11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; 12 For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; And shall save the lives of the poor. 14 He shall redeem them from deceit and violence; And precious shall their blood be in his sight. 15 He shall prosper, and to him shall be given of the Prayer also shall be made for him continually, 16 There shall be abundance of corn in the land Upon the top of the mountains; The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon, And they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. isles," agreeably to Hebrew usage, include all distant sea-coasts, but particularly those of the Mediterranean. Ver. 16. "On the tops of the mountains." The following passage from Dr. Richardson's travels, quoted in the Modern Traveller, Vol. I. p. 57, will throw light on this expression: "The mountains are not susceptible of cultivation, except on the very summit, where we saw the plough going in several places.” He adds, "The rock crops out in many places, but never in precipitous cliffs. The strata are horizontal." These facts seem to explain a text which has puzzled the commentators. The word translated а handful" in the common version means, not a small quantity, but abundance, as in Gen. xli. 47: "In the seven plenteous years, the earth brought forth by handfuls"; and "the top of the mountains" is not mentioned as the most unlikely place for corn to grow in, but the reverse. See Ps. cxlvii. 8. 17 His name shall endure for ever; 18 His name shall be continued as long as the sun; All nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who only doth wondrous things. 19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever; And let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen. 20 The psalms of David, the son of Jesse, are ended. PSALMS OF DAVID'S SUCCESSORS. PSALM XLV. SOLOMON'S MARRIAGE. THE prevalent opinion is that this psalm was composed on the marriage of Solomon with a daughter of the king of Egypt, as recorded in 1 Kings iii. 1. The ode begins with a sort of procemium, having some resemblance to a poet's address to his Muse. The king is then praised for his personal beauty and graceful speech, ver. 2; for his military qualifications, ver. 3-5, and the stability and rectitude of his government, ver. 6,7; for the splendor of his dress and the magnificence of his establishment, especially for the beauty and high birth of the members of his harem, among whom the queen is preeminent, ver. 8, 9. Then follows an appropriate apostrophe to the queen, ver. 10-12; and a description of her splendid dress and retinue, ver. 13-15, and of her future happiness, as the mother of a long line of kings and princes, ver. 16. Finally, the poet expresses his conviction that he, by his poem, shall preserve her name and fame to all coming generations. N. PSALM XLV. 1 My heart is full of a pleasant theme; I will address my song to the king; My tongue is as the pen of a ready writer. 2 Thou art the fairest of the children of men ; Grace is poured upon thy lips; For God hath blessed thee for ever. 3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most Mighty! Thy glory and thy ornament. 4 And in thy glorious array ride forth victoriously, In the cause of truth and meekness, and righteous ness; And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. 5 Thine arrows are sharp; They shall pierce the heart of the king's enemies ; Nations shall fall before thee. 6 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; Ver. 6. 'Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." The Hebrew, literally rendered, is, Thy throne God ever and ever." The sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of equity. 7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness; Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee With the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 8 All thy garments are myrrh, aloes, and cassia; Out of the ivory palaces stringed instruments delight thee. 9 Kings' daughters are among thy honorable women; Upon thy right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir. 10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; Forget thine own people and thy father's house. 11 So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty; For he is thy lord, and honor thou him. 12 So shall the daughter of Tyre seek thy favor with a gift, Even the rich among the people. The copula is, being omitted, may be as properly supplied before the word God as after it. It would then read, "Thy throne is God." The verse cannot relate to the Supreme Being, as is evident from the connection, in verse seventh. Some interpreters suppose it may refer to Christ; but whatever it may do in a secondary sense, there must have been a primary sense, in which it formed part of a poem relating to events then passing or recent. The primary sense, then, of this verse, as of all the rest, we think, relates to Solomon; and we may either understand the word God as applied to him, as we know that word was applied by the Hebrews to distinguished men, or we may read it, "Thy throne is of God," meaning that it is sustained by God, and is the throne of God's chosen people, whose prince is God's vicegerent upon earth. See 1 Chron. xxix. 23, "Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord." 13 The king's daughter is all glorious in her apartment; Her clothing is embroidered with gold. 14 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needle-work; The virgins, her companions that follow her, shall be brought unto thee. 15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought; They shall enter the king's palace. 16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, 17 Whom thou mayest make princes through all the land. I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations; So shall the people praise thee for ever and ever. PSALM CXXXII. SOLOMON'S PRAYER AT THE DEDICATION OF THE IN 2 Chron. v. and vi. we have an account of the dedication of the temple, and of the prayer of Solomon on that occasion; at the conclusion of which we read the words here given in the eighth, ninth, and tenth verses. |