Canaan. V. 7. The works of His hands, by which He manifests Himself to His people, are verity and judgment, truth and justice designating both their source and the manner in which they are performed before men; all His commandments are sure, whatever He ordains is trustworthy, dependable, as being intended for the highest benefit of mankind. V. 8. They stand fast forever and ever, established by His eternal decree, and are done in truth and uprightness, without hypocrisy, with only the highest good of His people in mind. V. 9. He sent redemption unto His people, the deliverance from the bondage of Egypt being typical of the great spiritual redemption which was gained by Christ for all men; He hath commanded His covenant forever, giving the assurance that the covenant of His mercy should never fail.

Holy and reverend is His name, His entire essence and all His attributes filling all those who contemplate them with awe. V. 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the highest and best wisdom, for this world and for the world to come, flowing out of the reverence of God which is grounded in faith; a good understanding, a proper appreciation and recognition of the values in life, have all they that do His commandments, faithful in their duties according to His Word, the spiritual men being able to have the right judgment in all things. His praise endureth forever, that is, every one who fears the Lord with the reverence which is an outgrowth of faith may rightly be called happy and blessed, since he is in the most intimate relation with his heavenly Father, from whom every blessing flows.

A Psalm of the Happiness of the Believers. V. 1. Praise ye the Lord, another hallelujah psalm, properly regarded as an exposition and application of the last verse of the preceding psalm, the object being to present the inner happiness of those who fear and obey God, as contrasted with the fate of the unbelievers. Blessed, living in true happiness, is the man that feareth the Lord, in the awe and reverence flowing from true faith, that delighteth greatly in His commandments, taking great pleasure, finding the highest happiness, in proper obedience to them. V. 2. His seed, his children or posterity, shall be mighty upon earth, literally, "a hero or champion," having authority and influence even in the temporal affairs of the state; the generation of the upright, his family, in so far as its members follow him in his godliness, shall be blessed, just as the Lord states in the summary of the Ten Commandments. V. 3. Wealth and riches, everything needed for a long and happy life, shall be in his house, even if the filthy lucre is not stacked up in heaps; and his righteousness endureth forever, his entire conduct is always in agreement with the divine requirements, because he has, by faith, accepted the righteousness imputed to him by virtue of the Messiah's work. V. 4. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness, in the very midst of the valley of the shadow of death the sun of God's mercy shines upon them and guides them in the right way; he is gracious and full of compassion and righteous, every believer reflecting, in this respect, the virtues of His heavenly Father. V. 5. A good man showeth favor and lendeth, that is, happy is the man,

it is well with him, who is benevolent and generous; he will guide his affairs with discretion, literally, "he will maintain his cause in judgment," his character will be so well established in the community that he will be safe against the schemes of enemies seeking to discredit him. V. 6. Surely he shall not be moved forever, his position being such that evil designs cannot harm him; the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance, remembered with approval by all who were acquainted with him. V. 7. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings, not dread reports which threaten misfortune to himself and his house; his heart is fixed, set in firm confidence, trusting in the Lord, who will not permit any real evil to strike him. V. 8. His heart is established, firm in faith and trust, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies, his oppressors laid low by the punishment of God. V. 9. He hath dispersed, showed proper generosity, he hath given to the poor, those really in need; his righteousness endureth forever, his righteous conduct, as grounded in, and flowing from, his faith in Jehovah; his horn, emblem of authority and might, shall be exalted with honor, lifted up high before all the world, with open appreciation of his moral worth. V. 10. The wicked shall see it and be grieved, on account of being disappointed in his evil designs; he shall gnash with his teeth, in impotent rage, and melt away, his final portion being everlasting destruction. The desire of the wicked shall perish, all his wicked scheming against the righteous will come to naught, be of no avail to him. This serves to cheer and encourage all believers in the midst of the world's hatred.

Praise of God's Mercy toward the Lowly.

V. 1. Praise ye the Lord, this being the third hallelujah psalm, setting forth the majesty of God, together with His mercy in dealing with the humble. It was used as the introduction to the great hallel sung by the Jews on their great festivals, particularly on the Passover. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, all the faithful, all true believers, who delight in the true ministry of Jehovah, praise the name of the Lord, setting forth the glory of His essence and attributes, as shown in His Word and works. V. 2. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore, the entire Church, with all its members, singing His praises as Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, throughout eternity. V. 3. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, throughout the length and breadth of the world, the Lord's name is to be praised, all creatures being invited to join in this psalm. V. 4. The Lord is high above all nations, exalted above all human states with their puny rulers, and His glory above the heavens, over which He, too, is the absolute Sovereign. V. 5. Who is

like unto the Lord, our God, who dwelleth on high, on the throne of His power, v. 6. who humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth, that is, who, from His exalted position of omniscience and omnipresence, watches most carefully over everything that happens in heaven and earth. V.7. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, out of the condition of extreme lowliness, and lifteth the needy, the miserable and despised, out of the dunghill, or ash-heap, as one cast off by men and making the refuse heap of the city his dwelling; v. 8. that He may set him with princes, even with the princes of His people, elevating him to a position in the nobility, the powerful people of the land. V. 9. He maketh the barren woman to keep house, taking from her the disgrace of childlessness, and to be a joyful mother of children, a blessing which is often emphasized in the Bible. Praise ye the Lord! It is the proper song for the believers of all times, and all the blessings here enumerated are gratefully acknowledged by them in hymns of praise and in willing ministry of the hands.

The God of Jacob the Deliverer out
of Egypt.

A majestic song celebrating the care of God for His people at the time of the exodus from Egypt, when all the powers of nature were called to contribute for their benefit. V. 1. When Israel, God's chosen people, who had accepted the true God as their King, went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob, which had entered Egypt as a family and left it as a nation, from a people of strange language, that is, unintelligible, foreign, Hebrew being considered the sacred language, v. 2. Judah, the tribe which assumed the leadership and to whose tribe the capital was reckoned after the time of David, was His Sanctuary and Israel, the entire nation, as His Church, His dominion, His rule over them being acknowledged by all the true Israelites, Ex. 6, 7. V. 3. The sea saw it and fled, the Red sea opening up before the people, Ex. 14, 21; Jordan was driven back, Josh. 3, 13. 16; v. 4. the mountains skipped like rams and the little hills like lambs, the

reference being to the quaking of Mount Sinai and the surrounding country at the time of the giving of the Law. V. 5. What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back? the reference being to the two events that marked the beginning and the end the wilderness journey. V. 6. Ye mounta ns, that ye skipped like rams? and ye little hills, like lambs? Why should all nature be in a turmoil with so many manifestations of His divine power? V. 7. Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, that being the explanation of the agitation in nature at various times during the wilderness journey, at the presence of the God of Jacob, v. 8. which turned the rock into a standing water, on the two occasions when Moses, at the command of God, smote the rock and water gushed forth, the flint into a fountain of waters, Ex. 17, 6; Num. 20, 11. It is a source of great comfort to New Testament believers to know that the spiritual Rock on whom the children of Israel depended was Christ, 1 Cor. 10, 4. 9.

PSALM

Vindication of God's Glory over against the Idols.

This psalm may have been a cry of Israel for the assistance of the Lord in the face of invading enemies, who placed their confidence

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in their heathen idols. V. 1. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, the repetition of the cry serving for emphasis, but unto Thy name give glory, so that His essence and His attributes might properly be proclaimed before

all men, for Thy mercy, His free, unmerited favor, and for Thy truth's sake, on account of the faithfulness set forth in the promises of His Word. It is God's glory, and that alone, about which the faithful are ever concerned, not about their own honor. V. 2. Wherefore should the heathen say, in mockery on account of the sorry plight of God's people forsaken by their God, Where is now their God? This taunt was actually used by the messengers of Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, in his campaign against Hezekiah, Is. 36, 15-20. But while the psalmist records the mockery of the enemies, he also sets over against it the trust of the believers. V. 3. But our God is in the heavens, invisible indeed, but nevertheless ruling the world; He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased, for He alone is the almighty God, in contrast with the utter impotence of the idols of the heathen. V. 4. Their idols are silver and gold, carved images, manufactured out of precious metals, indeed, but without real existence, the work of men's hands, constructed, poured, carved, by weak and puny human beings, not even created, but made. V. 5. They have mouths, as fashioned by the artist making them, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; v. 6. they have ears, but they hear not; noses have they, but they smell not; v. 7. they have hands, but they handle not, or, "their hands are there, yet they feel not"; feet have they, but they walk not; neither speak they through their throat, they cannot even mut-. ter, utter an articulate sound. Note the pairing of the members and the effective way of grouping each pair, in order to bring out strongly the inanimate, dead character of the idols. Cp. Ps. 135, 15-17; Is. 44, 9-17; Jer. 10, 3-6. V. 8. They that make them are like unto them, devoid of proper understanding; so is every one, whether maker or worshiper, that trusteth in them. Idolatry lowers not only the religious and moral, but also the intellectual standard of a people. V. 9. O Israel, trust thou in the Lord, the admonition coming in all the more strongly after the contrast just presented; He is their

Help and their Shield, safe to depend upon for purposes both of defense and of offense. V. 10. O house of Aaron, a name used for Israel as a people of priests and therefore applicable to all believers, trust in the Lord; He is their Help and their Shield. The general application is now made: v. 11. Ye that fear the Lord, no matter where and when, in either the Old or the New Testament, trust in the Lord; He is their Help and their Shield, on their side both for protection and for battle. V. 12. The Lord hath been mindful of us, turned His thoughts in mercy upon His children; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel, His people as a whole; He will bless the house of Aaron, His people as a congregation of priests. V. 13. He will bless them that fear the Lord, the Church of all times, both small and great, the prominent and the leaders in the Church together with the lowly. V. 14. The Lord shall increase you more and more; for the Church, by the blessing of Jehovah in the Word, is bound to grow, you and your children. V. 15. Ye are blessed of the Lord, richly supplied with the gifts of His goodness and mercy, which made heaven and earth, the worth and the greatness of His blessings being measured only by His immeasurable essence. V. 16. The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, the throne of His power; but the earth hath He given to the children of men, to enjoy the fulness of His favor and to praise Him for His grace. V. 17. The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence, into the realm of the dead; for then, for a season, their mouth is stilled, they are no longer physically able to join in the praise of Jehovah. All the more reason, then, for us, who are living, to be engaged in this necessary work. V. 18. But we will bless the Lord from this time forth, while still living here on earth, and forevermore, beyond the grave, after the Last Day, when soul and body will be reunited throughout eternity. Praise the Lord, our hallelujah sounding before the throne of the God of our salvation, world without end, in heaven's glorious halls.

Thanksgiving for Deliverance from
Extreme Perils.

The psalmist proclaims the fact that he was saved from great dangers, celebrates his deliverance by giving praise to God alone, and pledges His public acknowledgment of his debt to Jehovah. V. 1. I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice and my supplications, the fact that God attended to His prayer and delivered him fills his heart with grateful love. V. 2. Because He hath in

clined His ear unto me, in the attitude of willing attention, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live, in prayers both of thanksgiving and of further supplication. He now pictures the situation in which he found himself, from which he was delivered. V. 3. The sorrows, literally, "the cords," of death compassed me, as in a net, and the pains, the oppressions, or straits, of hell, of the realm of death, gat hold upon me; I found trouble and sorrow, experiencing both in full

measure. Cp. Ps. 18, 4. 5. V. 4. Then called I upon the name of the Lord, depending upon the promises in His Word: O Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul. The psalmist now pictures the manner in which the Lord delivered him. V. 5. Gracious, full of merciful compassion, is the Lord and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. Cp. Ex. 34, 6. 7. V. 6. The Lord preserveth the simple, guarding them against evil designs of the enemies on every hand. I was brought low, thrown to the ground in utter helplessness, and He helped me. V. 7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul, being quiet and satisfied in the relief afforded by the Lord; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee, showing kindness far beyond any man's merit. After this admonition to his own heart the poet turns back to his prayer. V. 8. For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling, these three expressions representing all calamities which may befall a man, and the deliverance therefore being complete in every way. V. 9. I will walk before the Lord, leading his whole life with the consciousness that he is in the presence of Jehovah and His omniscient eye, in the land of the living; instead of becoming a prey to death, he enjoys life and is able always to have his Savior before his eyes. V. 10. I believed, therefore have I spoken, literally, "for [this] I speak," in speaking he exercised his faith, his speaking was a proof of his faith, 2 Cor. 4, 13. I was greatly afflicted, but in spite of his affliction his faith manifested itself in the free confession of his mouth. V. 11. I said in my haste, in his trembling and terror, the result of his deep dejection, All men are liars. Forsaken by men, miserably neglected by those from

whom he expected assistance in his troubles, he has learned to put all his trust in God alone, to depend upon Him in the midst of all calamities. V. 12. What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? How repay His manifold expressions of love and goodness? V. 13. I will take the cup of salvation, lifting up the cup of thanksgiving for his deliverance, the allusion probably being to this ceremony at the paschal meal, and call upon the name of the Lord, proclaiming Him and His attributes everywhere. V. 14. I will pay my vows, the special offerings made to express his gratitude to Jehovah, now in the presence of all His people, he was willing and eager to do so in public, that all men might be witnesses of his sacrifice, Num. 15, 3-5. V. 15. Precious in the sight of the Lord, esteemed very highly by Him, is the death of His saints, that is, He will not readily let death take them away from before Him. V. 16. O Lord, truly I am Thy servant; I am Thy servant and the son of Thine handmaid, wherefore, as a home-born servant, he claims the privileges of God's covenant love toward His people. Thou hast loosed my bonds, giving him the freedom of the people of God. Hence he once more expresses his gratitude. V. 17. I will offer to Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the Lord. V. 18. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all His people, v. 19. in the courts of the Lord's house, where the congregation assembled for public worship, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord, all the believers of the New Testament joining in this hallelujah in honor of the God of their salvation and paying their vows to Him in cheerful service.

The Universal Kingdom of Messiah. The shortest hymn in the Psalter, portraying, in a few words, the Church of God of all times in its relation to Jehovah, the God of salvation. The truth expressed in this psalm, that men from all nations would yet worship Jehovah, as the God who has revealed Himself in the fulness of His redemption for all mankind, is unfolded by Paul, Rom. 15, 11. V. 1. O praise the Lord, all ye nations, since He is the God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews, Luke 2, 30-32; praise Him, all ye people, all the nations of the world, without exception. V. 2. For His merciful kindness

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is great toward us, His grace, as revealed in Jesus, the Messiah, is powerful, mighty, in forgiving sins and iniquities and in protecting the believers from everlasting damnation, as the consequence of their trespasses; and the truth of the Lord endureth forever, His faithfulness in fulfilling His promises is absolutely trustworthy, His Word, the Gospelmessage, is thoroughly reliable. Praise ye

the Lord, all believers joining in this great hallelujah, because grace and truth became their glorious possession in and with Jesus Christ, John 1, 14. 17, and the glory of this fact can never be sufficiently praised.

A Psalm for Festival Services. This hymn, written altogether in the style of David, bears a liturgical character and was, in fact, used in the Jewish Church upon the occasion of the great festivals, as part of their great hallel, chanted during the time when the Temple-offerings were brought, as well as by the individual families in the intervals of the Passover-meal, although it may originally have been composed for use at the Feast of Tabernacles. Sections of the psalm were in such general use that the pilgrims going forth to meet Jesus at the time of His last entry into Jerusalem chanted them almost spontaneously, Matt. 21, 9; Mark 11, 9; Luke 19, 38. V. 1. O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, namely, in imparting His kindness in rich blessings upon the faithful; because His mercy endureth forever. Cp. Ps. 106, 1; 107, 1; 136, 1. V. 2. Let Israel, the entire nation, as the chosen people of God, now say that His mercy endureth forever. V. 3. Let the house of Aaron, not only the priests, but the entire Church, as a congregation of priests, now say that His mercy endureth forever. V. 4. Let them now that fear the Lord, all believers of all times, say that His mercy endureth forever. The urgent invitation having gone forth to the whole Church to join in praising the Lord, the psalmist now states the reason for his admonition. V. 5. I called upon the Lord in distress, when he was in straits, in such difficulties that he could turn neither to the right nor to the left; the Lord answered me and set me in a large place, where he had freedom of movement on every side, where he was no longer cramped and hindered on account of being beset by dangers and enemies. V. 6. The Lord is on my side, Rom. 8, 31; I will not fear; what can man, mere men, puny creatures, do unto me? V. 7. The Lord taketh my part with them that help me, as his assistance, Jehovah's help outweighing that of all other helpers; therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me, the enemies being bound to submit before His almighty power. The psalmist now urges the proper trust in Jehovah, as the One who is exalted in power above all men. V. 8. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man, man at his best being but a weak and helpless creature. V. 9. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes, for their power, after all, is small, and their favor deceitful. V. 10. All nations compassed me about, or, "though all the heathen should surround me," but in the name of the Lord, trusting in the almighty power of Jehovah, will I destroy them, cut them down, exterminate them. V. 11. They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about, though they attempt their attacks on all sides;

but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them, he who makes the Lord his ally always having the balance of power in his favor. V. 12. They compassed me about like bees, or, "like wasps," who were particularly troublesome and vicious during harvest-time; they are quenched as the fire of thorns, which flares up with great force, but is as quickly extinguished; for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. Sure of the assistance of Jehovah, the congregation is at all times possessed of a feeling of triumph. V. 13. Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall, the impersonal subject being used in the Hebrew, people have attempted in every possible way to wound and overcome the believer; but the Lord helped me. Therefore his song rings out with that of all the faithful. V. 14. The Lord is my Strength, affording the believer might to overcome, and Song, the subject of hymns of praise at all times, and is become my Salvation, delivering him from all enemies. V. 15. The voice of rejoicing and salvation, the happiness over the marvelous deliverance, as expressed in hymns of the congregation, is in the tabernacles of the righteous, in the homes of all believers, who have become partakers of the righteousness of the Messiah by the gift of God. The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly, exalted in victory. V. 16. The right hand of the Lord, emblem of almighty power, is exalted, in a rule over all enemies; the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly, in possession of victory. V. 17. I shall not die, thus being deprived of the privilege of praising Jehovah, but live, being preserved by God's mercy, and declare the works of the Lord, that being one of the glorious duties of all believers. V. 18. The Lord hath chastened me sore, in the anxieties and distresses to which the psalmist had referred in v. 5; but He hath not given me over unto death. Although the psalmist speaks in the singular, he is speaking in the name of the congregation, setting forth their common experience. V. 19. Open to me the gates of righteousness, this name being applied to the gates of the Temple, since they afforded an entrance to the place where God imparted His righteousness in His Word; I will go into them, together with all other members of the congregation, and I will praise the Lord, Jehovah of salvation; v. 20. this gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter, the sacrificial acts on the part of the congregation, and the sacramental acts on the part of God's servants, uniting them with Him in the most intimate fellowship. V. 21. I will praise Thee, in the full consciousness of this wonderful union with Jehovah; for Thou hast heard me and art become my Salvation.