yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us;

the land of Canaan. It was only to their children that this, the culminating and most glorious blessing, was to be vouchsafed.

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17. "Beauty," i. e. that of the glory of the Divine Presence, λaμπрóτηs Kupiov, as LXX. It is possible, however, we believe, to render gracious favour" or "propitiousness,” the H. nôam, like the Greek xápis, meaning grace exhibited in "favour," as well as grace inherent in “beauty.” The former meaning is appropriate in Zech. xi. 7. It is also a possible rendering in Ps. xxvii. 4.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM XCI.

GOD'S PROTECTING PROVIDENCE.

TITLE. LXX. Αΐνος ᾠδῆς τῷ Δαυίδ.

THE structure of this Psalm presents great difficulty to the commentator. For though abrupt change of person is, we may say, a characteristic of Hebrew poetry, yet in no Psalm is this peculiarity so frequent or so embarrassing as in the one before us. Most commentators have held that the verses from I-13 inclusive are to be apportioned to two different voices or choirs, and the concluding verses, in which God himself speaks and approves the Psalmist's faith and confidence, to a third, or to the former two in chorus. Certainly such a theory is by no means untenable: it may be a true account of the liturgical use of the Psalm. But, whatever may have been its subsequent use, it seems to us that the Poet in composing the Psalm expressed his own feelings, partly as uttered by himself, and partly as proceeding from the lips of another. As he meditates on the dangers which beset his earthly pilgrimage, and on the unfailing protection of the Most High, his thoughts frame themselves into words, and as his confidence gathers strength, his words seem no longer the whisperings of his own heart, but rather the voice of the Almighty Himself assuring him that "because he has set his love upon Him, He will deliver him, and...shew him His salvation."

We have no clue as to the authorship of this Psalm. any apparent reason, inscribes it, alvos wons To Aavid.

The LXX., without
The Targ. makes it

a dialogue between David and Solomon his son, while the Midrash says

that Moses composed not only the preceding "Prayer of Moses," but also the ten Pss. which follow it, up to ci., which is inscribed "to David ;" and that these II Pss. correspond to the 11 tribes which Moses blessed, Deut. xxxiii. Without necessarily giving credence to this tradition, we may admit that the language of this Psalm, as far as it is concerned, rather favours than contradicts the assertion. Many coincidences of diction between the Psalm and Deut. xxxii. and xxxiii. will be noticed in the commentary.

E that dwelleth in the secret

Hplace of the most High shall

I, 2.

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abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

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In order to avoid the apparent tautology of this verse, and to connect it intelligibly with what follows, some critics explain "shall abide" as emphatic = shall continually abide," a rendg. which, unless it be itself tautological, only increases the difficulty by implying that he who dwelleth so at the present must needs ever thus abide. Neither is the interpretation, "I who dwell......who am one who abides.......................say unto Jehovah," satisfactory, since it would require the word "dwell" to be either a partic. or else in the first person, and even then such a prolonged carrying on of the sense would be highly unpoetical in Heb. For the lastnamed reason, and also because ômar, "I will say," in every other passage in which it occurs is undoubtedly the first person, we must also reject the rendg. one dwelling......who abides .says unto Jehovah,” (LXX. épeî, followed by Syr. and Vulg. Jer. has dicens). All such conjectures as those of Hupf., supplying “Happy is” before the 1st verse, are both arbitrary and insipid. Lastly, we cannot paraphrase the verse thus, "He that remains in secret communion with God is sensible of His continual protection;" for we do not find the word sêther, "secret place," used anywhere in the sense of "secret communion;" it is employed equally with tsêl, “shadow" of protection, which is objective, not of reliance or communion, which is subjective; cf. Is. xxxii. 2, "And a man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and as a secret place (i.e. shelter) from the rain-torrent,......as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." We are of opinion that the word yôshêb, "he who dwelleth," denotes here a conscious and continuous habit of reliance upon God, and we prefer to render "he who [with determination, perseverance, and confidence] takes his seat under the shelter of The Most High, shall dwell under the shadow of the Almighty." The first hemist. is almost equiv. to sâm elyôn m'ônô, “he who makes the

2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt

thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

Most High his dwelling-place,” cf. v. 9. And the meaning of the whole verse is, as Kay beautifully expresses it, "Loving faith on man's part shall be met by faithful love on God's part.”

2. The Poet, having declared wherein a man's safety consists, asserts his determination to lay hold of this security. "I will say of Jehovah, my refuge, my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust." According to the accents the verse might be rend. equally intelligibly, but somewhat less forcibly, "I will say, to Jehovah [belongs] my refuge, &c. ;" cf. lxxxix. 18.

3-8. The Psalmist now turns, as it were, and addresses to himself words of comfort and confidence, as in cxxi. 2, 3, “My help is from Jehovah......may He not allow thy foot to be moved, may thy Guardian not slumber, &c." "The snare of the fowler" is a fig. for the evils, which fall upon men unawares, preeminently death. Cf. Eccles. ix. 12, “For man knoweth not his time...as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth upon them suddenly." แ "From the noisome pestilence,” i.e. from destroying pestilence. LXX. ảñò λóуov тapaɣádovs, mistaking deber, pestilence, for dâbâr, word, matter, and so in v. 6, алò лрάуμatos διαπορευομένου ἐν σκότει.

4. a. Cf. Deut. xxxii. 11: “As an eagle......spreadeth his wings, taketh it [his brood], beareth it on his feathers," or pinions, H. 1128. "Shalt thou trust," lit. "thou shalt take refuge," the same root as in v. 2, “my refuge," and in Deut. xxxii. 37, "where are their gods, in whom they took refuge?" b. “Buckler,” H. D sôchêrah, åñaέ dey., according to its root means something which surrounds, and so perhaps panoply. Or it may be equiv. to Syr. sacrô, a shield." In this hemist., cf. Deut. xxxiii. 29, “Jehovah is the shield of thy help," where however the word used is mâgên; cf. iii. 3 [4]. LXX. rends. this hemist. oλ kukλwσei σe ý ådýßeia avтoû, prob. reading s'châr'câ.

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5. “Arrow,” used figuratively of the evil plots and slanders of the wicked, as in lvii. 4, lviii. 7, Ixiv. 3.

6. b. "Destruction," H. 2p keteb, a subst. which recurs only

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh

thee.

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because thou hast made the LORD,

which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

II For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

in Deut. xxxii. 24, Is. xxviii. 2, and in a slightly different form in Hos. xiii. 14. "That wasteth," H. yashood, confounded by Targ., LXX., Syr., Aq. and Symm., with shed "a demon ;" LXX. daμoviov μeonμßpivov, cf. Theocr. Id. I. 15.

Cf.

7. "Shall fall,” better "[Though] a thousand may fall.................” Prov. xxiv. 16, "[Though] a righteous man may fall seven times......." A thousand......and ten thousand;" cf. again a similar express. in Deut. xxxii. 30, "How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight."

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"To

8. "Only," i. e. thou shalt only see the recompense of the wicked, thou shalt not be included in their fate. "Reward," or rather "requital," H. shillumâh, a äñağ λey.; cf. however Deut. xxxii. 35, me belong vengeance and requital (shillêm)................I.....will requite (a'shallêm) them that hate me.”

9, 10. Rend. "For Thou, Jehovah, art my refuge! The Most High hast thou made thy dwelling-place, there shall no evil befall thee, &c." The word for carries us back to the word "only" in v. 8, thou shalt only see, and not be involved in the recompense of the wicked-and why? Overcome by the sense of God's nearness and protection, he no longer addresses himself, but turning to the God in whom he trusts, he exclaims with fervour, "For Thou, Jehovah, art my refuge!" and then continues in his former strain. A similar abrupt transition takes place in lxxxi. 16, where see note. Thy dwellingplace, H. máôn;. cf. xc. 1, and Deut. xxxiii. 27, "The Eternal God is thy dwelling-place" (m'ônâh).

II, 12. It was with these two verses (omitting the latter hemist. of v. 11) that Satan attempted to beguile the Redeemer. There is probably no such significance in the omission as commentators have imagined; see Talm. B. Berachoth, 11 a, on b'lect'câ.

It is interesting to remark that it was a common belief, even among the heathen, that human beings have each their guardian genius; cf. Menand. Frag. 21, ἅπαντι δαίμων ἀνδρὶ συμπαρίσταται

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against

a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will

set him on high, because he hath known my name.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

εὐθὺς γενομένῳ, μυσταγωγὸς τοῦ βιοῦ ἀγαθός. For parall. passages v.

Neale in loc.

13. The lion denotes the power, adder and dragon the insidiousness, of all the enemies, both natural and spiritual, of mankind. "Dragon," H. tannîn, generally a sea-monster; here (as in Deut. xxxii. 33, parallel with pether, “an adder") it stands for one of the serpent tribe. The confident trust of the Poet, expressed in this and the 10th verse, finds an exact fulfilment in our Lord's promise to the seventy, S. Luke x. 19, “Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

14. Oftentimes in the book of Pss. is the voice of the Almighty suddenly introduced as confirming and sealing the words of the Psalmist thus in l. 14, 15, "pay unto the Lord thy vows," says the Psalmist, in tones of solemn exhortation, "and call upon me in the time of trouble, and I will deliver thee," is the reassuring response of the Almighty. So here, lost in his reverie, and giving himself wholly up to the sweet consciousness of God's presence and continual protection, the minstrel hears, as it were, a voice behind him saying (not to him but of him), "Because he hath loved me, therefore will I deliver him......and shew him my salvation."

15. Cf. Is. lxiii. 9, "In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His Presence saved them." And 1 Sam. ii. 30, "them that honour me I will honour."

16. Cf. Deut. xxxii. 46, 47, "observe to do all the words of this law......it is your life, and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it ;" and Ps. 1. 23, "To him, that taketh heed to his way, will I shew the salvation of God."