down upon them. In these words Dr. Chandler apprehends he speaks of the manner, as well as abundance of the food thus given them; and renders the verse thus: n', 'Thy food,' or, 'As to thy food,' the food which thou gavest them, They dwelt in the midst of it; thou didst prepare, O God, by thy goodness, for the poor.' Thus the history informs us, that the manna covered by the dew 'lay round about the host;' and that the quails were 'let fall by the camp, about a day's journey on one side, and a day's journey on the other, round about the camp.' Exod. xvi. 13; Numb. xi. 31. This was literally dwelling in the midst of the food God had provided them.' By the ministration of the word and sacraments in the Christian church, the true manna, the bread which cometh down, with the dew of God's blessing, from heaven, is continually furnished, for the nourishment of those who 'hunger and thirst after righteousness.' It falls round about the camp,' and, as to this thy food, O God,' we, thy favoured people, have the happiness to dwell in the midst of it: thus thou hast prepared, of thy goodness, for the poor in spirit.'

11. The Lord gave the word; great was the company of those that published it.

He who supplied his people with food in the wilderness, enabled them likewise to vanquish the numerous enemies that opposed them in their passage through it, the Amalekites, the Amorites, the Midianites, the Moabites, &c. With respect to all these enemies, the Lord gave the word.' The Israelites engaged them by his order; see Numb. xxi. 34; xxv. 17; and, under his conduct and bless

ing, obtained the victory over them. When the enemies of man's salvation were vanquished by the resurrection of Christ, and the heathen nations were to own his power, again the Lord gave the word.' It was published, at first, by apostles, confessors, and martyrs, and hath been since published continually, by all the churches, who celebrate in their services the victories of their Redemer; as in old time, prophets and prophetesses, Moses, Aaron, Miriam, Deborah, and others, with the armies of Israel, sang triumphal songs, on occasion of temporal, but figurative conquests.

12. Kings with their armies did flee apace: Heb. fled away, fled away: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil.

When God, by the hand of Moses and his successor Joshua, led his people through the wilderness, into the land of promise, the kings of Canaan, with their mighty hosts, were discomfited; and the women of Israel, who'tarried at home, divided the spoil' of their vanquished enemies. After the conquest of the Midianites, as Dr. Chandler observes, God ordered the prey to be divided between them who went out on that expedition, and the rest of the congregation who continued in their tents. Numb. xxxi. 27. Thus, in the spiritual war, apostles, confessors, and martyrs went out to the battle, fought and conquered; while the benefits of the victory extended to thousands and millions, who, without being exposed to their con

1 Bishop Lowth thinks, with Dr. Hammond, that this verse was the song sung by the choir, mentioned in the verse preceding. Dr. Chandler adds the next verse to it.

flicts and torments, have enjoyed the fruit of their labours.

13. Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.

ye

By lying among the pots," or in 'dust and ashes,' is evidently denoted a state of affliction and wretchedness, like that of Israel in Egypt, which was exchanged for one of the utmost dignity and splendour, in Canaan; one as different from the former as a caldron, discoloured by smoke and soot, is from the bright and beautiful plumage of an eastern dove, glistering interchangeably, as with silver and gold. Thus the church of Christ emerged from a state of persecution and tribulation, into one of splendour and magnificence. And such is the change made in the spiritual condition of any man, when he passes from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God; he is invested with the robe of righteousness, and adorned with the graces of the Spirit of holiness.

14. When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon.

The purport of this difficult verse seems to be, that all was white as snow, i. e. all was brightness, joy, and festivity about Mount Salmon, by

1 My worthy and learned friend, Mr. Parkhurst, in his Hebrew Lexicon, gives the following account of the word 'n (derived from now, to put or set any thing in order)-rows of stones "on which the caldrons or pots were placed. Lying among these denotes the most abject slavery: for this was the place of rest allotted to the vilest slaves." So our translators render it, in the margin of Ezek. xl. 43. Dr. Chandler adopts the same interpretation of the word.

bwn when the Almighty, fighting for his people Israel, vanquished their enemies, п, in or about that part of the country.

15. The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill, as the hill of Bashan.

When the ark came in view of Mount Sion, the place of its fixed residence for the future, and probably when they began to ascend it, Dr. Chandler apprehends, this and the two following verses were sung. And if these words be read with an interrogation, he conceives they will appear suitable to the occasion, and worthy of the genuine spirit of poetry. The hill of God,' that hill which God hath chosen to inhabit, is it the hill of Bashan, the hill with its craggy eminences, the hill of Bashan ?' Bashan may boast of its proud eminence, its high summits; but is that the hill where God will fix his residence? The prophet speaks of Bashan with contempt and disdain, in comparison of Sion. And this agrees well with what immediately follows:

16. Why leap ye, or, why look ye askance with envy, ye high hills? This is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the Lord will abide in it for

ever.

The Psalmist, in commemorating God's former mercies and loving kindnesses, having been led to mention the towering hills of Salmon and Bashan, by a masterly transition, suddenly resumes his original subject, with a beautiful apostrophe to those mountains, letting them know, that however proudly they might lift up their heads above the rest, or, in the language of poetry, 'look askance with envy'

on Mount Sion, yet this was the mount which Jehovah had determined to honour with his special presence; thither he was now ascending, with the ark of his strength; and there, between the cherubims, in the place prepared for him, he would 'dwell for ever;' till the whole dispensation would be at an end, till the glory of the Lord should be revealed in human nature; till God should be manifest in the flesh, and the true tabernacle and temple should succeed the typical. After that, the privileges of Sion were transferred to the Christian church; she became, and, while the world lasts, will continue to be, the hill in which God delighteth to dwell:' she will therefore be justly entitled to the pre-eminence over all that may seem to be great and glorious in the world.

17. The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels, or, thousands repeated: the Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the holy place, or, Sinai is in the sanctuary.

In

The Psalmist, in the preceding verse, had declared Sion to be the habitation of Jehovah. this verse is described the majesty and magnificence of his appearance there, as a mighty conqueror of the enemies of his people, riding upon the cherubim, as in a triumphal chariot, with all the host of heaven, as it were, in his retinue. Thus God descended on Sinai, with the fire, the cloud, and the glory; thus he manifested himself when taking possession of the holy place' prepared for him in Sion; 2 Chron. v. 13: and in some such manner we may suppose King Messiah to have entered heaven at his ascension, when he went up in the clouds, with power and great glory, and all the attendant spirits joined his train, rejoicing to mi