Psalm lxxxiii. contains the cry of the Church against the opposition of the World. This is set before us in connection with a confederacy of the tribes mentioned in verses 6-8 against Israel: "The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; Of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, Amalek, The Philistines, with the inhabitants of Tyre; They have holpen the children of Lot." All the tribes appear to have lain on the borders of the land of Israel, taking that territory in its widest limits. "Ishmaelites," strictly descendants of Abraham's son. "Hagarenes" and "Hagarites" are generally regarded as descendants of Hagar. But the marked way in which they are distinguished from the offspring of Ishmael, makes it much more likely that they were a tribe of the Beni Kedem, already noticed, who took their name from the place in which they dwelt. "Gebal is named by Ezekiel (xxvii. 9) in such a way as to warrant the conclusion, that it was a Phoenician city. Its inhabitants are believed to have been the "Giblites" (Josh. xiii. 5), and the city itself to have been the "Byblus" of the ancients, a frontier city of Phoenicia. "Moab and Ammon" were the "children of Lot," to whose assistance the other tribes had come. Their territory lay along the east of the Dead Sea and of the lower parts of the Jordan. They were noted for their cruelty, their marauding habits, and constant hatred of Israel. Psalm lxxxiv.-When David was driven from Jerusalem by his rebellious son Absalom, he had the memory of the precious seasons he had enjoyed in the "courts of the Lord" brought very freshly before him. This is the burden of this psalm : แ "Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God" (ver. 2, 3). Sparrow," Heb. tzippōr, Gr. struthion. The word is rendered sparrow only twice in the Old Testament-here and in Psalm cii.; fowl is given as its translation six times, and bird above thirty times. The name appears to have been used in a very general way for any little bird with which the people were very familiar, Three species of sparrow are abundant in Palestine. The species which frequents towns and villages is the Cisalpine sparrow (Passer cisalpinus), and is most likely the bird referred to here. The swallow of Palestine is the Hirundo rufula-Temm. The figures of two well known species are Fig. 121. given on Plate XXXIII., figs. 1, 2. A closely related bird, the swift (Cypselus), is represented by at least two species (C. apus; C. melba) in Palestine. The generic name of the swallow (Hirundo) is often given to this form, but, generically, a broad difference obtains between them. for example, is wholly unlike that of the swallow. The hind toe (hallux) is turned forwards, as shown in the cut; whereas the swallow shows only three toes in front. The foot, Foot of the Swift (Cypselus apus). The thought which filled the mind of the Psalmist, as memory recalled the scenes from which he had been driven, is one of great beauty and touching tenderness. Many since his day have been able to sympathize with him very fully. Samuel Rutherford when in banishment from a beloved people wrote to Lady Kenmure-" I am for the present thinking the sparrows and swallows that build their nests in Anwoth blessed birds." Psalm xci. The blessedness of an abiding interest in God as a covenant God is celebrated here. One fruit of which is stated in ver. 4: "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler." See Plate XL., fig. 3. แ Psalm xciv.-As a Song for the Sabbath-day," this psalm makes known to us the topics which filled the mind of the worshipper in olden times, when the "day of rest" returned, after the toil and weariness of worldly occupations. The whole day to him lay between the soul's acknowledgment of the loving-kindness of God, when the sweet light of morning broke in upon the world, and the soul's expression of thankfulness for God's faithful care and keeping, when the shades of night fell upon the earth :- "It is good To show forth thy loving-kindness in the morning, The Psalmist's heart was not originally glad. It had no natural cause of rejoicing, but in grace God had led it into joy. It is good, he says, to praise thee: "For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work." Creation and Providence are spread out before him. The works of Jehovah are wonderful, but more wonderful still are his ways. His mind is revealed in his works; his heart is shown in his ways. In both, however, he so acts as to keep the Sabbath-worshipper feeling, that he knows very little of either "O Lord, how great are thy works! And thy thoughts are very deep" (ver. 5). He knows something of these, which is good. But better than this is to trust in the Worker, even when the end of his doings is not seen, and to have confidence in his thoughts, when they seem only severe. Many know not this. The ignorant know it not. It is hid from "the brutish man and the fool." These are the wicked on whose end he now meditates: "When the wicked spring as the grass, And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish: From these he turns away to his own case. His trust was in God, and he had the strong confidence of a child that his heavenly Father would abundantly bless him : "But my horn shalt thou exalt like an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil" (ver. 10). As with himself so shall it be with all who love the Lord. His affections are quickened as he meditates, and from himself as blessed of God, he turns to those who like him are righteous: the "The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree; He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that he planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall bring forth fruit in old age; They shall be fat and flourishing" (ver. 12-14). We see here the full force of the contrast. The wicked spring as grass; the righteous flourish like the palm, and grow like the cedar. "Grass" (ver. 7), Hebrew esher, is a general term answering to herbaceous plants-see under Jeremiah xii. 14. "Unicorn" (ver. 10), Hebrew reem-see under Numbers xxiii. 26. "Oil" (ver. 10), Hebrew shemen-see under 2 Kings xviii. 36. "Palm-tree" (ver. 12), Hebrew tāmār. The species of palm referred to here is the date-palm (Phoenix dactylifera). It is fully noticed under Exodus xv. 27-which see. It is named here as an emblem of the life of the righteous-"They shall flourish as the palmtree." The wicked are likened to the grass, or herbaceous plants, แ which never rise high above the ground, which are weak, proverbially short-lived and fading, and which are generally cut down even before their full maturity. The palm-tree, on the contrary, shoots up towards the sky a stately tree. In favoured situations it grows for years in beauty and in strength. Wherever it is found, the people guard it carefully as one of the plants of which they are ever ready to say, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it." With the Jew the palm-tree and the cedar were reckoned emblems of immortality. The righteous are represented here as "planted in the house of the Lord, and as flourishing in the courts of our God." They are the Lord's peculiar people and special care. They dwell with him—have a place in his house among his chosen on the earth, and will for eternity dwell amidst such beauty as eye hath not seen. The connection between their lot and the emblems used here is to be found in the figures of the palm-trees in the temple-adornings, and in the use of the cedar in its building. The palm-tree likewise often graced the courts devoted to religious worship. "The royal poet has derived more than one figure from the customs of men, and the habits of this noble tree, with which to adorn his sacred ode. The palm grows slowly but steadily, from century to century, uninfluenced by those alternations of the seasons which affect other trees. It does not rejoice overmuch in winter's copious rain, nor does it droop under the drought and the burning sun of summer. Neither heavy weights which men place upon its head, nor the importunate urgency of the wind, can sway it aside from perfect uprightness. There it stands, looking calmly down upon the world below, and patiently yielding its large clusters of golden fruit from generation to generation. They bring forth fruit in old age. The allusion to being planted in the house of the Lord is probably drawn from the custom of planting beautiful and long-lived trees in the courts of temples and palaces, and in all "high places" used for worship. This is still common; nearly every palace, and mosque, and convent in the country has such trees in the courts, and, being well protected there, they flourish exceedingly. Solomon covered all the walls of the "Holy of Holies" round about with palm-trees. They were thus planted, as it were, within the very house of the Lord; and their presence there was not only ornamental, but appropriate and highly suggestive; the very best emblem, not only of patience in well-doing, but of the rewards of the righteous-a fat and flourishing old age-a peaceful end-a glorious immortality." "The righteous shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon." The emblem is highly suggestive. The grass springs up in a summer morning. Its duration is short. The burning rays of the sun wither it, the beasts of the field lick it up, or the scythe of the husbandman mows it level with the ground. Such is the lot of the wicked. But the growth of the cedar is slow. Silently it shoots upwards, and casts its widespreading branches with their clustered evergreen leaflets over the soil. When centuries have passed away, it stands in the vigour and freshness of youth. Its roots spread widely out around, and even in positions seemingly least favoured it finds nourishment. The sunshine of centuries falls on it. The stars look down on it, and the rain and the dew water it, while generation after generation of men are gathered to their fathers. Even as a seedling it gives promise of its after characteristics. The embryo stalk shoots quickly into the sunlight, and a cluster of needle-shaped, light green leaflets give at once their shadow to tiny plant or blade below. Thus the righteous grow. Upward and onward ever are their paths. Rooted and grounded in love, they are not excited and agitated by the things which destroy the peace of others. They truly live; their life is hid with Christ in God; and spiritual life, like natural life, is calm and noiseless in its manifestations. These become seen of all, but only in the way in which the growth of the palm-tree and the wide-spreading branches of the cedar are. "By their fruits ye shall know them." The cedar yields to man the pleasure of beholding its strength, and its steady, stately growth. It ministers to his comfort, and guides his thoughts upward as one of the trees of God." The psalm teaches the great lesson of unselfishness. It bears fruit for others : "Freely thou givest, and Thy word Is, 'Freely give.' He only, who forgets to hoard, Psalm cii.-The whole scope of this psalm verifies the title "A prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord." Crying as from the depths of intense suffering and spiritual darkness, he prays-" Hide not thy face from me, incline thine ear unto me, answer me speedily." His days passed away like the smoke rising from the fire, his "bones were burned as an hearth, his heart was smitten, and withered like the grass," when it has yielded to the scythe of the mower, and been exposed to the heat of the His agony was such that the juices of nature were dried up—his sun. |