The temple destroyed]

PSALM LXXIV.

Maschil of Asaph. GOD, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.

5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.

6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.

7 They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.

8 They said in their hearts, Let us

[by the heathen.

destroy them together they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

9 We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.

10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?

11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.

12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to he meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood thou driedst up mighty rivers.

16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.

17 Thou hast set all the borders of

ment, "the vain show," the image of splendour in which they walked, would appear altogether despicable. (See Psalm xlix. 6.)

But the psalmist now reverses the scene, and contemplates himself-poor, destitute, and afflicted,-yet in the hand of Godguided by his counsel, and advancing

steadily in the way to glory. And then he breaks out into a devotional rapture "Whom have 1 in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire compared with thee."

"Lord, 'tis enough that thou art mine, My life, my portion, and my God."

PSALM LXXIV. Ver. 2. The rod Measured portion, or lot. See Deut. xxxii. 9; Jer. x. 16. Or, as margin. "Tribe:" viz. Judah.

Ver. 3. Lift up thy feet-That is, hasten to our deliverance.

Ver. 4. Thine enemies roar — Like lions. Amos iii. 8.-They set up their ensigns (adorned with their idolatrous emblems) for signs-To shew that their idols have got the ascendancy.

Ver. 7. They have cast fire, &c.-Heb. "They have sent thy sanctuary into the fire."

Ver. 8. Burned all the synagogues-Congregations for prayer, &c. This is the first vengeance of a heathen populace.

Ver. 9. We see not our signs-That is, miracles; the usual signs of the divine presence.No more any prophet-Bishop Patrick hence infers, this must have been after the death of Jeremiah; but if he were in prison, it was the same: they could not consult bim.

Watts.

the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed

thy name.

19 0 deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.

20 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. 210 let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.

22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.

23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually. (Z)

PSALM LXXIV.

[earnestly implored.

PSALM LXXV.

To the chief Musician, Al-taschith.
A Psalm or Song of Asaph.

UNTO thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.

2 When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.

3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.

4 I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:

5 Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.

6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.

7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

(2) The psalmist laments the destruction of the temple by the heathen, and implores divine interference.-We have hinted that some of Asaph's psalms had refer ence to the time of the captivity, and this is one of that number, as it refers to the destruction and burning of the temple. It could not be composed by the first Asaph, but by one of his descendants. The psalmist observes, that time was, when men acquired fame by felling the woods; now they sought promotion and reward by cutting down the sacred ornaments of the temple, and burning them with fire. He calls upon the Lord, therefore, to return quickly to his temple, and plead his own cause against the heathen.

In order to stir up the Almighty (as it were) to avenge the cause of his church, be is put in mind that it is his own cause, that her enemies are his also, and that those who reproach her blaspheme her God. He is also reminded of his irresist

PSALM LXXV. Title---Al-taschith. of psalm lvii. and Note.

ible power, and what he had done for the salvation of his people in times of old, particularly at the Red sea, and is intreated to remember also his covenant of old, and to save his " turtle dove," (so the church is called,) from the hands of his and her enemies.

An important passage here occurs, as relates to the cause of missions. "The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty:" from which we may infer, that, instead of ignorance being the "mother of devotion," or paganism a harmless system, we shall always find the habitations of cruelty in the lands of ignorance and idolatry. Iufanticide, selfimmolation, witchcraft, and human sacrifices are found more or less in all the regions of idolatry.

Ver. 2. When I shall receive the congregation--Mary. "When I shall take a set time." The same word signifies both a set time, and a set meeting.

Ver. 3. The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved---That is, things are returning to a moral chaos bear up the pillars of it---I am leit alone, to support the sinking church and state.

"Kingdoms wide that sit in darkness, Let them have the glorious light; And from eastern coast to western May the morning chase the night. Let the gospel

Soon resound from pole to pole."

Ver. 6. From the south---Heb. "desert." The land of Canaan had a desert at both ends, north and sonth. The Jews were not to look for support to any of the surrounding nations.

Ver. 8. Shall wring them out.---See Ps. lxxiii, 10. Ver. 10. Ail the horns, &c.---To cut off the horn, is to reduce to insignificance; to lift the horn, is to raise to power and dignity. A silver horn on the top of the head, is a part of the Abyssinian dress,

[in Judah.

they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands.

6 At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.

7 Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?

8 Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still,

9 When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah.

10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.

11 Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.

12 He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth. (B)

(A) The psalmist praises God and predicts divine judgments on the wicked.This psalm is also attributed to Asaph, and Bishop Patrick thinks it must have been Asaph the Seer, in the time of Hezekiah, because the Levites were appointed to praise God in "the words of David and of Asaph the Seer," (2 Chron. xxix. 30.) as a principal means of supporting both church and state. Bishop Horne (without giving any reason,) attributes the psalm to David, as speaking in the person of Messiah; and some parts of it, especially the last verse, will hardly apply to any inferior character. The representation of the Almighty as administering, from his throne of judgment, their due portions of punishment, while the righteous rejoice around him, is eminently grand and awful. Compare Rev. xiv. 10, &c.

PSALM LXXVI

(B) Praise for a signal interference of divine mercy." It is obvious, (says Bishop

Horne,) to any one who reads this psalm, that it was composed as a thanksgiving hymn, on account of some great deliverance wrought for his people by the immediate hand of God. The miraculous destruction of the Assyrian army by the angel, in the days of king Hezekiah, is generally pitched upon as the subject of it, and affirmed to be so by the ancient Greek inscription prefixed to it in the Septuagint version.

The prophet speaks with rapture of the glory which Jehovah had acquired by former deliverances of Israel, as well as in the present instance; and contemplates with delight the fact, that God had long made Zion his chosen residence, and Judah his favourite tribe. By their sins, indeed, he had been provoked to withdraw his presence; but the mercy recently received, encouraged the psalmist to hope that the Most High, who had rebuked the heathen by this deliverance, would again dwell in Zion. Thus the wrath of man, which had attempted not only to crush, but even to

PSALM LXXVI. Ver. 2. In Salem---The poetical name of Jerusalem. See Gen. xiv. 18.

Ver. 4. Mountains of prey--Where wild beasts haunt. Sol. Song iv. 8.

Ver.6. Chariot and horse-Poetically, charioteers

and horsemen Into a dead sleep---The sleep of death.

Ver. 11. Bring presents---That is, offer tribute, and submit.Unto him-Heb. “unto fear;" i. e. unto him who alone is to be feared. See Gen, zxxi, 47.

Asaph refers to]

PSALM LXXVIL

To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun.

A Psalm of Asaph. ICRIED unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.

2 In the day of my trouble I sought the LORD: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.

3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.

4 Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.

61 call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent

search.

7 Will the LORD cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? 8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?

9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.

10 And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years

[former deliverances.

of the right hand of the Most High.

11 I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.

12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.

13 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God!

14 Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.

15 Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.

16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.

17 The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine ar rows also went abroad.

18 The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.

19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.

20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. (C)

annihilate his people, was made to praise him, in being overruled for their deliverance. And thus has it often happened, that when the enemies of the church have attempted its destruction with peculiar energy, the Lord has restrained and over ruled their wrath for the display of his own glory, and the salvation of his own people; and in no nation has this been more remarkable than in ours.

PSALM LXXVII.

(C) The psalmist, Asaph, relates the exercises of his mind with regard to God's dealings with his people Israel in their captivity.-He relates, particularly, his meditations by night upon his bed, while his eyes were withheld from sleep and his hands stretched out in prayer. Reflecting on the melancholy state of things with respect to the Jewish church, he was ready

PSALM LXXVII. Ver. 6. I call to remembrance. -Some of the ancient versions and modern translators join this verb to the preceding line, thus: "The years of ancient times I called to mind." This verse may then read, "My (harp) strings (negiRathi) in the night communed with my heart:" this (though it may be new) is highly poetical, and agrees with a suggestion of Mr. Ainsworth, that the Psalmist might have taken his harp, and lamented to it, in the night.

Ver. 8. For evermore-Heb. " From generation to generation."

Ver. 10. The years (Ainsworth, Horne, &c. "the changes) of the right hand-That is, the changes produced by divine power and grace in human af

fairs." Perhaps the allusion is musical, as in ver. 10° and may allude to the changes of modulation on the harp (so we speak of ringing changes:) the Almighty can change the circumstances of men, and of the world around us, with the same ease as the musician can change his tune.

Ver. 13. Thy nay.... is in the sanctuary.-If this psalm were written during the captivity, this could hardly be referred to the sanctuary, which was destroyed. Ainsworth renders it, "in sanctity;" Horne and Lowth, "in holiness."

Ver. 19. Thy way is in the sea-Rather, (for there is no verb in the text) "was in the sea ;" namely, in the Red sea, as in the context.

The history of]

PSALM LXXVIII.

Maschil of Asaph.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: 3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:

6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:

7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:

8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

10 They kept not the covenant of

[Israel's deliverances,

God, and refused to walk in his law; 11 And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.

12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.

14 In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.

15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths..

16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most high in the wilderness.

18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

19 Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

21 Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;

22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation: 23 Though he had commanded the

PSALM LXXVIII. Ver. 2. In a parable - In poetical and figurative language. Dark sayingsEnigmas, mysteries.—Of old-Relative to ancient

times.

Ver. 5. For he established, &c.-This verse may be read as a parenthesis.

God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm."

Conper.

Ver. 8. Set not-Heh," Prepared not." Ver. 9. The children of Ephraim. See Judges xii. 1-6. Carrying bon's-Heb. "Throwing forth (arrows from bows."

Ver. 12. Field of Zoan-That is, the country round Zoan, which was a royal city.