himself would have expressed, had he lived under the superior light which we enjoy, and beheld, not the mere twilight of the yet unrisen 'Sun of Righteousness,' but, like ourselves, the splendour of His meridian day."

I

Some Psalms undoubtedly there are that require no such modification to adapt them to the Church of our own or of any age. Their form, like their spirit, is universal; and in their most literal meaning they speak to us as truly as to the ancient Jews. Such Psalms are ever the dearest to the Christian heart, and the most familiar in Christian. worship. In these, the success of the versifier will be in proportion to the simplicity and closeness of the rendering, and every added touch will be felt to be a superfluity. Such a Psalm is the twentythird, as sung in Scotland through many generations to the endeared words:

"The Lord's my Shepherd, I'll not want;

He makes me down to lie

In pastures green: He leadeth me
The quiet waters by.

Goodness and mercy all my life

Shall surely follow me :

And in God's house for evermore
My dwelling-place shall be."

Such strains, indeed, cannot be excelled, and they are in the mind of those who object to any other style of rendering. But these felicities are very rare; and often where the language of a Psalm is felt to be intensely appropriate as it stands, a word or phrase that lifts the soul into the Christian atmosphere is felt to be in season. Thus, in Psalm cxxi.

"I to the hills will lift mine eyes

From whence doth come mine aid."

Watts has, beautifully—

"Up to the hills I lift mine eyes,

The eternal hills beyond the skies."

Again, in Psalm xcii., how fine is the application of verse 3

"O may my heart in tune be found,

Like David's harp of solemn sound!"

And who does not feel that Psalm cxxxvi., in its exulting fervour of thanksgiving, needs some such supplement as this?—

"He sent His Son with power to save

From guilt and darkness and the grave:
Wonders of grace to God belong,
Repeat His mercies in your song."

Enough has been said to vindicate for the Psalms, thus interpreted and applied, a leading place among the HYMNS OF THE CHURCH UNIVERSAL. In the versions here selected there is confessedly but an approximation to the ideal. It has not as yet been granted to any author, or to any series of poets, to utter the full evangelical meaning of these Divine compositions; and there is some reason to fear that the partial failure has led many to undervalue the work that has been done. The Psalms, in their true rendering as Christian hymns, have a less prominent part in our worship than in former times. An exclusive place we would never claim for them: the hymnody of successive generations is the inestimable treasure of the Churches; but whatever other forms of music charm the ear and win the heart, the HARP OF DAVID must never be laid aside.

NOTES ON THE INSCRIPTIONS TO THE PSALMS.

IN the following versions the inscriptions have been printed, not because they are of decisive authority, but because they are the greatest help that ancient times have afforded us for determining the authorship and date of the Psalms. Many of these titles bear undoubted evidence of authenticity, many more may be accepted with but little hesitation, only a few are plainly incorrect.

The Hebrew words, such as Maschil, Michtam, Sheminith, Alamoth, prefixed to many Psalms, present another difficulty. The explanations given in the following pages embody the views of the best critics.

The following Table is a summary of the Titles:

Thirteen Psalms are "Maschil":-32, 42, 44, 45, 52, 53, 54, 55, 74, 78, 88, 89, 142.

Six Psalms are Alphabetical or Acrostic in the original:-25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 145.

One is Alphabetical, in octaves:-119.

Allowing the Inscription of Psalm 90 to be correct, as appears most probable, the dates of the Psalms extend from about B.C. 1490 to B.C. 440, near which date the Old Testament Canon was concluded. We have thus, in these sublime compositions, the voice of the Church for more than a thousand years.—See Introduction, p. 19.

The First Book.

PSALM I.

INTRODUCTION.

NLIKE the Psalms of the First Book generally, this has no title prefixed. It was probably a preface to the original collection, whether by Solomon, as Dean Perowne supposes, or by Ezra, as suggested by older commentators. It is observable that our Second Psalm is called by the Apostle Paul "the First," according to the best MSS. of Acts xiii. 33. The simplicity, directness, and universality of this Psalm are well reflected in most of the versions. Watts gives three, in three different metres, but is too paraphrastic. We have selected two ancient renderings the Scottish version is very felicitous.

HIS Psalm also-the "First Psalm" (see Introduction to Psalm I.) according to older arrangement is without a superscription. It may have been placed at the head of the Psalms of David as a solemn proclamation of the Divine purpose in regard to his throne and to the greater King of whom he was the type. The immediate occasion of the Psalm we cannot tell it plainly belongs to a time when the confederated foes of Israel were mighty and threatening, and precedes the crisis of their decisive overthrow. It is thus applicable to that kingdom which has again and again secured its highest triumphs in the hour of its seeming peril. Of this, the most illustrious instance and the surest pledge was the resurrection of Christ. Hence the Psalm is applied to this event, Acts xiii. 33. See also Hebrews i. 5; Acts iv. 25, 26.

Keble's version, though rugged in parts, is admirably true to the original, reflecting well its energy and exultation. A smoother rendering, though in parts too rhetorical, is that by Sir Robert Grant.