Schin SCHIN. 161 Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word. 162 I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil. 163 I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love. 164 Seven times a day do I praise thee, because of thy righteous judgments. 165 Great peace have they which love thy law: And nothing shall offend them. 166 Lord, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments. The pilgrim is full of peace and praise. It is now specially that praise seems to abound in the traveller; that is, it is now near his journey's end that it is poured forth, so as to be heard by others. His Hosanna is changing into the Hallelujahs of the heavenly citizens, "Seven times a day have I praised thee." (Ver. 164.) 9, the The pilgrim is an Isaac, one who meditates at even-tide, and "Great peace is the portion of those that love thy law ; There is no stumbling-block to them." (Ver. 165.) "At peace (says one) with God, at peace with themselves, at peace with all men; and the whole creation at peace with them." This peace enables them to wait patiently for the final glory-in the kingdom of peace. "I have waited for (see Ruth i. 13, in the Hebrew the same word, av) thy salvation, O Lord." Ver. 166,) TAU. 169 Let my cry come near before thee, O Lord: give me understanding according to thy word. 170 Let my supplication come before thee: deliver me according to thy word. 171 My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes. 172 My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness. 173 Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts. 174 I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord; and thy law is my delight. For I do not forget thy commandments. The pilgrim pours out prayer and praise, in a strong cry, at the close of his journey. Praise is uttered in the midst. of redoubled supplication; repeated praise in the verses 171, 172. "My lips shall stream forth with thy praise; (gush forth, as Ps. xix. 1) For thou wilt teach me thy statutes.” "My tongue shall sing thy word, (responsively ); For all thy commandments are righteousness.” Anticipating the employments, the discoveries, the enjoyments of the Coming Rest and Kingdom, the Psalmist tells of the hallelujahs that shall dwell upon his lips, gushing up from an ever full and ever filling soul-a soul full of the Lord's grace in the past, and ever filling with fresh manifestations; for “Thou wilt teach me" still, and I shall see with increasing clearness that all thy commandments were holy, and just, and good. Help me, then, to the end; for (ver. 174) “I have pined for thy salvation," (N). This is (as we might expect at the close) the strongest expression of desire for Coming Glory that has yet been used. Salvation," as we noticed above, is the final deliverance, with all the grace and glory that it brings. At verse 81, we find the soul "thirsting," fainting in thirst for it; at verse 123, the earnest expectation made "the eye faint" for it; at verse 166, there was strong hope, and waiting; but this verse rises to an almost impatient longing-a "pining with desire" for the arrival of the blessed day. Again, verse 175, there is the anticipation of praise, because Tau of a happy arrival; and a burst of prayer such as might well sum up a lifetime's experience and desires. “ I have been a wanderer, ('♫♫) like a lost sheep.* I have all my life found nowhere to lay my head, and no rest to the sole of my foot. I have, like Hagar and Ishmael (ynn, Gen. xxi. 14), wandered in the wilderness where there was no water. I have, like Joseph (yh, Gen. xxxvii. 15), wandered in search of my brethren, without home or friends. I have, like Abraham, above all (, Gen. xx. 13), left my country and kindred, all my father's house, for the Lord's sake. My life has been a wandering, like sheep lost, when the shepherd is away, or when the shepherd chooses to send them away from his care (л, Jer. 1. 6), “turning them loose on the mountains, so that they go from mountain to hill, forgetting their resting-place. (But in all my wanderings and weariness, and sorrow) "I have not forgotten thy commandments.” "Seek, then, thy servant"-i. e., do the part of a shepherd who brings home his sheep to the fold! It is a request that he would do as Ezekiel (xxxiv. 16) foretells the Lord shall do on the day when he gathers his scattered ones under the shade of the Plant of Renown; for here the word is Up, and there the word is UPEN "I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away." Then shall Rev. vii. 15, 16, 17, be realised; for the Lamb in the midst shall be Shepherd ever present; himself once a wanderer in our world's wastes, and now feeding among the lilies, bringing home all his flock to where they thirst no more, nor hunger, neither does the sun light on them, nor any heat. Amen! Even so! Come, Lord Jesus! Surely this is the heart's feeling of the Singer of this Psalm, A pilgrim and stranger guided day and night by the * David Dickson says on this verse, "I have gone astray-driven out in the stormy and dark day; or by the hunting of the dogs chased out from the rest of the flock." Banished from his native country and the fellowship of the Church, as to bodily presence. Horne also notices that it may mean the misery of "wandering as an exile in foreign lands." SONGS OF DEGREES. IT Lay Ipul to a right understanding of the Psalms we now approach, and may increase our interest in them, to begin with a synoptical view of the fifteen which are clustered together, and go by the name of "Songs of Degrees." The progression of thought and subject thus becomes clear :- Psa. Psa. The Pilgrim Train and its Leader— cxx.— Weary with the strife of tongues. (Comp. Psa. lxxxi. 6.) cxxi.-Commit themselves to Jehovah alone, as they journey forth. Psa. cxxii.-Sing of the City of Habitation, to which they journey. Psa. cxxiii.-Cast an upward look amid the contempt of those they meet with. At a stage in their way which we might call Ebenezer—— Psa. cxxiv.-Give praise for deliverance hitherto. Psa. cxxv.-Express confidence of being kept faithful, through Jehovah's faithfulness, to the end. Psa. cxxvi.-Sing of the joys Jehovah has given, and will give, to his servants. Psa. cxxvii.-Cease from carefulness, and ascribe the success to Je hovah. Psa. cxxviii.--Pronounce blessing on all the fearers of God. Psa. cxxix.-Review their past sufferings in hope. Psa. answered. Psa. cxxxiii.—Admire and sing of the unity of those met in the Holy City, their habitatian. Psa. cxxxiv.-Call for unceasing praise from all Jehovah's servants. We adopt the idea of these fifteen Psalms being in some sense the songs of those who went up to Jerusalem to worship. They do not give us the inward experience of individuals only; they bear reference to Israel at large; for even when, as in the case of the 130th and 131st, the strain has a personal aspect, the closing verse sings of Israel.* In the singular, frequently designates the going up to a higher spot, e. g., the ascent of Bethhoron, the ascent of Luhith, and in Ezra vii. 9, the going up from Babylon. In the plural it is used for the steps of Solomon's throne, and in Ezekiel (xl. 26, 31, 34), for the steps of the temple-gates. The use of by for the degrees or steps of a dial, has been fully illustrated by recent discoveries in Assyria, which prove that the sun-dial was a series of steps, or terraces, on which a pole cast its shadow. It would appear, therefore, that the name Song of the Steps" is a poetical one, designating Psalms which specially suited the circumstances of those who go up to the Temple. Hengstenberg remarks that they are grouped round the 127th, which is Solomon's; and we may add that that central "Song of Degrees," or steps, has special reference to "The House," or Temple. The theme. PSALM CXX. A Song of degrees. 1 In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me. 2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. 3 What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? 4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper. 5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar! 6 My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. 7 I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war. WE could have imagined Hannah, the mother of Samuel, taking up this song in her lips when going up to the Feast at *This feature of these fifteen Psalms is itself sufficient to set aside the idea of a writer in the Jewish Chronicle, that they were specially for domestic use, and get their name from the steps, or ascent to the house-top, where devout Jews were wont to worship. Some have conjectured that the title "Degrees" may refer to the musical instruments used in chaunting them. The common idea that the name refers to the steps of the Temple, is that expressed in Parker's old translation-"These fifteen Psalms next following be songs benaad of steps and stairs, for that the choir on them did sing." |