'holds IP. pl!Lce In the greRt confederacy, and of leut account (see Job xiii. 25; From the historic1Ll books h would Rppeer xv. 7; xxi. 18; xii. 29; Isa. xl. 24; xii. 2; tb1Lt this ocourred but once, viz. in D1Lvid'1 Jer. xiii. 24; Mai. iv. 1). gre1Lt WILr with the Ammonitca 1Lnd their Ver. H.-A, the fire burneth a wood, and allies (see the Introduction). They hne u the flame 111.1tteth the mo'llllt1Lins on 11.re, holpen the children of Lot; i.e. the M'lnbitcs Ca1l80 them, i.e., to conaume a.way and pel'ish, 1Lnd Ammouites (comp. Gen. xix. 37, 38; BB a barning forest, or as blazing brush- Deut. ii. 9, 19). Mo11b 1Lnd Ammon would wood on a mountAin-side. seem to h11ve been the principal powers Ver. 15.-So persecute them with thy engnged in tbe confederacy. Tile other;i tempest, and make them afraid with thy were their helpers. ltorm. There id eome c,,nfasion of meta- Ver. 9.-Do 11Ilto them as unto tha :Midian- phors; but the genera.I meaning is clear. itee. The allusion is probably to the dis- God is ea.lied upon to execute \'engeancc comfiture of the Midianites by Gideon upon Israel's enemies by sweeping them (Judg. vii. 19-25; viii. 1-12). As to away with the storm a.nd tempest of hi.a Siaera, as to J'abin, at the brook of Rison wrath (comp. Job ix. 17; Isa. xxix. 6). (see Judg. iv. 5). Ver. 16.-l!'ill their faces with shame; Ver. 10.-Which perished at En-dor. i.e. cause their enterprise to fa.ii, and so "Endor" is not mentioned in the narrative bring them to shame and c,,nfasion of fa,CP,. of Judges; bnt it was certainly in the Tha.t they may seek thy Name, 0 Lord. A neighbourhood of Taanah and Megiddo, merciful purpose lies behind the greater which are mentioned (Judg. v. 19; eee number of Divine visitations. They are Josh. :xvii. 11). They became as dung for intended to ecourge men into i;nbmi.asion, the ea.rth ; i.e. their carcases manured the and cause them to turn to God. The soil (comp. 2 Kings ix. 37; Zeph. i. 17). psalmist, being in foll sympathy with God, Ver. 11.-Make their nobles like Oreb, and desires that hie merciful intentions may like Zeeb. "Oreb" and "Zeeb," the leaders have effect. of the Mitlianitish host, were tak~n prisoners Ver. 17.-Let them be confo'llllded and and slain by the Ephraimited who pursued troubled for ever ; yea, let them be put to after Midian (Jndg. vii. 25). Yea, all their 1hama, and perish. An expall'3ion of ihe princes as Zeba, and as Zalmnnna, Zeba. and thought contained in the first clause of the Zalmnnna were the kings of Millian slain preceding verse, which mnst not be re- by Gideon himself (Jndg. viii. 21), garde,l ae annulling the kind wish of the Ver. 12.-Who said, Let na take to our- second clause. Like Hezekiah (Isa. x::uvii. selves the honaea of God in possession ; 20), the psalmist desires nothing so much rather, the home6f.eada of God ; or " the as the.t "all the kingdoms of the earth may pastures of God" (Pa. x.xiii 2), i.e. of God's know the.t Jehovah, e.nd he only, is God," people, Israel and may tarn to him in sincerity and truth. Ver. 13.-0 my God, make them liko a It is for tbis end that he wishes them to be wheel; rather, lir.e whirling dw,t-the dust brought low, even to the verge of destruction. th1Lt is caught up by e.n eddy of wind, Rntl Ver. 18.-That men may knew; rather, twisted round and round (see Isa.. xvii. that they may knou,, There is no •• men " in 13). As the stubble before the wind. Both the origine.L That thou, whose name alone the " whirling dllBt" and the "stubble" is J'ehovah, art the Kost High over all the are images of whe.t is lightest, most shining, earth (see the comment on ver. 16).
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vere. 1-18.-Soul-spouera. Dismissing from our consideration the probable historical occasion of this psalm (for which 64!e 2 Chron. :x.x.), we take it as a. vivid representation of the enemies and destroyers or the soul. Now- L Tm:aE ABE BUCH. Whoever yet sought to live the Divine life, and to walk with God in faithful obedience, that did not speedily find out that there were enemies of hi.i soul such as are set forth here? For see- IL TREIB CHABACTEBISTICS. 1. Numeroua. ,vhat a vast horde are named as Israel's foes (vers. 6--8) I And is not this true of our foes? They are not single, or few, or scattered; but they seem arrayed in troops, and meet us at every tum of our lives, 2 . .And very atrcmg. Read the history and see the dismay which filled the minds of the devout Jehoshaphat and his people at the a.wful confederacy which had come against them. And the half-despairing soul, often and often, is tempted to throw down his weapons and to abandon a war in which he seems to ha.ve no possible hope of -.ictory. The world, the flesh, the devil are, any one of them, too strong for him; how l~(l THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PB. LXXXlll. 1-18.