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النشر الإلكتروني
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(m) v. 4. 6." Skipped," or " trembled;" see Hebr. and Sept. oxipinoav.

(n) v. 5. "Thou sea, &c." This appeal to inanimate substances, as if they had intelligence, is highly poetic; and so is the passage in verse 3. which considers the sea as seeing God's presence. Indeed the question may be asked as to this as well as many other Psalms, "where amongst "the ancient heathen poets do we meet "with any hymn or ode of more animation, "or of superior classic elegance ?"

(0) v. 8. "Turned, &c." In the wilderness: the Israelites were clamorous for want of water, and God commanded Moses, "thou "shalt strike the rock," (in Horeb,)" and "there shall come water out of it, that "the people may drink :" Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel; and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. See Exod. xvii. 1 to 6. and Numb. xx. 1 to 11.

The Spectator has thus versified this Psalm (No. 461.), but the prose translation has the advantage in spirit and animation.

"When Israel, freed from Pharoah's hand,
"Left the proud tyrant and his land,
"The tribes with cheerful homage own
"Their king, and Judah was his throne.

“Across the deep their journey lay;
"The deep divides to make them way:
"The streams of Jordan saw, and fled

With backward current to their head,

"The mountains shook like frighted sheep, "Like lambs the little hillocks leap;

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"Not Sinai on her base could stand,
"Conscious of sovereign power at hand.

"What power could make the deep divide?
"Make Jordan backward roll his tide?
"Why did ye leap, ye little hills?
"And whence the fright that Sinai feels?

"Let every mountain, every flood "Retire, and know the approaching God. "The king of Israel, see him here! "Tremble thou earth, adore and fear.

"He thunders, and all nature mourns; "The rock to standing pools he turns; "Flints spring with fountains at his word, "And fires and seas confess their Lord."

(p) Upon the transcendent power of him who is in heaven and made heaven and earth, and the impotence of idols. It was probably either a triumphal song after some success over the heathen, or a confident application to God upon some attack they made.

(q) v. 2. "Where, &c." This was (probably) a common insult from the heathen when any calamities fell the Israelupon ites. (See note on Ps. lxxix. 9.) (r) v. 3." He hath done, &c." or "he "doeth whatsoever pleaseth him."

(s) v. 4. "Their idols, &c." A similar ridicule of the heathen idols occurs, Ps. cxxxv. 15. and the folly of idol worship is finely derided in Is. xliv. 13 to 19. It is well satirized by Horace,

"Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum, "Cum faber, incertus scamnum, faceretne 66 Priapum.

"Maluit esse Deum."

See also Is. xliv. 13. — xlvi. 1.

Lib. i. Sat. 8.

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6. They have ears, and hear not: noses have they, and smell not. 7. They have hands, and handle not; feet have they, and walk and walk not neither speak they through their throat.

8. They that make them, are like (t) unto them and so are all such as put their trust in them. 9. (u) But thou house of Israel, trust thou in the Lord: he is their succour and defence.

10. Ye house of Aaron, put your trust in the Lord: he is their helper and defender.

11. Ye that fear the Lord, put your trust in the Lord he is their helper and defender.

12. The Lord hath been mindful of us, and he shall bless us : even he shall bless the house of Israel, he shall bless the house of Aaron.

13. He shall bless them that fear the Lord both small and : great.

14. The Lord shall increase

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(t) v. 8. "Like, &c." i. e. having eyes, and yet not seeing; having senses, "but not using them."

(u) v. 9, 10, 11. The former part of each of these verses was probably sung by one set of singers, the latter by another; this will account for the word "their" instead of "your."

(x) v. 15. "The Lord, &c." i. e. "that "Lord who had power to make heaven "and earth," contrasted with idols, who could do nothing.

(y) v. 16. "The earth, &c." i. e. " it "is upon his gift alone that the earth is "used and enjoyed by the children of "men."

(z) v. 17. "The dead, &c." It is whilst we live, whilst we are in the enjoyment of God's blessings here that we ought to turn

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you more and more you and your children.

15. Ye are the blessed of the Lord (x): who made heaven and earth.

16. All the whole heavens are the Lord's the earth (y) hath He given to the children of men.

17. The dead (z) praise not thee, O Lord neither all they that go down into silence.

18. But we will praise the Lord from this time forth for evermore. Praise the Lord.

MORNING PRAYER.

Psalm cxvi. (a)

I AM well pleased: that the Lord hath heard the voice of my prayer;

2. That he hath inclined his ear unto me: therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

3. The snares of death compassed me round about: and the pains (b) of hell gat hold upon me.

4. I shall find (c) trouble and heaviness; and I will (c) call

with thankfulness and praise to him that gives them. So Hezekiah, when God had promised to lengthen his life, says, (Isaiah xxxviii. 18, 19.) "the grave cannot praise "thee, death cannot celebrate thee; the "living, the living, he shall praise thee, "as I do this day." See also Ps. vi. 5. xxx. 10.

(a) A thanksgiving for deliverance, with a resolution to make some public acknowledgment of it in the house of the Lord. It is one of the Psalms appointed to be read at the churching of women.

(b) v. 3. "The pains of hell," i. e. "such "as foreboded death."

(c) v. 4. "Shall find," and "will call;" or (B. T.) "found," and "called," which seems right. So Sept.

upon the Name of the Lord: "O "Lord, I beseech thee, deliver "my soul."

5. Gracious (d) is the Lord, and righteous: yea, our God is merciful.

6. The Lord preserveth the simple: I was in misery, and he helped me.

7. Turn again then unto thy rest, O my soul for the Lord hath rewarded thee.

8. And why? thou hast delivered my soul from death: mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

9. I will walk (e) before the Lord in the land of the living.

10. I believed, and therefore will I (g) speak; but I was sore troubled: I said in my haste, "All men are liars." (h)

11. What reward shall I give

(d) v. 5. "Gracious, &c." An acknowledgment that God attended to his prayer.

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(e) v. 9. "Will walk, &c." i. e. either, "I will walk before him, in his ways, as long as I live, in return for his goodness; or, "I shall still be permitted to live." See Psalm lvi. 12, 13.

(g) v. 10. "1 will," or "did I." Sept. ἐκαλήσα.

(h) "Liars," i. e. (perhaps) "deceit"ful, not to be depended upon." This Psalm was perhaps written after some calamity in which the writer's friends had abandoned him. Another translation of this verse is, "I believed that I should be "lost, for I was sore troubled; I said in "my fear, all my life is gone." See Kennicott and Street.

(i) v. 12. "The cup, &c." i. e. "the "cup the Israelites used when they came "to offer sacrifice, and return thanks for "deliverance:" it was called "the cup of "deliverance." The drink offering (Numb. xxviii. 7.) was perhaps poured out of it. Dr. Hammond says, they used one cup of deliverance publicly in the temple, by way of public acknowledgment, and another in their own families, by way of

unto the Lord: for all the benefits that he hath done unto me?

12. I will receive the cup (i) of salvation: and call upon the Name of the Lord.

13. I will pay my vows now in the presence (k) of all his people people right dear (7) in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

14. Behold, O Lord, how that I am thy servant: I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid; thou hast broken my bonds in sunder.

15. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving: and will call upon the Name of the Lord.

16. I will pay my vows unto the Lord, in the sight of all his people in the courts of the Lord's house, even in the midst

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(7) "Dear," i. e. "precious, valuable; "he will not easily suffer them to perish." So Psalm 1xxii. 14. " he shall deliver "their soul from falsehood and wrong, "and dear shall their blood be in "his sight." So 1 Sam. xxvi. 21. when David spared to kill Saul in the cave, Saal said unto him, "I will no more do thee "harm, because my soul was precious in "thine eyes this day." And 2 Kings i. 15. when Abaziah's messenger deprecated Elijah's calling down fire from heaven to destroy him and the fifty men who accom panied him, he said, "O man of God, "I pray thee let my life and the life of "these fifty thy servants, be precious in "thy sight."

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(m) An invitation to all nations to come in to the worship of the true God, because of the blessings he confers upon his servants, and the fidelity with which he keeps his promises. It is not improbable that this Psalm was written either just after the return from the Babylonish captivity, when the prophecies of Jeremiah, that the captivity should last seventy years and no more, were just accomplished, (see note on Psalm cii. 13.) or when the building of the last temple, in fulfilment of the prophecy of Haggai (see ante, 121.), was finished. The completion of these prophecies would naturally draw their attention to those which referred to the Messiah. Bishop Patrick considers the Psalm prophetical, looking forward to the joy the coming of the Messiah would produce, and the general extent of the blessings he would confer.

(n) v. 1. "Ye heathen." In Rom. xv. 11. where St. Paul is shewing that the Gentiles also were to be admitted to the benefits of Christ's coming, and to form part of the true worshippers of God, he cites amongst other passages this verse, "As it is written, Praise the Lord, ye "Gentiles, and laud him all ye people.'

(o) v. 2. "More and more," i. e. "increasing."

(p) "The truth, &c." The first promises (next to the general one, immediately after the fall, Gen. iii. 15.) were to Abraham, Gen. xii. 3. "In thee shall

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"all families of the earth be blessed," and Gen. xxii. 18. " In thy seed shall all "nations of the earth be blessed." The same promise was repeated to Isaac, Gen. xxvi. 4. and to Jacob, Gen. xxviii. 14. so that though the Messiah was to be of the seed of Abraham, &c. the benefit of his coming was to extend to all mankind; and the meaning of this short Psalm may be, Let all nations come in to the praise and worship of God, for from what he has done for us, and the completion of some of his promises to us, we are assured his great promise, to send him in whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, will come to pass.

(q) A spirited triumphal hymn, used probably upon some solemn procession to the tabernacle, in which the ark of God was kept. David is supposed to have been the author, and it is considered by many writers, Jewish and Christian, as referring prophetically to the Messiah: the 22d verse is applied to our Saviour, both by Christ himself, and by St. Peter. It is one of the proper Psalms for Easter Day.

(r) v. 3." The house of Aaron," i. e. "the priests and Levites."

(s) v. 6. "Doeth," or 66 can do."

(t) v. 8, 9. So Psalm cxlvi. 2. "O, put "not your trust in princes, nor in any "child of man, for there is no help "in them."

9. It is better to trust in the Lord: than to put any confidence in princes.

io. All nations compassed me round about: but in the Name of the Lord will I (u) destroy them.

11. They kept me in on every side; they kept me in, I say, on every side : but in the Name of the Lord will I (u) destroy them.

12. They came about me like bees, and are extinct even as the fire among (r) the thorns : for in the Name of the Lord I will (a) destroy them.

13. Thou hast (y) thrust sore at me, that I might fall : but the Lord was my help.

14. The Lord is my strength and my song and is become my

salvation.

15. The voice of joy and health is in the dwellings of the righteous the right hand of the

(u) v. 10, 11, 12. "Will I," rather "did I.” He is speaking of what was past, not of what would happen.

(x) v. 12. "Among the thorns," or "of "thorns." "The fire of thorns" was one that burnt up suddenly and furiously, but was soon exhausted. See note on Psalm lviii. 8.

(y) v. 13. "Thou hast thrust," rather "they thrust," or (Jerome) "I was sore "thrust at."

(2) . 19. The gates, &c." i, e. “ of "the tabernacle, where the ark was kept." So Ps. xxiv. 7. when the ark was carried up to the tabernacle, the acclamation was, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, "and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, "and the King of Glory shall come in." It was when they reached the gate of the tabernacle, therefore, that this part of the Psalm was sung.

(a) v. 20. This was probably the keeper's

answer.

(b) The righteous:" none else. According to 2 Chron. xxiii. 19. when Jehoiada restored the worship of God, "he set the porters at the gates of the "house of the Lord," (as though that had

Lord bringeth mighty things to

pass.

16. The right hand of the Lord hath the pre-eminence: the right hand of the Lord bringeth mighty things to pass.

17. I shall not die, but live: and declare the works of the Lord.

18. The Lord hath chastened and corrected me: but he hath not given me over unto death.

19. Open me the gates (2) of righteousness : that I may go into them, and give thanks unto the Lord.

20. (a) This is the gate of the Lord : the righteous (6) shall enter into it.

21. (c) I will thank thee, for thou hast heard me and art become my salvation..

22. The same stone (d) which the builders refused is be

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been the old practice,) " that none which was unclean in any thing should enter in.” (c) v. 21. This probably was sung upon their entering the tabernacle.

(d) v. 22. "Stone, &c." i. e. figuratively, "he who had met with so much oppo"sition and scorn." When our Saviour intimated by the parable of the husbandman, that the Jews would put him to death, and that other nations would embrace his religion, he applies this passage to his own case : "Did ye never read "in the Scriptures, the stone which the "builders rejected, the same is become the "head of the corner? Matt. xxi. 42"Mark xii. 10.-Luke xx. 17." So when St. Peter was questioned, by what power or by what name he had healed the impotent man, and he answered it was by the name of Jesus Christ, he added, (applying this passage to our Saviour,) "This is the "stone which was set at nought of you "builders, which is become the head of "the corner; neither is there salvation in

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any other: for there is none other name "under heaven given among men, where"by we must be saved. Acts iv. 11, 12." See also 1 Pet. ii. 7. The Messiah is

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