man whom thou hast made strong for thyself,” ON 12; in this resembling Psalm viii. 6. Even if the terms were appropriate to Israel as God's favoured people, still there would be here simply an allusion to that fact, while the real possessor of the name is Messiah, God's true Israel. And if so, then verse 17 is Israel, in the Latter Day, crying "Hosanna!" to Christ, and so entitled to what his words implicitly promised in Matt. xx. 39-“ Thou shalt not see me henceforth TILL thou shalt say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." They pray, "Appoint Him our captain-let thy hand be upon him, designating him to his office, as Moses did Joshua," (Num. xxvii. 23). And so they may claim to be gathered and blest with a fuller blessing than their fathers, who, by the hand of God upon them, were led up by Ezra (vii. 9), and Nehemiah (ii. 18); for they claim as their leader Messiah, the true Ezra, "Helper," and true Nehemiah, "the Lord's consolation." Is not Psalm cx. 1 of itself sufficient to justify the name, "The man of thy Right Hand?” "Jehovah, God of Hosts, bring us back ! Cause thy countenance to shine on us! And we shall be saved," ( the response to “Iosanna !” May we not sympathise in these appeals? May we not put The Church. in our own case with theirs? Appoint, Lord, Messiah to be our captain, our soul's leader, and we individually shall be saved! We cry, "Hosanna!", and thou wilt give a response that shall make us shout back. Yes, thy Church in all the earth, Lord God of Hosts, with one consent joins in presenting to thee, T Israel's pleas for full restoration. PSALM LXXXI. To the chief Musician. Upon Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph. 1 SING loud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. 2 Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. The title. The contents 3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, In the time appointed, on our solemn feast-day. 4 For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. 5 This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: Where I heard a language that I understood not. 6 I removed his shoulder from the burden: I answered thee in the secret place of thunder; I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah. 8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: Ó Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me! 9 There shall no strange god be in thee: neither shalt thou worship any strange god. 10 I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11 But my people would not hearken to my voice: and Israel would none of me. 12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels. 13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! 14 I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. 15 The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him: But their time should have endured for ever. 16 He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: Whether or not it was ASAFH is the writer of this Psalm. In the first verses (1-3), is it the voice of Israel we hear? Is it not rather the voice of the Church's Head and Israel's, identifying himself with us and them? Is it not Messiah, the lawgiver and redeemer of Israel? To understand the speaker throughout to be He, gives beautiful unity and force to the whole. It is He, we suppose, who summons them in these lively, inviting strains t? Sing loud unto God our strength! Raise the shout of joy unto the God of Jacob! Take music ( voice and instrument), and bring the timbrel, T: The pleasant harp aad the psaltery! Blow the horn in the month (i. e., Abib., Exodus xii. 1.) On the full moon, on the day of our feast (i. e., the Passover), For this is a statute for Israel, A law in reference to (for the worship of.—Ilengst.) the God of Jacob." (1-4.) Then mention is made of "Joseph," because the Passoverreference calls back to mind the days of Egypt, when Joseph was Israel's shepherd in Goshen; and it is said that this feast was ordained for a "testimony," viz., to the Lord's goodness and sparing mercy. "When he went out against the land of Egypt;" (to destroy it by plagues.) "When I heard a language that I knew not ;" (not the tongue of Israel, which is so well known to me, as one knows his friend.) ; And having thus identified himself with Israel-the shepherd with the flock-he speaks in his own name of what he wrought for them. He took them from bondage,* at their going forth and often did he reason with them, as at Sinai, when the thunder's roar was heard from thick clouds that were the curtains of his pavilion, and from the pillar-cloud "Oh! hadst thou heard my voice alone ! When thunders rolled above thy head, And lightnings flashed before thine eyes, Where, Meribah, thy waters rise!" (Barclay.) There is "Selah," the pause for solemn thought, here. And then the expostulation begins, tender, but earnest and searching (8-12), till, after saying verse 12, "Let them go on in their own counsels," as Deut. xxix. 18, He seems to recall his words, giving vent to that burst of impassioned feeling, verse 13— * The burden and "the pots," or clay-basket, are remarkably illustrated (says Tholuck) by the Egyptian sculptures, which still shew Israelites carrying the clay and the tiles. "Oh, if my people would hearken to me! Would Israel walk in my ways!" Revealing the very same Jesus whose words and tears, as he beheld Jerusalem, are reorded in Luke xix. 43. It is the same speaker that continues thus to tell what they have lost by their waywardness "I would soon have subdued their enemies, "The haters of Jehovah should have submitted unto him.” And, on the other hand, He (Jehovah) would have fed them with "kernelled wheat,"-alluding to the rich old covenant promises, Deut. xxxii. 14, xxxiii. 14. All this (says Messiah), Jehovah was ready to do. Yes, these covenant promises, every one, even to the honey from the rock (Deut. xxxii. 13), I would have given thee in all abundance, till thou hadst not a want remaining.* Thus from beginning to end, in this Psalm, we hear The Redeemer of Israel's tender lamentation over his people's rejection of His grace. The title. PSALM LXXXII. A Psalm of Asaph. 1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. 2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. 3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. 4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. 5 They know not, neither will they understand! they walk on in darkness ! All the foundations of the earth are out of course. 6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High. 7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth! for thou shalt inherit all nations. ASAPH's name is at Psalm 1., in which the solemn scenes and expostulations of the Great Day are given; and here, too, is * The change of persons, "He" and "I," is quite natural, if Messiah is the speaker throughout. But, besides, we find such changes from the indirect to the direct frequently, e. g., Exodus xxiii. 25, and Isa. x. 12. his name, prefixed to this awfully authoritative rebuke and warning We see, verse 1, the Judge surveying earth's rulers. "God hath placed himself in the assembly of the mighty." (Isa. iii. 13.) We hear his voice (ver. 2), and we recognise in it him who speaks to us, "How long, ye simple ones," in Proverbs i. 26. The "Selah” completes it, giving a solemn seal to the words. We listen again (verses 3, 4); he is declaring the rules that should guide them-rules on which the Judge himself has ever acted--defending the poor; interposing where no help of man was on the side of the oppressed; maintaining equity; doing acts of disinterested grace and favour. We are told of the contempt poured upon Him (ver. 5), for it is said, "They take no notice” (they disregard God and his Christ), &c. ; and as a consequence, "The foundations of earth begin to totter,” (comp. Isa. xxiv. 20); and we hear the voice of the Great Judge (ver. 6) “I have said! ("IN, i. e., This is now your doom--I solemnly pro claim it) Ye are judges (bearing the name of God, as verse 2); This is your great name, in which you rest secure. вь Surely ye shall die, as other men have died Ye shall fall, as other men of rank have fallen.”* But Your day is coming! The saints are raising the loud cry of verse 8, inviting Messiah, the true God, the Son of the Most High (John x. 34), the Mighty One, the Judge and Ruler, to arise and take his inheritance, for he is the “heir of all things;" and to be the true Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Barak, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Samson, and Samuel, who will judge, or govern and rule, a mismanaged earth. We sing this song of Zion in his ears, urging him to come quickly; and we sing it to one another in joyful hope, while the foundations of earth seem out of course, because here we find Messiah the true Judge of a misgoverned world. * "As other men," see note on Psalm lxxxvii. The plan. |