father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel; therefore will I play before the Lord, and I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in my own sight.' He thus plainly gave her to understand that it was possible she took too much upon her—that it was not to her, or to the influence of her house, that he owed his crown, but to the simple gift of Jehovah, whose he was, and whom he served. The sort of spirit evinced by Michal on this occasion was punished by her having no children, through whom, as it might have happened, the line of Saul would again attain to sovereign power. Whether this result is to be interpreted as a special judgment from God, or is to be referred to the displeasure which this unseemly altercation left on the mind of David, we are not informed. It has been questioned why David provided a new tent for the ark at Jerusalem, when the old tabernacle (together with the altar of burnt-offerings) was not far off at Gibeon, and might easily have been brought to Jerusalem. It is conjectured that the once splendid hangings of the wilderness tent had become old and faded, and David hence deemed a new one more becoming. But it is incredible that the hangings of a tent, open to the air, had so long remained in use. They had perhaps been more than once renewed. It is, therefore, more probable that since David had now two high priests, neither of whom he could depose the one, Abiathar, who had been attached to his person from the commencement of his troubles, and the other Zadok, who had been set up by Saul, and who was really of the elder line-the king found it expedient to keep up the establishment at Gibeon, to afford the latter the opportunity of exercising his functions without interfering with the other, who superintended the new establishment at Jerusalem. This state of matters remained during all the reign of David. The king, probably, could not remove Zadok, had he been so minded, without displeasing the ten tribes, who had been accustomed to his ministrations. But he had probably no wish to do so, as we soon find Zadok very high in his favour and esteem. The readers of the authorized version may find some difficulty with the topography of this passage. It is said that David arose from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God;' while in the next verse we read that 'they brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah. From 1 Chronicles xiii. 6, we learn that Baalah (or Baale) was another name for Kirjath-jearim, where the ark had been put when brought back by the Philistines (1 Sam. vii. 1). The town of Kirjath-jearim, or Baalah, stood upon the side of a hill; and it would appear, from a comparison of various passages, that upon the summit of the hill, just over the town, there was a small village or suburb called Gibeah (that is, 'the hill'), in which was the house of Uzzah, where the ark had been placed. The hill is very rocky, and the road from it to Jerusalem, over the bare crowns of mountains, is one of the most rugged in Palestine. No one who has passed along it will wonder at the oxen stumbling, and the ark being shaken. Thirty-seventh Week—First Day. THE ENTRANCE SONG.-PSALM XXIV. It is universally admitted that the twenty-fourth Psalm was composed, and, as we now say, set to music, to be used on the occasion of the removal of the ark, and sung in the procession. The tenor of this noble canticle renders this purpose of it manifest; and a closer examination may enable us to understand it better, and to appreciate it more distinctly. It will be seen that it is written to be chanted in responsive parts, with two choruses. To comprehend it fully, it should be understood that Jerusalem, as the city of God, was by the Jews regarded as a type of heaven. It so occurs in the Apocalypse, whence we have adopted it in our poetical and devotional aspirations. The court of the tabernacle was the scene of the Lord's more immediate residence—the tabernacle his palace, and the ark his throne. With this leading idea in the mind, the most cursory reader-if there be cursory readers of the Bible-cannot fail to be struck with the beauty and sublimity of this composition, and its exquisite suitableness to the occasion. The chief musician, who was probably in this case the king himself, appears to have begun the sacred lay with a solemn and sonorous recital of these sentences: 'The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the floods.' The chorus of vocal music appears to have then taken up the song, and sung the same words in a more tuneful and elaborate harmony; and the instruments and the whole chorus of the people fell in with them, raising the mighty declaration to heaven. There is much reason to think that the people, or a large body of them, were qualified or instructed to take their part in this great ceremonial. The historical text says, 'David, and all the house of Israel, played before the Lord upon all manner of instruments,' etc. We may presume that the chorus then divided, each singing in their turns, and both joining at the close: 'For He hath founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the floods.' This part of the music may be supposed to have lasted until the procession reached the foot of Zion, or came in view of it, which, from the nature of the enclosed site, cannot be till one comes quite near to it. Then the king must be supposed to have stepped forth, and begun again, in a solemn and earnest tone: 'Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ? Or who shall stand in his holy place?' To which the first chorus responds: 'He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.' And then the second chorus: 'He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, And righteousness from the God of his salvation.' This part of the sacred song may, in like manner, be supposed to have lasted till they reached the gate of the city, when the king began again in this grand and exalted strain : 'Lift up your heads, O ye gates, And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, repeated then, in the same way as before, by the general chorus. The persons having charge of the gates on this high occasion ask: 'Who is this King of Glory?' To which the first chorus answers: 'It is Jehovah, strong and mighty- 1 That is, 'Glorious King.' which the second chorus then repeats in like manner as before, closing with the grand universal chorus: 'He is the King of Glory! He is the King of Glory!' We must now suppose the instruments to take up the same notes, and continue them to the entrance to the court of the tabernacle. There the king again begins: 'Lift up your heads, O ye gates, And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, This is followed and answered as before-all closing, the instruments sounding, the chorus singing, the people shouting: 'He is the King of Glory!' 'How others may think upon this point,' says Dr Delany, 'I cannot say, nor pretend to describe; but for my own part, I have no notion of hearing, or of any man's ever having seen or heard, any thing so great, so solemn, so celestial, on this side the gates of heaven.' Christian preachers and poets have delighted to apply this noble psalm to our Lord's ascension; and in this application there is certainly much force and beauty. None has produced this application with more triumphant energy than Young, whose Night Thoughts' is, with all its faults, a wonderful poem, which will, we doubt not, in no long time recover more than all the popularity it once possessed. This is the passage which he who has read once, forgets not soon : 'In his blessed life I see the path, and in his death the price, Hear, O ye nations! hear it, O ye dead! He rose! He rose! He burst the bars of death. |