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when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice.' Ezra iii. 12. For how different was the condition of the Hebrew people, from that splendid period when their kings ruled without ri val from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean!”

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PSALM CXXVII.

EXCEPT the Lord build the house,
They labor in vain that build it;
Except the Lord guard the city,
The watchman waketh but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early,
To sit up late, to eat the bread of care;
For so he giveth his beloved sleep.
3 Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord,
And the fruit of the womb is his gift.

4 As arrows are in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of youth;

5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. They shall not be put to shame

When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

Ver. 2. Professor Noyes translates the last clause of this verse, "The same giveth he his beloved in sleep," i. e. the same good things which others spend so much toil to acquire, he giveth, &c. Others read, instead of "so," when, omitting "for"; i. e. when others sleep.

Ver. 4. See Ps. cxliv. 12, and the note, pp. 166, 167.

Ver. 5. "The gate." The gate meant is that of the city, in which place the Oriental courts and markets were held. The word "Forum" literally means gate.

PSALM CXXVIII.

1 BLESSED is every one that feareth the Lord, That walketh in his ways.

2 For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands;

Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. 3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house,

Thy children like olive-plants round about thy table. 4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.

5 The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion,

And thou shalt see the prosperity of Jerusalem, all the days of thy life;

6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, And peace upon Israel.

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PSALM CXLIV.

BLESSED be the Lord, my strength, Which teacheth my hands to war, And my fingers to fight!

2 My benefactor and my fortress; My high tower, and my deliverer;

My shield, and he in whom I trust;

Who subdueth the nations under me.

3 Lord, what is man that thou takest knowledge of

him?

Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him?

4 Man is like a vapor;

His days are as a shadow that passeth away.

5 Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down ;
Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke!
6 Cast forth lightning, and scatter them;

Shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them! 7 Send thine hand from above,

Rescue and deliver me out of great waters,
From the hand of aliens,

8 Whose mouth speaketh deceit,

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And their right hand is a right hand of falsehood!

I will sing a new song unto thee, O God! Upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee;

10 Who givest salvation unto kings ;

Who didst deliver David thy servant from the hurtful sword.

11 Rescue me, and deliver me from the hand of aliens, Whose mouth speaketh deceit,

And their right hand is a right hand of falsehood! 12 That our sons may be as plants,

Ver. 7. "From the hand of aliens." The poet, having followed the train of thought of David in Psalm xviii. to this point, here substitutes "aliens " for "strong enemy." This confirins our assignment of the psalm to this period, when the particular hostility to be feared was that of the alien neighbors, whose opposition gave the returned exiles so much trouble. The allusion to David in ver. 10 was naturally suggested by the psalm (xviii.) which the poet had just been contemplating. The "hurtful sword" may be that of Goliath, or that of Ishbi-benob. 2 Sam. xxi. 16.

Ver. 12. "That our sons," &c. The transition from the preeeding verse to this seems abrupt, and there is no perceptible

Grown up in their youth;

That our daughters may be as corner-stones,
Polished like those of the temple;

13 That our garners may be full,

Affording all manner of store;

That our sheep may bring forth thousands
And ten thousands in our streets;

14 That our oxen may be strong to labor;

That there be no breaking in, nor going out;
That there be no complaining in our streets.
15 Happy is that people that is in such a case;
Yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord!

PSALMS CXXIV. AND CXXIX.

OPPOSITION OF THE SAMARITANS.

UNEXPECTED difficulties impeded the progress of the work of rebuilding. The people called Samaritans made overtures to assist in it, but their proposal was

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connection of idea, such as seems to be required by the form of expression. But the whole psalm is evidently a cento," or fabric composed of parts of other psalms; and the connection of ideas between the second verse and the third, and the fourth and the fifth, is equally obscure, to readers of this day, as that of the twelfth with the eleventh." Grown up in their youth." Compare this with Ps. cxxvii. 4 (p. 164). It may mean "born and brought up during the youth of their parents.". "Corner-stones." Noyes translates it "corner-pillars"; the Prayer-book version, "polished corners."

Ver. 14. "Breaking in," i. c. of enemies. - "Going out," i. e. into captivity. N.

peremptorily and contemptuously rejected. These people were the remnants of the ancient Israelitish nation (left by their Assyrian conqueror) and the mixed race whom the Assyrians had introduced. Their proposition of uniting with the Jews, in common worship, evinces the prevalence of Israelitish feelings and opinions among them. They preserved the Book of the Mosaic Law, which they retain to this day, for the tribe still exists, and retains its ancient dwelling-place. Their country, which, as well as their chief city, was called Samaria, is the region of Middle Palestine, which in the times of the New Testament constituted a separate province.

When these people are first named in the history (Ezra iv. 1), they are called "the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin." It is added, "They weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building." It was owing to their influence at the court of Cyrus and his successors, that the work of rebuilding was suspended for fourteen years. The following psalms may be assigned to the close of that period, when, under the reign of King Darius, the work was resumed.

PSALM CXXIV.

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If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, Now may Israel say,

2 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, When men rose up against us,

3 Then they had swallowed us up alive, When their wrath was kindled against us; 4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us;

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