victorious campaigns he then successively humbled the Philistines, the Edomites, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Syrians, and extended the frontiers of his kingdom to the Euphrates. His fame spread to distant regions. (2 Sam. viii. 9; v. 11.) The sceptre of his kingdom was confirmed to his race for eternal times. (2 Sam. vij. 13.) An event occurred, however, which deeply affected the honoured and aged king, and reminded him of his former days of tribulation.

Absalom's ambition gave rise to revolt, and once more drove him from the capital towards the region of that wilderness, where he had spent the greater portion of his days when he fled from Saul. (Vide ad. Psalms iii. lv. lxiii.) He had even to quit the boundaries of Canaan, and go beyond Jordan. Of less importance was the insurrection of the Benjaminite, Sheba, (vide ad. Ps. lxxviii.) and the projected rebellion of Adonijah. In the seventieth year of his life, after a reign of forty years and six months, David died, and was buried at Jerusalem. His noble principles of government are expressed in Psalm ci.: one of his subjects furnishes the following testimonial, in Psalm lxxviii. 70-72: "God chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands." As with a mother's faithfulness he tended the nursing lambs when he was their shepherd, so he transferred that faithfulness to his people when he became their shepherd.

This is a bird's eye view of the history of David. The different Psalms may be referred, if not with certainty, yet with more or less of probability, to the different periods of his life. The fact that most of them were composed in days of tribulation, during the time of his residence at the court of Saul, (Psalms v. xli. lix. lxix. cxl.) the time of his flight before Saul (Psalms iii. iv. vi. vii. xi. xiii. xxii. xxxiv. lii. lvi. lvii. exlii.) and Absalom, (Psalms iii. xxvii. lv. lxiii.) should not surprise us, since the harp was just in seasons of that kind the comfort of the pious minstrel.

A great number of our own hymns were composed in the gloomy days of the thirty years' war. The use of David's plaintive songs at worship caused him constantly to renew and multiply the praises of God for his aid and deliverance, an exercise from which he doubtless derived much benefit. As to the remainder of his Psalms, some were composed for special use at certain public festivals, (Psalms xv. xxiv. xx. xxi. lxviii. exxii.;) others were occasioned by incidents of war, (Psalms ix. x. lx.;) some are didactic, (Psalm xxxvii.) others psalms of nature, (Psalms viii. xix. xxix.;) some psalms of praise, (Psalms xvi. xviii. xxiii. xxx. exxxviii.) others penitential, (Psalms xxxii. li.;) Psalms ii. and x. are Mes

sianic.

Glancing at the religious-moral character of David, and then at the character of his Psalms, we recognize courage and warmth of heart as its most prominent features. The boy who slew a lion and a bear, slung the stone with so much assurance at the face of gigantic Goliath, that he fell to the earth. But the tender youthruddy and of a fair countenance, (1 Sam. xvii. 42)-shows himself equally susceptible to tender emotions. His heart lacked no susceptibility for any kind of love: his union to Michal was, as has been already noticed, not the result of convenience, but of genuine affection. (1 Sam. xviii. 20.) Jonathan, his friend, loved him "as his own soul." Filial piety was so sacred to him, that in his greatest troubles, he never forgot a child's duties, but cared for his father and mother. (1 Sam. xxii. 3.) His paternal tenderness towards his children almost knew no limits. (2 Sam. xviii. 33; xii. 18.) We have already noticed his loyalty to his king in spite of all persecution. How soon his royal indignation could kindle when it regarded the administration of justice towards his subjects, appears from 2 Sam. xii. 5. The tender relations subsisting between him and the people of Jerusalem reveals touchingly the scene of his flight before Absalom: "And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over." (2 Sam. xv. 23.) The noble general is seen in 2 Sam. xxiii. 17. His faithfulness of promise was infallible; the words in which he mourned the violent death of honest Abner breathe simultaneously love and indignation. (Cf. ad. Psalm lviii.) His anger for the murder of Ishbosheth, committed against his promise to the contrary, could hardly be kept within bounds. (2 Sam. iv. 12.) He was soon angry, but gave grateful hearing to calming speech. (1 Sam. xxv. 25-35.) But the root of all his virtues was "the fear of God." In every situation of life, he looked up to the Lord, (with this correspond the words which history furnishes concerning him.) The boy who with his sling faced the Philistine expected the power of victory from the Lord. (1 Sam. xvii. 45.) He thanked the Lord, when his persecutor was delivered into his hand, and to the Lord he prays for strength, that he might not sin against him. (1 Sam. xxiv. 7.) He deemed it as a mercy of the Lord that Abigail's admonition preserved him for sinning, (1 Sam. xxv. 32, 33;) he besought the Lord for counsel in his martial enterprises, (1 Sam. xxiii. 2; 2 Sam. v. 19, 23;) he humbly acknowledged the will of the Lord when he lost the throne, and had to bear the contempt of rebellious subjects, (2 Sam. xv. 25; xvi. 11, 12;) he praised the Lord with deep gratitude and humility when he received the glorious promises of the future of his race, (2 Sam. vii. 18, etc.;) when the exultation in which he burst forth, singing and dancing before the ark of the Lord, was met with derision, he said to Michal, "It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the

people of the Lord, over Israel: therefore will I play before the Lord. And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight." (2 Sam. vi. 21, 22.) The loftiness of such expressions of his piety in word and deed, would seem to render the offence of his adultery with Bathsheba, and his sin against Uriah, the more enormous. While it is habitual with legally righteous Pharisees and the servants of sin, who just understand the clever avoidance of appearances, to heap the rudest reproach on David for those transgressions, and acclaim the right of rising far above him, it is, especially for practical ministers, matter of indispensable necessity to regard that event in its true nature. Now if on the one hand it be apparent that David by no means rushed without all thought headlong to the commission of his double crime, but that sin also in his case gradually lured the weak into her net, and that on the other if anywhere in this case the dépth of repentance seems to have equalled the greatness of the crime, we may well ask, Who dares to throw the first stone on the fallen one? See also Comment. to Psalm li.

We shall now endeavour to apprehend the peculiar features of the Davidic compositions in relation to the psalms of other authors. One difference is strikingly apparent. A certain child-like warmth and simplicity seems peculiar to the Psalms of David. (Psalms xi. xvi. xxiii. xxvii. lxi. cxxxi. and cxxxiii.) If we are anxious to gain the impression of a heart peaceful and happy in God, we have only to read his psalms. The same expressions of that peculiar child-like familiarity with God, and silent resignation, occur also in some of his sentiments in the historic books. As such we count his already named reply to the mockery of his wife Michal, the expression of his gratitude for Abigail's dehortation from vengeance against Nabal, the words of resignation on his being compelled to leave Jerusalem for fear of Absalom, etc. (2 Sam. xv. 25, 26.) On the other hand his Psalms portray the energy and courage of the youth who slew Goliath, and of the man who became the terror of surrounding nations, wielded the sceptre of the kingdom with a firm hand, and irrevocably punished oppression. (Psalms xviii. lx. ci. lii. lviii.) We are now-a-days wont to conceive of a hero as endowed with a stoical mastery of his affections, and chiefly of his grief. In the heroes of antiquity, however, weeping and tears were deemed no disgrace. History records the violent outbreak of David's grief as most overwhelming on receiving the news of Absalom's death. (2 Sam. xviii. 33.) Regarding the Psalter as reflecting the inward history of the man, which accompanied outward acts, we may perceive how deeply all his experiences entered into his heart. The Psalms make us to look down into the abysses of grief and despair. It is truly elevating to observe how, while praying and singing, his soul mounts sometimes as it were on the steps of a ladder, from verse to verse, to joyous exultation, and the

psalm which was begun in a tone of deepest complaint, ends with triumphant song. This is most distinctly and remarkably indicated in Psalm xxii. Sometimes the voice of exultation will burst through the anguish of the prayer, as in Psalm vi. 9; xxviii. 6: he perceives inward communications from God, which tear (Psalms xii. 6; xiv. 4; xxxii. 8; xxvii. 8) him as it were at once from out of the deepest tribulation. Some psalms of grief and hesitancy, beginning with an "In the Lord do I put my trust," (Psalms xi. 1; xxv. 2; xxvi. 2,) shine like beacons. Taken as a whole, the Psalms of David possess not the plenitude of poetic imagination, though that exists in some. Exceedingly beautiful and grand is the execution of the image at the beginning of Psalm xviii. which contrasts the days of his affliction with those of his prosperity. Psalms xxix. ex. and cxxxix. are sublime.

Since we find that poetry, music, and song were more frequently united in one person in remote antiquity than in later times, when those activities became more separate, there arises spontaneously the supposition, that the individuals whom David appointed as chief musicians and leaders of the Levites, as they combined music and song, were also versed in poetry. (The three leaders, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, were, according to Chronicles, both chief musicians and chief singers.) The example of David must have exerted a great influence. It appears from Amos vi. 5, that the nobility used to frame secular songs on the model of David's compositions. How much more may the spiritual songs of David have served as models! How exact an imitation of David is the Psalm in Hab. iii. Asaph, Heman, and perhaps Jeduthun, are mentioned as seers, while Ethan and Heman, who, according to Chronicles and the titles of Psalms lxxxviii. lxxxix. were Levitic singers, are accounted among the wisest of men, (1 Kings iv. 31; [v. 11.]) The titles ascribe twelve psalms to Asaph, (Psalm 1. 73-83,) eleven to the children of Korah. Some psalms, however, cannot have had Asaph, the cotemporary of David, for their author (e. g. Psalms lxxiv. lxxvii. lxxix. lxxx.,) as they unmistakeably refer to the last times of the Jewish empire: the same is the case with the psalm of Ethan, (Psalm lxxxix.) It may be concluded, that the psalms of Asaph were by no means designated by his name without sufficient reasons for it, because, in some respects, they really bear strong marks of resemblance. It is not improbable that the name, "Asaph," stands for the entire family of singers of Asaph's children, so that no particular regard was paid to the poetic productions of their separate authors. So the Korahite psalms are ascribed to that family as a whole. As the names of Jacob, Joseph, and Ephraim are used to designate their entire races, why might not the same apply to the name of Asaph? Most parties, at least, are now agreed that Jeduthun, in Psalms xxxix. and lxxvii. refers to the Jeduthun family of singers. The

race of Asaph reaches down to the latest times: 2 Chron. xx. 14, Jehasiel, a Levite of the children of Asaph, is named as a prophet in the days of Jehosaphat, who is probably to be regarded as the author of Psalm lxxxiii. (Cf. ad. Psalm lxxxiii.) Descendants of Asaph returned from the exile, according to Neh. vii. 47, not less than one hundred and forty-eight, according to Ezra ii. 41, one hundred and twenty-eight singers; and since, according to Nehemiah vii. 47, the number of male and female singers who returned was two hundred and forty-five, it is evident that the greater number were Asaphites: though Jeduthunite singers are mentioned as well. (Neh. xi. 17.) Excellent, as to form and contents, are the didactic poems of Asaph, (Psalms 1. and lxxiii.) The other psalms of Asaph are distinguished by a certain vivacity and freshness. (On the psalm of Ethan, vide Psalm lxxxix. Com.) The psalms of the children of Korah stand highest for poetic symmetry, elevation, vivacity, and warmth of sentiment, (Psalms xlii.-xlix. lxxxiv. lxxxv. lxxxvii. lxxxviii.) Some of these psalms were composed by Levites in the times of David, e. g. Psalms xlii. xliii. xlvii. lxxxiv.; others, however, refer to the days of Hezekiah and the invasion of Sennacherib. (Psalms xlvi. xlviii. lxxxvii.) The Korahite songs, as well as the Asaphite, bear a certain peculiarity, which shows that the singers of certain families educated themselves after the model of their predecessors. Psalm lxxxviii. alone, besides the general designation, bears also the name of Heman. (Cf. ad. Psalm lxxxviii.)

There are, besides, a song of Moses, (Psalm xc.) which bears most thoroughly the expression of his austerity, and two songs of Solomon. (Psalms lxxii. cxxvii.) Psalm cxxxii. which was sung at the dedication of Solomon's Temple, (Solomon's prayer contains, according to Chronicles, some passages of this Psalm,) may perhaps have him for its author. (Cf. ad. Psalm exxxii.)

SECTION IV.

DOCTRINE AND ETHICS OF THE PSALMS.

I.-God and the Government of the World.

HERDER says, "There is no attribute, no perfection of God left unexpressed, in the simplest and most powerful manner, in the Psalms and the Prophets." In fact, we can hardly realize how much energy and freshness the Christian belief in God would lose, were the lofty and eternal expressions of the Psalms on the being and attributes of God withdrawn from the Christian Church.