The Psalms. By A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. I.
1 and 2 Thessalonians. By JAMES DENNEY, D.D.
The Book of Job. By R. A. WATSON, M.A., D.D.
Ephesians. By Prof. G. G. FINDLAY, B.A.
The Gospel of St. John. By Prof. M. DODS, D.D. Vol. II.
The Acts of the Apostles. By Prof. STOKES, D.D. Vol. II.
1 Kings. By Ven. Archdeacon FARRAR.
Philippians. By Principal RAINY, D.D.
Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. By Prof. W. F. ADENEY, M.A.
Joshua. By Prof. W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D.
The Psalms. By A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. II.
The Epistles of St. Peter. By Prof. RAWSON LUMBY, D.D.
2 Kings. By Ven. Archdeacon FARRAR.
Romans. By H. C. G. MOULE, M.A.
The Books of Chronicles. By Prof. W. H. BENNETT, M.A.
2 Corinthians. By JAMES DENNEY, D.D.
Numbers. By R. A. WATSON, M.A., D.D.
The Psalms. By A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. III.
Daniel. By the Ven. Archdeacon F. W. FARRAR.
The Book of Jeremiah. By Prof. W. H. BENNETT, M.A.
Deuteronomy. By Prof. ANDREW HARPER, B.D.
The Song of Solomon and Lamentations. By Prof. W. F. ADENEY, M.A.
Ezekiel. By Prof. JOHN SKINNER, M.A.
The Minor Prophets. By Prof. G. A. SMITH, D.D. Two Vols.
BY ALEXANDER MACLAREN, D.D.
_VOLUME III_ PSALMS XC.-CL.
NEW YORK A. C. ARMSTRONG AND SON 51 EAST TENTH STREET 1894
1 Lord, a dwelling-place hast Thou been for us In generation after generation. 2 Before the mountains were born, Or Thou gavest birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting, Thou art God. 3 Thou turnest frail man back to dust, And sayest, "Return, ye sons of man." 4 For a thousand years in Thine eyes are as yesterday when it was passing, And a watch in the night. 5 Thou dost flood them away, a sleep do they become, In the morning they are like grass [which] springs afresh. 6 In the morning it blooms and springs afresh, By evening it is cut down and withers.
7 For we are wasted away in Thine anger, And by Thy wrath have we been panic-struck. 8 Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, Our secret [sins] in the radiance of Thy face. 9 For all our days have vanished in Thy wrath, We have spent our years as a murmur. 10 The days of our years--in them are seventy years, Or if [we are] in strength, eighty years, And their pride is [but] trouble and vanity, For it is passed swiftly, and we fly away. 11 Who knows the power of Thine anger, And of Thy wrath according to the [due] fear of Thee? 12 To number our days--thus teach us, That we may win ourselves a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, Jehovah; how long? And have compassion upon Thy servants. 14 Satisfy us in the morning [with] Thy loving-kindness, And we shall ring out joyful cries and be glad all our days. 15 Gladden us according to the days [when] Thou hast afflicted us, The years [when] we have seen adversity. 16 To Thy servants let Thy working be manifested, And Thy majesty upon their children. 17 And let the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us, And the work of our hands establish upon us, Yea, the work of our hands establish it.
The sad and stately music of this great psalm befits the dirge of a world. How artificial and poor, beside its restrained emotion and majestic simplicity, do even the most deeply felt strains of other poets on the same themes sound! It preaches man's mortality in immortal words. In its awestruck yet trustful gaze on God's eternal being, in its lofty sadness, in its archaic directness, in its grand images so clearly cut and so briefly expressed, in its emphatic recognition of sin as the occasion of death, and in its clinging to the eternal God who can fill fleeting days with ringing gladness, the psalm utters once for all the deepest thoughts of devout men. Like the God whom it hymns, it has been "for generation after generation" an asylum.