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PSALM XXII.

1 David complaineth in great discouragement. 9 He prayeth in great distress. 23 He praiseth God.

To the chief Musician upon 'Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and *am not silent.

3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

7 "All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

87 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, 'seeing he delighted in him.

9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.

10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.

11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is "none to help:

12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

13 They "gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

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17 Heb. from the hand.

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14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: "they pierced my hands and my feet.

17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

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18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

19 But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.

20 Deliver my soul from the sword; "my darling "from the power of the dog.

21 Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. 22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

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8 Heb. He rolled himself on the LORD. 12 Heb. opened their mouths against me. 15 Luke 23. 34. John 19. 24. 19 Psal. 2. 8, and 72. 11, and 86. 9.

18 Heb. 2. 12.

28 For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.

29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him and none can keep alive his own soul.

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30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the LORD for a generation.

31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born that he hath done this.

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The words, literally understood, mean the Hind of the Morning: the different opinions are chiefly as to the import of such a designation; and the various constructions to which it is liable, may thus be classed and illustrated:

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1. That the title has no connection with the contents of the Psalm, or with any other circumstance belonging to it, except to intimate the tune to which it was to be played. And therefore that the Hind of the Morning' formed the title, perhaps the first words, of the melody which this Psalm was to follow. This is that view of Aben Ezra, on which we have already remarked under Ps. xvi. The nature of the title seems to afford very considerable support to this conjecture; and supersedes the difficult attempt to find a connection or an application between the Psalm itself and such titles as the Hind of the Morning,'-' the Lily of the Testimony' (Ps. lx.),-or the Dove dumb in distant places (or among strangers),' Ps. lvi. If we saw such titles prefixed to poems of our own, we should-after having read it and observed the apparent want of connection-conclude that it was the name or commencing words of some melody which was intended to be followed. Faber quotes, as parallel illustrations, the superscriptions of the pieces of the master-singers of the middle ages, expressing the titles of the tunes to which they were to be sung or played; such as, 'The short tune-the silver melody-the rose tune melody-the golden tune-the morning melody -the high mountain melody,' etc. (See the note on the Title of Psalm xvi.)

2. That such superscriptions have not, indeed, any obvious connection with the Psalms to which they are prefixed, but that still they have a specific appropriation to such Psalms, as titles of that fanciful and irrelevant character which the Orientals are accustomed to give to their compositions. This view was suggested by Harmer (Observations, v.); and in proof of this characteristic of Oriental titles he quotes D'Herbelot, who tells us that a Persian metaphysical poem was called-the Rose-bush; a collection of moral essays-the Garden of Anemones; another Eastern book-the Lion of the Forest; to which (as Dr. Clarke subjoins) might be added other titles as, Gulistan, the Region of Roses; Boostan, the Garden; Derj el Durrur, the Casket of Pearls; Bahar Danush, the Spring of Knowledge; Nigaristan, the Gallery of Pictures. An Arabian History of Granada is called A Specimen of the Full Moon; a Chronology-Silken Vest, embroidered with a needle; a Collection of Lives-Fragrant Plants; a Tract on Constancy of Mind-Approved Butter, etc. The Rabbinical writers afford similar instances: thus a Treatise on Morals is entitled A Tried Stone; a Collection of Songs-The Tablets and Ear-rings; another CollectionThe Book of the Giant. Other instances will occur to the reader, as similar forms of titles have become not unusual in this country.

3. Some, however, think that the designation alludes metaphorically to the time at which the psalm was to be performed, namely, at the dawn; and this is the opinion of many Hebrew writers, followed by some modern interpreters, among them Boothroyd, who explains Aijeleth Shahar to mean the dawn of day.' This explanation perhaps supposes that the sun is meant by the Hind of the Morning,' which is certainly not impossible, as the Arabian

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poets do sometimes apply to the sun the name of the gazelle. Calmet, however, conjectures that the band of musicians which performed the morning duty was called, for some reason or other, the Hind of the Morning,' but offers nothing in support of this conjecture.

Lastly. Many regard the title, in the present instance, as a mystical reference to the Messiah, to whom it is agreed, both by Jewish and Christian commentators, that this psalm prophetically relates. Christ, therefore, is thus understood to be denoted as the Hind of the Morning.' It is highly probable that Cowper had this title and this interpretation in view when penning the following beautiful lines:

'I was a stricken deer that left the herd

Long since. With many an arrow deep infix'd
My panting side was charged, when I withdrew,
To seek a tranquil death in distant shades.
There I was found by one, who had himself
Been hurt by the archers. In his side he bore,
And in his hands and feet, the cruel scars.'

Task, b. iii.

Verse 7. Shoot out the lip.'-To protrude the lower lip is, in the East, considered a very strong indication of contempt. Its employment is chiefly confined to the lower orders.

12. Bulls.'-In Scripture bulls seem to be emblematical of violent and wicked men. Among the ancients generally, including the Hebrews, horned beasts were symbolical of power-and hence horns alone had the same import. The strength, courage, and ferocity of the bull, rendered it, in this connection of ideas, peculiarly suitable to symbolize the violent and powerful oppressor. At present, in the East, strong and violent fellows, who insult and domineer over others, are still called 'bulls.' Hence, also, in the same association of ideas, our word bully,' for similar characters.

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13. As a ravening and a roaring lion.'—The particle of comparisonas' does not exist in the original. The enemies are not only like lions, they are a lion, or lions, themselves. The lion, it should be observed, roars chiefly when he looks at his prey, and is about to fall upon it.

16. Dogs have compassed me.'-The English reader is apt to be surprised that dogs, which exhibit so many amiable and interesting qualities, should always be mentioned with contempt and aversion in the Scriptures. But the known character of the dog is in a great degree an improvement, resulting from perfect domestication and kind treatment. In the East he is not domesticated or treated well; and for this reason he is there a fierce, cruel, greedy, and base creature, such as the Scriptures describe him. Mohammedanism, which now prevails in Western Asia, proscribes dogs as unclean; and hence, although they are exceedingly numerous in many of the towns, they are not attached to particular houses, nor belong to particular persons. They live in the streets and open places, and subsist upon offal, with some uncertain assistance from the charity of individuals. We shall reserve some particulars of their condition in the East to illustrate the several texts in which the animal is mentioned. But this is a proper place to notice its ferocity. As, even in the highly domesticated condition of the dog in this country, great numbers of them retain the disposition to assault strangers, it will be easily understood that this disposition must be more strongly manifested by the half-savage dogs of eastern towns. In

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large towns, where there is much activity and intercourse, the dogs do not generally offer any molestation to any person in the daytime, or only to those whom they detect by the scent or costume to be decided foreigners; but at night it is very hazardous to pass the streets, and few like to do so alone, and never without being properly armed. When two persons go together, both armed with strong sticks, they are seldom molested. One person alone, and particularly if unarmed, would be in danger of being seriously injured, if not torn in pieces, unless assistance came, as the attack of one dog would serve as a signal to bring others in great numbers to the assault. In small towns and villages seldom visited by strangers, the dogs know the inhabitants and do not molest them, unless, perhaps, when any one of them should happen to stir abroad at night; but a stranger of any description often dares not approach such places even by day, unless under the conduct of an inhabitant. When the attempt is made, the dogs afford every demonstration of a disposition to tear him in pieces: and we have ourselves, when halting on a jour

ney near such places, observed powerful and resolute men, natives of the country, abandon attempts to enter, in consequence of the opposition which the fierce and savage dogs offered, and wait till the protection of an inhabitant could be obtained. These last observations apply also to the encampments of the Arabs, and other nomades, who allow the presence of dogs on account of the assistance they give in managing the flocks and in protecting the encampment; for the dogs of the East are unanimous in their hatred to strangers, and in resisting their approach. These dogs are, however, nearly as much neglected as those in towns, and are by no means to be put upon a level with the shepherd-dogs of Europe. When the party with which they are connected happens to be of those who assemble in villages during winter, the dogs maintain the connection, and guard the village from intrusion as zealously as they did the camp: and it is to such villages chiefly that the above observations apply; for, in other villages and small places, dogs are not very common.

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Verse 1. The Lord is my shepherd.'-Luther finely remarks here Of all the figures applied to God in the Old Testament, that of a shepherd is the most beautiful. The other names sound somewhat too nobly and majestically, and bring, as it were, an awe and fear with them when we hear them uttered. This is the case when the Scriptures call God our Lord, King, Creator. This, however, is not the case with the sweet word shepherd. It brings to the godly, when they read it or hear it, as it were a confidence, a consolation, or security, like the word father. We cannot better understand this consoling and lovely word than by going to nature, and learning carefully from her what are the dispositions and the properties of the sheep; and what is the duty, the labour, the care of a good shepherd. A sheep can only live through the help, protection, and care of its shepherd. As soon as it goes astray, it is exposed to dangers of every kind, and must perish, for it cannot help itself. The reason is, it is a poor, weak, silly creature. But weak creature though it be, it has this property about it, that it keeps by its shepherd with all diligence, depends upon his help and protection, follows wherever he leads, and, if it can be only near him, it cares for nothing, is afraid of no one, but feels secure and happy, for it wants nothing.' The image here, naturally suggested by David's early occupations, is derived from the care, the forethought, the management, and the tenderness exercised by the eastern shepherds to provide for and defend their flocks in the unfrequented and wild regions into which they were often led for pasture.

2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures,' etc.This is but one of many beautiful passages of Scripture alluding to the practice of the eastern shepherds in leading their flocks from one region to another in search of green pasture. In winter and early spring the rains compel the roots and seeds of the desert to shoot, which in summer were kept down by excessive drought. But the moisture clothes the wilderness with verdure, and with the succulent and nutritive herbage on which the flocks luxuriate and prosper. And when the periodical drought returns to the wilderness, the shepherd leads off his flocks to the mountains, the streams, and the habitable districts where herbage yet remains. Thus it is an important part of the eastern shepherd's character that he should possess such a knowledge of the country and its pasture-grounds as may enable him to move his flock from one point to another with the moral certainty of finding good pasturage in the place whither he is going. The bad, that is, the ignorant shepherd exposes his flock to the danger of perishing from hunger or fatigue: from hunger, if no pasture is found in the expected places; from fatigue, in hurrying the flock

from one place to another, in the vague expectation of finding that which he knows not where to find.

The following interesting observations are from a paper by the Rev. R. M. Macbrair (Missionary to Syria), which we find in the Wesleyan Magazine for 1836, p. 31:

'Syria is a very hilly country, containing only a few large valleys. The rivers rise in the tops of the mountains, and dash down their sides with amazing impetuosity. Their courses are marked, through the bleakest and most sterile regions, by small spots of luxuriant verdure, which are seen wherever the land is more even, and the course of the torrent less rapid. In these verdant spots the small villages are situated, with their accompanying corn-fields and clumps of trees. It is a pleasing sight to the traveller to trace this variegated strip of verdant beauty amidst the monotonous wastes of the stony mountains. But in the large valleys of Palestine two or three streams generally unite into a river, which forms a great many circuitous windings through the level country, as if the waters scarcely knew which course to take, or in what direction they ought to flow. These are the most fruitful part of the country, and the crops upon them are crowned with the richest abundance. There the traveller may often perceive, in the morning, the distant village or town, where he expects to lodge at night; or, from one of the adjacent snow-capped summits, he may trace his journey for several days along the delightful vale beneath. These are indeed "green pastures beside the still waters:" and but few shepherds can afford to feed their flocks in such luxuriant parts of a thirsty land. This will also explain Lot's choice of the plains of the Jordan (Gen. xiii. 10), for the plains of Damascus, a little farther north than the cities which were destroyed by fire, are indeed fruitful and lovely "as the garden of the Lord," and are admired by all travellers, although they are very unhealthy to Europeans in the

summer season."

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4. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.'-The eastern shepherd has a staff of considerable length, with which he keeps his sheep in order. This is of great use both to the shepherd and the sheep. It helps the former to guide his sheep in the right way, to keep them from danger, to extricate them from difficulties, and to collect those that stray. Hence the rod or staff is throughout the Scriptures described as a source of confidence, and not of fear, to the sheep. It is to this that the Psalmist alludes.

5. Thou anointest my head with oil.'-This does not appear to refer to the regal anointing, but to the custom of anointing the head with oil and fragrant unguents on occasions of festivity and rejoicing. To anoint the head also was an honour paid to a distinguished guest; and, in

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Luke vii. 46, our Saviour seems to refer to the omission of it as rather inhospitable in his host, the Pharisee. The same customs, as to anointing the head, were in operation among the Greeks and Romans. At present, in Western Asia, people generally shave their heads, which has there put an end to these ancient usages. But they still subsist, more to the East, in India. At their marriages and other festive times (says Roberts), the young and old may be seen with their long black tresses tied neatly on the crown of the head, shining and smooth like polished ebony.' The custom here alluded to is remarkably illustrated by a ceremony, of which Capt. Wilson describes

himself as having been the object in India :-'I once had this ceremony performed on myself, in the house of a rich Indian, and in the presence of a large company. The gentleman of the house poured upon my hands and arms a delightful odoriferous perfume, put a golden cup into my hand, and poured wine into it till it ran over, assuring me, at the same time, that it was a great pleasure for him to receive me, and that I should find a rich supply in his house. I think the divine poet expressed his sense of the goodness of God by an allusion to this ceremony, or to one that very closely resembled it.'

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6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, 'O Jacob. Selah.

7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

2 Job 38. 6. Psal. 104. 5, and 136. 6.

5 Heb. The clean of hands.

6 Or, O God of Jacob.

3 Psal. 15. 1.

PSALM XXIV. This psalm is generally regarded as having been composed by David at the time that he brought the ark of the covenant to Mount Zion. (Compare 2 Sam. vi. 1; 1 Chron. xv.) And this seems the most probable opinion, although the Jewish writers in general hold that David composed the psalm to be used at the dedication of the future temple by his son.

7. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors,' etc.-The idea that this could mean no other than the gates of the temple helped some critics to the notion mentioned above, that it was designed to celebrate the transference of the ark to the temple. But the gates of the newly-built temple,' says Hengstenberg, 'could not possibly be called everlasting gates. The only expedient in this difficulty is to suppose that the "ever

lasting" refers to the future continuance of the gates. But no one would apply, simpliciter, the term everlasting to gates which it was hoped would last for ever: the hope of everlasting endurance which Solomon (2 Kings viii. 13) expresses in reference to the whole temple cannot be simpliciter referred to any particular part of it; the connection requires that the predicate have a clearly understood or generally recognised importance. As soon, however, as we refer the psalm to the entrance of the ark of the covenant under David, every difficulty vanishes. The gates are those of Mount Zion. With the Psalmist, whose object it was to extol the worth of the gates for the purpose of enhancing the glory of the entrant, of whom, after all, the gates are unworthy, the idea of antiquity would easily expand into that of eternity.'

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1 Psal. 22. 5, and 31. 1, and 34. 8. Isa. 28. 16. Rom. 10. 11.
3 Psal. 103. 17, and 106. 1, and 107.1. Jer. 33. 11.

2 Psal. 27. 11, and 86. 11, and 119.

4 Heb. thy bowels.

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