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10-20) on his recovery from a dangerous illness, is another beautiful lyric not included in the Psalter.

Such also is David's touching lament over Saul and Jonathan his son (2 Sam. i. 17, 27), the authenticity of which has never been questioned. In this exquisite elegy David gives expression not only to his personal grief at the death of his friend, but also to his dismay that so terrible a calamity should have befallen the rulers of Israel; "How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!"

Even should his claim to the authorship of the psalms be disallowed, this poem alone would suffice to establish David's reputation as "the sweet singer of Israel,” while as a musician we know, on the testimony of Amos (vi. 5), that his fame survived two centuries after his death.

Additional interest attaches to the Psalter when viewed as in part giving expression to the sentiments and emotions of the Hebrew nation, and in part, though more rarely, as the utterance of the individual psalmists. In accordance with this view, it is satisfactory to recognize that, in psalms breathing the most deadly vengeance (Ps. 69, 109), the poet must be regarded as speaking, not in his own name, but in that of the whole people; two nations, one the oppressor and the other the oppressed, one the tyrant and the other the victim, are here brought face to face; nor can we be surprised that, in a comparatively barbarous age, the despair of the latter should have found vent in the terrible imprecations and maledictions, which give a painful shock to our Christian sentiment. Among the psalms attributed by Ewald to David, and assigned by other scholars to a later period, particular interest attaches to the two grand naturepsalms, the 29th and the 19th (1-7), as revealing a characteristic of the Hebrew poets foreign to those of Hellas and of Rome;-the sense, namely, of awe, of wonder, and of rapturous delight, with which they contemplated the phenomena of Nature, as direct manifestations of the Deity.

What can be grander than the 29th psalm, the psalm of the seven thunders, as it has been styled, where the tempest, "the voice of Jehovah" is represented as crashing with resistless fury over the earth, uprooting the gigantic cedars, causing the mountains to tremble, and lighting up the darkness with flames of fire. Very striking is the contrast between the awful turmoil raging upon earth, and the vision of the majestic Being enthroned above the storm, whose glory is celebrated by the angelic host; "Jehovah will give strength unto his people; Jehovah will bless his people with peace."

In Psalm xix. 1-7, the glory of God is proclaimed, not by the resistless fury of the tempest, but by the calm beauty of the supernal sphere.

"The heavens declare the glory of God,
And the firmament showeth his handy-work.”

This psalm strikingly illustrates the tendency of the Hebrew poets to personify the varied phenomena of nature; thus Day and Night are here represented as endowed with intelligence, and as proclaiming without intermission the glorious tidings published by the heavens.

It is now generally recognized by scholars that, with this grand nature-psalm (1-7) a conclusion, having reference to the moral law, has, at a subsequent period, been associated.

Very noble also are Psalms 103 and 104, belonging to the post-exile period, and together forming one magnificent hymn.

In the first part (103) God's praise is founded upon His loving-kindness and fatherly affection, as experienced by the psalmist, in the depths of his own soul, and as revealed in his dealings with his people; while the second part (104), based upon the account of the creation in the first chapter of Genesis, extols the creative power and mercy of Jehovah, as displayed throughout the wide realm of nature.

Of this grand ode Alexander von Humboldt writes as

follows:-"It might almost be said that one single psalm represents the image of the Cosmos."

"We are astonished to find, in a lyrical poem of such limited compass, the whole universe, the heavens and the earth, sketched with a few bold touches."

Very striking is the difference between the Hellenes and the Hebrews in their respective presentations of Nature; by the former her varied objects were represented as distinct human personalities, invested with typical forms, peopling the heavens and the earth with a multitude of imaginary beings, the deified impersonations of natural phenomena; thus, instead of gazing face to face upon the varied aspects of the universe, the Hellenes saw only an assemblage of graceful forms, the creations of their own imagination. The Hebrews, on the contrary, without such embodiment, breathed into inanimate objects the breath of life, attributing to them thoughts and emotions, together with appropriate media of expression; thus, in their poems, "the mountains break forth into singing;" "the floods clap their hands;" and "the little hills rejoice on every side."

By far the most characteristic feature of the Hebrew psalmists, by which they are severed immeasurably from the poets of classical antiquity, was their recognition of the close and intimate relation subsisting between the spirit of God and the spirit of man, a relation of sympathy and of spiritual communion.

In accordance with their view, man, having been created in the image of God, was capable of knowing Him, and of holding direct communion with Him. Accordingly, in the psalms, we have the outpouring of human affection, under every variety of mood, to One who, though unseen, was felt to be a never-failing Comforter and Friend. "When thou saidest, seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek. (Ps. xxvii.) "As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." (Ps. xlii.).

Recognizing that this inward communion with God

had no connection with external forms, and having risen to the grand conception that obedience and thanksgiving constitute the true divine service, these Hebrew poets, like the prophets, taught the futility of sacrifices. and of all ceremonial observances (Ps. xl. 6-9; 1. 8-15). They taught also that the estrangements from Jehovah, caused by sin, could only be removed by contrition, and by self-surrender to the divine will (Ps. xxxii. 1-7). Deeply conscious, moreover, of the imperfection of their own obedience, they give utterance, in penitential psalms, to their profound sense of humiliation, while, at the same time, celebrating the loving-kindness and tender mercies of Jehovah, without which prayer would be unavailing.

The noble psalms embodying these more elevated views doubtless represent the more spiritualized section of the community, the true Israel, whose function it was, not only to spread the knowledge of Jehovah to other nations, and to raise their less advanced brethren to a higher level, but also to prepare the way for Christianity.

"The devout musings and anticipations of the noblest Israelites embodied in the psalms must have helped to produce the spiritual atmosphere in which alone the Messiah could draw his breath. The Scriptures, and not least the Psalter, must have contributed to form His chosen one for the Christ, and the Christ for His chosen." 1

Time would, however, fail, were I to dwell in detail upon the various phases of the inner life, as known to the Hebrews, which we find reflected in the Psalter; intense sympathy with nature; unswerving faith in spiritual realities; unshaken confidence in the compassion and loving-kindness of Jehovah; burning zeal for his glory; agony of remorse when, overwhelmed with shame, the poet cries out of the depths, together with ecstatic joy in the sense of forgiveness; these are only a

1 "The Origin and Religious Contents of the Psalter." Thomas Kelly Cheyne, M.A., D.D.

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few of the diversified experiences which find vivid and musical expression in the Psalms. Hence it is that these poems have in a special manner been taken to the heart of humanity, and from age to age, appealing to the deepest feelings of human nature, they have been resorted to, as an exhaustless fountain of comfort, of inspiration, and of inward strength.

Before concluding this inadequate notice of the Psalter, I would call attention to Ps. cxxxix., one of the sublimest, as it is one of the latest, poems in the collection, being written in the idiom of the post exilic period. Nothing can exceed the grandeur of the poetry with which the psalmist, in the earlier divisions of the poem, celebrates the omniscience, and the omnipresence of Jehovah ; "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

"Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

"If I ascend up into Heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy right hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." Thus the thought of God's continual presence is to the psalmist a source of unfailing confidence and joy.

From the lofty elevation of sentiment to which we have been raised by the author of this sublime ode, we experience a painful descent on reading the concluding stanza, wherein he gives expression to the bitter hate wherewith he regards the enemies of Jehovah. "Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them mine enemies."

We are reminded of many similar passages thoughout the Psalter, all of which bear witness to the fierceness of the struggle wherewith the Hebrews maintained their superiority over their Canaanite foes, upon which their very existence as a nation, and the consequent worship of Jehovah, depended. They bear witness also to the closeness of the bond which united the Hebrews to their

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