LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

13 The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.

14 From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

15 He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.

16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.

17 An horse is a vain thing for safety:

neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.

18 'Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;

19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.

21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22 Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

PSALM XXXIV.

1 David praiseth God, and exhorteth others thereto by his experience. 8 They are blessed that trust in God. 11 He exhorteth to the fear of God. 15 The privileges of the righteous.

A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.

I WILL bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

1 Or, Achish. 1 Sam. 21. 11.

5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. 8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

12 What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?

13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. 16 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth..

17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

4 Job 36. 7. Psal. 33. 18. 1 Pet. 3. 12.

18 The LORD is nigh 'unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth "such as be of a contrite spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. 20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

21 Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous 'shall be desolate.

22 The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

PSALM XXXIV.— -This is another psalm of the alphabetical class. It is, like Psalm xv., one of the six in stanzas of two lines apiece, each stanza commencing with the successive letters of the alphabet. The title describes the occasion on which the psalm was composed. But it will be observed that the name of the king of Gath, who is of course here referred to, is, in the history, Achish, not Abimelech ; the latter was therefore probably a title of dignity among the sovereigns of that state, like Pharaoh' among the Egyptians, or 'Cæsar' among the Romans.

Verse 8. Taste and see that the LORD is good.'-It is a very common form of expression in the East to discriminate the characters, qualities, and tempers of particular persons, by reference to experience derived from taste. It is hence not unusual to hear one person say of another that he has tasted him, and found him good, pleasant, sweet, bad, bitter, or sour, as the case may be.

20. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.' -The Jews explain this with reference to their own peculiar ideas concerning the resurrection, The statement (as given in the Quarterly Review, vol. xxi.) is worth quoting, as illustrating the character of the Jewish traditions and notions. Some parts of it might be fine if metaphorically understood-but it is not so understood :

'The body, according to their notion, has a certain indestructible part called luz, which is the seed from whence it is to be reproduced. It is described as a bone, in shape like an almond, and having its place at the end of the vertebræ. This bone, according to the rabbis, can neither be broken by any force of man, nor consumed by fire, nor dissolved by water: and they tell us that the fact was proved before the emperor Adrian, upon whom they imprecate their usual malediction, "May his bones be broken!" In his presence, Rabbi Joshua Ben Chauma produced a luz; it was ground between two millstones, but it came out as whole as it had been put in. They burnt it in the fire, and it was found incombustible. They cast it in the water, and it could not be softened. Lastly, they hammered it on an anvil, and both the anvil and hammer were broken, without affecting the luz. The rabbinical writers, with their wonted perversion of Scripture, support this silly notion by a verse from the Psalms, He keepeth all his bones; not one of them is broken. A dew is to descend upon the earth, preparatory to the resurrection, and to quicken into life and growth these seeds of the dead. See also the same statement in Lightfoot upon John xi. 25.

PSALM XXXV.

1 David prayeth for his own safety, and his enemies' confusion. 11 He complaineth of their wrongful dealing. 22 Thereby he inciteth God against them.

A Psalm of David.

PLEAD my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.

2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.

3 Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.

4 'Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.

5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them.

1 Psal. 40. 15, and 70. 3. Heb, which he knoweth not of.

6 Let their way be dark and slippery : and let the angel of the LORD persecute them. 7 For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.

8 Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.

9 And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD it shall rejoice in his salvation.

10 All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?

11 False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not.

12 They rewarded me evil for good to the 'spoiling of my soul.

13 But as for me, when they were sick,

3 Heb. darkness and slipperiness.
6 Heb. they asked me.
7 Heb. depriving.

21 Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath

seen it.

22 This thou hast seen, O LORD: keep not silence: O LORD, be not far from me.

23 Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.

24 Judge me, O LORD my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice

over me.

16

25 Let them not say in their hearts, 10Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.

26 Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me.

27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour "my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

28 And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day

long.

11 Heb. halting. 16 Heb. Ah, ah, our soul.

12 Heb. my only one. 17 Heb. my righteousness.

PSALM XXXV.-This Psalm is generally supposed to have been composed by David, during his persecutions from Saul.

Verse 14. As one that mourneth for his mother.'-This indication is particularly impressive, as illustrated by the existing state of feeling of sons towards their mothers in the East. The relations between the father and the son in early life are not calculated to call forth the tender feelings of the latter in any very eminent degree. The father is looked up to distantly; is respected, venerated, but seldom loved. The restraint and deference which characterize his limited intercourse with his father, direct all his tender affections with double force towards his mother; whose indulgence and attachment towards him are so continually evinced, as enable her to establish an influence over him which seldom terminates but with her life. He constantly turns to her, with perfect confidence, on all occasions in which his feelings are interested; he usually commits to her the choice of his wife or wives; and when he settles in life, she commonly takes the charge of his domestic establishment, becomes the real head of his household, and remains his nearest counsellor and friend, as she had been in his childhood. This station is the highest object of woman's ambition in the East. It is as a mother, not as a wife, that she attains the most independent and honoured station to which the condition of society

allows her to aspire; and this it is, principally, which makes a woman in the East so anxious to have male children, and so comparatively indifferent about daughters; and this also induces the mother to exert herself in every possible way to fix and cultivate her son's affection, and in which she seldom fails so to succeed, that 'to bow down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother,' would at once be understood by an Oriental as expressing the utmost profundity of grief.

21. Opened their mouth wide...and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.'-This is, they had seen what they long wished to see, his humiliation. Mr. Roberts has given the following very striking parallel from the usages of the Hindoos. See that rude fellow who has triumphed over another; he distends his mouth to the utmost, then claps his hands, and bawls out, "Agā! Agā!-I have seen, I have seen!" So provoking is this exclamation, that a man, though vanquished, will often commence another attack. An officer who has lost his situation is sure to have this salutation from those he has injured. Has a man been foiled in argument, has he failed in some feat he promised to perform, has he in any way made himself ridiculous, the people open their mouths and shout aloud, saying "Agā!finished, finished! fallen, fallen!" Then they laugh and clap their hands till the poor fellow gets out of sight.''Oriental Illustrations,' p. 328.

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PSALM XXXVI.

1 The grievous estate of the wicked. 5 The excellency of God's mercy. 10 David prayeth for favour to God's children. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD.

THE transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.

2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, 'until his iniquity be found to be hateful.

3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.

4 He deviseth 'mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.

5 Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.

1 Heb. to find his iniquity to hate.
5 Heb. precious.

6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep; O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.

7 How 'excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make 8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with them drink of the river of thy pleasures.

9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

10 O 'continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.

11 Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked re

move me.

12 There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.

3 Psal. 57. 10, and 108. 4.

2 Or, vanity.

PSALM XXXVI.-Some assign this psalm to the Cap tivity; but most interpreters conclude that it was composed by David during Saul's persecutions; and many suppose

4 Heb. the mountains of God. 7 Heb. draw out at length.

it was after he had spared the infatuated king's life in the cave of En-gedi.

PSALM XXXVII.

David persuadeth to patience and confidence in God, by the different estate of the godly and the wicked. A Psalm of David.

FRET 'not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and 'verily thou shalt be fed.

4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. *Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

5

3

6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

7 'Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

1 Prov. 23. 17, and 24. 1.

4

Prov. 16. 3. Matth. 6. 25. 1 Pet. 5. 7.

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:

:

3 Heb. Roll thy way upon the LORD. 6 Matth. 5. 5. 7 Or, practiseth.

8 Psal. 2. 4.