(1) A description of his desponding feelings under these circumstances; under the troubles which had rolled over him like waters, vers. 6, 7. (2) An assurance that God would yet manifest His loving-kindness to him; and, on the ground of that, an earnest appeal to God as his God, vers. 8, 9.

(3) A further statement of his troubles, as derived from the reproaches of his enemies, as if a sword penetrated even to his bones, ver. 10. (4) Self-remonstrance again for his despondency, and an exhortation to himself to trust in God (in the same language with which the former part of the psalm closes), ver. 11.

The idea of the whole is, that we should not be overwhelmed or cast down in trouble; that we should confide in God; that we should be cheerful, not desponding; that we should go to God, whatever may happen; and that we should feel that all will yet be well, that all will be overruled for good, and that brighter and happier days will come. How often have the people of God occasion to use the language of this psalm! In a world of trouble and sorrow such as ours is; in a world where the friends of God have often been, and may again be, persecuted; in the anguish which is felt from the ingratitude of children, kindred, and friends; in the distress which springs up in the heart when, from sickness or from any other cause, we are long deprived of the privileges of public worship-in exibe as it were from the sanctuary-how imperfect would be a book professing to be a revelation from God, if it did not contain some such psalm as this, so accurately describing the feelings of those who are in such circumstances; so adapted to their wants; so well fitted to direct to the true source of consolation! It is this adaptedness of the Bible to the actual requirements of mankind,—this accurate description of the feelings which pass through our own mind and heart, this constant direction to God as the true source of support and consolation-which so much endears the Bible to the hearts of the people of God, and which serves, more than any arguments from miracle and prophecy -valuable as those arguments are to keep up in their minds the conviction that the Bible is a Divine revelation. Psalms like this make the Bible a complete book, and show that He who gave it "knew what is in man," and what man needs in this vale of tears.

1 As the hart panteth after the water-brooks. Marg., brayeth. The word rendered hart-, ayyal-means commonly a stag, hart, male deer: Deut. xii. 15; xiv. 5; Isa. xxxv. 6. The word is masculine, but in this place is joined with a feminine verb, as words of the common gender may be, and thus denotes a hind, or female deer. The word rendered in the text panteth, and in the margin brayeth-, arag -occurs only in this place and in Joel i. 20, where it is applied to the beasts of the field as "crying" to God in a time of drought. The word properly means to rise; to ascend; and then, to look up towards anything; to long for. It refers here to the intense desire of the hind, in the heat of day, for water; or, in Joel, to the desire of the cattle for water in a time of drought. Luther renders it " cries;" the Septuagint and Vulgate render it simply "desires." Neither the idea of panting nor braying seems to be in the original word. It is the idea of looking for, longing for, desiring, that is expressed there. By water-brooks are meant the streams that run in vallies. Dr. Thomson (Land and the

Book, vol. i., p. 253) says, "I have seen large flocks of these panting harts gather round the water-brooks in the great deserts of Central Syria, so subdued by thirst that you could approach quite near them before they fled." There is an idea of tenderness in the reference to the word hart here-female deer, gazelle-which would not strike us if the reference had been to any other animal. These are so timid, so gentle, so delicate in their structure, so much the natural objects of love and compassion, that our feelings are drawn towards them as to all other animals in similar circumstances. We sympathize with them;

we pity them; we love them; we feel deeply for them when they are pursued, when they fly away in fear, when they are in want. The above engraving will help us more to appreciate the comparison employed by the psalmist. Nothing could more beautifully or appropriately describe the earnest longing of a soul after God, in the circumstances of the psalmist, than this image. So panteth my soul after thee, O God. So earnest a desire have I to come before thee, and to enjoy thy presence and thy favour. So sensible am I of want; so much does my soul need something that can satisfy its desires. This was at first applied to the case of one who was cut off from the privileges of public worship, and who was driven into exile far from the place where he had been accustomed to unite with others in that service (ver. 4);

2 My soul a thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

3 My tears have been my a Ps. lxiii. 1; John vii. 37.

meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in

b Job xxiii. 3.

but it will also express the deep and earnest feelings of the heart of piety at all times, and in all circumstances, in regard to God. There is no desire of the soul more intense than that which the pious heart has for God; there is no want more deeply felt than that which is experienced when one who loves God is cut off by any cause from communion with him.

2. My soul thirsteth for God. That is, as the hind thirsts for the running stream. For the living God. God, not merely as God, without anything more definitely specified, but God considered as living, as himself possessing life, and as having the power of imparting that life to the soul. ¶ When shall I come and appear before God? That is, as I have been accustomed to do in the sanctuary. When shall I be restored to the privilege of again uniting with his people in public prayer and praise? The psalmist evidently expected that this would be; but to one who loves public worship the time seems long when he is prevented from enjoying that privilege.

3. My tears have been my meat. The word rendered tears in this place is in the singular number, and means literally weeping. Comp. Ps. xxxix. 12. The word meat here means literally bread, and is used in the general signification of food, as the word meat is always used in the English version of the Bible. The English word meat, which originally signified food, has been changed gradually in its signification, until it now denotes in common usage animal food, or flesh. The idea here is, that instead of eating, he had wept. The state described is that which occurs so often when excessive sorrow takes away the appetite, or destroys the relish for food, and occasions fasting. This was the foundation of the whole idea of fasting,-that sorrow, and especially sorrow for sin, takes away the desire for food for the time, and leads to involuntary abstinence. Hence arose the correlative idea of abstaining from food with a view to promote that deep sense of sin, or to produce a condition of the body which would be favourable to a proper recollection of guilt. Day and night. Constantly; without intermission. See Notes on Ps. i. 2. While they continually say unto me. While it is constantly said to me; that is, by mine enemies. See ver. 10. ¶ Where is thy God? See Ps. iii. 2; xxii. 8. The meaning here is, "He seems to be utterly forsaken or abandoned by God. He trusted in God. He professed to be his friend. He looked to him as his protector. But he is now forsaken, as if he had no God; and God is treating him as if he were none of his; as if he had no love for him, and no concern about his welfare."

4. When I remember these things. These sorrows; this banishment from the house of God; these reproaches of my enemies. The verb here used is in the future tense, and would be appropriately rendered "I will remember these things, and I will pour out my soul within me." That is, it is not a mere recollection of the past, but it indicates a state or purpose of mind-a solemn resolution to bear these things

me: for I had gone with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, with the

voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.

c Ps. cxxii. 1.

ever in remembrance, and to allow them to produce a proper impression on his mind and heart that would not be effaced by time. Though the future tense is used as denoting what the state of his mind would be, the immediate reference is to the past. The sorrows and afflictions which had overwhelmed him were the things he would remember. ¶I pour out my soul in me. Heb., upon me. See Notes on Job xxx. 16. The idea is derived from the fact that the soul in grief seems to be dissolved, or to lose all firmness, consistency, or power, and to be like water. We speak now of the soul as being melted, tender, dissolved, with sympathy or grief, or as overflowing with joy. ¶ For I had gone with the multitude. The word here rendered multitude-, sach-occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures. It is supposed to denote properly a thicket of trees; a thick wood; and then, a crowd of men. The LXX. render it, "I will pass on to the place of the wonderful tabernacle,”okvis Davμαorns. So the Latin Vulgate. Luther translates it, "multitude," Haufen. The Hebrew verb is in the future-"I shall pass," or "when I pass," indicating a confident expectation of a favourable issue of his present trials, and referring not to the fact that he had gone with the multitude in time past, but to the fact that he would be permitted to go with them in solemn procession to the house of God, and that then he would recall these things, and pour out his soul in the fulness of his emotions. The Septuagint renders this in the future; so also the Latin Vulgate, De Wette, and Prof. Alexander. Luther renders it, "For I would gladly go hence with the multitude." It seems clear, therefore, that this does not refer to what had been in the past, but to what he confidently hoped and expected would be in the future. He expected again to go with the multitude to the house of God. Even in his exile, and in his sorrows, he confidently anticipated this, and he says that he would then pour forth the full expression of gratitudehis whole soul-in view of all these things which had occurred. He was now in exile: his heart was overwhelmed with sorrow; he was away from the place of worship-the house of God; he no longer went with others with solemn steps to the sanctuary, but he hoped and expected again to be permitted to do so; and, in view of this, he calls on his soul (ver. 5) not to be cast down. This interpretation, referring it to the future, also brings this part of the psalm into harmony with the subsequent part (ver. 8), where the author of the psalm confidently expresses the same hope. I went with them to the house of God. The tabernacle; the place of public worship. See Notes on Ps. xxiii. 6. The Hebrew verb here is also in the future tense, and, in accordance with the interpretation above, the meaning is, "I will go," etc. The word occurs only here, and in Isa. xxxviii. 15, "I shall go softly all my years." See the word explained in the Notes on that passage. It seems here to be used with reference to a movement in a slow and solemn procession, as in the usual processions connected with public worship among the Hebrews. The meaning is, that he would go with the multitude with seriousness and solemnity, as they went up to the house of God to worship. ¶ With the voice of joy and praise. Chant

5 Why art thou 1 cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou

1 bowed down.

ing hymns to God. ¶ With a multitude that kept holyday. The word here rendered multitude—ji, hamon-is different from that which is employed in the former part of the verse. This is the usual word to denote a multitude. It literally means a noise or sound, as of rain, 1 Kings xviii. 41; then, a multitude or crowd making a noise, as of nations, or of an army, Isa. xiii. 4; Judges iv. 7; Dan. xi. 11, 12, 13. The word rendered "that kept holyday"-in, hhogaig-from hhagag, to dance-means literally dancing; dancing in a circle; and then, keeping a festival, celebrating a holyday, as this was done formerly by leaping and dancing, Ex. v. 1; Lev. xxiii. 41. The meaning is, that he would join with the multitude in the joyful celebrations of public worship. This was the bright anticipation before him in exile; this cheered and sustained his heart when sinking in despair.

5. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Marg., bowed down. The Hebrew word means to bow down, to incline oneself; then, usually, to prostrate oneself as in public worship; and then, to sink down under the weight of sorrow; to be depressed and sad. The LXX. render it, 'Why art thou grieved ?"—ερiños. So the Vulgate. This is an earnest remonstrance addressed by himself to his own soul, as if there were really no occasion for this excessive depression; as if he cherished his grief improperly. There was a brighter side, and he ought to turn to that, and take a more cheerful view of the matter. He had allowed his mind to rest on the dark side, to look at the discouraging things in his condition. He now felt that this was in some measure voluntary, or had been indulged too freely, and that it was wrong: that it was proper for a man like him to seek for comfort in brighter views; that it was a duty which he owed to himself and to the cause of religion to take brighter views. We may remark, (1.) That there are two sides to the events which occur, and which seem so discouraging to us-a dark side and a bright side. (2.) That in certain states of mind, connected often with a diseased nervous system, we are prone to look only on the dark side, to see only what is gloomy and discouraging. (3.) That this often becomes in a sense voluntary, and that we find a melancholy satisfaction in being miserable, and in making ourselves more unhappy, as if we had been wronged, and as if there were a kind of virtue in dejection and gloom-in "refusing," like Rachel, "to be comforted" (Jer. xxxi. 15);-perhaps also feeling as if by this we were deserving of the Divine approbation, and laying the foundation for some claim to favour on the score of merit. (4.) That in this we are often eminently guilty, as putting away those consolations which God has provided for us; as if a man, under the influence of some morbid feeling, should find a kind of melancholy pleasure in starving himself to death in the midst of a garden full of fruit, or dying of thirst by the side of a running fountain. And (5) that it is the duty of the people of God to look at the bright side of things; to think of the past mercies of God; to survey the blessings which surround us stili; to look to the future, in this world and the next, with hope; and to come to God, and cast the burden on him. It is a part of religious duty to be cheerful; and a man may often do more real good by a cheerful and submissive mind in