The vales are covered with corn--
All shout and sing for joy. .

NOTES.

Ver. 10. 7 be stream of God, i. e. copious rain, according to the oriental idiom. – Ver. 12. Thy paths diftill fertility. Some have imagined iliat infiead of paths we thould render clouds : but the other reading is more poetical. God is supposed by the oriental poets to ride on the cluids during a form of rain, or of thunder.- Ver. 14. The rams fecundute ibe flocks, lit. clothe them : a puré orientalilin, denoting the act of coition. Our poets use the word line and cover in the same sense.

PSALM LXVI.- al. LXV. This psulm is hy some supposed to bave been composed in the time of Hezekiab, after bis recovery from bis sickness. Oibers refer it to tbe Babylonisb captivity. I sve nothing in it that favours either of these conjectures. It is perfectly applica!le to David, after his return to Jerusalem, from Mabanaim.

I

FOR THE FIRST MUSICIAN; A PSALM-SONG.

SHOUT to God, all ye inhabitants of the land : fing psalms to the glory of his name: make his glory the subject of your praise. Say to God: “ How awful thy works! "5 on account of the greatness of thy power, s6 thine enemies themselves fawn to thee. $6 Let all the people of the land worship thee, $6 fing psalms to thee, and celebrate thy name.” Come, and behold the works of God, awful in his conduct toward the sons of man. He once turned the sea into dry land ! on foot our forefathers went through the flood ! for this, let us rejoice in him.

LXVI.

THE BOOK OF PSALMS.

113

In his might he ruleth for ever :
his eyes are fixed on the people :
let not then the rebellious exalt themselves. .

Bless our God, ye people !
and publish aloud his praise !
It is he who preferveth our lives,
and permitteth not our feet to stagger.
Thou hast indeed tried us, O GOD!
and smelted us, as filver is smelted;
into a snare thou broughtest us,
and laidest a heavy load on our loins !
Thou madest men to ride over our heads :
and we have gone through fire and water !
yet at last thou hast brought us to a banquet.

I will enter thine house with sacrifices;
I will acquit myself of my vows,
which, with open lips, my mouth uttered,
when I was in my distress.
Fat holocausts I will offer to thee with incense:
rạms, beeves, and bucks I will sacrifice.
Come, listen, all ye who revere GOD:
while I relate what he hath done for me.
If, when with my mouth I invoked him,
and exalted him with my tongue,
in mine heart I had seen iniquity,
Jehovah would never have heard me :
But, truly, God hath heard,
hath attended to my supplication.
Blessed be God, who rejected not my prayer;
nor withdrew from me his benevolence.

to Dai

14

NOTES.
Ver. 6. For this, let us rejoice in him. The common version is,
There did we rejoice in bim : a meaning so obviously improper, that

some critics have considered the text as corrupted; and that we should read “ There they rejoiced in him.”-Without altering the text, I think that it admits the sense I have given it; which entirely solves the difficulty.-Ver. 14, with incense. Our translators, following the Masoretic accentuation, joined these words with the following, and render “ with the incense of rams :" but it is now pretty generally allowed, that the Masoretic accentuation is wrong; and that. incense belongs to the first comma. See C. R.

This psalm is by Venema, and some others, referred to the time of Hezekiab. I see not why it may not bave been composed by David; possibly on the same occasion with the former.

I

2

3

FOR THE FIRST MUSICIAN; ON THE NEGI.

NOTH: A PSALM-SONG. BE gracious to us, O God! and bless us; and cause thy countenance to shine upon us : that thy conduct may be known through the land; thy saving power among all the people. Let the people praise thee, O GOD! let them all praise thee together : let the people be joyful and rejoice, since thou hast done them justice; and hast given repose to the land. Let the people praise thee, O GOD! let them all praise thee together ; since the land yieldeth its increase; and God, our God, hath blessed us.

May God continue to bless us : and may all the inhabitants of the land, to its furthest limits, revere him,

PSALM LXVIII.-al. LXVII. This very beautiful psalm has been the cross of Biblical critics, since the commencement of Biblical criticism unto the present day : nor must I presume to flatter myself that I have surmounted all the strange difficulties that bere occur. I bave, however, endeavoured to make my version at least intelligible, with as little vexation of the original text as possible. As to the time and occasion of the composition of this sublime piece of poetry, the bulk of interpreters refer it to the translation of the ark from the boite of Obededom to mount Zion : but, I confess, I cannot acquiesce in this opinion. I think it must bave been composed after David's signal and repeated victories over the combined forces of the Edomites, Ammonites and Syrians, when the ark was brought back in triumph to Jerusalem. That the ark accompanied the army in those wars we learn from the words of Uriab to David, 2 Sam.

II. II.

FOR THE FIRST MUSICIAN: A PSALM-SONG

OF DAVID. LET but God arise—dispersed are his enemies ! and they, who hate him, flee before his face ! Like a drift of smoke, they are driven away! like as wax melteth before the fire; so perish the wicked before the face of GOD! while the righteous rejoice in his presence, and are transported with excess of joy!

Sing to God-sing psalms to his name:
extol him, who rideth on the skies,
by his name, Jehovah!
and be joyful in his presence.
The father of orphans-and the righter of

widows-
is God in his holy habitation.

5

9

His darlings he houseth at home; and the bound he releaseth from bonds; but rebels shall inhabit a barren soil. · O God! when thou, formerly, precededst thy people : 8 when thou marchedst through the wilderness : the earth quaked—the heavens were dissolved (Diffolved were the clouds into water! the mountains melted at the presence of God) Sinai, itself, at the presence of the God of Israel ! A copious rain, O God! thou sentest, to refresh thine exhausted inheritance : Among them dwelt thy vivifying presence ! for the needy thy bounty provided !

JEHOVAH hath now given glad tidings, concerning a numerous host. The kings of those hosts have fled-have fled and the families at home, shall share in the spoils. What though ye were placed between hostile ranks~ 14 between the wings of a dove bedeckt with silver, and whose pinions were streaked with gold ? When the omnipotent dispersed the kings, snow covered the idol with confusion !

Ye lofty hills, ye hills of Bashan! Ye swelling hills, ye hills of Bashan ! Why are ye jealous, ye swelling hills, of the Hill where God is pleased to residewhere JEHOVAH will reside for ever?

The chariots of God are numerous : thousands-armed with hooks ! With these, O God, thou mountest aloft : a train of captives thou leadest back : presents of men thou receivest, the rebels, even, as a deodand !