the time. PSALM LXXXIII. A Song or Psalm of Asaph. 1 KEEP not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. 2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. 4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. 5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: 6 The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab and the Ha garenes; 7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8 Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah. 9 Do unto them as to the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison, 10 Which perished at En-dor: they became as dung for the earth. 11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: Yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna: 12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession. 13 O my God, make them like a wheel! as the stubble before the wind! 14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; 15 So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. 16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O Lord. 17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: 18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, The title and A song and psalm by Asaph; lively, yet solemn; for there is in it both victory and vengeance. The appeal of last Psalm to the Judge, by Asaph in the name of Messiah and his people, is of the same spirit with this more lengthened and full prayer by the same Asaph. The times are the same. Whatever were the circumstances of the Psalmist that furnished an appropriate season in the view of the Spirit of God for giving it to the Church-whether such as those of Jehoshaphat's reign (2 Chron. xx. 14) or not-it seems probable that He who knew men's hearts saw more than once this same hatred to Israel taking the form of a combined conspiracy of all the nations round. Even thus has it been more than once in regard to Britain, the retreat of God's hidden ones; and even thus, were the vail lifted up, might it be found to be true at this hour of the foes of Protestant truth. And yet more shall the Latter Day bring to view a combination of kings and people against the Lamb and his faithful few-a combination which shall meet with extinction on the plains of Megiddo, most fully realising the prayer and anticipations of this l'salm, verses 9, 10, 11. What a song for days when Antichrist shall be wondered at by all the earth! It is pervaded by a tone of astonishment at the Lord's long-suffering. From verses 1 to 8, where "Selah" introduces the pause, the The plan. prayer ascends, spreading before the Lord like (Acts iv. 29) the threatening aspect of his foes, who direct their malice against "his hidden ones” (ver. 3)—that is, his people, not unknown or obscure, but hid as his treasure. (See Psa. xxvii. 5.) They who were all jealous of each other, like Pilate and Herod, are friends now They consult from the heart with one accord" (ver. 5). A circle seems drawn round Israel's land; the hunters have covenant. But faith sees this armada scattered, as surely as was that of Spain on our shores. "Treat them as Midian ! As Sisera! as Jabin! At the torrent of Kishon! At Endor they have perished! They have become dung for the soil! (Ver. 9, 10.) All this, at the very time when they are saying, "We will take possession of these habitations of God" (ver. 15), the cities of Israel, protected by their God.* The Lord answers their prayers-" Make them like a wheel" that threshes the corn and beats the straw to pieces (Phillips), or like the thistledown in the whirl of the storm. The end is like the issue of judgment so often declared by Ezekiel, e. g. xxx. 26, xxxv. 15, xxxviii. 23, xxxix. 28. And again “Men seek thy name, O Jehovah ! (Ver. 16.) “And they know that Thou—thy name alone is Jehovah ! Most high over all the earth!" The Armageddon of the Last Days, ended by the Lord's appearing, when his feet stand on the Mount of Olives, and he recapitulates (so to speak) all the victories of ancient days in that one, shall result in the fame of the Lord being spread over earth, and his one name acknowledged. What a glorious answer to The prayer of the Hidden Ones against the crafty counsel of Messiah's foes. PSALM LXXXIV. To the chief Musician. Upon Gittith. A Psalm for the sons of Korah. 1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! 2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. 3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, 4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house! they will be still praising thee? Selah. 5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. * Stanley (Palestine and Sinai, p. 336), "pastures of God," or pasture-grounds. 6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. 7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth 8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: Give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the 11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold, from them that walk uprightly. 12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. THOLUCK has suggested that this Psalm may have been sung at Mahanaim, during David's flight. But, at any rate, it is for all times. We are now with the Lord's "hidden ones" in The title. their quiet land, where they wait on their God. We see here their joys, their earthly heaven. They may see at a distance "the tents of the wicked," as Balaam from his rocks saw Israel's; but they feel no envy, they desire nothing of the luxuries there, they seek not the fame of being one of these "men of renown." Like the first Psalm "on Gittith" that we met with (Psa. viii.), this "Psalm of, or for, the sons of Korah,"* celebrates the excellencies of the Lord's name, for it presents us with the pleasant sight of a company of worshippers going up to the house of the Lord. That pilgrimage of Israel, to the place where the Lord had put his name, was significant of more than met the eye. It told of other pilgrims who should in after ages travel through The speakers. the world with their heart toward the Lord, and their hope fixed on seeing him revealed at the end of their pilgrimage in another manner than they knew him by the way. It included, too, the journey of him who, as Chief of Pilgrims, was to take the same road, share the same hardships, feel the same longings, hope for the same resting-place, and enter on the same full enjoyment of the Father's grace and glory. It is, then, the Just One and his members on their way to Zion, "the city of the living God," that forms the essence of the Psalm. * The sons of Korah kept the gates of the tabernacle, 1 Chron. ix. 19. Hence verse 10 is peculiarly natural in their lips. The plan. We have their setting forth, verse 1, 2. How beloved (♫17*7?) are thy tabernacles," they say to the "Lord of Hosts,” in deeper feeling than Num. xxiv. 5, for they love the place because they love the person. They speak to one another in verse 2, "Longing, yea, even fainting has my soul felt for the courts of the Lord." My heart and my flesh sing for joy Toward God, the Living One!" We next find objects on the way attracting a moment's attention, and furnishing help to their thoughts, verse 3. "Truly the sparrow reaches her home, And the swallow her nest, Where she has placed her young!" And who is this sparrow? Is it not as Psalm xi. 2, a name for the feeble homeless one? Who is this swallow, a wanderer to another clime, though here for a time? It is the pilgrim himself (Hengst.). The pilgrim identifies himself with these birds of the air, and perhaps thinks of his family while he sings of the nest “Thy altars, O Lord of Hosts (see Num. iv. 31, altar of sacrifice and altar of incense.) My King and my God!" The pilgrim-sparrow has found thine altars, O Lord of Hosts! The stranger-swallow has found thine altars! They could not be a home for the birds, but they are so to him. There is the home and the nest! That atoning altar of sacrifice speaks peace! That golden altar of incense holds out acceptance through the infinite merits of the sacrifice offered; here is my home, my nest;† for here is God, my God and my king, who will care for me, defend me, be all in all to me. The pilgrim (verse 4, which is followed by the "Selah”-pause), seems to rest by the way-he is under some fig-tree, at some * This is a common use of D, Job xviii. 5. "Yea (D), the light of the wicked shall be put out." So Ps. xxv. 3, and elsewhere. + Our English version misleads the reader. The Hebrew does not mean to imply that birds built their nests at the altars: the thing was a moral impossibility. The French is good-" Et moi quand verrai-je tes autels ?" |