Y ('r. 24.-They have seen thy goings, O Ethiopia sh111l hasten to bow down; nil lho God; t'.e. men hn"e se<Jn-friende Rnd foce kingdoms of the earth shall ultimately•• sing Rlikc-<"ren the goings of my God, my pr1tises unto the Lord." Israel and the God King. in the so.notuary. God ie at once h0th IsrRol's Gnd And Isrncl's King. The of Ismel will thus be glorified exceedingly. monnrchy hna not wholly destroyed the Ver. 28.-Thy God hath oommanded (o!, thPocrncv. ordained) thy strength. It is fixed in the Y<"r. 25.-The singers went before, the Di~ine counstls t~at Isr,,el sbnll be strong. y,l11ycrs on instruments followed after (comp. This was dcterrnmed long ago, r:md is in 2 Snm. Yi. 15; 1 Chron. xv. 16-28). In course of accomplishment. llut more is Assyrinn musiMI proceseions tl,e plnycrs on needed. Tho psalmist tbereforo pmys, instruments precede the singers (' Ancient Strengthen, 0 God, that whioh thou hast Mnnarchies,' vol. i. p. 542). Among them wrought for ua. Complete thy work· were the dam.sale playing with timbrels; "strengthen the weak hands, and conflr~ rRther, ;n ITte midst of the damsels, eto. The the feeble knees;" wc11ken also and brin"' 0 dnmscls o.re represented, not I\S intermixed down our enemies (ver. 30). with tbe (me.le) singe.re and players on in- Ver. 29.-Beoau.se of thy templo at J'eru- struments, but ns encircling thtm. (On the salem shall kings bring present& unto thee, use of" timbrels" (tambourines) by Israelite So Ewald, Kay, and tbo Revised Version, maidens, see Exod. xv. 20; Judg. xi. 34.) though critics generally cloubt whether mill Ver. 26.-llless ye God in the congrega- can have this meaning. If min ho.s its tions, ernn the Lord, from the fountain of usu1tl sense of "from," we must regard the Israel. This is probaLly the refrain of the kings os having entered the temple courts, hymn sung (comp. Exod. xv. 21; 2 Chron. and from thence stretching out their hands, v. 13; Ezra iii. 11). By "the fountain of and offering their gifts, to God, who is in Israel" is no doubt meant the sanetnary on the holy of holies. (On tho offering of gifts Mount Zion-" the ever-living fountain of by heathen kings, see Isa. Jtlix. 23; lx. 16; praise" (Kay). and comp. Pa. lxxii. 10.) Ver. 27.-There is little Benjamin 'l>ith Ver. 30.-Bebuke the company of spear- their ruler. "With" is wrongly supplied men; ratller, the 1oild beast of the reeds; by our translators. "Little Benjamin"- ie. the crocodile or the hippopotamus, either the "smallest of the tribes of Israel'' (1 Sam. of which may well symbolize the empire of ix. 21 )-is called "their ruler," as having Egypt, the mightiest of the lleo.then powers furnislled the first king, and the one who in David's time. The multitude of the began the conquests celebrated in vers. 11 bulls represents other heatllen powers, -23. If the psalm is to be accounted as Assyria perhaps especially, which had the David's, we mny note it as a graceful net on human-headed and winged bull for its prin- his part that he places Saul's tribe first. cipal emblem. With the oalves of the The princes of 1udah and their council. people ; rather, of peoples - an obscure Again "and" is wrongly supplied. "The phrase, perhaps meaning inferior powers. princes of J uda.h " a.re called " their coun- 'fill every one submit himself with pieces cil," or "their bulwark" (Ke.y), as holding of silver; literally, (each) submitting himsdf the most important position in Israc:l at the to thee with piecea of silver. This ie given time. The reading, however, is doubtful. as the result of the rebukes. When the The princes of Zebulun, and the princes of various earth-powers have been "rebuked" l!faphte.li. Four tribes only nre mentioned, or chastised by God, then they will submit not because no more ihan lour took part in to briag gifts, or pay tribute, to lsrac-1 (comp. the processione, but ae representatives of ver. 18). Scatter thou the people that the wbole number. The tribes selected for delight in war. This is exegetical of the mention are from the two ends of the land first clause-rebuke these val'ious world- -the extreme south and the extreme north. powers that delight in we.r by "scattering" ZeLulun and Napht.ali were the most im- them, or putting them to flight before their portant of the northern tribes (see J udg. enemies. iv. 6, 10; ,•. 18), a.11 Judah and Benje.win Ver. 31.-Princes shall oome out of Egypt. wde of the southern ones. Then shall princely ambassadors como to Zion out of Egypt, o.nd mn.ke submission Vers. 28-35.-The psalmist now turns (comp. Isa.. xliii. 3; xlv.14). Ethiopia shall to the future. First, he prays that God soon stretch out her hauds unto God. The w;ll complete tLe work which be has Legun Ptolemies, in their wars with Syria, often by contioually strengthening Israel (ver.28). sougllt the favour of the Jews. Cllristin.n Churches at an early date were establishiid Then he rises to proph<-ey. Kings and both in Egypt ancl in Abyssinia, and some princes shall bring presents to Zion; empires of the most promising mi.Bsion fields to-day sba:I pro~trate thcm~lvcs; Egypt o.nd are in Africa. PB, I,XVIII, 1-35.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 47
Ver, 82.-Slng unto Ood, ye kingdom• of or, "might," "power "-that which makes the earth ; 0 sing praiaea unto the Lord. him Bhaddai, "the Almighty." Hi.a excel- All the worhl-powtrs hoving submitted to lenoy is over I■rael; or, "hie rnnjesty" the Ohurch, all lho kingdoms of the earth (Ko.y). And hi~ 1trength ia in the clouds. oon ho called upon to join in the praise of Not in earth only, but in heo.ven aL'lll. God. Ver. 35.-0 God, thou art terrible out of Ver. 83.-To him that rideth upon the thy holy places. "Terrihlc," i.e., in the heavens of heavens (comp. ver. 4; and for things that thou e.ccornplishest out of thy the expression "heavens of hen vens," seo holy places," ne Sinai, Zion, heaven. (On Dent, x. 14; I Kings Tiii. 27), Which Were lhe " terribleness" of God, see Dent. vii. 21; of old. In which God dwelt from nil eternity x. 17; Joh xxxvii. 22; Pss. xlvii. 2; lxvi. -long before he created the "heovens" of 3, 5; Jer. xx. 11; Zeph. ii. 11; Neh. i. 5; Gen. i. I. Lo, he doth send ot1.t his voice, iv. H; vi. 32; Heh. xii. 29.) The God of and the.t a mighty voice. A voice that Israel is he that giveth strength and power is heard and obeyed in every part of unto Bia people (comp. ver. 28). Blessed ba cren.lion. Ood. A worthy ending to this glorious Ver. 34.-Ascribe ye strength unto God; hymn of praise.