7 Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; Sing praise upon the harp unto our God! 8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds; Who prepareth rain for the earth;

Who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. 9 He giveth to the beast his food,

And to the young ravens which cry.

10 He delighteth not in the strength of the horse; He taketh not pleasure in the feet of men.

11 The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, In those that hope in his mercy.

13 For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; He hath blessed thy children within thee.

14 He maketh peace in thy borders,

And filleth thee with the finest of the wheat. 15 He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth; His word runneth very swiftly.

16 He giveth snow like wool;

He scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes.

17 He casteth forth his ice like morsels;

Who can stand before his cold?

18 He sendeth out his word, and melteth them;

Ver. 8. "Maketh grass to grow upon the mountains." See note to Ps. lxxii. 16 (p. 94).

Ver. 10. "He delighteth not," &c. ; i. e. not in infantry more than in cavalry. He needs neither the one nor the other. Otherwise, "feet of men may denote swiftness of foot, which was considered a great accomplishment in an ancient warrior. N.

IIe causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. 19 He showeth his word unto Jacob,

His statutes and his ordinances unto Israel.

20 He hath not dealt so with any other nation, And as for his statutes they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord!

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PSALM CXLIX.

PRAISE ye the Lord!

Sing unto the Lord a new song,

And his praise in the assembly of worshippers! 2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him ;

Let the children of Zion be joyful in their king!

3 Let them praise his name in the dance;

Let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp!

4 For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people;

He will beautify the meek with salvation.

5 Let the saints be joyful in glory;

Let them sing aloud upon their beds!

6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand,

7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, And punishments upon the nations!

8 To bind their kings with chains,

And their nobles with fetters of iron;

Ver. 2. "In him that made him"; i. e. as a nation. Comp. Deut. xxxiii. 6. N.

Ver. 5. "Their beds." Some understand these words as meaning their couches, whereon they reclined at meals; others as meaning private, in distinction from public rejoicings.

9 To execute upon them the judgment written This honor have all his saints.

Praise ye the Lord!

;

PSALMS CXXI., CXXII., CXXXIII., CXXXIV.

SONGS OF WORSHIPPERS GOING UP TO JERUSALEM.

THESE are entitled "Songs of Degrees," which Dr. Lowth understands to mean songs of the ascent, or going up to Jerusalem, as was the practice on occasion of the great festivals. This usage was enjoined upon all males of the Hebrew nation, by the law of Moses, Deut. xvi. 16, and appears to have been generally observed. See Ps. cxxii. 4. In that most touching elegy upon the destruction of Jerusalem, the Lamentations of Jeremiah, i. 4, one of the topics of grief is the cessation of this practice: "The ways of Zion mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts," &c. After the return of the exiles, and reëstablishment of the nation, this custom was revived. We find our Saviour observing it, John ii. 13; v. 1. We can easily imagine it to have been an occasion of a joyous and cordial nature, when we consider that every feeling that attached the Hebrew to his country and to his religion was called forth on his approach to the metropolis and the temple. The tone of these hymns is of a peculiarly pleasing character, in which piety, brotherly love, and patriotism mingle, without any alloy of fear or hatred,

which too often mar the sweetest strains of the Hebrew Muse.

It is probable that these are among those psalms which were sung by responsive choirs. Thus in Ps. cxxi. the first two verses form the portion sung by the first choir, responded to by the other singers, in the third and remaining verses. So in Ps. cxxxiv. the first two verses are addressed to the priests by the worshippers approaching the temple, and the third verse is the

response.

PSALM CXXI.

1 I WILL lift up mine eyes unto the hills, From whence cometh my help.

2 My help cometh from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not suffer thy foot to stumble; He that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel

Doth neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is thy keeper;

The Lord is thy shade, upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil;

Ver. 1. "The hills, from whence cometh my help." The worshippers approaching Jerusalem greet with joy the first sight of the neighboring mountains. Mount Zion is repeatedly spoken of in the Psalms as the spot whence help and salvation flow. See Ps. xiv. 7; 1. 2.

He shall preserve thy soul.

8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out, and thy com

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ing in,

From this time forth and even for evermore.

PSALM CXXII.

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go up to the house of the Lord.

2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem! 3 Jerusalem, the rebuilt city!

The city that is joined together!

4 Whither the tribes go up,

The tribes of the Lord, according to the law of Israel,

To give thanks unto the name of the Lord.

5 There stand the thrones of judgment,

The thrones of the house of David. 6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May they prosper that love thee! 7 Peace be within thy walls, And prosperity within thy palaces! 8 For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will say, Peace be within thee!

9 Because of the house of the Lord our God,

I will seek thy good.

Ver. 3. "The city that is joined together." See the same expression in Neh. iv. 6: "So built we the wall, and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof."