any part of the Hebrew scriptures. This psalm, in Dr. Good's opinion, was consecrated to the service of the passover, and refers to a divine ransom, and the utter impossibility of man's finding or making an atonement for himself, or for any one else. The psalmist invites universal attention to this important truth

"And hence proceeds to shew the folly and brutishness of toiling for the body and accumulating wealth and estates, while the care of the soul, the one thing needful,' is neglected and forgotten. And it concludes with the striking observation, that the worldling himself, how much soever he may labour to inculcate his maxims and practice upon all around him in a time of health and prosperity, will yet do justice, when leaving the world, to the higher and more dignified pursuits of the good man, in the midst of that besottedness of his rational powers which has sunk him to a level with the beasts that perish."

The propriety of this view will depend principally upon the correctness with which Dr. Good assumes sons of the ground, or groundlings, for the due rendering of the original. His reasons are given in the notes, and the Hebrew critic will decide as to their force and validity.

PSALM XLIX.

ON THE SUPREME.

A Psalm by the Sons of Korah.,

1.

Hear this, all ye peoples,

Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world;

2.

Both sons of the ground, and sons of substance;
Ye rich and ye poor together.

3. My mouth shall discourse of wisdom,

Yea, the theme of my heart shall be understanding.

4.

I will bend mine ear to a parable;

5.

I will utter my burden upon the harp.

Why should I fear in these days of evil

That the iniquity of my supplanters should circumvent me?

6. They that trust in their riches,

7.

That boast of the greatness of their wealth,

No man can pay the ransom of his brother,
Or offer to God his own atonement;

8.

(So costly is the redemption of their souls!
So faileth it continually!)

9.

That he should still live on,

That he should never see corruption.

10. For one beholdeth the wise die

As well as the fool and the brutish.

They perish, and leave to others their riches.

11. Their houses are their subject for ever,

Their mansions from generation to generation.
They call their grounds after their names:

12. But the GROUNDLING in the midst of splendour endureth not;

He is like the beasts-they are on a level.

13. Such is their conduct-their folly,

Yet will their posterity incline to their course. (Selah.)

14. They are stowed like sheep in the grave;

Death shall feed upon them;

And the just shall triumph over them in the morning:

For their STRENGTH is utter DISSOLUTION;

The grave is their home.

15. But God shall redeem my soul:

From the

grasp of the grave

Assuredly shall he take me away. (Selah.)

16. Fear not thou when one is made rich;

When the glory of his house is increased.

17. For in his death he shall carry off nothing whatever ;
His glory shall not descend after him.

18. Though while he lived he gratified his own soul,
Then shall he laud thee for acting well for thyself.
19. He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
Never more shall they see the light.

20. The GROUNDLING in the midst of splendour, but without understanding,

Is like the beasts-they are on a level.

Dr. Boothroyd, in the notes to his "Improved Version" of the Holy Scriptures, admits the difficulty of some parts of this psalm, especially verse 15. His rendering of verses 13, 14, and 15, is subjoined.

13. Such is their way, and foolish confidence, Yet their posterity approve their maxims.

14. They also, like sheep, are placed in hades:
Death is their shepherd;

And the upright in the time of judgment
Shall have dominion over them,

When their frames, wasted in hades,

Shall come forth from their habitation.

15. Surely God will redeem my soul;

From the power of hades he will verily take me.

Of psalm II. Dr. Good thus speaks

"This psalm has descended to us without a title; but its exact place in the Jewish chronology is obvious, and we have the authority of the New Testament that it was composed by David himself, and with a more emphatic reference to the great Son of David than to his own personal history. It is impossible, indeed, to read it in the present day, without tracing out much of that secondary or esoteric meaning which is so

Y

common to the language of the book of Psalms; or without perceiving that by the 'multitudes that murmur in vain' is strikingly typified the fickle and ungrateful people of Israel; by the rulers that took counsel together,' the Jewish Sanhedrim; and by the heathen' that joined in the 'rage,' Herod and his followers, who sought to destroy our Saviour when an infant, and Pilate who condemned him, and the Roman soldiers who crucified him. While in the general triumph which pervades the poem, and especially in the paramount decree of universal empire which it announces, we have a clear anticipation of the glorious events of our own times, and the still more glorious successes of which they are but the harbingers."

To Dr. Good's translation of this psalm, which immediately follows, I shall subjoin, for the sake of comparison, the translation of Dr. J. P. Smith, as given in his truly learned and valuable work, "The Scripture Testimony to the Messiah."

PSALM II.

(Dr. Good's Translation.)

1.

Why do the heathen rage;

2.

And the people murmur in vain;

The kings of the earth array themselves;

And the rulers take counsel together

Against Jehovah, and against his Anointed?

3. Let us break their bands asunder,

And cast their cords away from us.'

4.

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh:
The Lord shall have them in derision.

5.

Thus shall he accost them in his wrath,

And confound them in his indignation:

7.

Upon my holy hill of Zion.'

I will proclaim the decree

Jehovah hath announced concerning me;

The heathen for thine inheritance;

Yea, the limits of the earth for thy possession.

9. Thou shalt crush them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt shiver them like a potter's vessel.' 10. Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings!

Be admonished, ye judges of the land!

11. Obey Jehovah with fear,

And rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son-lest he be angry,

And ye perish straightway

When his wrath is but just kindled.—

Blessed are all they that take refuge in him!

PSALM II.

(Dr. Smith's Translation.)

Why rage the nations?

And the peoples contrive vanity?

The kings of the land have set up themselves,
And the princes are firmly fixed together,
Against Jehovah, and against his Messiah.

'Let us burst their bands,

And cast from us their cords.'

Sitting in the heavens, he will laugh,

The Lord will hold them in derision.

Then he will rebuke them in his wrath;

And, in his burning anger, he will alarm them.

But I have annointed my king,

Upon Zion, the mountain of my sanctuary.