall say, Surely the righteous one has fruit; surely there is a God judging in the earth” (ver. 1-12).

Here we have the solemn warning of the righteous, and the call of God to execute that judgment on the living wicked which will deliver the godly Jew of the future and clear the earth for the reign of Him Who is alike Son of David and Son of man, and with divine complacency as He is Son of God, yea the true God and Eternal Life. It is inconceivable that any unprejudiced mind could fail to see that the psalm, the due sequel of those before it, expresses not in the least the sentiments proper to those that now confess the Divine Savior and are therefore the sharers of His long-suffering grace toward the evil and injurious, but the desire for long-slumbering and righteous vengeance of God on the iniquity that will then rise to a prouder lawlessness than ever. The time for patience will then he past; and most holy will it be for those who then fear God and are in the secret of His ways to pray for His judgment on His and their enemies (they are in truth the same). And the time is at hand; and the Spirit gives them to anticipate it, whilst preserving them from carnal measures. Even a tear of the eye God puts into His bottle, as the figure is, and His vows are on them—they are consciously devoted to Him. They look for His exaltation above the heavens, for His glory above all the earth; but this, not as Christians do by being gathered together to Christ on high, but by His crushing destruction of the wicked here below, who would have swallowed them up. Lions they may be, and with the poison of serpents; yet they melt as snails when He appears in His glory, and the sword that proceeds from His mouth prepares the scene for the throne of His glory over the earth. Israel will be the vessel of God's earthly righteousness in that day; as we ought to express the grace and glory of Christ in heaven now. Hence the godly Jew rightly utters his satisfaction at the terrible things in righteousness with which the God of their salvation will answer their prayer.

Psalms, Book 2, Psalms 59-63

The next two psalms are part of the group which began with 55., itself closely following in spirit those that precede, in which we do well to trace the varying shades of iniquity in their enemies which by the Spirit of Christ had a blessed counterpoise in God's ways toward them, as we see historically in David with his adversaries within and without. All things work together for good to those that love God, though we by grace learn in light what the godly Jews spell out in the dark. God is the defense, “the God of my mercy.” Evil never improves but grows worse till divine judgment. And God is right in our defeat, for evil is then in us even if unperceived: else He would uphold the banner He has given us. He cannot sustain pride in His people but dependence only. Even so faith looks to God and will surely receive His deliverance.

Psalm 59

“To the chief musician, Al-tashheth (destroy not), of David, Michtam, when Saul sent, and they watched the house to put him to death. Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God; set me on high from those that rise up against me. Deliver me from doers of iniquity, and save me from men of blood. For, behold, they laid wait for my soul; strong ones assemble against me: not my transgression, not my sin, O Jehovah. Without iniquity they run and set themselves: awake to meet me, and see. And thou, Jehovah, God of hosts, God of Israel, arise to visit all the Gentiles; be gracious to no traitors of iniquity. Selah. Let them return at the evening, let them howl like the dog, and go around the city. Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords [are] in their lips; for who heareth? But thou, Jehovah, wilt laugh at them; thou wilt mock at all the Gentiles. His strength! I will watch for thee, for God is my high place. The God of my mercy will come to meet me; God will make me gaze on mine enemies. Slay them not, lest my people forget; scatter them in thy power and bring them down, O Lord our shield. The sin of their mouth [is] the words of their lips; and they shall be taken in their pride, and for cursing and falsehood they will tell. Consume in wrath, consume [them], and let them be no more; and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob to the end of the earth. Selah. And at the evening let them return, let them howl like the dog, and go around the city. They shall wander for food; if they be not satisfied, then they tarry all night (or murmur). And for me, I will sing of thy strength, and will in the morning shout for joy of thy mercy; for thou hast been a high place to me, and a refuge in the day of trouble to me. O my strength, unto thee will I sing psalms, for God is my high place, the God of my mercy” (verses 1-18).

As it is the Gentiles or heathen who are here before the heart, Jehovah God of hosts, the God of Israel, is also the God of his mercy, his gracious God. To the ends of the earth is anticipated His rule in Jacob. To faith overwhelming danger is the signal for triumph.

Psalm 60

To the chief musician, on Shushan (lily) of testimony, Michtam of David to teach; when he strove with Syria of Mesopotamia and Syria of Zobah, and Joab returned and smote Edom in the valley of salt, twelve thousand. O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast rent us, thou hast been angry; turn again to us. Thou hast made earth (or the land) to tremble, thou hast rent it: heal its breaches, for it shaketh. Thou hast shown thy people hard things, thou hast made us drink the wine of reeling. Thou hast given to those that fear thee a banner to be raised because of the truth. Selah. That thy beloved may be delivered, save [with] thy right hand and answer me (or us). God hath spoken in his holiness: I will exult; I will divide Shechem, and the valley of Succoth will I mete out. Gilead [is] mine, and mine Manasseh, Ephraim the strength of my head, Judah my lawgiver (or scepter?). Moab [is] my washpot; on Edom will I cast my shoe; on me, Philistia, shout aloud. Who will bring me [to] the city of defense? Who hath led me up to Edom? (Is it) not thou, O God, (who) hast cast us off and didst not go forth, O God, with our hosts? Give us help from trouble, for vain [is] man's salvation. Through (lit. in) God we shall do valiantly; and he will tread down our troubles” (ver. 1-14).

In this fine psalm, the fitting close of its series, God's temporary rejection of His people is felt and acknowledged frankly. Yet they cleave to His calling them, and while justifying Him in His displeasure and sore chastening, they see, for those that fear, a banner to be raised for truth which He gave them. Hence their bold challenge even in their lowest state, as well as their identification with the whole elect nation and all the land. The God who restores is the more surely theirs against all their foes and oppressors; and man once leaned on is seen to be but vanity.

Psalm 61

“To the chief musician, on a stringed instrument, of David. Hear, O God, my cry; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth I will call unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: to a rock higher than I thou wilt lead me. For thou hast been a refuge unto me, a tower of strength from before the enemy. I will sojourn in thy tent forever, I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows, thou hast given the inheritance of those that fear thy name. Thou wilt add days to the days of the king; his years shall be as many generations (lit. generation and generation). He shall abide [sit] before God forever: mercy and truth afford; let them preserve him. So I will sing psalms to thy name forever that I may pay my vows from day to day” (ver. 1-9).

Here it is the soul more than the people and their enemies. And though the heart is overwhelmed, the cry is to God. From the end of the earth is strange and sad for a Jew, but makes no difference to God, Whose chastening is accepted, and His leading to a Rock higher than himself is counted on. He cannot fail, though His people have. Nor does the Spirit look for a refuge only but “the king,” not as erst to be rejected, but to abide forever. So will the godly praise His name forever, performing vows day by day.

Psalm 62

“To the chief musician, on Jeduthun, a psalm of David. Only on God [is] my soul silent; from him [is] my salvation. Only he [is] my rock and my salvation, my high place; I shall not be greatly moved. How long will ye set upon a man? will ye murder, all of you, one like a wall inclined, a fence thrust down? Truly from his dignity they consult to thrust; they delight in lies; they bless with their mouth, and in their inward part they curse. Selah. Only on God be silent, my soul, for from him [is] my expectation. Truly he [is] my rock and my salvation, my high place; I shall not be moved. On God [rests] my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, my refuge [is] in God. Confide in him at every time, O people; pour out before him your heart: God [is] a refuge for us. Selah. Truly vanity [are] sons of man, a lie are sons of man; in a balance they go up, less than vanity together. Confide not in oppression, and in robbery be not vain; if riches increase, set not your heart [on them]. Once hath God spoken; twice have I heard this, that power [belongeth] to God. And to thee, O Lord, [belongeth] mercy; for thou wilt render to a man according to his work” (ver. 1-13).

Thus, as is well known, this psalm divides into three strophes, each opening with “only” or truly, and the first and second ending with Selah. Throughout God alone is declared worthy of trust. Unworthy objects are exposed in the last, where God is shown emphatically worthy.

There is manifest progress in Psa. 62 as compared with its forerunner. The soul learns to be silent or still, as well as to call on God importunately. It distrusts its own activity, and is assured that God's will alone is good. Only He therefore is looked to; no deliverance from another quarter would satisfy. Mercy, power, and justice are His.

In the psalm that follows the soul rises higher still as we may clearly see.

Psalm 63

A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, my God (El) [art] thou; early will I seek thee. For thee thirsteth my soul, for thee longeth my flesh, in a land dry and weary without water, so as I have beheld thee in the holy place, to see thy power and thy glory; for thy mercy [is] better than life; my lips shall praise thee. So will I bless thee in my life, in thy name will I lift up my hands. As [with] marrow and fatness thou wilt satisfy my soul; and [with] lips of rejoicings will my mouth praise thee. When I remember thee upon my bed in night watches, I will meditate on thee. For thou hast been a help, and in the shadow of thy wings I will rejoice. My soul cleaveth after thee; thy right hand maintaineth me. And they to ruin are seeking my soul; they shall go into the depths of the earth. They shall be given up to the power of the sword (lit. they shall pour him out into the hands of the sword); a portion of foxes they shall be. And the king shall rejoice in God: every one that sweareth by him shall glory, for the mouth of those that speak falsehood shall be stopped” (ver. 1-12). Higher than this, in its kind, no soul can go, though the covenant blessings cannot be enjoyed far from the city and the sanctuary. But the blessedness of God is enjoyed as never before, the Giver Himself; when the righteous are outside the prostitution of His gifts. Our Lord knew this, as no man ever did. Even deliverance is not sought; and the thirst is not of the desert but of the soul after God, and this too to see His power and His glory where He revealed Himself. A dry and weary land only brings out the more the longing for God fully manifested. It is meanwhile what the apostle calls joying or glorying in God (Rom. 5), and in the close what the Lord desires for us in John 17:24. When the Bride and Lamb's wife is glorified, she rejoices that she has in fact the glory of God (Rev. 21:11), in the hope of which we now exult.

Psalms, Book 2, Psalms 64-67

The first of these psalms appears to close the series wherein is set out the iniquity, of the adversaries against those who look for Christ, the godly Jewish remnant. The three following portray their feelings as having in the Beloved a plea for deliverance which waxes stronger and clearer by His Spirit working in them according to the word provided for their souls.

Psalm 64

“To the chief musician, a psalm of David. Hear, O God, my voice in my meditation; from fear of the enemy, thou wilt preserve my life. Thou wilt hide me from the secret of evil-doers, from the tumult of workers of iniquity, who have sharpened like the sword their tongues, have bent their arrow, a bitter word, to shoot in the secret places at the perfect; suddenly they will shoot at him and fear not. They will strengthen for themselves an evil matter; they concert to hide snares; they have said, who will see to them? They devise iniquities: We are ready [finished]! a well-devised device! and man's inward (thought) and heart [is deep. But God shall shoot at them: with an arrow suddenly the wounds have been theirs. And they shall be made to stumble, their own tongue against them; all that see them shall flee away. And every man shall fear, and they shall declare God's doings, and his work they shall understand. The righteous one shall be glad in Jehovah, and trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory” (ver. 1-11).

Thus the godly are consoled by the assurance of God's sudden and retributive judgment of their enemies, who are here described not as reprobates only but as malicious against the righteous, plotting and conspiring; but suddenly God's judgment falls, others fear as they behold God's doing, and the righteous rejoice in Jehovah Who has thus appeared at length in vindication of His name.

Psalm 65

“To the chief musician, a psalm of David, a song. To thee waiteth praise, O God, in Zion, and to thee shall vow be paid. Hearer of prayer, to thee shall all flesh come. Iniquities [lit. words or matters of] have been far too strong for me: our transgressions, thou wilt purge them. Blessed [he whom] thou wilt choose and bring near: he shall dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, thy holy temple. Terrible things in righteousness thou wilt answer us, O God of our salvation; confidence of all the ends of the earth and sea, afar off; establishing mountains by his strength, girded with power, stilling the roar of seas; roar of their waves, and the tumult of peoples. And those inhabiting the uppermost parts shall fear because of thy signs; the outgoings of morning and evening thou wilt make to shout for joy. Thou hast visited the earth and watered it; greatly wilt thou enrich it; the river of God is full of water; thou preparest their corn, for so thou preparest it (the earth). The furrows thou dost water, thou dost break down its ridges; with showers thou wilt soften it; its springing thou wilt bless. Thou crownest the year [with] thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness. They drop [on] the pastures of the wilderness, and the hills are girded with joy. The sheep-walks are clothed with the sheep, and the valleys are covered with corn; they shout for joy, yea, they sing” (ver. 1-14).

Here the positive side of blessing is before the heart; for to Jewish thought the people and the land (and indeed all the earth) are blended in their expectations of goodness at length triumphant. And terrible things in righteousness are not absent, even if the joyous change be more prominent. Not such is our proper but heavenly hope in the coming of our Lord Jesus; it is to be with Himself in the Father's house, though we surely love His appearing and expect to be manifested with Him when He is manifested in glory. Our hope is to be translated to heaven, as Christ ascended, apart from all judgment of the world, in which the Jew shall be involved but delivered out of it, when the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.

Psalm 66

“To the chief musician, a song, a psalm. Shout aloud to God, all the earth, sing forth the glory of his name, make his praise glorious. Say to God, how terrible [are] thy doings; in the greatness of thy strength shall cringe to thee thine enemies. All the earth shall worship thee and sing psalms to thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah. Come and see the works of God, terrible in dealing toward the sons of men. He turned sea to dry land; through the river they will pass on foot; there will we be glad in him. He ruleth by his might forever; his eyes over the Gentiles watch; let not the rebels exalt themselves. Selah. Bless, ye peoples, our God, and make the voice of his praise to be heard, who setteth our soul in the life and hath not given our foot to be moved. For thou hast proved us, O God, thou hast assayed us as silver is assayed. Thou hast brought us into the net, thou hast put pressure upon our loins, thou hast caused men to ride on our heads; we went into the fire and into the waters, and thou hast brought us into abundance. I will go to thy house with burnt offerings, I will pay to thee my vows, which my lips uttered and my mouth spoke in my distress. Burnt offerings of fatlings will I offer up to thee with incense of rams, I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah. Come, hear, all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what he hath done for my soul. I called to him [with] my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. If I had regarded iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. Verily God hath heard, he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed [be] God who hath not turned away my prayer nor his mercy from me” (ver. 1-21).

It is the godly Jew anticipating deliverance after the sorest but justly inflicted trials. But God is faithful, and proved so at the close Who had of old redeemed them from Egypt.

Psalm 67

“To the chief musician, on Neginoth (stringed instruments), a psalm, a song. God be gracious to us and bless us; cause his face to shine upon us (Selah), that thy way may be known in the earth, in all Gentiles thy salvation. Let the peoples give thee thanks, O God, let all the peoples give thee thanks. Let the nations rejoice and shout for joy, for thou wilt judge the peoples equitably, and the nations on the earth, thou wilt guide them. Selah. Let the peoples give thee thanks, O God, let all the peoples give thee thanks. The earth hath yielded its increase; God, our God, will bless us; God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him” (ver. 1-8).

Here the wonder is how any believer can fail to see that the Jew praising God's grace at length delights in the blessing of the Gentiles, all of them, whether in association with Israel or outside. Not only shall Ephraim not envy Judah, and Judah not envy Ephraim; but far from them in that day an atom of narrowness toward the nations. Their heart is enlarged by God's mercy to themselves. If the casting away of Israel was the world's reconciling as now, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?

Psalms, Book 2, Psalms 68-69

The first of these psalms fittingly, as regards those we have seen, and splendidly sets forth the glory in which the rejected Christ makes good the purposes of God with His people and Zion as the earthly center, but from above; and hence appropriately cited by the apostle in Eph. 4. There is also an allusion full of interest to Num. 10:35, but with a notable difference. Moses before Israel in the wilderness said, Rise up, Jehovah, and let Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee. Here it is Elohim. Each is precisely right, and Elohim as little in keeping for Moses as Jehovah for the psalm, which has Elohim throughout as the expression of faith for a day of confusion when covenant was not enjoyed, anticipating God's intervention in Christ from on high after He had suffered to the uttermost. Indeed the psalm abounds in divine titles, as Jah, Adonai, El, Shaddai; but the staple unequivocally is Elohim, and Jehovah is only used for His dwelling on Zion when power and grace meet for His people blessed evermore under Messiah and the new covenant. Sheer spiritual ignorance invented the will-o-the wisp of Elohistic and Jehovistic documents: evidently inapplicable here, really everywhere, in no case giving a key to the mind of God as the truth does.

Psalm 68

“To the chief musician, of David, a psalm, a song. Let God arise, and his enemies be scattered, and those that hate him flee from before him. As smoke is driven, thou wilt drive away; as wax melteth before fire, the wicked shall perish from before God. And the righteous shall be glad, they shall exult before God and rejoice with gladness. Sing unto God, sing praises to His name; cast up a way for him that rideth in the deserts: his name [is] Jah, and exult before him. A father of orphans and a judge of widows [God is] in the habitation of his holiness. God maketh the solitary to dwell in houses; prisoners he maketh to come forth in prosperity: surely rebels dwell in a parched land. O God, in thy going out before thy people, in thy marching in the desert (Selah), the earth trembled, yea the heavens dropped from before God, the God of Israel. A rain of free gifts thou, O God, didst pour; thine inheritance, even when wearied, thou didst establish. Thy flock hath dwelt in it: thou wilt provide in thy goodness for the wretched, O God. Adonai giveth the word: a great host [are] the (women) publishing. Kings of hosts flee, flee, and the housewife divideth the spoil. Though ye lie among the cattle-pens (or ash-grates), [ye shall be like] wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold. When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it snoweth in Zalmon. A mount of God [is] mount Bashan; a mount of peaks [is] mount Bashan. Why, mounts of peaks, look ye with envy on the mount God desired for his dwelling; yea, Jehovah will dwell [there] forever. God's chariots [are] two myriads, thousands multiplied: Adonai is in them, [as in] Sinai in the sanctuary. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast received gifts in man, yea, rebels also, to dwell [there], Jah Elohim. Blessed [be] Adonai day by day loading us, the God (El) of our salvation. Our God (El) is a God (El) of salvation; and to Jehovah Adonai [belong] the issues from death.

Surely God will smite the head of his enemies, the hairy scalp going on in his guilt. Adonai said from Bashan, I will bring back, I will bring back from the sea, that thou mayest dip thy foot in blood, the tongue of thy dogs its portion from enemies. They saw thy goings, O God, the goings of my God, my King, in the holy place. Before went singers, behind players, in the midst of maidens playing on timbrels. In assemblies bless ye God Adonai, [ye] from the fountain of Israel. There [is] little Benjamin their ruler, princes of Judah their council, princes of Zebulon, princes of Naphtali. Thy God hath commanded thy strength. Strengthen, O God, what thou hast wrought for us. Because of thy temple at Jerusalem kings shall bring tribute to thee. Rebuke the beasts of the reeds, the crowd of bulls (strong), with the calves of the peoples, [each] crouching with pieces of silver. Scatter the peoples delighting in war. Princes shall come from Egypt, Cush shall haste to stretch out her hands to God. Kingdoms of the earth, sing ye unto God, praise Adonai (Selah), him that rideth on the heavens of old. Lo, he uttereth his voice, a mighty voice. Ascribe ye strength to God: his excellence [is] over Israel and his strength [is] in the skies. Terrible [art thou], O God, out of thy holy place; the God (El) of Israel, he giveth strength and might to the people. Blessed [be] God” (vers. 1-36).

Here, where things are out of course, God is counted on, and this by the intervention in heavenly power of Him whose rejection was the fullest evidence of the state of the Jews as well as of man. But He Who had obeyed to the cross and thus glorified God to the uttermost was exalted in the place of indisputable power and glory, and would thence make good the choice of Zion as His earthly dwelling and center, the deliverance and blessing of Israel, once and alas! still “rebellious,” the overthrow of every enemy, even of such as led all captive, to the joy and well-being of all the earth. It is “the regeneration” in prospect.

Psalm 69

“To the chief musician, on Shoshannim (lilies), of David. Save me, God, for the waters have come unto [my] soul. I sink in a deep place of mire where is no standing. I am come into depth of waters, and the flood hath overflowed me. I am wearied in my calling, parched is my throat, failed are mine eyes, while waiting for my God (Eloah). More than the hairs of my head [are] those hating me without cause, strong my destroyer, mine enemies of falsehood: what I took not away, then I restored. O God, thou knowest as to my foolishness, and my trespasses from thee are not hid. Let not those be ashamed in me that wait on thee, Adonai Jehovah of hosts, let not those be disgraced in me that seek thee, God of Israel. For on account of thee I have borne reproach; disgrace hath covered my face. A stranger I am become to my brethren, and an alien to my mother's sons; for the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of those reproaching thee fell on me. And I wept, in the fasting [was] my soul; and it was for reproaches unto me. When I made my clothing sackcloth, I too was to them for a proverb. Those that sit at the gate talk of me, and [I am] songs of drinkers of strong drink. But as for me, my prayer [is] to thee, O Jehovah; (give) an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of thy mercy answer me, in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me from the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from those hating me, and from the depths of waters. Let not a flood overflow me, and let not the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut its mouth upon me. Answer me, O Jehovah, for good [is] thy mercy; according to the multitude of thy tender mercies turn unto me"; and hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am troubled; speedily answer me. Draw nigh to my soul, redeem it; because of mine enemies, ransom me. Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my disgrace; before thee [are] all mine adversaries. Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am overwhelmed, and I looked for mourning, and there is none, and for comforters, and found none. They gave me also gall for my food, and in my thirst they made me drink vinegar. Let their table before them become a snare, and when at peace a trap; let their eyes be dark from seeing, and their loins continually cause to swerve. Pour upon them thine indignation, and let the heat of thine anger overtake them. Let their habitation be desolate, and in their tents be no dweller. For whom thou hast smitten they persecute, and to the grief of thy wounded ones they talk. Add iniquity unto their iniquity, and let them not come into thy righteousness; let them be blotted from the book of life, and with righteous ones let them not be written. But I [am] poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me on high. I will praise the name of God with a, song, and I will magnify him with thanksgiving. And it shall please Jehovah more than an ox, a bullock horned [and] hoofed. The meek have seen [and] are glad; ye that seek God, your heart shall live. For Jehovah heareth the needy, and despiseth not his prisoners. Let heaven and earth praise him, seas and everything moving in them. For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, and they shall dwell there and possess it. And the seed of his servants shall inherit it, and the lovers of his name shall dwell in it” (vers. 1-37).

Whatever be the intrinsic glory of Christ, all scripture shows that His sufferings are the ground of His exaltation. So it is here. This psalm tells of His sufferings, though in a way evidently distinct from Psa. 22, where divine abandonment crowns all, as here human evil is prominent and calls for judgment, instead of the grace which is the answer in the former. But He was afflicted in all their affliction, as says the prophet. David was the occasion, but the Spirit of Christ enters into all their wrong doing, not only to vindicate God but to give expression to the confession of the godly remnant, who will thus pour out their heart in the latter day, when His wrath shall fall on their oppressors and betrayers.

Psalms, Book 2, Psalms 70-72

As the psalm which presents the exaltation of Christ is followed by that which expresses His humiliation and sufferings, leading to judgment on His adversaries and the deliverance of His people and land, so here we have the final group, which begins with His Spirit characterizing those who looked to Him and were willing to follow in His steps with a heart devoted to their blessing in Jehovah's time and way. Psa. 70 goes on with this faithfulness throughout Israel's history (personified in David's) and the conviction with prayer that He will not forsake them when He is most needed (71.), and closes with the millennial reign of David's greater Son, the Messiah, to Whom God gives His judgments, and Who will glorify Him on the throne as He had in His rejection (72.).

Psalm 70

“To the chief musician, of David, to bring to remembrance. O God, to deliver me, O Jehovah, to my help, make haste. Confounded and ashamed be those that seek after my soul, driven back and brought to dishonor be those that delight in evil to me. Turned back for a reward of their shame be those that say, Aha, Aha! Let all those that seek thee be glad and rejoice in thee, and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified! But for me, I am poor and needy; O God, make haste unto me. Thou [art] my deliverer and my help. O Jehovah, tarry not” (vers. 1-6).

Psalm 71

“In thee, Jehovah, do I trust; let me never be ashamed. Deliver me in Thy righteousness, and set me free; incline to me thine ear and save me. Be to me a rock of dwelling for continual resort; thou hast commanded to save me; for my rock (crag) and my fortress thou [art]. O my God, deliver me from the hand of the wicked, from the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For thou [art] my hope, O Lord Jehovah, my confidence from my youth. On thee have I been stayed from the womb; from my mother's bowels thou didst take me out; of (in) thee [is] my praise continually. As a wonder I have been to many, and thou [art] my strong refuge. My mouth shall be filled with thy praise, thine honor, all the day. Cast me not off in the time of old age; when my strength faileth, forsake me not. For mine enemies speak against me, and those that watch for my soul consult together, saying, God hath forsaken him: pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver. O God, be not far from me; my God, hasten to my help. Ashamed, consumed, be the adversaries of my soul; covered with reproach and dishonor be those that seek evil to me. And for me, continually will I hope and will add to all thy praise. My mouth shall declare thy righteousness, all the day thy salvation; for I know not the numbers. I will go in the might of the Lord Jehovah; I will recall thy righteousness, thine only. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth, and hitherto do I show thy wondrous works. Yea, also until old age and gray hairs, O God, forsake me not, until I show thine arm to a generation, thy might to every one that is to come. And thy righteousness, O God, [is] very high, thou who hast done great things, O God, who [is] like thee? Thou who hast made us (or me) see many distresses and evils, wilt turn and make us live, and from the depths of the earth wilt turn and bring us up. Thou wilt increase my greatness and surround me with comfort. Also on my part I will thank thee with the psaltery, thy truth, O my God; I will sing psalms to thee with the harp, O Holy One of Israel. My lips shall exult when I sing praises to thee; and my soul which thou hast redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day; for they shall be ashamed, for they shall be confounded, that seek evil to me” (vers. 1-24).

Psalm 72

“Of Solomon. Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness, unto the king's son. He shall judge thy people with righteousness and thine afflicted with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the hills in righteousness. He will judge the afflicted of the people, he will save the sons of the needy one, and will crush the oppressors. They shall fear thee with the sun and before the moon through all generations. He shall come down as rain on mown grass, as showers a watering of the earth (or land). In his days shall a righteous one flourish, and much peace till the moon [be] no more. And he shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the river unto the end of the earth. Before him shall bow down dwellers in the desert, and his enemies shall lick the dust. Kings of Tarshish and of the sea-coasts shall bring an offering; kings of Sheba and of Seba shall bring near a gift. Yea, all kings shall bow down before him; all the Gentiles shall serve him. For he shall deliver the needy that crieth and the afflicted that hath no helper. He will have pity on a poor and needy one, and the souls of the needy will he save. From fraud and from violence will he redeem their soul, and precious shall their blood be in his sight. And he shall live; and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba; and prayer shall be made for him continually: all the day shall he be blessed. There shall be abundance handful) of corn in the earth, on the top of the mountains: the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon; and they of the city shall flourish as the grass of the earth. His name shall be forever; before the sun shall his name be continued: and they shall bless themselves in him; all the Gentiles shall call him blessed. Blessed [be] Jehovah Elohim, the God of Israel alone doing wondrous things. And blessed [be] the name of his glory forever; and let all the earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended” (vers. 1-20).

Psalms, Book 3, Psalms 73-75

The third division or book is externally marked by but one Davidic psalm, all the rest, it would seem, being attributed to other inspired writers; internally by a larger character as compared with I and II, where, as we have observed, the Jews proper were before us in sufferings or anticipated glory, the first as still having access to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, the second as fled from it on the setting up of the abomination of desolation. Thus the prophetic spirit is fully maintained. They are no more of their own isolated solution than any other prophecy of scripture. But the collection on which we now enter manifests the larger sphere of Israel, and accordingly looks at the Gentiles in a more extensive way as envious and hostile to the people and the land because of the divine favor shown. A remnant of Ephraim are in the land, but the great national foe, the Assyrian, is yet in power and antagonism; and Messiah personally is not prominent as in both the books before. But the name of Jehovah rises increasingly for their hearts, at the close fully.

The opening utterance as usual gives the keynote. It is God good to “Israel,” but only “to such as are pure in heart” —gracious to His people as a whole, and so known by those that honored Him as a God of judgment. But the trial produced by the prosperity of the wicked, while judgment is not yet executed, is vividly expressed, and the secret only known in His presence which gave the clue and turned all for good. Why the Revised Version repeats the error of the Received in ver. 24 is hard to understand, if one knew not the force of habit. The mistranslation is probably due to Christian prejudice overriding the correct Israelitish hope. Yet it overthrows our real privilege. For those put to sleep by Jesus will God bring with Him; so that when Christ, our life, shall be manifested then shall we also with Him be manifested in glory. Whereas it is after the glory that God will receive Israel. Compare Zech. 2:8.

Psalm 73

“A psalm of Asaph. Truly God [is] good to Israel, to the pure of heart. And for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the arrogant (fools), seeing the peace of wicked (men). For there are no bands in their death, and their strength [is] fat.

In the hardship of man they are not, and with mankind are not smitten. Therefore hath pride enchained them, a garment of violence covereth them. Their eyes stand out with fatness, the imaginations of heart overflow. They mock and speak wickedly, oppression from on high they speak. They set their mouth in the heavens, and their tongue walketh in the earth. Therefore his people turn hither, and waters in fullness are wrung out to them. And they say, How should God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these [are] wicked and prosperous forever; they increase in substance. Truly in vain I have cleansed my heart and washed my hands in innocency; and [while] I was smitten all the day, and my rebuking (was) at the mornings. If I have said, I will declare thus, behold, I have offended the generation of thy sons. When I thought to know this, a hardship it [was] in mine eyes until I went into the sanctuary of God (El): I consider their end. Truly thou settest them in slippery places, thou hast caused them to fall into ruins. How are they become a desolation in a moment! They have passed, consumed with terrors. As a dream on awaking, so, O Lord (Adonai), in arising, wilt thou despise their image. For my heart was grieved and I was pricked (in) my reins; and I was brutish and knew nothing: a beast I was with thee. Yet I [am] continually with thee: thou hast holden my right hand. By thy counsel thou wilt guide me, and after glory wilt receive me. Whom have I in the heavens? and beside thee have I no object of desire in the earth. My flesh and my heart faileth; rock of my heart and my portion [is] God forever. For, behold, those far from me shall perish; thou hast destroyed everyone whoring from thee. And for me, it is good to me to draw near to God: I have set in the Lord Jehovah my refuge to declare all thy works” (vers. 1-28).

Psalm 74

“Instructed, of Asaph. Why, O God, hast thou cast off forever? smoketh thy wrath against the sheep of thy pasture? Remember thine assembly thou hast purchased of old, thou hast redeemed, [as] rod of thine inheritance, this mount Zion thou hast dwelt in. Lift up thy steps unto the perpetual ruins, all the enemy hath ill done in the holy place. Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of thy place of assembly: they have set their signs as signs. One is known as raising up axes on the thicket of trees; and now its carvings together they strike down with hatchet and hammers. They have set on fire thy holy place; to the earth they have profaned the tabernacle of thy name. They have said in their heart, Let me destroy them together. They have burnt all God's (El) places of assembly in the land. Our signs we see not; there is no more a prophet, and with us [is] none knowing how long. How long, O God, shall an adversary reproach? shall the enemy despise thy name forever? Why drawest thou back thy hand, thy right hand? from the midst of thy bosom consume them. Yet God [is] my King of old working deliverances in the midst of the earth. Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength; Thou didst break the heads of dragons on the waters; thou didst crush the head of leviathan—gavest it as food to a people dwelling in the wilderness. Thou didst cleave fount and torrent, thou didst dry up rivers ever flowing. Day is thine, yea, thine, night. Thou didst prepare light and sun; thou didst set all the borders of earth; summer and winter, thou didst form them. Remember this: an enemy hath reproached, O Jehovah, and a foolish people have despised thy name. Give not up the soul of thy turtle-dove to the wild beast (or greedy herd): forget not the life (or company) of thy poor forever. Have respect unto the covenant; for the dark places of the earth are full of the dwellings of violence. Let not the oppressed return ashamed; let poor one and needy one praise thy name. Arise, O God, plead thy cause; remember thy reproach from the fool all the day. Forget not the voice of thine adversaries: the tumult of those that rise up against thee goeth up continually” (vers. 1-23).

Psa. 74 is thus occupied with the external enemies, though the inner oppressor is also noticed, in remarkable contrast with the more spiritual dealing of God with the soul, set out in the Psalm before it which introduces the book. Outwardly things look at their worst, ravage unchecked, desolation of the sanctuary, roaring in the assemblies, man's sign the only sign apparent everywhere, and no voice even from God, not a prophet, nor one knowing how long. Yet faith owns God “my King” from of old, and the mighty deliverances, and pleads at length, “Remember this: an enemy hath reproached, O Jehovah,” rising up to the covenant name, as the poor remnant were His turtle dove.

Very distinct, yet in appreciable sequence, is the faith in the following psalm where Messiah's intervention is anticipated, and His upright judgment at the set time. He alone of men could speak of establishing the pillars of the earth or even land; He alone will cut off all the horns of the wicked or exalt those of the righteous.

Psalm 75

“To the chief musician Al-tashheth [destroy not], a psalm of Asaph, a song. We give thanks to thee, O God, we give thanks, and near [is] thy name: thy wonders declare [it]. When I shall reach the set time, I will judge uprightly. The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I have established its pillars. Selah. I said to the fools, Be not foolish, and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn. Lift not up your horn on high, speak not with arrogant neck. For not from east, nor from west, nor from south [lit. wilderness] [is] lifting up. For God [is] judge; one he putteth down, and lifteth up another. For in Jehovah's hand [is] a cup, and the wine foameth, it is full of mixture. He poureth out of it: surely the dregs of it all the wicked of the earth shall drain-drink. And I will declare forever, I will sing psalms to the God of Jacob. And all the horns of the wicked will I cut off; the horns of the righteous shall be exalted” (vers. 1-11).

Psalms, Book 3, Psalms 76-78

The first of these psalms sets forth that it is in Judah and Israel God is to be known, in Zion and in Salem, Psa. 75 having disclosed Messiah the executor of divine judgments in the earth, by which the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. It is the age to come, and characteristically different from Christianity, which calls out souls that believe by grace from the world to Christ in heaven, soon to reign with Him in glory. To be a nationalist is for the Christian beneath his heavenly calling; for the Israelites, at least such as are of a pure heart, by-and-by it will be consistent and have the sanction of God. Now it is forgetfulness of Christ's sufferings and of the glories after these. Heaven is our true father-land.

Psalm 76

“To the chief musician on Neginoth, a psalm of Asaph, a song. God [is] known in Judah, great his name in Israel; and in Salem his pavilion and his dwelling-place in Zion. There he broke the fiery shafts of the bow, the shield and the sword and the battle. Selah'. Glorious [art] thou, excellent, more than the mountains of prey. The strong of heart have been spoiled, they have slumbered their sleep; and none of the men of might have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both chariot and horse [are] cast into a dead sleep. Thou, terrible [art] thou; and who shall stand in thy presence when once [in] thine anger? From the heavens thou didst cause judgment to be heard; the earth feared and was still, when God rose for the judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah. For the fury of man shall praise thee; the remainder of furies wilt thou restrain [or ingird]. Vow and pray to Jehovah your God: all around him will bring a present to the fear [or him that should be feared]. He will cut off the spirit of princes, terrible to the kings of the earth” (vers. 1-13).

The second of these psalms is an inward dealing suited to that day of distress when God will have heart-searching in His ancient people before their complete deliverance. The remembrance of the past may produce anguish in the present but gives hope for the future. God's way is in the sanctuary as well as in the sea; and faith lays hold of both. For the Christian, it is the settled favor and everlasting deliverance in Christ, dead, risen, and ascended, that we rest on. But the Israelite, if he looks on His way in the sanctuary, enjoys the wonders of His arm; if he turn as a man to His way in the sea, he has to acknowledge that His footsteps are not known.

Psalm 77

To the chief musician, on Jeduthun, a psalm of Asaph. My voice is unto God, and will cry; my voice [is] unto God, and he will give ear to me. In the day of my distress I sought the Lord (Adonai); my hand was stretched out in the night and slacked not; my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God and was disquieted; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. Thou holdest mine eyes watching, I am troubled and cannot speak. I consider the days of old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night; I commune with mine own heart, and my spirit maketh diligent search, Will the Lord (A.) cast off forever? and will he be favorable no more? Hath his mercy failed forever? hath [his] word come to an end from generation to generation? hath God forgotten to be gracious? or hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. And I said, This is mine infirmity: the years of the right hand of the Most High, the deeds of Jah I will remember; for I will remember thy wonders of old. And I will meditate on all thy work and muse on thy doings. O God, in the sanctuary [is] thy way: who [is] a great God like God? Thou [art] the God (El) working wonders; Thou, hast made known among the peoples thy strength. Thou hast with [thine] arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they trembled, yea, the depths were troubled. The thick clouds poured out waters; the skies sent out a voice, yea, thine arrows went abroad. The voice of thy thunder [was] in the whirlwind (or circuit); the lightnings lightened the world; the earth trembled and shook. In the sea [is] thy way, and thy paths in the great waters, and thy footsteps were not known. Thou hast led, as the sheep, thy people by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (vers. 1-21).

The last of these three is alike full, beautiful, and important. It sets out the total failure of Israel under governmental dealings. Law, no matter what the long-suffering goodness that accompanies it, can only issue in the ruin of sinful man. Sovereign grace alone avails. The testimony Jehovah raised in Jacob was excellent, the law He set in Israel holy and good; but what could either avail, the people being what they were? “As many as are of works of law are under curse.” Gal. 3. It is but a ministry of death and condemnation. Real and stable blessing turns on God and His grace. Do what He would in nature or law, Israel brought Him but shame and misery on themselves. Then did He choose Judah, Zion, and David, the pledge and security of ultimate blessing and triumph, when the children shall indeed learn to profit by their fathers' failure, the final and everlasting passage from flesh and law to the true Beloved and the grace that brings salvation.

Psalm 78

“An instruction of Asaph. Give ear, my people, to my law; incline your ear to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter dark sayings from of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide [them] from their sons, telling the generations to come the praises of Jehovah, and his strength, and his wondrous works which he wrought. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to make them known to their sons, that the generation to come might know, sons to be born, who should rise up and tell their sons, and they might set their hope in God, and not forget the deeds of God (El), and keep his commandments; and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set (prepared) not their hearts, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God (El). The sons of Ephraim, armed bowmen, turned in the day of battle. They kept not God's covenant and in his law refused to walk; and they forgot his deeds and his wondrous works which he caused them to see. In the sight of their fathers he wrought wonders in the land of Egypt, the field of Zoan. He clave the sea and caused them to pass through and made the waters to stand as a heap; and he led them with a cloud by day and all the night with light of fire. He clave rocks in the wilderness and gave drink as the depths abundantly, He brought streams from the rock (crag) and caused waters to come down like the rivers. Yet they still went on to sin against him, to rebel against the Most High in the desert (dry); and they tempted God in their hearts by asking food for their lust (souls). And they spoke against God; they said, Shall God be able to furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock, and waters gushed out, and streams overflowed; can he give bread also, or provide flesh for his people? Therefore Jehovah heard and was wroth; and fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also went up against Israel; because they believed not in God and trusted not in his salvation. Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven, and he rained upon them manna to eat, and had given them the corn of the heavens. Man did eat the food of the mighty; he sent them provision to the full. He led forth the east [wind] in the heavens, and by his strength guided the south [wind], and he rained flesh upon them as dust and winged fowl as sand of the sea, and let it fall in the midst of the camp round about their habitations. And they did eat and were well filled. He brought to them their desire. They were not estranged from their desire; their food [was] yet in their mouths, when God's anger went up against them and slew their fattest and smote down the chosen of Israel. For all this they sinned still and believed not in his wondrous works; he consumed their days in vanity, and their years in terror. When he slew them, then they inquired after him, and turned and sought God (El) eagerly. And they remembered that God [was] their rock, and God Most High their redeemer. And they flattered (enticed) him with their mouth, and lied to him with their tongue. And their heart [was] not firm with him, nor were they steadfast in his covenant. But he mercifully forgave iniquity, and destroyed not, and often withdrew his anger and could not arouse all his wrath; and he remembered that they [were] flesh, a wind passing and not coming again. How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness and grieve him in the desert? And they turned again and tempted God (El) and limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not his hand, the day when he delivered them from oppression, he who set his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the field of Zoan, and turned their rivers to blood, and their streams that they could not drink. He sent among them dog flies, and they devour them; and frogs, and they destroy them. And he gave their increase to the caterpillar, and their labor to the locust. He killed their vines with the hail, and their sycamore trees with the frost, and delivered their cattle to the hail and their flocks to the lightnings. He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and distress, by sending angels of woes. He made a path for his anger, he withheld their soul from death, and their life he gave over to the pestilence; and he smote every first-born in Egypt, the first fruits of vigor in the tents of Ham. And he made his people go as the sheep, and guided them as the flock in the wilderness; and he led them safely, and they feared not; and the sea covered their enemies. And he brought them to the border of his holiness, this mountain His right hand purchased, and drove out before them nations, and allotted them by a line for an inheritance, and caused the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. But they tempted and resisted God Most High, and kept not his testimonies, and revolted, and dealt treacherously like their fathers; they were turned like a deceitful bow. And they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. God heard and was wroth and greatly abhorred Israel; and he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, his tent he pitched among men, and gave his strength into captivity, and his beauty into the oppressor's hand. And he gave over to the sword his people, and was wroth with his inheritance. The fire consumed their chosen, and their maidens were not praised in song; their priests fell by the sword, and their widows wept not. And the Lord (Adonai) awoke as a sleeper, as a mighty man shouting aloud from wine; and he smote his adversaries backward and put them to everlasting reproach. And he rejected the tent of Joseph, and the tribe of Ephraim did not choose; and he chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which. he loved. And he built his sanctuary like high [places], like the earth he founded forever. And he chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfold; from behind suckling Lewes] he brought him to feed Jacob his people and Israel his inheritance. And he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and in the skill of his hands he led them” (vers. 1-72).

Psalms, Book 3, Psalms 79-85

These psalms beautifully follow up the moral instruction of Psa. 78, for the whole people's interest Godward. In the first, Psa. 79, we have the desolating ruin of the city and the sanctuary, when the overwhelming scourge falls on Jerusalem as in Isa. 10; 28, Zech. 14:1, 2, and other scriptures. It sets before us the feelings and prayers of the righteous Israelites after the first Gentile siege which is partially successful, and before their leader, the king of the north, comes up a second time for his and their total destruction, Dan. 8; 11, &c.

Psalm 79

“A psalm of Asaph. O God, Gentiles are come into thine inheritance, the temple of thine holiness have they defiled, they have laid Jerusalem in heaps. They have given the dead bodies of thy servants for meat to the birds of the heavens, the flesh of thy saints to the beasts of the earth. They have shed their blood, as the waters, round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury. We are become a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those round about us. How long, Jehovah? wilt thou be angry forever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire? Pour out thy fury upon the Gentiles that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that called not on thy name. For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation. Remember not against (for) us iniquities of forefathers; let thy tender mercies speedily come to meet us, for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the sake of the glory of thy name and deliver us, and forgive our sins because of thy name. Why should the Gentiles say, Where [is] their God? Let there be known among the Gentiles in our sight (eyes) avenging of thy servants' blood that is shed. Let the prisoner's sighing come before thee; according to the greatness of thine arm, preserve the sons of death; and render to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their reproach wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord. And we, thy people and sheep of thy pasture, will give thee thanks forever; we will show forth thy praise to all generations” (vers. 1-13).

The second is a turning of their eyes upward to the Shepherd of Israel, and a binding together of their hopes as His people with the ark of the covenant as of old in the wilderness; owning His just anger, whilst entreating that His face may shine, and, most strikingly, that His hand may be upon His right hand man, and upon Adam's son Whom He made strong for Himself.

Psalm 80

“To the chief musician, on Shoshannim-Eduth (Lilies, a testimony) of Asaph, a psalm. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph as the sheep, dwelling [above] the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh arouse thy might and come for our salvation. O God, restore us, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall he saved. Jehovah God of hosts, how long wilt thou (will thine anger) smoke against the prayer of thy people? Thou hast caused them to eat bread of tears and to drink tears a large measure. Thou hast made us a strife to our neighbors, and our enemies mock among ourselves. O God of hosts, restore us, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. A vine out of Egypt thou broughtest: thou didst drive out Gentiles, and didst plant it. Thou preparedst [space] before it, and it took deep root and filled the land. Mountains were covered with its shadow, and its boughs, cedars of God (i.e., vast). It sent out its branches unto the sea and its shoots unto the river. Why hast thou broken down its fence, so that all who pass by the way shall pluck it? The boar out of the forest wasteth it, and the wild beast of the field feeds on it. O God of hosts, return, we pray; even from the heavens and see, and visit this vine, even the stock which thy right hand planted, and the plant (son) thou madest strong for thyself. [It is] burned with fire, cut down: at the rebuke of thy face they perish. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man thou madest strong for thyself. So will we not go back from thee. Revive us, and we will call upon thy name. Restore us, O Jehovah God of hosts, cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved” (vers. 1-20).

Next comes the psalm of new year's day, when the trumpet sounds not for alarm but joy, the joy of gathering the people at the new moon. The full moon will shine in due time. This is the new moon after a long eclipse. Now Israel will receive and reflect light afresh from the Lord. It is clear progress as compared with the preceding psalm. It was Israel that would not hearken, Israel that would none of Jehovah. Oh, had they, how soon would He have subdued them, and blessed themselves in the grace that brought them out of Egypt, till at Sinai they preferred to stand on law, and fell as all must who so pretend!

Psalm 81

“To the chief musician, upon the Gittith, Asaph. Sing aloud unto God our strength, shout aloud unto the God of Jacob. Raise a song and strike the timbrel, the pleasant harp with psaltery. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the set time, on our feast day. For this [was] a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. He appointed it a testimony in Joseph when he went forth over the land of Egypt, [when] I heard a language (lip) I knew not. I removed his shoulder from the burden; his hands were freed from the basket. In the distress thou didst call, and I delivered thee, I answered thee in the secret place of thunder; I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah. Hear, O my nation, and I will testify unto thee, O Israel, it thou wouldest hearken unto me. There shall no strange god be in thee, neither shalt thou worship any foreign god. I [am] Jehovah thy God who brought thee up from the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people hearkened not to my voice, and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up to the revolting of their heart, that they might walk in their own counsels. Oh that my people would hearken unto me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of Jehovah should have submitted to him, but their time would have been forever. And he would have fed them with the finest (fat) of wheat, and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee” (vers. 1-17).

The psalm that follows meets another difficulty of that day in particular. God is seen arising to judge the judges. How long His poor people had suffered oppression! Alas, Jewish rulers were no more righteous than Gentile! The rejection of Messiah proved His people inexcusably and excessively hostile to God. Judgment is at the door.

Psalm 82

“A psalm of Asaph. God standeth in the assembly of God (E1); he judgeth among the gods. How long will ye judge unjustly and respect the person of the wicked? Selah. Judge the poor (man) and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Deliver them from the hand of the wicked. They know not, nor do they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are moved. I said, ye [are] gods, and all of you sons of the most High; but ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O Clod, judge the earth, for thou shall inherit all the Gentiles” (vers. 1-8). Here it is not only those who had authority from God warned of His judging, and the Spirit in Israel calling on Him to arise for it, and those who had His word threatened with a fall like to mere men as alike without real understanding; but we have the last great confederacy, of which the Assyrian is the head, according to the prophets generally and here expressly named with others too familiar to the ancient people of God. It is by the final execution of judgments on the earth, however, overlooked by Christendom, and despised or censured by the vain mind of the flesh, that the inhabitants of the world shall learn righteousness and know the name of Jehovah. But thus shall they at the end of the age know that “Thou, Thy name Jehovah only Thine, art Most High above all the earth.” The Name regains its power for Israel's heart. Psa. 83 “A song, a psalm of Asaph. O God, keep not silence; hold not thy peace and be not still, O God (El). For behold thine enemies make a tumult, and those that hate Thee have lifted up the head. Against thy people they devise secret craft and consult against thy hidden ones. They said, Come, and we will cut them off from [being] a nation, and let the name of Israel be remembered no more. For they have heartily consulted together; against thee do they make a covenant: the tents of Edom, and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagarenes; Gebal and Ammon and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tire; Asshur also is joined with them; they are an arm to the sons of Lot. Selah. Do to them as [to] Midian, as [to] Sisera, as [to] Jabin, at the river Kishon. They were destroyed at Endor; they became dung for the ground. Make their nobles as Oreb and as Zeeb; yea, all their princes as Zebah and as Zalmunna; who said, Let us take to our inheritance the habitations of God. O my God, make them as the whirling thing, as stubble before the wind, as fire will burn a forest, and as a flame will set mountains on fire. So pursue them with thy tempest and with thy whirlwind trouble them. Fill their faces with shame, that [and] they will seek thy name, O Jehovah. They shall be ashamed and dismayed forever, and they shall be confounded and perish. And they shall know that thou alone, whose name [is] Jehovah, [art] Most High above all the earth” (vers. 1-19). Hence in the next psalm the joy of dwelling where Jehovah of host dwells, of the living God in His courts fills the heart with blessedness in contemplation; as also the blessedness of going there for those on the way: all summed up in the blessing of trusting Jehovah of hosts. Psa. 84 “To the chief musician, on the Gittith, for the sons of Korah, a psalm. How lovely [are] thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts! My soul longeth, yea even fainteth, for the courts of Jehovah; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God (yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest where she layeth her young), thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts, my king and my God. Blessed they that dwell in thy house! they will be still praising thee. Selah. Blessed the man whose strength [is] in thee, in whose heart [are] the highways! Passing through the valley of the weeping (Baca), they make it a well-spring; yea, early rain covereth [it] with blessings. They go from strength to strength; [each] will appear before God in Zion. O Jehovah, God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. For a day in thy courts [is] better than a thousand; I had rather be at the threshold in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For a sun and shield [is] Jehovah God; grace and glory will Jehovah give, no good thing will he withhold from those that walk uprightly O Jehovah of hosts, blessed the man that trusteth in thee!” (vers. 1-13). The following psalm, 85, looks rather at the blessing of the land and people than at the religious center of Jehovah's name or the way thither. Deliverance from external foes attests the people's forgiveness, and leads them to seek all favor in that place of blessing, above all in hearing what the God Jehovah may speak; for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints, publicly and individually, though they need to watch against folly, as becomes those who by grace now understand. It is instructive to note how truly the psalm speaks of Israel as contrasted with church or Christian blessedness. “Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land,” not that we may “ever be with the Lord” in risen heavenly glory, as we rightly hope. But for them, as for us, it is the righteousness of God that gives stability, not their own (though they will be righteous then) but his, or more strictly have Jehovah their righteousness. Thus only are mercy and truth met together, and righteousness and peace embrace, as we now know in Christ yet more gloriously.

Psalm 85

“To the chief musician, for the sons of Korah, a psalm. Thou hast been favorable, O Jehovah, to thy land; thou hast turned the captivity of Jacob; thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people; thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. Thou hast taken away all thy wrath; thou hast turned from the fierceness of thine anger. Restore us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine indignation toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with us forever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger from generation to generation? Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee? Show us thy mercy, O Jehovah, and grant us thy salvation. I will hear what the God Jehovah will speak; for he will speak peace to his people and to his saints; but let them not turn again to folly. Surely his salvation [is] near those that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed. Truth shall spring up from the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Jehovah also will give good; and our land shall yield its increase. Righteousness shall go before him, and shall set his footsteps in the way” (vers. 1-14).

Psalms, Book 3, Psalms 86-89

It may be noticed that the name of God rises to its covenant character toward the close of Psa. 83, and for anticipated enjoyment in that relationship, whether in His house or on the way there and for the land, in the two psalms that follow for the sons of Korah. Jehovah still appears in Psa. 86, but Adonai enters much into “the player of David,” which entreats and counts on His grace, being as good as He is great, Whom all nations shall worship, coming before Him. But this glorifying of His name is not without a token for good shown His beloved to put His haters to shame. Israel cannot enter on their promised blessings save through judgments on the quick.

Psalm 86

“A prayer of David. Incline thine ear, Jehovah, answer me; for I [am] poor and needy. Keep my soul, for I [am] godly. O thou my God, save thy servant that confideth in thee. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for unto thee do I call all the day. Gladden the soul of thy servant, for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For thou, Lord, [art] good and forgiving, and great in mercy to all that call on thee. Give ear, O Jehovah, to my prayer, and attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my distress I will call upon thee, for thou wilt answer me. There is none like thee among the gods, O Lord, and there are none like thy works. All Gentiles whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name. For thou [art] great and doest wondrous things; thou [art] God, thou alone. Teach me, O Jehovah, thy way, I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. I will thank thee, O Lord my Savior, with all my heart, and I will glorify thy name forever. For thy mercy [is] great unto me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. O God, proud men rise against me, and an assembly of violent [men] sought my soul and set thee not before them. But thou, Lord, [art] a God (El) merciful and gracious, slow of rage and great in mercy and truth. Turn unto me and be gracious to me; give thy strength to thy servant, and save the son of thy handmaid. Show me a token for good; and my haters shall see and be ashamed, because thou, O Jehovah, hast helped me and comforted me” (vers. 1-17).

As Christ the Lord is the sole key to the preceding psalms, which bring together Israel poor and needy looking to Him, and all nations coming to worship before Him, so it explains the divine spring of Israel's patriotism. For all others it is self, the first man. Mere justice might and must have cut all down: grace counts that This man was born (not crucified!) there. But grace indeed can recall many an elder that obtained a good report through faith. Zion is Jehovah's foundation, He loves its very gates. In vain do the seats of the world's power, wisdom, and wealth, exalt themselves.

Psalm 87

“For the sons of Korah, a psalm, a song. His foundation [is] in the mountains of holiness. Jehovah loveth the gates of Zion more than all the tabernacles of Jacob. Glorious things [are] spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those that know me. Behold Philistia, and Tire, with Cush: this [man] was born there. And of Zion it shall be said, [This] man and [that] man was born in her: and the most High himself shall establish her. Jehovah will count, in inscribing the peoples, This man was born there. Selah. And singers as well as pipers (or dancers) shall say, All my springs [are] are in thee” (vers. 1-7).

Next follows a psalm of profound sorrow and sense of wrath with no glimmer of light beyond the opening words. Israel to be blessed must pass through this, and have Christ's Spirit and sympathy with them in it. What could law do for those under it but press its terrors unto death?

Psalm 88

“A song, a psalm, for the sons of Korah. To the chief musician, upon Mahalath and Leannoth, an instruction of Heman the Ezrahite. O Jehovah, God of my salvation, [by] day have I cried, and in the night before thee. Let my prayer come before thee; incline thine ear to my cry. For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draweth nigh to Sheol. I am counted with those that descend to the pit, I am as a man without strength: among the dead free, as the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more, and they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast laid me in the pit of abysses, in dark places, in depths. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted [me] with all thy breakers. Selah. Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me, thou hast made me abomination to them: [I am] shut up and cannot come forth. Mine eye wasteth because of mine affliction. I have called on thee, O Jehovah, every day, I have stretched out my hands toward thee. Wilt thou do a wonder to the dead? shall shades (Rephaim) arise? shall they praise thee? Selah. Shall thy mercy be declared in the grave? thy faithfulness in destruction (Abaddon)? Shall thy wonder be known in the darkness? and thy righteousness in a land of forgetfulness? But for me, I cry unto thee, O Jehovah, and in the morning my prayer corneth before thee. Why, O Jehovah, dost thou cast off my soul? Hidest thou thy face from me? Poor [am] I and expiring from youth; I have borne thy terror; I am distracted. Thy fierce angers have come over me; thy terrors have cut me off, they have surrounded me like the water all the day, and they have closed in upon me together. Thou hast put far from me lover and associate; mine acquaintances [are] darkness” (vers. 1-18).

In striking contrast, but morally connected closely with the preceding tone of depression and wrath under law, is the last psalm of this book; which is the expression of mercy and faithfulness in Christ, the object and securer of divine promises and especially of those to David. It was the dark night; now comes the dawn of the day when the Sun of righteousness arises with healing in His wings for the afflicted righteous, and He shall tread down the wicked as ashes. For it is in no way the gospel of grace, but the kingdom displayed in power and justice by Jehovah-Messiah on the earth.

Psalm 89

“An instruction of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the mercies of Jehovah forever, with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness [from] generation to generation. For I said, Forever shall mercy be built up; thou wilt stablish thy faithfulness in the heavens. I have made a covenant with mine elect [one], I have sworn to David my servant. Forever will I stablish thy seed, and build up thy throne [from] generation to generation. Selah. And the heavens shall confess thy wonder, O Jehovah, and thy faithfulness in the congregation of the saints. For who in the sky can compare with Jehovah? [who] among the sons of the mighty (pl.) can be likened to Jehovah? God (El) [is] greatly to be feared in the council of the saints and terrible above all those around him. Jehovah God of hosts, who [is] like thee, strong Jah, and thy faithfulness round about thee? Thou rulest in the pride of the sea, in the arising of its waves thou stillest them. Thou hast crushed Rahab as a slain [one]; with the arm of thy strength thou hast scattered thine enemies. Thine [are] the heavens, yea, thine the earth; the world and its fullness, thou hast founded them. The north and the south, thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon triumph in thy name. Thine [is] an arm with might, strong is thy hand; exalted is thy right hand. Righteousness and judgment [are] the foundation of thy throne, mercy and truth go before thy face. Blessed the people that know the joyful shout! Jehovah, in the light of thy face they walk. In thy name they rejoice all the day, and in thy righteousness they are exalted. For thou [art] the honor of their strength, and in thy favor our horn shall be exalted. For to Jehovah [belongeth] our shield, and to the Holy one of Israel, our king. Then thou spakest in vision of thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon a mighty one, I have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found David my servant, with my holy oil have I anointed him; with whom my hand shall be established, yea, mine arm shall strengthen him. No enemy shall exact upon him nor son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his adversaries before him, and will smite his haters. And my faithfulness and my mercy [shall be] with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted. And I will set his hand in the sea, and in the rivers his right hand. He shall call upon me, My father [art] thou, my God (El) and the rock of my salvation. And for me, I will make him first-born, most high to kings of earth. My mercy will I keep for him, and my covenant [shall be] fixed for him. And I have set forever his seed, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his sons forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments, if they profane my statutes, and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgressions with a rod and their iniquities with stripes. But my mercy I will not utterly take from him, nor belie my faithfulness; nor will I profane my covenant, nor change what is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn in my holiness, I will not lie to David; his seed shall be forever, and his throne as the sun before me, as the moon is established forever, as the witness in the sky [is] firm. Selah. But thou hast cast off and rejected; thou hast been wroth with thine anointed one; thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant; thou hast broken down all his hedges, thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin. All that pass by the way plunder him; he is become a reproach to his neighbors. Thou hast exalted the right hand of his adversaries. Thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice. Yea, thou turnest back the edge of his sword, and hast not made him stand in the battle. Thou hast made his brightness to cease, and his throne to the earth thou hast cast down. Thou hast shortened the days of his youth, thou hast covered him with shame. Selah. How long, O Jehovah, wilt thou hide thyself forever? Shall thy wrath burn as fire? Remember as to me what [is] life. Wherefore hast thou created all sons of man (Adam) vanity? What man (geber) liveth and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of Sheol? Selah. Where [are] thy former mercies, Lord, thou swarest to David in thy faithfulness? Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants—I bear in my bosom all the mighty (or many) peoples—[with] which thine enemies have reproached, O Jehovah; [with] which they have reproached the footsteps (heels) of thine anointed one. Blessed be Jehovah forever. Amen and Amen” (vers. 1-53).

Psalms, Book 4, Psalms 90-94

The fourth book (Psa. 90-106) has its own distinct lineaments, which discover inspiration in their order, as a whole, as well as in the contents of each: only spiritual ignorance can fail to see both. Psa. 90 is the suited introduction and finds its place here rather than in any other among the 150. Historically it would precede all probably; for there is no substantial ground for doubting that Moses was the writer according to its title. Adonai is owned as Israel's dwelling-place in all generations, from everlasting to everlasting El, turning weak man (enosh) to dust, and saying, Return, sons of men (Adam). He is the God of creation and of providence. But faith, that owns man's transient littleness and the power of the divine displeasure, can also say, Return, Jehovah: how long? Their prayer rises that Jehovah's work may appear to His servants; and His majesty on their sons. Psa. 91 introduces Messiah owning Jehovah, the God of Israel, as His God, Whose is supreme power and faithfulness; and hence delivered at length and set on high. Then in Psa. 92 The true sabbath is anticipated when man's days are over; and 93 opens with the glorious word, “Jehovah reigneth,” notwithstanding all the roaring waves of creature opposition; while the godly acknowledge that, when judgment then returns to righteousness (how divorced in this age!), the throne of wickedness cannot be joined to Him, but the wicked shall be cut off in their own evil. Those that follow are so plain as to need no remark now; they, too, could be nowhere else with propriety. Who ordered all this consecution so strong, subtle, and instructive? A greater than man, whoever the instrument may have been.

Psalm 90

“A prayer of Moses the man of God. O Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. Before mountains were brought forth, and thou gavest birth to earth and world, thou [art] God (El). Thou makest man to return to crumbling, and sayest, Return, sons of men. For a thousand years in thine eyes [are] as yesterday when it passeth, and a watch in the night. Thou sweepest them away: a sleep are they. In the morning as grass changeth, in the morning it flourisheth and changeth; at the evening it is mown and withereth. For we decay in thine anger, and in thy wrath are we troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret [sins] in the light of thy face. For all our days are turned away in thine anger: we spend our years as a thought. The days of our years! in them [are] seventy years, and if by strength eighty years, even their pride [is] trouble and mischief, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of thine anger, and, as thy fear, thy wrath? To number our days thus make [us] know, and we will acquire a heart of wisdom. Return, Jehovah: how long? and repent as to thy servants. Satisfy us in the morning with thy mercy, and we will rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad like the days that thou hast afflicted us, like the years we have seen evil. Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy majesty unto their sons. And let the beauty of Jehovah our God be upon us, and the work of our hands established upon us; even the work of our hands establish it” (vers. 1-17).

Psalm 91

“He that dwelleth in covert of the Most High abideth in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of Jehovah, My refuge and my fortress, my God; I will confide in him. Surely He shall deliver thee from the fowler's snare, from mischief's plague. With his feathers shall he cover thee, and under his wings shalt thou trust: a shield and buckler [is] his truth. Thou shalt not be afraid for terror by night, for arrow flying by day, for plague walking in the darkness, for destruction walking at noon. There shall fall at thy side a thousand, and a myriad at thy right hand; to thee it shall not come nigh. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the requital of wicked [men]. Because thou hast made Jehovah, my refuge, the Most High, thy habitation, no evil shall befall thee, and no plague shall draw near thy tent. For his angels he will charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways; upon [their] hands they shall bear thee, lest thou strike against the stone thy foot. On lion and adder thou shalt tread; thou shalt trample young lion and dragon. Because he hath set his love on me, I too will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knoweth my name. He shall call me, and I will answer him; with him for my part I [will be] in trouble; I will deliver him and glorify him. Length of days amply will I supply him, and show him my salvation” (vers. 1-16).

The N.T. clearly intimates that Messiah takes this place under the Most High and the Almighty, identifying both with the Jehovah God of Israel in the face or Satan's evil and power. It is a sort of dialog in which Messiah in ver. 2 answers the apothegm of ver. 1 and assures Israel of deliverance in 3-8. Then Israel rejoices in 9-13, and Jehovah puts His seal to it in 14-16.

Psalm 92

“A psalm, a song, for the sabbath day. [It is] good to give thanks unto Jehovah, and to sing psalms unto thy name, O Most High, to show in the morning thy mercy and thy faithfulness in the night, on decachord and on psaltery, on a meditation (higgaion) with a harp. For thou, Jehovah, hast gladdened me by thy work; in the doings of thy hands I will triumph. How great are thy works, O Jehovah! Very deep are thy thoughts. A brutish man knoweth not, and a fool doth not understand this. When wicked [men] spring up as grass and all the workers of iniquity flourish, [it is] for them to be destroyed forever. And thou, Jehovah, [art] on high forever. For, lo, thine enemies, Jehovah—for, lo, thine enemies—shall perish; scattered shall be all doers of iniquity. And my horn shalt thou exalt like a buffalo's; I shall be anointed with fresh oil. And mine eye shall look upon my watchers; mine ears shall hear of those rising against me—evil-doers. The righteous one shall spring up as the palm, as a cedar in Lebanon shall he grow. Planted in Jehovah's house, in the courts of our God, they shall spring up. Still shall they bear fruit in old age; fat and green shall they be; to show that Jehovah is upright, my rock, and no unrighteousness in him” (vers. 1-16).

How suitable this song will then be needs no comment here. Blessing on earth follows judgment.

Psalm 93

“Jehovah reigneth; [in the] majesty he is clothed, [in the] strength he girdeth himself: yea the world is stablished, it shall not be moved. Fixed [is] thy throne of old: from eternity [art] thou. The floods (rivers) lifted up, O Jehovah, the floods lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. Above the voices of many mighty waters, breakers of the sea, mighty is Jehovah on High. Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thy house, O Jehovah, forever” (to length of days) (vers. 1-5).

This psalm again is so plain that only superstition or skepticism can mistake its import.

Psalm 94

“O Jehovah God, to whom vengeance belongeth, O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth; render desert to the proud. Jehovah, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? They prate, they speak arrogantly; all the workers of iniquity boast themselves. They break in pieces thy people, O Jehovah, and afflict thine heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. And they say, Jah shall not see, nor shall the God of Jacob consider. Consider, ye brutish among the people, and fools, when will ye be wise? He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see? He that disciplineth the Gentiles, shall he not correct—he that teacheth man knowledge? Jehovah knoweth the thoughts of man, that they [are] vanity. Blessed [is] the man whom thou disciplinest, O Jah, and teachest out of thy law that thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. For Jehovah will not cast off his people, nor will he forsake his inheritance. For judgment shall return unto righteousness, and all the upright in heart shall follow it. Who will rise up for me against evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Unless Jehovah [had been] my help, my soul had soon dwelt in silence. When I said, My foot slippeth, thy mercy, O Jehovah, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by statute? They gather themselves against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. But Jehovah hath been my high tower, and my God the rock of my refuge. And he hath brought upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own evil; Jehovah our God shall cut them off” (vers. 1-23).

It is the cry of a righteous remnant anticipating and longing for the establishment of Jehovah's righteous rule on the earth, as the preceding psalm proclaimed the great principles succinctly: Jehovah reigning, not Satan as now (John 14:30, 2 Cor. 4:4, Eph. 2:2; 6:12); His testimony very sure, before His power is displayed superior to all opposition; holiness becoming His house forever on earth as well as in heaven. This draws out the appeal for His vengeance on the evil then undisguised towering to heaven and blasphemers in pride; and its folly is exposed before their brethren that believe not. But their own hearts take the comforts of His discipline, as yet in vain for the Gentiles, but in faithful keeping for His own. The return of righteousness to judgment is assured if He reign, and the impossibility of fellowship between Himself and the throne of iniquity. Such will be the blessedness when He brings in the First-begotten into the habitable earth; and such in view of it the earnest prayer of the godly Israelite. W. K.

Psalms, Book 4, Psalms 95-100

These six Psalms may be viewed as completing the group which began with 93; yet of themselves they make an evident and well-ordered progress. The first of the six (95) summons the people of God, in the Spirit of prophecy which animated the godly, to rejoice in Jehovah no longer to be hidden but revealed in Christ Who brings in salvation, glory, and rest; but no blessing is without hearing His voice. In the second the summons goes forth beyond Israel to the nations and peoples; as the third is the new song that is sought. The fourth demands a new song of Israel; and the fifth is the answer. This is completed by Psalm 100, which expresses Israel in the joy of grace, while owning their own portion, inviting all the earth to shout aloud to Jehovah, and with enlarged hearts welcoming into His grates with thanksgiving those whose approach they used jealously to fend off.

Psalm 95

“Come, let us sing aloud to Jehovah, let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his face with praise, let us shout aloud to him with psalms. For Jehovah [is] a great God (El), and a great King above all gods. In his hand [are] the deep places of the earth, and the strength of mountains [is] his; whose [is] the sea, and he made it; and his hands formed the dry [land]. Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker; for he [is] our God and we people of his pasture and sheep of his hand. To-day if ye hear his voice, harden not your heart like Meribah, like the day of Massah, in the wilderness; when your fathers tempted me, proved me,—also saw my work. Forty years long was I disgusted with the generation and said, A people erring in heart [are] they, and they have not known my ways, so that I swore in mine anger that they shall not come into my rest” (vers. 1-11).

It will be noticed how Jehovah is worshipped as the Creator but the God of Israel; then a warning is given from the unbelief of their fathers in the wilderness. Their failure from of old will not debar them from His rest to-morrow, only unbelief to-day.

Psalm 96

“Sing ye to Jehovah a new song, sing to Jehovah, all the earth. Sing to Jehovah, bless his name, proclaim his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the Gentiles, his wonders among all the peoples. For great [is] Jehovah and exceedingly to be praised, to be feared he above all gods. For all the gods of the Gentiles [are] idols (nothing), but Jehovah made the heavens. Honor and majesty [are] before him; strength and beauty in his sanctuary. Give to Jehovah, ye families of the peoples, give to Jehovah glory and strength; give to Jehovah the glory of his name, bring an offering and come to his courts. Bow down to Jehovah in the majesty of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. Say among the Gentiles, Jehovah reigneth! Yea, the world is established, it shall not be moved; he will judge the peoples in equity. Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad; let the sea roar and its fullness; let the field exult and all that [is] in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest shout for joy before Jehovah, for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth; he will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth” (vers. 1-13).

It is “ye” here to the nations, not “us” as in the preceding psalms. Yet Jehovah holds to His ordered place on earth, and the people are invited to the courts of His sanctuary, then indeed a house of prayer for all the peoples.

Psalm 97

“Jehovah reigneth; let the earth rejoice, let the many islands be glad. Cloud and darkness [are] around him, righteousness and judgment the foundation of his throne. A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his foes round about. His lightnings lightened the world; the earth saw and trembled. Mountains melted like wax before Jehovah, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory. Ashamed be all that serve graven images and boast themselves of idols! Worship him, all ye gods (angels, as in Ps. 8)! Zion heard and rejoiced, and Judah's daughters were glad, because of thy judgments, O Jehovah. For thou, Jehovah, [art] Most High above all the earth, thou art exceedingly exalted above all gods. Lovers of Jehovah, hate evil! He keepeth the souls of his saints (pious ones), from the hand of the wicked ones he delivereth them. Light [is] sown for the righteous one, and gladness for upright in heart. Be glad in Jehovah, ye righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness (vers. 1-12).”

Such is the song in reply. It is the earth rejoicing through the execution of divine judgments because Jehovah reigns in that day. And Zion rejoices on hearing, and Judah's daughters; a blessed trait in it, for naturally how different had all been! So the heavens here declare Jehovah's righteousness; the earth certainly was far from it, though we, Christians, know it still more gloriously in Him Who is on the Father's throne.

Psalm 98

“Sing ye to Jehovah a new song, for he hath done wonders; his right hand hath wrought salvation for him, and the arm of his holiness. Jehovah hath made known his salvation; in the eyes of the Gentiles he openly showed his righteousness. He remembered his mercy and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout to Jehovah, all the earth; break forth and sing for joy, and sing psalms. Sing psalms to Jehovah with a harp, with harp and voice of psalm; with trumpets and sound of cornet shout before the King Jehovah. Let the sea roar and its fullness, the world and those dwelling in it; let floods clap hand, let mountains sing for joy together before Jehovah, for he cometh to judge the earth; he will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in equity” (vers. 1-9).

This is the call on Israel for a new song, though all the earth is to shout to Jehovah thereon, as Zion was glad when all the peoples saw His glory to the shame of idolatry. Here the sea too, the world, the rivers, and the hills all rejoice at His coming to judge the earth, Who is Jehovah the King.

Psalm 99

“Jehovah reigneth; let the peoples tremble. He sitteth [above] the cherubim; let the earth be moved. Jehovah [is] great in Zion and he [is] exalted above all the peoples. They shall praise thy great and terrible name; holy [is] he! and the king's strength loveth judgment. Thou hast established equity; thou hast wrought judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt Jehovah our God and worship at his footstool: holy [is] he! Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those calling on his name, they called unto Jehovah, and he answered them. In a pillar of cloud he spoke unto them; they kept his testimonies, and the statute he gave them. Jehovah, our God, thou answeredst them; a forgiving God (El) wast thou to them and taking vengeance on their doings. Exalt Jehovah our God, and worship at the mountain of his holiness; for holy [is] Jehovah our God” (vers. 1-9).

This is Israel's song in answer. Jehovah is great in Zion, and executes judgment and righteousness in Jacob. He sits between the cherubim. All the peoples therefore are to praise His name. As in the early days of the people, so yet more at the end of the age will He answer those that call on Him, while punishing their doings; not then one or two here and there, but “so all Israel shall be saved.” “Thy people also shall be all righteous” in that day. Jehovah's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither His ear heavy that it cannot hear.

Psalm 100

“A psalm of thanksgiving. Shout to Jehovah, all the earth. Serve Jehovah with joy, come before him with singing. Know that Jehovah he [is] God; he made us, and not we, his people and sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise; give thanks to him, bless his name. For Jehovah [is] good; forever [is] his mercy, and his faithfulness from generation to generation” (vers. 1-5).

Here Israel calls to universal thanksgiving; no churlishness to the Gentile more. Jehovah's mercy enjoyed makes His people bountiful.

Psalms, Book 4, Psalms 101-104

The previous group of psalms anticipated, in the Spirit of Christ, the revelation of Jehovah to the joy of His people, and the nations, and indeed all the earth. The last of them witnesses the deep change by divine grace when Israel will welcome the Gentiles to His courts, not only without jealousy but with all their heart. A fresh cluster follows now, the first of which (Psa. 101) introduces the Messiah again; but now, as the true David and Solomon too, singing of mercy and judgment on taking His house and kingdom to be ordered in righteousness unswervingly.

Psalm 101

“A psalm of David. Of mercy and judgment I will sing; unto Thee, Jehovah, I will sing praise. I will behave myself wisely in an upright way: when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house in uprightness of my heart. I will set nothing of Belial before mine eyes; I hate the doing of those that turn aside (or of apostasies); it shall not cleave to me. A froward heart shall depart from me: evil [thing, or person] I will not know. Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him I will cut off; the lofty of eyes and wide of heart, him will I not suffer. Mine eyes [shall be] on the faithful of the land to dwell with me; he that walketh in an upright way shall serve me. He that doeth guile shall not, dwell within my house; he that speaketh falsehoods shall not be established before mine eyes. Morning by morning (in the mornings) will I cut off all the wicked of the land, to destroy from the city of Jehovah all doers of iniquity’ (ver. 1-8).

The next psalm is as full of interest as of moment incalculable. It is the scripture quoted in the Epistle to the Hebrews (1:10-12) to prove that the O.T. regards the Son as Jehovah, Psa. 45 having just before been alleged in proof of His Godhead, and in both psalms by the God of Israel Himself. Yet it is Messiah's depth of humiliation which gives occasion to this expression of His divine glory. Out of that depth the Son contrasts His own wasting away in trouble with the permanence of Jehovah, and the certainty of Zion's rise from ruin, and the fulfillment of hope in the glorious morrow when the peoples shall be no longer scattered but gathered to serve Jehovah. But when Messiah renews His cry of sorrow, the Father declares that the Holy Sufferer is, no less than Himself, Jehovah the Creator, Who will change the creature as He made it, and is destined yet to have the sons of His servants abiding and their seed established before Him. The comment of inspiration is as wondrous as the psalm; none but the Holy Spirit could have given either.

Psalm 102

“A prayer of the afflicted one, when he is overwhelmed and before Jehovah poureth out his complaint. Jehovah, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me; in the day of my distress incline unto ins thine ear; in the day I call, answer me speedily. For my days have ended in smoke, and my bones are burned as a fire-brand. My heart is smitten as the grass and dried up; for 1 forget to eat my bread. From the voice of my groaning my bone cleaveth to my flesh. I am like a pelican of the wilderness, I am become as an owl of desolate places; I watch and become as a sparrow upon a housetop. All the day mine enemies reproach me, and they that are mad against me swear by me. For I have eaten ashes like the bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, because of thine indignation and thy wrath; for thou hast lifted me up and cast me down. My days [are] as a shadow inclined, and for me, I am withered as the grass. But thou, Jehovah, forever abidest, and thy memorial from generation to generation. Thou wilt arise—wilt compassionate Zion, for [it is] time to be gracious to her, for the set time is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones and are gracious to her dust. And: Gentiles shall fear Jehovah's name, and all kings of the earth thy glory. For Jehovah hath built Zion, he is seen in his glory, he turned unto the prayer of the destitute one and despised not their prayer. This shall be written for an after generation, and a people to be created shall praise Jah. For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from the heavens hath Jehovah beheld the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to loose the sons of death, to declare in Zion Jehovah’s name and his praise in Jerusalem, when nations are gathered together and kingdoms to serve Jehovah. He weakened my strength in the way, he shortened my days. I said, O my God (El), take me not away in half of my days: in generation of generations [are] thy years. Of old hast thou founded the earth, and heavens [are] the work of thy hands. They shall perish, and thou shalt stand; and all of these as the garment shall wax old; as the vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou, [art] the same (He), and thy years shall have no end. The sons of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee” (vers. 1-29).

The psalm following is the fruit of blessing in the Israel of God in that day. For them, as for us now, Messiah's sufferings produced endless praise. It begins with the individual, as always, “even every one that is written among the living.” It follows up the forgiveness of all iniquities with the healing of all diseases; for the age to come will enjoy the full power of Messiah, of which miracles (when He was here or afterward) were but samples. Then it rises to His ways as well as acts, not as of old partially made known, but attested in all the extent and display of His kingdom. For it is not only Jehovah's mercy from everlasting to everlasting on those that fear Him, but His throne is established in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all. Hence His angels, His hosts, and all His works are to bless Jehovah everywhere; and as his own soul commenced, so it concludes. Could this psalm be with such propriety anywhere but here, immediately after Psa. 102? Inspiration arranged as well as wrote; the profit of both incredulity loses through vain confidence in man and his thoughts.

Psalm 103

Of David. Bless Jehovah, my soul, and all within me, [bless] his holy name. Bless Jehovah, my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from the pit; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thine adornment (soul?) with the good: thy youth is renewed like the eagle. Jehovah doeth righteousnesses and judgments for all oppressed. He maketh, known his ways unto Moses,— his acts unto the sons of Israel. Jehovah [is] merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness. Not always will he chide, nor retain [anger] forever. He hath not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For, as height of heavens above the earth, his lovingkindness is mighty over those that fear them. As far as east from west, he hath put far from us our transgressions. As a father's pity on children (sons), so hath Jehovah pity on those that fear him. For he knoweth our frame, mindful that we [are] dust. Man! his days [are] like grass; as a flower of the field, so doth he flourish. For a breath passeth over him, and he is not, and the place thereof shall know him no more. But the mercy of Jehovah [is] from everlasting to everlasting upon those that fear him; and his righteousness [is] to sons of sons, to those that keep his covenant, and to those that remember his precepts to do them. Jehovah hath established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over the whole. Bless Jehovah, ye his angels, mighty in strength, doing his word, hearkening to the voice of his word. Bless Jehovah, all ye his hosts, ministers of his that do his pleasure. Bless Jehovah, all his works in all places of his realm. Bless Jehovah, my soul” (vers. 1-22).

Lastly, comes the connected and dependent outburst of praise, with a precisely similar preface, and here therefore in due place. The theme is Jehovah supreme over creation, the chiefdom in Col. 1:15 asserted of Christ, and this on evident and conclusive ground, because by (4) Him were created all things (τὰ π.), those in the heavens and those on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, the whole of them has been created through Him and for Him; and He is before all things, and the universe by Him subsists together. As the preceding psalm celebrates what Jehovah-Messiah is to Israel, from the individual widening out and upward, so this definitely views creation blessed after long bondage and groaning vanity through sin, but now delivered through the Second man. So the scriptures show, when sinners shall be consumed out of the earth and wicked persons be no more: a result which rationalism, abusing the gospel of grace, deprecates irreverently and unintelligently as a “glow of passion"; for man, not God, fills their mind to the exclusion of His glory. But in the end of the age the tares shall be rooted out, instead of growing together with the righteous as now. And this is most just and due to God: even those punished will own it in that day.

Psalm 104

“Bless Jehovah, my soul. Jehovah my God, thou art very great. Honor and majesty hast thou put on, wearing light as the robe, spreading heavens as the curtains; who frameth his chambers in the waters, who maketh clouds his chariot (vehicle), who walketh on wings of wind; making his angels spirits, his ministers a flaming fire. He founded earth on its bases: it shall not be removed ever and ever. With the deep as the garment thou didst cover it; upon the mountains stood waters; at thy rebuke they fled, at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away—mountains rose, valleys sank, unto a place which thou hast founded for them: thou hast set a bound that they may not pass, that they return not to cover the earth. He sendeth springs into the valleys: between mountains they go; they give drink to every beast of the field: wild asses quench their thirst. By them birds of the heavens dwell; from among branches they give voice. He watereth mountains from his chambers; from fruit of thy works is the earth satisfied. He causeth to grow grass for the cattle and herb for service of man, to bring forth bread from the earth and wine that gladdeneth man's heart, to make face shine with oil; and bread upholdeth man's heart. Satisfied are Jehovah's trees, cedars of Lebanon which he planted, where small birds nestle: [for] stork, firs [are] her house. The high mountains [are] for the wild goats, crags a refuge for the rock-badgers. He made moon for seasons; sun knoweth its down-going. Thou settest darkness, and it is night, wherein every beast of the forest moveth forth: the young lions roar for the prey, and for seeking their food from God (El). The sun ariseth, they retire and lie down in their lairs. Man goeth forth unto his work and unto his service until evening. How manifold are thy works, O Jehovah! in wisdom hast thou wrought them all; the earth is full of thy riches. Yonder [is] the sea, great and wide (of hands), moving things there and without number, living creatures small and great. There ship go; this Leviathan thou hast made to play therein. All of them wait on thee to give them food in its season. Thou givest to them, they gather; thou openest thy hand, they are satisfied with good; thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou withdrawest their breath, they expire and return unto their dust; thou sendest thy spirit, they are created, and thou renewest the face of the ground. Let Jehovah's glory be forever; let Jehovah rejoice in his works. He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth, he toucheth mountains, and they smoke. I will sing unto Jehovah while I live, I will sing psalms unto my God while I have being. My meditation on him will be sweet; I will rejoice in Jehovah. Sinners shall be consumed out of the earth, and wicked men shall be no more. Bless Jehovah, my soul. Hallelujah (praise ye Jah)” (vers. 1-35).

Psalms, Book 4, Psalms 105-107

This book closes with the next two psalms which are an evidently antithetical pair, each by a different route tending, and contributing, to the end of the Lord, His mercy in saving Israel to His own praise. The one recounts the good ways of Jehovah in grace with His people according to His promises, that they might keep His statutes and observe His laws; the other confesses the evil works of Israel in ungrateful forgetfulness, rebellion, and idolatry. Yet Jehovah's ear is open to their repentant cry, as His hand to deliver; hence their prayer to “Jehovah our God,” “Save us,” and “gather us from among the Gentiles” to give thanks to His holy name and to triumph in His praise, as will surely be at the end of this age.

Psalm 105

“Give thanks unto Jehovah, call upon his name; make known his acts among the peoples. Sing unto him, sing psalms (or play) unto him; talk of all his wondrous works. Glory in his holy name; glad be the heart of those that inquire for Jehovah. Seek Jehovah and his strength, inquire for his face continually. Remember his wondrous works which he hath done, his miracles and the judgments of his mouth, O seed of Abraham his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen (ones). He, Jehovah, [is] our God; in all the earth [are] his judgments. He remembered forever his covenant, a word he commanded to a thousand generations which he ratified (cut) with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac, and he confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel an everlasting covenant, saying, To thee will I give the land of Canaan, lot (line) of your inheritance, when they were even to be numbered as a few and sojourners in it. And they walked from nation to nation, from a kingdom to another people. He suffered no man to oppress them and reproved kings for their sakes, [saying] Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. And he called a famine on the land; every staff of bread he broke. He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold for a slave. They hurt with the fetters his feet; [into] iron went his soul, until the time his word came; Jehovah's saying tried him. A king sent and loosed him, a ruler of peoples, and set him free. He made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possession, to bind his princes at his pleasure (soul) and make his elders wise. And Israel came [into] Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in Ham's land. And he fructified his people greatly and made him stronger than his enemies. He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants. He sent Moses his servant, land] Aaron whom he chose. They set among them wads of his signs and wonders in Ham's land. He sent darkness and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word. He turned their waters to blood and killed their fish. Their land swarmed with frogs in their king's chambers. He spoke, and dog-flies came, lice (or gnats) in all their border. He made (or gave) them storms of hail, flames of fire in their land; and he smote their vines and fig trees, and broke the trees of their border. He spoke, and locusts came and canker worm, and there was no number; and they devoured every herb in their land and ate the fruit of their ground. And he smote every firstborn in their land, firstfruits of their strength. And he brought them out with silver and gold, and there was not among their tribes a stumbling [one.] Egypt was glad at their departure, for their fear fell upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering and fire to give light [by] night. [The people] asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with bread of heaven. He opened a rock, and waters gushed forth; they ran in the dry places, a river. For he remembered his holy word [and] Abraham his servant; and brought forth his people with joy, his chosen with shouting. And he gave them lands of Gentiles, and they inherited the nations' soil, that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise ye Jah” (vers. 1-48).

Psalm 106

“Praise ye Jah (Hallelujah). Give thanks unto Jehovah, for [he is] good, for his mercy [is] forever. Who shall tell the powers of Jehovah—shall utter all his praise? Blessed they that keep judgment, he that doeth righteousness at every time. Remember me in the favor of the people, visit me with (in) thy salvation; to look on (in) the good of thy chosen, to rejoice in the joy of thy nation, to glory with thine inheritance. We have sinned with our fathers, we have been perverse, we have done wickedly. Our fathers in Egypt understood not thy wonders; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies, but rebelled at the sea, at the Red Sea. Yet he saved them for his name's sake, to make known his power. And he rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; and he made them walk through the depths as the wilderness. And he saved them from the hater's hand and redeemed them from the enemy's hand. And waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. Then (and) believed they his words, they sang his praise, They hasted, they forgot his works, they waited not for his counsel, and lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God (El) in the desert. And he gave them their requests, and sent leanness into their soul. And they were envious of Moses in the camp, of Aaron, saint of Jehovah. Earth openeth and swalloweth up Dathan, and covereth Abiram's company. And a fire burneth in their company, a flame consumeth wicked ones. They make a calf in Horeb and bow down to a molten image, and change their glory for the likeness of an ox eating grass. They forget God (El) their Savior that did great things in Egypt, wondrous works in Ham's land, terrible things at the Red Sea. And he said he would destroy them, had not Moses stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying. And they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word, but murmured in their tents; they did not hearken to Jehovah's voice. And he lifted up his hand to them, to make them fall in the wilderness and to make their seed fall among the Gentiles, and to scatter them in the lands. And they joined themselves to Baal-Peor and ate sacrifices of dead (beings). And they provoked him by their actions, and the plague broke out among them. Then stood up Phinehas and executed judgment, and the plague was stayed. And it was reckoned to him for righteousness to generation and generation for evermore. And they angered him at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account; for they provoked his spirit, and he spoke unadvisedly with his lips. They destroyed not the peoples as (which) Jehovah said to them; but they mingled with the Gentiles and learned their doings, and served their idols, which became a snare unto them. And they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, and shed innocent blood, blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. And they were defiled in their doings, and went a whoring in their actions. And Jehovah's anger was kindled at his people, and he abhorred his inheritance, and he gave them into the Gentiles' hand, and over them ruled! their haters, and their enemies oppressed them, and they were bowed down under their hand. Many times he delivereth them, and they rebel in their counsel and were brought low by their iniquity. But he regarded them in the distress when he heard them cry. And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies, and he gave them compassion before all that took them captives. Save us, Jehovah our God, and gather us from among the Gentiles to give thanks unto thy holy name, to glory in thy praise. Blessed [be] Jehovah God of Israel from the everlasting and into the everlasting! And let all the people say, Amen Hallelujah (Praise ye Jah)” (vers. 1-48).

In Psa. 105 only divine goodness appears to Israel, and His judgments on their enemies, ending in Hallelujah. In Psa. 106, which begins and ends with Hallelujah, we have, only Israel's bad ways confessed and divine mercy on their cry, as the ground for salvation and deliverance from among the Gentiles to triumph in Jehovah's praise.

Psalms, Book 4, Psalms 107-110

This, the last, book into which the psalms are not merely divisible but actually divided, supposes the people of God once more in the land, for the display of God's purpose and ways in Messiah's kingdom after being called to sit at God's right hand, characterized by His law written on their hearts. It ends with nothing but praises. How could it be otherwise when Rev. 11:15 is fulfilled?

Psalm 107

“Give ye thanks to Jehovah, for he [is] good; for his mercy [is] forever. Let the redeemed of Jehovah say [so], whom he redeemed from the oppressor's hand, and gathered them from the lands, from east and from west, from north and from south (sea). They wandered in the wilderness, in a desert way; no city of habitation they found. Hungry, and thirsty also, their soul fainted in them, and they cried unto Jehovah in their distress: out of their strait he delivereth them. And he led them by the right way to go to a city of habitation. Oh that [men] might give thanks to Jehovah [for] his mercy and his wonders to the sons of men! For he satisfied the craving soul, and filled with good the hungry soul.”

“Dwellers in darkness and death-shade, bound in affliction and iron, because they resisted the words of God (El), and despised the counsel of the Most High; therefore (and) he bowed down their heart with labor; they stumbled, and there was no helper. And they cried unto Jehovah in their distress: out of their straits he saveth them; he bringeth them out of darkness and death-shade, and their bonds he rendeth. Oh that [men] might give thanks to Jehovah [for] his mercy and his wonders to the sons of men! For he broke the gates of brass and cut off the bars of iron.”

“Fools, by their way of transgression, and by their iniquities, are afflicted; all food their soul abhorreth; and they draw near to the gates of death. And they cried unto Jehovah in their distress: out of their straits he saveth them; he sendeth his word, and delivereth them from their destructions. Oh that [men] might give thanks unto Jehovah [for] his mercy and his wonders to the sons of men! And let them sacrifice sacrifices of praise and declare his works with singing.”

“They that go down to the sea in the ships, that do business in great waters, they saw Jehovah's works and his wonders in the deep. And he said, and there arose tempestuous winds, which lifted up its billows: they rise [to] the heavens, they sink [to] the depths; their soul melteth with evil; they reel and stagger like the drunkard, and all their wisdom is confounded. And they cried unto Jehovah in their distress, and out of their straits he bringeth them. He stilleth the tempest, and their billows are silent. And they are glad because they be quiet; and he guideth them to the haven of their desire. Oh that [men] might give thanks unto Jehovah [for] his mercy and his wonders to the sons of men! And let them exalt him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the session of the elders.”

“He turneth rivers to a wilderness and water-springs to a thirsty ground, a fruitful land to saltness for the wickedness of those dwelling in it. He turneth a wilderness to a pool of water and a dry land to water-springs. And he settleth there hungry [men], and they establish a city of habitation, and sowed fields, and planted vineyards, and gained fruits of increase; and he blessed them, and multiplied greatly and their cattle he doth not diminish. And they were diminished and brought low from oppression, evil, and sorrow. He poureth contempt upon princes, and made them wander in a waste without a way. And he set high the needy one from affliction and made families like the sheep. The upright shall see and rejoice; and all iniquity shall stop its mouth. Whoso [is] wise and observeth these things, even they shall understand the mercies of Jehovah” (vers. 1-43).

Israel affords the great object-lesson of man's folly and distress in the land and out of it, as on the sea, crying to Jehovah and heard in His unfailing mercy, at last delivered from the enemy and gathered out of the lands on every side (not a few Jews from Babylon merely) to enjoy the kingdom. It is in no way the church blessed with Christ in the heavenly places, though the church may well profit from all and enjoy the truth and the mercy it describes.

Psalm 108

“A song, a psalm of David. My heart [is] fixed, O God: I will sing and sing psalms (? play), yea, my glory. Awake, O (the) lute and harp: I will wake the dawn, I will give thee thanks among the peoples, O Jehovah, and I will sing psalms to thee among the nations. For great from above the heavens [is] thy mercy, and unto the lands thy truth. Be exalted above the heavens, O God, and thy glory above all the earth. That thy beloved ones may be delivered, save with thy right hand and answer me (or us). God hath spoken in his holiness: I will exalt, I will divide Shechem and mete out the valley of Succoth. Gilead [is] mine, Manasseh mine, and Ephraim [is] the strength of my head, Judah my lawgiver; Moab [is] my wash-pot; at Edom will I cast my shoe; over Philistia will I shout. Who will bring me [to] the strong city? Who did (or will) lead me even to Edom? Hast thou not cast us off, O God? and wilt thou not, O God, go with our hosts? Give us help from distress, for (and) vain is man's salvation. In God we will do mightily (make strength); and he will tread down our adversaries” (vers. 1-14).

This Psalm consists of the latter halves of Psa. 57 and 60. with variations. The deliverance, though really of God, is not yet complete; and this is looked for.

Psalm 109

“To the chief musician, a psalm of David. God of my praise, be not silent; for the mouth of the wicked one and the mouth of deceit are opened against me with a lying tongue. And [with] words of hatred they have surrounded me and have fought against me without cause. For my love they are mine adversaries, and I [am] player; and they set upon me evil for good, and hatred for my love. Appoint over him a wicked one, and let an adversary stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him go out guilty, and his prayer be for sin. Let his days be few, let another take his office; let his sons be orphans, and his wife a widow. And let his sons be vagabonds (wandering wanderers), and beg and seek [God] out of their desolations. Let an exactor ensnare all, that he hath, and strangers plunder his labor. Let there be none extending mercy to him, nor any one gracious to his orphans. Let his posterity (latter end) be cut off; in a generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with (to) Jehovah, and his mother's sin not be blotted out. Let them be before Jehovah continually, and let him cut off from the earth their memory: because he remembered not to show mercy, but (and) pursued the poor and needy man, and one broken in heart, to slay [him]. And he loved cursing; for (and) it came to him: and he delighted not in blessing: so it was far from him. And he put on cursing as his garment, and it came like the water into his midst, and like the oil into his bones. Let it be to him as raiment he weareth, and for a belt let him continually be girded. This [is] the wages of mine adversaries from Jehovah, and of their speaking evil against my soul. But thou, Jehovah Lord, do with me for thy name's sake; because thy mercy [is] good, deliver me. For me [I am] poor and needy, and my heart wounded within me. Like a shadow at its stretching out I am gone; I am tossed like the locust. My knees totter from fasting, and my flesh faileth from fatness (oil), and I have been a reproach to them; they see me, they shake their head. Help me, Jehovah my God; save me according to thy mercy. They shall know that this [is] thy hand; thou, O Jehovah, hast done it. Let them cease, and bless thou: they have risen up and shall be ashamed, and thy servant be glad. Mine adversaries shall be clothed with dishonor, they shall cover themselves with their shame as the mantle. I will give great thanks to Jehovah with my mouth; yea, I will praise in the midst of many. For he standeth on the right hand of the needy to save [him] from those that judge his soul” (vers. 1-31).

The Psalm is applied authoritatively to Judas, but clearly includes the wicked like him, treacherous to the Messiah in the past and especially in the future to those who have His spirit. In the following we have the glorious answer of Jehovah on behalf of the despised.

Psalm 110

“A psalm of David. Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make thine enemies a stool for thy feet. Jehovah shall send the rod of thy might out of Zion: rule in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people offer themselves willingly ( [are] voluntary offerings) in the day of thy power, in ornaments of holiness. From the womb of the dawn to thee [is] the dew of thy youth. Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou [art] priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand hath smitten kings in the day of his anger. He shall judge among the Gentiles; he hath filled with corpses, he hath smitten the head over a great country. From the brook in the way he will drink; therefore will he lift up the head” (vers. 1-7).

Psalms, Book 5, Psalms 111-118

The next three psalms are plainly a trilogy in suited succession, following up that which set out the exaltation of Messiah on high and the coming day of His power out of Zion. The first two of the three are acrostics, but all are the praises of Jah (Hallelu-jah) for the deliverance of His people by Messiah.

Psalm 111

“Praise ye Jah. I will give thanks to Jehovah with a whole heart in council of the upright and congregation. Great [are] Jehovah's works, sought out by all delighting in them. Honor and work [are] His majesty, and his righteousness standing forever. A memorial he made for his wonders: gracious and merciful [is] Jehovah. Food (prey) he gave to those fearing him; he will remember forever his covenant. The power of his works he hath shown his people, to give them a heritage of Gentiles. The works of his hands [are] truth and judgment; all his precepts, sure, settled forever and ever, done in truth and uprightness. Redemption he sent to his people; he commanded to everlasting his covenant: holy and fearful [is] his name. Fear of Jehovah [is] the beginning of wisdom; good understanding [belongs] to all doing them [i.e. his precepts]; his praise standeth forever” (vers. 1-10).

Jehovah's works, not here in creation but on behalf of His people, are celebrated: great in themselves; powerful in their effects; permanent in result. How different are man's! Wise is the fear of Him; and His praise abiding.

Psalm 112

“Praise ye Jah. Blessed [is] the man fearing Jehovah, in his commandments delighting greatly. Mighty on the earth shall be his seed; the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches [shall be] in his house, and his righteousness standeth forever. There ariseth in the darkness light for the upright: gracious and merciful and righteous [is he]. Good [is] the man gracious and lending; he will sustain his matters with judgment. For he shall not be moved forever; for everlasting remembrance shall be a righteous one. Of evil tidings he will not be afraid; fixed [is] his heart, confiding in Jehovah. Settled [is] his heart, he will not fear until he look upon his oppressors. He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness standeth forever, his horn shall be exalted with glory. The wicked (man) shall see and be vexed; he shall gnash his teeth and melt away: the desire of wicked (men) shall perish” (vers. 1-10).

Next to the intervention of Jehovah comes the character, as well as the blessing under His government, of the man that fears Him. It is not the Christian even now blessed in heavenly places, enjoying full favor, yet suffering on earth, and waiting for Him Who will have us with Himself in the Father's house. It is the anticipative sketch of the righteous Israelite in the kingdom.

Psalm 113

“Praise ye Jah. Praise, ye servants of Jehovah, praise the name of Jehovah. Blessed be the name of Jehovah henceforth and to everlasting. From sun-rising unto its setting praised be Jehovah's name. High above all Gentiles [is] Jehovah, his glory above the heavens. Who [is] like Jehovah our God, that dwelleth on high, that seeth deep (or, humbleth himself to see) in the heavens and in the earth? He raiseth from the dust the poor one; from the dung-hill he lifteth up the needy, to set with rulers, with nobles of his people. He maketh a barren one of the house glad mother of its sons. Praise ye Jah” (vers. 1-9).

Here the scope is manifestly wider. Israel may be Jehovah's earthly center, but His name shall be praised from east to west, from that day and evermore. Who is like to Him, and to Him as thus displayed in His ways with His poor people, no longer in the dust but exalted, no longer barren but the glad mother of sons? Hallelujah!

Psalm 114

“When Israel went out of Egypt, Jacob's house from a people of strange speech, Judah was (for) his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. The sea saw and fled, the Jordan turned back; the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. What ailed ([was] to) thee, thou (the) sea, that thou didst flee? thou Jordan, that thou turnedst back? Ye mountains, skipped ye like rams? ye hills like lambs? At the presence of the Lord tremble, O earth, at the presence of the God (Eloah) of Jacob, turning the rock [into] a pool of water, the flint to a spring of water” (vers. 1-8).

It is not only Jehovah's glory above the heavens, yet stooping to look on the lowliest here below, as proved in Israel; the sea, the river, the mountains, and the hills, the earth, all teach from before Him, Who will be to Jacob all He was of old and more. His power in goodness is unfailing.

Psalm 115

“Not unto us, O Jehovah, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, for thy truth. Why should the Gentiles say, Where pray [is] their God? And our God [is] in the heavens: all that he pleased he did. Their idols [are] silver and gold, work of hands of man. A mouth have they, and they speak not; ears they have, and they hear not; a nose have they, and they smell not; their hands, and they feel not; their feet, and they walk not; they mutter not with their throat. Like them are those making them, every one who confideth in them. O Israel, confide in Jehovah: he [is] their help and their shield. House of Aaron, confide in Jehovah: he [is] their help and their shield. Ye that fear Jehovah, confide in Jehovah: he [is] their help and their shield. Jehovah hath remembered us; he will bless, he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron; he will bless them that fear Jehovah, the small with the great. Jehovah will add upon you, upon you and upon your sons. Blessed [are] ye of Jehovah, Maker of the heavens and the earth. The heavens [are] heavens for Jehovah, and the earth he gave to the sons of man. The dead praise not Jah, nor any going down in silence. But we will bless Jah henceforth and for everlasting. Praise ye Jah” (vers. 1-18).

Then the wonders of Jehovah will no longer puff Israel up. They will need no humiliation more, being truly humble in that day. Jehovah's name is all henceforth; and His “mercy” takes precedence, instead of boasting in “truth” because peculiarly theirs. This does but increase their loathing of idols, so long their snare. But if they forgot Jehovah, He remembered them; and that day is a day of blessing for Israel's house and for Aaron's and for fearers of Jehovah, the small and the great. But it is for the living on earth, though heaven and earth shall be in harmonious blessing and for evermore. Children of God are we now called, and such we are; His sons, with the Spirit of God, crying, Abba, Father; and we look up to heaven as our home because it is Christ's, having the cross meanwhile on earth. Here are we shown a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we all shall be changed. Even now are we, Christians, “heavenly,” and we shall put on the image of the Heavenly at His coming.

Psalm 116

“I love Jehovah, for he hath heard my voice, my supplications. For be inclined his ear unto me, and I will call [upon him] in my days. Bands of death compassed me, and straits of Sheol seized me: I found trouble and sorrow; and on Jehovah's name I call; I pray, O Jehovah, deliver my soul. Gracious [is] Jehovah and righteous; and our God [is] merciful. Jehovah keepeth the simple. I was brought low, and he saved me. Return to thy rest, O my soul.; for Jehovah hath death bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, my feet from falling. I will walk before Jehovah in lands of the living. I believed, for I speak; as for me, I was greatly afflicted. I said in my haste (alarm), All mankind [are] false. How shall I requite to Jehovah all his bestowals upon me? I will take the cup of salvation (s) and call on the name of Jehovah. I will pay my vows to Jehovah, yea in the presence of all his people. Precious in the eyes of Jehovah [is] the death of his saints. Yea, O Jehovah, for I [am] thy servant, I [am] thy servant, son of thy handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. To thee will I sacrifice the sacrifice of praise, and on Jehovah's name will I call. My vows to Jehovah I will pay, yea before all his people, in the courts of Jehovah's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye Jah” (vers. 1-19).

Here we see the loving kindness of Jehovah (Who is therefore loved) in delivering the simple ones, the righteous remnant from under the shadow of death that oppressed them, the truth of which so habitually applies to the suffering Christian (2 Cor. 4), and not merely at a special time as Jacob's hour, when he is to be delivered out of it. The “haste” is not carnal precipitancy, but of such alarm as would make one hurry away at once. Comfort comes, but Jehovah is trusted in faith, which is better still. The end is praise of Jah.

Psalm 117

“Praise ye Jehovah, all ye Gentiles; laud him, all the peoples. For his mercy is powerful over us, and the truth of Jehovah [is] for everlasting. Praise ye Jah” (vers. 1, 2).

It is a short psalm out of a large heart. Grace enjoyed goes out toward others, yea to all. So will Israel then sing. What a contrast with their narrowness of old! So Jehovah's mercy and truth will work in that day to His praise on earth. We see how beautifully these three psalms ending in Hallelujah follow Psa. 114 (Jehovah's intervention as when He brought Israel out of Egypt through the desert), which is preceded by the three psalms beginning with Hallelujah, as the last of these indeed both begins and ends.

Psalm 118

“Give ye thanks to Jehovah, for he is good; for his mercy [is] forever. Let Israel now say, that his mercy [is] for everlasting. Let Aaron's house now say, that his mercy [is] for everlasting. Yea, let those that fear Jehovah say, that his mercy [is] for everlasting. From the strait I called upon Jah; Jah answered me in a (the) large place, Jehovah is for me: I will not fear; what can man do unto me? Jehovah [is] for me among my helpers, and I shall look upon my haters. [It is] better to confide in Jehovah than to trust in man; [it is] better to confide in Jehovah than to trust in rulers. All Gentiles compass me; in Jehovah's name [I say] that I will cast them off; they compass, yea they compass me; in Jehovah's name [I say] that I will cast them off. They compass me like bees; they are quenched as a fire of thorns; in Jehovah's name [I say] that I will cast them off. Thou didst thrust sore (thrusting) at me that I might fall; but Jehovah helped me. My strength and song [is] Jah; and he is become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation [is] in the tents of the righteous: Jehovah's right hand doeth valiantly. I shall not die but live and declare the works of Jah. Jah hath chastened me sore, but hath not given me to (the) death. Open ye to me gates of righteousness: I will enter into them; Jah will I thank. This [is] Jehovah's (to Jehovah) gate; the righteous shall go into it. I will give thee thanks, for thou hast answered me and hast become my salvation. The stone the builders rejected hath become (for) head of the corner. From Jehovah is this; it is wonderful in our eyes. This [is] the day Jehovah hath made: we will rejoice and triumph in it (or, in him) Jehovah, oh! save, I pray; Jehovah, oh! prosper, I pray. Blessed [be] he that cometh in Jehovah's name. We have blessed you out of Jehovah's house. Jehovah [is] God (El) and hath given us light: bind the sacrifice (feast) with cords up to the altar's horns. Thou [art] my God (El), and I will give thee thanks; O my God, I will exalt thee. Give ye thanks to Jehovah, for he [is] good; for his mercy [is] for everlasting” (vers. 1-29).

It is the end of the age which will vindicate the God of Israel. Till then appearances are adverse to His name and His people; and faith alone gains the victory unseen, which then will be manifest to every eye. All men may oppose meanwhile, and never more than at the close; Satan too may deceive and destroy as far as he can; and God may chastise one sorely but for good: Christ knew all this exceptionally, and much more than is here in view. But the end is blessing and glory, not for us only on high as we know from elsewhere, but for those who will enjoy the kingdom on earth, when it is no longer man's but Jehovah's day. What a blank must be in the outlook of all Christians, who leave out such a scene for the glory of the once humbled but now exalted Man! Then He shall sit on His own throne, as distinct from the Father's, before the eternal state. It is the age to come, on which almost all prophecy converges.

Psalms, Book 5, Psalm 119:1-85

This psalm is not more remarkable in its structure than in its moral beauty—the expression of the law written on Israel's heart, after God's intervention to restore them to the land, yet before their complete deliverance. Each section consists of eight verses marked successively by each letter of the Hebrew alphabet in due order, all dwelling on the virtues of divine revelation as made known to the chosen people: law, testimonies, ways, precepts, statutes, commandments, and word generally.

Aleph. “Blessed [are] the perfect in the way, that walk in Jehovah's law. Blessed [are] they that observe his testimonies, that seek him with a whole heart. Yea, they practice no wrong, in his ways they walk. Thou hast commanded thy precepts, to keep (them) diligently. Oh, that my ways were established to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed in my looking to all thy commandments. I will give thee thanks with uprightness of heart, in my learning the judgments of thy righteousness. Thy statutes I will keep: forsake me not utterly” (vers. 1-8).

All here is introductory and general: the return after wandering and sorrowful experience; Jehovah's laws written within under the new covenant.

Beth. “By what shall a youth cleanse his path? By taking heed (to keep it) according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee; let me not wander from thy commandments. In my heart have I laid up thy saying, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed [art] thou, Jehovah: teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. In the way of thy testimonies have I rejoiced as over all wealth. In thy precepts I will meditate and regard thy paths. In thy statutes I will delight myself; I will not forget thy word” (vers. 9-16).

Here is the washing of water by the word, God purifying the heart by faith even where natural energy might be strongest.

Gomel. “Grant unto thy servant I shall live, and I will keep thy word. Open mine eyes, and I shall behold wondrous things out of thy law. For me I [am] a sojourner in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. My soul breaketh with longing for thy judgments at every time. Thou hast rebuked proud men, accursed, that wander from thy commandments. Roll from me reproach and contempt, for thy testimonies I have observed. Princes also sat and at me talked; thy servant doth meditate in thy statutes. Thy testimonies also fare] my delights, my counselors (lit. men of my counsel)” (vers. 17-24).

Jehovah's goodness is asked according to and in His word, the delight and guide of the Israel of God, whosoever might despise.

Daleth. “My soul cleaveth unto dust: quicken me according to thy word. My ways I declared, and thou answeredst me: teach me thy statutes. The way of thy precepts make me understand, and I will meditate in thy wonders. My soul droppeth for sorrow: raise me up according to thy word. Way of falsehood remove from me, and thy law grant me graciously. Way of faithfulness I have chosen; thy judgments have I held (or set [before me]). I have cleaved unto thy testimonies: Jehovah, put me not to shame. The way of thy commandments I will run, for (or when) thou wilt enlarge my heart” (vers. 25-32).

The heart prefers abasement from and with God to ease without Him, but looks for enlargement to do His will with alacrity.

He. “Teach me, Jehovah, the way of thy statutes, and I shall observe it [unto the] end. Make me understand, and I will observe thy law and will keep [it] with a whole heart. Make me go in the path of thy commandments; for therein I delight. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to gain. Turn away mine eyes from seeing vanity; in thy way quicken me. Set up thy saying for thy servant, who [is devoted] to thy fear. Turn away my reproach of which I am afraid, for thy judgments [are] good. Behold, I have longed for thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness” (vers. 33-40).

The need of Jehovah's teaching in order to obey and be kept is here spread before Him.

Vau. “And let thy mercy, Jehovah, come to me, thy salvation according to thy mind. And I will answer my reviler a word; for I confide in thy word. And take not out of my mouth the word of truth utterly, for I have hoped in thy judgments. And I will observe thy law continually forever and ever. And I will walk at large; for thy precepts have I sought. And I will speak of thy testimonies before kings, and will not he ashamed. And I will delight myself in thy commandments which I have loved, and I will lift up thy commandments which I have loved, and I will meditate in thy statutes” (vers. 41-48).

The taste of the grace of Jehovah, of His salvation as he expresses it, is next craved for courage and fidelity.

Zaire. “Remember for thy servant the word on which thou hast made me hope. This [is] my comfort in mine afflictions, for thy saying hath quickened me. Proud men deride me exceedingly: from thy law I swerve not. I remembered thy judgments of old, Jehovah, and have comforted myself. Indignation seizeth me because of wicked men forsaking thy laws. Thy statutes were songs in the house of my sojournings. I remember in the night thy name, Jehovah, and observe thy law. This hath been to me, because thy precepts I observed” (vers. 49-56).

“The word” is owned as hope and comfort in the midst of pride and ungodliness; His name gives motive to obey.

Cheth. “Jehovah [is] my portion, and I have tried to keep thy words. I have sought thy: face with a whole heart: be gracious to me according to thy saying. I have thought on my ways, and; turned my feet unto thy testimonies. I hasted and delayed not to keep thy commandments. Cords of wicked men surrounded me: thy laws I have not forgotten. At midnight I rise to give thanks unto thee because of the judgments of thy righteousness. A companion am I to all who fear thee, and to those who keep thy precepts. Of thy mercy, Jehovah, the earth is full; thy statutes teach me” (vers. 57-64).

Here the heart rises to Jehovah Himself; so that wicked men's bands were powerless to make the law forgotten, and he saw His mercy everywhere.

Teth. “Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, Jehovah, according to thy word. Goodness of judgment and knowledge teach me, for in thy commandments I believe. Before I was afflicted I went astray, and now thy saying I keep. Good [art] thou and doing good: teach me thy statutes. Proud men have forged falsehood; with a whole heart I will observe thy precepts. Fat as the grease is their heart: I delight myself in thy law. [It is] good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. The law of thy mouth [is] better to me than thousands of gold and silver” (vers. 65-72).

It is a soul profiting by affliction, and confiding all the more in Jehovah, to learn His statutes, better than thousands of gold and silver.

Yod. “Thy hands made me and fashioned me: make me understand, and I will learn thy commandments. Thy fearers will see me and be glad; for I have hoped in thy word. I know, Jehovah, that thy judgments [are] righteousness, and [in] faithfulness thou hast afflicted me. Let, I pray, thy mercy be for my comfort according to thy word to thy servant. Let thy compassions come to me, and I shall live; for thy law [is] my delights. Let proud men be ashamed; for [with] falsehood they perverted me: I will meditate in thy precepts. Let them turn unto me that fear thee and know thy testimonies. Let my heart be perfect in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed” (vers. 73-80).

Jehovah is looked to as a faithful Creator, and those that fear Him counted on. As He afflicted for good, so would He show lovingkindness.

Caph. “My soul fainteth for thy salvation; in thy word do I hope. Mine eyes fail for thy saying, so that I say (saying), When wilt thou comfort me? For I am become like a wine-skin in smoke; thy statutes I forget not. How many (lit. like what) [are] thy servant's days? When wilt thou execute judgment on my persecutors? Proud [men] dig for me pits, which (or who) are not according to thy law. All thy commandments [are] faithfulness: [with] falsehood do they persecute me. Help me. They had almost consumed me in the earth (or land); but I did not forsake thy precepts. According to thy mercy quicken me. I will keep the testimony of thy mouth” (vers. 80-88).

Here the prayer is instant, as the iniquity grows apace, and weakness is realized in the severest trial. It is not the hope of the Christian, who like Christ will go on high; but deliverance, as Israel expect and will have, by judgments executed manifestly on the enemy.

Psalms, Book 5, Psalm 119:86-176

Lamed. “Forever, Jehovah, thy word is settled in the heavens. To generation and generation [is] thy faithfulness. Thou hast established earth, and it hath stood. For thy judgments, they stand to day, for the whole (or universe) [is] thy servants. Unless thy law [had been] my delights, then should I have perished in mine affliction. Never will I forget thy precepts, for by them thou hast quickened me. I [am] thine: save me, for thy precepts I have sought. For me have waited wicked men to destroy me: thy testimonies I attend to. To all perfection I have seen an end: exceeding broad [is] thy commandment” (vers. 89-96).

The stability of Jehovah is seen on high; His purpose emanates thence infallibly, but establishes earth too, the universe being His servant. Then its moral power is owned, and by it the conviction that the soul is His, attending in the midst of malice to His testimonies, and in the sense of total failure feeling the all-embracing value of what expresses His mind.

Mem. “How I love thy law! all the day have I meditated on it. Thy commandments make me wiser than mine enemies, for it [is] ever mine. More than all my teachers I have understanding: for thy testimonies [are] my meditation. More than aged men I understand, for thy precepts I have observed. From every evil path I withheld my feet, that I might keep thy word. From thy judgments I have not departed, for thou hast taught me. How sweet to my palate are thy sayings! more than honey to my mouth. From thy precepts I understand; therefore I hate every path of falsehood” (vers. 97-104).

Here it is love of Jehovah's law, leading to meditation, and with blessed results in wisdom and morally.

Nan. “As a lamp to my feet [is] thy word, and a light to my path. I have sworn, and will perform, to keep thy righteous judgments. I was afflicted exceedingly: Jehovah, quicken me according to thy word. Accept, I pray, Jehovah, the free-will offerings of my mouth, and teach me thy judgments. My soul [is] in thy hand continually, yet (and) I do not forget thy law. Wicked men laid a snare for me, yet (and) from thy precepts I strayed not. I inherit thy testimonies forever, for they [are] my heart's rejoicing. I incline my heart to do thy statutes forever [to] the end” (vers. 105-112).

In this stanza the light of the word for himself is acknowledged, and its judgments for wickedness.

Samech. “Double-minded men I hate, and thy law I love. My hiding-place and my shield [art] thou: in thy word I hope. Depart from me, evildoers; and I will observe the commandments of my God. Uphold me according to thy saying, and I shall live, and let me not be ashamed of my waiting. Uphold me, and I shall be saved, and I will lock in thy statutes continually. Thou settest at naught all wanderers from thy statutes; for a lie [is] their deceit. [As] dross thou causest to cease all earth's wicked ones: therefore I love thy testimonies. My flesh shuddereth for fear, of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments” (vers. 113-120).

Wavering and evil-doing are deprecated as heartily as Jehovah's law is loved. But the need of being sustained is expressed, as on the other hand Jehovah's summary dealings with the deceitful and wicked; for indeed He is to be feared.

“I have done judgment and righteousness: leave me net to mine oppressors. Be surety for thy servant for good: let not proud men oppress me. Mine eyes fail for thy salvation and for thy righteous saying. Do with thy servant according to thy mercy, and thy statutes teach me. Thy servant [am] I; give me understanding, and I shall know thy testimonies. [It is] time for Jehovah to act: they make void thy law. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold and above fine gold. Therefore all precepts [as to] all I count right; every path of falsehood I hate” (vers. 121-128).

Hence he looks for Jehovah to act, not only on His servant's behalf but in vindication of His law.

Pe. “Wonderful [are] thy testimonies: therefore doth my soul observe them. The opening of thy words enlighteneth, giving understanding to simple ones. I opened my mouth, and panted, for I longed for thy commandments. Turn unto me and be gracious to me, as [thou art] wont to lovers of thy name. Establish my steps in thy saying, and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Redeem me from man's oppression: and I shall keep thy precepts. Let thy face shine on thy servant and teach me thy statutes. Streams of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law” (vers. 129-136).

The intrinsic and real efficacy of Jehovah's revelation is here expressed, with the spiritual desire created by it.

Tzade. “Righteous [art] thou, Jehovah, and upright thy judgments. Thou hast commanded thy testimonies [in] righteousness and exceeding faithfulness. My zeal destroyeth me, because my adversaries have forgotten thy words. Thy word [is] exceedingly pure; and thy servant loveth it. Little [am] I, and despised; thy precepts I do not forget. Thy righteousness [is] an everlasting righteousness, and thy law truth. Distress and anguish seized me; thy commandments fare] my delights. Righteousness [are] thy testimonies forever: give me understanding, and I shall live” (vers. 137-144).

Here the righteousness of Jehovah's judgments and testimonies predominates, which he forgot not, if others did.

Koph. “I have called with a whole heart: answer me, Jehovah; thy statutes I will observe. I have called on thee: save me; and I will keep thy testimonies. I anticipated the twilight [of dawn] and cried; for thy words do I wait. Mine eyes anticipate the watches to meditate in thy saying. Hear my voice according to thy mercy; Jehovah, according to thy judgment quicken me. Pursuers of mischief are nigh; from thy law they are far off. Near [art] thou, Jehovah, and all thy commandments [are] truth. Of old have I known from thy testimonies that thou hast founded them forever” (vers. 145-152).

Dependence is the great resource in the evil day, and indeed always, with confidence in Jehovah, but according to His word.

Rash. “See mine affliction and deliver me; for thy law I do not forget. Plead my cause and deliver me: with thy saying quicken me. Far from wicked men [is] salvation, for thy statutes they seek not. Thy tender mercies [are] many. Jehovah; according to thy judgments quicken me! Many [are] my persecutors and mine oppressors; from thy testimonies I decline not. I have seen treacherous dealers and was disgusted, who kept not thy saying. See how I love thy precepts; Jehovah, according to thy mercy quicken me. The sum (head) of thy word [is] truth; and every judgment of thy righteousness [is] forever” (vers. 153-160).

If persecutors are more felt, so are Jehovah's judgments on behalf of faithfulness as well as life in power.

Schin. “Princes persecuted me without cause, but (and) at thy word my heart is in awe. For me, I [am] joyful over thy saying as a finder of great spoil. Falsehood I, hate and abhor; thy law I love. Seven [times] in the day I praise thee for the judgments of thy righteousness. Great peace have the lovers of thy law, and they have no stumbling-block. I hope for thy salvation, Jehovah, and thy commandments I do. My soul keepeth thy testimonies, and I love them exceedingly. I keep thy precepts and thy testimonies, for all my ways [are] before thee” (vers. 161-168).

This stanza goes farther: awe at Jehovah's word, yet joy in what he says. Fruit of loving the expression of divine authority, praise rises fully, and peace without stumbling. Obedience is deepened by having all our ways out before Him.

Tau. “Let my cry come near before thee, Jehovah; according to thy word give me understanding. Let my supplication come before thee; according to thy saying deliver me. My lips shall utter praise, for thou wilt teach me thy statutes. Let my tongue answer thy saying, for all thy commandments [are] righteousness. Let thy hand be for my help, for I have chosen thy precepts. I have longed for thy salvation, Jehovah; and thy law [is] my delights. Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me, I have wandered like a lost sheep: seek thy servant, for thy commandments I do not forget” (vers. 169-176).

It is the worthy end of a psalm most instructive in experience for the individual and the nation.

Psalms, Book 5, Psalms 120-134

The next group is clearly defined, the fifteen psalms of degrees or the goings up. That of (or by) Solomon occupies the central place, two on either side are expressly of David, as others perhaps such as Psa. 132 where it is not said. Some conjecture a late date for most, or all, because they are supposed suitable to be sung during the return from Babylon. The truth is that they look onward to the restoration of Israel in the latter day and are thus truly prophetic; the language, as the hope, is far beyond anything realized in the post-exilic return.

Psalm 120

“A song of the ascents. In my trouble I sailed unto Jehovah, and he answered me. Jehovah, deliver my soul from a lip of lying, from a tongue of deceit. What shall be given unto thee, what shall be added unto thee, O tongue of deceit? A mighty one's arrows sharpened, with coals of broom-plant. Alas for me, that I sojourn [in] Mesech I dwell with the tents of Kedar! Long (much) hath my soul dwelt for her with a hater of peace. For me [I am] peace; and when I speak, they [are] for (the) war” (vers. 1-7).

It is the situation amid threatening foes north and south, from whom deliverance is sought. There was “the liar,” the antichrist, on one side; on the other, the hordes of the great external enemy. The last days are unmistakable here.

Psalm 121

“A song of the ascents. I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: whence shall my help come. My help [is] from Jehovah, Maker of heaven and earth. May he not let thy foot be moved; may not thy keeper slumber. Behold, the keeper of Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Jehovah [is] thy keeper; Jehovah [is] thy shade upon thy right hand. By day the sun shall not smite thee, nor moon by night. Jehovah will keep thee from all evil, he will keep thy soul. Jehovah will keep thy going out, and thy coming in, henceforth and forever” (vers. 1-8).

Jehovah now at length is Israel's help, and keeper, Who slumbers not nor sleeps, in all circumstances and forever.

Psalm 121

“A song of the ascents: of David. I was glad in those saying unto me, To Jehovah's house we will go. Our feet are standing in thy gates, O Jerusalem—Jerusalem, that is built as a city which is compact together, whither tribes go up, tribes of Jah: a testimony unto Israel to give thanks unto Jehovah's name. For there are set thrones for judgment, thrones for David's house. Pray for Jerusalem's peace: may they prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy bulwark, prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sake, let me speak, Peace [be] within thee. For the sake of Jehovah's house, our God, I will seek thy good” (vers. 1-9).

It is the joy of worship in the place where Jehovah's eyes rest continually.

Psalm 132

“A song of the ascents. Unto thee do I lift up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as eyes of servants unto hand of their masters, as a handmaid's eyes unto her mistress's hand, so [are] our eyes unto Jehovah our God until he be gracious to us. Be gracious to us, Jehovah, be gracious to us, for greatly are we filled with contempt. Greatly is our soul filled with the scorning of those at ease, the contempt of the proud” (vers. 1-4).

It is the remnant of Israel staying no more, like the proud and ungodly mass, on him that smote them, but on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and this in truth.

Psalm 124

“A song of the ascents: of David. If [it were] not Jehovah who was for us, oh! let Israel say—if [it were] not Jehovah who was for us in man's rising up against us, then they had swallowed us up alive in the kindling of their wrath against us. Then the waters had overflowed us; the stream had passed over our soul. Then had passed over our soul the proud waters. Blessed [be] Jehovah who gave us not a prey to their teeth! Our soul is escaped as a bird out of fowler's snare. The snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help [is] in Jehovah's name, who made heaven and earth” (vers. 1-8).

This is the outburst of Israel's praise when just delivered from that which seemed, to all but faith, the overwhelming power of man bent on their destruction.

Psalm 125

“A song of the ascents. Those confiding in Jehovah [are] as mount Zion; it cannot be moved, it abideth forever. Jerusalem! mountains about her, and Jehovah around his people henceforth and forever. For rod of wickedness shall not rest on a lot of the righteous, in order that the righteous may not put their hands unto iniquity. Do good, Jehovah, to the good and to those upright in their hearts. And those that turn to crooked ways will Jehovah lead forth with the workers of iniquity. Peace [be] upon Israel.” {vers. 1-5.)

Here is expressed the peaceable fruit of righteousness for those exercised by the supreme trials of that day.

Psalm 126

“A song of the ascents. When Jehovah turned the turning of Zion, we were like dreamers. Then was filled our mouth with laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing; then said they among the Gentiles, Jehovah hath done great things with them. Jehovah hath done great things with us: we are joyful. Turn, Jehovah, our turning as streams in the south. Those that sow with tears shall reap with rejoicing. Surely (going) he shall go and weep, bearing a load of the seed; surely (coming) he shall come with rejoicing, bearing his sheaves” (vers. 1-6).

The return of Zion becomes the pledge and cry for the return of Israel, and the blessed Sower in sorrow shall yet reap in joy.

Psalm 127

“A song of the ascents: of Solomon. If Jehovah build not a house, in vain toil its builders in it; if Jehovah keep not a city, in vain watcheth a keeper. [It is] in vain for you rising up early, sitting up late, eating bread of (the) sorrows: so he giveth unto his beloved sleep. Behold, Jehovah's inheritance [are] children (sons), the womb's fruit [is] a reward. As arrows in a mighty man's hand, so are sons of (the) youth. Blessed [is] the man who hath filled his quiver with them. They shall not be ashamed when they speak with enemies in the gate” (vers. 1-5).

All of blessing turns on Jehovah, on Jehovah-Jesus. When Israel welcomes and depends on Him what fruitful showers! “Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children” as in Psa. 45 so here. Solomon had an earnest and might well sing in the Spirit; yet his was not the rest of God.

Psalm 128

“A song of the ascents. Happy [is] every fearer of Jehovah, that walketh in his ways. Labor of thy hands when thou shalt eat, blessed thou and well with thee: thy wife as a fruitful vine on the sides of thy house; thy sons as plants, of olives around thy table. Behold that thus shall be blessed a man fearing Jehovah. Jehovah shall bless thee out of Zion; and see thou (in) the good of Jerusalem all thy life's days: and see sons of thy sons. Peace be upon Israel.” (vers. 1-6)

It is millennial blessedness on earth, when Christ reigns and blesses out of Zion. To interpret it of heaven or the church is to deny the kingdom.

Psalm 129

“A song of the ascents. Much have they afflicted me from my youth, oh! let Israel say; much have they afflicted from my youth; yet have they not prevailed against me. Upon my back plowers plowed; they made long (to) their furrows. Jehovah [is] righteous; he hath cut asunder wicked [men's] cord. Ashamed and turned backward be all that hate Zion. Be they as grass of housetops which withereth before it is plucked up; wherewith a mower filleth not his hand nor (and) a sheaf binder his bosom; neither do those that pass by say, Jehovah's blessing [come] unto you: we bless you in Jehovah's name” (vers. 1-8).

It is a psalm of painful and touching interest as to Israel's enemies, whose will was in their sufferings, however deserved. They hated Zion which Jehovah chose and loved; and their desolations were as cruel as fruitless, being in vain to destroy, as the end will show in that day.

Psalm 130

“A song of the ascents. Out of the depths do I call on thee, Jehovah. Lord, hear (in) my voice; let thine, pars be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If thou, Jah, shouldest mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand? But with thee [is] the forgiveness that thou mayest be feared. I wait for Jehovah; my soul waiteth, and for his word I hope. My soul [hopeth] for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning—watchmen for the morning. Hope, Israel, for (or in) Jehovah, for with Jehovah [is] the mercy, and plenteously with him ransom; and he will ransom Israel from all his iniquities” (vers. 1-8).

It is the new ground of divine mercy, and so of forgiveness for the generation to come.

Psalm 131

“A song of the ascents: of David. Jehovah, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither do I meddle (walk) with [things] great and with [things] too wonderful for me Surely, (if) I hate stilled and quieted my soul, as a weaned one upon its mother; as the weaned one [is] my soul upon me. Hope, Israel, for (or in) Jehovah henceforth and forever” (vers. 1-3).

This is the moral accompaniment of faith in mercy. Hope in Jehovah supplants self-confidence ox looking elsewhere,

Psalm 132

“A song of the ascents. Jehovah, remember for David all his humiliation; how he sware unto Jehovah, vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob: I will not (if I) come into my house's tent, nor go up on my bed's couch; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, slumber to mine eyelids, until I find a place for Jehovah, tabernacles for the Mighty One of Jacob. Behold, we heard it in Ephratha; we found it in fields of forest. Let us go to his tabernacles; let us bow down at his footstool. Arise, Jehovah, into thy rest, Thou and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness, and let thy saints shout for joy. For thy servant David's sake turn not away the face of thine Anointed. Jehovah hath sworn to David [in] truth; he will not turn from it: of the fruit of thy body (belly) will I set upon thy throne. If thy sons will keep my covenant and my testimony that I will teach them, their sons also shall sit upon thy throne forever. For Jehovah hath chosen (in) Zion; he hath desired [it] for his dwelling. This [is] my rest forever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it; her provision will I abundantly (or, surely) bless; her poor I will satisfy with bread; and her priests I will clothe with salvation; and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make David's horn to bud, 1 have ordained a lamp for mine Anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame; and on him shall his crown flourish” (vers. 1-18).

The Anointed is here, typified by David and Solomon, to reign as surely as He suffered. His rest in Zion has yet to be accomplished. It is not the Father's throne, any more than headship of His body, but the kingdom by and by, where the answers of grace exceed the desires of faith.

Psalm 133.

“A song of the ascents. Behold, how good and how pleasant [is] the dwelling of brethren also together. Like the good oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, Aaron's beard, that cometh down to his garment's hem; like dew of Hermon that cometh down upon the mountains of Zion; for there hath Jehovah commanded the blessing, life for evermore “(vers. 1-3).

There is unity of blessing, in that Hermon's dew will fall on Zion.

Psalm 134

“A song of the ascents. Behold, bless Jehovah, all ye servants of Jehovah, that stand in Jehovah's house in the nights. Lift up your hands [in] the sanctuary (or, in holiness), and bless Jehovah. Jehovah bless thee out of Zion, Maker of heavens and earth” (vers. 1-3).

It is no longer Sinai, the mountain of the people's responsibility, but Zion, the seat of royal grace, after the fleshly king's ruin also. Under the true King and the faithful Priest praise unceasing rises, even in the nights. How should it be otherwise when Christ establishes the blessing on the overthrow of the enemy?

Psalms, Book 5, Psalms 135-139

Now follow a few psalms less closely connected, though the second may be regarded as an answer to the first. The third stands comparatively isolated, yet in its evidently right place. The fourth, instead of, (like it) recalling the shame and sorrow of the Babylonish captivity, is an avowed thanksgiving to Jehovah, not only for His word, but for His everlasting loving-kindness. These are all judicial, and apply during the crisis which marks the incoming of the new age. The fifth or last expresses the deeper work of self-judgment before the inescapable presence of Jehovah; yet it looks the more for His slaying the wicked (the judgment of the quick and of the dead), while baring the heart now in order to be thoroughly proved and led in the way everlasting. The last two are Davidical, as are the seven that succeed.

Psalm 135

“Praise ye Jah. Praise ye the name of Jehovah; praise, ye servants of Jehovah, standing in Jehovah's house, in the courts of the house of our God. Praise ye Jah, for Jehovah [is] good; sing psalms to his name, for [it is] pleasant. For Jah hath chosen Jacob for him, Israel for his peculiar treasure. For I know that Jehovah [is] great, and our Lord more than all gods. All that Jehovah delighteth in, he doeth in the heavens and in the earth, in the seas and all depths; who causeth vapors to ascend from the end of the earth; lightnings for the rain he maketh, bringing the wind out of his stores; who smote Egypt's firstborn from man to beast; who sent signs and wonders into thy midst, O Egypt, on Pharaoh and on all his servants; who smote many Gentiles and slew strong kings, (to) Sihon king of the Amorites, and (to) Og king of (the) Bashan, and (to) all the kingdoms of Canaan. And he gave their land an inheritance, an inheritance to Israel his people. Jehovah, thy name [is] forever; Jehovah, thy memorial [is] to generation and generation. For Jehovah will judge his people, and for the sake of his servants will repent. Idols of Gentiles [are] silver and gold, works of man's hands. A mouth have they, and they speak not; eyes have they, and they see not; ears have they, and they hear not; also there is no breath in their mouth. Like them are those that make them—every one confiding in them. House of Israel, bless ye Jehovah; house of Aaron, bless ye Jehovah; house of Levi, bless ye Jehovah; ye that fear Jehovah, bless Jehovah. Blessed [be] Jehovah out of Zion, inhabiting Jerusalem. Praise ye Jah” (vers. 1-21).

It is instructive to compare ver. 13 with Exodus 3:14 with Deut. 32 The psalm anticipates the proximate accomplishment of both to Jah's praise.

Psalm 136

Give thanks to Jehovah, for [he is] good, for his mercy [is] forever. Give thanks to the God of gods; for his mercy [is] forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords; for his mercy [is] forever. To him that alone doeth great wonders; for his mercy [is] forever. To him that by understanding made the heavens; for his mercy [is] forever. To him that spread the earth upon the waters; for his mercy [is] forever. To him that made great light; for his mercy [is] forever: the sun for rule in the day; for his mercy [is] forever; the moon and stars for rule in the night; for his mercy [is] forever. To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn; for his mercy [is] forever; and brought Israel from their midst; for his mercy [is] forever; with strong hand and with outstretched arm; for his mercy [is] forever. To him that divided the Red Sea into parts, for his mercy [is] forever; and made Israel pass in its midst; for his mercy [is] forever; and shook off Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea; for his mercy [is] forever. To him that led his people in the wilderness; for his mercy [is] forever. To him that smote great kings; for his mercy [is] forever; and slew famous kings; for his mercy [is] forever: (to) Sihon, king of the Amorites; for his mercy [is] forever; And (to) Og, the king of (the) Bashan; for his mercy [is] forever; and gave their land for an inheritance; for his mercy [is] forever; an inheritance to Israel his servant; for his mercy [is] forever; who remembered us in our low estate; for his mercy [is] forever; and rent us from our adversaries; for his mercy [is] forever; giving bread to all flesh; for his mercy [is] forever. Give thanks to the God (El) of the heavens; for his mercy [is] forever’ (vers. 1-26).

Very impressive is this answering song of thanks, with a refrain so suited then to Israel. He Who is pleased to dwell at Jerusalem in that day is the “God of the heavens,” not merely of the earth (Gen. 14:19).

Psalm 137

“By rivers of Babylon, there we sat; also we wept when we remembered Zion. On willows in its midst we hung our harps; for there our captors asked us words of song, and our spoilers mirth, [saying] Sing to us from a song of Zion. How shall we sing the song of Jehovah on a strange ground? If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget [its skill]. Let my tongue cleave to my palate—if I do not raise Jerusalem above my chief joy. Remember, Jehovah, to Edom's sons the day of Jerusalem, who said, Raze, raze, down to its foundation. Daughter of Babylon, the desolated, happy he that rendereth to thee thy measure thou didst mete to us. Happy he that taketh and dasheth thy babes against the rock (crag)” (vers. 1-9).

Very different were Babylon and Edom, both the enemies of Zion, one to humble her for her sins, the other hating her for divine favor, alike to suffer before Zion's joy, who must sorrow till then and not sing.

Psalm 138

“Of David. I will thank thee with all my heart; before the gods I will sing psalms of thee. I will bow down toward the temple of thy holiness and will thank thy name for thy mercy and for thy truth; for above all thy name thou hast magnified thy saying. In the day I called, and thou didst answer me, thou didst encourage me with strength in my soul. All kings of the earth shall thank thee, Jehovah; for (or when) they have heard the sayings of thy mouth. And they shall sing in the ways of Jehovah; for great [is] the glory of Jehovah. For Jehovah [is] exalted, yet he seeth the lowly, and the proud he knoweth from afar. If I walk in the midst of distress, thou wilt revive me; upon the wrath of mine enemies thou wilt stretch forth thy hand, and thy right hand shall save me. Jehovah will perfect as to me: Jehovah, thy mercy [is] forever; forsake not the work of thy hands” (vers. 1-8).

It is Jehovah's faithfulness to His sayings, His mercy in this respect which Israel proved experimentally, and all kings of the earth celebrate in that day. What a change from this day of delusion and infidelity, to which the Jew contributes so largely!

Psalm 139

“To the chief musician: a psalm of David. Jehovah, thou hast searched me and known [me]. Thou knowest my sitting and my rising; thou understandest (to) my thought afar off. Thou siftest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue—behold, O Jehovah, thou knowest all of it. Behind and before thou hast beset me and laid thy hand upon me. Knowledge too wonderful for me! It is high: I cannot [rise] unto it. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? and whither flee from thy face? If I ascend the heavens, there [art] thou; and make my bed [in] Sheol, behold, thou [art there]; I will take wings of dawn, I will dwell in the utmost end of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. And I say, Surely darkness shall cover me, and light about me [is] night; even darkness hideth not from thee; and night shineth as the day: as the darkness, so the light. For thou hast possessed my reins; thou didst cover me in my mother's womb. I thank thee, because I am fearfully, wonderfully, made: wonderful [are] thy works, and my soul knoweth [it] right well. Not concealed were my bones from thee, when. I was made in the hiding-place, embroidered in earth's lowest parts. Thine eyes saw mine unformed substance, and in thy book were all of them written, days they were fashioned when (and) not one [was] among them. And to me how precious [are] thy thoughts, O God how strong their sums! Would I count them, they are more than the sand: I awaked and [am] still with thee. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked one, O God! and ye men of blood, depart from me. For they speak of thee with intent, and take [thy name] in vain, thine enemies. Do not I hate those that hate thee, Jehovah? And those that rise against thee, do not I loathe? (With) perfect hatred I hate them; for enemies they are to me. Search me, O God, and know my heart; prove me, and know my thoughts. And see if a way of grief [be] in me, and lead me in a way everlasting” (vers. 1-24).

The execution of external judgment when Christ takes the world-kingdom (Rev. 11) does not hinder the inner work for the faithful Jew, who here tells out his confidence in the heart-searching of Jehovah. This recalls not only His own omnipresence and omniscience, as the faithful Creator, but His thoughts about us. For truly His complacency is in men, not angels: the Christ was to be man, though Son of the Highest. Therefore he as a godly Jew heartily goes with the vengeance to fall on the wicked, while he desires yet more God's searching of himself lest any grievous way should be found in him.

Psalms, Book 5, Psalms 140-145

From the heart-searching, yea God-searching, of the heart in the last psalm, we turn to a group of five, rising from a cry for full deliverance by executed judgment to anticipated thanksgiving in Psa. 145, a millennial strain, followed by varied and ceaseless praises to the end of the book.

In Psa. 140 the “evil man,” if defined, seems to be Antichrist; the “man of violence” rather the external enemy, the Assyrian. Proud or high ones here are ungodly Israelites.

Psalm 140

“To the chief musician: a psalm of David. Deliver me, Jehovah from the evil man; from the violent man thou wilt preserve me, who devise evils in heart; all day they gather wars. They whet their tongue like a serpent: adder's poison [is] under their lips, Selah. Keep me, Jehovah, from the wicked one's hands; from the violent man thou wilt preserve me, who devised to overthrow my steps. Proud ones hid a snare for me, and cords; they spread a net by the way-side (hand); traps they set for me, Selah. I said to Jehovah, my God (art) thou: give ear, Jehovah, to the voice of my supplication. Jehovah Lord (Adonai), strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle (armor). Grant not, Jehovah, the wicked one's desires; his device further not: they exalt themselves. [As for] the head of those around me, let the mischief of their lips cover them. Let burning coals be cast upon them; let them fall into pits, that they rise not. A man of tongue shall not be established in the earth (land); a man of violence, evil shall hunt him to ruin (destruction). I know that Jehovah will maintain the poor one's cause, the right of the needy. Surely the righteous shall give thanks to thy name, the upright shall dwell (sit) in thy presence” (vers. 1-14).

This is pursued for the soul's profit that all said and done may be to and in the favor of Jehovah, apart from the dainties of evil doers, and accepting rebuke from the righteous; so that when judgment falls some may hear and live.

Psalm 141

“A psalm of David. Jehovah, I have called on thee: hasten for me. Give ear to my voice, when I call unto thee. Established he my prayer [as] incense in thy presence, the lifting up of my hands [as] the evening oblation. Set a guard, Jehovah, at my mouth; watch over the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to an evil matter (word), to practice practices in wickedness with men doing iniquity; and let me not eat of their dainties. Let a righteous one smite me—a kindness; and rebuke me—a chief oil: let not my head refuse; for even yet prayer [is] in their calamities (or injuries). Thrown down by means (hands) of the rock are their judges; and they shall hear my words, for they are sweet. Like one cleaving or splitting on the earth, scattered are our bones at Sheol's mouth. For unto thee, Jehovah Lord, [are] mine eyes; in this I trust: pour not out my soul. Keep me from the power (hands) of the traps they laid for me, and from the snares of the doers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall together into their own nets, while for my part I escape” (vers. 1-10).

The next is didactic and a prayer. Wickedness in power casts the righteous on Jehovah alone. How often precious, and proved by how many! Yet, while originally David's faith, it will apply fully in the future crisis of Israel.

Psalm 142

“An instruction of David when he was in the cave: a prayer. [With] my voice to Jehovah I cry; [with] my voice to Jehovah I make supplication. I pour out in his presence my plaint; my distress in his presence I show. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, thou knewest my path. In the way that I go they hid a trap for me. Look on the right hand and see: there is none that knoweth me. Refuge hath failed me: there is none caring for my soul, I cried unto thee, Jehovah; I said, Thou [art] my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison that I may give thanks to thy name. The righteous shall compass me round, for thou dealest bountifully with me” (vers. 1-8).

The following is deeper still: not only none else but Jehovah, but self abandoned. No righteousness can stand judgment, but his is the righteousness of God by faith. Confidence is in grace. So the godly Jew will feel and say in that day.

Psalm 143

“A psalm of David. Jehovah hear my prayer, give ear to my supplications; in thy faithfulness answer me, in thy righteousness. And enter not into judgment with thy servant, for none living shall be just in thy presence. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul, he hath crushed to the earth my life; he hath made me dwell in dark places, like those long dead. And overwhelmed in (on) me is my spirit, in the midst of me desolated is my heart. I remembered days of old; I meditated on all thy doings; on the work of thy hands I muse. I spread my hands unto thee; my soul like a weary land [thirsteth] for thee, Selah. Hasten, answer me, Jehovah: my spirit faileth; hide not thy face from me, and I shall not be like [those that] go down to the pit. Cause me to hear in the morning thy mercy, for in thee do I confide; make me to know the way that I should go, for unto thee I lift up my soul. Deliver me from mine enemies, Jehovah; unto thee have I hidden. Teach me to do thy pleasure for thou [art] my God; let thy good spirit lead me in a land of evenness. For thy name's sake, Jehovah, quicken; in thy righteousness bring my soul out of trouble. And in thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all oppressors of my soul; for I [am] thy servant” (vers. 1-12).

The psalm that follows blesses Jehovah in confidence and bright expectation. Why should man (Adam), son of enosh, weak and faint, stay blessing through divine judgment? For so Israel always expects, whatever the mercy also. The Christian stands in grace and looks into heaven, to which he belongs as in Christ. This psalm looks for judgment, not the gospel.

Psalm 144

“Of David. Blessed [be] Jehovah my rock, training my hands to fight, my fingers for the battle. My mercy and my fortress, my high place, and my deliverer for me; my shield and he in whom I trust, the subduer of my people under me. Jehovah, what [is] man, that (and) thou shouldest know him, son of man, that thou shouldest think of him? Man is like the breath, his days as a shadow passing by. Jehovah, bow thy heavens and come down; touch (on) the mountains, and they smoke. Lighten lightnings, and scatter them; send thine arrows, and discomfit them. Stretch (send) thy hands from above; rescue me and deliver me out of great waters from hand of aliens (sons of strangeness); whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand [is] a right hand of falsehood. O God, a new song I will sing to thee; with a ten-stringed lute will I sing psalms to thee, the giver of salvation to the kings, the rescuer of David his servant from an evil sword. Rescue me and deliver me from hand of aliens, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand [is] a right hand of falsehood; that our sons [be] as plants grown up in their youth, our daughters as cornerstones hewn the fashion of a palace; our granaries full, affording from kind to kind; our sheep bearing thousands, bearing ten thousands in our fields; our oxen laden; there is no breach and no loss, and no outcry in our streets. Blessed the people to which [it is] thus! Blessed the people whose God [is] Jehovah” (vers. 1-15)!

Next comes “Praise” or the new song purposed in Psa. 144, an alphabetic construction, omitting Nun (the Hebrew N).

Psalm 145

“Praise of David. I will exalt thee, my God, the king, and I will bless thy name forever and ever. In every day will I bless thee, and will praise thy name forever and ever. Great is Jehovah and to be praised exceedingly, and his greatness is unsearchable. Generation to generation laudeth thy works, and thy mighty deeds they declare. The majesty of the glory of thine honor, and the words of thy wonders, I will meditate; and the strength of thy terrors they shall tell (say); and thy greatness, I will declare it. They shall utter the memory of thy great goodness, and thy righteousness they shall sing aloud. Gracious and merciful (is) Jehovah, slow to anger and of great mercy. Good (is) Jehovah to the universe (all), and his tender mercies [are] over all his works. All thy works shall give thee thanks, Jehovah, and all thy saints shall bless thee. They shall tell (say) the glory of thy kingdom and speak of thy power, to make known to the sons of men his mighty deeds, and the glory of the majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom [is] a kingdom of all ages, and thy dominion through all generations. Jehovah upholdeth all that fall and raiseth all the bowed down. The eyes of all wait on thee; and thou givest them their food in its season. Thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the pleasure of every living thing. Righteous [is] Jehovah in all his ways, and gracious in all his works. Near [is] Jehovah to all calling on him in truth. The pleasure of those that fear him he will do; and their cry he will hear and save them. Jehovah keepeth all that love him, and all the wicked he will destroy. Jehovah's praise shall my mouth forever speak; and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever” (vers. 1-21).

Psalms, Book 5, Psalms 146-150

The final praises of Jah in five strains close the book. It may be noticed that creation and Israel here and elsewhere in the O. T. answer to the new creation and the church in the N. T. The Septuagint attributes the first three to Haggai and Zechariah, Psa. 147 being divided.

Psalm 146

“Praise ye Jah. Praise Jehovah, O my soul. I will praise Jehovah while I live; I will sing psalms to my God while I have my being. Confide not in nobles, in a son of man in whom is no salvation. His spirit goeth forth, he returneth to his earth: in that very day his purposes perish. Blessed he, whose help [is] Jacob's God (El), whose hope in Jehovah his God, who made heavens and earth, the sea and all that [is] in them; the keeper of truth forever; doing judgment for the oppressed, giving bread to the hungry. Jehovah looseth the prisoners: Jehovah openeth [the eyes of] the blind; Jehovah raiseth the bowed down; Jehovah loveth the righteous. Jehovah keepeth strangers; orphans and widows he upholdeth; and the way of wicked ones he maketh crooked. Jehovah reigneth forever, thy God, O Zion, generation to generation. Praise ye Jah” (vers. 1-10).

The praise of Jah, Jehovah, Jacob's God, is urged, in contrast with men, not only as Maker of heaven, earth, the sea, and all in them, but as the sure moral Governor, only to be proved and displayed perfectly in that day when Zion is the earthly center.

Psalm 147

“Praise ye Jah, for [it is] good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant; comely [is] praise. Jehovah buildeth Jerusalem; Israel's outcasts he gathereth; the healer of the broken. hearted, and binding up their wounds. Counting the number of the stars, to them all he giveth (calleth) names. Great [is] our Lord, and of much power; his understanding is infinite. Jehovah lifteth up the humble; he casteth down the wicked to the earth. Respond to Jehovah with thanksgiving, sing psalms unto our God with harp. He covereth the heaven with clouds, he provideth for the earth of rain, he causeth mountains to bring forth grass, giving to cattle their food, to young (sons of) ravens which cry. Not in strength of the horse doth he delight, not in legs of (the) man taketh he pleasure. Jehovah taketh pleasure in those fearing him, in those hoping in his mercy. Laud Jehovah, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy sons in, thy midst. He maketh thy border peace, with the fat of wheat satisfieth thee. He sendeth his saying earth [ward]; with speed runneth his word. He giveth snow like the wool, scattereth hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth his ice like morsels: before his cold who can stand? He sendeth his word and melteth [them], he causeth his wind to blow—the waters flow. He showeth his word to Jacob, his statutes and judgments to Israel. He dealt not thus with any living nation; and judgments, they know them not. Praise ye Jah” (vers. 1-20).

Incomparably greater things are before Israel than the work of Nehemiah for the returned remnant, though to speak of this may have given occasion to their glorious hope, inseparable from the Messiah and the kingdom and all Israel then to be saved. Then indeed it will be Jehovah building Jerusalem and gathering Israel's outcasts far beyond the little provisional mercy to the Jews from Babylon. And He is competent Who makes the world, yea the universe, delights most of all in the lowly that fear Him, and shows Jacob His word, Israel His judgments; He thus owned no other nation.

Psalm 148

“Praise ye Jah, praise ye Jehovah from the heaven; praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels; praise ye Zion, all his hosts. Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and the waters that [are] above the heavens. Let them praise the name of Jehovah, for he commanded, and they were created; and he established them forever and ever, and he gave a decree which shall not pass. Praise Jehovah from the earth, ye sea-monsters and all deeps; fire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy wind doing his word; the mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle, creeping thing and bird of wing; kings of earth and all peoples, princes and all judges of earth, young men and also maidens, old men with youths; let them praise the name of Jehovah. For exalted [is] his name alone, his honor above earth and heaven. And he lifted up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, even for Israel's sons, a people near to him. Praise ye Jah” (vers. 1-14).

Here praise is called for from the heaven, and every one and thing connected, the praise of Jehovah's name; so from the earth and all below, rising up to the kings and all peoples, of every age, sex, and degree, to praise His name set in His people, His holy or godly ones, beyond question Israel's sons. The church reigns with Him Who reigns over all the rest, the universe.

Psalm 149

“Praise ye Jah; sing ye to Jehovah a new song, his praise in the congregation of godly ones. Let Israel rejoice in his Maker, let Zion's sons rejoice in their King. Let them praise his name in the dance; with timbrel and harp let them sing psalms to him. For Jehovah taketh pleasure in his people; he honors the humble ones with salvation. Let godly ones exult in glory; let them shout for joy upon their beds, exaltations of God (El) in their throat and a two-edged sword in their hand, to do vengeance on the Gentiles, punishments on the peoples; to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute on them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints. Praise ye Jah” (vers. 1-9).

Here it is expressly a new song for Israel, no longer enemies as touching the gospel, no longer only beloved for the fathers' sake, but a congregation of pious ones, Zion's sons rejoicing in their King. Their position is judicial on earth; but we who believe without seeing Christ have our joy in His heavenly grace and glory.

Psalm 150

“Praise ye Jah, praise ye God (El) in his sanctuary, praise him in the expanse of his power. Praise him in his mighty acts; praise him for his abundant greatness. Praise him with blast of trumpet; praise him with lute and harp; praise him with timbrel and dance; praise him with instruments and pipe; praise him with loud symbols; praise him with high-sounding (hearing) cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise Jah. Praise ye Jah” (vers. 1-6).

Thus fitly ends this inspired collection of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, in a grand chorus of praise on this long travailing but soon to be delivered and rejoicing earth, when the world-kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ is come.

No apology is offered for the close rendering of the Hebrew, often no doubt uncouth to western ears. The aim of a version for public use is wholly different. But the more literal reflection is also full of interest and instruction to those who would weigh the form as well as the substance of the inspired word, whether Old or New; and this is what has been essayed here, however inadequately. W. K.

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