'l'he Korahitee were (1 Chron, ix, 17) keepers of the door of the tabernacle, and, in in Moses' time, watchmen at the entrance of the Levites' camp, and afterwards (1 Chron. xxvi, 1-19) were appointed as guardians of the temple doors (see ver.10 of this peo.lm). The writer longs to be a.gain at his loved work in the courts of the Lord. Hence he tells: 1. Of the loveliness <1/ God's hou.,e, in his esteem. 2. Of hi.~ intense desire for it. (Ver. 2.) His soul-yearning told upon his body, that he was as one in pain, and cried out. 3. Of the birds, the common sparrow, the restless swallow, -even they seemed to him happier than himself, for they were where he would but could not be. They were not banished, o.s he was, from the courts of the Lord. They dwelt and had their home there, as he fain would. 4. Of the blessedness of his service. It was a life of praise, and there is no life so blessed as this. They are made strong by God; the joy of it brightened the long journeys, reached to the very roads, arid, bare, ond terrible, as many of them were. Yet nevertheless, in their hearts were ever these "ways." The joy of the service to which they were going made the vale of weeping a place of joy, the sandy waste a place of fountains; yea, God did so bless them with his grace as with the soft autumnal rains the corn lands are blessed after the seed is sown. And the looked-for gladness made their numbers swell and grow hy additions that came in from all sides as the happy pilgrims went alon~, until every one of them appeared before God in Zion. Then follows: 5. The fervent pmyer that these hallowed seasons may be again given; the names by which he appeals to God telling probably of the hosts of enemies arrayed against the people of God. 6. He declares the reason wherefore he thus importunes the Lord of hosts. It was because he counted the meanest service for God better than the best pleasures of sin. The worst of the Church is better than the best of the world. And because of what God himself was. 7. From all this learn-that the love of God's house is one sure mark of God's people; that true worship is a well of delight, which gladdens all our life; but that only they know it who have knowledge of God in their own personal experi- ence as their Sun and Shield. II. The other interpretation of this psalm reads it as telling of THE BLESSEDNESS OF LIFE IN Gon. Ver. 1 distinctly affirms this : the earthly tabernacle being the type of the soul in which God dwells. Ver. 2 declares that he cannot live without God. Ver. 3: he joyfully asserts that he lives in God; his soul, thongh mean as the sparrow, restless as the swallow, has yet found a rest, a dwelling-place, a home in God- in God as seen in his altars, type of the sacrifice of Christ. Ver. 4: he celebrates the blessedness of such-their life is one continued song. Ver. 5: anrl of those whose strength-their confider.t trust-is in God, in whose heart are "ways'' for God; he has full right of way in them, they belong to him (Isa. xl. 3, 4). Ver. 6: their sorrow is turned into joy. Ver. 7: their trust strengthens evermore; they see God as they worship. Vers. 8-11 are one fervent prayer that he who has told of this blessedness may know it for himself: "Hear my prayer." And all this is true : the life in God is blessed.-S. C.
Ver. 3.-Sanctuary birds. The sparrow and the swallow told of here are apt types of those servants of God who find in him what these birds found in the temple. The comparison of the soul of one of God's people to a bird is not unusual (see Ps. xi.). Note- I. SOME OF THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 1. Such as are negative. They are not dis- tinguishlld, like the eagle and many others, but of a very humble and lowly sort; nor powerful and strong ; nor beautiful ; nor valuahle-" Are not two sparrows sold for a farlhing?"-nor numerous, that is, in comparison with the vast multitude of birds generally; nor, in themselves, attractive and beloved, like the dove. But neither are they cruel like the eagle, nor "foul like the vulture, nor greedy as the cormorant, nor blolJdthirsty as the hawk, nor hardhearted as the ostrich, nor depending upon men for support as the fowls of the farmyard, nor loving darknegs like the owl" (Spurgeon). All these negative qualities suggest the opposite ones in those who delight in God. But there are also: 2. Suell as are pnsitive. 'l'hey are the lowly ones, restless till they find their home; seekers,--they "find" the rest they desire; true to their homes; trustful,-in what stra!1g1, places their nests are often found, under the eaves of cottages, nnd in all manner of accessible places, where any one could reach them, but they seem lf\6 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. LP8, L:1..XIIV, 1-12,
to trnst that no one will harm them I Are not these characteriatioa like those of the souls of whom thei<e birds are the types ? II. THE~ ENOOURAGEMENTs. 1. There are the altars of God for them ; they have not t-0 provide such home. 2. When they come they are never driven away, III. THEIR mscovERI~. They find : 1. .A habitation, strong, comfortable, abiding. 2. .A home. The Church 1s a borne for the soul. IV. THEIR You:,;-o. Their home is in the courts of the Lord. So will the faithful servants of God seek that their 0ffspring shall 611d their home in the Church or God. "Children should be housed in the house of God. The sanctuary of God should be the nursery of the young." Happy those children whose parents seek for this above all else 1-S. C.