FOURTH BOOK. 1 3 PSALM XC. A Prayer of Moses, the Man of God. LORD, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, And thou gavest birth to the earth and the world, t And sayest Return, ye sons of men. ♦ For a thousand years, in thy sight, 5 Thou sweepest them away, they are a sleep; 8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, Our hidden things in the light of thy countenance. VV. 5, 6. An image of fleeting human life. It passes away in the death-slumber; succeeded by new life, as the grass that springs up freshly in the dew of the morning, to wither in its turn, and die. The comparison in v. 5, 2d member, is abruptly and not fully expressed, but the thought is clearly indicated.* * Fully expressed, the thought would be: They pass away in the night slumber of the grave; followed by the morning life of another generation, as the morning grass springs up in place of that which has withered and died. 132 9 For all our days pass away in thy wrath; We spend our years like a thought. 10 The days of our years,-in them are threescore years and 11 ten; And if, through strength, fourscore years, Yet is their pride toil and vanity; For it is soon past, and we fly away. Who knows the power of thine anger, And as the fear of thee, thy wrath? 12 So teach to number our days, That we may get a heart of wisdom. 13 Return O Jehovah ; how long! 14 And have pity on thy servants. Satisfy us with thy mercy in the morning, That we may rejoice and be glad, all our days. 15 Make us glad according to the days thou hast afflicted us, The years we have seen evil. 16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, And thy majesty upon their sons. 17 And let the beauty of Jehovah our God be upon us; And the work of our hands establish thou upon us, Yea, the work of our hands, establish thou it. V. 9, 2d member. Our years like a thought.] With the rapidity and suddenness of thought, they are gone. V. 10, 1st member. In them.] The emphatic form of the original, which should not be suppressed. V. 10, 3d member. Their pride. Their vain boast.-Toil and vanity.] Anxious labor, with no result. V. 11. As the fear of thee.] In proportion to, and in accordance with it. As the fear of God requires, and as is due to it. V. 14. In the morning.] The morning of deliverance and triumph, after this night of humiliation. Compare Ps. 46: 5. The sentiment is: Let morning return, and with it thy satisfying mercy. "Morning denotes that there has hitherto been night in Israel, and the dawn of an era of grace.” (Delitzsch.) V. 17, 2d member. Establish thou upon us.] By an influence from above, as descending upon us. 1 PSALM XCI. DWELLING in the covert of the Most High, He abides in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of Jehovah : My refuge and my fortress ; My God, I will trust in him. 3 For he, he will rescue thee from the snare of the fowler, From the destroying pestilence. 4 With his feathers he will cover thee, 5 And under his wings shalt thou trust; His truth, a shield and buckler! Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night, Of the arrow that flies by day; Of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Of the contagion that wastes at noon-day. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou look on, 9 And see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made Jehovah,--my refuge, The Most High, thy dwelling-place ; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, And no plague shall come nigh thy tent. 11 For he will give his angels charge concerning thee, To keep thee in all thy ways. 12 On their hands shall they bear thee up, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt tread on the lion and the adder; 14 The young lion and dragon shalt thou trample under foot. For he has set his love upon me, and I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows my name. V. 9. Thy dwelling-place.] See v. 1. V. 10, 2d member. Tent.] Dwelling is meant ; but in allusion to its simplest and primitive form. 15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble ; I will rescue him, and will honor him. 6 With length of days will I satisfy him, And will cause him to see my salvation. PSALM XCII. A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath Day. Ir is good to give thanks to Jehovah, 3 To a ten-stringed instrument, and to the lute, 4 To the murmuring sound on the harp. For thou hast gladdened me, Jehovah, by thy work; In the works of thy hands I will triumph. 5 How great are thy works, O Jehovah! Thy counsels are very deep. 6 A brutish man knows not, Nor does a fool understand this. "When the wicked spring up as grass, And all the workers of iniquity flourish; 8 10 It is that they may be destroyed forever. And thou, Jehovah, art on high forevermore. 9 For lo, thine enemies, Jehovah, For lo, thine enemies shall perish; All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. But my horn thou wilt exalt as of the wild-ox; I am anointed with fresh oil. "And my eye had its desire on them that lie in wait for me, And my ear on evil-doers that rise up against me. V.S. On high.] Supreme over all. V. 10. The wild-ox.] For the natural traits of this powerful and untamed animal, see Job 39: 9-12 (revised version.) 12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree, Shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Planted in the house of Jehovah, They shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14 Still shall they bear fruit in hoary age; Full of sap, and green shall they be. 15 To show that Jehovah is upright; My rock, and no unrighteousness is in him. 1 PSALM XCIII. JEHOVAH reigns; he is clothed with majesty. Jehovah is clothed with strength; he has girded himself. Yea, the world shall stand fast, it shall not be moved. 2 Thy throne stands fast from of old; 3 5 Thou art from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O Jehovah, Thy testimonies are very sure. 1 PSALM XCIV. GOD of vengeance, Jehovah, 2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth; 4 They belch out, they speak rudely, They boast themselves, all the workers of iniquity. |