The floods lift up their waves.

4 The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many

waters,

Yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.

5 Thy promises are most sure;

Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever.

PSALM XCV.

1 O, COME, let us sing unto the Lord!

Let us raise a voice of joy to the rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, And make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 3 For the Lord is a great God,

And a great king above all gods.

4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth; The strength of the hills is his also.

5 The sea is his, and he made it,

And his hands formed the dry land. 6 O, come, let us worship and bow down!

Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker.

7 For he is our God,

And we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

O that

ye

would now hear his voice!

Ps. xciii. ver. 5. "Holiness becometh thine house," &c. The sentiment may be, "thou art worthy of reverence"; or "holiness may mean sacredness, immunity from profanation or intru

sion of enemies.

8" Harden not your hearts, as at Meribah,

And as in the day of temptation in the wilderness, 9 When your fathers tempted me,

And tried me, although they had seen my works. 10 Forty years long was I grieved with that generation, And said, It is a people that do err in their heart; And they regard not my ways.

11 Therefore I sware, in my wrath,

That they should not enter into my rest.”

PSALM LXXIII.

A MEDITATION ON THE WAYS OF PROVIDENCE.

THIS psalm sets forth the perplexities of a pious mind, in view of the manner in which happiness and misery are distributed in this world. Notwithstanding all the difficulties which the subject presents to the poet's mind, he begins with confidence in God, and ends with it. Spiritual good, fellowship with God, a sense of his favor and confidence in his guidance and blessing, are to him more than a compensation for all the outward prosperity of the wicked, which is of short duration and ends in destruction. Noyes.

Ps. xcv. ver. 8.

speaking.

The Supreme Being is now introduced as "Meribah." Exod. xvii. 7. N.

Ver. 9. "My works"; i. e. wonders in Egypt and in the desert.

15

1

PSALM LXXIII.

TRULY God is good to Israel,

Even to such as are pure in heart.

2 But as for me, my feet almost gave way; My steps had wellnigh slipped.

3 For I was envious of the proud,

4

When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For they have no pains to the day of their death; But their strength is firm.

5 They are not in trouble as other men,

Neither are they smitten like other men.

6 Therefore pride encircleth their neck as a collar;
Violence covereth them as a garment.
7 Their eyes stand out with fatness;

They have more than heart could wish.

8 They mock, and speak of malicious oppression; They speak loftily.

9 They set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue goeth through the earth.

Ver. 1. "Israel." This term seems to be used here for the true Israel, the "pure in heart," mentioned in the parallel line. N.

Ver. 2. "Gave way"; i. e. I began to doubt respecting the goodness and justice of God. N.

Ver. 6. "As a collar," or neck ornament. A lifted-up or stiff neck was with the Hebrews a sign of pride. Hence pride is said to encompass their necks. N.

Ver. 7. "Their eyes," &c. Herder translates it, "Their eyes look out from amidst fatness."

Ver. 9. 66

'Against the heavens." A strong, hyperbolical ex

10 Therefore his people walk in their ways,
And therein drink from full fountains.
11 And they say, How doth God know?

And is there knowledge in the Most High? 12 Behold, these are the ungodly;

They prosper in the world, they increase in riches. 13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain,

And washed my hands in innocency. 14 For every day have I been smitten, And chastened every morning.

15 If I say, I will speak like them,

16

Behold, I should be treacherous to the generation of

thy children.

When I tried to understand this,

It was too hard for me,

17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;

Then understood I their end.

18 Surely thou dost set them in slippery places; Thou castest them down into destruction.

pression to denote proud speaking. A similar one is found in the parallel line. N.

Ver. 10. "His people"; i. e. the people of God."Drink from full fountains"; i. e. become corrupted by the evil ways of the prosperous wicked. N.

Ver. 15. 66 Speak like them." This refers to ver. 11. -"The generation of thy children"; i. e. the true Israel, the devoted worshippers of God, ver. 1. N. He would be treacherous to

the virtuous, inasmuch as he would seem to admit that God did not know or regard the conduct of men.

Ver. 17. "The sanctuary of God"; i. e. the temple, where he sought the will and purposes of God, and learned them. N. See

ver. 24.

19 How are they brought into desolation in a moment! They perish and come to a fearful end.

20 As a dream when one awaketh,

21

So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou wilt make their vain show a derision.

When my heart was vexed, And I was pierced in my reins, 22 Then was I foolish and ignorant ; I was as a beast before thee. 23 Yet I am continually with thee;

Thou dost hold me by my right hand. 24 Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel, And afterward receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but thee?

And there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison with thee.

26 My flesh and my heart fail;

But God is the strength of my heart, and my portion

for ever.

27 For lo! they that are far from thee shall perish ; Thou destroyest all them that estrange themselves from thee.

28 But it is good for me to draw near to God;

I put my trust in the Lord God,

That I may declare all thy works.

Ver. 21. "Pierced in my reins "; i. e. pained and vexed, as in the parallel line, with the prosperity of the wicked. N.