Skip to main content

Full text of "Aids to the devout study of criticism"

See other formats 


JLOS  AIN'GELKS 


AIDS    TO    THE    DEVOUT    STUDY    OF 
CRITICISM 


AIDS  TO  THE 
DEVOUT  STUDY  OF  CRITICISM 


PART  I.    THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES 
PART  II.    THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS 


BY   THE   REV. 

T.    K.    CHEYNE,    M.A.,    D.D. 

ORIEL     PROFESSOR    OF     THE    INTERPRETATION     OF     HOLY    SCRIPTURE     IN     THE 
UNIVERSITY   OF   OXFORD  ;    CANON   OK    ROCHESTER 


T.     FISHER     UNWIN 

PATERNOSTER   SQUARE 

MDCCCXCII 


PREFACE 


THE  need  of  a  distinctly  critical  and  yet  simply  and 
devoutly  Christian  treatment  of  the  Old  Testament 
for  educated  persons  was  forcibly  brought  home  to 
me  when  in  1886  I  first  went  into  summer  residence 
as  a  Canon  of  Rochester.  I  found  an  open  field,  and 
the  only  question  was  whether  with  an  experience 
gathered  first  in  the  university  and  then  in  a  country 
parish  I  could  do  anything  for  the  busy  but  thought- 
ful population  of  a  large  town.  What  I  tried  to  do 
for  such  persons  I  have  told  them  sermon-wise  in 
some  pages  of  this  volume  (see  Part  II.,  Chap,  ii.), 
and  I  will  only  say  here  that  one  course  of  sermon- 
studies,  published  under  the  title  of  The  Hallowing 
of  Criticism,  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  recom- 
mended by  the  beloved  Bishop  Thorold  (then  of 
Rochester,  now  of  Winchester)  to  his  South  London 
clergy.  I  now  publish  in  a  revised  and  less  homi- 

2000306 


PREFACE. 


letical  form,  and  with  the  addition  of  much  inter- 
woven illustrative  matter,  not  only  the  chief  of  last 
year's  cathedral  sermons  (those  on  David  and  on 
Psalm  li.),  but  also  a  selection  from  those  of  several 
previous  summers,  and  I  offer  them,  not  only,  nor 
even  chiefly,  to  churchmen  of  the  diocese  of  Rochester, 
but  to  those  who,  in  whatever  place  or  of  whatever 
communion,  are  pursuing  in  a  devout  spirit  the 
critical  study  of  the  Scriptures.  In  short,  I  venture 
(encouraged  by  the  opinion  of  so  experienced  a 
teacher,  as  Canon  Bernard  of  Salisbury *)  to  hope 
that  what  I  prepared  in  the  first  instance  for 
Rochester  may  be  useful  in  its  present  enlarged  form 
to  those  who  take  part  in  the  '  higher  religious 
education '  elsewhere.  The  critical  analysis  of  the 
Books  of  Samuel  happens,  for  instance,  to  be  at 
present  accessible  in  no  other  book. 
OXFORD,  Easter  Monday,  1892. 

NOTE. — i.  The  following  abbreviations  are  employed  : — 
Var.  B.,  '  Variorum  Bible.' 
A.D.,  '  Travels  in  Arabia  Deserta,'  by  C.  M.  Doughty. 

2  Vols. 

B.L.,  '  Bampton  Lectures  on  the  Psalter.' 
2.  All  the  Psalm-studies  except  those  on  Ps.  li.  were  originally 
published  in  the  Expositor.     The  critical   matter,  how- 
ever, and  the  introductory  notes,  etc. ,  are  new. 


•  '  This  opinion  only  relates  to  the  studies  published  in  the  Expositor. 
See  Note. 


CONTENTS. 


I'AGE 

PREFACE  ......  V 

PART   I. —  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

CHAP. 

I.    HOW   THE    BOOK    OF   SAMUEL   AROSE          .  .  3 

II.    THE   CHARACTER   OF   DAVID   .  .  .  1 6 

in.  THE  SAME  (continued}    .  .  .   '          -43 

IV.    DAVID    AND    GOLIATH  .  .  .  74 

v.  THE  SAME  (continued]    .  .  .  .98 

NOTE   ON    2    SAM.    XXI.    19      .  .  .  125 

PART  II.— THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS. 

I.  THE   CRITICAL   STUDY   OF   THE   PSALTER  .       I2Q 

II.  THE    INSPIRATION    OF    THE   PSALMISTS  .  141 

III.  PSALM    LI.  .....       165 

IV.  THE    SAME      .  .  .  .  .183 
V.  THE    SAME              .....       199 

VI.    PSALM    XXXII.  .  .  .  .2l8 

VII.    PSALM   VIII.  .....       234 

NOTE   ON    PSALMS   VIII.    AND    XXIII.  .  244 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  PAGE 

VIII.    PSALM   XVI.            .....  248 

NOTE   ON    PS.    XVII.    15             .               .  .                 .  269 

IX.    PSALM   XXIV.         .                 .                 .  \                               .  275 

X.    PSALMS    XXVI.    AND    XXVIII.    .                   .                   .  291 

XI.    PSALM    LXIII.         .....  308 

XII.    PSALM    LXVIII.                .                  .                 .                 .  323 

NOTE   ON    PS.    LXVIII.       .  .  .  -341 

XIII.  PSALM    LXXXVI.             .                 .                 .                  .  342 

XIV.  PSALM    LXXXVII.                    .                 .                 .                 .  356 
XV.    PSALMS    CXIII.-CXVIII.               .                 .                 .  375 

NOTE   ON    PS.    CX.                ....  391 


PART    I. 

THE   DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


CHAPTER    I. 

HOW   THE   BOOK   OF   SAMUEL  AROSE. 

CAREFUL  narrative  composition  received  a  strong 
impulse  from  the  romantic  and  varied  career  of 
David.  His  predecessor,  howeveV  heroic,  had  the 
limitations  of  his  striking  individuality.  David,  on 
the  other  hand,  though  not  as  Protean  as  Edward 
Irving  makes  him,  was  both  morally  and  intellectually 
flexible  and  many-sided.  He  is  in  fact  a  national  or 
even  a  racial  type — '  le  type  le  plus  etonnant  peut- 
etre,  et  le  plus  acheve  de  la  nature  semitique  dans  ses 
belles  et  dans  ses  mauvaises  parties.' z  The  early 
story-tellers  were  dimly  conscious  of  this,  and,  with  all 
their  admiration  for  David's  splendid  qualities,  were 
far  from  concealing  his  darker  side.  If  'sincerity' 
be,  as  Dean  Jackson  represents,2  a  criterion  of  inspira- 

1  Renan  (1855).  2   Works,  i.  37. 


THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


tion,  the  authors  or  compilers  of  the  biography  of 
David  certainly  deserve  to  be  called  inspired. 

It  is  almost  needless  to  add  that  the  life  of  David, 
like  the  Book  (not  Books  x)  of  Samuel  in  which  it  is 
contained,  is  of  composite  origin,  and  not  of  equal 
historical  value  throughout.  At  first,  as  might  be 
expected,  the  facts  of  historical  or  semi-historical 
•tradition  and  the  fictions  of  a  reverent  imagination 
are  commingled.  It  is  often^o  with  the  early  history 
of  the  great  men  of  antiquity.  But  pass  on  to  the 
period  of  David's  outlawry,  and  a  change  becomes 
visible  in  the  narrative.  Its  details  are  so  full  of 
primitive  naturalness,  and  so  minutely  true  to  the 
physical  features  of  the  scenes  of  David's  wander- 
ings,2 that  we  cannot  help  deriving  the  accounts 
from  a  very  early  source,  even  if  we  no  longer  have 
the  traditions  in  the  most  original  form.  Lastly, 
that  important  group  of  narratives  which  begins  with 
David's  generosity  to  Mephibosheth  and  ends  with 
the  execution  of  Shimei  (2  Sam.  ix.-xx.,  i  Kings  i., 
ii.)  takes  a  still  higher  rank,  and  stands  alone  among 
the  continuous  narrative  sections  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment for  picturesqueness,  psychological  insight,  and 

1  As  in  the  case  of  Kings,  the  division  into  two  books  comes  from  the 
Septuagint  and  the  Vulgate,  and  was  first  transferred  to  the  Hebrew 
Bible  by  Daniel  Bomberg  (1517-18). 

2  See  Conder's  paper  on  the  Scenery  of  David's  Outlaw  Life  (Pal. 
Fund  Statement,  Jan.  1875,  P-  4X>  &c-  5  reprinted  in  the  Memoirs). 


HOW  THE  BOOK  OF  SAMUEL  AROSE.  5 

above  all  historical  accuracy.  Its  author  deserves 
our  warmest  thanks,  for  he  respects  the  great  king 
so  much  that  he  ventures  to  record  even  his  errors 
and  his  sins. 

But  we  cannot  study  the  biography  of  David  by 
itself.  From  his  first  public  appearance  to  the  death 
of  Saul,  his  story  blends  with  the  tragic  record  of 
his  predecessor.  We  must  therefore  inquire  what 
manner  of  man  Saul  was.  Leaving  behind  us  the 
'  broad  rich  harvest-fields '  of  the  later  narratives,  we 
must  ascend  to  the  '  misty  highlands '  of  the  remoter 
past  ;  in  short,  we  must  regard  the  story  of  Saul's 
earlier  period  as  the  introduction  to  the  life  of  David. 
We  shall  thus  obtain  an  unforced  division  of  the 
Book  of  Samuel  into  three  parts,  viz.,  I  Sam.  i.-xv. 
(Samuel  and  Saul),  I  Sam.  xvi.-2  Sam.  viii.  (Saul 
and  David),  2  Sam.  ix.-i  Kings  ii.  (David  and  the 
troubles  of  the  succession).  The  critical  analysis  of 
the  book  is  attended  with  less  difficulty  than  that  of 
the  Hexateuch,  but  it  is  only  within  the  last  few  years 
that  it  has  reached  sufficiently  definite  results.  I 
give  here  the  results  of  Kautzsch  (well  known  to 
many  by  his  own  and  Socin's  excellent  analytic 
edition  of  Genesis)  from  his  new  translation  of  the 
Old  Testament,1  prefixing  an  explanation  of  the 
signs. 

1  Die  heilige  Schrift  des  A.  T.,  Freiburg  i.  B. ,  1891  (in  progress). 


THE  DA  VID-NARRA  TIVES. 


Je  denotes  an  old  account  of  David,  written  most 
probably  in  Jerusalem,  and  dating  from  the 
time  of  Solomon  or  Rehoboam. 

Da,  another  account  of  David,  also  written  in 
Judah,  and  dating  from  the  loth  or  pth 
century. 

S,  a  Judahite  or  Benjamite  account  of  Saul,  con- 
temporary with  the  preceding.  5  and  Da 
may  have  one  and  the  same  author. 

SS,  an  account  of  Samuel  and  Saul,  composed, 
probably  in  N.  Israel,  of  different  traditional 
elements,  and  about  contemporary  with  the 
prophet  Hosea. 

E,  a  narrative  of  the  8th  or  gth  century,  composed 
in  the  northern  kingdom. 

Ju  denotes  the  editor  of  the  Book  of  Judges  in  its 
earlier  form.  He  is  post-Deuteronomic. 

Dt,  the  changes  introduced  into  the  story  of  Samuel 
and  Saul  under  the  influence  of  Deute- 
ronomy. 

?,  passages  of  uncertain  origin. 

R,  the  editor  or  editors  of  the  Books  of  Samuel  in 
their  present  form. 

i   SAM. 

Da.  16,  14-23.  18,  6-1 1.  18,  20-27.  20  (basis). 
21,  i.  23,  19-25,  44.  27,  i-31,  13. 


HOW  THE  BOOK  OF  SAMUEL  AROSE.  7 

5.  9,  i-10,  1 6  (not  9,  9).     11,  I   [see    Var.  B.]-i$. 

13,  1-14,  46  (mainly). 
SS.   1.    2,    11-26.      3,    1-2 1.      8.  10,   17-26.      15, 

17,  i-18,  5.     18,   12-19.     18,28-19,17.     '21, 

2-10.     22.  23,    1-13.     26.      [On  xvii.   46,  47 

see  below,  pp.  1 16-1 18.] 
E.  4.  5.  6,  i-7,  i. 
/«.  12.  14, -47-5 1. 
Z>£  2,  27-36.     7,  2-16. 
7?.  7,  17.      9,  9.     10,  8.      13,  i.     jb-i$a.     19-22. 

16,  1-13.     17,  12,  15.    19,  18-24.     '20  (parts). 

23,  14-18  (and  elsewhere). 
?  2,  i-io.     21,  11-16. 

2  SAM. 

Je.  5,  3-16  (mainly).     6,  1-23.     9-20. 
Da.  1,    1-4.    17-27.      2,    i-3,    i.    6-5,  2    (mainly). 
5,    17-25.     21,   15-22.     23,  8-39.      i  Kings  1. 

2,13- 

55.  1,  6- 1 6. 

Dt.     1.     i  Kings  2,  1-9. 
/?.  1,  5.     8  (older  basis),     i   Kings  2,  10-12  (and 

elsewhere). 
?  3,  2-5.     21,  1-14.     22.  23,  1-7.     24,  1-25. 

There  is  one  striking  result  of  the  composite  origin 
of  Samuel  to  which  it  is  fitting  to  refer  at  this  point — 
I  mean  the  coexistence,  here  and  there,  of  two  different 


THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


accounts  of  one  and  the  same  fact.  These  accounts 
may  either  be  variants  of  the  same  tradition,  or  may 
represent  almost  or  entirely  different  views  of  what 
actually  occurred.  There  seem  to  be  eleven  pairs  of 
these  '  doublets,'  as  they  have  been  called.  Here  is 
a  list  of  them  with  comments  (in  which  a  denotes 

the  former  narrative,  b  the  latter). 

•  » 

(1)  i  Sam.  x.  10-12  — -  xix.  i8-xx.  la.     The  origin 
of  the  proverb,  '  Is  Saul  also  among  the  prophets  '  ? 

(2)  i    Sam.   xvi.    i5-22  =  xvii.    i-xviii.    4    (part). 
How  David  was  introduced  to  Saul. 

(3)  i  Sam.  xvii.  i-xviii.  4  (part)  =  2  Sam.  xxi.  19. 
The  slaying  of  Goliath  of  Gath. 

(4)  i   Sam.  xviii.   10,  11  =  xix.  9,  10.     How  Saul 
cast  a  spear  at  David. 

(5)  i  Sam.  xix.  1-7  -----  xx.  i<^-xxi.  i.     How  Jona- 
than tried  to  save  David. 

(6)  i    Sam.    xx.    11-23,   42  =  xxiii.    16-18.      The 
religious   covenant   of    brotherhood    between    David 
and  Jonathan. 

(7)  i  Sam.   xxi.    10-15    [Hcb.,    11-16]  *  -  xxvii., 
xxviii.  i,  2,  xxix.  David's  residence  at  Gath. 

(8)  I    Sam.    xxiv.  =  xxvi.      How   David    in    his 
wanderings  spared  Saul's  life. 

(9)  i  Sam.  xxxi.  =  2  Sam.  i.  1-16.     The  death  of 
Saul. 


HOW  THE  BOOK  OF  SAMUEL  AROSE. 


(10)  i   Sam.  ix.  i-x.  16,  2"jb  (following  the  Sept.  ; 
see  R.V.  marg.),  xi.   i-ii,    i5--viii.,  x.   17-27^,  xii. 
How  Saul  became  king. 

(11)  i  Sam.  x.  8,  xiii.  jb-\$a     ,xv.     The  rejection 
of  Saul. 

(1)  S,  to  which  a  belongs,  represents  Samuel  as  the 
seer  and  priest  of  Ramah ;  for  the  prophets  mentioned 
in  x.  5,  10  have  no  connexion  with  Samuel.     R,  who 
has  inserted  b  into  the  composite  Book  of  Samuel, 
thinks  of  Samuel  as  '  a  prophet '  and  as  the  head  of  a 
'  school  of  prophets.'     The  statement  in  xix.  24  that 
Saul  and  Samuel  met  on  this  occasion  differs  from 
that  in  xv.  35  (S).     The  story  of  David's  wanderings 
gains  greatly  by  the  omission  of  b  (and  also  no  doubt 
by   the    omission    of    chap,    xx.,   and    xxi.    11-16). 
According   to  SS,  upon   whom  we  must   here  rely, 
David  fled  from  Gibeah  of  Benjamin,  not  northward 
to  Ramah,  but  first  to  Nob  and  then  to  Adullam. 

(2)  Many  attempts  have  been  made  from  a  non- 
critical  point  of  view  to  explain  the  inconsistency. 
Thus  Chandler,  the  opponent  of  Pierre  Baylc,  in  his 
Life  of  David  (i.  73),  remarks,  '  Saul  did  not  inquire 
who   David  was,  but  whose  son,  because  it  was  of 
importance  to  him  to  know  of  what  family  he  was, 
as  he  had  promised  to  give  him  his  own  daughter  to 
wife,  if  he  should  conquer  the  Philistines.'     Chandler 


THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


here  supposes  that  Saul  knew  David's  name  and 
person,  but  not  his  parentage.  But  Saul  knew  both, 
according  to  xvi.  21,  22.  Comp.  however  Stanley, 
art.  '  David,'  Bible  Diet.,  i.  403,  and,  for  critical 
solutions,  Driver,  Introd.,  pp.  169,  170;  and  see 
below,  p.  78. 

(3)  It  is  difficult  to  suppose  with  Kirkpatrick  (in 
1881)  that  tradition  knew  of  two  giants  called  Go- 
liath. Obviously  there  are  two  distinct  accounts,  and 
that  in  2  Sam.  must  be  the  more  ancient  one  (see 
p.  81).  If  it  be  asked,  how  the  slaying  of  Goliath 
came  to  be  transferred  from  Elhanan  to  David,  there 
is  a  simple  answer.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
unconscious  legend-making  faculty  is  wont  to  rob 
less  favoured  heroes  of  their  great  deeds  for  the 
benefit  of  popular  favourites.  But  in  this  particular 
case  the  transference  may  have  been  facilitated  by 
the  circumstance  that  Elhanan  was  '  the  son  of  Dodo 
of  Bethlehem  '  (2  Sam.  xxiii.  24,  i  Chron.  xi.  26). 
Now  Dodo  was  probably  a  more  archaic  form  of 
David  ;  Dudu  appears  from  the  Tell  el-Amama 
Tablets  to  have  been  in  use  in  Palestine  in  the 
1 5th  century  B.C.  (Records  of  the  Past,  N.S.,  iii.  69). 
It  is  no  decisive  objection  to  this  that  in  2  Sam. 
xxi.  19  (cf.  i  Chron.  xx.  5)  the  Elhanan  who  slew 
Goliath  is  called  the  son  of  Jair  {not  Jaare-orcgim  ; 
see  Driver  ad  loc^]  ;  for  one  of  these  two  names 


HOW  THE  BOOK  OF  SAMUEL  AROSE. 


was  probably  the  name  of  a  more  distant  ancestor. 
Note  also  that  David  and  his  men  really  fought  with 
the  Philistines  at  Ephes-dammim  (see  p.  81,  note  I). 

(4)  If  with  Kuenen  and  Wellhausen  we  adopt  the 
Greek  text  of  xviii.  6-30  (which  is  much  shorter  than 
the  Hebrew,  and  lacks  vv.  10,  1 1),  this  is  not  a  genuine 
case  of  'doublets.'     Budde  however  (p.  219)  has  well 
defended  the  opposite  view.     Certainly  the  analysis 
accounts  for  the  coexistence  of  the  two  narratives. 

(5)  a  and   b  are  variants  of  the  same  tradition  ;  b 
however  interrupts  and  so  far  spoils  the    narrative 
(SS),  which,  after  describing  Michal's  ingenuity,  says, 
'But  David  had  fled   and   escaped  '  (xix.    i8«),  and 
should   then  continue,  '  And    David    came  to  Nob ' 
(xxi.  2). 

(6)  The   covenant   between    the   two   friends   was 
variously  related  (cf.   p.  48,   note  2).      Not  liking  to 
lose  /;,    R    made   a   place   for  it   by   means    of  the 
connecting  verses  14  and  15. 

(7)  xxi.  10-15  is  a  much  less  detailed  description 
than   xxvii.  &c.,  and  the  occasion  which  it  gives  for 
David's  flight  to  Gath  has  less  convincingness  than 
that  given  in  the  latter.     The  writer  probably  wished 
to  supplant  the  other  narrative  in  the   interests    of 
David's  patriotism.     His  story  is  however  not  a  pure 
invention.     The  feigned  madness  of  David  (like  that 
of  Odysseus)  is  one  of  those  legendary  features  in 


THE  DA  V1D-NARRA  TIVES. 


which  the  people — the  great  legend-maker — delights, 
and  the  humorous  tinge  of  the  story  cannot  be  mis- 
taken. The  later  narrative  (i.e.  xxi.  11-16)  was  pre- 
ferred by  the  author  or  authors  of  the  headings  of 
Psa.  xxxiv.  and  Ivi. 

(8)  Bayle's  argument  (Dict.^  iv.  542)  to  show  that  a 
and  b  relate  to  the  same  occurrence  may  still  be  read. 
The   doubting   philosopher   deserves    credit    for  his 
insight;  see  also  Driver  (p.  171)  and  especially Budde 
(p.   227),  Kuenen  (p.   371).     Budde   seems  right   in 
holding  that  b  is  more  recent  (i.e.  belongs  to  a  more 
recent  document)  than  a,  which  is  not  inconsistent 
with  the  fact  that  many  points  in  this  version  of  the 
tradition  are  more  original  than  those  of  its  fellow. 
Budde  has  also  shown  that  xxv.  2-44  should  properly 
come  after  xxiii.  28.     It  received  its  present  position 
to  separate  the  '  doublets  '  in  a  and  b.     Saul  has  been 
called  off  from  his  pursuit  of  David  by  an  incursion 
of  the   Philistines ;    David  however   remains  in    the 
wilderness   of  Maon.     It   is   there    (viz.   at   Carmel, 
now  Kurmul)  that  the  scene  of  the  story  of  Nabal  lies, 
and  the  reader  will  at  once  see  how  naturally  this 
finely  told  story  is  followed  by  the  narrative  in  a.    On 
chaps,  xxv.  and  xxvi.,  see  further  pp.  60-62. 

(9)  Of  these  two  inconsistent  reports,  the  former  is 
evidently   the    more    credible   (cf.    Wellhausen,   Die 
Composition  &c.,  p.  254  ;  Stade,   Gesch.,  p.  258).      b 


HOW  THE  BOOK  OF  SAMUEL  AROSE.  13 


(with  its  discrepant  account  of  Saul's  death)  was  sub- 
stituted by  the  editor  for  a  short  passage  of  Da, 
relating  how  David  received  the  bearer  of  the  evil 
tidings  (see  2  Sam.  iv.  10,  Da).  So  Budde. 

(10),  (n)  One  can  see  here  that  the  peculiarities 
of  the  later  narrative  correspond  to  a  new  religious 
theory  respecting  the  times  of  Saul.  The  '  spirit  of 
the  times '  must  from  the  first  have  had  an  effect  on 
the  form  of  tradition.  We  cannot  therefore  be  sur- 
prised if  some  earnest  men,  desirous  to  edify  their 
own  age,  in  perfect  good  faith  allowed  a  still  larger 
scope  to  this  potent  influence.  They  were  the  pre- 
decessors of  the  author  of  Chronicles  and  of  the  later 
Midrash  ^writers.  A  failure  to  observe  this  alto- 
gether vitiates  M.  Kenan's  account  of  early  prophetism 
(Histoire,  i.  381,  382),  in  which  i  Sam.  ix.  i-x.  i6and 
xii.  are  utilized  together,  as  if  they  stood  on  precisely 
the  same  level.  For  the  right  view,  see  Driver,  pp. 
165-6,  and  Wellhausen,  Prolegomena,  p.  260  &c. 
(chap.  vii.). 

The  reader  will,  I  hope,  understand  the  necessity 
for  this  preliminary  chapter,  which  supplements  the 
brief  consideration  of  the  authorities  for  the  life  of 
David  in  chap.  ii.  (see  p.  22,  beginning  '  In  opposi- 
tion to  this  destructive  criticism  ').  It  would  obviously 

1  On  '  Midrash,'  see  Driver,  p.  497  ;  Graetz,  History  of  the  yews,  ii. 
332. 


14                            THE  DA  VID-NARRA  TIVES. 
t 

be  an  anachronism  to  construct  a  life  of  David  out 
of  unsifted  material.  Analytic  criticism  must  pre- 
cede every  historical  sketch  wJuther  of  Old  or  of  New 
Testament  times.  What  follows  from  the  neglect  of 
this  canon  may  be  seen  from  an  essay  by  the  head- 
master of  Mill  Hill  School  on  '  Carnage  in  the  Old 
Testament.'1  After  a  quiet  hour  of  prayer  and  thanks- 
giving which  '  almost  ache  with  humility  and  pathetic 
acknowledgment  of  mercy,'  another  episode  (he  re- 
marks) is  related  with  a  strange  and  seemingly 
unfeeling  brevity.  David  smites  the  Moabites,  and 
having  their  army  in  his  power,  he  slays  after  the 
battle  in  cold  blood  two  out  of  three  of  them  with 
details  impossible  to  repeat.  Reading  the  Book  of 
Samuel  in  school,  Mr.  Vince  felt  that  he  must  face 
this  antithesis  as  he  best  could.  He  tells  us  how  he 
sought  to  explain  it  ;  but  his  explanation  is  too 
violent  to  be  satisfactory.  The  real  answer  is  that 
supplied  by  the  above  analysis,  viz.  that  chaps,  vii.  and 
viii.  come  from  different  sources,  and  that  the  former  is 
not  history,  but  an  imaginative  glorification  of  history 
(see  below,  p.  26).  In  respect  of  literary  insight  one 
must  agree  with  the  sceptical  critic  Bayle2  rather  than 
his  orthodox  opponents  Crousaz  and  Chandler.  Poor 
Bayle  had  not  indeed  the  courage  of  his  opinions  ; 

1  See  abstract  in  Expository  Times  ^  Dec.  1891,  p.  99. 

2  Historical  Dictionary  (Lond.  1736),  iv.  533. 


HOW  THE  BOOK  OF  SAMUEL  AROSE.  15 

indeed,  as  he  says  himself,  his  talent  was  only  that  of 
doubting.  Therefore  he  failed  where  we  may  trust 
in  God  to  succeed.  For  true  criticism  must  be 
constructive. 

Among  the  chief  aids  to  the  student  are  Prof.  R.  Smith's  article '  David ' 
in  the  Encycl.  Brit.,  and  Dillmann's  in  Schenkel's  Bibel- Lexicon. 
Kamphausen's  article,  Philister  uud  Hebrder  sur  Zeit  Davids  in  Stade's 
Zcitschrifl,  1886,  pp.  43-97  rectifies  some  serious  misapprehensions. 
On  the  critical  analysis,  comp.  Kautzsch  (as  above)  with  Wellhaiisen, 
Die  Composition  des  Hexateiichs  &c.  (1889),  p.  250  &c.  ;  Kuenen, 
Ondcrzoek  &c.,  ed.  2,  I.  (1887),  p.  386  &c.  ;  Cornill,  '  Zur  Quellen- 
kritik '  &c.  in  Konigsberger  Studien,  I.  (1887),  pp.  25-59;  and  his 
Ein killing  (1891),  p.  in  &c.  ;  Budde,  Die  Bilcher  Richter  und 
Samuel  &c.  (1890),  p.  210  ;  Kittel,  'Die  pentateuch.  Urkunden,'  &c., 
in  Theol.  Studien  und  Kriliken,  1892,  pp.  44-71.  Some  of  the  most 
essential  critical  points  are  well  brought  out  in  Dr.  Driver's  Introduc- 
tion (1891),  pp.  162-174,  where  the  author  was  greatly  hampered  by 
limited  space  (see  my  art.  in  Expositor,  Feb.  1892,  pp.  110-112).  See 
also  his  Notes  on  the  Hebrew  Text  of  Samuel  (1890).  Duncker's  History 
(vol.  ii.)  is  able,  but  his  narrative  needs  adjustment  to  the  analysis. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE   CHARACTER   OF   DAVID. 

ACTS  xiii.  22,  23. — And  when  he  had  removed  him  [Saul],  he  raised  up 
David  to  be  their  king  ;  to  whom  also  he  bare  witness,  and  said, 
I  have  found  David  the  son  of  Jesse,  a  man  after  my  heart,  who 
shall  do  all  my  will.  Of  this  man's  seed  hath  God  according  to 
promise  brought  unto  Israel  a  saviour,  Jesus. 

THE  biographic  narratives  are  for  many  of  us  the 
most  interesting  part  of  the  Old  Testament ;  an 
attack  upon  any  of  their  heroes  excites  our  liveliest 
indignation.  And  yet  as  soon  as  we  attempt  to 
repel  such  attacks,  whether  with  the  pen,  or,  as  in  our 
large  towns  we  must,  with  the  living  voice,  we  find  it 
a  much  tougher  piece  of  work  than  we  had  supposed ; 
and  even  among  our  Church-students  some  of  the 
best  profess  themselves  dissatisfied  with  the  con- 
ventional solutions  of  difficulties.  In  dealing  with 
these  circumstances  it  is  not  enough  to  adhere  to 
traditional  plans ;  we  must  move  with  the  times. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID. 


We  shall  be  '  verily  guilty  concerning  our  brother,' 
if  we  allow  him  to  drift  among  the  icebergs  of  doubt 
for  want  of  an  intelligent  knowledge  of  the  Bible. 
Indeed  the  whole  Christian  family  will  be  injured,  if 
we  do  not  discover  some  better  way  of  preserving 
true  reverence  for  the  Old  Testament,  and  more 
especially  for  its  narratives.  But  is  there  any  way 
left  which  might  be  tried  in  popular  teaching  ?  Yes ; 
there  is  one  which  has  until  lately  been  neglected  ;  it 
is  to  throw  upon  the  Old  Testament  the  full  light  of 
critical  research.  God  has  put  it  into  the  heart  of 
an  increasing  number  of  Christian  scholars  to  apply 
improved  methods  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  they  wish  now  to  turn  their  results  to  account 
in  the  practical  service  of  the  Church.  It  is  but  too 
certain  that  our  popular  religion  needs  simplifying, 
and  that  the  defence  of  Christian  truth  against 
infidelity  needs  strengthening,  and  these  objects  can, 
it  would  seem,  be  promoted  by  a  league  between 
inquiring  Christian  people  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
scholars  of  whom  I  spoke  on  the  other.  In  our 
great  centres  of  population,  where  attacks  upon  the 
Bible  are  most  frequent  and  most  dangerous,  such  a 
league  seems  specially  required.  Its  object  will  be 
to  apply  modern  methods  of  study  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment with  just  sufficient  precision  to  bring  out  the 
gradualness  of  divine  revelation,  to  emphasize  and 

3 


1 8  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

illustrate  the  essential  facts  and  truths  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  to  solve  the  difficulties  and  correct  the 
misapprehensions  of  infidel  objectors. 

But  some  timid  Christian  may  ask,  Had  I  not 
better  leave  this  study  to  those  who  have  to  meet 
infidel  objectors  in  controversy  ?  May  I  not,  by 
being  too  venturesome,  expose  my  own  faith  to  too 
severe  a  shock  ?  Historical  truth  may  be  good,  but 
spiritual  truth  is  better ;  why  should  I  not  be  content 
with  the  one  thing  needful  ?  To  which  I  would 
reply,  with  heart-felt  sympathy,  that  vital  faith  in 
spiritual  truth  cannot  be  imperilled  by  historical 
inquiry  into  its  records,  that  on  the  contrary  there 
are  few  better  aids  to  faith  than  a  historical  view  of 
the  progress  of  revelation,  such  as  the  higher  study  of 
the  Bible  presents  to  us.  Of  this  we  may  truly  say 
that  it  is  in  some  sense  '  the  beginning  of  wisdom  ' ; 
acquire  this  lore,  and  you  will  more  safely  speculate 
concerning  the  mysteries  of  nature  and  of  human  life. 
And  thus  on  all  accounts  I  would  invite  educated 
laymen  to  join  this  new  league,  and  study  the 
elements  of  this  fascinating  subject.  It  is  a  post  of 
honour  to  which  our  new  England  invites  them — one 
in  which  they  may  repel  with  more  effect  the  attacks 
of  irreligion,  and  at  the  same  time  lay  the  foundation 
of  a  better  and  a  purer  religious  knowledge  for  the 
coming  age. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  19 

The  teachers  no  doubt  are  comparatively  few,  and 
have  but  scanty  means  of  communicating  with  their 
disciples.  Among  these,  books  and  periodicals  stand 
in  the  first  place  ;  lectures  only  in  the  second.  May  we 
also  mention  sermons  ?  We  not  only  may,  but  must. 
In  our  changing  circumstances  we  urgently  require  a 
greater  variety  of  preaching.  And  more  especially 
in  our  cathedrals,  where  all  classes  may  expect  to 
find  a  spiritual  home,  must  this  requirement  be 
satisfied.  To  us  therefore  who  minister  in  these  sacred 
fanes  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  repeats  to-day  his 
stirring  exhortation,  'Covet  earnestly  the  best  gifts.' 
And  among  these  gifts  surely  the  ability  to  do  justice 
to  the  Old  Testament,  and  to  instil  into  educated 
people  a  more  intelligent  reverence  for  it,  is  to  be 
included.  For  what  I  speak  of  now  is  not  mere 
lectures,  but  sermons,  that  is  addresses  which  lead  up 
to  a  personal  application  of  spiritual  truth.  Let  all 
things  in  the  church  be  done,  as  St.  Paul  says,  '  unto 
edifying,'  i.e.  with  a  view  to  building  up  the  spiritual 
life.  The  devout  and  churchly  spirit  of  such  a 
preacher  as  I  am  imagining  will  be  strong  enough  to 
give  a  distinctive  tone  to  his  instruction.  His  dis- 
courses, taken  one  with  another,  will  be  so  bathed  in 
the  love  of  Christ  and  the  Church  ;  his  historical 
statements  will  be  so  softened  by  the  close  neigh- 
bourhood of  spiritual  truth,  that  every  candid  hearer, 


THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


however  simple,  may  leave  the  church  with  a  sense 
that  this  is  the  work  of  God.  By  such  a  mode  of 
action,  which  implies  a  constant  looking  upward  for 
help,  Christian  truth  has  every  needed  safeguard,  and 
the  historical  study  of  the  Bible  will  be  deprived  of 
the  terribleness  with  which  a  distant  view  may  have 
invested  it.  It  is  in  fact  one  among  many  modern 
fulfilments  of  that  New  Testament  saying,  According 
as  each  hath  received  a  gift,  even  so  minister  the 
same  among  yourselves,  as  good  stewards  of  tJie  mani- 
fold grace  of  God? 

I  return  now  to  our  text.  It  brings  together  in  a 
most  effective  way  the  Messiah  and  the  Messiah's 
greatest  ancestor,  and  it  suggests  a  painful  reflexion. 
Whereas  the  rich  humanity  of  the  former  is  revealing 
itself  more  and  more  to  our  delighted  gaze,  the 
attractive  features  of  the  latter  are  still  half  blotted 
out  by  a  traditional  theory  of  no  critical  value.  Let 
me  quote  a  few  passages  from  the  splendid  exposition 
of  this  theory  given  by  Thomas  Carlyle's  early  friend, 
the  great  preacher  Edward  Irving.  David,  according 
to  him,  had  an  unique  experience  and  an  uniquely 
comprehensive  nature.  'The  hearts  of  a  hundred 
men  strove  and  struggled  together  within  the  con- 
tinent of  his  single  heart.'  He  'had  that  brilliant 
galaxy  of  natural  gifts,  that  rich  and  varied  educa- 
1  i  Pet.  iv.  10. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  21 

tion,  in  order  to  fit  him  for  executing  the  high  office 
to  which  he  was  called  by  the  Spirit,  of  giving  to  the 
Church  universal  forms  of  spiritual  feeling.  And 
though  we  neither  excuse  his  acts  of  wickedness,  nor 
impute  them  to  the  temptation  of  God  ...  we  will 
also  add  that  by  his  loss  the  Church  hath  gained  ; 
and  that  if  he  had  not  passed  through  every  valley  of 
humiliation,  and  stumbled  upon  the  dark  mountains, 
we  should  not  have  had  a  language  for  the  souls  of 
the  penitent,  or  an  expression  for  the  dark  troubles 
which  compass  the  soul  that  feareth  to  be  deserted 
by  its  God.' *  Now  every  one  of  us,  I  hope,  has  an 
affectionate  admiration  for  Edward  Irving,  and  a 
sincere  reluctance  to  blame  him.  Nor  need  we  cen- 
sure him  in  this  particular,  for  he  lived  before  the 
new  conception  of  history  had  established  itself  in 
England.  But  is  it  natural  for  those  who  both  know 
and  love  history,  and  consider  Bible  history,  not  less 
than  English  and  even  more  than  Roman  and 
Grecian,  a  part  of  the  birthright  of  every  thinking 
person,  to  go  on  representing  David  as  a  kind  of 
supernatural  being,  who  neither  morally  nor  intel- 
lectually was  governed  by  the  same  laws  as  ourselves, 
or  at  any  rate  as  a  medley  of  irreconcileable  elements? 
And  even  if  it  be  natural,  is  it  also  safe  ?  If  we 
could  answery  Yes,  we  might  perhaps  excuse  this 

1  Miscellanies  from  Irving  (1865),  p.  455. 


22  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  TIVES. 

indolent  folding  of  our  hands  to  sleep.  But  no,  it  is 
very  far  from  safe.  For  those  who  have  no  restrain- 
ing scruples,  and  would  crush  the  delicate  wings  of 
an  illusion  with  a  sledge-hammer,  are  already  in  the 
field.  A  vulgar  criticism  for  the  vulgar,  and  a 
refined  one  for  the  refined,  are  being  directed  against 
the  reputation  of  the  son  of  Jesse.  They  agree  in 
denying  that  the  old  reverence  for  David  has  any 
foundation,  and  require  that  this  outwork  of  Bible 
religion  should  be,  not  reconstructed  on  an  improved 
plan,  but  altogether  demolished. 

In  opposition  to  this  destructive  criticism  it  will  be 
the  object  of  the  popular  league  to  which  I  referred 
so  to  criticize  as  to  edify  or  build  up  the  Church. 
Prove  all  things,  hold  fast  that  which  is  good,  says 
St.  Paul.1  And  what  does  the  command,  '  Prove  all 
things '  mean  when  addressed  to  us  ?  It  means  in 
this  connexion,  Examine  and  compare  the  different 
Biblical  records  of  the  life  of  David.  It  means  further, 
Do  not  assume  that  they  all  say  the  same  thing,  nor 
that  you  are  bound  to  find  out  some  way  of  making 
them  do  so,  nor  that  you  may  disregard  any 
detail  in  the  earliest  records  which  militates  against 
the  highest  view  of  David's  character.  These  assump- 
tions were  actually  made  by  a  writer  who  flourished 
about  700  years  after  David, — the  author  of  the  Books 

1  I  Thess.  v.  21. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  23 

of  Chronicles.1  Though  fully  inspired  as  a  religious 
teacher  of  his  own  time,  and  a  worthy  representative 
of  the  Jewish  Church,  it  is  only  in  some  outlying 
parts  of  his  work  that  he  can  safely  be  followed  in 
statements  of  facts  unsupported  by  the  earlier  books.a 
We  shall  see  presently  how,  to  harmonize  the  two 
ancient  traditions  of  the  slaughter  of  Goliath,  he 
invents  a  brother  of  Goliath  with  an  impossible 
name  (p.  8 1).  We  shall  also  find  that,  in  his  zeal  for  the 
'  man  after  God's  heart,'  he  omits  David's  great  sin 
and  much  besides,  and  transforms  him  into  the  image 
of  a  saint  of  his  own  time.  In  the  third  century  B.C. 
this  was  possible  ;  it  is  not  so  at  the  end  of  the 
nineteenth  after  Christ.  We  probably  feel  that  one 
who  is  so  highly  honoured  in  the  New  Testament  as 
David  cannot  have  been  (as  some  represent)  a  bandit 
who  for  selfish  ends  seized  the  crown,3  but  there  are 
many  of  his  actions  which  we  must  admit  to  be 
quite  inconsistent  with  the  saintly  character.  The 
Chronicler's  general  view  of  the  life  of  David  is  too 
improbable  and  too  discordant  with  that  of  the  early 
records  to  influence  us.  And  still  less  may  we  follow 

1  Bleek  places  the  Chronicles  '  at  the  end  of  the  Persian  or  the 
beginning  of  the  Greek  period.'  With  Kuenen  and  Cornill  we  shall 
do  well  to  adopt  a  slightly  later  date  (c.  250  B.C.). 

~  See  e.g.  i  Chron.  ii.,  iv.  (with  Wellhausen's  early  dissertation,  1870, 
and  his  Prolegomena,  1883,  pp.  225-228),  and  xi.  10-47  (important  for 
the  textual  criticism  of  2  Sam.  xxiii.  8-39). 

3  Renan,  Hist,  of  Israel,  i.  331. 


24  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  Tl  V£S. 

those  psalm-headings,  which  represent  David  as  a 
writer  of  highly  spiritual  songs.  These  headings  form 
no  part  of  the  true  Bible,  and  are  but  like  marginal 
notes  of  an  editor,  the  correctness  of  which  needs  to  be 
carefully  tested.  The  only  question  is,  not  how  many 
but  how  few  of  the  psalms  were  written  by  David  ; 
whether  in  fact  more  than  single  phrases,  or  lines,  or 
verses,  or  at  most  sections,  can  be  his  work,  and 
whether  we  have  the  means  of  extracting  such  with 
any  confidence  from  their  context.  Disappointing 
this  is  no  doubt ;  one  longs  to  know  something  of 
David's  inner  life,  and  thinks  (mistakenly  perhaps)  that 
he  would  have  disclosed  this  in  his  religious  songs. 
But  it  is  compensated  (as  our  subsequent  psalm- 
studies  will  show)  by  unlooked-for  gains  both  to 
Jewish  history  and  to  the  defence  of  Bible  religion. 
And  the  same  principles  which  induce  us  to  transfer 
the  so-called  psalms  of  David  to  later  inspired  men, 
compel  us  to  analyze  what  we  used  to  regard  as  a 
single  biography  of  David  into  several  distinct  records. 
The  result  of  this  analysis  will  be  of  great  use  to  us 
later  on  in  studying  the  story  of  Goliath,  and  I  shall 
now  build  upon  them  to  some  slight  extent  in  tracing 
the  outlines  of  the  character  of  David. 

That  these  records  are  largely  based  upon  popular 
traditions,  which  are  generally  in  a  high  degree 
trustworthy,  but  are  now  and  then  half  unconsciously 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  25 

idealized  into  prose-poetry,  we  have  already  seen. 
That  they  are  none  the  less  in  the  truest  and  worthiest 
sense  inspired,  has  also  been  shown,  but  it  may  be 
well  to  repeat  the  statement.  No  one  need  apologize 
for  holding  that  each  part  of  the  volume  of  Scripture 
'is  as  full  of  spiritual  truth  and  as  capable  of  convey- 
ing a  word  of  God  as  the  nature  of  its  contents  admits.1 
The  Old  Testament  narratives,  for  instance,  are  as 
truly  inspired  as  the  Psalms,  and  the  Psalms  as  the 
Epistles  of  St.  Paul.  But  we  dare  not  affirm  that  all 
these  groups  of  writings  are  equally  inspired.  They  are 
the  work  of  writers,  each  of  whom  had  his  own  personal 
limitations.  If  even  St.  Paul  had  only  'the  firstfruits 
of  the  Spirit,'  much  more  must  this  be  true  of  those 
who  adapted  the  traditions  of  David's  life  to  later 
times.  If  the  Lord  Jesus  Himself  '  increased  in 
wisdom  and  stature,'  we  must  not  be  surprised  at 
the  discovery  that  those  who  were  '  borne  along,'  as 
a  New  Testament  writer  says,  '  by  the  Holy  Spirit,' 
show  the  greatest  differences  in  the  clearness  of  their 
spiritual  intuitions. 

Passing  to  the  precious  records  stored  up  in  the 
Books  of  Samuel,  we  must  remark  at  the  outset  that 
there  are  three  distinct  subjects  upon  which  they  give 
us  information,  viz.  I.  the  external  facts  of  the  period 
described ;  2.  the  religious  belief  of  the  inspired 

1  How  much  belongs  to  this  volume  is  however  a  historical  question. 


26  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  TIVES. 

writers  of  the  records,  who  neither  are,  nor  claim  to 
be,  mere  matter-of-fact  reporters  ;  and  3.  the  character 
and  religious  position  of  the  great  men  of  the  period, 
especially  Saul  and  David.  The  third  of  these 
subjects  is  the  most  generally  interesting  to  Christian 
students,  but  I  can  only  now  deal  with  that  portion 
of  it  which  relates  to  David.  It  is  the  historical  not 
the  idealized  David  of  whom  we  are  in  search,  and 
we  must  therefore  put  aside  at  least  two  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  most  inspired  passages  in  the  Books  of 
Samuel,  viz.  I  Sam.  xvii.  and  2  Sam.  vii.  The  former 
contains  the  more  poetical  and  therefore  less  historical 
of  the  two  rival  accounts  of  the  victory  over  Goliath  ; x 
the  latter,  a  prophecy  ascribed  to  Nathan,  together 
with  a  very  beautiful  prayer  ascribed  to  David,  both 
of  which,  as  internal  evidence  shows,  were  written  in 
the  last  century  of  the  Jewish  state.2  These  truly 
edifying  passages  illustrate  rather  the  religious  belief 
of  the  inspired  narrators  than  that  of  their  hero. 
They  also  show  the  considerateness  with  which  the 

1  See  chaps,  iv.-v. 
/        2  Both  these  passages  were  conceived  dramatically ;  they  represent 
what  Nathan  and  David  might,  according  to  the  writer,  be  supposed  to 
have  said  (see  my  Jeremiah,  1888,  p.  88  ;  B.L.,  p.  128,  note  n).     The 
Davidic  dynasty  had  lasted  some  time  when  2  Sam.  vii.  was  written 
both  good  and  evil  kings  had  sprung  from  it.     The  phraseology  of 
Deuteronomy  is  often  traceable  (see  especially  w.  i,  1 1,  13,  22,  23,  24). 
Cf.  Colenso,  Pentateuch,  part  vii.,  app.  §  128.     Ps.  Ixxxix.,  which  is 
parallel  to  this  composition  was  written  at  earliest  in  '  the  closing  years 
of  the  monarchy  '  (Driver,  Introd.,  p.  358  ;  cf.  B.L.,  pp.  117-8). 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  27 

life  of  David  was  adapted  to  the  use  of  devout  readers 
of  another  generation,  who,  though  not  so  great  as 
David,  came  nearer  to  pure  spiritual  religion  than 
was  possible  for  him  to  do.  Is  our  favourite  hero 
disparaged  by  this  remark  ?  Certainly  not.  David, 
as  we  are  told  in  the  same  speech  of  St.  Paul  from 
which  the  text  is  taken,  '  served  his  own  generation 
by  the  will  of  God  '  ; x  and  how  few  there  are  even  in 
the  roll  of  great  men  who  can  do  more  than  this  ! 
Then,  as  the  speaker  adds,  David  '  fell  on  sleep,'  and 
left  the  fulfilment  of  God's  purposes  to  others.  Among 
his  successors  were  the  gifted  writers  of  I  Sam.  xvii. 
and  2  Sam.  vii.,  who  served  the  cause  of  progress  not 
more  truly,  though  with  more  religious  insight,  than 
did  the  hero  whom  they  idealize. 

In  our  own  day  there  is  a  growing  reaction  against 
the  tendency  to  idealize  David.  Not  only  those  who 
have  almost  lost  the  instinct  of  reverence,  but  even 
Church-students  have  begun  to  be  stirred  by  the 
modern  historical  spirit.  Thus  Frederick  Denison 
Maurice  cautions  us  '  not  to  try  to  make  out  a  case 
for  David  or  the  Bible  by  distorting  a  single  fact 
even  by  giving  it  a  different  colour  from  that  which 
it  would  have  if  we  found  it  elsewhere,'  2  and  since 
this  saintly  man's  decease  several  Christian  writers 
have  done  their  best  to  apply  a  moral  criticism  to  the 

1  Acts  xiii.  36.  2  Prophets  and  Kings  of  the  Old  Testament. 


28  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

life  of  David.  Historical  criticism  however  has  not 
yet  had  its  full  rights.  An  unseen  leader  seems  to 
beckon  us  forward,  but  we  follow  him  with  faltering 
steps.  Nor  will  the  Church  of  the  future  altogether 
blame  us.  The  Church  of  a  great  though  faulty  past 
bade  us  reverence  David  like  St.  Paul  and  St.  John, 
and  though  we  see  that  this  was  an  injury  to  truth,  we 
love  to  rescue  something  from  our  illusion.  We  can- 
not bear  to  form  a  harsh  judgment  respecting  David, 
nor  to  '  sit  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful.' 

This  question  therefore  naturally  rises  to  our  lips, 
Is  there  any  way  of  reconciling  the  two  points  of 
view — that  of  historical  inquiry  and  that  of  reverent 
affection  for  a  spiritual  ancestor?  It  may  perhaps  be 
replied  that  there  are  virtually  two  Davids, — one  the 
historical  David  who  both  sang  songs  and  reigned 
over  the  people  of  Israel,  the  other  that  unworldly 
poet  who  speaks  in  the  name  of  the  Church-nation  in 
many  of  the  psalms,  and  who  is  poetically  a  direct 
descendant  of  David,  and  that  our  reverent  affection 
is  claimed  only  by  the  latter.  But  is  this  reply  quite 
sufficient  ?  No ;  it  contains  indeed  important  ele- 
ments of  truth,  but  it  does  not  give  us  the  full  solution 
of  our  difficulty.  We  admit  that  there  are  virtually 
two  Davids :  more  easily  could  Karl  the  Great  have 
written  St.  Bernard's  hymn  than  the  David  of  the 
Books  of  Samuel  the  5ist  psalm!  We  breakaway 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  29 

from  our  fathers  on  this  point  absolutely  and  entirely  ; 
but  we  would  fain  keep  some  genuine  reverence  even 
for  the  historical  David.  Or  to  express  ourselves  in 
a  more  defensible  way,  we  fear  to  lose  any  grains  of 
truth  in  a  time-honoured  tradition. 

What  shall  we  say,  then  ?  Is  there  any  other 
possible  solution  of  our  difficulty  ?  There  is  ;  and 
to  obtain  it  we  must  distinguish  two  classes  of 
elements  in  David's  character  —  those  which  he 
received  from  the  past,  and  those  by  which  he 
prophesies  of  a  better  age.  Let  us  first  of  all  seek  to 
ascertain  the  former,  testing  the  life  of  David  by  the 
standard  of  the  preceding  age,  as  this  is  presented  in 
the  Book  of  Judges  and  the  first  book  of  Samuel. 
For  with  one  of  the  best  living  German  scholars,  I  do 
not  believe  '  that  the  condition  of  things  under  Saul 
and  David  was  really  so  different  from  that  under 
Gideon  as  many  modern  writers  suppose.' * 

It  will  be  clear  from  these  early  records  that  the 
race  to  which  David  belonged  was  none  of  the 
gentlest.  How  passing  strange  is  the  condition  of 
public  morals  (if  the  word  can  be  used)  there  revealed 
to  us  !  The  cruelties  of  primitive  war  one  can  under- 
stand ;  but  who  is  not  shocked  at  the  inhumanities 
of  peace  ?  Acts  of  violence  and  oppression  were 
common,  in  spite  of  the  beneficent  but  restricted 

1  Hermann  Schultz,  Alttest.  Theologie,  ed.  4,  p.  140- 


30  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

activity  of  the  Judges,  nor  have  we  any  reason  to 
suppose  that  a  vital  reform  was  introduced  by  the 
brave  but  capricious  king  Saul.  That  lofty  precept, 
so  noble  in  itself,  though,  taken  literally,  so  far  behind 
the  law  of  Christ,  '  Thou  shalt  not  avenge,  nor  bear 
any  grudge  against  the  children  of  thy  people,  but 
thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself/  T  was  not 
yet  known,  and  it  was  much  if  a  private  man's 
vengeance  was  sometimes  limited  by  the  principle, 
'  (Only)  an  eye  for  an  eye,  and  (only)  a  tooth  for  a 
tooth.' 2  Nor  was  there  supposed  to  be  anything 
amiss  in  deceiving  another  for  one's  own  interest. 
Such  was  the  low  standard  of  morality  in  the  century 
preceding  David. 

Nor  can  it  be  said  that  the  religious  conceptions  of 
the  ancestors  of  David  were  distinguished  for  their 
purity.  The  later  editors  of  the  literary  heirlooms  of 
the  Jewish  Church  have  not  attempted  to  remove  the 
evidence  of  the  slow  progress  of  their  people.  Look- 
ing over  the  early  records  we  see,  perhaps  with  some 
surprise,  that  it  was  not  so  much  morality  as  formal 

1  Lev.  xix.  18.  This  belongs  to  the  Holiness-Law  (Lev.  xvii.-xxvi.,  on 
which  see  Driver,  Intr.,  pp.  43-54),  which,  though  it  contains  many 
early  elements,  cannot  be  appealed  to  for  the  Davidic  age.     A  number 
of  the  precepts  in  Lev.  xix.  may  be  taken  as  a  commentary  on  the  two 
original  tables  of  the  Decalogue,  and  the  fact  that  such  a  comparatively 
spiritual  commentary  was  needed  in  the  post-Davidic  age  is  itself  signifi- 
cant to  those  who  believe  in  historical  development. 

2  Ex.  xxi.  24. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  31 

sacrifice  and  the  presence  of  the  ark  of  the  national 
God  with  the  host  of  Israel  which  was  believed  to 
ensure  the  divine  protection.1  You  may  think  that 
an  inspired  man  like  Samuel  must  have  led  the  people 
to  a  nobler  type  of  religion  than  this,  and  that  if  we 
had  fuller  sources  of  information  we  should  be  able  to 
prove  this.  For  my  own  part,  I  fully  share  your 
willingness  to  think  highly  of  Samuel.  That  some  of 
the  Israelites  in  the  time  of  the  Judges  had,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  risen  somewhat  above  the  low  standard 
of  the  masses,  is  a  fair  inference  from  the  Song  of 
Deborah.  It  is  also  reasonable  to  believe  that  Samuel 
was  as  much  above  the  multitude  in  his  day  as 
Deborah  had  been  in  hers.  More  than  this  we  cannot 
say.  But  if  we  turn  to  the  oldest  traditions  respecting 
Samuel,  we  shall  find  that  his  conscious  aim  was  not 
the  purification  of  religion,  but  the  deliverance  of 
Israel  from  its  enemies.2  He  evidently  retained  the 
old  conception  of  Jehovah  as  a  stern  war-god  who 
demanded  the  lives  of  his  enemies  (comp.  Judg.  v. 
26-31),  so  that -when  one  of  the  greatest  of  them  all 
had  been  selfishly  spared  by  Saul  (as  if  to  grace 
his  triumph),  Samuel,  we  are  told,  '  hewed  Agag  in 
pieces  before  Jehovah  '  at  the  twelve  sacred  pillars  of 

1  Judg.  xx.  26-28,  I  Sam.  vii.  9,  xiii.  10  ;  I  Sam.  iv.  3,  2  Sam.  xv, 
24,  cf.  Jer.  iii.  16  (Targum). 

2  See  Wellhausen,  Hist,  of  Israel  and  Jndah  (1891),  p.  41. 


32  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  TIVES. 

'  Gilgal.' z  Samuel  himself  was  the  priest  and  '  seer  ' 
of  Ramah.  Though  not  called  a  '  prophet '  (nabt}? 
he  was  evidently  no  common  '  seer,'  as  he  proved  by 
the  discovery  of  the  one  man  by  whom  Jehovah  could 
deliver  Israel.  As  to  the  extent  of  the  divinity  which 
he  ascribed  to  Jehovah,  and  as  to  his  view  of  sacrifice, 
we  have  no  conclusive  evidence.  It  would  be  pleasant 
to  believe  that  he  anticipated  the  later  prophets,  but 
neither  from  I  Sam.  xii.  21  nor  from  i  Sam.  xv.  22  can 
we  prove  this.3  And  how  slender  his  religious  in- 
fluence must  have  been,  we  can  judge  from  i  Sam. 
ix.,  where  the  servant  of  Saul  proposes  to  fee  the 
'  man  of  God  '  that  he  may  tell  Saul  where  to  find  his 
lost  asses  ?  How  could  Samuel  be  a  great  religious 
teacher  when  such  was  the  popular  estimate  of  his 
functions  ? 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  traditional  records  of 
David's  life.  Many  acts  arc  there  ascribed  to  this 
admired  king  which  arc  equally  unworthy  of  a  true 


1  I  Sam.  xv.  33. 

2  See  I  Sam.  ix.  9,  n.     In  a  passage  referred  by  the  analysis  to  a 
later  period  Samuel  is  represented  as  the  head  of  a  guild  or  company  of 
prophets  (i  Sam.  xix.  20;  cf.  W.  R.  Smith,  The  Prophets  of  Israel,  pp. 
86,  391). 

3  Both  these  passages  belong  to  documents  of  the  later  prophetic 
period.     Unless  we  can  believe  that  David's  reputed  seer  Asaph  wrote 
Ps.  1.,  the  latter  passage  is  not  earlier  than  Hosea  (cf.  Hos.  vi.  6),  and 
unless  Deuteronomy  was  written  by  Moses,  or  (as  Kleinert  thought  in 
1872)  by  Samuel,  the  former  is  not  earlier  than  the  reign  of  Josiah. 
These  inferences  agree  with  the  latest  critical  analysis  of  Samuel. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  33 

knight  and  shocking  to  the  unsophisticated  Christian 
sentiment.  How  cruel,  for  instance,  David  could  be 
in  his  warfare!  I  will  not  lay  too  much  stress  on  his 
dealings  with  tribes  of  Bedouin  robbers,1  but  what  are 
we  to  say  of  his  conduct  to  the  very  people  which,  in 
his  outlaw  days,  had  so  hospitably  received  his  aged 
parents  —  the  Moabitcs  ?  2  To  the  Ammonites,  I 
admit,  he  was  more  humane,  if  the  margin  of  the  R.V. 
of  2  Sam.  xii.  31  is  to  be  followed  ;3  but  he  was  at  any 
rate  liable  to  a  fierce  craving  for  revenge  which  over- 
powered his  better  judgment.  This  comes  out  very 
clearly  in  the  romantic  story  of  Nabal,4  in  which 
Abigail  shews  to  better  advantage  than  David,  though 
her  beautiful  speech  against  the  causeless  shedding  of 
blood  may  be  less  her  own  than  the  narrator's  ;  and 

1  I  Sam.  xxvii.  8-12.     From  a  worldly  point  of  view,  the  policy  of 
'  Thorough '  seems   excusable  here.      Cf.   Palmer,    The  Desert  of  the 
Exodus t  p.  299. 

2  2  Sam.  viii.  2 ;  cf.  I  Sam.  xxii.  3,  4.     The  vengeance  was  possibly 
an  act  of  national  retaliation  in  which  David  could  not  avoid  partici- 
pating.      It  would   seem   that   other   kings  committed  almost  equal 
cruelties  (see  2  Chron.  xxv.  12,  and  cf.  Doughty,  A.D^  i.  44).     On  an 
earlier  attempt  of  Jewish  rabbis  to  excuse  David,  see  Chandler,  Life  of 
David,  ii.  163. 

3  R.V.  marg.  has,  '  And  he  brought  forth  the  people  .  .   .  and  put 
them  to  saws  .   .  .  and  made  them  labour  at  the  brickmould,'  i.e.  put 
them  to  forced  labour  at  public  works.     This  view  of  the  passage  is  due 
to  Prof.  Hoffmann  of  Kiel;  it  has  received  the  adhesion  of  Stadc  (Gesch. 
278),  Kautzsch  (translation  of  O.  T.),  and  very  nearly  of  Prof.  Driver 
(Samuel,  228).     The  very  same  cruelty  however,  which  is  imputed  by 
the  received  text  to  David  was  perpetrated  by  the  Syrians  of  Damascus 
(Am.  i.  3,  cf.  2  Kings  xiii.  7).  4  I  Sam.  xxv. 


34  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

it  is  equally  proved  by  the  melancholy  record  of 
David's  dealings  with  Mephibosheth,  the  son  of  his 
old  friend  Jonathan.1  For  the  vindictive  words,  how- 
ever, reported  in  i  Kings  ii.  5-9,  the  narrator,  as  I 
hope  to  show,  is  alone  responsible.  Observe  next 
David's  (to  us)  surprising  predilection  for  crooked 
policy,  in  which  he  contrasts  not  only  with  the 
psalmists  but  with  that  upright  Greek  poet  Pindar. 
It  has  been  said  that  his  hateful  letter  to  Joab  con- 
cerning Uriah  was  an  unnatural  device  suggested  by 
his  crime  with  Bathsheba  ;  under  such  circumstances, 
we  are  told,  a  noble  nature  may  be  seduced  to  acts 
of  which  it  would  otherwise  be  incapable.  But  no  ; 
stratagem  was  as  natural  to  David  as  to  Jacob.  He 
was  not  one  of  those  Israelites  indeed  '  in  whom  there 
is  no  guile,'  but  by  the  testimony  of  Saul  could  '  deal 
very  subtilly  '.2  Some  of  his  crafty  acts,  no  doubt 

1  2  Sam.  xvi.  1-4.    Mephibosheth's  real  name  was  Meribbaal. 

2  See  I   Sam.  xxiii.  22,  and  cf.  I  Sam.  xxi.  1-9,  13,  xxvii.  10,  u, 
xxviii.  2,  xxix.  8 ;  2  Sam.  xi.  6-25,  xv.  32-36.      Besides  the  letter  to 
Joab  and  the  use  which  David  made  of  Hushai  the  Archite,  we  must 
seriously  condemn  David's  thoughtless  fraud  upon  Ahimelech  the  priest, 
which  led  to  the  murder  of  Ahimelech  and  his  fellow-priests,  and  the 
utter  destruction  of  all  living  beings  in  Nob  (i  Sam.  xxii.  17-19),  even 
though  we  gladly  admit  that  David  was  sorry  for  it  afterwards  ( I  Sam. 
xxii.  20-23).     Happily  he  is  not,  as  the  later  tradition  made  out,  the 
author  of  Ps.  Hi.      But  what  shall  we  say  of  his  extreme  shiftiness  ? 
May  it  be  accounted  for  by  David's  difficult  circumstances  ?     Hardly ;  a 
man  of  simple,  straightforward  character  does  not,  even  in  straits,  go  to 
such  lengths  as  David.     Surely  the  truth  is  that  shiftiness  was  inherent 
in  the  old  Israelitish  character.     The  pious  and  enlightened  men  who 
adapted  the  old  traditions  of  David's  life  were  themselves  not  free  from 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  35 

seem  to  us  worse  than  others,  as  for  instance  the  use 
he  makes  of  his  friend  Hushai  against  Ahithophel. 
Others  we  can  excuse,  though  David  appeals  to  us  far 
less  than  Achish,  the  open-hearted  Philistine  king. 

And   again,  we   may  sometimes   even    find    David's 

i 

subtlety  in  some  degree  praiseworthy,  as  when,  in 
order  to  close  the  civil  war  the  sooner,  he  accepts  the 

it ;  they  evidently  sympathize  to  some  extent  with  their  hero.  So  fully 
conscious  are  some  other  writers  of  this  national  characteristic  that  (fol- 
lowing popular  traditions)  they  make  even  the  patriarch  Jacob  as  shifty 
as  David,  and  are  far  from  disapproving  his  cleverness.  I  hasten  to  add 
that  just  as  even  the  oldest  narrator  of  the  David-traditions  condemns 
the  hateful  expedient  of  the  letter  to  Joab  about  Uriah,  so  the  Yahvist 
in  Genesis  condemns  (as  could  easily  be  shown)  the  shameful  fraud 
practised  by  Jacob  at  his  mother's  bidding  upon  his  old  father.  They 
condemn  the  special  immorality  of  the  circumstances,  however,  not  the 
mere  craft  in  itself.  Shiftiness  was  in  reality  an  inheritance  from  the 
nomadic  period  of  the  bene  Israel.  '  The  necessitous  livelihood  of  the 
wilderness  must  cast  him  [the  nomad]  into  many  perplexities,  out  of 
which  [he]  will  unwind  himself  by  any  shift,'  Doughty,  A.D.  i.  368.  The 
later  prophets  however  denounced  shiftiness  in  no  measured  terms  (see 
the  commentators  on  Jer.  ix.  4),  and  the  psalmists  followed  them  (Ps.  v. 
6,  9  &c.).  I  will  quote  here  two  helpful  sentences  of  Mozley  {Ruling 
Ideas,  &c.,  pp.  172-3),  which  throw  light  on  primitive  psychology.  'The 
enemy  was  one  who  was  out  of  the  pale  of  charity,  and  with  whom  in- 
jurious relations  were  natural.  But  if  injurious  relations  were  natural, 
untruthful  relations  were  natural  also.'  Nor  need  we  be  surprised  at  the 
union  of  great  cunning  with  as  great  boldness  in  David.  '  The  daring  ' 
temper  is  quite  consistent  with  the  deceitful.  They  must  do  what  is 
effectual,  and  underground  work  is  effectual.'  But  with  this  principle 
of  action  contrast  (as  it  is  fair  to  do)  the  holy  Pindar's  renouncement  of 
the  policy  of  cunning.  The  aSiKog  Xoyoe,  he  says,  bids  us  love  our 
friends,  but  circumvent  an  enemy  on  crooked  paths  like  a  wolf.  Nay, 
nay,  replies  the  diVaioe  Aoyog  ;  'a'straight  course  is  best,  and  there  is 
no  contending  against  God.  Success  does  not  come  from  cunning  or 
overreaching.  Bear  God's  yoke '  (Pyth.  ii.  86-96,  Gildersleeve). 
Have  I  gone  too  far  in  calling  Pindar  '  inspired  '  (chap,  on  Inspiration)  ? 


36  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

treacherous  offer  of  Abner  to  abandon  his  king 
Ishbaal  or  Ishbosheth.  Lastly,  we  come  to  the 
record  of  David's  fall,  with  all  its  ramifications  of  sin, 
which  may  equally  well  be  called  a  transgression 
against  David's  God  and  against  his  neighbour. 
Even  those  who  are  averse  to  a  strait  -  laced 
Christianity  have  never  been  slow  to  condemn 
this  shameful  deed  as  at  once  a  blunder  and  a 
crime.1 

I  have  yet  to  speak  of  David's  religious  ideas. 
These  were  in  some  respects  of  not  too  refined  a 
nature.  To  him,  as  well  as  to  the  Philistines  (i  Sam. 
iv.  7),  and  apparently  to  Moses  himself  (Num.  x.  35) 
the  wonder-working  power  (the  numeii)  of '  the  God 
of  the  armies  of  Israel '  resided  in  the  ark.2  This 
was  therefore  so  holy  an  object  that  even  taking  hold 
of  it  with  a  good  intention  could  be  punished  by  a 
man's  sudden  death.3  We  must  not  indeed  imagine 
that  the  ark  itself  is  David's  God  ;  there  is  a  fine 


1  2  Sam.  xi.    The  historicity  of  the  narrative  has  been  denied  by  M. 
Renan  and  Mr.  Heilprin.     But  this  and  the  next  chapter  form  part  of 
one  of  our  very  best  historical  records.    The  Chronicler  indeed  omits  the 
Uriah-story,  but  for  a  good  reason.     Above,  I  have  called  David's  act 
a  bhtnder.     For  this  reason.     David's  numerous  wives  and  concubines 
(2  Sam.  xv.  16,  xix.  6)  in  general  represented  useful  family  alliances. 
But  Ahithophel,  Bathsheba's  grandfather  (see  J.  J.  Blunt)  became  the 
leading  counsellor  in  the  dangerous  conspiracy  of  Absalom. 

2  On  the  significance  of  the  ark,  cf.  B.L.,  pp.  315,  328,  329. 

3  2  Sam.  vi.  6,  7  ;  cf.  I  Chron.  xiii.  10,  where  '  he  died  before  the 
ark  of  God  '  becomes  '  he  died  before  God.' 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  37 


passage  in  which  he  refuses  to  take  the  field  with  the 
ark.  He  feels  that  his  God  is  angry  with  him,  and 
he  will  not  risk  the  safety  of  so  holy  a  thing. 
Jehovah  may,  after  all,  be  pleased  to  deliver  him, 
and  this  He  can  do,  though  the  ark  and  the  army 
-of  David  be  parted.1  Thus  there  were  some  high 
moments  in  David's  life  when  he  distinguished 
Jehovah  from  any  of  the  objects  which  represented 
Him  or  any  of  the  media  through  which  He  worked. 
But  we  do  not  find  that  he  ever  succeeded  in  over- 
coming the  narrow  idea  of  Jehovah's  divinity  in 
which  he  had  been  brought  up.  '  They  have  driven 
me  out  this  day,'  he  complains  to  Saul,  '  that  I 
should  have  no  share  in  Jehovah's  inheritance, 
saying,  Go,  serve  other  gods.'  2  Of  the  psalmists' 
conception  of  spiritual  prayer  he  was  ignorant ;  at 
any  rate,  he  was  not  averse  to  seek  revelations 
from  Jehovah  by  means  of  the  priestly  ephod.3 
And  though  it  is  only  his  wife  who  can  be  proved 
to  have  possessed  a  '  teraphim,'  yet  the  fact  that 
these  images  were  still  used  in  divination  in  the 


1  2  Sam.  xv.  24-26  (I  assume  the  accuracy  of  the  narrative). 

2  I  Sam.  xxvi.  19  (cf.  Hos.  ix.  3).      Uriah  and  Ittai,  Hittites,  both 
worshipped  the  God  of  Israel.      The  implied  principle  is  that  of  all 
primitive  Semitic  religions,  and  is  also  that  of  the  old  religion  of  Hellas 
(Soph.  (Ed.  Col.  180-183,  quoted  by  Bishop  Warburton,  Works,  v.  50). 
'A  man's  religion  is  part  of  his  political  connection'  (W.  R.  Smith, 
Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  37) ;  cf.  Ruth  i.  15,  16. 

3  I  Sam.  xxiii.  9,  xxx.  7. 


38  •  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  TIVES. 


times  of  the  later  prophets  makes  it  very  hazardous 
to  suppose  that  David  was  in  this  particular  above 
his  age.  If  he  really  did  hold  purer  views,  why 
did  he  not,  as  a  pattern  Israelite  is  reported  to 
have  done,  cleanse  his  house  from  such  heathenish 
objects  ? *  Next,  as  to  David's  notions  of  sacrifice. 
He  is  indeed  nowhere  said,  like  Samuel,  to  have 
slain  any  one  '  before  Jehovah '  as  a  sacrificial  act,2 
yet  we  do  find  him  delivering  up  seven  grandsons 
of  Saul  to  the  Gibeonites  to  be  '  hanged  up  before 
(or,  unto)  Jehovah.'  3  It  was  the  time  when  Rizpah 
the  daughter  of  Aiah  kept  solemn  tryst  with  her 
dead,  covering  them  by  day  and  by  night  with 
sackcloth.  We  should  probably  say  that  if  Saul's 
fault  was  expiated  by  any  human  deed,  it  was  not 
by  the  execution  of  these  unoffending  men,  but  by 
Rizpah's  supreme  proof  of  maternal  love.  But  not 
so  thought  the  age  of  David.  The  dread  act  of 
the  Gibeonites  was  not  merely  a  formal  compliance 
with  the  custom  of  blood-vengeance,  but  had  the 
nature  of  a  sacrifice,  as  the  expression  '  before 
Jehovah'  itself  suggests.  And  David  himself  had 
very  crude  ideas  of  sacrifice.  These  are  his 

1  See  i  Sam.  xix.  13-16,  2  Kings  xxiii.  24,  Zech.  x.  2,  and  cf.  Gen. 
xxxi.  19,  34,  xxxv.  2-4. 

2  See    I    Sam.   xv.   33,  and   cf.   2  Sam.  vi.    17   (sacrifices  '  before 
Jehovah '). 

3  2  Sam.  xxi.  6-9. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  39 

authentic  words  to  his  persecutor  Saul,  '  If  it  be 
Jehovah  that  hath  stirred  thee  up  against  me,  let 
him  accept  (literally,  smell)  an  offering ' T  (i.e.  '  If 
thy  bad  thoughts  of  me  are  due  to  a  temptation 
from  without,  appease  the  divine  anger  by  a 
sacrifice  ').  Strange  advice  we  may  think  it, 
especially  as  Jehovah  Himself  is  said  to  have 
'  stirred  up  '  or  '  enticed  '  Saul  against  his  son-in-law. 
But  it  is  illustrated  by  an  act  recorded  of  David 
himself  in  the  account  of  the  great  pestilence.  At 
the  very  height  of  this  calamity  David,  we  are  told, 
offered  sacrifice  to  Jehovah  on  the  threshing-floor  of 
Araunah,  and  the  plague  ceased.  Yet,  as  we  are 
expressly  told,  it  was  Jehovah  who  had  '  stirred 
up '  David  to  commit  the  '  sin '  of  numbering  the 
people.2 

Such  is  a  truthful  sketch  of  the  darker  side  of 
David's  moral  and  religious  character.  May  we 
venture  to  canonize  one  who  committed  those  acts 
and  held  those  ideas  ?  Not  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  higher  Biblical  religion.  Numberless 
passages  both  from  the  psalms  and  from  the 
gospels  at  once  occur  to  us  forbidding  such  mis- 
placed reverence.  Against  the  exaggerations  of 


1  I  Sam.  xxvi.  19,  R.V. 

2  2  Sam.  xxiv.  I,  25.     In  I  Chron.  xxi.  I  the  enticement  is  ascribed 
to  '  Satan. ' 


40  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

Newman  the  theologian  let  us  quote    Newman    the 
poet,— 

Double  praise  them  shall  attain 
In  royal  court  and  battle  plain  ; 
Then  comes  heart-ache,  care,  distress, 
Blighted  hope,  and  loneliness; 
Wounds  from  friend  and  gifts  from  foe, 
Dizzied  faith,  and  guilt,  and  woe, 
Loftiest  aims  by  earth  defiled, 
Gleams  of  wisdom  sin-beguiled, 
Sated  power's  tyrannic  mood, 
Counsels  shared  with  men  of  blood, 
Sad  success,  parental  tears, 
And  a  dreary  gift  of  years.1 

But  how  if  we  test  our  hero  by  the  standard  of 
the  times  in  which  he  was  born — the  standard 
which  I  have  already  endeavoured  to  put  before 
you  ?  The  result  will  certainly  be,  not  that  we 
reverence  him  either  for  his  poor  religious  ideas  or 
for  his  questionable  actions,  but  that  we  almost 
entirely  Abstain  from  blaming  him  for  them.  I  say, 
almost  entirely,  because  there  is  one  action  which, 
following  an  ancient  narrator  (i  Kings  xv.  5),  we 
must  emphatically  condemn.  Adultery  was  indeed 
no  new  sin ;  but,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  it  was  not 
common  in  the  best  Israeli tish  families.  Certainly 
Saul  was  innocent  of  it,  and  why  should  not  David 
have  been  so  too  ?  True,  David  was  more  thoroughly 
a  king  than  Saul,  and  Oriental  sovereignty,  by  the 

1  Lyra  Aposlolica,  no.  57,  '  The  Call  of  David.' 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  41 


immense  power  which  it  gives,  is  in  a  high  degree 
corrupting  to  the  character.  But  '  keep  thy  heart 
with  all  diligence/  is  a  precept  for  rulers  as  well  as 
for  the  ruled,  and  a  proper  reverence  for  Israelitish 
traditions  would  have  kept  David  from  this  combi- 
'  nation  of  terrible  sins. 

It  is  too  soon  to  say  whether  our  wish  to  rever- 
ence David  can  be  gratified.  We  have  indeed 
found  that  almost  everything  in  him  which  most 
shocks  the  Christian  conscience  is  but  a  survival  of 
primitive  modes  of  thought  and  feeling,  and  we 
can  excuse  it  as  we  hope  to  be  excused  ourselves 
for  the  strange  survivals  which  often  appear  in 
corners  of  our  own  land.  But  we  have  yet  to 
discover  whether  there  are  any  elements  in  the 
character  of  David  which  point  onwards  to  a 
better  age  and  a  higher  religion.  If  we  can  find 
such  (and  I  certainly  hope  that  we  shall)  this  great 
king  will  have  some  claim  on  our  reverence,  and 
we  shall  be  able  to  put  a  fuller  meaning  into  the 
words,  '  I  have  found  David  the  son  of  Jesse,  a 
man  after  my  heart.'  But  here  I  must  break  off. 
Of  one  thing  at  any  rate  we  may  be  certain — that 
Jesus  Christ  would  fain  use  these  words  of  each  of 
us.  He  came  '  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which 
was  lost,'  and  His  search,  thank  God  !  is  not  yet 
finished.  He  would  fain  transform  you  and  me 


42  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

into  '  men  after  his  heart/  suitable  instruments  for 
His  beneficent  purposes.  Let  us  answer  His 
gracious  call  ;  let  us  say,  '  Lord,  Thou  hast  found 
me ;  henceforth  I  will  live ;  not  unto  myself,  but 
unto  Thee,  who  didst  give  Thyself  for  me.' 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE    CHARACTER    OF    DAVID    (continued]. 

i  SAM.  xiii.  14. — Jehovah  hath  sought  him  a  man  after  his  heart,  and 
Jehovah  hath  appointed  him  to  be  prince  over  his  people. 

AN  eminent  cathedral  preacher  of  our  time  uses 
these  striking  words,  '  We  will  be  loyal  ...  to  our 
high  Christian  pedigree,  that  knits  us  up  to  king, 
and  saint,  and  martyr  of  old  heroic  days  ;  yes, 
loyal  to  it,  even  though  there  be  woven  into  its 
tale  scandals  as  terrible  as  Tamar's,  memories  as 
unhappy  as  those  of  BatlisJieba  and  Rahab.' *  The 
preacher  is  exhorting  the  congregation  not  to 
neglect  or  disavow  their  religious  connexion  with 
the  past  on  account  of  the  many  blots  upon  the 
fair  fame  of  the  Church.  The  history  of  the  Church 
is  not  in  all  respects  what  we  could  wish,  and  yet 
we  will  not,  we  must  not  too  severely  judge  our 
spiritual  ancestors,  but  will  look  out  for  those  better, 

1  H.  S.  Holland,  In  Behalf  of  Belief,  p.  207. 


44  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  TIVES. 

those  nobler  elements  in  them  which  we  can  sympa- 
thize with  and  reverence.  Such  too  will,  I  think,  be 
our  right  attitude  towards  the  history  of  David.  This 
great  king's  moral  errors  must  in  themselves  be 
repugnant  to  us,  but  our  blame  for  all  but  the  worst 
of  them  will  be  neutralized  by  a  comprehension  of 
David's  historical  position,  and  even  for  his  terrible 
fall  reflexion  enables  us  to  make  some  charitable 
allowance.  And  we  shall  make  it  a  point  of 
conscience  to  search  diligently  for  any  features  of 
his  character  which  may  justify  a  reverent  affection 
for  him  on  our  part. 

Certainly  David  himself  inspired  a  boundless 
affection  in  most  of  those  who  knew  him.  '  All 
Israel  and  Judah  loved'  him,  we  are  told  (i  Sam. 
xviii.  1 6)  ;  he  was  in  fact  a  born  charmer.  In  proof  of 
this  let  us  appeal,  not  to  the  fickle  Michal,  nor  to  the 
/  faithful  Jonathan,  nor  to  David's  '  three  mighty  men  ' 
who  'jeoparded  their  lives'  for  a  draught  of  water  for 
him,  but  to  the  enthusiasm  of  two  Philistines — Achish, 
king  of  Gath,  and  Ittai,  also  of  Gath,  one  of  David's 
'  Swiss  Guard.' *  Listen  to  the  impassioned  words  of 
the  latter.  David,  you  remember,  is  starting  on  his 
flight  from  Jerusalem,  and  bids  Ittai  return  and  wor- 

1  Another  cf  David's  Hittites  was  Uriah,  who  had  bound  himself  by 
marriage  to  the  people  of  David,  whose  empire,  it  should  be  noted, 
touched  'the  land  of  the  Hittites'  in  the  north  at  Kadesh  (see  2  Sam 
xxiv.  6  in  Variorum  Bible,  and  Dr.  Driver's  note,  Satmiel,  p.  286). 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  45 

ship  the  rising  sun,  instead  of  going  up  and  down 
with  homeless  fugitives.  '  Ittai  answered  the  king 
and  said,  As  Jehovah  liveth,  and  as  my  lord  the  king 
liveth,  surely  in  what  place  my  lord  the  king  shall  be, 
whether  for  death  or  for  life,  even  there  also  will  thy 
servant  be.' *  Now,  would  this  foreign  soldier  have 
flamed  up  in  such  an  ardour  of  self-sacrifice  if  his 
leader  had  not  been  worthy  of  it  ?  Of  course  Ittai 
had  caught  the  spark  from  David's  own  men,  whose 
intense  loyalty  never  came  out  more  nobly  than  in 
Absalom's  rebellion.  The  '  lamp  of  Israel '  they 
called  him  ;  2  and  I  think  that  the  title  was  suggested 
not  merely  by  the  brilliance  of  his  talents  and  the 
strangeness  of  his  good  fortune,  but  by  an  exquisite  / 
moral  fragrance  of  character.  To  compare  David 
with  Bonaparte,  is  most  unfair.  It  would  be  a  less 
injury  to  measure  him  with  Karl  the  Great  ;  3  but  to 
do  him  justice  we  should  compare  him  with  Eastern 
kings,  Egyptian,  Assyrian  and  the  like,  heroes,  among 
whom,  so  far  as  we  know,  David  stands  supreme. 
I  do  not  of  course  base  a  claim  to  reverent  affection 

1  2  Sam.  xv.  21.  2  2  Sam.  xxi.  17. 

3  '  Popularity  goes  out  to  meet  some  men,  almost  without  being 
sought,  takes  them  by  the  hand,  exacts  from  them  the  commission  of 
crimes  as  part  of  the  programme  which  it  imposes  on  them.  Such  a 
man  was  Bonaparte  ;  such  a  man  was  David,'  Renan,  History  of  Israel, 
E.  T.,  i.  334.  '  Much  of  David's  life  and  character  becomes  more 
intelligible  to  us,  as  we  look  at  it  in  the  analogy  ...  of  the  emperor 
Charles  the  Great'.  Alexander,  B.L.  for  1876,  p.  78.  Contrast  the 
latter  with  his  son  Lewis,  the  first  royal  sainl. 


46  THE  DA  VID-NA  RRA  TIVES. 

for  David  on  his  possession  of  mere  household  virtues. 
That  he  had  such  indeed,  I  fully  believe.  But  the 
evidence  before  us  suggests  that  they  were  marred 
by  the  practice  of  polygamy  z  which  he  adopted  from 
other  Oriental  kings.  Who  does  not  lament  this  ? 
Who  would  not  gladly  find  in  the  life  of  David  a 
parallel  to  Jacob's  beautiful  courtship  of  Rachel  ? 
But  this  was  not  to  be.  In  only  one  of  the  family 
relations  does  he  become  the  typical  man  ;  as  a 
mourning  father  he  makes  the  whole  world  his  kin. 
The  desolating  blow  fell  twice ;  first,  when  he  lost  the 
child  of  his  shame,  and  next,  when  he  was  so  cruelly 
deprived  of  his  darling  Absalom.  You  know  the 
pathetic  narratives,  which  are  as  classical  in  expression 
as  anything  in  literature.2  The  gentle  melancholy  of 

1  A  plurality  of  wives  is  (i)  a  proof  of  a  man's  riches  and  high  rank, 
(2)  a  means  of  extending  one's  influence.     The  prophets  and  their  dis- 
ciples felt  the  danger  of  it.     Hence  it  is  all  but  prohibited  in  Deut. 
xvii.  17  (Josiah's  reign),  and  certainly  not  recommended  in  Gen.  ii.  23. 

2  2  Sam.  xii.  15-23  ;  xviii.  33-xix.  4.     On  the  narrative  of  the  death 
of  Absalom,  see  Plumptre,  Biblical  Studies,  p.  125.     The  unfortunate 
prince  was  'caught  by  the  thick  forked  boughs  of  a  terebinth,  and  jammed 
in  with  the  violence  of  the  shock.'     The  cairn  piled  over  his  body  was 
like  that  of  Achan,  Josh.  vii.  25.     Not  only  the  Israelites  but  the 
Arabs  and  (as  Caesar  says)  the  ancient  Britons  had  the  custom  of  cast- 
ing stones  on  the  graves  of  criminals.  A  stone  symbolizes  a  curse ;  Satan 
in  the  Koran  (iii.  31  &c.)  is  called  'the  pelted,'  i.e.  the  cursed.     Poor 
Absalom  !     People  call  him  vain  because  of  his  long  locks,  but  these 
were  probably  the  mark  of  his  political  pretensions,  the  hair  of  Hebrew 
princes,  like  that  of  Maori  chiefs,  being  sacred  (see  W.  R.  Smith, 
Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  464) ;  and  these  political  pretensions  would 
never  have  been  put  forward,  if  David  had  not  neglected  the  duty  of 
determining  the  succession  to  the  crown  (in  concert  with  the  '  elders  '). 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  47 

the  bereaved  father,  who  comforts  himself  with  the 
thought  of  reunion,  in  the  first  passage,  and  his  un- 
controllable agony  in  the  second,  both  appeal  to  us  in 
different  moods.  In  his  first  sorrow  David  had  but  to 
think  of  his  own  loss  ;  in  his  second,  he  thinks  also 
'  of  his  son's.  Ah  !  how  many  mourners  there  are  who 
can  sympathize  with  David  ! — happy,  thrice  happy,  if 
they  have  had  no  experience  of  David's  keenest  pang 
— that  of  regret  for  a  stained  character  and  a  blighted 
promise  ! 

But  the  love  which  we  desire,  if  it  may  be,  to 
cherish  for  David  is  one  that  is  blended  with  rever- 
ence. And  for  evidence  of  his  claim  to  this  we  must 
look  further.  There  is  a  rarer  quality  in  his  friendship 
with  Jonathan.  It  is  probable  no  doubt  that  the  editor 
of  our  Books  of  Samuel  has  given  some  poetic  touches 
of  his  own,  idealizing  the  literal  facts  of  history,  but 
that  these  facts  were  in  themselves  lovely  and  poetical, 
is  clear  from  the  words  of  a  first-class  historical  docu- 
ment, the  elegy  upon  Saul  and  Jonathan. 

/  am  distressed  for  thee,  my  brother  Jonathan  : x 

1  Why  does  David  say  '  my  brother  Jonathan  '  ? — or,  as  Mr.  Ruskin 
has  framed  the  question  (Fors  Clavigera,  1874,  p.  87), — '  How  is  it 
that  David  has  to  make  a  brother  of  Saul's  son,  getting,  as  it  seems, 
no  brotherly  kindness,  nor,  more  wonderful  yet,  sisterly  kindness  at 
his  own  fireside  '  ?  The  assumption  however  is  unjustified.  David's 
'  brethren '  and  '  all  his  father's  house '  (besides  his  sisters'  sons 
Joab,  Amasa,  Abishai)  drew  to  his  side  (l  Sam.  xxii.  i).  Even 
Eliab,  who  is  said  to  have  reproached  David  in  his  youth,  was  perhaps 
rewarded  for  his  services  (i  Chron.  xxvii.  18,  '  Elihu  ').  Still  it  is  true 


48  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

Very  pleasant  wast  thon  unto  me  : 

Thy  love  to  me  was  wonderful, 

Passing  the  love  of  women  J- 

We  should  not  perhaps  endorse  the  last  line  of  this 
passage,  for  in  .the  progress  of  the  world  we  have 
learned  to  know  the  love  of  women  better ;  but  what 
David  really  means  is  true — that  he  at  least  has  never 
known  such  a  strong  and  unselfish  love  as  Jonathan's. 
One  may  hestitate  indeed  to  believe,  without  better 
historical  evidence,2  that  Jonathan  really  foresaw  the 

that  Jonathan  was  one  of  those  friends  who  '  stick  closer  than  a  brother  ' 
(Prov.  xviii.  24)  and  of  whom  Icelandic  proverbs  speak  so  warmly.  He 
was  to  David  what  Patroclus  was  to  Achilles,  who  says,  '  If  there  be 
forgetfulness  in  death,  yet  even  then  will  I  remember  my  friend,'  and 
what  Glaucus  was  to  Diomede,  whose  exchange  of  armour  reminds  us 
of  Jonathan's  act  in  I  Sam.  xviii.  4.  In  fact  David  and  Jonathan 
entered  into  a  formal  religious  covenant  of  adoptive  brotherhood  (see 
I  Sam.  xx.,  xxiii.  14-18,  and  2  Sam.  xxi.  7),  analogous  to  that 
described  by  Trumbull  ( The  Blood-covenant,  1885),  and  W.  R.  Smith 
(The  Religion  of  Semites,  1889,  pp.  296-300),  though  without  the  old 
rite  of  the  meeting  of  bloods  on  the  sacred  stone. 

1  2  Sam.  i.  26.     On  the  origin  of  the  elegy,  cf.  B.L.,  pp.  192,  212. 
'  It  is  remarkable,'  observes  Driver,  '  that  no  religious  thought  of  any 
kind  appears  in  the  poem  '  (Samuel,  p.  185).     This  is  in  favour  of  its 
genuineness.  With  all  his  hypercriticism,  Duncker  admits  that  v.  26  '  may 
certainly  have  come  from  David  '  (History,  ii.  145).     But  how  does  it 
differ  in  style  from  the  rest  of  the  poem  ? 

2  There  are  two  accounts  (see  p.  8)  of  the  covenant  between  David 
and  Jonathan  ;  but  it  stands  to  reason  that  we  cannot  depend  on  the 
accuracy  of  the  speeches.     Chap.  xx.  in  particular  has  been  filled  out 
like  the  story  of  David  and  Goliath.     And  how  should  Jonathan  have 
anticipated  such  a  strange  thing  as  the  elevation  of  David  to  the  throne  ? 
I  may  be  referred  to   I  Sam.  xvi.  1-13,  where  David  is  said  to  have 
been  anointed  by  Samuel  'in  the  midst  of  his  brothers.'      But,  as 
Wellhausen  and  others  have  conclusively  shown,  this  passage  is  but 
an   awkward   imitation   of  x.    1-7.     The  editor,   to   whom  it  is  due, 


7 HE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  49 


good  fortune  of  David,  and  sweetened  his  own  dis- 
appointment by  sympathy  with  his   friend.      But   it 
remains   an   idyllic   picture — that   of    Jonathan    the 
king's   son   and    David   the  outcast  bound  together 
by   a    covenant    of  adoptive    brother.hood.     And  as 
Creations   of  the   devout   fancy  we    may   enjoy   the] 
idealization    which    later    Hebrew    writers    gave    it, 
just  as  we  delight  in  the  still  more  famous  story  of; 
David  and  Goliath. 

If  we  are  asked  which  of  the  two  figures — David 
or  Jonathan — most  excites  our  interest,  we  shall  of 
course  answer,  Jonathan.  But  we  must  at  any  rate 
respect  David  for  his  fidelity  to  his  friend  and  his 
friend's  poor  lame  son.1  There  are  few  things  in  the 
early  narratives  more  pathetic  than  this,  '  And  the 
king  said,  Is  there  not  yet  any  of  the  house  of  Saul, 
that  I  may  show  the  kindness  of  God  unto  him  ?  And 

wished  to  make  it  clear  that  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah,  which  (xvi.  14)  had 
departed  from  Saul,  abode  henceforth  upon  David,  the  '  neighbour  '  re- 
ferred to  in  xv.  28  as  '  better  '  than  Saul.  David's  brothers  however 
knew  nothing  of  the  anointing  (see  xvii.  28),  and  David  himself  on  a 
subsequent  occasion  speaks  quite  naturally  of  Saul  as  'Jehovah's 
Anointed '  (xxiv.  6,  xxvi.  9).  There  are  also  various  incongruities  in 
xvi.  1-13  into  which  none  of  the  ancient  narrators  would  have  fallen  (see 
Kudde,  p.  216). 

1  It  is  unhappily  true  that  David  lapsed  from  this  fidelity  to  Jonathan 
(2  Sam.  xvi.  1-4  ;  xix.  29).  Mep'hibosheth's  real  name  was  Meribbaal 
(i  Chron.  ix.  40).  Names  compounded  with  baal  (an  innocent 
though  somewhat  dangerous  name  for  Jehovah  ;  see  my  notes  on  Hos.  ii. 
16,  ix.  10  in  Cambridge  Bible)  were  altered  by  some  later  writers,  by 
the  substitution  of  bosheth  or  besheth  '  shame  '  for  baal.  Thus  Ishbaal 
became  Ishbosheth  ;  Jerubbaal,  Jerubbesheth. 

5 


50  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

Ziba  said  unto  the  king,  Jonathan  hath  yet  a  son 
which  is  lame  on  his  feet.'  J  Such  fidelity  warms  the 
heart ;  and  I  can  well  understand  how  Cardinal 
Newman,  with  the  instincts  of  a  poet,  sought  to  idealize 
it.  According  to  him,  '  the  pale  calm  spectre  of  a 
blameless  friend  '  was  ever  near  David,  controlling  his 
hot,  passionate  nature.2  A  dream  !  a  beautiful  dream  ! 
The  sanctifying  power  of  the  memory  of  friends 
arises  from  the  Christian  faith  in  immortality.  '  He 
bides  with  us  who  dies,'  is  only  true,  if  death  to  the 
righteous  is  the  gate  of  heaven. 


If  there  is  nought  but  what  we  see, 
The  friend  I  loved  is  lost  to  me.J 


Now  David  would  not  indeed  have  used  exactly 
these  words  ;  for  he  believed,  however  vaguely  (as 
we  may  think),  in  a  supreme  God.  But  he  did  not 
possess  the  blessed  hope  of  a  spiritual  immortality. 
'  I  shall  go  to  him,'  meant  only,  '  I  shall  be  reunited 
with  my  child  in  the  same  part  of  the  joyless  world 
of  the  dead.' 

It  is  already  something  to  be  able  to  respect  David, 
and  to  differ  from  a  once  admired  philosopher  who 
says,  '  Such  are  some  human  hearts  that  they  can 

1  2  Sam.  ix.  3. 

2  Lyra  Apostolica,  no.  18,  '  David  and  Jonathan.' 

3  E.  R.  Sill  [an  American  poet],  The  Invisible, 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  51 

hardly  find  the  least  sympathy  with  that  only  one 
which  had  the  character  of  being  after  the  pattern  of 
the  Almighty.' J  Sympathy  of  course  depends  on  a 
just  apprehension  of  facts,  and  this  Shaftesbury  (a 
contemporary  of  Bayle)  was  unable  to  get.  I  trust 
however  that  we  have  been  not  unjust  to  the  facts, 
and  that  in  consequence  we  sympathize  a  little  with 
David.  But  I  think  too  that  we  are  most  of  us  still 
somewhat  dissatisfied.  We  would  fain  reverence  the 
son  of  Jesse  as  in  some  true  sense  '  a  man  after  God's 
heart.' — In  some  true  sense  ?  Yes  ;  for  our  secularist 
friends,  following  Shaftesbury  and  Bayle,  misunder- 
stand the  phrase.  There  is  no  occasion  either  like 
the  secularists  to  deride  the  Hebrew  narrator,  or,  like 
the  orthodox,  to  offer  the  plausible  excuse2  that  a 
man  is  to  be  judged  by  his  ideal  rather  than  by  his 
practice — which  is  true  for  Robert  Burns  but  hardly 
for  David.  Let  us  look  at  the  context.  The  words 
which  follow  our  text  should  remove  all  doubt  as  to 
the  writer's  meaning.  He  continues  thus,  'and  Jeho- 
vah hath  commanded  him  to  be  captain  over  his 
people.'  A  '  man  after  God's  mind '  (for  '  heart,'  as 
often  elsewhere,  means  '  mind '  or  '  purpose  ')  is  one  in 
whom  the  God  of  Israel  has  found  the  qualities  of  a 

1  Shaftesbury,  Soliloquy,  part  III.,  sect.  3. 

2  Carlyle.     Mrs.  Oliphant  offers   a   weaker  explanation.     '  By   this 
superlative  phrase  the  historian  translates  David's  charm  and  fascination 
of  nature  '  {Jerusalem,  p.  115). 


52  THE  DA  VW-NARRA  TIVES. 


captain  or  leader,1  just  as  'shepherds  according  to  my 
heart'  (Jer.  iii.  15)  signifies  'rulers  who  shall  answer 
the  purpose  for  which  I  send'  them.'  It  is  equivalent 
to  '  Jehovah's  Anointed/  which  means  one  who, 
whether  with  or  without  the  sacramental  oil,  has 
received  the  anointing  of  the  Spirit,  has  had  his 
natural  faculty  of  leadership  supernaturally  height- 
ened. Such  a '  natural-supernatural '  faculty  deserves, 
as  Thomas  Carlyle  showed,  our  deepest  reverence. 
Those  who  have  it  are  the  true  '  kings  of  men,'  and  if 
not  the  only  heroes,  yet  equal  to  the  greatest.  I  ask 
therefore,  May  we  include  David  among  them  ?  Can 
we  justify  the  assertion  that  he  was  a  great  and  good 
ruler  by  well-attested  facts  ? 

The  first  qualities  of  a  truly  great  ruler  which  we 
look  for  in  David  are — patriotism  and  public  spirit, 
respect  for  national  laws  and  institutions,  and  punc- 
tuality in  the  administration  of  justice.  And  these 
qualities,  so  far  as  our  information  goes,  he  appears 
on  the  whole  to  have  possessed.  Look  at  him  in  his 
earlier  period.  '  He  was  forced  into — not  rebellion, 
for  no  act  against  Saul's  authority  is  ever  suggested — 
but  into  a  wild  and.  feudatory  life  by  incessant  pursuit 
of  persecution  ;  yet  he  raised  no  hostile  banner,  put 
forth  no  pretensions  to  the  crown.  And  when  in 
despair  and  sickness  of  heart  he  turned  away  and 

1  The  Targum  has  here  'a  man  performing  his  will' ;  cf.  Actsxiii.  32. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  53 


directed  his  steps  to  the  Philistine  court  to  seek  the 
protection  of  the  enemies  of  Israel,  it  was  not  like 
Coriolanus  to  ruin  Rome,  but  only  to  shelter  himself 
from  a  ceaseless  pursuit.' *  True,  it  has  been  asserted 
that  David  acted  unpatriotically  while  a  vassal  of 
Achish — that  he  raided  upon  the  land  of  Judah  and 
would  willingly  have  fought  against  Saul  at  Gilboa,  if 
Achish  had  not  sent  him  away.2  But  the  first  state- 
ment contradicts  the  tradition  in  i  Sam.  xxvii.  8,  and 
as  for  the  second,  David's  speech  in  I  Sam.  xxix.  8 
ought  not  to  be  taken  too  literally.  Although  Achish 
had  told  David  that  the  Philistines  would  not  let  him 
go  with  them  to  the  battle,  the  latter  saw  at  once  that 
unless  he  simulated  zeal  for  Achish,  his  liege  lord 
might  still  force  him  to  go.  Nor  need  we  doubt 
David's  patriotism  as  king.  He  did  not  fight  for 
glory,  nor  rule  for  merely  selfish  ends.  His  wars 
were  '  wars  of  Jehovah  ' 3  (i.e.  wars  sanctioned  by 
Jehovah  for  the  security  of  His  land),  and  his  con- 
quest of  Jebus  proved  to  him  (as  we  are  told),  not 
that  he  could  safely  tyrannize  over  his  subjects,  but 

1  Mrs.  Oliphant,  Jerusalem,  pp.  44,  45. 

2  So  Duncker,  Hist,  of  Antiquity,  ii.  141  ;  but  see  Kamphausen's 
very  thorough  essay  (referred  to  on  p.  15),  pp.  85-87.      Had  David 
actually  been  compelled  to  go  with  the  Philistines,  one  cannot  believe 
that  he  would  have  fought  against  his  friends. 

3  I  Sam.  xviii.  17,  xxv.  28  ;  cf.  Num.  xxi.  14.     The  phrase  is  in  per- 
fect harmony  with  the  language  of  Deborah  (Judg.  v.  II,  13,  23).     The 
prophet  Amos  recognizes  a  religious 'significance  in  David's  conquests 
(Am.  ix.  12,  where  read  'which  were  called  '). 


54  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


that  '  Jehovah  had  exalted  his  kingdom  for  his  people 
Israel's  sake.'1  His  primary  object  was  of  course  to 
knit  together  the  tribes  of  Israel.  To  gain  this,  it  was 
necessary  to  place  some  limits  on  the  excessive  tribal 
independence,  nor  need  we  deny  that  '  the  Crethi  and 
Plethi'  (A.V.  Cherethites  and  Pelethites)  or  the 
'  mighty  men '  (as  they  were  also  called)  were  main- 
tained partly  in  view  of  possible  internal  discords. 
As  little  need  we  assert  that  David  was  right  in  so 
seldom  consulting  the  '  elders  '  of  Israel  and  Judah,2 
who  represented  the  two  great  groups  of  Israelitish 
tribes.  It  was  at  any  rate  blameworthy  not  to  consult 
them  on  the  succession  to  the  crown  (still  more  so  no 
doubt,  to  make  no  arrangement  whatever  on  the  sub- 
ject), and  hardly  less  so  to  attempt  an  important 
constitutional  innovation  entirely  on  his  own  responsi- 
bility. 

All  that  we  need  assert  is  that  David  upheld  the 
interests  of  Israel,  not  in  a  merely  personal  or  tribal 
but  in  a  national  spirit.  This  was  why  he  gave  up 
Hebron  as  his  seat  of  government ;  Ephraim  was  not 
to  '  envy  Judah,'  nor  Judah  to  'vex  Ephraim.'  This, 
too,  may  be  urged  as  an  excuse  for  his  '  numbering 
of  the  people,'  3  which  was  probably  intended  as  the 

1  2  Sam.  v.  12.  2  i  Sam.  xxx.  26-31,  2  Sam.  v.  3. 

3  2  Sam.  xxiv.     That  the  census  was  connected  with  the  increased 
expenditure  of  government  is  a  very  natural  supposition  ;  that  it  had 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  55 

first  step  towards  a  just  and  equal  system  of  taxation 
for  the  legitimate  purposes  of  government.  It  is  also 
of  course  possible  to  take  a  different  view,  and  regard 
this  act  as  a  sign  of  a  growing  despotic  propensity. 
And  in  either  case  it  would  appear  that  David's  pro- 
cedure was  not  less  repugnant  to  the  prophetic 
guardians  of  religion  than  to  the  lovers  of  ancient 
custom.  A  sore  pestilence  visited  the  land,  which 
was  interpreted  as  a  divine  judgment,  and  David, 
who,  as  a  sincerely  religious  man,  could  not  but  feel 
thus  himself,  desisted  from  his  inauspicious  attempt. 
He  also  made  one  important  religious  innovation, 
consequent  on  the  capture  of  Jerusalem,  without  the 
authority  of  the  elders,  but  for  these  he  had  of  course 
other  sanction,  and  whatever  we  may  think  of  his 
projected  taxation,  his  initiation  of  the  great  cen- 
tralizing religious  movement  was  a  sound  and  neces- 
sary policy.  His  own  deep  religious  feeling  on  the 
occasion  of  the  installation  of  the  ark  *  he  expressed 

a  military  object,  is  clearly  enough  indicated  in  2  Sam.  xxiv.  2,  which 
should  run,  '  And  the  king  said  to  Joab  and  to  the  captains  of  the  host 
which  were  with  him  '  (see  v.  4  and  I  Chron.  xxi.  2,  and  cf.  Driver  ad 
loc.).  See  also  the  subtle  remarks  of  Ewald,  who  justifies  David  on 
the  ground  that  without  regular  taxes  an  organized  and  vigorous  govern- 
ment would  in  the  long  run  have  been  impossible  (History,  iii.  161). 
Of  course,  however,  David  was  relatively  rich  through  booty  and  the 
tribute  of  conquered  nations,  and  the  produce  of  his  estates. 

1  The  installation  of  the  ark  on  Mount  Zion  cannot  but  have  given 
a  superior  prestige  to  the  new  Israelitish  sanctuary,  and  so  have  facili- 
tated the  one-sanctuary-law  of  Deuteronomy.  We  must  not  let  our- 


56  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  77  VES. 


(not  surely  in  Ps.  xxiv.  and  ci.)  but  in  the  striking 
and  evidently  primitive  words,  '  Before  Jehovah  will  I 
dance,  who  chose  me  before  thy  father  (Saul)  and  before 
all  his  house,  appointing  me  prince  over  JeJiovaJi's 
people,  over  Israel :  therefore  zvill  I  play  and  dance  be- 
fore JeJiovah?  *  Little  could  David  have  guessed  the 
issues  which  hung  on  this  important  step,  but  it  is  to 
him  that  the  world  is  historically  indebted  for  the 
streams  of  spiritual  life  which  have  proceeded  from 
Jerusalem. 

As  a  lover  of  justice  David  was  remembered  to  the 
latest  generations.  Jeremiah,  writing  in  days  when 
this  essential  quality  of  an  Eastern  king  had  become 
rare,  indulges  the  bright  vision  of  a  '  righteous 
Branch  '  from  the  tree  of  David,  who  should  'execute 
judgment  and  justice  in  the  land.'2  Now  David  .-was 
personally  a  righteous  man.  A  later  writer  declares 
ttiat  he  'turned  not  aside  from  anything  that  Jehovah 
commanded  him  all  the  days  of  his  life,  save  only  in 
tJie  matter  of  Uriah  the  Hittite?  3  Many  as  were 
his  opportunities  of  reaching  selfish  ends  by  crime, 
he  availed  himself,  with  that  one  exception,  of  none. 
He  disdained  to  win  the  crown  by  slaying  Saul 

selves  be  blinded  to  this  by  the  fact  that  the  early  prophets  lay  no  stress 
on  the  national  importance  of  the  ark,  or  indeed  of  the  temple  (see  W. 
R.  Smith,  The  Prophets  of  Israel,  p.  428). 

1  2  Sam.  vi.  21  (cf.  Sept.).  2  Jer.  xxiii.  5. 

3  I  Kings  xv.  5. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  57 


when  he  had  him  in  his  power ; x  he  slew  the  mur- 
derers of  Ishbosheth,  2  and  the  murderer  (as  David 
upon  plausible  grounds  supposed  him  to  be)  of  Saul. 3 
Nor  was  he  behindhand  in  the  administration  of 
justice,  until  in  his  advancing  years  the  burden 
became  too  great,  so  that  Absalom  could  '  steal  the 
hearts  of  the  people '  by  supplying  David's  omission.4 
Of  his  '  righteousness  and  equity '  during  his  early 
wanderings  we  have  evidence  enough  in  the  unsought 
testimony  of  the  servants  of  Nabal,  and  in  the  wise 
law  which  he  made  to  stop  disputes  over  the 
division  of  spoil  ;5  and  if  in  the  later  years  of  his 
reign  he  could  give  the  iniquitous  sentence,  '  Thou 
and  Ziba  divide  the  land,'6  yet  in  his  prime  he 
received  this  testimony  (strangely  confirmed  by  his 
own  words  in  2  Sam.  xii.  5,  6),  that  he  '  executed 
judgment  and  justice  unto  all  his  people.'  7 

Another  fine  quality  of  David  in  his  best  days  is 
his  regard  for  life,  at  any  rate  for  Israelitish  life. 
There  are  two  fine  stories  that  illustrate  this.  One 
is  the  account  of  the  punishment  (if  punishment  it 
was)  of  the  numbering  of  the  people,  in  which  David 
says  to  Jehovah  (and  surely  it  was  in  his  heart,  even 
if  it  never  rose  to  his  lips), '  Lo,  I  have  sinned,  and  I 

1  I  Sam.  xxiv.,  xxvi.         2  2  Sam.  iv.  9-12.         3  2  Sam.      14-16. 
4  2  Sam.  xv.  2-6.  5  I  Sam.  xxv.  15,  16,  xxx.  21-25. 

6  2  Sam.  xix.  29.    Either  Mephibosheth  was  a  traitor,  or  he  was  not. 

7  2  Sam,  viii.  15. 


58  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

have  done  wickedly  ;  but  these  sheep,  what  have 
they  done  ? ' x  The  other  is  from  a  much  more 
undoubtedly  historical  source,  that  same  roll  of 
David's  heroes  which  contains  the  best  account  of 
the  slaying  of  Goliath.  David,  as  you  remember, 
longed  for  the  water  of  his  own  sweet  native  town, 
and  the  three  mightiest  of  his  men  broke  through  the 
host  of  the  Philistines,  and  went  and  took  it.  But 
David  would  not  drink  thereof;  he  poured  it  out 
unto  Jehovah,  and  said,  'Be  it  far  from  me,  Jehovah, 
that  I  should  do  this  !  The  blood  of  the  men  that  went 
in  jeopardy  of  their  lives  ?' 'z  It  was  a  true  sacrificial 
act  The  mutual  love  which  it  symbolized  was 
precious  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  may  we  not 
reverently  call  it  a  true  though  a  far-off  shadow  of 
the  love  of  Jesus  ? 

Next  in  order  to  this  I  would  place  the  truly 
regal  quality  of  magnanimity.  There  were  times  in 
David's  life  when  he  '  heaped  coals  of  fire '  upon 
his  enemy's  head,  when  he  '  delivered  him  that 
without  cause  was  his  enemy.' 3  'Twice,'  says 

1  2  Sam.  xxiv.  17.  2  2  Sam.  xxiii.  14-17. 

3  See  Ps.  vii.  4,  A.V.  The  rendering,  however,  is  wrong.  Many 
have  found  here  an  allusion  to  David's  generosity  to  Saul.  But  the 
psalm  is  at  any  rate  later  than  Jeremiah  (see  J5.L.,  p.  196).  It  is 
another  psalm  however  (liv.)  which  an  early  editor  assigned  to  this 
period,  and,  though  this  is  not  expressly  said,  we  may  suppose  that 
Ps.  liii.  was  referred  to  the  Nabal-episode.  Thus  Pss.  lii.-liv.  became 
illustrations  of  the  same  series  of  events.  Hence  their  juxtaposition. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  59 

Edward  Irving,  '  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  he  brought 
his  blood-hunter  within  his  power,  and  twice  he 
spared  him,  and  would  not  be  persuaded  to  injure 
a  hair  upon  his  head — who,  when  he  fell  in  his  high 
places,  was  lamented  over  by  David  with  the  bitter- 
:ness  of  a  son.'  Twice  may  perhaps  be  saying  too 
much.  But  once  is  enough  to  establish  David's 
character  for  magnanimity.  It  may  indeed  be 
objected  that  David  did  but  act  as  a  son  was  bound 
to  do,  the  covenant  between  Jonathan  and  David 
having  made  Saul  David's  adoptive  father.  But 
what  an  unnatural  father  the  young  hero  had  gained 
— a  father  who  with  jealous  rage  sought  his  son's 
life  !  So  at  least  Abishai  evidently  probably  felt — 
one  of  David's  fearless  nephews  who  accompanied 
him  on  that  wild  walk  which  brought  them  both 
before  the  sleeping  monarch.  Less  chivalrous  than 
David,  he  proposed  to  break  the  unwritten  law  of 
reverence  for  the  sleeper T  by  slaying  Saul.  But 
David  forbade  him.  He  would  not  venture  to  call 
Saul  his  father;  but  'who'  (he  said)  'can  stretch 

1  Doughty,  A.D.,  i.,  250.  Comp.  the  story  of  the  messengers  sent 
'to  watch  David,  and  to  slay  him  in  the  morning'  (i  Sam.  xix.  n). 
Readers  of  the  life  of  Mohammed  will  remember  the  projected  but 
unaccomplished  purpose  of  Mohammed's  enemies  to  seize  upon  his 
person  by  night  (Sprenger,  Leben  Muhammad,  ii.  543).  Dr.  Marcus 
Dods  compares  David's  generosity  to  that  of  Arthur's  knight  Pelleas, 
who  could  not  slay  his  traitorous  sleeping  friend,  but  '  thought  it 
sufficient  rebuke  to  lay  his  naked  sword  across  his  throat.' 


60  THE  DA  VID-NA  RRA  TIVES. 

forth  his  hand  against  Jehovah's  anointed  and  be 
guiltless  ?  '  Saul  was  not,  like  Sisera, *  one  of  Israel's 
foreign  oppressors  ;  he  was  the  divinely  sanctioned 
head  of  his  people,  and  Jehovah  had  not  as  yet 
cancelled  his  claim  to  respect.  Nor  was  Saul 
perhaps  really  so  ungrateful  as  the  common  histories 
report.  This  I  can  at  any  rate  make  probable  ;  but 
I  will  first  of  all  bring  before  you  a  few  details  from 
the  more  authentic  of  the  two  traditional  reports 
which  have  come  down  to  us.2 

David  the  outlaw  has  taken  refuge  in  a  desert  tract 
above  the  Dead  Sea  on  its  western  side.  Facing 
this  barren  region  on  the  right  hand  there  is  a  high 
hill  bounded  by  deep  valleys  north  and  south.  Saul, 
who  is  pursuing  David,  has  encamped  for  the  night 
at  the  head  of  one  of  these  valleys,  with  steep  cliffs 
on  either  side,  and  two  wells  of  living  water  close  by 
— so  at  least  we  may  fill  up  the  narrative  from  a 
careful  explorer's  notes.  3  Here  Saul  expects  to  be 
well  hidden  from  view.  But  David's  scouts  have 
discovered  his  camping-ground,  and  told  David,  who 
nobly  resists  the  temptation  to  slay  Saul,  but  carries 
away  the  king's  tall  spear  and  with  it  his  water-cruse. 
He  ascends  one  of  the  opposite  hills,  and  cries  aloud, 

1  Judg.   iv.   21,   22.      In  Judg.  v.   26,   27,   however,  Sisera  is  slain 
standing  (another  tradition?). 

2  See  I  Sam.  xxvi. 

3  Conder,  Pal.  Fund  Statement,  1875,  pp.  47,  48. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  61 

like   the    Homeric   heroes.      The    first   to   awake   is 
Abner  the  general  ;  the  king  sleeps  a  few  minutes 
longer.     David  severely  blames  Abner  for  not  having 
guarded  his  master  better,  '  for,'  he  says,  '  there  came 
one  of  the  people  in  to*  destroy  the  king  thy  lord  '  ; 
the  king  he  does  not  presume  to  address.     But  Saul 
does  not  wait  for  him  to  do  so.     The  cloud  lifts  from 
off  his  mind.     He  cannot  see  David,  but  he  knows 
his  voice.     The  years  roll  back  ;  father  and  son  long 
to  be  reconciled.      Saul  speaks — '  Is  this  thy  voice, 
my  son  David  ? '    And  David  answers,  'It  is  my  voice, 
my   lord,   O   king.     Wherefore    doth  my   lord    thus 
pursue  after  his  servant  ?  for  what  have  I   done,  or 
what  evil  is  in  my  hand  ?  '     Then  David   makes  that 
strange  appeal  to  which  I  have  referred  already  (p. 
37),  implying  such  confined  views  of  the  divinity  of 
Jehovah,  and  the  king  replies,  '  I  have  sinned  ;  return, 
my  son  David  ;  for  I  will  no  more  do  thee  harm, 
because  my  soul  was  precious  in  thine  eyes  this  day.' 
'So  David  went  on  his  way,  and  Saul  returned  to 
his  place.'     Here  certainly  David  shines  most,  but 
Saul   wins   our   esteem  and  affection   too.     Perhaps 
you  may  question  this ;  the  common  histories  make 
out  that  Saul  was  as  bitter  as  ever  against  David 
even    after   his   life    had    been    spared.      But   upon 
analyzing  Samuel  into  its  component  parts  it  appears 
that  David  was  but  once  in  a  position  to  act  thus 


62  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

generously  to  Saul.  He  may  have  feared  that  Saul's 
repentance  would  not  be  lasting  ;  but  I  venture  to 
doubt  this. J  Psychologically  it  seems  more  probable 
that  David  had  already  begun  to  idealize  the  grand 
old  king,  and  that  the  kindly  words,  '  Saul  and 
Jonathan  were  lovely  and  pleasant  in  their  lives,' 
express  the  secret  thoughts  of  David  in  this  never-to- 
be-forgotten  night. 

And  now  I  will  venture  on  a  conjecture  suggested 
by  the  same  result  of  critical  analysis.  Accepting  chap, 
xxvi.  as  more  original  than  chap,  xxiv.,  and  reading 
it  together  with  chap,  xxv., 2  we  are  led  to  the 
reasonable  supposition  that  that  noble  woman 
Abigail,  who  had  moderated  the  passion  of  David 
not  long  before,  once  again  exerted  her  potent 
influence  against  the  hasty  shedding  of  blood.  I 
cannot  see  that  this  is  an  illegitimate  use  of  the 
imagination.  The  fault  of  the  older  writers  was  not 
so  much  their  imaginativeness,  as  that  their  imagina- 
tion was  not  controlled  by  a  historical  sense.  Listen 
to  the  grateful  words  which  the  narrator  puts  into 

1  I  admit,  however,  that  the  narrator  himself  ('  Da ')  thought  that 
Saul  was  still  not  quite  to  be  trusted  (see  I  Sam.'-xxvii.  I,  4). 

2  It  is  true  that  chap.  xxv.  2  &c.,  belongs  to  '  Da '  (see  pp.  6,  7),  and 
chap.  xxvi.  to  SS.,  but  both  these  narratives  are  historically  valuable, 
and  Abigail  was  certainly  David's  wife  when  the  event  described  in 
chap.  xxvi.  took  place.     Very  possibly  too  SS.  in  its  original  form  gave 
some  account  of  the  Nabal-episode,  though  not  one  fine  enough  to  be 
adopted  by  the  editor. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DA  VID.  63 


the  mouth  of  David  (i  Sam.  xxv.  32,  33),  '  Blessed  be 
JeJwvaJi  the  God  of  Israel,  who  sent  thee  tJiis  day  to 
meet  me  ;  and  blessed  be  thy  wisdom,  and  blessed  be 
thou,  who  hast  kept  me  this  day  from  bloodguiltiness, 

and  from  helping  myself  ivith  mine  oivn  hand.' 
i 

Nor  is  this  the  only  recorded  instance  of  our  hero's 
magnanimity.  Poor  Christopher  Smart,  whose  un- 
equal poem  '  David,'  written  in  a  lucid  interval  of 
madness,  is  known  to  many  of  us,  has  already 
mentioned  it.  David,  he  says,  had  a  thoroughly 
sweet  nature,-  — 


Good  —  from  Jehudah's  genuine  vein, 
From  God's  best  nature  good  in  grain, 

His  aspect  and  his  heart  ; 
To  pity,  to  forgive,  to  save  ; 
Witness  Engedi's  conscious  cave, 

And  Shimei's  blunted  dart. 


Shimei,  as  we  know,  was  that  Benjamite  of  the 
family  of  Saul  who  cursed  David,  when  he  was  fleeing 
from  Absalom,  as  the  murderer  of  Saul's  grandsons. 
On  David's  return  after  Absalom's  death,  Shimei 
met  him,  '  when  he  would  go  over  Jordan,'  and  did 
obeisance.  He  frankly  confessed  his  sin,  and  asked 
pardon  of  David  for  it,  since  he  was  the  first  of  the 
house  of  Joseph  to  go  down  to  meet  the  king.  David 
would  not  spoil  the  festive  joy  of  the  day  by  putting 
any  one  to  death,  so  he  as  frankly  forgave  Shimei, 


64  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  77  VES. 


sealing  his  pardon  with  an  oath.  J  This,  I  say,  was 
conduct  worthy  of  a  king.  Ah  !  but  you  forget  the 
detestable  sequel  of  the  story — some  secularist  may 
observe.  And  even  a  genuine  admirer  of  the  Old 
Testament  somewhere  congratulates  Hellas  that  its 
national  heroes  were  not  men  like  David,  '  who  dies 
with  the  words  of  blood  and  perfidy  on  his  lips, 
charging  his  son  with  the  lost  slaughterous  satis- 
faction of  his  hate  which  he  had  sworn  before  God  to 
forego.'  2  Now  I  fully  share  this  repugnance  to  the 
conduct  ascribed  to  David  in  I  Kings  ii.  1-9,  and  I 
agree  with  an  eminent  historian  that  even  allowing 
for  Oriental  modes  of  feeling,  '  David's  instructions 
go  beyond  the  limits  of  all  that  we  can  elsewhere 
find  in  those  times.'  3 

I  believe  however  that  the  objection  so  confidently 
brought  falls  to  the  ground  upon  a  strict  criticism  of 
the  narrative  in  I  Kings  i.  and  ii.  It  is,  to  begin 
with,  certain  that,  in  the  period  referred  to,  David's 
vital  powers  were  decaying,  and  that  he  was  incapable 
of  serious  business.  Joab  and  Nathan  both  knew 
this  ;  and  the  former  pressed  the  claims  of  Adonijah, 
the  latter  those  of  Solomon  to  the  succession.  It 

1  2   Sam.   xvi.    5-13;    xix.    16-23.       Kay  supposes   that    Ps.    vii. 
illustrates  the  former  passage;  Cush  in  the  heading  =  Shimei  (but  see 
B.L.,  pp.  229,  243  ;  Expositor,  March  1892,  p.  234). 

2  Myers,  The  Extant  Odes  of  Pindar,  Introd.,  p.  17. 

3  Duncker,  History  of  Antiquity,  ii.  145. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  65 


seemed  at  first  as  if  Adonijah  would  gain  the  day. 
He  had  on  his  side,  not  only  David's  old  companion 
and  greatest  subject  Joab,  but  the  king's  faithful 
priest  Abiathar,  and  all  the  official  class  in  Judah. 
But  Nathan  '  the  prophet '  saw  that  Adonijah  was 
not  equal  to  the  responsibilities  of  royalty,  and, 
obtaining  the  assistance  of  Bathsheba  brought  the 
feeble  king  to  accept  Solomon  as  his  successor.  A 
most  dramatic  description  is  given  of  the  crisis,  but 
we  can  hardly  be  blind  to  the  fact  that  it  is  the  work 
of  a  partizan  of  Solomon.  No  blame  need  be 
imputed  to  the  writer,  who  had  espoused  what  he 
rightly  thought  the  better  cause.  We  cannot  how- 
ever abstain  from  criticizing  his  statements,  for  unless 
we  do  so  we  may  unintentionally  be  unjust  to  David. 
The  words  which  he  ascribes  to  the  dramatis  persona 
are  for  the  most  part  psychologically  possible,  but 
those  in  I  Kings  ii.  2-9  (even  if  we  omit  vv.  2-4  as  a 
much  later  insertion  by  a  reader  of  Deuteronomy)  * 
are  not  at  all  what  the  dying  king  would  be  likely 
to  have  used.  We  have  seen  how  weak  in  mind  he 
was,  and  how  careless  of  the  interests  of  the  kingdom  ; 
how  improbable  then  that  he  should  have  given  any 
testamentary  instructions  at  all  to  the  future  king ! 

1  Wellhausen,  Stadc,  and  Kautzsch  regard  I  Kings  ii.  1-9  as  a  later 
insertion.  But  it  seems  safer  (see  Budde,  p.  264)  to  limit  the  insertion 
to  w.  2-4. 


66  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  TIVES. 


And  though  we  must  not  attach  too  much  import- 
ance to  well -attested  incongruities,  yet  we  may  say 
that  very  full  evidence  indeed  would  be  required  to 
make    us    believe    that    the    speech   in    vv.    2-9   is 
authentic.     For  this  supposed  dying  charge  is  dia- 
metrically opposed   to   what   is   told  us  of  David's 
character  elsewhere.    David  may  indeed  have  guessed 
(if  he  was  equal  to  the  strain  of  thinking  at  all)  that 
the  new  king,  who  would  have  the  right  to  cancel  his 
predecessor's   amnesty,  would    fear   to   leave    Joab's 
violent  acts  unexpiated   and   Shimei's  solemn  curse 
unneutralized  by  the  deaths  of  the  offenders  ;  but  he 
was  too  noble  to  stir  up  vindictive  feelings  in  another 
which  in  himself  had  long  since  been  quelled.     Joab 
in  particular  had  a  claim  on  his  gratitude  which  a 
few   passionate    acts   could    not   wholly   extinguish, 
whereas  Solomon,  who  was  inferior  in   character  to 
his  father,  may  well  have  taken  the  first  opportunity 
to  rid  himself  of  his  lion-like  foe.     (Did  Joab — the 
hero  of  a  hundred  fights — really  become  a  craven  at 
/-the  last  ?     One  may  venture  to  doubt  it.)     It  is  not 
David  therefore  who  is  to  be  blamed,  but  a  Hebrew 
narrator  who  sought  to  relieve  the  pious  builder  of 
the  temple  from  the  responsibility  of  some  doubtful 
actions  by  ascribing  them  to  the  influence  of  David. 
Lastly  I  come  to  David's  religion,  and  inquire,  Has 
it  a  bright  as  well  as  a  dark  side  ?   We  have  admitted 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  67 

that  truths  now  familiar  to  '  cottage-dames '  were 
unknown  to  him  ;  that  his  religious  notions  were, 
from  a  Christian  point  of  view,  neither  elevated  nor 
refined.  The  narrators  (or  some  of  them),  and 
the  editors  who  welded  their  work  into  a  whole, 
have  done  what  they  could  to  mitigate  the  shock 
caused  by  many  of  the  traditional  facts  by  making 
David  use  beautifully  devout  expressions,  some  of 
which  at  any  rate  were  certainly  beyond  his  horizon. 
It  is  a  grave  question  whether  they  have  succeeded, 
at  least  for  our  generation  ;  we  should  probably  feel 
the  moral  difficulty  of  2  Sam.  viii.  I,  2  less,  if  the 
exquisite  prayer  and  thanksgiving  in  2  Sam.  vii.  18- 
29  did  not  precede  it.  But  so  much  is  clear  even 
upon  a  critical  view  of  the  narratives  that  David  had 
a  religious  feeling  both  deeper  and  purer  than  that 
of  either  Saul  or  Solomon,  and  certainly  nobler  than 
that  of  the  Bedouins  with  whom  he  has  been  unwisely 
compared  r — that  he  not  only  loved  his  God  (as  his 
very  name  reminded  him  to  do2),  but  worked  in 

1  Mr.  Doughty  compares  David  to  the  Bedouins,  pious  in  speech  but 
wicked  in  act  (A.D.,  ii.  39).      He  refers  of  course  to  David's  copious 
religious  phraseology,  assuming  the  speeches  in  the  narratives-  to  be 
more  historical  than  they  are.     Another  traveller,  writing  especially  for 
the  religious  public,  has  no  hesitation  in  representing  David  as  in  some 
respects  very  much  like  a  Bedouin ;  though  on  another  page  he  says 
that  David  expressed  religious  ideas  closely  resembling  those  of  our 
Lord's  parables  (Wilson,  In  Scripture  Lands,  1891).     All  this  is  very 
confused  and  confusing. 

2  Name  of  David.     David  ('  the  beloved  of  .  .  .')  is  a  shortened  form 


68  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


harmony  with  the  chief  religious  authorities  of  his 
time  (Gad  and  Nathan  are  specially  mentioned).  I 
have  already  referred  to  certain  '  high  moments '  in 
David's  religious  life,  when  he  may  perhaps  have  risen 
somewhat  above  the  gross  notions  of  the  multitude, 
and,  if  I  may  say  so,  proved  himself  the  spiritual 
kinsman  of  the  later  prophets.  It  is  not  impossible 
that  at  some  of  these  times  he  burst  into  song,  and 
that  if  we  had  a  sufficient  number  of  his  hymns,  we 
might  detect  in  them  some  faint  but  true  germs  of 
the  religion  of  the  Psalter.1  At  any  rate  he  had  a 
keen  sense  that  he  was  called  to  be  shepherd  of 
Jehovah's  people,  and  as  the  recompense  of  his  fidelity 
he  may  even  have  looked  forward  to  a  long  line  of 
royal  descendants.  So  far  as  his  lights  went,  we  may 
say  that  he  '  walked  with  God,'  and  when  through 
human  frailty  he  gave  way  to  sore  temptation,  he 
failed  not  to  return  to  his  God,  not  indeed  with  an 
impossible  spirituality,  but  with  unfeigned  repentance. 
His  afflictions,  too,  he  bore  with  resignation,  tracing 
them  to  their  source  in  his  own  sinful  conduct,  but 
retaining  a  sure  hope  in  the  divine  lovingkindness. 
How  clearly  does  this  come  out  in  the  story  of  his 
flight  from  Absalom !  For  surely  it  was  not  the 

for  Dodayahu  (2  Chron.  xx.  37 ;  cf.  Sept.),  or  Dodo  ('  the  beloved  of 
Him,'  i.e.  of  Jehovah),  a  name  which  we  shall  meet  with  again  in 
studying  the  story  of  Goliath  (p.  81).  Compare  Solomon's  early  name, 
Jedidiah  ;  also  Dido.  '  A  mere  conjecture  ;  see  J3.L.,  p.  191. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  69 


mere  collapse  of  premature  old  age,  but  a  renewed 
sense  of  guilt,  which  produced  that  strange  resolution, 
'  Arise,  and  let  us  flee '  (2  Sam.  xv.  14). 

Now  what  more  can  we  need  to  justify  us  in 
reverencing  David  as  a  good  and  great  man,  no 
spotless  knight,  and  yet  a  man  after  God's  purpose  ? 
•  Can  we  fail  to  be  struck  by  the  manifold  contrasts 
between  the  son  of  Jesse  and  the  heroes  of  the  pre- 
ceding age  ?  He  is  no  doubt  the  child  of  the  past, 
but  he  is  also  one  of  the  heralds  of  the  better  future. 
There  is  much  in  him  that  repels,  there  is  also  much 
that  attracts  us.  There  is,  if  we  judge  him  historically, 
but  one  great  blot  in  his  record  ;  there  are,  even  with 
our  limited  knowledge,  several  brightly  illuminated 
passages  which  gladden  the  Christian  heart.  How  is 
it  that  the  better  elements  in  the  Israelitish  character 
spring  at  once  in  David  into  a  new  life?  What  is 
it  that  makes  David  so  different  from  his  fierce 
nephew  Joab  ?  Surely  it  is  that  nature  in  him  has 
been  touched  (as  we  say)  by  grace  ;  it  is  that,  with 
all  his  illusions,  he  had  what  is  called  in  Heb.  xi. 
1  faith.'  That  he  is  in  any  full  sense  a  type  of  Him 
who  is  the  '  finisher  of  faith,'  I  will  not  say  ;  tJiat 
honour  must  be  reserved  for  that  deeply  spiritual  figure 
which  is  the  speaker  of  so  many  of  the  psalms — that 
second  David — the  Church-nation  of  later  times.  But 
we  may  affirm  that  till  Jesus  Christ  came  no  one 


70  THE  DA  V1D-NARRA  TIVES. 


exercised  such  a  personal  charm  as  the  historical 
David,  and  the  best  proof  of  this  is  that  he  was 
idealized  by  the  inspired  writers  of  later  ages.  The 
process  began  in  the  times  of  the  narrators  of  Samuel ; 
it  closed,  as  we  have  seen,  in  those  of  the  Chronicler. 
Midway  came  the  great  prophets  Jeremiah  and 
Ezekiel.  To  them  the  word  '  David '  became  the 
symbol  *  of  that  ideal  king  of  the  future  who  was 
afterwards  called  the  Messiah,  and  whom  we  believe 
on  sure  grounds  to  have  come  in  the  person  of  the 
Son  of  Mary.  '  Of  this  man's  seed  hath  God  according 
to  promise  brought  unto  Israel  a  saviour,  Jesus.' 2 

Now  I  venture  to  ask,  in  conclusion,  Have  you  lost 
anything  for  which  in  your  heart  of  hearts  you  cared 
by  accepting  these  carefully  sifted  results  of  modern 
study  ?  The  force  of  truth  may  have  compelled 
you  to  reject  what  Cardinal  Newmans  calls  (more 
aptly  than  he  is  aware  himself)  'the  portent  of  a 
blood-stained  holiness.'  Or  to  put  it  in  other  words, 
you  have  received  a  new  and  more  thoroughly 
Church-view  of  the  5 1st  psalm,  and  have  been  built 
up  thereby  in  the  sense  of  your  close  dependence  on 
Christ's  body,  the  Church.  You  have  also  gained  a 
fresh  insight  into  the  truth  of  those  New  Testament 
words,  '  By  divers  portions  and  in  divers  manners 

*  Jer.  xxx.  9;  Ezek.  xxxiv.  23,  24,  xxxvii.  24,  25. 

2  Acts  xiii.  23.  3  In  his  poem  called  '  David  and  Jonathan.' 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  ^l 


God  spake  in  time  past  unto  the  fathers,' *  and  you 
have  learned  to  appreciate  better  the  worth  of  spiritual 
religion  by  seeing  how  slowly  and  gradually  it  was 
revealed.  Sadly  imperfect  were  the  early  agents  in 
the  historical  process  of  what  I  may  call  religious 
discovery,  but  you  will  not  on  that  acc'ount  disavow 
your  connexion  with  them.  The  acorn  is  a  prophecy 
of  the  oak  ;  the  chrysalis  of  the  butterfly  ;  David  of 
the  psalmists  ;  the  psalmists  of  Christ. 

I  venture  also,  with  some  hesitation  and  only  from 
a  sense  of  duty,  to  address  another  question  to  you, 
which  may  seem  perhaps,  though  I  do  not  so  mean 
it,  to  partake  of  the  nature  of  a  reproach  ?  How  is  it 
that  the  few  discourses,  in  which,  side  by  side  with 
the  affirmation  of  facts,  there  has  been  a  gentle 
attempt  to  eradicate  errors,  have  been  found  so  much 
more  stimulating  than  the  many  sermon-studies  in 
which  for  the  three  previous  summers  I  have  given 
nothing  but  positive,  constructive  truth  on  one  of  the 
deepest  parts  of  the  Bible?2  Why  should  the  inevit- 
able negation  which  sooner  or  later  every  teacher 
of  religion  must  against  his  will  put  forth  be  more 
exciting  to  any  minds  than  the  wholesome  facts 
revealed  by  a  free  but  devout  Bible  study?  Why,  even 
in.  these  few  discourses  have  the  so-called  negative 
parts  been  fastened  upon  by  some  unauthorized  critics 

1  Heb.  i.  i.  2  See  preface. 


72  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

here  to  the  exclusion  of  the  affirmative  and  con- 
structive elements  in  which  I  myself  take  such  great 
delight  ?  Evidently  there  are  two  answers  which 
might  be  given  to  this  ;  permit  me  to  choose  the  more 
favourable  one.  There  is  among  the  laity  a  growing 
consciousness  that  the  historical  setting  in  which 
spiritual  truth  is  ordinarily  presented  to  them  is,  so 
far  as  the  Old  Testament  is  concerned,  not  in  all 
respects  as  trustworthy  as  could  be  wished.  Con- 
sequently some  lay  students  at  any  rate  listen  with 
more  attention  to  a  teacher  when  he  denies  than 
when  he  affirms,  not  being  aware  that  among  those 
who  have  thoroughly  studied  the  Old  Testament  from 
a  modern  point  of  view  the  period  of  negation  and 
destruction  is  past,  and  the  work  of  gentle  and 
gradual  reconstruction  has  begun. 

We  are,  to  put  the  matter  plainly,  in  the  process  of 
rediscovering  and  reinterpreting  large  parts  of  the 
Old  Testament.  Just  as  the  Reformers  rediscovered 
St.  Paul, — that  is,  found  out  neglected  sides  of  his 
teaching,  so  but  in  a  much  fuller  sense  devout  critical 
students  in  our  clay  are  seeking  by  the  help  of  the 
Spirit  of  truth  to  rediscover,  and  as  they  rediscover  to 
Christianize  and  popularize,  the  historical  meaning  of 
the  Old  Testament.  How  great  the  gain  will  be  both 
to  the  religion  of  those  who  profess  and  call  them- 
selves Christians  and  to  the  defence  of  Bible-truth 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  DAVID.  73 


against  those  who  profess  and  call  themselves  un- 
believers, I  have  already  pointed  out.  We  want  to 
get  nearer  to  essential  facts  and  essential  truths  ; — we 
cannot  dispense  with  either.  But  we  can  only  do  this 
by  genuine  study.  If  you  have  but  little  leisure,  give 
what  you  can  of  this.  If  you  have  much  leisure,  give 
of  your  abundance.  But  do  not  waste  either  little  or 
great  leisure  by  studying  on  wrong  methods.  Choose 
some  Old  Testament  book,  and  acquaint  yourself  with 
its  contents,  according  to  the  Revised  Version  or  some 
other  trustworthy  translation,  and  then  study  from 
end  to  end  some  good  and  thoroughly  modern  book, 
conveying  the  best  results  of  modern  study  in  a  popu- 
lar manner.  You  might,  for  instance,  choose  Isaiah, 
which  is  in  many  respects  the  central  book  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  study  it  in  connexion  with  the 
excellent  popular  works  of  Driver  and  George  Adam 
Smith.  And  above  all,  do  not  forget  another  kind 
of  work  still  more  fundamentally  necessary — that  of 
personal  appropriation  of  known  spiritual  truth.  Live 
near  to  God,  and  every  kind  of  knowledge  will  help 
you,  even  in  your  religious  life ;  forget  Him,  and 
there  arc  no  intellectual  gains  which  will  compensate 
you  for  this  supreme  mistake.  '  Strengthen  ye'  there- 
fore '  the  feeble  knees,  and  confirm  the  feeble  knees. 
Say  to  them  that  are  of  a  fearful  heart,  Be  strong, 
fear  not.' 


CHAPTER  IV. 

DAVID   AND  GOLIATH. 
I. 

Ps.  viii.  2.  With  the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  thou  hast  estab- 
lished a  stronghold  because  of  thine  enemies,  to  still  the  enemy  and 
the  avenger. 

I  SAM.  xvii.  45.  Thou  comest  to  me  with  a  sword,  and  with  a  spear 
and  with  a  javelin :  but  I  come  to  thee  in  the  name  of  Jehovah 
Sabaoth. 

THERE  is  not  much  local  scenery  in  the  Psalms. 
Of  moral  scenery,  if  I  may  use  the  phrase,  there  is  a 
great  deal.  You  can  at  a  glance  form  a  shrewd 
conjecture  as  to  the  date  of  a  psalm — though  this 
must  of  course  be  verified  by  critical  tests — from  the 
moral  and  spiritual  tone  of  the  writer.  The  second 
verse  of  the  8th  psalm  makes  it  impossible  to  place 
the  poem  before  the  period  when  the  Jews  had  fully 
learned  the  blessedness  of  humility  and  of  faith,  when 
in  fact  the  nation  had  become  a  church.  Of  this 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  75 


humility  and  faith  the  psalmist  takes  '  babes  and 
sucklings '  as  the  symbols  or  emblems,  just  as  our 
Lord  does  in  those  glorious  words,  '  I  thank  thee, 

0  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  that  thou  hast 
,hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast 
revealed  them  unto  babes.' J     The  Jews,  under  their 
successive  masters,  Persia,  Egypt,  Syria,  Rome,  had 
ample  opportunity  of  confirming  themselves  in  this 
new  spiritual  lesson — new,  I  call  it,  because  so  long 
as  the  Jews  had  some  material  wealth  and  political 
independence,  they  continually  neglected  the  assur- 
ance   of    the    prophet    that    '  in    quietness   and    in 
confidence    (i.e.    trust    in     God)    was     their     (true) 
strength.' 2      The  moral    scenery  of  the   8th   psalm 
enables  us  therefore  to  form  a  sound  conjecture  as  to 
its  date.      As  I  pointed  out  some  years  ago,  it  was 
probably  not  written    by  David,   to  whose   circum- 
stances   it    makes   no   allusion,    and   whose    spiritual 
horizon    it    far    transcends,    but    by   some    inspired 
temple-poet  after  the   return  from  the  Exile. 3     But 
there  is  one  beautiful  episode  in  the  traditional  life  of 
David  himself  which  suggests   somewhat  the   same 
lesson  as  the  psalm,  and  which  supplies  that  pictu- 
resque local  scenery  in  which  the  psalm  is  deficient. 

1  refer  to  the  well-known  narrative  of  the  victory  of 

1  Matt.  xi.  2^,u7reKu\ii\jja^  aura  vi]irioic;.    Cf.  Matt.  xxi.  16,  iKaronaroi- 
i'//7ri'wv.  2  Isa.  xxx.  15.  3  Cf.  Part  II.,  chap.  vii. 


76  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

David  over  Goliath,  in  which  David  represents  the 
'  babes '  and  Goliath  '  the  enemy  and  the  avenger.' 
May  the  spirit  of  the  8th  psalm  sink  into  our 
minds,  so  that  we  may  derive  from  that  ancient 
narrative  the  full  moral  and  spiritual  profit  which  it 
was  providentially  designed  to  give  !  For  it  is  to 
some  extent  an  allegory,  though  not  a  conscious  or 
exact  allegory  like  the  immortal  Faerie  Queene  and 
the  Pilgrim's  Progress.  We  cannot  do  more  than 
open  it  to-day ;  there  is  much  that  we  shall  only  see 
when  the  whole  story  lies  before  us.  God  grant  us 
all  open  eyes  and  ears  ! 

There  is  no  one  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament, 
except  indeed  Jeremiah,  of  whom  we  know  so  much 
as  of  David,  and  perhaps  for  this  reason  there  is  no 
one  who  is  so  dear  to  '  the  general  heart  of  men '  as 
David.  Our  own  great  and  good  Alfred  must  of 
/  I  course 'be  still  nearer  and  dearer  to  us,  but  next  to 
,  •  Alfred  I  think  that  we  love  no  historical  personage, 
certainly  no  historical  king,  as  much  as  David.  We 
have  not  indeed  a  complete  and  exact  biography  of 
David  from  the  first,  but  of  what  great  man  of 
antiquity  can  it  be  said  that  we  have  this  ?  There  is 
first  of  all  a  twilight  period,  for  which  we  have  only 
a  faint  and  sometimes  inconsistent  tradition  ;  this 
extends  to  David's  flight  from  the  court  of  Saul  ; 
after  that  we  have  a  fairly  exact  historical  knowledge. 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  77 


It  is  a  portion  of  the  twilight  period  which  I  invite 
you  to  study  with  me  to-day.  We  are  told  in  i  Sam. 
xvi.  15-23  that  Saul,  seized  with  morbid  melancholy 
sent  for  '  a  son  of  Jesse  the  Bethlehemite,  that  was 
cunning  in  playing,  and  a  mighty  valiant  man,  and 
'a  man  of  war,  and  Jehovah  was  with  him.'  Here 
we  meet  with  David  as  already  a  grown-up  man, 
whose  versatile  genius  was  well-known,  and  whose 
warlike  exploits  proved  him  to  be  in  the  enjoyment 
of  divine  favour.  We  are  further  told  that  whenever 
Saul  had  an  attack  of  his  disease,  David  took  up  his 
harp  (or  guitar),  and  played,  and  the  king  obtained 
relief;  also  that  Saul  loved  David  greatly,  and  made 
him  his  armour-bearer.1  Then  the  scene  shifts.  In 
a  chapter  which  we  all  learned  to  love  at  our  mothers' 
knees,  we  see  David  again  as  a  mere  shepherd-boy 
who  has  come  up  from  the  country  to  see  his  brothers 
in  the  camp  (i  Sam.  xvii.).  With  evident  sympathy 

1  Edersheim  (Israel  imder  Samuel,  Saul,  and  David,  p.  86)  thinks 
that  this  office  was  a  purely  nominal  one,  i.e.  that  David  remained  a 
stranger  to  the  use  of  armour  (cf.  I  Sam.  xvii.  38,  39).  This  idea  he 
borrowed  from  Keil,  but  probably  abandoned  when  he  accepted  the 
principles  of  the  critical  analysis  of  the  narrative  books.  Certainly  we 
find  no  trace  elsewhere  of  merely  titular  rank  at  the  Israelitish  courts. 
Joab's  armour-bearer  was  a  highly  distinguished  warrior  (2  Sam.  xxiii. 
37),  and  so  was  Jonathan's  (i  Sam.  xiv.  1-14) ;  i.e.  they  were  not 
mere  slingers,  but  accustomed  to  the  use  of  sword  and  spear.  Kohler 
(Bill.  Gesch.,  ii.  190)  thinks  that  David  was  only  one  of  several  armour- 
bearers,  lie  refers  to  2  Sam.  xviii.  15;  but  does  this  make  it  much 
easier  to  regard  I  Sam.  xvi.-xviii.  as  a  consistent  historical  narrative  ? 
See  also  Stanley's  art.  '  Joab '  in  Smith's  D.B. 


78  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  TIVES. 


the  writer  describes  how  a  terrible  giant  is  slain  by 
this  young  and  earnestly  religious  Bethlehemite  with 
no  other  weapon  but  a  sling  and  a  stone.  A  com- 
plete victory  over  the  Philistines  follows,  but  when 
the  king  inquires  who  the  young  champion  is,  not 
even  Abner  can  inform  him  :  '  As  thy  soul  liveth,  O 
king,  I  cannot  tell,'  are  his  words.  Abner  is  therefore 
directed  to  find  out  whose  son  the  '  stripling '  is. 
The  general  prefers  however  to  let  David  answer  for 
himself;  so  the  boy  is  brought  to  Saul,  who  asks  him, 
'  Whose  son  art  thou,  boy  ? '  And  David  answers, 
'  I  am  the  son  of  thy  servant  Jesse  the  Bethlehemite.' 
Is  there  hot  a  great  difficulty  here  ?  Why  does  not 
Saul's  eye  light  up  with  recognition  at  the  sight  of  his 
minstrel  ?  And  why  does  not  David  recal  himself 
to  the  king's  recollection  ?  Do  not  tell  me  that  he 
was  too  modest.  Such  false  modesty  is  unknown  to 
Orientals.1  Various  wild  attempts  have  been  made 
to  smooth  away  the  difficulty  ; 2  but  the  only  natural 

1  See  Thomson,  The  Land  and  the  Book,  p.  568. 

2  The  eminent  sceptical  critic  Bayle  (1647-1706)  is  not  too  severe 
on  these  well-meant  but  futile  attempts  (Dictionary,  iv.  538-9).     Suf- 
fice it  to  mention  one  of  them  which  has  been  adduced  by  a  Rochester 
critic.     Saul's  question,  it  is  said,  need  not  imply  a  failure  to  recognize 
David  ;  his  object  was  to  inform  himself  as  to  the  parentage  of  his  future 
son-in-law  (see  xvii.  25).     But,  according  to  xvi.   19,  Saul  knew  this 
already.     The  discrepancy  remains  unaccounted  for,  and  the  only  solu- 
tion is  that  afforded  by  the  critical  analysis.     According  to  SS,  Saul 
and  David  had  not  met  before,  and  the  former  naturally  asked  who 
David  is.     But  the  individual  in  primitive  times  derived  half  his  im- 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  79 


explanation  is  surely  this — that  we  have  two  indepen- 
dent accounts  of  David's  early  life,  and  that  the 
writer  of  the  later  one  unintentionally  contradicts 
the  work  of  his  predecessor. 

This  result  is  in  complete  accordance  with  facts  of 
which  few  educated  persons  can  be  ignorant.  We 
most  of  us  know  by  this  time  that  whoever  edited 
the  Book  of  Genesis  compiled  it  in  the  most  skilful 
manner  out  of  different  documents,  and  we  can  only 
be  grateful  for  the  information  that  the  Books  of 
Samuel  were  produced  by  a  similar  process.  It  puts 
an  immense  strain  upon  our  faith  to  believe  that 
everything  in  these  books  is  equally  accurate,  and 
that  the  different  accounts  can  be  always  reconciled. 
In  the  case  of  no  other  book  should  we  attempt  this. 
As  we  read  the  old  Roman  traditions  we  say,  some 
accounts  clearly  come  from  one  who  stood  near  the 
events  ;  others  do  not.  Besides  this,  inspiration  can- 
not destroy  the  original  differences  in  the  minds  of 
men.  The  sacred  writers,  though  'borne  along  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,'  are  by  no  means  mere  automata. 
While  some  care  most  for  the  truth  of  history,  others 
prefer  the  truth  of  poetry,  which  is  '  a  striking  proof,' 
as  Dean  Stanley  has  well  said,  '  of  that  universal 


portance  from  his  family,  and  the  young  champion  had  won  the  king's 
daughter  to  wife  ;  therefore  Saul  put  his  question  thus,  '  Whose  son 
is  the  stripling?'  (xvii.  55  ;  cf.  xviii.  18). 


8o  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


Providence  by  which  the  religion  of  the  Bible  was 
adapted  to  suit,  not  one  class  of  mind  only,  but  many 
in  every  age  of  time.' * 

What,  then,  is  the  truth  of  history  as  regards 
David's  first  introduction  to  Saul  ?  It  is  contained 
in  that  older  account  to  which  I  have  referred,  and 
it  amounts  to  this — that  David  was  one  of  Saul's 
most  valiant  warriors  who  happened  (if  we  may  use 
the  word)  to  be  also  clever  with  his  tongue  and  with 
his  harp,  and  whose  music  was  again  and  again  the 
providential  instrument  of  the  king's  recovery.  That 
he  was  a  mere 'boy'  or  '  stripling'  is  neither  stated 
nor  implied  in  this  narrative.  Next,  with  regard  to 
the  slaughter  of  Goliath.  Not  to  quote  foreign  myths 
or  legends,2  we  read  in  our  own  great  prose-epic 

1  Stanley,  Sinai  and  Palestine,  Preface,  p.  xxiv.  ;  cf.  my  own  Elijah  ; 
or,  The  Hallowing  of  Criticism,  p.  30,  '  Some  Bible  stories  are  pure 
facts ;  others,  and   those   the   most   delightful,  are  mingled   fact  and 
poetry.'     Strange,  that  so  good  and  wise  a  man  as  F.  D.  Maurice  had 
not  grasped  this  distinction  !     He  even  speaks  as  if  '  heroic  lays '  gave 
him  no  '  sense  of  reality,' and  marvels  that  the  lay-theory  should  have 
'become  so  popular  '  (Prophets  and  Kings,  p.  45).     What  a  penury  of 
the  imagination  is  implied  here  !   Contrast  the  lovely  and  natural  words 
which  Milton  gives  to  his  Manoah, — 

....  there  will  I  build  him 
A  monument,  and  plant  it  round  with  shade 
Of  laurel  ever  green,  and  branching  palm, 
With  all  his  trophies  hung,  and  acts  inrolled 
In  copious  legend  or  sweet  lyric  song. 

2  See  Goldziher  (Hebrew  Mythology,  pp.  109,  256,  430),  who  regards 
our  narrative  as  based  upon  a  solar  myth.     But  the  features  in  David 
which  seem  to  this  writer  mythical  are  wanting  in  the  more  historical 
slayer  of  Goliath — Elhanan. 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  81 


Morte  Darthur  of  a  giant  Galapas  whom  king  Arthur 
slew  with  his  sword  Excalibur.  Is  the  slaughter  of 
Goliath  as  mythical  a  tale  as  this  ?  There  is  no  occa- 
sion to  think  so.  The  only  important  question  is, 
whether  David  or  another  warrior  slew  this  Philistine  ? 
'  In  the  composite  Book  of  Samuel  we  find  two  incon- 
sistent accounts.  The  one  is  given  in  I  Sam.  xvii., 
and  is  also  presupposed  in  I  Sam.  xxi.  9  ;  the  other 
in  a  very  ancient  record  of  David's  heroes  which 
states  (2  Sam.  xxi.  19)  that  Goliath  of  Gath,  'the 
staff  of  whose  spear  was  like  a  weaver's  beam,'  was 
killed  in  the  reign  of  David  by  a  mighty  man  of 
Bethlehem  called  Elhanan.1  The  author  of  the 
Books  of  Chronicles  was  much  perplexed  by  this 
double  account  of  Goliath's  death,  and  to  clear  away 
the  inconsistency  supposed  that  Elhanan  slew  not 
Goliath  but  Qoliath's  brother.2  In  spiritual  matters 
this  writer  certainly  carried  a  message  to  the  men  of 

1  Just  so  the  killing  of  a  lion  under  great  difficulties  is  ascribed  in 
2  Sam.  xxiii.  20  to  another  of  David's  '  mighty  men.'     Note  that  the 
Elhanan  mentioned  above  is  called  in  I  Chron.  xx.  5  '  the  son  of  Jair  ' 
(see  above,  p.  10).     In  I  Chron.  xi.  26  we  read  of  'Elhanan  the  son 
of  Dodo,  of  Bethlehem,'  while  in  w.  12-14  '  Eleazar,  the  son  of  Dodo, 
the  Ahohite '  is  mentioned  with  David  as  fighting  with  the  Philistines  at 
Pas-dammim  (  =  Ephes-dammim) ;    cf.  2   Sam.   xxiii.   9,    Var.   Bible. 
'  Dodo '  is  a  longer  form  of '  David  '  ;  see  pp.  10,  67. 

2  See  I  Chron.  xx.  5,  where  Lahmi  eg:  Lakhmi,  the  name  of  Goliath's 
supposed  brother,  is  obviously  obtained  from  beth-hallakhini  '  the  Beth- 
lehemite,'  unless  some  bold  man  should  connect  it  with  the  name  of  the 
Babylonian  god  Lakhmu  or  Lukhmu  (already  brought  into  relation  to 
'  Bethlehem  '  by  Mr.  Tomkins). 

7 


82  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


his  time ;  his  whole  work  breathes  a  spirit  of  pure 
and  tender  piety.  But,  like  many  good  men  of  a  later 
age,  he  was  entangled  in  the  meshes  of  literalism  ;  that 
is,  he  read  the  Books  of  Samuel  as  if  they  were  the 
work  of  one  writer,  and  as  if  they  always  presented 
a  prosaic,  matter-of-fact  narrative.  We  must  not 
venture  to  blame  him  for  this  ;  it  would  be  his- 
torically unfair.  He  lived  long  after  the  golden  age 
of  Hebrew  imaginative  writing  had  closed,1  and  it 
was  hard  for  him  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  an  earlier 
literature.  Other  channels  for  conveying  spiritual 
truth  had  been  providentially  discovered  in  and 
before  his  time,  and  in  one  of  these — a  style  of  writing 
which  we  may  almost  call  the  church-historical — he 
was  at  home.  As  an  inspired  teacher  he  deserves 
our  veneration  ;  but  should  we  not  give  some  thanks 
to  those  who  seek  to  unfold  the  beauty  and  true 
significance  of  that  which  he  misunderstood  ?  Why, 
in  the  name  of  a  God  whose  works  and  ways  are  in- 
finitely various,  may  we  not  study  some  of  the  lovely 
narratives  of  the  Old  Testament  as  prose-poems — not 
indeed  as  mere  fantastic  romances,  but  as  stories 
employed  by  specially  gifted  Israelites  as  the  vehicles 
of  important  truths  ? 

It  is  my  hope  to  be  able  to  convince  you  that  the 
narrative  of  David  and  Goliath  is  one  of  these  stories, 

1  See  above,  pp.  22,  23. 


DA  VID  AND  GOLIA  TH.  83 


and  that,  good  as  the  truth  of  pure  history  may  be, 
the  truth  of  poetry — of  that  poetry  which  is  idealized 
history — may,  for  the  purpose  of  edification,  be  even 
better.  Grant  me  then  your  attention  while  I  first  of 
all  seek  to  bring  before  you  the  scene  of  this  beautiful 
narrative.  Visit  with  fancy's  eye  the  hills  to  the  east 
of  Bethlehem,  not  so  very  different  to-day  from  what 
they  were  3000  years  ago.  The  painter  will  not  find 
much  to  attract  him  on  those  bare  uplands,  but  those 
who  study  the  land  as  a  commentary  on  the  Book  of 
books  may  be  startled  to  see  some  young  shepherd 
seated  with  his  flock  at  noon  under  the  silvery  gray 
olive-trees  which  break  the  monotony  of  the  land- 
scape. Perhaps  he  is  singing,  and  in  this  case  you 
will  not  be  charmed  by  his  melody  ;  or  perhaps  he 
is  practising  with  his  sling,  a  home-made  weapon 
which  is  not  yet  entirely  supplanted  by  modern  arms. 
At  once  you  think  of  David,  but  David  in  the  most 
important  respects  was  a  shepherd  of  a  higher  stamp 
than  any  you  will  see  now.  I  do  not  indeed  forget 
that  a  Syrian  shepherd  has  been  trained  to  be  an 
evangelist  to  the  Bedouins  ;  God  bless  him  and  teach 
him  and  speed  him  in  his  journeys  ! r  But  David 

1  The  Bedouins  have  so  little  religion  (see  Mr.  Doughty's  painfully 
interesting  travels  in  Arabia)  that  the  coolest  sceptic  will  not  scoff  at 
this  new  '  Gideon,'  sent  out  by  friends  of  Mrs.  Mott's  Syrian  schools. 
In  one  of  his  last  letters  Bishop  French  made  kindly  reference  to 
'  Gideon.' 


84  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

was  the  son  of  one  of  the  elders  or  chief  men  of  Beth- 
lehem, and  the  best  training,  both  moral  and  physical, 
which  a  well-born  Israelitish  boy'  could  then  have 
would*  not  be  withheld  from  him.  He  would  certainly 
not  be  always  with  the  '  few  sheep  in  the  pasture- 
land  '  ;  sometimes,  like  Saul,  in  quest  of  some  wan- 
dering animals,  sometimes  on  some  family  errand, 
he  would  accompany  his  brothers  through  the  neigh- 
bouring hill-country.  Hence,  when  the  Philistines, 
impatient  at  Saul's  growing  power,  determined  to 
make  a  fresh  attempt  to  put  down  the  Israelitish 
patriots,  and  were  known  to  be  not  many  miles  from 
Bethlehem,  the  young  shepherd  was  perfectly  able  to 
go  by  the  most  direct  route  over  the  hills  to  the  place 
where  Saul's  army  was  encamped. 

There  are  probably  few  passages  in  the  early  nar- 
ratives which  are  so  lighted  up  by  the  researches  of 
travellers  as  i  Sam.  xvii.  With  the  help  of  a  map 
and  photographs  it  is  not  difficult  to  picture  to  our- 
selves the  Philistine  and  the  Israelitish  armies  in 
their  respective  positions.  Let  us  first  read  the 
description  in  Samuel. 

'  And  the  Philistines  gathered  together  their  armies  to  battle,  and  they 
were  gathered  together  at  Socoh  which  belongeth  to  Judah,  and  pitched 
between  Socoh  and  Azekah  in  Ephes-daininiin.  And  Saul  and  the  men 
of  Israel  were  gathered  together,  and  pitched  in  the  valley  of  Elah, 
and  set  the  battle  in  array  against  the  Philistines.  And  the  Philistines 
stood  on  the  mountain  on  the  one  side,  and  Israel  stood  on  the  mountain 
on  the  other  side;  and  the  ravine  was  between  them.' 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  85 


Socoh,  near  which  the  Philistines  were  encamped, 
still  keeps  very  nearly  its  ancient  name.  It  is  on  the 
southern  side  of  a  great  broad  valley  now  called  'the 
valley  of  acacias  ' x  but  anciently  '  the  valley  of  tere- 
.  binths,'  which  extends  from  the  hills  which  bound 
Philistia  on  the  one  side  to  the  very  heart  of  the  hills 
of  Judah  on  the  other.  The  Philistines  had  marched 
unchallenged  from  their  own  rich  lowlands  through 
the  hill-passes  to  this  great  valley  which  is  no  doubt 
the  ancient  valley  of  Elah.  But  when  they  got  to  the 
point  at  which  they  would  have  to  strike  northeast- 
ward, they  found  it  already  occupied  by  the  Israelites. 
So  at  least  a  study  of  the  map  compels  one  to  suppose. 
In  other  words,  the  camp  of  Saul  was  on  the  slope  of 
a  hill  about  two  miles  from  the  Philistines  on  the 
northern  side  of  the  valley  of  Elah.2  It  is  a  hill  at 

1  The  Wady  es-Sant  is  so-called  from  the  acacia  bushes  which  border 
it  on  either  side.     It  rises  near  Hebron,  and  runs  northward  by  Keilah, 
Nezib,  and  Adullam  to  Socoh,  and  thence  westward  to  the  sea  by  Gath 
and   Ashdod    (Concler).      Shuweikeh   (1145  feet   above  the  sea),   the 
ancient  Socoh,  has  still  many  ruins  of  an  old  town.     It  lies  nearly  at  the 
point  at  which  the  Wady  es-Sant  bends  round  to  the  south-east  and 
becomes  the  Wady  es-Sur.     I  doubt  whether  Conder  is  right  in  identi- 
fying Ephes-dammim  with  BeitFased  in  spite  of  the  suggestiveness  of  its 
name  (;  a  place  of  bleeding  ').     The  Philistines  need  not,  it  seems  to  me, 
have  troubled  themselves  about   Saul  if  they  were  encamped  at  Beit 
Fased  ;  they  could  have  gone  on  to  Hebron  by  the  Wady  es-Sur.  They 
stayed,  because  Saul's  position  had  to  be  forced.    Beit  Nettif  is  close  to 
the  old  Roman  road,  which  probably  followed  as  much  as  possible 
the  ancient  paths. 

2  Beit  Nettif  (1527  feet)  is  a  village  nearly  opposite  Shuweikeh,  but 
more  eastward.     The  statements  in  the  text  are  on  the  basis  of  the 


86  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

the  head  of  a  minute  cross-valley  or  glen,  down 
which  in  winter  runs  a  small  torrent-stream.  From 
the  summit  there  is  a  splendid  view  over  a  rich  and 
varied  country,  and  close  by  the  old  Roman  road  can 
still  be  traced,  which  probably  marks  the  route 
followed  by  Saul's  army  on  its  way  to  the  field  of 
action.  There  was  plenty  of  wood  .on  the  spot  to  cut 
down  for  an  intrenchment,  and  on  either  side  of  the 
gently  ascending  glen  archers  and  slingers  could  be 
posted  to  harass  an  enemy.  Try  now  to  imagine 
the  scene.  Yonder  are  the  camps  of  the  opposing 
armies  ;  you  can  but  faintly  discern  them,  however, 
through  the  bushes.  In  the  valley  beneath  barley  is 
already  ripening.  The  torrent  is  nearly  dried  up  ;  its 
bed  is  strewn  with  smooth  white  pebbles,  and  the  red 
sides  of  the  bed  are  in  places  so  steep  that  you  might 
call  it  a  valley  '  within  a  valley.'  It  is  this  torrent- 
bed  which  the  narrator,  with  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
country,  refers  to  under  the  name  of  the  ravine  :  '  the 
ravine/  he  says  (not  'the  valley'),  'was  between 
them.' x 

But  it  was  tedious  work  for  the  Philistines,  looking 

Survey  Map.  The  best  description  is  perhaps  that  of  Dr.  W.  Miller 
(The  Least  of  all  Lands,  p.  130  &c.),  who  takes  the  break  in  the  line  of 
heights,  where  a  gentle  ascent  with  a  watercourse  leads  up  to  Beit 
Nettif  to  bs  what  is  termed  the  valley  of  Elah  in  i  Sam.  xvii. 

1  The  credit  of  having  made  this  out  belongs  to  Major  Conder  (see  his 
Tent-work,  ii.  160,  161,  and  cf.  Pal.  Explor.  Fund  Statement,  1875,  p. 
193)- 


DA  VI D  AND  GOLIA  TH.  87 


at  their  enemies  across  the  cornfields,  and  longing  to 
move  on  to  those  blue  hills  of  Judah  in  the  distance. 
If  the  Israelites  could  only  be  drawn  into  the  valley, 
the  war-chariots  would  soon  decide  the  fortune  of  the 
day.  This  however  was  difficult  to  accomplish  ;  so 
the  Philistines  hit  upon  a  strange  device  to  change 
the  face  of  affairs.  Listen  to  what  took  place. — On  a 
certain  day,  the  two  armies  had  been  drawn  up  as 
usual  in  front  of  their  respective  intrenchments.  It 
promised  to  be  again  an  idle  day,  each  party  being 
content  with  observing  the  other.  All  at  once  two  of 
the  Philistines  are  seen  to  detach  themselves  from  the 
rest,  and  advance  through  a  gap  in  the  cornfields 
towards  the  Israelites.  One  is  a  man  of  ordinary 
size,  bearing  with  difficulty  an  enormous  shield.  The 
other  is  of  such  vast  stature  that  his  armour-bearer 
seems,  in  Hebrew  phrase,  '  like  a  grasshopper.'  His 
name  is  Goliath,  and  his  ten  feet  of  stature,  cased  in 
glittering  armour,1  strikes  the  spectators  dumb  with 
astonishment.  At  length  the  gigantic  form  is  quite 
near.  Goliath  stands  still  and  cries  with  sonorous 
voice, 

Why  are  ye  come  out  to  set  your  battle  in  array  ? 
am  not   I  a  Philistine,   and  you   servants   to   Said  ? 


1  The  description  of  Goliath's  spear  seems  to  have  become  a  fixed 
detail  of  the  Goliath-story.  It  occurs  again  in  the  rival  narrative,  2 
Sam.  xxi.  19. 


88  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


choose  you  a  man  for  you,  and  let  him  come  down"  to  me. 
If  he  be  able  to  figJit  with  me,  and  to  kill  me,  then  will 
we  be  your  servants  :  but  if  I  prevail  against  him,  and 
kill  him,  then  shall  ye  be  our  servants,  and  serve  us. 
And  the  Philistine  said,  I  defy  the  armies  of  Israel  this 
day  ;  give  me  a  man,  that  we  may  figlit  together? 

Now  can  you  not  understand  the  clever  expedient 
of  the  Philistines  ?     It  was  not  at  all  a  novelty  in 
primitive  times  for  contests  to  be  decided  by  a  duel 
between  champions  from  either  side  ;  this  we  know 
from   the   lays   of  the   Greeks    and    Romans.      The 
novelty  was  in  sending  out  a  giant,  one  of  that  very 
race  which  the  Israelites  had  all  but  destroyed,  and 
bidding  him  defy  the  Israelitish  army  to  produce  a 
champion  to    meet  him.     That  any  such  champion 
would  appear  must  have  seemed  to   Goliath  highly 
improbable.      He  must  have  hoped  either  to  throw 
the  Israelites  into  consternation  by  his  terrible  aspect 
and  vaunting  words,   or   to   provoke   attack    from  a 
number  of  angry  warriors.     In  the  former  case,  the 
Israelites  might  be  expected  to  abandon  their  resist- 
ance, and  submit  again  to  the  yoke  of  the  Philistines  ; 
in  the  latter,  a  general  engagement  between  the  two 
armies  could  not  be  long  delayed.     The  blood  of  the 
Israelitish   army  would   be    thoroughly  heated,  and 
they  would  rush  to  meet  their  enemies  in  the  plain. 
(For  at  present,  as  you  remember,  the  Israelites  are 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH. 


separated  from  the  valley  of  Elah  by  a  break  in  the 
northern  line  of  heights,  through  which  a  small  glen 
leads  to  their  fortified  hill-camp.)  What  actually 
happened,  we  know.  The  scornful  bravado  of  the 
giant  paralyzed  the  energies  of  the  Israelites.  '  When 
Saul  and  all  the  men  of  Israel  heard  these  words  of  the 
Philistine,  they  were  dismayed  and  greatly  afraid' 

Hitherto  we  have  been  chiefly  indebted  to  travellers 
for  a  clear  comprehension  of  the  story.  But  now  we 
must  once  more  have  recourse  to  special  students  of 
the  original  who,  being  experts  in  a  different  field, 
can  often  find  out  things  which  escape  the  most 
observant  traveller.  Thus  much,  I  hope,  we  have 
already  learned,  viz.  that  chap.  xvii.  does  not  give  the 
earliest  account  of  the  introduction  of  David  to  king 
Saul.  Two  narratives  proceeding  from  different 
writers,  and  representing  different  traditions,  have 
been  welded  together.  But  this  is  not  all.  The 
second  of  these  narratives,  in  its  present  form,  has 
itself  been  added  to  by  various  writers  ;  and  the  object 
of  the  faithful  student  must  be  to  remove  all  the 
absolutely  certain  excrescences.  The  first  attempt  to 
do  this  was  made  in  that  famous  Greek  version  of  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  which  is  so  often  quoted  in  the 
New  Testament.  If  you  turn  to  I  Sam.  xvii.  in  the 
Septuagint,  you  will  find  that  it  is  the  shorter  by  no 
less  than  26  verses  (viz.  vv.  12-31,  41,50,  and  55-58). 


90  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

The  consequences  of  this  large  abridgment  are 
rather  serious.  The  delightful  sketches  of  David  the 
shepherd-boy  leaving  his  flock  at  the  bidding  of  his 
father,  nobly  indignant  at  the  challenge  of  Goliath, 
and  replying  with  sweet  gentleness  to  the  taunt  of  a 
brother,  fade  into  thin  air.  Will  the  story,  I  wonder, 
bear  these  omissions  ?  And  is  the  object  of  the 
Jewish-Greek  translators  gained  by  them  ?  Do  they 
make  the  story  a  complete  and  harmonious  account 
of  the  slaying  of.  Goliath  ?  Now  the  Greek  version 
is  not  to  be  lightly  esteemed,  and  there  are  some 
good  scholars  who  follow  it  here.1  It  is  however  by 
no  means  an  infallible  authority.  Literary  criticism 
began  in  Alexandria,  but  it  could  not  stop  there. 
We  moderns  often  reject  the  Scptuagint's  renderings  ; 
why  should  we  not  also  criticize  its  decisions  on  the 
text? 

Let  us  then  candidly  admit  that,  ancient  as  the 
Greek  version  is,  we  cannot  here  altogether  follow  it. 


1  Kirkpatrick  thought  (in  1880)  that  the  Sept.  gave  the  original  form 
of  the  text,  the  additional  passages  now  found  in  the  Hebrew  having 
been  added  later  from  another  source  (Samuel,  i.  243).  Similarly  W. 
R.  Smith,  The  O.  T.  in  the  Jewish  Church,  1881,  p.  127;  Woods, 
Studio.  Biblica,  \.  (1885),  pp.  29,  30  ;  Cornill,  Konigsberger  Studien,  i. 
25-30,  and  Einleitung  (1891),  p.  in.  But  Wellhausen  (Die  Composi- 
tion des  Hexateuchs,  &c.,  p.  250),  Kuenen  (Onderzoek,  ed.  2,  i.  392), 
Driver  (Samuel,  p.  116),  and  Budde  (Richter  und  Samuel,  p.  217), 
rightly  conclude  that  the  omissions  in  Sept.  are  dictated  by  a  desire  to 
harmonize  as  far  as  possible  the  inconsistent  reports.  Sept.  also  omits 
xviii.  1-5,  9-11,  17-19,  and  29^-30. 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  91 


There  is  no  object  indeed  in  making  such  large 
omissions,  now  that  we  have  discovered  two  inde- 
pendent versions  of  David's  first  introduction  to 
Saul.  The  Scptuagint  translators,  not  having  found 
this  out,  endeavoured  at  all  costs  to  harmonize  chap, 
xvii.  with  chap.  xvi. ;  but  our  only  object  can  be  to 
harmonize  chap.  xvii.  with  itself.  We  are  bound  with 
the  tenderest  care  to  lop  off  all  real  excrescences,  and 
so  restore  the  lovely  narrative  to  its  original  form.  A 
few  verses  and  parts  of  verses  are  -all  that  we  need 
omit,  and  these  have  a  full  claim  to  be  appended  at 
the  foot  of  the  page,  that  we  may  realize  the  deep 
interest  taken  in  the  Goliath-story  by  later  editors 
and  readers.  For  instance,  at  the  point  which  we 
have  now  reached,  the  narrator  doubtless  expects 
us  to  be  thrilled  with  horror  at  the  critical  position  of 
the  Israelites,  and  to  long  to  know  how  they  got  out 
of  it.  Of  course  he  does  not  wish  to  spoil  his  story 
by  satisfying  our  curiosity  too  soon.  A  new  person- 
age is  about  to  come  on  the  scene,  and  he  must  be 
fittingly  introduced,  for  the  author  of  this  narrative 
has  not  mentioned  David  before.  But  the  introduc- 
tion must  of  course  be  performed  in  a  rapid,  simple 
manner.  And  if  verses  12-16  are  what  the  original 
author  wrote,  the  introduction  of  David  is  not  in 
accordance  with  this  requirement.  What  is  the  ex- 
planation of  this  ?  I  reply  that  the  original  work 


92  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  TIVES. 

has  been  spoiled,  first,  by  an  attempt  to  harmonize 
two  inconsistent  accounts  of  Jesse's  family.  Accord- 
ing to  one,  which  is  supported  by  I  Sam.  xvi.  6-1 1,  he 
had  eight  sons  ;  according  to  another,  with  which  the 
author  of  Chronicles  seems  to  agree,  he  had  only  four. 
It  has  been  spoiled,  secondly,  by  an  attempt  in  ^.15 
to  harmonize  two  different  pictures  of  David,  the  one 
as  the  armour-bearer  of  Saul,  the  other  as  a  shepherd- 
boy.  And  thirdly,  by  the  insertion  of  the  statement 
that  Goliath  presented  himself  twice  a  day  for  forty 
days.  There  is  a  want  of  moderation  in  this  impro- 
bable statement,  of  which  the  original  writer,  who  was 
a  genius,  would  not  have  been  capable.  The  interpo- 
lator thought  perhaps  to  give  David  an  opportunity  of 
coming  from  Bethlehem  and  meeting  Goliath  ;  but 
why  put  such  an  unnecessary  strain  upon  the  imagi- 
nation of  the  reader  ? 

Till  some  skilful  restorer  of  the  fine  old  picture  has 
been  found,  it  will  be  best  for  ordinary  students  to 
hasten  past  verses  12-16,  and  relax  the  strain  upon 
their  feelings  by  the  prose-poet's  idyllic  sketch  of 
David  at  home  in  his  family.  Of  the  boy's  mother 
no  mention  is  made  ;  we  hear  of  her  once  only,  and 
that  upon  a  later  occasion.1  She  must  have  had  a 
voice  however  (for  women  were  highly  honoured  in 
ancient  Israel)  in  the  consultation  which  took  place 

1   I   Sam.  xxii.  3. 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  93 


at  Bethlehem  respecting  David's  brothers.  'The 
young  men  are  in  sore  peril  ;  Jehovah  guard  them 
and  bring  them  back  !  They  are  perhaps  also  in  need 
of  provision.  Let  young  David,  who  knows  the 
ground  so  well,  rise  before  dawn,  and  try  to  reach  the 
camp  before  the  call  to  arms.  Let  him  look  how  his 
brothers  fare,  and  bring  back  their  "  pledge  " — some 
token,  that  is,  of  their  welfare.  And  for  provision, 
let  him  take  a  measure  of  fresh  parched  wheat  and 
ten  of  the  large  thin  wafer-like  loaves,  so  sweet  to  the 
taste,  for  his  brothers,  and  also  as  a  respectful  gift  to 
the  captain  of  their  thousand,  who  doubtless  has  bread 
enough  already,  ten  slices  of  soft  cheese.'  So  David 
leaves  the  sheep,  at  his  old  father's  bidding,  '  in  the 
hand  of  a  keeper,'  lades  the  ass  with  the  provision,1 
and  hastened  to  the  camp.  He  is  in  time,  or,  let  us 
rather  say,  in  God's  time,  which  is  the  best  of  all 
times.  But  he  does  not  think  so  himself  at  first ;  and 
why  ?  Because,  as  he  crosses  the  hill  to  the  intrench- 
ment,  the  main  body  of  the  army  comes  pouring 
out  of  the  tents.  The  sight  quickens  David's 
movements.  He  hastily  takes  off  the  baggage,  and 
gives  it  '  to  the  appointed  keeper,  runs  to  the  army, 
and  salutes  his  brothers  '  (v.  22).  '  But  what  sounds 
are  those  that  I  hear  again,  and  again  repeated  ? 2 

1  In  I  Sam.  xvii.  20,  for  '  and  took,'  read  '  and  laded  (the  ass).' 

2  In  I  Sam.  xvii.  20  (end)  render,  '  and  kept  shouting.'     It  is  a  fre- 
quentative (see  Driver  ad  loc.). 


94  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


Can  this  be  the  war-cry  ?  What  a  faint  and  spiritless 
substitute  for  that  piercing  shout  for  which  Israelites 
are  famed  ! '  'It  is  true,  O  David  ;  but  there  is  a 
reason.  For  yonder  is  a  sight  to  blanch  the  face  with 
terror — the  monster,  whom  we  saw  but  yesterday,  is 
striding  forward  again,  armed  to  the  teeth  ;  and  it  is 
his  shouting  which  enfeebles  ours — those  cuttingly 
insulting  words,  "  I  defy  the  armies  of  Israel  this  day  ; 
give  me  a  man  that  we  may  fight  together." '  Such 
was  doubtless  the  half-spoken,  half-gesticulated  con- 
versation between  David  and  his  brothers.  These 
were  brave  men — they  had  beaten  the  Philistines  not 
long  ago ;  but  now  they  were,  by  their  own  con- 
fession, cowards.  Can  we  imagine  a  greater  moral 
torture  than  this  ? 

The  Israelites  did  their  best  indeed  to  galvanize 
themselves  into  a  spurious  energy.  In  their  talk  they 
reminded  one  another  of  what  they  all  knew  but  too 
well — the  deadly  nature  of  Goliath's  insult,  and  a 
report  spread  that  Saul  had  promised  his  daughter  in 
marriage  to  the  man  who  would  kill  this  Philistine, 
and  give  him  other  substantial  rewards.  There  was 
one  person  however  on  whom  Goliath  produced  an 
exactly  opposite  impression.  A  mighty  heart  beat  in 
the  breast  of  that  shepherd-boy.  The  insult  to  Israel 
and  to  Israel's  God  fired  him  with  indignation.  The 
thought  flashed  across  his  mind,  'Jehovah  cannot 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  95 


leave  this  insult  unavenged  ;  may  it  not  be  His  will  to 
avenge  it  through  me?'  But  David  was  human  — 
very  human  ;  his  animating  principle  was  not  solely 
religious.  Faith  and  ambition  went  side  by  side  in 
his  mind  ;  his  enthusiasm  was  not  divorced,  as  it  would 
seem,  from  prudent  calculation.1  He  went  from 
group  to  group  of  the  advanced  guard,  to  which  his 
brothers  probably  belonged,  verifying  the  report  which 
had  reached  him  of  dazzling  rewards  for  the  success- 
ful champion.  Of  his'  own  ripening  resolution  he 
breathed  not  a  word,  but  something  in  the  expression 
of  his  face  seems  to  have  struck  Eliab'his  eldest 
brother.  You  know  that  fine  poem  of  Wordsworth 
on  the  Happy  Warrior,  in  which  these  lines  occur, — 

But  who,  if  he  be  called  upon  to  face 

Some  awful  moment  to  which  Heaven  has  joined 

Great  issues,  good  or  bad  for  human  kind, 

Is  happy  as  a  Lover,  and  attired 

With  sudden  brightness,  like  a  Man  inspired. 

Such  may  have  been  David's  outward  aspect,  which 
Eliab,  partly  through  his  own  fault,  tried  in  vain 
to  interpret. 

'  And  Eliab  his  eldest  brother  heard  when  he  spake 
unto  the  men  ;  and  Eliab' s  anger  was  kindled  against 

1  At  this  point  the  Goliath-story  connects  itself  with  the  more 
accurate  historical  tradition  (see  i  Sam.  xviii.  17).  The  reward  pro- 
mised is  like  that  offered  by  Caleb,  Judg  i.  12. 


96  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

David,  and  he  said,  Why  earnest  tJiou  down  hither? 
and  with  whom  hast  thou  left  those  few  sheep  in  the 
pasture-land?  I  know  thy  pride,  and  the  naughti- 
ness of  thine  heart  ;  for  thou  art  come  down  that 
thou  mightest  see  the  battle' 

Poor  Eliab  !  He  was  suffering  deeply  with  and  for 
his  people,  and  could  not  conceive  how  any  one  could 
look  bright  and  happy  amidst  the  general  gloom.1 
But  also  we  must  say,  cruel  and  unbrotherly  Eliab  ! 
Envy  breathes  in  every  word  of  his  speech.  He  knew 
that  David  had  talents  superior  to  his  own,  and 
leaped  to  the  conclusion  that  he  had  deserted  his 
humble  charge  in  quest  of  excitement.  But  the 
buzzing  of  the  insect  tribe  cannot  hurt  one  who  has  a 
great  purpose.  '  And  David  said,  What  have  I  now 
done?  Was  it  not  a  mere  word?'  —  that  is,  'How 
have  I  injured  any  one  by  asking  a  simple  question 
and  expressing  my  natural  feelings  as  a  religious  and 
patriotic  Israelite  ?  ' 

We  may  be  sure  that  in  writing  down  these  words 
the  narrator  had  in  view  a  much  needed  moral  lesson, 
viz.  that  railing  should  not  be  answered  with  railing, 
but  that  the  offended  person  should  seek  to  pacify  the 
offender  by  gentle  words.  That  this  was  not  beyond 

1  Note  that  Eliab  betrays  no  consciousness  of  David's  appointment  as 
(future)  king.     '  How  it  was  that  his  anointing  attracted  so  little  notice, 
it  is  difficult  to  tell,'  says  Mrs.  Oliphant.     The  reason  is  clear  ;  il  is 
'  because  I  Sam.  xvi.  1-13  is  due  to  the  imaginative  editor  (see  p.  7). 


t-  vu/t  t  an*~t^   Ji^i  L. 

/1 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  97 

the  horizon  of  a  narrator  of  the  post-Davidic  period 
we  may  see  from  Prov.  xv.  I,  xxv.  15.  The  writer 
might  have  expressed  himself  thus, — '  Let  this  mind 
be  in  you  which  was  also  in  David,'  but  this  would 
not  have  been  in  accordance  with  the  style  of  a 
narrator.  An  epic  poet  must  not  be  didactic,  and  a 
really  great  story-teller  is  a  rough-hewn  epic  poet. 
But  a  preacher  can  say  this,  and  so  let  me  now  say 
how  much  occasion  we  have  in  daily  life  to  remember 
the  '  soft  answer  '  of  David.  He  had  received  a  great 
provocation,  and  might  have  excused  a  cutting  answer 
by  the  excitement  of  his  novel  and  unexpected 
circumstances ;  but  no,  he  had  found  out  '  a  more 
excellent  way.'  The  story-teller  seems  in  this  feature 
of  the  description  carried  beyond  himself;  he  looks 
forward — that  is,  the  Spirit  by  which  unconsciously  he 
was  guided  looked  forward — to  a  far  greater  than 
David, '  who,  when  he  was  reviled,  reviled  not  again  ; 
when  he  suffered,  he  threatened  not,  but  committed 
himself  to  him  that  judgeth  righteously.'  *  The  reply 
of  David  to  Eliab  is  in  fact  a  far-off,  unconscious  anti- 
cipation, of  those  glorious  words  ascribed  to  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ, — '  If  I  have  done  evil,  bear  witness  of 
the  evil,  but  if  well,  why  smitest  thou  me  ? ' 

1  Following  the  Septuagint. 


CHAPTER  V. 

DAVID    AND    GOLIATH    (continued) ;    with  Note   on 
2  Sam.  xxi.  9. 


I  SAM.  xvii.  32. — And  David  said  to  Saul,  Let  not  my  lord's  heart 
fail  because  of  him  ;  thy  servant  will  go  and  fight  with  this 
Philistine. 


SAD  indeed  is  the  condition  to  which  a  great  dread 
has  reduced  the  Israelites.  Nerveless,  faithless,  hope- 
less, they  can  neither  fight  nor  pray.  But  though  as 

1n* 

yet  they  know  it  not,  faith  and  hope  have  returned  in 
the  person  of  David.  At  once  a  little  stir  arises  in 
the  army.  The  bystanders  report  the  strange  ques- 
tions of  a  bright-looking  country-lad  to  the  king,  who 
desires  to  see  him.  So  David  has  his  first  introduc- 
tion to  the  brave  but  unhappy  king,  who  leans 
moodily  on  "his  spear,  wishing  perhaps  that  he  were 
not  a  king  that  he  might  himself  volunteer  to  be  the 
champion  of  Israel.  There  is  no  time  for  ceremony. 
Young  David  speaks  first.  '  Let  not  my  lord's  heart 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  99 


fail  because  of  him  ;  thy  servant  will  go  and  fight 
with  this  Philistine.'  The  king  replies  gently  dis- 
suading him.  '  Thou  art  not  able  to  fight  with  him, 
for  tJiou  art  but  a  boy,  and  he  a  man  of  war  from  his 
youtJi.' T  How  old,  then,  is  David  ?  Those  who 
listened  to  this  popular  tale  in  primitive  times  had  no 
doubt  a  very  distinct  image  of  the  young  hero  before 
them,  and  even  we  if  we  listen  with  hearing  ears 
may  obtain  the  like.  The  effectiveness  of  the  story 
largely  depends  on  David's  really  being  a  boy,  not 
yet  of  an  age  to  fight.  In  v.  56  he  is  called  a  '  strip- 
ling,' 2  but  we  find  the  same  word  applied  in  I  Sam. 
xx.  22  to  one  who  is  called  a  few  verses  further  3  on 
'  a  little  boy  (or  lad).'  In  v.  42,  we  are  told  that  David 
was  disdained  by  the  giant  on  account  of  his  ruddy 
complexion.  He  was  therefore  not  like  that  young 
Sulamit.e  girl,  whom  her  brothers  (or  step-brothers) 
had  set  to  keep  the  vineyards,  and  who  says  modestly 
to  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem,  '  Look  not  upon  me, 


1  Tt?3  'boy';   VTtfSt?   'from  his  youth.'      Unless  we  render  thus, 
there  is  no  perfect  antithesis.     For  "IJJ3  in  the  sense  of '  young  man ' 
can  be  applied  to  a  warrior. 

2  D/l?  (the  fern,  of  which,  HD/lfi  occurs  in  the  famous  passage,  Isa. 
vii.  14). 

3  i  Sam.  xx.  35   (jb|3T|R);  cf.  w.  21,  36-41   pitt).     So  Solomon 
calls  himself  'a  little  boy'  (i  Kings  iii.  7).      St.  Chrysostom  in  his 
sketch  of  the  combat  with  Goliath  repeatedly  calls  David  iraidiov  [uicpov, 
and  refers  to  his  having  been  anointed  by  Samuel  veos  &v  icai  fuipaKinv 
KO^iiSy  (Horn,  in  Ps.  1.). 


THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


because  I  am  swarthy,  because  the  sun  hath  scorched 
me,'  but  like  the  girl's  lover,  whose  complexion  is  of 
mingled  white  and  red.1  David's  exposure  to  the  sun 
had  not  yet  had  time  to  tan  his  face.  Now  country 
lads  in  Palestine,  especially  those  of  the  higher  class, 
often  keep  fair  and  attractive  features  till  about  four- 
teen, but  never  longer.  David  was  no  doubt  a  well- 
born lad,  and  had  not  been  constantly  with  the  flocks, 
but  his  shepherd  life  would  in  the  end  have  changed 
his  looks,  and  there  is  no  suggestion  in  the  narrative 
that  there  was  anything  supernatural  in  his  beauty. 
Soon  afterwards,  it  is  true,  he  does  appear  in  the 
new  character  of  a  warrior  (i  Sam.  xviii.  13)  ;  but 
this  only  shows  how  carefully  the  narrator  has 
abstained  from  spoiling  a  beautiful  story,  which  in  his 
hands  has  become  the  most  telling  of  sermons,  out  of 
regard  for  mere  consistency.  David,  then,  was  a  boy 
of  at  most  fourteen,2  and  Saul  would  have  had  a  right 

1  See  Song  i.  5,  v.  10,  and  cf.  note  J,  p.  102. 

2  '  Fair-faced  was  the  boy,  twelve  years  old,  well-grown,  and  of  an 
excellent  spirit ;  he  herded  the  kids  and  lambs  of  his  "  uncle's  "  house- 
hold' (Doughty,  A.D.,  i.  470),  is  a  description  which  might  almost  be 
applied  to  David.     Among  other  objections  which  have  been  urged 
against  the  above  explanation,  I  find  this.  '  David  must  have  been  much 
older  than  fourteen  years,  because  Saul  who  was  "higher  than  any  of 
the  people  "  put  his  helmet  and  coat  of  mail  upon  David,  and  David 
also  girded  on  Saul's  sword.     Imagine  one  of  our  drummer-boys  dressed 
up  in  the  helmet,  cuirass,  &c.  of  one  of  our  Life  Guardsmen.'     But 
popular  tales  are  not  to  be  interpreted  too  realistically,  especially  when 
they  have  been  touched  by  a  moralist.     From  a  realistic  point  of  view, 
it  was  no  doubt  a  mistake  to  insert  the  detail  referred  to.     Even  a  tall 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  101 

to  express  surprise  at  the  seeming  absurdity  of  his 
proposal.  Why,  it  was  comparatively  not  so  long 
ago  that,  when  that  great  judge  and  hero  Gideon 
bade  his  firstborn  son  fall  upon  the  two  captive  kings 
of  Midian  and  slay  them,  he  was  afraid,  '  because  he 
was  yet  a  youth.'  J  How  then  should  this  shepherd- 
boy,  untrained  in  the  use  of  arms,  venture  to  meet  a 
giant  in  single  combat  ? 

Saul,  I  say,  might  have  urged  these  objections. 
How  is  it  that  he  does  not  do  so,  and  that  the  opposi- 
tion which  he  offers  to  David  is  so  feeble  ?  The 
reason  is  simply  this  —  that  David  had  an  innate 
faculty  of  charming.  Orientals  fully  recognize  the 
existence  of  such  a  faculty,  and  ascribe  the  possession 
of  it  to  a  special  divine  gift.  Joseph,  another  darling 
of  popular  tradition,  is  reported  to  have  had  it,  but 
hardly,  according  to  the  story,  in  as  high  a  degree  as 
David.  This  noble  boy  had  in  fact  all  God's  best 
gifts.  He  was  somewhat  tall,  even  if  shorter  than 
Eliab,2  for  he  could  at  any  rate  put  on  Saul's  armour  ; 
he  was  strong,  as  he  will  presently  tell  us  himself  ; 
and  he  had,  as  the  narrator  informs  us,  a  ruddy  com- 


lad  would  not  have  been  likely  to  put  on  Saul's  armour.  But  the 
Israelitish  readers  were  not  as  critical  as  we  are,  and  the  narrator,  as 
we  shall  see,  had  a  quasi-allegorical  object  in  making  the  young  David 
put  on  Saul's  armour. 

1  Judg.  viii.  20,  Sept,,  on  vgwrcpof  j/v 

2  I  Sam.  xvi.  7. 


102  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

plexion  and  beautiful  eyes.1  But  his  most  enviable 
gift  (which  again  and  again  helped  him  in  his  career) 
was  one  of  manner  and  of  speech. 

We  heard  his  '  soft  answer  '  to  an  angry  brother  ; 
we  shall  presently  listen  to  him  as  with  loyal  respect 
he  answers  the  king  by  a  sketch  of  his  repeated 
adventures  with  wild  beasts.  Shepherds  in  those 
days  were  not  like  those  of  our  pastoral  plays,  nor, 
as  in  our  Lord's  time,  was  the  wolf  the  most  dan- 
gerous animal  whom  the  guardians  of  the  flocks 


1  Both  in  i  Sam.  xvi.  12  and  in  xvii.  42  David  is  called  'adnidnt 
(like  Esau-Eclom  in  Gen.  xxv.  28),  i.e.  reddish.  This  epithet  is  not 
derived  from  a  solar  myth  (see  p.  80),  but  expresses  a  well-remembered 
traditional  feature  of  our  hero.  It  refers,  not  to  the  colour  of  David's 
hair — for  this  was  dark  (a  goat's  hair  net  represents  his  hair  in  Michal's 
stratagem,  i  Sam.  xix.  13),  but  to  that  of  his  skin.  Whatever  the  exact 
hue  was,  it  marked  David  out  to  Goliath  as  a  boy,  and  as  we  may  judge 
from  Lam.  iv.  7,  Song  v.  10,  as  a  beautiful  boy.  These  two  passages 
deserve  to  be  quoted  as  illustrations, 

The  nobles  were  purer  than  snow,  whiter  than  milk, 
They  were  more  ruddy  in  body  than  corals  .  .  . 
My  beloved  is  dazzlingly  white  and  ruddy, 
Distinguished  above  ten  thousand  : 

His  locks  are  curling,  black  as  the  raven. 

Josephus  (Ant.  vi.  8,  i)  paraphrases  I  Sam.  xvi.  12,  not  very 
happily,  ^avOog  (iiv  ^f(v  -%poav,  yopyog  Se  r«£  oipete,  '  tawny  of  com- 
plexion and  fierce  of  eye.'  Sept.  renders,  irvppa.K'ijQ  pera  KU\\OVQ 
6^>Ga\fiwv  (so  here  and  in  xvii.  42).  Bright  eyes  were  much  admired 
in  a  country  in  which  bad  sight  was  so  common  (see  the  Gospels).  The 
reader  will  find  a  different  view  of  David's  physiognomy  in  Sayce's  The 
Races  of  the  Old  Testament,  p.  74.  I  should  have  thought  that  if  David 
had  any  (recent)  foreign  blood,  it  was  not  Amoritish  but  Moabitish,  and 
therefore  not  strictly  alien. 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  103 


might  have  to  face.1  Bears  and  lions  still  prowled 
about  the  forests  and  mountain-glens,  nor  did  they 
even  hold  themselves  aloof  from  more  frequented 
paths.  If  a  man  fled  from  a  lion,  a  bear  might  meet 
him,2  and  close  to  an  important  place  like  Bethel 
she-bears  might  rend  young  children.3  Well  might 
the  mere  hireling,  who  was  no  true  shepherd,  flee  at 
the  sight  of  one  of  these  marauders !  But  could  we 
expect  more  from  the  youngest  son  of  Jesse  the 
Bethlehemite  ?  True,  it  could  not  be  said  of  David 
that  'he  '  cared  not  for  the  sheep ' ;  he  loved  them 
doubtless  for  his  father's  sake.  But  he  was  a  mere 
boy  in  years,  and  the  shepherd-prophet  Amos  speaks 
of  a  shepherd  as  rescuing  out  of  a  lion's  mouth  only 
'  two  legs  and  a  piece  of  an  ear '  4  (of  a  sheep),  while 
Isaiah  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  a  multitude  of 
shepherds  shouting  together  will  not  make  a  young 
lion  give  up  his  prey. 5  In  our  own  day  none  but 
the  stoutest  and  best-armed  hunter  will  venture  to 
attack  the  Syrian  bear  alone.6  How  then  should  the 
boy  David  do  the  like  ?  7  How,  except  by  the  Spirit 
of  Jehovah,  which  'came  mighti-ly '  upon  him,  as  it 

1  John  x.  12.  2  Am.  v.  19.  3  2  Kings  ii.  24. 

4  Am.  iii.  12.  s  Isa.  xxxi.  4. 

6  Thomson,  The  Land'  and  the  Book,  p.  573.     Mr.  Doughty  hunted 
bears  at  Helbon  (Arabia  Deserta,  ii.  152). 

7  In  a  remarkable  narrative  in  Kosegarten's  Arabic  Chrestomathy, 
the  Turkish  slave  who  is  crucified  is  said  to  have  slain  a  lion  in  his 
youth.     But  the  tale  se'ems  to  be  legendary. 


104  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

did  upon  the  young  man  Samson,  when  he  '  rent  a 
young  lion  as  he  would  have  rent  a  kid,  and  he  had 
nothing  in  his  hand '  ? J  David  however  is  too 
modest  to  tell  us  this  ;  and  he  is  perhaps  but  half 
conscious  of  the  fact.  These  are  his  thoroughly 
natural,  soul-stirring  words, 

Thy  servant  kept  his  fatJier's  sheep ;  and  when  a 
lion  came,  or  a  bear,  and  took  a  sheep  out  of  the  flock,  I 
would  go  after  him  and  smite  him,  and  deliver  it  out 
of  his  mouth :  and  when  he  rose  up  against  me,  I 
would  seize  hold  of  Jiis  beard,  and  smite  him  and  slay 
him.2  Thy  servant  hath  slain  both  lion  and  bear ; 
and  this  uncircumcised  Philistine  shall  be  as  one  of 
them,  seeing  he  hath  defied  the  armies  of  the  living 
God. 3  One  word  more  the  brave  shepherd-boy 
added,  Jehovah  that  delivered  me  out  of  the  paw  of 

1  Judg.  xiv.  6.     It  is  noteworthy  that,  just  as  one  of  David's  mighty 
men  is  described  in  the  roll  of  heroes  as  slaying  Goliath,  so  another 
appears  in  the  same  document  as  going  down  into  a  pit  and  slaying  a 
lion  under  difficult  circumstances  (2  Sam.  xxiii.  20). 

2  See  Driver,  Text  of  Samuel,  p.  112.     Sept.  has  an  excellent  ren- 
dering, in  which  the  repetition  of  the  acts  is  marked  by  imperfects  ; 
aorists  follow 

3  The  occurrence  of  the  phrase  '  the  living  Elohim  '  (D^Jjl  D^rpS) 
here  (v.  36)  and  in  v.  26  (where  it  is  supported  by  Sept.)  is  remarkable. 
Elsewhere  it  only  occurs  in  Deut.  v.  23,  Jer.  x.  10  (post-Jeremian), 
xxiii.  36,  and  in  a  slightly  different  form  (*H  DTI?^)  in  2  Kings  ix. 
4,  16  (with  '  to  defy,'  *pn?).     In  Ps.  xlii.  3,  Ixxxiv.  3  we  have  *H  ?X. 
The  occurrence  of  the  phrase  in  w.  26,  36  may  perhaps  be  due  to  the 
hand  of  the  editor.     In  David's  mouth,  at  any  rate,  it  is  an  anachronism. 
The  heathen  idol-gods  were  not  yet  to  the  Israelites  '  dead  (gods)  ' 
(Ps.  cvi.  28). 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  105 

the  lion,  and  out  of  the  paw  of  the  bear,  he  will  deliver 
me  out  of  the  hand  of  this  Philistine.  And  now 
Saul's  faint  resistance  gives  way.  He  thoroughly 
enters  into  David's  spirit  of  faith,  and  couples  his 
consent  with  a  benediction — '  Go,  and  Jehovah  be 
with  thee.' 

Still  the  idea  of  David's  meeting  the  Philistine 
with  his  shepherd's  gear  shocked  the  king.  Strange 
enough  this  may  seem,  after  David's  speech,  but  there 
was  a  reason  for  the  introduction  of  this  incident 
which  will  appear  later.  So  Saul  equipped  the  tall 
lad  in  his  own  armour,  and  David  made  no  objection, 
but  dutifully  tried  it.  He  found,  however,  as  was  to 
be  expected,  that  it  greatly  hampered  his  movements, 
and  after  walking  in  it  once  or  twice  backward  and 
forward,1  he  took  it  off  again.  Meantime  Goliath  had 
retired  to  a  little  distance.  At  first  he  and  his  party 
supposed  that  the  challenge  had  been  refused.  But 
an  unwonted  commotion  among  the  Israelites  soon 
warned  them  that  a  champion  was  preparing  for  the 
field.  David  on  his  side  knew  that  no  time  was  to 
be  lost.  His  plan  was  already  formed.  He  had 

1  Read,  with  Sept.,  '  and  wearied  himself,  walking  once  or  twice 
backward  and  forward.'  Klostermann  boldly  does  away  with  Saul's 
armour  or  military  dress,  and  substitutes  Jonathan's  (reading  jriM11  ''•TJ?). 
Incidentally  this  removes  a  grammatical  difficulty  (see  Driver,  Tenses), 
§  133).  In  I  Sam.  xviii.  1-4  (still  SS.)  Jonathan  gives  his  adopted 
brother  his  own  '  dress '  and  armour. 


lo6  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


with  him  the  ordinary  weapons  of  a  shepherd — a 
staff  and  a  sling.1  Now  he  well  knew  that  the  sling 
had  often  proved  effective  enough  in  Israelitish  war- 
fare,2 and  may  even  have  dreamed  of  serving  as  a 
slinger  in  the  army.  If  he  could  only  aim  at  Goliath 
from  the  right  distance,  the  chances  (if  we  may  use 
the  word)  were  all  in  his  favour.  But  before  con- 
fronting his  foe,  he  must  replenish  his  friendly 
'  scrip '  with  some  good  smooth  pebbles,  and  for 
these  he  must  descend  into  that  deep  water-course 
which  like  a  ravine  separates  the  armies.  Five  such 
pebbles  he  selects — there  are  hundreds  of  them, — and 
then  returns  to  meet  the  Philistine.  The  main 
bodies  of  the  two  armies  have  meantime  moved  for- 
ward to  view  the  combat,  the  Israelites  drawn  up  on 
the  green  slope  of  their  hill,  so  as  to  fall  back  if 
necessary  on  their  intrenchment,  the  Philistines  with 
their  dreaded  war-chariots  and  a  part  of  their 


1  The  shepherd's  staff  was  properly  a  club-stick  (Arabic  nabuf)  such 
as  Bedouins  still  use  as  a  weapon  in  Hejaz  (Doughty,  A.D.,  i.  147, 
379).     The  'staves'  mentioned  in  Matt.  xxvi.  47  are  also  evidently 
weapons,  so  that  Milton  is  quite  right  when  he  makes  the  blind  Samson 
say  to  the  Philistine  giant  Harapha  (who  is  the  duplicate  of  Goliath), 
'  I  only  with  an  oaken  staff  will  meet  thee.'    The  sling  is  still  used  both 
in  Syria  and  in  Arabia.     '  Children  of  the  menzils  came  down  upon 
me,'  says  Mr.  Doughty,  '  armed  as  it  were  against  some  savage  beast ' 
[there  are  no  lions  or  bears  in   Arabia],  '  with  slings  in  their  hands 
(A.D.,  i.  147)- 

2  The  ancient  Israelites  fougnt  with  slings  (Judg.  xx.  16,  2  Kings  iii. 
25) ;  so  did  the  ancient  Arabians  (A.D.,  ii.  176). 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  107 

infantry  below  in  the  valley,  prepared  to  charge 
the  Israelites  on  the  overthrow  of  Goliath's  anta- 
gonist. 

Can  you  not  now  imagine  the  scene,  and  even  read 
the  faces  both  of  spectators  and  of  combatants  ? 
The  Philistines  are  the  most  excited  of  the  former  ; 
they  look  upon  the  approaching  transaction  as  a 
sport,  or  perhaps  as  a  religious  ceremony,  David 
being  about  to  feel  the  wrath  of  the  gods  of 
Philistia.  Amid  deep  silence  only  broken  by 
chanted  curses  of  the  Philistines,  their  champion 
Goliath  advances,  proudly  secure.  As  he  moves,  he 
looks  about  for  his  destined  opponent.  Where  is 
the  Israelitish  slave  who  presumes  to  meet  a  son  of 
Anak  ?  He  sees  a  boy,  beautiful  as  a  girl,  of  a  slight 
though  elastic  frame,  with  a  staff  in  his  hand  ;  the 
sling,  however,  Goliath  does  not  notice.  Angrily  he 
exclaims,  ''Am  la  dog  tJiat  thou  earnest  against  me 
witJi  staves?"  *  And  the  Philistine  cursed  David  by 
his  gods.  Futile  curses!  wasted  anger!  The  pulses 
of  the  Hebrew  boy  beat  as  evenly  as  before  ;  his 
keenly  vigilant  eyes  beam  with  the  same  lustre.  So 
Goliath  makes  one  more  effort  to  intimidate  David. 
In  words  that  remind  us  of  passages  in  the  heroic 

1  '  Am  I  a  dog ' — a  miserable  street-dog,  or  may-be  one  of  the  dogs 
of  a  strange  enclosure,  such  as  Odysseus  met  with  (Od.  xiv.  28),  and 
such  as  Mr.  Doughty  describes  as  worrying  strange  comers,  but  kept 
off  by  a  camel-stick  (A.D.,  \.  338). 


io8  THE  DA  VID-NA  RRA  TI VES. 

lays  of  Greece  *  he  cries,  Come  to  me,  and  I  will  give 
thy  flesh  unto  the  fowls  of  the  air  and  to  the  beasts  of 
tJte  field.  Calmly  David  replies,  '  Thou  comest  to  me 
with  sword,  and  spear,  and  javelin  ;  but  I  come  to  thee 
in  the  name  of  JeJwvah  SabdotJi,  the  God  of  the  armies'2 
of  Israel,  whom  thou  hast  defied.  This  day  will 
Jehovah  deliver  thee  into  mine  hand ;  and  I  will  smite 
tJiee  and  take  thine  head  from  off  thee ;  and  I  will  give 
the  carcases  of  the  host  of  the  Philistines  this  day  to  the 
fowls  of  the  air  and  to  the  wild  beasts  of  the  earth  ; 
that  all  the  earth  may  know  that  Israel  hath  indeed  a 
God3  And  now  for  the  winding-up  of  the  drama  ; 
the  combat  begins.  It  was  a  longer  one  than  we 
sometimes  imagine.  .  For  v.  48  should  be  rendered 
thus,  And  it  used  to  happen,  when  the  PJiilistine 
arose  4  and  came  and  drew  nigh  to  meet  David,  that 
David  would  haste  and  run  to  the  battle  array  to  meet 
the  PJiilistine,  i.e.  whenever  Goliath  tried  to  come 
to  close  quarters  with  David,  David  would  run 
quickly  towards  the  front  rank  of  Israel  to  meet  his 

1  See    Horn.    //.  xiii.   829-832.       Bishop   Warburton   would   have 
objected  to  this  that  '  Homer's  poems  are  no  religious  history,  but  a 
military  and  civil  romance,  brimful  of  fabulous  trumpery  '  (Works,  by 
Kurd,  v.  285).     I  trust  that  religious  readers  in  our  day  will  not  be  so 
unjust  to  '  Homer '  and  so  blind  to  the  real  parallels  between  his  poems 
and  the  traditions  of  Israel. 

2  Properly  '  the  ordered  ranks. '  3  On  this  verse  see  below. 

4  '  Arose '  simply  means  '  shewed  himself  in  full  strength  as  a  foe  '  ; 
cf.  Ps.  iii.  I,  liv.  4,  &c. 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  109 

enemy  under  this  friendly  cover.1     He  had  in  fact 
but  two   advantages  over   Goliath — his  lightness  of 
foot  and  his  sureness  of  aim  :  if  he  did  not  use  these, 
he  was  to  all  appearance  a  lost  man.     At  last  his 
opportunity  came.     Goliath  exposed  his  face  unduly. 
He  ought  to  have  kept  it  well-covered  with  the  great 
shield  which  was  borne  before  him  2  (v.  7).     But  he 
disdained  the  toy-weapons,  as  he  thought  them,  of 
the  shepherd-boy.     And  now  see  the  use  of  all  that  / 
practice  with  the  sling  on  the  lonely  hill-side.     '  And 
David  put  his  hand  in  his  bag,  and  took  thence  a 
stone,  and  slang  it,  and  smote  the  Philistine  in  his 
forehead ;  and  the  stone  sank  into  his  forehead,  and 
he  fell  upon  his  face  to  the  earth'     '  With  a  shout  he 
fell,'   as  the  prince  of  Greek    poets  says,  '  and   his 
armour  clanked   upon   him.' 3     But  though    stunned 
and  mortally  wounded,  he  was  not  dead  ;  so  David 
drew  Goliath's  great  sword  from   its  sheath,  and  cut 
off  his   head.4      Then  the    Philistines  saw  that  the 

1  See  Klostermann's  note. 

2  Helmets  in  those  early  clays  seem  to  have  had  no  vizors. 

3  Horn.  //.  v.  42  (Purves's  version). 

4  The  reputed  sword  of  Goliath  was  shown  in  after-times,  as  is  clear 
from  the  popular  tradition  preserved*  in  I  Sam.   xxi.  9,  cf.  xxii.    10 
(SS.)-     Was  it  genuine,  or  not  ?     We  cannot  tell.     Forged  relics  cast 
a  shadow  on  true  ones.     Few  would  stand  for  Lancelot's  sword,  shown 
in  the  time  of  William    Caxton   (preface   to  Morte  Darthur).      But 
remembering  what  is   said  by  an  earlier  writer  than  SS.    of   Saul's 
armour  (i  Sam.  xxxi.  10,  see  analysis,  p.  6),  one  is  inclined  to  hope 
that  David's  sword  was  a  genuine  trophy.     Note  that  I  Sam.  xvii.  5-7 
makes  no  mention  of  a  sword.  . 


1 10  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  TIVES. 


incredible  had  happened,  and  took  to  flight.  Why 
did  they  flee  ?  Had  they  not  still  their  well- 
appointed  infantry  and  their  war-chariots  ? T  Had 
they  not  still  the  memory  of  their  former  victories  ? 
A  Greek  poet  would  have  said  that  a  god  impelled 
them  behind  with  mighty  hand,  and  struck  terror 
into  their  souls  ;  and  indeed  it  was  a  religious  dread 
which  seized  them.  They  were  powerless  to  resist 
the  fierce  Israelites.  Let  us  draw  a  veil  over  the 
terrible  scenes  which  must  have  followed. 

So  ends  this  prose-poem — more  striking  in  its  un- 
adorned simplicity  than  many  a  more  elaborate  work. 
Our  great  composer  Handel,  who  knew  his  Bible  so 
well,  felt  its  beauty,  and  in  his  own  suggestive  way 
translated  the  battle-scene  into  exquisite  music.2  We 
enjoy  the  music  ;  and  why  should  we  not  enjoy  the 
simple  but  in  its  way  exquisite  word-painting  on 
which  the  music  is  based  ?  One  is  tempted  some- 
times to  think  that  the  music  of  our  anthems  and 
oratorios  is  more  heavenly  than  the  words.  We  ought 
at  any  rate  to  be  stirred  up  by  the  beauty  of  the 
music  to  seek  for  real  though  as  yet  unsuspected 
beauties  in  the  words.  What  Handel  divined 
rather  than  consciously  realized,  I  have  endeavoured 
to  exhibit  clearly  before  you.  Your  own  imagination 

1  In  his  first  oratorio  '  Saul.' 

2  Cf.  Miller,  The  Least  of  all  Lands,  p.  140. 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH. 


must  do  the  rest  Let  us  thank  God  for  having  given 
us  in  the  Old  Testament  a  few  flowers  of  the  popular 
imagination  which  are  poetically  only  less  delightful  j  \ 
than  the  glorious  Homeric  poems.  From  the  point' 
of  view  of  spiritual  truths,  there  can  of  course  be  no 
question  which  productions  are  the  greatest.  The 
prose-poems  which  we  find  sometimes  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament have  the  inestimable  advantage  of  being  free 
from  those  tangled  growths  of  misunderstood  myth- 
ology which  make  the  Iliad  more  interesting  perhaps 
but  less  edifying.  Of  course,  the  story  of  David  and 
Goliath  is  too  short  to  give  very  much  help  in  religious 
training,  but  what  it  does  give  is  of  great  price.  It 
may  not,  for  the  reasons  which  I  have  given,  be 
historically  true  that  David  killed  Goliath,  or  even 
that  as  a  shepherd-boy  he  killed  wild  beasts  single- 
handed,  not  once  nor  twice.  But  the  truth  which  is 
the  germ  of  gospel  truth,  that  '  God  resisteth  the 
proud,  but  giveth  grace  to  the  humble,'  and  that  all 
true  success  is  really  a  deliverance  wrought  out  by 
God  our  Saviour,  could  not  have  been  so  forcibly 
expressed  without  its  romantic  setting.  Beautiful  are 
the  words  of  the  psalmist,  Thou  shalt  tread  upon  the 
lion  and  adder ;  tJie  young  lion  and  the  serpent  shalt 
t]iou  trample  under  feet.'1  But  do  they  impress  us  half 
as  much  as  the  story  of  Daniel  in  the  lions'  den  or  of 
1  Ps.  xci.  13. 


THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


David  in  the  open  country  smiting  and  slaying  lions 
and  bears  ?  Sweet  too  is  that  saying  of  another 
psalmist,  Jehovah,  who  is  like  unto  thee,  wJio  deliverest 
the  poor  from  him  that  is  too  strong  for  him  ?  x  But 
does  this  generalization  appeal  to  us  half  as  much  as 
the  concrete  instance  of  the  shepherd-boy  prevailing 
over  the  mail-clad  giant  ?  It  may  not  indeed  be 
historically  true,  but  it  is  none  the  less  real  ;  first, 
because  the  traditional  story  which  the  prose-poet 
took  up  impresses  itself  on  our  minds  with  as  much 
force  as  the  finest  of  Shakespeare's  tragedies,  and 
secondly,  because  the  truth  which  it  embodies  has 
been  realized  day  by  day  for  thousands  of  years,  and 
will  be  realized  till  time  shall  be  no  more.  The  story 
of  David  and  Goliath  is  only  untrue  if  this  or  the  like 
of  this  is  impossible  to  the  '  living  God,'  by  whom  are 
all  things,  and  '  in  whom  all  things  consist '  ;  only  if 
those  wonderful  words  of  our  Lord  are  illusory,  If 
ye  have  faith  and  doubt  not,  ye  shall  say  unto  this 
mountain,  Be  thou  removed,  and  be  thou  cast  into  the 
sea,  and  it  shall  come  to  pass.  2 

For  there  are  two  kinds  of  faith — the  faith  which 
doubts  and  can  only  follow  a  human  leader,  and  that 
which  initiates  bold  plans  and  can  move  mountains. 
Saul  is  the  impersonation  of  the  one  ;  David  of  the 
other.  How  disappointing  is  the  conduct  of  the 

1  Ps.  xxxv.  10.  2  Matt,  xxi.  21. 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  113 


former !  *  If  he  had  not  faith  enough  to  go  out 
against  Goliath  himself,  he  might  at  least  have  sent 
Jonathan,  who  had  the  spirit  of  a  knight-errant,  and 
knew  full  well  that  there  was  '  no  restraint  to  Jehovah, 
to  save  by  many  or  by  few.' 2  For  doubtless  Jona- 
than, being  a  Benjamite,  was  a  good  marksman,  and 
with  the  courage  of  faith  could  have  laid  low  the 
giant.  All  that  one  can  say  in  excuse  for  Saul  is  that 
he  may  have  destined  Jonathan  to  succeed  him,  and 
therefore  have  sought  to  hold  him  in,  and  we  may 
fairly  praise  Saul  for  being  so  easily  persuaded  to 
accept  David  as  a  champion.  David,  however,  is 
morally  a  complete  contrast  to  Saul ;  his  was  that 
highest  kind  of  faith,  which  is  the  assurance  of  things 
hoped  for,  the  proving  of  tilings  not  seen?  He  may  not 
indeed  have  had  more  of  it  than  his  '  blameless  friend 
Jonathan,  whom  Judas  the  Maccabee  generously 
couples  with  him  as  a  type  of  the  saviours  of  Israel  ;  4 
but  he  was  more  severely  tested.  And  nobly  did 
David  stand  the  trial.  Does  our  prose-poet  idealize 
him  ?  Yes  ;  he  looks  at  his  darling  hero  with  the 
same  large-hearted  charity  with  which  God,  as  we 
believe,  regards  each  of  his  striving  children.  No 
shepherd-boy  performs  such  feats  as  the  David  of 

1  Dr.  W.  Miller  attempts  to  defend  Saul  (The  Least  of  all  Lands,  pp. 
138-140),  but  on  doubtful  grounds. 
3   I  Sam.  xiv.  6.  3  Heb.  xi.  I.  4  I  Mace.  iv.  30. 

9 


1 14  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  TIVES. 

the  story,  or  sings  such  holy  songs  as  the  23rd 
psalm.  And  yet  the  idealism  is  not  entirely  divorced 
from  fact.  The  historical  David  fought  his  Goliaths 
and  sang  his  songs  at  a  somewhat  later  date  ;  for  who 
will  say  either  that  David  was  not  a  sweet  poet,  or 
that  the  deeds  which  he  actually  wrought,  so  far  as 
they  were  for  Jehovah  and  for  Israel,  were  less  wonder- 
ful than  killing  the  lions  and  the  bears  and  the  giant  ? 
Yes ;  David,  alike  as  persecuted  outlaw  and  as 
king,  was  a  hero  of  faith,  though  his  faith  was  so 
undeveloped,  and  entangled  with  so  many  illusions, 
that  not  to  see  it  is  perhaps  pardonable.  The  narrator 
at  any  rate  saw  it.  How  different  is  the  royal- hearted 
boy  who  conquered  Goliath  even  from  the  hero  whose 
story  most  nearly  resembles  his — Cyrus,  king  of 
Persia ! *  The  narrator  has  no  sense  of  any  incon- 
gruity between  the  early  life  of  David  and  his  subse- 
quent career.  Whether  among  the  sheepfolds  or  on 
the  throne  he  was  where  God  had  placed  him,  and 
with  regard  to  sheep  and  to  people  it  could  with 
equal  truth  be  said  of  David  that— 

He  fed  them  with  a  faith/til  and  true  heart , 
And  ruled  them  prudently  with  all  his  power. 

Not  without  a  purpose,  then,  does  our  prose-poet  tell 
us  that  David  rose  up  early,  and  left  the  sheep  with  a 

1  Herod,  i.  111-114.    Cf.  the  Babylonian  legend  of  Sargon,  gardener 
and  king  (Sayce,  Hibbert  Lects.,  pp.  26-28). 


DA  VI D  AND  GOLIA  TH.  115 

keeper,  and  went  as  Jesse  had  commanded  him.  His 
father's  command  is  to  David  the  voice  of  God,  and 
when  called  to  act  upon  his  own  responsibility  he  will 
still  listen  for  a  higher  voice  telling  him  what  to"  do. 
His  faith  is  rewarded.  In  difficult  circumstances, 
when  all  around  are  perplexed,  he  has  a  singular 
clearness  of  vision,  and  offers  himself  as  a  champion, 
not  because  he  is  great,  but  because  he  is  in  himself 
little.  Saul's  advice  confuses  him  for  a  moment,  but  his 
own  illuminated  sagacity  leads  him  right  He  puts 
off  Saul's  armour — suitable  for  his  king,  but  not  for 
him  ;  Jehovah's  champion  must  be  genuine  and  true. 
Thus  in  the  most  delicate  manner  the  narrator  sug- 
gests to  his  countrypeople  the  impropriety  of  vying 
with  foreign  nations  in  earthly  means  of  defence. 
Like  a  true  disciple  of  the  prophets,  he  feels  very 
strongly  on  this  point,  and  those  noble  words  which 
he  has  put  into  David's  mouth,  Thou  contest  to 
me  with  sword,  and  spear,  and  javelin  :  but  I  come  to 
thee  in  the  name  of  Jehovah  Sabdoth,  the  God  of  the 
armies  of  Israel  (y.  45),  are  the  expression  of  one  of 
his  own  deepest  convictions.  The  simplicity  of 
David's  weapon  is  in  fact  symbolical  in  the  highest 
degree  ;  the  sling  and  the  stone  symbolize  Israel's 
poverty  and  consequent  dependence  on  divine  help 
—they  are  also  the  symbols  and  pledges  of  Israel's 
victory. 


H6  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  TIVES. 

In  preaching  this  doctrine  our  prose-poet  becomes 
the  forerunner  of  the  temple-poets.     Thus  in  Ps.  xliv. 

4 

6,  8  we  read — 

For  not  in  my  bow  do  I  trust, 
Neither  can  my  sword  save  me. 
We  make  our  boast  of  God  all  day  long, 
And  praise  thy  name  for  ever. 

And  in  Ps.  xxxiii.  16,  20, — 

A  king  is  not  saved  by  a  vast  army, 
Nor  a  warrior  rescued  by  great  power. 
Our  soul  waiteth  for  Jehovah ; 
He  is  our  help  and  our  shield. 

But  it  is  also  most  interesting  to  observe  that  two 
later  writers  have  as  it  were  appended  their  testimony 
to  the  soundness  of  the  original  narrator's  teaching. 
You  remember  that  I  ventured  to  point  out  that 
though  the  Greek  version,  which  is  so  strongly  sanc- 
tioned in  the  New  Testament,  has  omitted  far  too 
many  verses,  some  verses  and  parts  of  verses  must  be 
omitted  in  the  interests  of  the  narrative  itself,  and  I 
referred  to  verses  12-16  as  needing  the  hand  of  a 
skilful  restorer.  I  must  now  add  that  verses  46  and 
47  are  beyond  reasonable  doubt  later  additions.  One 
later  writer  has  given  us  v.  46,  in  which  the  slaughter 
not  only  of  Goliath  but  of  the  Philistines  by  David 
is  confidently  predicted,  and  as  a  result  the  universal 
recognition  of  the  wondrous  power  of  the  God  of 


DA  VI D  AND  GO  LI  A  TH.  117 

Israel.1  This  reminds  us  of  Ps.  xviii.  47-49,  which 
contains  similar  exalted  views,  and  with  the  rest  of  the 
psalm  belongs  at  earliest  to  the  last  century  of  Jewish 
independence,  and  also  of  those  remarkable  words  of 
Jehovah  in  the  Second  Isaiah,2  Behold,  I  appointed 
Jiim  a  ivitness  to  the  peoples,  where  David  is  represented 
idealistically  as  making  Jehovah  known  to  foreign 
nations,  like  a  missionary  teacher — a  touching  proof  of 
the  ever-growing  veneration  of  the  Jews  for  the 
greatest  of  their  kings.3  To  a  second  later  writer  we 
are  indebted  for  v.  47,  in  which  the  warriors  of  Israel 
are  spoken  of,  in  the  manner  of  the  Books  of  Chron- 
icles/* just  as  if  they  were  an 'assembly'  gathered 

1  Bishop  Patrick  comments  thus  on  v.  46,  '  David  did  not  rashly  and 
vainly  boast  beforehand  of  the  victory  as  Goliath  had  done.'     But  the 
words  assigned  to  David  there  do  come  very  near  to  a  boast,  and  the 
language  is  even  modelled  in  part  on  that  of  Goliath.     The  first  clause, 
indeed  might  conceivably  be  the  work  of  the  original  narrator;  it  is 
modestly  expressed,  and  contains  the  verbal  form  sigger,  which  occurs 
again  thrice  in  Samuel,  and  nowhere  else.     The  second  clause  ascribes 
to  David  what  belongs  properly  first  of  all  to  Jehovah  and  next  (if  a 
man  be  mentioned  at  all)  to  Saul  ;  the  Sept.  slightly  softens  this  by  in- 
serting '  thy  carcase  and.'     It  also  contains  the  phrase  '  (wild)  beast  of 
the  earth,'  which  occurs  elsewhere  only  in  probably  late  writings  (Gen. 
i.  24,  25,  30,  ix.  2,  10  ;  Ezek.  xxix.  5,  xxxii.  4,  xxxiv.  28  ;  Job  v.  22  ; 
Ps.  Ixxix.  2).     Notice  in  passing  the  striking  parallelism  between  the 
whole  of  clause  2  and  Ps.  Ixxix.  2. 

2  Isa.  Iv.  4. 

3  So   the  author  of  Hezekiah's  prayer  makes  that  king  express  the 
more  fully  developed  view  and  with  it  the  strong  missionary  spirit  of  a 
later  age  (Isa.  xxxviii.  I5-I9  j  note  the  closing  words).     Comp.  also  the 
words  given  to  Joshua  in  Josh.  iv.  24. 

4  See  2  Chron.  xx.  14-20,  where  the  same  word  qdhal  '  assembly ' 
occurs,  evidently  in  a  liturgical  sense.     In  I  Sam.  xvii.  46  qdhdl  might 


1 1 8  THE  DA  VID-NARRA  77  VES. 

together  for  religious  instruction,  the  instruction  in 
this  case  being  that  the  twofold  salvation  of  Israel 
was  entirely  due  to  Jehovah.  Can  any  one  be  sur- 
prised at  this  ?  The  old  records  of  Israel  had  to  be 
edited  and  re-edited  like  our  own  older  religious 
books,  to  adapt  them  to  the  wants  of  later  times. 
Other  writers  had  tried  by  insertions  to  clear  up 
the  narrative;  it  was  not  unnatural  that  this  one 
should  seek  to  strengthen  what  I  may  venture  to 
call  the  homiletical  application.  The  Goliath-story 
must  indeed  have  appealed  very  strongly  to  the 
later  Israelites,  for  they  too  like  those  for  whom  Saul 
fought  were  a  poor  and  oppressed  people,  and  when 
they  read  that  Goliath  was  slain  by  his  own  sword  (v. 
51),  they  thought  of  the  oppressors  of  their  own  time 
(whether  Babylonians  or  Persians),  and  sang — 

Their  sword  shall  enter  their  own  heart, 

And  their  bows  shall  be  broken. 
His  mischief  recoils  on  his  own  head, 

And  his  violence  descends  on  his  own  skull. 

(Ps,  xxxvii.  15  ;  vii.  16.) 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  give  the  highest  praise  to  any 
faith  but  that  commended  in  the  Gospel.  What  an 
immense  value  God  must  set  upon  this  faith  that  it 
took  so  many  centuries — nay,  so  many  thousands  of 
years — for  Him  to  make  its  nature  plain  to  a  section  of 

no  doubt  be  used  in  a  military  sense,  if  spoken  (somewhat  contemp- 
tuously) by  a  Philistine;  cf.  Num.  xxii.  4,  and  the  15  passages  in 
Ezekiel  in  which  the  word  is  used  of  armies  of  heathen  nations. 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  119 

mankind  !  The  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
did  good  service  by  emphasizing  in  the  nth  chapter 
the  similarity  of  true  faith  in  all  ages  ;  but,  in  accord- 
ance with  his  own  words  (Heb.  i.  i),  it  is  equally  justi- 
fiable to  point  out  the  imperfections  of  primitive 
faith.  Those  devout  psalmists  of  whom  I  spoke  had 
true  faith, — that  is,  they  from  the  heart  obeyed  the 
commands  and  counted  on  the  promises  of  God, 
and  to  prove  their  fidelity  to  both  they  were  ready  to 
suffer  worldly  loss  and  to  die.  But  this  faith  was 
mixed  up  with  intellectual  illusions ;  they  looked 
forward,  for  instance,  to  a  great  material  reward  for 
their  nation  and  a  great  material  punishment  for 
their  enemies.  Now  this  is  altogether  opposed  to  the 
spirit  and  tendency  of  the  Gospel.  Whatever  con- 
cessions our  Lord,  as  a  wise  teacher,  may  provisionally  < 
make  to  popular  ideas,  the  hope  which  He  sets  before 
men  is  a  spiritual  hope,  and  the  fear  wjiich  He  sets 
before  them  is  a  spiritual  fear.  Blessed  are  the  pure 
in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God.  Cast  ye  the  unprofit- 
able servant  into  the  outer  darkness ;  there  shall  be 
weeping  and  gnashing  of  teetJi.  And  the  highest  work 
that  He  can  give  His  disciples  to  do  is  to  'preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature,' x  most  certainly  not  ex- 
cluding the  enemies  of  one's  country. 

1  Mark  xvi.  15.     Though  these  words  are  not  genuine,  we  cannot 
doubt  that  they  represent  Christ's  true  meaning  (cf.  Isa.  xlii.  i). 


120  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


The  illusion  referred  to,  which  beset  even  inspired 
men,  deserves  our  tenderest  pity.     It  involved  those 
who  were  subject  to  it  in  much  mental  agony,  and  it 
kept  back  Jewish  faith  from  the  great  things  which, 
ideally,  faith  ought  to  effect.     It  seems,  moreover,  to 
have  been  strengthened  in  some  degree  by  the  influ- 
ence of  an   ideal  based  on  the  life  of  David.     Not 
with  impunity  did  Israel  solace  itself  with  the  fasci- 
nating story  of  its  hero.     Even  the  tale  of  David  and 
Goliath  could  not  neutralize  the  effect  of  less  idealistic 
traditions.     Nor   is   it   itself  a   thoroughly  adequate 
symbol  of  truth.     The  David  of  the  story  does  no 
doubt  symbolize  humble  dependence  upon  God,  but 
the  deliverance  granted  to  him  is  an  earthly  one  and 
it  is  the  first  in  a  long  series  of  earthly  triumphs.   But 
the  triumphs  for  which  God  means  us  to  ask  in  faith 
are  primarily  spiritual  ones,  and  only  in  so  far  earthly 
as  is  necessary  for  helping  forward  the  great  purposes 
of  the  divine  King. 

The  8th  psalm  is  among  the  most  evangelical 
psalms  in  the  Psalter.  The  parallel  between  the 
second  verse  of  it  and  the  speech  of  David  to  Gojiath 
cannot  therefore  be  complete.  David  is  humble 
towards  God  and  towards  his  fellow-Israelites,  but  he 
is  not  at  all  humble  towards  the  Philistine.  There 
is  no  regretfulness  in  his  tone,  no  charitable  longing 
to  bring  Goliath  to  a  better  mind.  This  was  the 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH. 


attitude,  more  or  less  certainly,  even  of  some  of  the 
psalmists ;  it  was  not  that  of  the  author  of  the  8th 
psalm,  nor  of  the  authors  of  other  psalms  which  we 
shall  presently  study.  Thus,  there  is  a  real  difference 
between  the  faith  of  the  two  types  of  men.  A  faith 
which  is  not  interfused  with  universal  love  and  self- 
forgetting  humility  is  not  the  faith  which  is  acceptable 
to  Him  '  whose  nature  and  whose  name  is  Love,'  and 
whose  divine  Son  '  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto, 
but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for 
many.' 

Still  we  are  so  thankful  for  what  the  beautiful  story 
of  David  and  Goliath  can  give  that  we  gladly  pass 
over  its  imperfections.  With  the  exception  of  Samuel, 
David  is  the  only  personage  in  the  Old  Testament 
narratives  called  to  a  great  work  in  extreme  youth, 
and  in  the  utter  simplicity  of  faith  hearkening  to  the 
call.  Contrast  even  Jeremiah.  The  call  reached  him 
to  become  a  prophet  to  the  nations  ;  how  does  he 
respond  to  it  ?  '  Ah  !  Lord  Jehovah/  he  said,  '  surely 
I  cannot  speak,  for  I  am  but  a  child.' *  His  sensitive 
nature  shrank  from  the  arduous  task  till  a  further 
divine  impulse  made  it  harder  to  refuse  than  to 
accept.2  But  the  inner  voice  of  God  at  once  spoke 
so  clearly  to  David  that  he  could  not  choose  but 

1  Jer.  i.  6  ;  'child  '  =  "1173,  Sept.  vwrepoc. 

-  May  I  refer  to  my  study  of  this  autobiographical  record  m  Jeremiah : 
his  Life  and  Times  (Nisbet,  1888),  p.  4  ? 


THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 


follow  it.  And  much  as  we  may  sympathize  with 
Jeremiah,  whose  character  is  almost  modern  in  its 
complexity,  we  must  admit  that  the  ideal  set  before 
us  in  David  is  the  highest.  Oh,  may  the  young 
among  us  open  their  ears,  like  David,  to  the  voice  of 
God,  especially  when  it  speaks  in  unaccustomed 
accents  !  There  ought  to  be  a  few  in  every  community 
to  whom  God  sends  a  special  message,  a  few  on  whom 
the  Spirit  of  God  desires  to  come  mightily,  as  he  came 
upon  David — desires  to  come,  I  say,  for  the  Spirit  of 
God  forces  no  one.  Some  young,  candid,  unselfish 
natures  there  must  be  everywhere  ;  let  such  wait  upon 
God  for  any  special  view  of  duty  which  it  may  be 
His  will  to  give.  It  will  come  quite  naturally  ;  it  is 
a  part  of  the  necessary  moral  preparation  for  a  call 
that  we  should  be  simple  and  genuine. 

There  is  yet  one  other  point  of  great  importance  in 
which  we  should  all  wish  to  follow  David.  It  may  be 
difficult  in  this  age  of  great  material  triumphs  always 
to  remember  it ;  but  it  is  a  fact.  The  hidden  forces 
which  move  the  world  being  moral  and  spiritual  ones, 
true  success  in  life  depends  on  our  placing  ourselves 
in  relation  to  these  forces,  the  centre  of  which  we  call 
God.  Even  Jesus  Christ  in  His  divine  humanity 
constantly  looked  up  to  His  Father  for  strength  to 
work  ;  how  much  more  must  we  be  ever  looking  to 
the  great  Strengthener  !  Like  David,  we  must  put 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH.  123 

off  all  fancied  superiorities  ;  Saul's  armour  will  be  as 
useless  as  Goliath's  in  the  day  of  battle.  The  sling 
and  the  stone  must  content  us,  but  not  David's  ;  for  it 
is  a  dream  to  suppose  with  Rousseau  that  the  sim- 
plicity of  pastoral  manners  is  morally  better  than  a 
more  artificial  life.  Do  you  ask  what  the  sling  of  the 
Christian  is  ?  It  is  the  mind  renewed  in  the  image 
of  Christ  which  like  the  sun-flower  turns  constantly  to 
the  sun.  And  his  stones  from  the  brook  are  partly 
those  short,  strong,  dart-like  prayers,  fitly  called 
ejaculations,  partly  those  passages  of  Scripture  which 
in  time  of  need  the  Spirit  of  God  blesses  to  his  edifica- 
tion. As  one  of  our  latest  religious  poets  sings, — 


So  with  one  promise  from  the  sacred  pages 

The  streams  whereof  make  glad  the  Church  below — 

One  text  worn  smooth  by  use  of  rolling  ages, 
Our  soul's  strong  enemy  we  overthrow.1 


K 


But  is  the  parallel  between  the  combat  of  the 
Christian  and  the  combat  of  David  complete  enough 
to  be  worth  urging?  Does  not  the  Christian's  enemy 
constantly  return  to  the  assault  ?  '  Give  peace  in  our 
time,' — these  words  are  day  by  day  darted  up  by  the 
Church  ;  but,  as  the  sceptic  may  ask,  with  what  result  ? 
When  was  the  time  and  where  was  the  place  when 
the  Church,  or  any  living  member  of  it,  was  free  from 

1  Rev.  Richard  Wilton. 


124  THE  DAVID-NARRATIVES. 

enemies  ?  Our  Church  therefore  supplies  us  with  an 
interpretation  of  her  '  give  peace.'  In  a  fuller  prayer 
for  peace  she  bids  us  ask,  '  Defend  us  thy  humble 
servants  in  all  assaults  of  our  enemies,  that  we  surely 
trusting  in  thy  defence,  may  not  fear  the  power  of  any 
adversaries.'  There  is  true  peace.  Enemies  there 
will  always  be — the  most  dangerous  enemies  of  all, 
those  of  the  soul.  The  forces  in  society  which  make 
against  the  spiritual  life  are  numerous  and  powerful. 
But  there  is  a  way,  as  the  psalmist  tells  us,  'to  still 
the  enemy  and  the  avenger ' — not  to  extinguish  him, 
but  to  still  the  fury  of  his  assault.  In  describing  it, 
the  psalmist  uses  a  strange  but  expressive  figure. 
The  prayers  and  praises  of  believers  form,  he  says,  a 
tower  of  strength,  in  which  God  and  His  people  dwell 
together,  and  against  which  no  enemy  can  prevail : — 
with  the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  thou  hast  estab- 
lished a  stronghold.  May  this  stronghold  be  ours  ! 
Then  shall  we  fear  no  Goliaths : — 

Our  bars  shall, be  iron  and  brass, 

And  as  our  days,  so  shall  our  rest  be. r 

*. 

N 

1  Deut.  xxxiii.  25 


DA  FID  AND  GOLIATH.  125 

NOTE   ON   THE  'INSPIRATION  '  OF   2   SAM.  xxi.    Ip. 

It  is  the  privilege  of  devout  criticism  to  show 
that  many  of  those  early  Hebrew  narratives,  which 
some  would  degrade  to  the  rank  of  mere  myths 
or  legends,  possess  a  unique  spiritual  quality  which 
may  be  called  '  inspiration.'  Among  these  there 
is  no  difficulty  in  placing  the  lovely  story  of 
David  and  Goliath,  which  is  not  a  mere  folk-tale, 
but  also  an  allegory,  though  not  nearly  as  perfect  a 
one  as  the  Fathers  of  the  Church  laboured  to  show 
that  it  was.  Divine  must  have  been  the  gifts  of 
the  writer  who  converted  a  traditional  story,  such 
as  those  which  still  delight  the  sons  of  the  Arabian 

desert,  into  so  exquisite  a  vehicle  of  elementary  but 

i 
most  precious  spiritual  truths.      But  what  shall  we 

say  of  the  second  or  rival  account  of  the  slaying  of 
Goliath,  found  in  2  Sam.  xxi.  19  (Revised  Version), — 
'  And  there  was  again  war  with  the  Philistines  at 
Gob  ;  and  Elhanan  the  son  of  Jaare-oregim  the 
Bethlehemite  slew  Goliath  the  Gittite,-  the  staff  of 
whose  spear  was  like  a  weaver's  beam  '  ?  And  what 
of  the  little  document  to  which  this  passage  belongs 
(it  includes  2  Sam.  xxi.  15-22,  and  xxiii.  8-39),  which 
appears  to  be  an  incomplete  extract  from  a  very 
ancient  Israelite  '  roll  of  honour  '  ?  Is  there  anything 
here  which  suggests  the  overruling  influence  of  that 


1 26  THE  DA  VID-NARKA  77  VES. 

Holy  Spirit  who  prefers  for  His  temple  the  lowly  and 
contrite  heart  ?  Not  to  a  careless  observer.  But  if 
we  look  at  this  passage  in  the  light  of  its  new  setting, 
we  may  form  a  higher  estimate  of  its  value.  As  it 
stands,  it  may  seem  only  to  enforce  what  we  may  call 
the  natural  virtue  of  courage,  but  placed  as  it  is  in  the 
midst  of  poetry  and  narrative  of  a  much  more  elevated 
character,  it  becomes  penetrated  with  a  higher  mean- 
ing. And  then,  if  we  look  a  little  closer,  we  shall 
recognize  that  devout  Israelites  regarded  even  what 
we  may  think  the  lower  virtues  as  supernatural 
graces  : — the  Spirit  of  Jehovah  manifested  Himself, 
as  they  believed,  in  all  human  excellences,  and  especi- 
ally in  that  resolute  courage  which  can  face  the 
greatest  odds,  and  resist  the  enemy  'till  the  hand 
cleaves  to  the  sword.'  The  somewhat  fierce  heroism 
of  David  and  his  mighty  men  forms  a  necessary 
balance  to  the  meek  and  gentle  spirit  of  other  por- 
tions of  Scripture.  Our  Bible  would  not  be  so  frankly 
natural  as  it  is  without  it,  and  so  Elhan  an  may  take 
his  place  as  the  slayer  of  Goliath  among  the  founders 
of  the  Church-nation  of  Israel,  though  far  indeed 
behind  prophets  like  Jeremiah  and  poets  like  the 
author  of  the  23rd  psalm. 


PART    II. 

THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE   CRITIC'AL   STUDY   OF   THE    PSALTER. 

THE  Book  of  Psalms  may  be  called  a  second  Penta-/ 
teuch  ;  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  it  is  divided  into  five 
books  (I.  Ps.  i.-xli.  ;  II.  Ps.  xlii.-lxxii. ;  III.  Ps. 
Ixxiii.-lxxxix.  ;  IV.  Ps.  xc.-cvi.  ;  V.  Ps.  cvii.-cl.). 
Or,  more  strictly,  it  is  a  Tetrateuch  (a  combination  of 
four  books),  since  Books  IV.  and  V.  evidently  once 
formed  a  single  book  or  minor  Psalter.  Now,  each 
of  these  books  forms  a  group,  and  within  each  of 
them,  either  by  the  psalm-headings,  or  (more  or  less 
probably)  by  internal  evidence  smaller  groups  can  be 
made  out.  Let  the  reader  therefore  give  his  chief 
attention  to  these  groups,  for,  unless  we  find  reason 
to  analyze  a  larger  group  into  several  smaller  ones, 
we  may  presume  that  the  psalms  which  compose 
each  group  belong  to  the  same  (not  too  narrowly 
defined)  historical  period.  In  Books  IV.  and  V.  (which 


10 


130  THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS. 


should  be  studied  first)  the  following  groups  can  be 
traced,  (a)  Ps.  xciii.,  xcv.-c.,  called  the  '  accession ' 
psalms  (because  they  relate  to  the  visible  '  accession  ' 
of  Jehovah  as  king  after  the  Return),  (b]  Ps.  cxiii.- 
cxviii.  (the  Hallel  psalms),  (c]  Ps.  cxx.-cxxxiv.  (the 
'  songs  of  ascent,'  or,  '  of  pilgrimage  '),  (d)  Ps.  cxlvi.-cl. 
(last  Hallelujah  psalms).  In  Books  II.  and  III.  the  most 
evident  groups  are  the  '  psalms  of  the  sons  of  Korah  ' 
and  those  '  of  Asaph  '  ;  in  Books  I.  and  II.  the  psalms 
'  of  David '  (the  '  Davidic  '  psalms  in  the  other  books 
should  be  considered  separately).  The  student  may 
also,  if  he  will,  class  together  the  psalms  which  betray 
the  religious  and  literary  influence  of  certain  Old 
Testament  books,  the  date  of  which  he  has  already 
determined  (Jeremiah,  the  Second  Isaiah,  Job).  This 
however  must  be  done  cautiously,  and  under  skilled 
direction. 

Have  we  the  psalms  in  their  original  form  ?  Of 
the  pre-Exilic  psalms  (ifjve__hay^ejmy)  this  cannot  of 
course  be  said.  The  tone  and  character  of  post-Exilic 
was  in  many  points  different  from  that  of  pre-Exilic 
religion,  and  the  Church-nation,  of  which  Jeremiah 
was  the  founder  and  Ezra  the  organizer,  could  not 
have  been  satisfied  with  what  we  may  call  pre-Re- 
formation  hymns.  Moreover,  the  Exile  evidently 
brought  into  existence  new  ideas  respecting  liturgical 
music  and  singing.  There  may  at  any  rate  at  the 


THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER.          131 

close  of  the  regal  period,  have  been  some  trained 
singers  in  the  temple  (Neh.  vii.  44  —Ezra  ii.  41,  but 
cf.  2  Sam.  vi.  5,  i  Kings  i.  40,  Am.  v.  21-23,  Isa.  xxx. 
29  *),  but  upon  the  whole  the  singing  in  the  pre-Exilic 
period  was  in  a  peculiar  sense  congregational,  and  its 
effect  could  be  likened  (by  a  poet  of  the  Exile)  to  that 
of  the  confused  noise  of  the  Chaldaean  soldiery  in  the 
temple  (Lam.  ii.  7).  When  the  singing  was  so  rough, 
so  primitive, 2  the  psalms  cannot  have  been  very 
polished  in  style  ;  but  the  extant  psalms  display  a 
considerable  sense  of  art.  The  only  temple-songs, 
or  fragments  of  (presumed)  temple-songs,  of  probable 
pre-Exilic  origin,  which  have  come  down  to  us,  are  a 
passage  from  a  hymn  by  Solomon  in  i  Kings  viii. 
(see  B.L.,  pp.  193,  212),  and  a  thanksgiving  formula 
in  Jer.  xxxiii.  ii,  to  which  may  possibly  or  even 
probably  be  added  Ps.  xviii.  (see  B.L.,  pp.  204-207). 
It  is  also  possible  or  even  probable  that  fragments  of 
pre-Exilic  psalms  have  been  worked  up  into  later 
compositions,  just  as  a  fragment  of  the  Song  of 
Deborah  was  worked  up  into  Ps.  Ixviii.  The  psalms 
which  speak  of  a  king  might  plausibly  be  regarded  as 
containing  such  early  psalm-fragments,3  though  as  they 
stand  they  are  obviously  not  older  than  other  psalms  ; 


1  These  passages  show  that  at  any  rate  the  principal  part  of  the  sing 
ing  was  taken  by  the  congregation. 

2  Comp.  Mrs.  O\ipha.nt,_/erusa!ew,  p.  183.  3  See  however  B.L. 


132  THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS. 


but  it  is  impossible  to  apply  a  critical  analysis  to 
them.  Probably  the  only  passage  which  can  plausibly 
be  separated  from  the  context  of  a  psalm,  and 
described  as  perhaps  pre-Exilic,  is  Ps.  Ix.  6-ioa,  and 
even  here  the  separation  is  not  as  easy  as  we  could 
wish.  Ps.  xxiv.  7-10  is  a  processional  hymn  in 
the  post-Exilic  manner,  while  Ps.  Ixxxix.,  the 
only  psalm  which  Cornill  ventures  to  mark  as 
possibly  pre-Exilic,  is  rather,  as  I  have  shown 
(B.L.,  pp.  116-118,  128,  129),  a  work  of  the  Persian 
age. 

There  are  in  fact  only  two  views  which  can  with  much 
plausibility  be  defended.  One  is  that  which  I  held 
myself  in  1888  (see  my  commentary).  It  is  that  the 
composition  of  temple-songs  like  those  in  our  Psalter 
began  in  the  reforming  age  of  Josiah  and  Jeremiah. 
To  this  period  not  a  few  psalms  might  plausibly  be 
referred  (especially  those  which  betray  the  influence 
of  Jeremiah),  while  nearly  all  the  psalms  which  should, 
as  I  now  believe,  be  referred  to  the  early  Greek  or 
Maccabaean  period,  might  conceivably  be  placed  in 
the  Persian  age.  A  closer  investigation  of  the  history 
of  the  Jews  will  most  probably  soon  render  this  theory 
unacceptable,  but  it  will  be  provisionally  useful  to 
many.  The  other  view  is  that  which  I  have  set  forth 
in  my  Bampton  Lectures  for  1889.  It  takes  account 
of  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  fully  admits 


THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER.         133 

the  possible  elements  of  truth  in  rival  theories.  It 
also  enables  those  Christian  apologists,  who  do  not 
scout  the  doctrine  of  historical  development  as  irre- 
ligious, to  present  a  more  reasonable  view  of  the 
progress  of  revelation  than  has  hitherto  been  current. 
Take  Ps.  xvi.  for  instance.  If  this  be  pre-Exilic,  nay 
even  if  it  be  an  early  post-Exilic  work,  it  is  impossible 
to  find  in  it  anticipations  worth  mentioning  of  Chris- 
tianity. But  if  it  falls  within  the  latter  part  of  the 
Persian  period  the  case  becomes  far  otherwise.  Both 
in  this  psalm,  and  in  Ps.  xvii.,  xxxvi.,  xlix.,  Ixiii.,  Ixxiii., 
there  are  passages  which  may,  without  straining 
language,  be  taken  to  give  a  vague,  untheological  ex- 
pression to  the  hope  of  immortality,  on  condition 
that  they  can  be  shown  to  have  been  written  when 
Jewish  believers  were  engaged  in  developing  the 
germs  of  this  hope  in  their  own  religion  under  the 
stimulus  of  the  much  more  fully  developed  Zoroastrian 
beliefs.1 

But  what  of  the  tradition  assigning  many  of  the , 
psalms  to  David?     It  sprang  up  under  the  influence  j 
of  that  idealization  of  the  poet-king  to  which  I  have 
already  referred,  and  what  it  asserts  is  unthinkable.2 

I 

1  On  this  debateable  point  I  venture  to  refer  to  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury, Dec.  1891  (art.  'Ancient  Beliefs  in  Immortality'). 

2  That  David  may  have  written  psalms,  is  of  course  not  denied  ;  only 
that  such  psalms  as  he  wrote  can  have  been  like  our  psalms.     Cf. 
Driver,  Introd.,  pp.  353-358,  and  my  B.L.,  pp,  190-195,  208-213. 


134  THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS. 

A  last  desperate  effort  to  rescue  it  has  been  made  by 
the  eminent  Zend  scholar,  M.  de  Harlez,  but  it  is  a 
reductio  ad  absurdum  of  the  theory  (see  his  art.  '  On 
the  Age  of  the  Psalms,'  Dublin  Review,  July,  1889). 
Some  of  the  Greek  fathers,  indeed,  though  they 
swallowed  the  Davidic  origin  of  the  whole  Book  of 
Psalms,  were  yet  enabled  by  their  theory  of  inspira- 
tion to  neutralize  the  effect  of  this  uncritical  pro- 
cedure. St.  Chrysostom,  for  instance,  says  that  David, 
in  Psalm  li.,  foresaw  the  falling  away  and  captivity  of 
the  people  of  Israel,  inasmuch  as  he  '  was  like  a  tragic 
poet,'  and  entered  into  the  inmost  thoughts  of  men  of 
a  distant  age.  The  theory  commended  itself  in  some 
form  to  the  beloved  F.  D.  Maurice,  but  to  most 
Western  minds  only  creates  a  fresh  stumbling-block 
for  faith.  Look  at  Shakespeare's  bust  at  Stratford- 
on-Avon,  and  conceive,  if  you  can,  of  its  passing  for 
that  of  a  psalmist !  The  psalmists  were  no  '  tragic 
poets,'  but  lived  frankly  and  heartily  in  their  own  age, 
though  it  may  well  be  that  words  which  were  suitable 
in  one  age  of  trouble  recover  much  of  their  old  mean- 
ing in  another,  and  the  editors  of  the  Psalter  may 
even  have  provided  for.  this  by  omitting  or  modifying 
expressions  which  had  too  exclusively  a  contemporary 
reference.  This  last  remark  will  account  for  the 
difficulty  of  proving  to  universal  satisfaction  the  ex- 
istence of  a  considerable  number  of  Maccabaean 


THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PS  ALTER.         135 

psalms.  That  there  are  at  least  a  few,  is  for  many 
reasons  in  the  highest  degree  probable,  and  has  been 
maintained  again  and  again  from  the  time  of  Theo- 
dore of  Mopsuestia  and  his  friends  onwards.  Nor 
has  the  Christian  apologist  any  interest  in  rejecting 
this  theory,  for  it  furnishes  an  adequate  explanation 
of  some  harsh  passages  which  are  not  in  the  normal 
tone  of  the  piety  of  the  Psalter.  But  it  requires  a 
complicated  argument,  which  beginners  could  not 
follow,  to  show  that  there  are  more  than  a  very  few 
Maccabaean  psalms.  I  will  here  only  reply  to  a 
remark  of  Prof.  Kirkpatrick  in  his  excellent  though 
unduly  cautious  work  on  the  Psalms  (p.  xxxvii.).  The 
history  of  the  Psalter  and  of  the  Canon  cannot,  in  my 
opinion,  be  shown  to  exclude  Maccabaean  additions 
to  the  Book  by  a  reference  to  the  so-called  Psalms  of 
Solomon.1  '  These  psalms  are  indeed  Pharisaean  in 
tone,  But  exegesis  reveals  the  germs  of  the  better 
Pharisaism  in  some  of  the  canonical  psalms,  and  so 
softens  the  transition  from  the  pre-Maccabaean  to  the 
later  Maccabaean  type  of  piety.  That  there  is  a 
wide  difference  between  the  two  Psalters,  I  do  not  of 
course  deny  ;  but  this  has  not  the  critical  bearing 
which  Prof.  Kirkpatrick  supposes.  It  is  not  chrono- 
logical nearness  which  produces  an  affinity  of  tone 

1  On  this  Psalter  (date,  Ti.c.  63-48)  see  Ryle  and  James,  The  P sal  ins 
of  the  Pharisees  (1891),  and  cf.  my  B.L.,  pp.  15,  30,  33,  277,  411. 


136  THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS. 


and  thought  (contrast  Jeremiah  and  Ezckiel),  but 
belonging  to  the  same  intellectual  stage  or  period. 
The  difference  between  the  two  Psalters  is  wide,  but 
not  absolute.' l  It  is,  moreover,  not  fair  to  take  the 
Psalms  of  Solomon  as  representative  of  the  Macca- 
baean  period.  For  these  interesting  but  artificial 
poems  only  just  fall  within  that  period,  and  were  not 
completed  till  after  its  close.  It  would  be  better  to 
argue  thus, — '  If  there  were  psalmists  in  the  age  of 
Pompey,  when  the  stimulus  given  by  Mattathias  and 
his  sons  was  waxing  feeble,  how  should  there  not  have 
been  in  the  age  of  those  heroes  themselves  '  ?  2  To 
Professor  Kirkpatrick's  other  arguments  I  have 
perhaps  for  the  present  sufficiently  replied  by  antici- 
pation elsewhere. 

What  more  shall  I  add?  First,  an  exhortation  to 
the  Jiistorical  study  of  the  psalms.  '  What  is  necessary 
to  preserve  for  them  the  affections  of  Christendom  is 
— a  historical  background.  As  mere  academical 
exercises  by  not  merely  unnamed  but  unknown 
individuals,  the  psalms  will  neither  greatly  edify  the 
Church  nor  charm  the  literary  student.  But  if  we  can 
show  that  in  losing  David  we  have  gained  a  succes- 
sion of  still  sweeter  psalmists,  and  that  though  we 
know  not  their  names  we  partly  know  their  history, 

1  '  Zoroastrian  influences,'  &c.,  art.  by  the  present  writer,  Expository 
Times,  Aug.  1891,  p.  249.  2  B.L.,  p.  15. 


THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER.         137 


and  can  follow  them  in  their  changing  moods  and 
experiences,  we  shall  more  than  compensate  the 
educated  reader.' x  Next,  a  remark  on  the  personifi- 
cation of  the  people  of  Israel.  It  can  be  shown  that  in 
most  cases,  even  when  the  psalmist  uses  the  first  person 
singular,  the  speaker  is  either  the  Church  or  a  typical  I 
pious  Israelite.  Having  explained  this  theory  else- 
where (see  e.g.,  chapters  on  Ps.  li.)  I  need  not  say 
much  upon  it  now.2  When  fully  realized,  its  strange- 
ness will  at  once  disappear,  and  it  will  relieve  the 
student  of  the  psalms  from  many  embarrassments. 
For  instance,  there  are  many  strong  expressions 
which  we  can  hardly  understand  in  the  mouth  of  any 
individual.  It  may  be  said  of  course  that  the  psalm- 
ists prophesy  of  Christ  ;  but  this  explanation  seems 
contrary  to  sound  psychology,  and,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  psalmists  are  not  '  like  tragic  poets.'  But  when 
we  understand  that  they  are  in  general  but  the 
mouthpieces  of  the  nation,  it  becomes  evident  that  no 
expressions  can  be  too  strong.  The  Psalter  will  then 
remind  us  of  that  mystic  eagle  in  Dante,  composed  of 
interwoven  ruby-souls,  which  'uttered  with  its  voice 
both  /  and  My,  when  in  conception  it  was  We  and 
Our?  3  Next,  on  Messianic  psalms,  Edward  Irving 


1  B.L.,  p.  276. 

2  Cf.  Driver,'  Introd.,  pp.  366-367. 

3  Dante,  Paradise,  xix.  II,  12  (B.L.,  p.  265) 


138  THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS. 

thus  beautifully  recasts  a  familiar  saying  of  St. 
Augustine,1  '  We  cannot  sing  His  praise  or  His 
triumph,  but  we  must  take  ourselves  in  as  a  part,  and 
be  embraced  in  the  very  praises  of  our  great  Head.  .  .  . 
At  once  are  we  constrained  to  worship  the  objective 
Saviour  who  is  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  and  the  stib- 
jective  Saviour  who  liveth  with  us,  and  is  seated  in  the 
throne  of  our  hearts.'  2  This  is  a  legitimate  develop- 
ment of  the  personification-theory.  In  the  nation- 
psalms,  it  is  sometimes  the  imperfect  and  erring  Israel 
who  speaks,  sometimes  that '  Israelite  indeed,'  that  true 

V 

'  Servant  of  Jehovah,'  who  lived  in  the  heaven-born 
aspirations  of  the  Church-nation,  and  to  whom  these 
words  may  with  perfect  justice  be  applied, '  The  chas- 
tisement of  our  peace  was  upon  him,  and  by  his 
stripes  we  are  healed.' 3  There  is  therefore  a  general 
truth  in  the  Messianic  reference  of  psalms  like  the 
22nd  to  the  Lord  Jesus.  But  it  does  not  follow  that 
we  are  bound  to  accept  every  special  application  of  a 
psalm  to  the  Christian's  Messiah  found  in  the  New 
Testament,  nor  even  (let  us  say  it  with  due  deliberate- 
ness)  found  in  the  sayings  of  Jesus  Himself.  He  is  a 
bold  man  who  condemns  us  for  holding  with  Dean 
Jackson  that  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  in  His 


1  See  B.L. ,  p.  259. 

2  Miscellanies,  p.  486. 

3  Isa.  liii.  5.     Cf.  B.L.,  pp.  263,  264,  275. 


THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER.          139 

humiliation  is  incomparably  different  from  that 
which  He  has  in  His  glorification,  and  for  adding  as 
a  corollary  that  we  ought  to  study  the  Psalter  as 
the  Lord,  in  His  exalted  Messianic  royalty,  would 
have  us,  viz.  with  all  the  reflected  lights  of  free  and 
honest  criticism.  There  are  Messianic  psalms  in  the 
Psalter,  just  as  there  is  a  strong  Messianic  clement  in 
the  prophecies,  and  though  the  form  of  the  Messianism 
varies  with  the  circumstances  and  mental  furniture  of 
the  authors,  yet  the  psalmists  all  agree  in  this — that  in 
bringing  the  Messianic  age  Israel  is  to  co-operate 
with  its  God.  This  surely  is  what  Bishop  Westcott 
means  by  that  striking  sentence,  'From  the  date  of  the  / 
Return  the  Jews  fulfilled  their  office  as  a  prophetic,  a  1 
Messianic  nation.' l  The  idea  of  the  Messianic  cha- 
'racter  of  Israel  pervades  the  Psalter.  It  is  however 
variously  expressed.  Sometimes  the  people  of  Israel 
is  represented  as  doing  God's  work  alone  (Ps.  Ixxxix. 
38,  51);  sometimes  not  the  people,  but  its  temporal 
or  spiritual  head  (Ps.  ii.,xviii.,  Ixxii.,  Ixxxiv.  10,  cxxxii. 
10,  17,  1 8),  or  its  personified  Genius  or  Ideal  (Ps. 
xxii.,  Ixix.,  cii.).  Whatever  form  the  idea  may  assume, 
the  Christian  character  of  the  psalm  remains  un- 
injured, and  we  may  under  due  limitations  safely 
apply  the  psalmists'  expressions  to  Him  in  whom  all 
the  promises  of  God  are  '  yea  and  amen,'  and  who 

1   Thoughts  on  Revelation  and  Life,  p.  12. 


140  THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS. 


doubtless  had  the  high  conciousness  that  in   Him  the 
aspirations  of  the  psalmists  were  fully  realized.1 

It  is  important  for  the  English  reader  to  study  the  Psalms,  not  only 
in  the  '  Revised  Version,'  but  also  in  some  entirely  new  translation,  such 
as  Bishop  Perowne,  Dr.  Kay,  Dr.  De  Witt  (first  edition),  and  the 
present  writer  (see  the  small  Parchment  Library  edition)  have  supplied. 
For  exegesis  and  criticism  he  may  consult  the  works  of  Bishop  Perowne 
and  Prof.  Kirkpatrick  (vol.  i.,  1891),  and  for  less  conservative  views  my 
own  commentary  (1888),  together  with  my  Bampton  Lectures  on  The 
Origin  and  Religious  Contents  of  the  Psalter  (1891).  See  also  the  trans- 
lation of  Delitzsch's  admirable  commentary  (Hodder  and  Stoughton), 
and  of  Ewald's  slighter  but  masterly  work  (Williams  and  Norgate),  and 
compare  Nowack's  edition  of  Hupfeld's  Die  Psalmen  (1888).  Prof. 
Robertson  Smith's  article  'Psalms'  in  the  Encycl.  Britann.,  and  chap, 
vii.  of  Prof.  Driver's  Introduction  (with  which  comp.  Expositor,  March, 
1892,  p.  231,  &c.),  will  of  course  not  be  neglected. 


1  See  B.L.,  pp.  260,  261,  266,  292,  312,  339,  340,  341,  350,  351, 
and  cf.  21,  22,  34,  35,  141,  143,  173,  174,  and  cf.  my  Prophecies  of 
Isaiah,  ii.  198  &c. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   INSPIRATION   OF   THE    PSALMISTS. 

SOME  time  ago  (1883)  at  a  Church  Congress  I 
ventured  on  the  seeming  paradox  that  one  of  the 
Church's  gains  from  the  so-called  '  higher  criticism  ' 
would  be  a  view  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures 
which  was  at  once  broader  and  deeper  and  more  true 
to  facts.  It  is  still  to  too  many  of  us  a  paradox,  but 
the  number  of  those  who  utter  it  has  since  then 
largely  increased.  May  the  following  pages  contribute 
in  some  faint  degree  to  propagate  it,  and  so  to  diminish 
the  anxiety  which  quite  unnecessarily  oppresses  so 
many  minds  !  '  Quite  unnecessarily,'  may  seem  to 
some  readers  a  bold  statement,  and  yet  children  of  a 
reformed  Church  ought  scarcely  to  complain  of  it. 
For  our  faith  is  not  in  a  book,  but  in  Christ  and  His 
good  tidings,  and  it  is  by  looking  at  Christ  that  we 
get  our  only  sure  criterion  of  inspiration  in  the  study 


142  THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS. 

of  Scripture.  So  it  was  with  the  first  disciples  ;  so  it 
was  with  the  Reformers  ;  so,  different  as  we  are  from 
both  intellectually,  it  must  be  with  us.  Those  parts 
of  Scripture  are  most  inspired,  which  have  most  in 
them  of  Christ,  that  is,  which  most  directly  reflect 
His  divine  personality.  Less  fully  but  not  less  truly 
inspired  are  those  which  either  record  or  illustrate 
revelations  of  God  to  man  in  the  period  preparatory  to 
Christ,  and  which,  with  whatever  drawbacks,  quicken 
our  sense  of  the  tenderness  and  the  vastness  of  the 
divine  education  of  the  world.  Christ  alone  by  His 
Spirit  can  '  open  to  us  the  Scriptures,'  but  criticism 
can  help  to  prepare  our  minds  to  receive  the  Spirit's 
message  by  giving  us  a  correct  historical  view  of  the 
Bible.  Criticism  is  one  of  the  best  gifts  of  God  to  this 
generation  :  its  highest  object  is  to  glorify  the  divine 
works,  which  are  '  sought  out  of  all  them  that  have 
pleasure  therein.' 

This  being  the  case,  there  is  nothing  strange  in  the 
suggestion  which  I  have  repeatedly  made,  that  some- 
thing should  be  done  in  our  most  important  pulpits 
(especially  non-parochial  ones)  to  promote  the  juster 
comprehension  of  the  Old  Testament.  In  that 
enlargement  of  the  range  of  preaching  which  is  forced 
upon  us  by  circumstances — say  rather,  to  which  we 
are  being  providentially  guided, — let  not  the  study  of 
these  priceless  records  be  neglected.  A  fuller  and  a 


THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  PSALMISTS.  143 


truer  view  of  inspiration  is  one  of  the  greatest  wants 
of  the  time  ;  to  get  this  we  require,  for  one  thing,  a 
critical  and  yet  both  popular  and  devout  interpretation 
of  the  older  Scriptures.     That  the  laity  are  becoming 
aware  of  this,  my  own  experience  does  not  permit  me 
to  deny,  nor  would  it  become  the  clergy  to  be  far 
behind  the  laity  in  discernment.     Of  course,  it  is  not 
an  ordinary  pastor's  work  to  produce  such  sermons, 
though  an  ordinary  pastor  may  doubtless  do  some- 
thing else  to  promote  the  same  object.     We  require 
specially  prepared   men   for  such  pulpits — men  who 
have  in  their  own  persons  reconciled  reason  and  faith, 
and  who  are  not  altogether  strangers  to  that  '  blend- 
ing process '  which  constitutes  true  inspiration.     For 
only  through  inspiration  can  we  adequately  understand 
the  writings  of  inspired  men.     Inspiration  is  an  inward 
state,  not  only  of  the  writer  or  writers  of  a  Scripture, 
but  also  in    their   different  degrees  of  its   qualified 
interpreters  and  readers. 

These  words  may  perhaps  provoke  the  charge  of 
'  subjectivity.'  I  will  not  be  angry  with  those  who 
bring  it,  for  I  know  that  their  piety  is  not  the  less 
sincere  because  it  is  timorous,  nor  the  less  vital 
because  it  is  determined  by  rule  and  precedent.  But 
I  would  ask  this  question,  Will  it  be  fatal  to  admit 
-  the  justice  of  the  charge  ?  Can  it  be  proved  that  the 
promises  of  God  and  of  Christ  were  limited  to  a  single 


144  THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS. 

age  ?  Or  that  there  was  not  abundant  '  subjectivity  ' 
in  the  disciples  who  first  dared  to  believe  them  ? 
Surely  in  all  true  faith  there  must  be  a  strong  subjec- 
tive element.  The  promise  of '  another  Paraclete  '  is 
useless  for  us,  unless  we  stretch  forth  the  hands  of  the 
soul  to  grasp  it.  .Its  compass  moreover  depends  fjor 
us  on  our  faculty  of  appropriation.  '  However 
doubtful  it  may  be,'  cries  an  anxious  theologian, 
'  whether  the  blessed  Spirit  may  have  vouchsafed  to 
speak  to  him  Jicreon  or  no  ! '  But  a  joyously  believing 
critic  is  convinced  that  he  has  not  been  '  left  in 
orphanhood,'  but  has  been  '  guided '  a  few  steps 
further  towards  '  all  the  truth '  of  which  the  Church  is 
at  present  in  need.  There  is  no  arrogance  in  this. 
He  claims  no  more  than  others  have  a  right  to  claim, 
but  he  can  neither  limit  God's  promises,  nor  rationalize 
them  into  unmeaning  generalities.  This  is  where  the 
writer  stood  in  1883-,  and  where  he  hopes  that  many 
others  stand  now.  The  Holy  Spirit  has  not  ceased 
to  guide  either  the  Church  or  its  believing  members, 
and  the  range  of  His  guidance  extends  to  things 
intellectual,  when  such  guidance  is  important  for  the 
Church.  We  ought  to  look,  not  only  backward  to  the 
conciliar  decisions  of  the  past,  but  forward  to  the 
informal  but  authoritative  decisions  of  the  Church  of 
the  future.  Lt  is  with  a  view  to  these  decisions,  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  will  suggest  to  the  general  Christian 


THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  PSALMISTS.  145 

conciousness,  that  devout  and  critical  interpreters  of 
the  Old  Testament  should,  both  in  the  study  and  in 
the  pulpit,  be  working. 

It  is  one  thing  however  to  interpret  the  Scriptures 
to  oneself,  and  another  to  do  so  to  the  congregation  ; 
it  is  possible  to  have  open  ears,  but  not  open  lips.  It 
is  true  that  He  who  providentially  ordered  my  work, 
has  promised  to  give  me  the  strength  to  do  it,  if  I  ask 
Him.  But  I  may  have  'asked  and  received  not,'1 
through  some  fault  of  my  own.  I  desire  therefore  to 
know,  directly  or  indirectly,  from  those  who,  in  the 
right  spirit,  have  either  heard  or  read  my  sermons, 
whether  I  have  at  all  succeeded.  Let  me  first  of  all 
refer  to  my  cathedral  discourses  on  the  accounts  of 
David  and  Elijah.  It  was  my  aim  in  these  to  show, 
that  though  the  writers  of  the  narratives  did  not 
claim  to  be  inspired,  yet  gleams  of  the  light  from 
heaven  had  fallen  upon  them.  The  idea  may  be 
expressed  more  fully  thus, — that  popular  traditions 
of  diverse  origin  were  the  divinely  appointed  chan- 
nels of  elementary  spiritual  truth  to  the  ancient 
people  of  Israel,  and  that  though,  as  Prof.  Ryle 
puts  it,  '  it  was  the  spirit  and  not  the  letter  that  con- 
veyed the  quickening  life,'  yet  '  the  letter  itself  was 
purified  and  consecrated  for  the  purpose  of  conveying 
the  message  of  Jehovah.'2  As  an  evidence  of  this 

1  James  iv.  3.  2  Address  at  the  Rhyl  Church  Congress,  1891. 

II 


146          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


compare,  or  rather  contrast,  the  Hebrew  form  of  the 
Flood-story  with  what  is  probably  its  Babylonian 
original.1  Now,  have  I  been  able  to  make  this  point 
clear — viz.  that  their  capacity  for  leavening  popular 
traditions  with  moral  and  spiritual  truth  constitutes 
the  special  claim  of  the  early  Hebrew  narrators  to 
our  reverence  ?  I  would  not  of  course  be  taken  to 
suppose  that  all  the  ancient  narratives  referred  to  are 
equally  penetrated  by  high  ideas.  That  is  not  the 
case.  Crude  and  unethical  material  is  sometimes 
adopted  (as  in  Genesis  and  Judges)  without  any 
spiritualization  except  such  as  it  receives  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  ethically  moulded  stories.  And 
sometimes  (as  in  I  Kings  ii.  5-9)  even  a  highly 
religious  narrator  falls  below  his  ordinary  ethical 
standard.  Nor  would  I  be  considered  to  deny  that 
Pindar  and  ^Eschylus  had  entered  on  the  same  path 
in  Hellas,  and  participated  (especially  Pindar)  in  a 
similar  inspiration  to  the  Israelitish  writers.  In 
some  respects  this  may  even  be  too  faint  praise. 
The  Hebrew  narrators  are  considerably  less  de- 
veloped morally  than  Pindar.  For  instance,  they 


1  B.L.,  pp.  270,  279,  392,  432.  I  do  not  deny  that  the  Babylonian 
priests  and  prophets  may  have  begun  to  allegorize,  or  at  least  to  spiri- 
tualize, their  myths.  It  is  too  soon,  however,  to  speak  definitely  on 
this  subject.  At  any  rate,  the  higher  elements  of  Babylonian  religion 
were  mixed  up  with  lower  ones  of  an  unspiritual  and  naturalistic 
character. 


THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  PSALMISTS.  147 

take  a  manifest  pleasure  in  the  exhibition  of  craft 
or  shiftiness.  But  Pindar,  as  we  have  seen  (p.  35), 
protests  against  crooked  policy  ;  '  a  straight  course,' 
he  says,  '  is  best,  because  it  is  in  harmony  with  God.' 
And  whereas  the  biographers  of  the  patriarchs  and 
of  David  knew  nothing  of  future  retribution,  Pindar 
had  certainly  been  visited  by  gleams  of  the  hope  of 
immortality.1  And  yet,  from  a  Christian  vantage- 
ground,  must  we  not  admit  that  the  high  intuitions  of 
the  latter  were  marred  by  serious  error,  for  want  of 
that  succession  of  prophetic  teachers  which  was 
granted  to  the  Israelites?  Pindar  and  his  fellow- 
poets  had  not  the  promise  .of  the  future  ;  they  do 
not  shine  with  that  reflected  brightness  which  belongs 
to  those  who  have  helped  to  found  a  Church.  And 
therefore,  much  as  I  admire  those  devout  poets,  I  can 
but  give  them  a  place  in  an  appendix  to  my  Bible, 
while  the  works  of  the  (in  many  respects)  far  less 
gifted  Hebrew  narrators  remain,  and  will  remain, 
among  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Covenant. 

I  would  next  venture  to  refer  to  a  pulpit-exposition 
of  the  life  and  work  of  Jeremiah,  which  forms  the 
basis  of  a  continuous  study  on  the  same  subject. 
Spiritual  prophecy  in  the  midst  of  a  heathen  world 
is  admittedly  one  of  the  greatest  proofs  of  God's 

1  Find.  01.  ii.  109-140  ;  Fragtn.  xcvi.  2-4.  From  what  source  did 
Pindar  derive  this  intuition  ?  Not  at  any  rate  from  the  contemporary 
popular  belief. 


148          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


working  in  history.  So  surprising  is  it  that,  both  in 
Zarathustra  and  in  Amos  and  his  successors,  one  can 
only  explain  it  adequately  on  the  hypothesis  of  pro- 
phetic inspiration.  Now  I  ventured  to  think  that  I 
could  promote  the  study  of  this  great  work  of  God 
by  devoting  a  series  of  sermons  to  Jeremiah.  He  is 
the  last  and  in  some  respects  the  greatest  of  the  pre- 
Exile  prophets,  and  his  prophecies  derive  a  special 
charm  from  his  having  uttered  them  in  spite  of  him- 
self, with  faltering  lips  and  with  a  consciousness  of 
natural  disqualifications.  It  seemed  to  me  a  task 
well  fitted  -for  a  cathedral  preacher  to  point  out  in 
Jeremiah  that  blending  of  the  divine  and  the  human 
which  is  the  special  characteristic  of  inspiration. 
How  indeed  could  this  shrinking  youth  have  spoken 
as  he  did,  had  he  not  been  in  the  truest  sense 
inspired,  had  he  not  been  '  borne  along '  by  a  gale 
from  above  ?  T  Yes  ;  Jeremiah  will  reward  an 
attentive  study.  It  is  true,  he  is  not  altogether  an 
easy  prophet,  because  of  the  varied  problems  which 
his  life  and  times  present  to  us.  But  it  is  worth 
while  to  make  an  effort  to  understand  him,  since 
even  a  moderate  amount  of  success  will  throw  a 
bright  light  on  the  development  of  the  '  prophetic 
nation.'  Did  the  attempt  which  was  made  in 
Rochester  cathedral  have  any  measure  of  success  ? 
1  See  the  Greek  of  2  Pet.  i.  21. 


THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  PSALMISTS.  149 


Did  not  only  Jeremiah  but  the  great  fact  of  inspira- 
tion become  more  intelligible  to  the  congregation  ? 
Did  thoughtful  and  devout  laymen  begin  to  perceive 
that  there  were  many  degrees  and  varieties  among 
inspired  men — that  the  lowest  (see  the  early  narra- 
tives) was  not  less  truly  divine  than  the  highest,  and 
that  the  highest  was  not  less  truly  human  than  the 
lowest. 

And  lastly  take  the  Psalms.  For  three  years  1 
have  discoursed  on  these  hallowed  monuments  of  the 
sweetest  and  holiest  piety  that  was  possible  before 
Christ.  Controversy  I  have  as  much  as  possible 
avoided,  believing  that  on  this  subject  especially  the 
positive  statement  of  truth  is  more  effective  than  the 
contradiction  of  error.  A  not  unimportant  part  of 
the  truth  concerning  the  psalms  is  the  determination 
of  the  period  (I  do  not  say  the  year)  to  which  they 
belong,  without  which  exposition  tends  to  become 
insipid,  and  our  view  of  the  inspiration  of  their 
authors  untrue  to  facts.  This  work  having  been 
done  by  critics  with  quite  sufficient  precision  for 
practical  purposes,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  give  some 
hints  on  the  matter  to  my  hearers.  'Our  Christian 
chilliness '  *  would,  it  seemed,  be  more  effectually 
cured,  could  we  but  feel  the  pulsations  of  the  warm 
human  heart  in  the  psalms.  But  did  I  exaggerate 

1  Alexander  Knox. 


150          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

the  human  and  historical  element  in  these  divine 
songs?  Surely  not.  How  small  a  place  was  given 
to  the  historical  backgrounds  of  the  psalms  compared 
with  that  accorded  to  the  spiritual  instincts  and 
intuitions  of  the  psalmists  !  On  these  I  bestowed 
my  most  loving  care  ;  I  studied  them  on  all  sides  ; 
I  urged  their  appropriation.  And  yet,  forsooth, 
some  one  has  described  me  as  attacking  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  psalms  !  I  need  therefore  to  be  assured 
by  my  hearers  or  readers  whether  they  have  not  been 
helped  to  feel  more  vividly  the  divine  element  in  the 
psalms.  It  is  true,  I  did  not  often  use  the  word 
inspiration,  because  in  fact  it  is  so  often  connected 
with  an  untenable  theory.  It  is  also  true  that  I  have 
myself  no  theory  of  inspiration  to  offer.  '  The  human 
and  the  divine  are  held  together  in  an  union  which 
is  organic  and  unanalyzable.  They  have  not  been 
mixed  together,  they  have  grown  together,' r  and 
only  He  who  produces  the  vital  processes  can 
explain  them.  One  .thing  however  was  open  to  me 
— to  study  in  their  combination  the  piety  of  the 
psalmists  and  the  conditions  under  which  it  arose. 
I  thought  that  I  could  throw  some  light  on  their 
spiritual  history,  and  on  the  circumstances  which, 
under  God's  chastening  hand,  converted  them  into 

1  Rev.  J.  ^G.  Richardson,  at   the  Southwell   Diocesan   Conference, 
Oct.  1888. 


THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  PSALMISTS.  151 

heroes  of  faith.  I  hoped  that  I  could  help  my 
hearers  to  realize  the  spiritual  fervour  which  made 
the  Jewish  nation  a  church,  and  its  spokesmen 
prophets.  And  I  believed  that  by  so  doing  I  was 
promoting  a  higher  view  of  inspiration.  Was  my 
language  at  all  obscure  ?  Then  let  me  here  state 
some  sufficient  reasons  for  holding  the  psalms  to  be 
4  inspired.' 

My  first  reason  shall  be  a  critical  one.  I  have 
already  quoted  a  deep  but  enigmatic  sentence  from 
Bishop  Westcott  which  describes  the  Jews  as  '  a  pro- 
phetic, a  Messianic  nation.' J  It  appears  to  mean  that 
the  gifts  and  functions  which  were  formerly  assigned 
to  the  prophets  and  to  the  ideal  king  of  the  future 
were  transferred  (cf.  Isa.  Iv.  3,  4)  to  the  Jews  as  a 
nation.  Now  the  psalmists,  as  critical  exegesis 
proves,  wrote  as  the  representatives  of  the  Church- 
nation.  Therefore  that  holy  Spirit  which  dwelt 
within  Israel  spoke  through  them  ;  they  are  in  a 
true  though  not  in  the  traditional  sense  inspired 
prophets.2  Does  any  one  think  this  view  strange  ? 
Then  let  him  consider  that  true  prophecy  is  closely 
connected  with  prayer.  '  Call  unto  mel  says  Jehovah 

1  See  above,  p.  139.  The  Bishop  does  not,  indeed,  use  the  word 
'inspired.'  But  the  indwelling  of  the  Divine  Spirit  in  the  Church- 
nation  is  a  characteristic  post-Exile  idea  (see  sermon  on  Ps.  li.  il) ;  it 
means  that  the  pious  wish  of  Moses  (Num.  xi.  29)  is  in  course  of  fulfil- 
ment. 2  B.L.,  pp.  15,  30,  272,  284. 


152        THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

in  Jeremiah,  'and  I  iv ill  answer  tJiee,  and  will  show  tJiee 
great  t kings,  and  difficult,  ^M/iic/i  tJiou  knowest  not' * 
Now  what,  upon  the  whole,  is  the  Psalter  but  a  col- 
lection of  prayers  and  answers  to  prayers,  accom- 
panied, as  a  necessary  consequence,  by  grateful 
thanksgivings  ?  And  what  are  the  points  of  central 
interest  in  this  collection  ?  Surely  the  transitions 
from  seeking  to  appropriating  faith — in  other  words, 
the  prophetic  assurances  that  God  has  accepted  the 
Church-nation's  petitions.  These  assurances  are  in 
fact  the  most  inspired  portions  of  the  Psalter.  They 
seem  to  have  reached  the  psalmists  in  the  temple 
(Ps.  v.  3,  cf.  7  ;  Ixxiii.  17),  and  correspond  as  nearly 
as  possible  to  the  revelations  of  the  prophets.  We 
need  not  then  be  surprised  that  the  writers  of  the 
psalms  ever  and  anon  adopt  the  language  of  pro- 
phecy,2 thus  indirectly  at  least  claiming  inspiration. 
Yes,  the  psalmists  are  '  borne  by  a  holy  spirit,'  and 
free  criticism,  by  showing  that  the  psalms,  with  few 
if  any  exceptions,  belong  to  the  post-Exilic  period, 
when  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  had  passed  from  indi- 
viduals to  the  Church-nation  at  large,  has  made  it  all 
the  easier  to  give  an  ungrudging  attestation  of  the 

1  Jer.  xxxiii.  3  (cf.  B.L.,  p.  64). 

2  See  Ps.  xii.  5,  xlvi.  10,  1.  4-21,  Ixxv.  2-5,  IO,  Ixxxi.  6-16,  and  cf. 
xlix.  4,  where  inspiration  is  directly  claimed.     Imprecatory  passages 
like  xxi.  9-12,  Ivi.  7,  &c.,  are  not  to"  be  included  (cf.  my  Jeremiah, 
p. -in). 


THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  PSALMISTS.  153 

fact.      Here  is    my  first   argument  for  their  inspira- 
tion. 

I  pause  for  a  moment  to  qualify  what  I  have  just 
said.  Perfect  indeed  the  inspiration  of  the  psalmists 
is  not  ;  the  later  views  on  this  subject  are  as  baseless 
as  the  corresponding  Indian  views  on  the  inspiration 
of  the  Vedic  hymns,  The  psalmists  are  the  suc- 
cessors of  the  prophets,  and  in  a  true  sense  prophets 
themselves.  But  they  do  not,  like  the  prophet-poet 
Zarathustra,  claim  to  have  received  absolutely  right 
words,  and  in  the  case  of  Ps.  cix.  6-20  we  must  assert 
that  the  prophetic  presentiment  of  "the  writer  is  '  cor- 
rupted by  the  infirmities  of  human  passion.'  ~*-  The 
blending  of  the  human  and  the  divine  element  is  in 
fact  not  always  complete;  in  this  respect  the  psalmists 
sometimes  remind  us  of  that  true  but  imperfect  pro- 
phet Jeremiah.  Shall  we  despise  them  on  this 
account  ?  No  ;  but  rather  love  and  pity  as  well  as 
venerate  them.  They  speak  in  '  the  language  of  the 
sons  of  men  '  ;  they  are  not  angels,  but  the  human 
heralds  of  the  Christ.  And  how  great  they  are,  in 
spite  of  their  limitations  !  This  will,  I  hope,  appear 
from  my  two  next  arguments.  To  those,  then,  who  ask 
why  the  psalmists  are  inspired,  I  reply  secondly  that 
their  words  have  a  greater  fulness  of  meaning  than 
those  of  other  gifted  religious  poets.  Let  me  appeal 
1  B.L.,  p.  64. 


154         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

here  to  common  experience.  How  many  times  have 
we  all,  critics  and  non-critics  alike,  received  messages 
through  the  psalms  from  that  God  of  love,  who 
'  guideth  us  with  his  eye.' z  Is  there  any  other 
religious  poetry  of  which  we  can  say  this,  or  to  which 
we  can  so  truly  apply  that  phrase  of  Keble — '  eye  of 
God's  Word  '  ?  ^_£rjsrn^tic_j]adiance^  belongs  to 
these  earliest  utterances  of  a  new-found  spiritual 
religion.  And  in  saying  this  I  have  already  sug- 
gested another  peculiar  quality  in  the  language  of 
the  Psalter — originality.  The  psalmists  were  in  fact 
the  first  to  devis*e  an  adequate  lyric  expression  for 
spiritual  ideas.  Contrast  them  in  this  respect  with 
the  great  Iranian  prophet,  whose  awkward  and  un- 
couth phraseology  puts  such  a  strain  on  his  ablest 
modern  interpreters. 2  In  other  words,  the  Hebrew 
poets  had  in  some  sense  a  more  direct  contact  with 
the  inspiring  Spirit  than  any  previous  or  subsequent 
religious  poets. 

And  my  third  reply  is  this — that  the  works  of 
the  psalmists  have  exercised  a  formative  influence 
over  a  far  greater  multitude  than  any  of  the  '  pro- 
phetic masters 's  of  the  past  or  the  present.  How 
the  Lord  Jesus  delighted  in  the  psalms,  and  how  they 


Ps.  xxxii.  8. 

The  Oxford  translator  may,  I  fear,  often  be  too  subtle. 

I  adopt  the  phrase  from  Bishop  Westcott. 


THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  PSALMISTS.  155 

helped  '  to  form  His  chosen  ones  for  the  Christ  and 
the  Christ  for  His  chosen,' l  need  not  again  be  said. 
Nor   need   I  repeat  the  evidence  from   history  and 
biography  which    has   been    admirably   though   not 
exhaustively  collected  by  Dr.    Ker.      We   will    not 
detract   from    the    merits    of    the   followers   of    the 
psalmists.     Dante  and,  among   ourselves,    Browning  / 
have  been  instruments  owned  of  God  for  the  renewal  I 
and  edification  of  souls.     But  they  appeal  only  to 
Western   readers,  and  to  an  intellectual  aristocracy  [ 
among  these,  whereas  we  may  say  of  the  psalmists 
that  '  their  sound  is  gone  out  into  all  lands,  and  their  j 
words  into  the  ends  of  the  world.' 

I  trust  that  no  one  will  fail  to  recognize  the  church 
feeling  which  animates  these  remarks.  Not  to  them 
do  these  words  of  a  learned  opponent  of  the  '  higher 
criticism '  apply, — 

'  The  testimony  of  the  Church,  the  canonicity  of  the  Book,  the  judg- 
ment of  Catholic  writers,  all  become  as  nothing.  The  judgment  of  the 
individual,  on  the  presupposition  that  he  is  qualified  to  form  it,  is  to 
settle  the  question,  however  doubtful  it  may  be  whether  the  blessed 
Spirit  may  have  vouchsafed  to  speak  to  him  hereon  or  no.'  2 


1  B.L.,  p.  261. 

2  Bishop  Ellicott,  Visitation  Charge,  Oct.  1891.     For  my  own  part  I 
think  that  the  use  which  Jesus  Christ  made  of  the  Old  Testament  proves 
that  there  is  in  it  so  strong  a  divine  element  as  to  separate  it  in  some 
sense  from  all  other  books  (except  the  New  Testament),  though  I  must 
qualify  this  by  saying  that  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament  was  not 
finally  settled  in  all  its  parts  in  our  Lord's  time,  and  that  a  spiritual 
tact  guided  Him,  as  it  ought  to  guide  His  disciples,  to  a  Bible  within  (( 
the  Bible. 


156         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

For  the  first  is  altogether  objective,  while,  of  the 
two  latter,  one  of  the  above  arguments  asserts  that 
the  Psalter  has  a  voice  for  every  member  of  the 
universal  Church,  and  the  other,  that  the  Church  in_ 
all  times  and  countries  has  acknowledged  its  unique 
power.  We  dare  not  however  assent  to  Bishop  Elli- 
cott's  view  that  no  sympathy  should  be  felt  with  indi- 
vidualism, for  we  can  see  that  it  both  was  and  is  a 
necessary  reaction  against  the  exaggerated  authority 
of  tradition.  It  is  our  inheritance  from  the  struggles 
of  the  Reformation,  and  we  cannot  dispense  with  it, 
however  much  we  value  that  living  sense  of  connexion 
with  the  past  which  is  equally  our  birthright.  It  is 
our  duty,  not  to  rest  in  any  tradition  however  time- 
honoured,  but  to  contribute  to  its  purification  and 
enrichment.  And  how  can  we  do  this  in  the  sphere 
of  religion  without  applying  a  free,  and  in  the  best 
sense  of  the  word  siibjective  criticism  to  the  Scriptures  ? 
Yes,  indeed ;  the  combined  action  of  the  trained 
subjectivities  of  critics  is  the  right  criticism  for  the 
modern  Christian  Church.  We  will  not  be  ashamed 
to  confess  that  we  do  '  determine  the  inspiration  of 
the  Book  from  its  internal  character  and  the  voice  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  speaking  in  it  to  the  believer/  nor 
can  we  doubt  that  the  '  Spirit  of  truth  '  will  '  guide ' 
us  aright  in  our  determination.  But  we  also  grate- 
fully acknowledge  the  utility  of  the  Church  tradition, 


THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  PSALMISTS.  157 


which,  in  favourable  cases,  points  the  way  to  a  fact, 
and  is  at  any  rate  the  necessary  starting-point  of 
critical  investigation. 

Nor  should  there  be  any  offence  to  Church  feeling 
in  a  reference  to  Dante  and  Browning  as  inspired. 
For  it  cannot  be  intended  by  this  to  equalize  them  || 
with  the  psalmists.  The  biographers  of  David  arc, 
as  we  have  seen,  inspired,  but  they  are  certainly  not 
inspired  in  the  same  measure  as  the  psalmists.  Nor 
can  we  say  that  even  the  verse  of  Dante,  laden  with 
the  richest  Christian  thought  and  feeling,  is  on  a 
level,  religiously,  with  the  psalms.  There  are  not 
indeed  two  inspirations,  for  there  is  but  one  Holy 
Spirit.  But  there  are  many  degrees  and  varieties  of 
inspiration.  And  the  inspiration  of  the  psalmists — 
or,  let  me  say  at  once,  of  the  writers  of  the  Scriptures 
in  general,  is  supreme.  These  writers  stand  at  the 
head  of  that  current  of  spiritual  influence  which  has 
renewed  and  is  renewing  the  world.  The  wise  and 
holy  men,  the  saints  and  doctors  and  poets  who  came 
after  them,  could  not  help  borrowing  from  them. 

Hither,  as  to  their  fountain,  other  stars 
Repairing  in  their  golden  urns  draw  light. 

But  what  shall  we  say  of  those  ancient  races  which 
knew  not  the  Psalter  ?  Did  God  leave  Himself  with- 
out witness  in  the  realm  of  song  ?  No.  Zwingli  did 


158         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


but  revive  the  tradition  of  the  first  great  Christian 
thinkers  when  he  dignified  the  noblest  classic  masters 
by  the  title  '  divine,'  and  the  best  Anglican  teachers 
of  our  own  day  are  with  him.  This  way  of  viewing 
such  poets  as  Pindar,  yEschylus,  and  Euripides  offers 
no  difficulties  to  us  of  this  generation.  Their  moral 
fervour,  and  the  spiritual  turn  which  they  gave  to 
Greek  mythology,  are  so  wonderful,  that  we  gladly 
recognize  them  as  inspired.  It  is  otherwise  however 
with  those  still  more  ancient  poets  who,  being  litur- 
gical, should  be  nearest  of  kin  to  the  psalmists — the 
authors  of  the  Vedic  and  the  Gathic  hymns.  We 
are  probably  not  ourselves  Sanskrit  or  Zend  scholars, 
and  the  progress  of  Oriental  studies  may  come  but 
slowly  within  our  ken.  It  is  natural  for  us  therefore 
to  hesitate  when  devout  students  of  comparative 
religion  invite  us  to  recognize  the  voice  of  God  in  the 
words  of  Vasishtha  or  Zarathustra.  The  late  Dean 
Church  has  given  utterance  to  this  widely  diffused 
feeling  in  that  fine  though  not  faultless  eulogy  of  the 
Psalms  which  deserves  to  stand  beside  Sir  Philip 
Sidney's  Apologie  for  Poetrie.  When  for  instance 
Prof.  Max  Miiller  speaks  of  the  Vedic  priest-poet 
Vasishtha  as '  a  man  who  in  the  noble  army  of  pro- 
phets deserves  a  place  by  the  side  of  David,'  r  Dean 

1  Introd.  to  the  Science  of  Religion,  p.  232.     A  learned  missionary 
(Dr.  Robson)  agrees  that  '  the  feelings  of  awe,  sinfulness,  and  contrition 


THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  PSALMISTS.  159 

Church  exclaims  that '  only  unconscious  prepossession 
could  blind  a  sagacious  and  religious  mind  to  the  im- 
measurable interval  between  [Vasishtha's  hymn  to 
Varuna]  and  the  5ist  psalm.'1  But  the  Professor  had 
already  said  that,  while  recognizing  the  beauty  of 
this  Vcdic  hymn,  he  was  '  not  blind  to  its  blemishes,' 
and  I  will  add  that  half  the  sympathy  which  we  bring 
to  the  'psalms  of  David1'  would  reveal  the  most  delicate,, 
morning-hues  in  the  prayer  of  Vasishtha.  The  Dean, 
as  is  natural,  looks  at  religious  poetry  from  a  Christian, 
the  Professor  from  a  historical  point  of  view ;  the 
position  which  I  am  seeking  to  recommend  does 
justice  to  both.  From  a  Christian  point  of  view  the 
5  ist  psalm  is  superior  to  the  hymn  of  Vasishtha, 
because  it  is  nearer  to  the  perfect  religion  of  Christ. 
From  a  historical  one,  the  two  are  of  equal  worth 
both  being  required  to  fill  out  our  conception  of  the 
development  of  religious  belief.  And  from  the  point 
of  view  of  a  historical  and  yet  Christian  theology, 
though  the  inspiration  of  the  psalmist,  being  fuller  in 

.  .  .  make  them  (the  hymns  to  Varuna)  liker  the  Hebrew  psalms  than 
anything  else  in  profane  poetry  '  (Hinduism,  &c.,  p.  19).  The  passages 
relative  to  Varuna  in  the  Rig  Veda  are  given  by  Dr.  Muir  (Sanskrit 
Texts,  V.6i-67,  76)  and  byM.  Darmesteter  (Ormazdet  Ahriman,  part  i., 
chaps,  v.  and  vi.).  The  latter  remarks,  '  Tel  est  Varuna  ...  II  a 
organise  le  monde,  il  en  est  le  maitre,  il  en  connait  les  mysteres,  il  est 
le  fondateur  de  1'ordre  materiel  et  moral ;  il  est  createur  souverain, 
omniscient,  dieu  d'ordre.'  How  then  does  the  worship  of  Varuna 
differ  from  that  of  Ahura  Mazda  or  of  Jehovah  ?  In  its  entanglement 
with  naturalism.  *  Early  Sacred  Poetry,  p.  31. 


160         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

volume  than  that  of  Vasishtha,  is  of  more  value  for 
our  own  spiritual  life,  yet  since  both  poets  are 
ministers  of  God,  both  give  us  equal  cause  to  praise 
Him  '  who  sits  at  the  keyboard  of  the  universe,  and 
touches  now  with  lighter  and  now  with  more  con- 
straining force  the  chords  of  the  human  spirit.' T 

Need  I  explain  that  this  recognition  of  a  divine 
element  in  the  Vedic  hymns  to  Varuna  by  no  means 
pledges  us  to  an  admiring  eulogy  of  the  entire  Rig 
Veda?  The  chief  test  of  a  religion  is  the  morality 
which  it  inculcates.  Now  Vedic  morality  in  general 
is  superficial  and  ritualistic.  Only  in  connexion  with 
the  cult  of  Varuna  does  it '  go  down  into  the  depths 
of  the  conscience,  and  realize  the  idea  of  holiness.' 2 
But  the  moral  law  of  the  psalmists  is  '  exceeding 
broad,'  and  extends  to  the  thoughts  and  intents  of 
the  heart.  Am  I  insensibly  falling  back  into  the  too 
partial  estimate  of  Dean  Church  ?  By  no  means.  I 
hasten  to  add  that  the  psalms  were  not  '  composed  in 
an  age  as  immature  as  that  of  the  singers  of  the 
Veda,'  but  (as  Quinet  saw)  in  a  far  more  advanced 
society  and  after  a  vastly  more  complete  spiritual 
discipline,  and  that  we  are  therefore  much  less 
surprised  at  their  appearance  in  the  Church-nation 

than  at. the  lonely  beauties  of  the  hymns  to  Varuna. 

*• 

1  Sanday,  The  Oracles  of  God,  p.  100. 

2  Earth,  Religions  of  India,  p.  1 7. 


THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  PSALMISTS.  161 


Dean  Church  does  not  mean  to  be  unfair ;  he  is  only 
jealous  for  the  honour  of  the  Psalter.  I  agree  with 
him,  so  far  as  he  opposes  that  shallow  rationalism 
which  compares  '  David '  to  y£schylus  in  order  to 
undivinize  both.  But  I  also  sympathize  with  Prof. 
Max  Mliller  in  his  free  and  frank  admission  of  the 
divine  voice  in  the  hymns  to  Varuna.  This  '  catho- 
licity of  appreciation  '  may  at  present  appear  too 
bold;  ^Eschylus  may  have  many  more  friends  than 
Vasishtha.  But  whenever  the  facts  of  the  com- 
parative study  of  religion  become  more  generally 
known,  we  may  be  allowed  to  hope  that  the  judg- 
ment of  a  less  instructed  age  may  be  reversed. 

But  neither  ^Eschylus  nor  Vasishtha  founded  or 
reformed  a  Church.  Their  lesser  glories  sink  into 
insignificance  'beside  that  of  Zarathustra  (Zoroaster), 
as  he  is  depicted  with  perfect  unconsciousness  by 
himself.  Not  in  India  but  in  eastern  or  north- 
eastern Iran  was  the  great  step  completely  taken 
from  a  slightly  spiritualized  nature-worship  to  the 
one  true  spiritual  God.  Even  the  cultus  of  the 
'  holy '  deity  Varuna  never  lost  its  physical  basis ; 
Varuna  was  properly  the  divinized  nightly  sky. 
Varuna  might  conceivably  have  developed  into  Ahura 
Mazda  (the  '  much  knowing  Lord  ') ;  but  very  few 
will  be  convinced  by  the  author  of  Ormazd  ef  AJiri- 
tnan  that  this  was  actually  the  course  of  history.  Not 

12 


162          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


without  a  special  creative  impulse  can  the  religion  of 
the  Gathas  have  arisen  ;  no  mere  development  can 
account  for  it.     '  So  lofty  and  so  pure  is  the  spirit  of 
the  Gathas,  and,  in  contrast  to  the  Vedic  hymns,  so 
anti-mythological  is  their  tendency,  that  at  first  one 
can  hardly  believe  that  they  are  ancient,  and  yet  the 
fall  in  the  tone  of  the  later  Avesta  makes  it  still  more 
difficult  to  believe  that  they  are  modern.' I     They  are 
in  fact  placed  by  many  good  Zend  scholars  in   an 
age  anterior  to  that  of  David,  and    perhaps  hardly 
later  than  that  of  Moses.      That    Zarathustra   both 
claimed  to  be  and  was  a  prophet,  even  M.  de  Harle^ 
admits  ;  the  severest  criticism  can  find  no  flaw  in  his 
title.    That  he  was  also  a  poet,  his  own  hymns  show  ; 
and  if  his  phraseology  is  uncouth,  who  can  wonder  at 
this  in  a  poet  who  had  no  predecessors  ?     At  any  rate, 
the  general  purport  of  his  hymns  is  admitted  to  be 
clear,  in  spite  of  much  uncertainty  on  minute  points 
of  philology.    The  faith  in  a  righteous  and  loving  God, 
and  in  a  happy  immortality  for  His  faithful  servants, 
pervades  the  Gathas,  and  it    is    Zarathustra's  glory 
to  have  taught  these  truths  (which  constitute  ethical 
monotheism)  when  probably  the  children  of  Israel  had 
at  most  taken  the  first  steps  towards  them.     Zara- 
thustra has  also  what  Pindar  and  ^schylus  lacked — 
the  glory  reflected  upon  the  founder  of  a  Church  ;  and 

'  B.L.,  P.  395- 


THE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  PSALMISTS.  163 


one  may  fairly  assert  that,  had  there  been  in  Iran  a 
succession  of  spiritual  prophets  like  Zarathustra,  the 
chief  factor  in  the  religion  of  the  future  might  have 
been  not  Semitic,  but  Aryan.  This  indeed  was  not 
the  will  of  Providence.  But  a  compensation  was, 
as  I  have  sought  to  make  probable,  granted  to  the 
Zoroastrian  Church,  viz.  that  Israel  should  be  helped 
directly  or  indirectly  in  the  solution  of  its  religious 
problems  by  the  stimulus  of  Persian  ideas.  In  its 
conception  of  God  and  of  morality,  there  was  much 
harmony  between  the  religions  of  Jehovah  and  of 
Mazda,  and  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  the  later  Jewish 
faith  did  not  owe  something  to  the  more  advanced 
Zoroastrian  religion.  It  will  follow  that  if,  as  may 
reasonably  be  held,  a  considerable  group  of  psalms 
belongs  to  the  late  Persian  period,  some  of  these  may 
not  impossibly  reveal  traces  of  the  faith  in  immor- 
tality. And  even  apart  from  this,  we  have  grounds 
for  venerating  Zarathustra  as  an  inspired  prophet  and 
poet,  second  to  none  in  fervour  and  in  originality. 

All  this  is  true,  and  needs  to  be  pressed  upon  the 
Christian  public.  Israel  was  the  predestined  leader 
of  religious  progress  precisely  because  it  developed  so 
slowly  and  so  safely.  Its  great  collection  of  sacred 
songs  has  become  classical,  precisely  because  it  has 
not  chronological  originality.  But  now  I  must  in 
conclusion  emphasize  those  points  which  constitute 


1 64         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


the  true  originality  and  supreme  inspiration  of  the 
Psalter.  Not  only  in  its  expressive  power,  but,  still 
more,  in  the  combined  purity,  richness,  and  spiritu- 
ality of  its  ideas  it  takes  the  first  rank.  Those  ideas 
may  have  a  history,  and  teachers  both  within  and 
without  Israel  may  have  contributed  to  their  develop- 
ment But  God  guided  that  history  and  that 
development,  that  in  the  end  His  true  Israel  might 
obtain  universal  forms  for  expressing  those  spiritual 
instincts  '  in  the  abiding  of  which  is  the  abiding  of 
spiritual  life,  and  upon  the  experiences  of  which  all 
spiritual  knowledge  is  built  up.'  Come  then,  gentle 
reader,  study  the  psalms  with  me  by  the  light  of  a 
free  but  devout  criticism,  and  help  the  Church  to  gain 
(or,  to  regain)  a  fuller  and  a  deeper  and  a  more  his- 
torical doctrine  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures. 

On  the  relations  between  Zoroastrianism  and  Judaism,  see  Chantepie 
de  la  Saussaye,  Manual  of  the  Science  of  Religion  (Lond.,  1891); 
Cheyne,  The  Origin  and  Religious  Contents  of  the  Psalter  (1891),  pp. 
271-272,  394-425,  433  &c.  ;  also  '  Possible  Zoroastrian  Influences  on 
the  Religion  of  Israel,'  in  the  Expository  Times,  June,  July,  and  Aug. 
1891,  and  reply  to  Mr.  Gladstone,  Nineteenth  Century,  Dec.  1891. 
On  the  Gathas,  see  Zendavesta,  vol.  iii.  by  Mills  (in  '  Sacred  Books  of 
the  East'),  and  de  Harlez's  French  version  (1881) ;  cf.  also  the  re- 
ferences in  my  Origin  of  the  Psalter,  pp.  434-437.  For  a  vivid 
picture  of  Zarathustra  himself,  see  Ragozin,  Media  ('  Story  of  the 
Nations '),  and  especially  Geldner's  art.  '  Zoroaster '  in  Encycl. 
Britannica.  The  scepticism  of  some  writers  does  scant  justice  to 
the  work  of  living  critics. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PSALM   LI. 
(Introd.  to  Pss.  xxxii.  and  li.) 

PSS.  xxxii.  and  li.,  according  to  the  traditional  theory, 
belong  to  the  same  period  in  David's  life.  The  latter 
was  spoken,  it  is  thought,  when  David  had  gone 
home  to  his  house  and  thought  over  what  Nathan 
had  said  to  him  and  he  to  Nathan.  It  was  not 
enough  to  know  that  '  Jehovah  had  put  away '  this 
last  great  sin  of  his,  and  that  he  should  not  himself 
die  (2  Sam.  xii.  13).  The  forgiveness  which  he 
needed  was  regeneration,  having  truth  in  the  inward 
parts,  and  knowing  wisdom  secretly.1  And  when 
peace  began  to  return  to  David's  troubled  breast,  he 
at  once  entered  on  the  work  which  he  had  vowed  to 
undertake — that  of  '  teaching  transgressors  the  ways 
of  God.'  This  is  recorded,  it  is  supposed,  in  Ps. 
xxxii.  David  first  describes  his  own  bitter-sweet 

1  Maurice,  Prophets  and  Kings,  p.  64. 


166          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

\ 

experiences.      '  The    prophet  Nathan  [had  come]  at 

the  appointed  moment  to  tell  him  in  clear  words  .  .  . 
that  which  he  had  been  hearing  in  muttered  accents 
within  his  heart  long  before.' J  From  this  he  then 
draws  a  moral  for  '  every  one  that  has  duteous  and 
practical  love  to  God.'  Next,  he  recites  a  word  which 
has  been  put  in  his  mouth  by  his  divine  Teacher,  that  he 
may  by  it  teach  others.  Man  is  no  better  than  a  beast 
if  he  does  not  obey  the  sweet  guidance  of  Jehovah's 
eye.  But,  so  far  as  this  picture  is  based  on  David's 
story,  it  is  historically  and  psychologically  wrong. 
David  could  not  have  had  these  ideas.  Orelli  praises 
David  in  that  so  common  a  sin  of  Oriental  despots 
'  gave  such  a  shock  to  his  conscience  that  he  expressed 
his  penitence  as  no  saint  has  ever  done.' 2  David  is 
therefore  the  spiritual  equal  of  St.  Paul  or  St. 
Augustine.  Can  this  be?  Read  2  Sam.  xii.,  and 
judge.  David's  conscience  was  fast  asleep  till  Nathan 
came  to  him.  He  needed  a  childlike  story  to  rouse 
him  ;  does  the  author  of  either  psalm  write  as  if  he 
had  required  this  ?  Ps.  xxxii.  is  at  any  rate  not 
Davidic ;  nothing  in  it  can  even  plausibly  be  ex- 
plained by  2  Sam.  xii.  And  as  to  Ps.  li.,  let  the 
reader  candidly  weigh  the  exegesis  of  my  sermon. 
It  is  misplaced  moderation  to  say  that  any  part  of  this 

1  Maurice,  Prophets  and  Kings,  p.  63. 

2  Art.  '  David,'  in  Herzog-Plitt's  Encyclopedia,  iii.  519. 


PSALM  LI.  167 

psalm  requires  or  even  favours  an  individualizing 
reference.  When  were  the  psalms  written  ?  If,  as  Dr. 
Driver  thinks  and  (in  1881)  Dr.  Robertson  Smith 
thought,  vv.  1 8  and  19  belong  to  the  original  psalm, 
then  the  psalm  must  be  post-Exilic,  the  reference 
being  not  to  the  return  from  Babylon,  but  to  the  re- 
building of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  (cf.  Ps.  cii.  13,  14, 
cxlvii.  2).  But  even  if  this  is  not  the  case  (see  p.  213), 
there  are  two  strong  reasons  for  a  post-Exilic  date, 
viz.  i.  the  acquaintance  of  the  author  with  Isa.  xl.- 
Ixvi.,  and  2.  the  expression  '  Cast  me  not  away  from 
thy  presence,'  which  means  primarily  (see  p.  201), 
'  Cast  me  not  away  from  thy  land.'  On  the  whole 
subject,  comp.  B.L.,  pp.  161-2,  174-5,  235-6,  248 
note  /(/£,  473  (against  Halevy). 

Ps.  li.  i. — Have  pity  upon  me,  O  God,  according  to  tJiy 

lovingkindness  ; 
According  to  the  multitude  of  -thy  mercies 

wipe  out  my  transgressions. 

I  propose  to  devote  three  studies  to  the  beautiful 
5  ist  psalm,  which  can  hardly  be  appreciated  duly  as 
long  as  it  is  ascribed  to  David.  Even  a  Mohammedan 
theologian  *  feels  in  some  dim  way  the  impropriety  of 
such  a  combination  as  the  authorship  of  the  5ist 

1  La perle precieuse  de  Ghazdli  (traite  d'eschatologie  niusulniane),  par 
ucien  Gautier,  pp.  63-64.     Cf.  also  Koran,  xxxviii.  20-24. 


1 68         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

psalm  and  the  murder  of  Uriah.  It  is  in  an  account 
of  the  day  of  judgment.  The  dead,  both  great  and 
small,  were  gathered  together  at  the  bar  of  divine 
justice.  At  last  the  cry  was  heard,  '  David  ! ' — and 
David  came  trembling  like  a  leaf  under  a  violent 
wind  ;  his  knees  knocked  together,  and  pale  was  his 
countenance.  The  Most  High  said  to  him,  '  David  ! 
Gabriel  saith  that  he  placed  the  Psalter  in  thy  hands. 
Canst  thou  bear  witness  that  he  gave  it  to  thee '  ? 
And  David  answered,  '  Yea,  Lord.'  And  God  said, 
'  Return  into  thy  flesh,  and  read  that  which  was  re- 
vealed to  thee.'  Now  David  had  the  most  beautiful 
voice  of  all  the  sons  of  men.  But,  lo'!  the  man  who 
was  killed  before  the  ark  of  the  covenant  heard  the 
sound  of  David's  voice.  He  rushed  into  the  crowd, 
and  came,  and  seized  David,  and  said,  '  Was  it  the 
Psalter  which  moved  thee  to  do  me  a  grievous 
wrong?'  Upon  this  God  turned  to  David,  and  said, 
'  Is  that  true  which  he  hath  said  ?  '  '  Yea,  Lord,  it 
is  true,'  he  answered,  hanging  his  head  with  shame, 
but  hoping  in  God's  sure  promises  of  pardon  to  the 
penitent.  Then  said  God  to  David, '  Surely  I  pardon 
thee  ;  return,  and  finish  the  reading  of  the  Psalter.' 
We  see  the  point  of  this  story.  David  could  not  read 
the  5 1st  psalm,  because  he  felt  the  strong  inconsistency 
between  its  spiritual  language  and  the  grossness  of 
his  own  sin. 


PSALM  LI.  169 

It  would  be  futile  to  ask,  Who  wrote  the  5ist 
psalm,  if  David  did  not  ?  There  were  many  sweet 
psalmists  of  Israel,  but  they  have  not  cared  to  per- 
petuate their  names,  for  their  inspiration  was  no 
merely  personal  gift :  it  came  through  the  Church. 
Their  individual  hopes  (if  such  they  had)  they 
rejoiced  to  lay  at  the  feet  of  that  Israel  to  whom 
they  owed  their  all,  and  who  was  to  them  like  a 
personal  friend.  It  was  in  the  temple  probably  that 
the  impulse  to  write  seized  them  ;  in  the  temple  that 
those  prophetic  assurances  came  which  are  the  heart 
of  the  psalms.  How  should  they  have  dreamed  of 
ascribing  to  themselves  that  which  came  through  the 
Church  from  God  ?  Let  us  rather  inquire,  What 
does  the  psalm  itself  tell  us  as  to  the  period  of  its 
composition  ?  The  period — this  alone  it  is  essential 
to  know — not  the  precise  year,  or  even  the  precise 
decade,  any  more  than  the  name  of  the  writer.  And 
if  it  be  asked  why  it  is  essential  to  know  this,  I  reply, 
Because  if  we  choose  a  wrong  period — a  period  of 
rest  and  tranquillity,  or  even  of  only  moderate  unrest 
and  unhappiness,  we  may  easily  give  a  false  interpre- 
tation to  some  difficult  words.  One  thing  is  clear  at 
the  outset — viz.  that  when  the  last  two  verses  were 
written,  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  had  been  thrown 
down,  and  the  sacrificial  offerings  interrupted.  This 
points  either  to  the  Exile,  or,  since  nothing  is  said  of 


170         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

returning  from  Babylon,  to  some  specially  gloomy 
period  after  the  Return  from  Babylon,  such  as  that 
which  so  deeply  moved  the  pious  heart  of  Nehemiah. 
But  as  many  critics  have  supposed  that  these  verses 
were  added  later,  I  shall  lay  more  stress  on  the  evi- 
dence supplied  by  verses  1-17. 

The  ideas  which  lie  at  the  root  of  the  psalm  are 
those  of  the  Books  of  Jeremiah  and  the  Second 
Isaiah  (Isa.  xl.-lxvi.),  the  authors  of  which  lived  long 
after  the  time  of  David.  We  shall  see  this  very 
clearly  in  the  course  of  our  study  of  the  psalm.  Nor 
can  it  be  questioned  that  those  for  whom  the  psalm 
was  written  regarded  the  Mosaic  Law  as  the  rule 
of  their  conduct.  Before  the  Exile  the  Law  was  very 
little  known  and  very  little  observed.  But  there  is  a 
sense  of  spiritual  outlawry  throughout  the  5ist  psalm 
such  as  only  the  Law  could  create.  This  entirely  suits 
the  period  which  opens  with  the  return  from  Exile.  The 
Jews  who  came  home  from  Babylon  had  two  '  school- 
masters '  (to  apply  St.  Paul's  phrase)  to  bring  them, 
not  indeed  to  Christ,  but  to  an  almost  Christian  view 
of  God.  These  schoolmasters  were — a  long  series  of 
afflictions  which  only  began  with  the  Exile,  and  the 
Law  which  became  fully  established  under  Ezra.  The 
Law  taught  them  how  manifold  and  searching  were 
the  requirements  of  divine  righteousness,  and  afflic- 
tion led  them  to  examine  their  own  ways  more  and 


PSALM  LI.  171 

more  carefully,  to  find  out  what  might  be  displeasing 
to  God.  They  were  no  longer  satisfied  with  an 
external  or  negative  view  of  morality.  An  'inner 
world  of  sin '  revealed  itself  to  their  view.  Not  only 
sins  of  word  and  of  deed,  but  sins  of  thought,1 
burdened  their  conscience ;  and  not  only  conscious 
but  unconscious  sins  2  give  occasion  to  pressing  sup- 
plications for  forgiveness.  What  an  immeasureable 
advance  beyond  'the  spiritual  condition  of  the  age  of 
David  ! 

Another  indication  of  the  period  to  which  the  5 1st 
and  many  other  psalms  belong  is  the  conception  of 
Israel  as  not  only  a  people  but  a  Church  ; — Israel 
has  become,  as  I  called  it  just  now,  a  Church-nation. 
Before  the  Exile,  it  was  only  the  prophets  and  their 
disciples  who  had  a  sense  of  their  divine  mission  to 
proclaim  the  true  God ;  after  the  Exile,  it  was  the 
entire  nation  in  its  corporate  capacity.  Those  psalms 
which  most  clearly  express  the  conception  of  the 
Church  are  therefore  virtually,  if  not  actually,  works 
of  the  later  period.  Their  authors  are  either,  roughly 
speaking,  contemporaries  of  Ezra,  or  (if  David  and 
his  companions)  the  subjects  of  a  prophetic  ecstasy 
which  transports  them  (to  me  an  inconceivable  idea) 
to  a  far  distant  century.  Each  earnest  Bible-student 
must  choose  between  these  two  views,  if  he  wishes  to 

1  See  Ps.  xvii.  3,  4.  2  Ps.  xix.  13,  Ixix.  5,  xc.  8. 


172         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

read  the  psalms  intelligently.  And  if  you  ask  more 
particularly,  What  kind  of  idea  of  the  Church  did 
the  psalmists  possess? — I  reply  that  this  must  be 
gathered  from  the  Book  of  the  Second  Isaiah  (Isa. 
xl.,  &c.),  which  was  the  treasure  committed  to  the 
Jews  at  the  close  of  the  Exile  for  their  comfort  and 
instruction.  The  central  figure  of  that  unique  pro- 
phetic Scripture  is  a  personage  called  'the  Servant 
of  Jehovah '  (or,  the  Lord).  And  putting  aside  for 
the  moment  the  wonderful  53rd  chapter  of  Isaiah 
there  is  no  doubt  that  as  a  rule  the  '  Servant  of 
Jehovah '  is,  to  use  a  popular  mode  of  expression,  the 
Jewish  Church.  The  conception  of  the,  as  it  were, 
personal  life  of  the  Church  is  perhaps  a  difficult  one 
for  us  to  grasp,  but  it  is  (as  we  shall  see  later  on) 
essentially  Jewish,1  and  it  is  most  emphatically  put 
forward  again  and  again  in  the  New  Testament.  It 
is  also  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  teaching  of  some 
of  the  greatest  .writers,  such  as  St.  Augustine  and 
Friedrich  Schlegel,  who  tell  us  how  the  development 
of  the  human  race  as  a  whole  presents  the  same 
features  and  follows  the  same  stages  as  that  of  an 
individual  between  infancy  and  manhood.  What, 
then,  does  the  conception  mean  in  the  Scriptures  ? 
Not  always  quite  the  same  thing,  at  least  in  our 
earliest  authority,  the  Book  of  the  Second  Isaiah. 

1  See  pp.  190-191,  and  cf.  Eph.  iv.  13-16. 


PSALM  LI.  173 

In  Isa.  xlii.  18-20  we  read,  '  Hear,  ye  deaf ;  and  look, 
ye  blind,  tJiat  ye  may  see.  Who  is  blind,  but  my 
servant  ?  or  deaf,  as  my  messenger  that  I  send  ?  .  .  , 
Tlwu  seest  many  tilings,  but  tJion  observest  not ;  his 
ears  are  open,  biit  he  heareth  not !  '  And  in  Isa.  xliii.  8 
Jehovah  says,  '  Bring  forth  the  blind  people  that  have 
eyes,  and  the  deaf  that  have  ears'  i.e.  '  that  have  eyes, 
and  yet  see  not,  that  have  ears,  and  yet  hear  not,  the 
teaching  of  God  in  history  and  revelation.'  In  these 
passages,  the  Jewish  Church  is  described,  not  as  a 
mere  collection  of  individuals,  but  as  the  organic 
unity  to  which  the  individuals  belong,  and  upon 
which  they  depend. 

In  so  far  the  prophet's  description  is  in  harmony 
with  every  statement  respecting  the  Church  upon 
earth  which  we  find  elsewhere.  But  in  one  impor- 
tant respect  it  differs  from  other  passages,  viz.  that 
it  depicts  the  Church  in  colours  borrowed  from  the 
majority  of  its  existing  members.  Turn  over  a  few 
pages,  and  you  will  find  very  different  language.  In 
Isa.  xlix.  1-4  we  read, — 

'  Listen,  0  isles,  unto  me  ;  and  hearken,  ye  peoples,  from  far.  Je- 
hovah hath  called  me  from  the  womb ;  from  the  bowels  of  my  mother 
hath  he  made  mention  of  my  name  ;  and  he  hath  made,  my  mouth  like  a 
sharp  sword,  in  the  shadow  of  his  hand  hath  he  hid  me  ;  and  he  hath 
made  me  a  polished  shaft,  in  his  quiver  hath  he  kept  me  close  ;  and  he 
said  unto  me,  T/tou  art  my  servant ;  Israel,  in  whom  I  will  be  glorified. 
But  I  said,  1  have  laboured  in  vain,  I  have  spent  my  strength  for 
nought  and  vanity  ;  yet  verily  my  judgment  is  with  Jehovah,  and  my 
recompence  with  my  God.1 


174         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

Here  it  is  obvious  that  the  colours  in  which  the 
organic  unity  called  the  Church  is  depicted  are  bor- 
rowed not  from  the  majority  but  from  the  minority 
of  its  existing  members,  and  it  will  also  be  obvious 
from  the  two  following  verses  that  even  these  are 
idealized  ;  for  we  read, — 

'  And  now  saith  Jehovah  that  formed  me  from  the  womb  to  be  his 
servant,  to  bring  Jacob  again  to  him,  and  that  Israel  be  gathered  unto 
him,  .  .  .  it  is  too  light  a  thing  that  thou  shouldest  be  my  servant  to 
raise  tip  the  tribes  of  Jacob,  and  to  restore  the  preserved  of Israel ;  I  will 
also  give  theefor  a  light  to  the  nations,  that  thou  mayest  be  my  salvation 
unto  the  end  of  the  earth? 

Here  the  Servant  of  Jehovah,  that  is,  the  per- 
sonalized Church,  is  described  partly  in  accordance 
with  the  character  of  the  best  living  Israelites — those 
who  are  conscious  of  their  high  calling  to  proclaim 
the  one  true  God,  and  partly  in  accordance  with  an 
ideal  of  the  Church  existing  in  the  mind  of  God. 
There  are  some  persons,  I  know,  who  think  that  to 
speak  of  a  thing  as  ideal  is  to  'deny  its  objective 
existence.  How  little  they  sympathize  with  the 
prophets  and  apostles !  St.  Paul  has  no  doubt  that 
there  is  an  ideal  Jerusalem  which,  though  invisible,  is 
before  God  not  less  real  than  the  visible,  earthly 
Jerusalem.  'Jerusalem  which  is  above',  he  says,  '  is 
free,  which  is  the  mother  of  us  all' *  And  the  great 
prophet,  whom  we  call  the  Second  Isaiah,  believes  in 

1  Gal.  iv.  26. 


PSALM  LI,  175 


an  ideal  Zion  and  an  ideal  Israel,  and  holds  it  to  be 
the  business  of  all  faithful  Israelites  to  work  together 
with  God  in  making  these  ideal  forms  objective  to 
human  sight. 

And  now,  I  hope,  we  can  see  our  way  to  a  third 
interpretation  of  the  '  Servant  of  Jehovah.'  It  is  one 
that  could  not,  so  far  as  we  know,  have  been  under- 
stood by  the  ancient  prophet,  but  for  all  that  it  is 
a  natural  development  out  of  his  theology.  The 
Servant  of  Jehovah,  the  true  Israel,  in  whom,  as  the 
prophet  says,  God  will  be  glorified,  is  Jesus  Christ. 
The  ideal,  being  heavenly  and  divine,  is  therefore 
most  real ;  is  therefore  in  the  fulness  of  time  bound 
to  become  the  actual.  And  with  equal  truth  it  may 
be  said  that  the  Scripture  is  bound  to  be  fulfilled,  i.e. 
to  have  its  latent  fulness  of  meaning  brought  out. 
Now  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  Scriptures  says  that 
Israel  '  Jehovah's  Servant '  shall  redeem,  not  only 
those  unworthy  Israelites  who  form  the  majority  of  the 
nation,  but  also  the  Gentile  peoples.  But  could  the 
noblest  members  of  the  nation  do  this  ?  Could  even 
Jeremiah  or  the  Second  Isaiah?  Eminent  indeed 
these  great  prophets  are  ;  they  rise  like  mountain- 
peaks  above  their  brethren.  But  even  they,  being 
chiefly  the  spokesmen  of  Another,  were  incapable  of 
performing  the  great  things  which  they  announced. 
As  heralds,  their  voice  was  clear  and  soul-stirring. 


i;6         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


They  declared  that  in  the  near  future  God  would 
write  His  laws  on  the  hearts  of  Israel,  and  that  then 
the  people  should  be  '  all  righteous,'  because  '  all 
taught  of  God.' *  But  how  could  either  of  them 
undertake  to  do  this  himself?  Why,  as  our  lay- 
theologian  De  Quincey  says,  '  No  exhibition  of  blank 
power — not  the  arresting  of  the  earth's  motion — not 
,  the  calling  back  of  the  dead  unto  life  can  approach 
J  in  grandeur  to  this  miracle,  the  inconceivable  mystery 
of  having  written  and  sculptured  upon  the  tablets  of 
man's  heart  a  new  code  of  moral  distractions.'  So 
far  De  Quincey.  Now  Jesus  Christ  performed  and, 
as  a  Christian  can  rejoicingly  say,  daily  performs  this 
miracle.  Jesus  Christ  therefore  is  the  true  Servant  of 
Jehovah,  the  true  Israel.  Not  Jacob  but  Jesus  is  the 
true  head  of  God's  people  ;  whatever  His  people  do, 
Jesus  does  ;  for  He  and  they  are  one.  Not  Israel 
but  Christ  Jesus  is  the  vine,  and  His  disciples  are 
the  branches. 

Here  is  indeed  a  glorious  conception  ;  here  is  the 
true  theory  of  the  Catholic  Church,  which  all  living 
Christians,  whatever  their  differences  of  expression, 
in  their  heart  of  hearts  accept,  the  theory,  I  will  add, 
which,  with  the  necessary  limitations,  will  alone  enable 
us  to  do  justice  to  the  phenomena  of  the  Psalter. 
And  how  shall  we  proceed  in  applying  it  to  what  I 

1  Isa.  Ix.  21,  liv.  13. 


PSALM  LI.  177 

may  call  the  Church-psalms  ?  Granting  that  in  these 
the  '  Servant  of  Jehovah '  is  the  speaker,  which  of 
the  three  interpretations  of  the  phrase  is  most 
readily  applicable  ?  The  first  is  of  course  every- 
where unsuitable  ;  the  deaf  and  blind  '  Servant  of 
Jehovah  '  could  not  utter  his  voice  in  a  psalm.  Nor 
can  the  third  have  been  anywhere  intended  by  the 
psalmist  himself;  this  were  against  the  analogy  of 
revelation  elsewhere.  All  that  we  can  say  is  that  in 
one  psalm  (the  22nd)  the  idealization  of  the  '  Servant 
of  Jehovah'  is  so  complete  that  in  all  essential  points 
it  is  worthy  to  be  an  utterance  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to 
whom  we  Christians  cannot  but  loyally  apply  it.  In 
the  other  Church-psalms  the  dark  shadows  of  the 
national  life  are  more  or  less  prominent,  and  especially 
in  the  so-called  penitential  psalms,  the  language  of 
which  is  not  to  be  explained  away  as  saintly  exaggera- 
tion. Still  even  here  it  is  evident  that  the  '  blind ' 
and  'deaf'  spoken  of  in  Isa.  xlii.  18,  19  have 
awaked  to  a  sense  of  their  condition,  and  are 
hastening  to  prepare  themselves  for  '  the  acceptable 
year  of  the  Lord.' 

Now  the  greatest  of  the  penitential  psalms  is  un- 
doubtedly the  5  ist,  but  the  Book  of  the  Second 
Isaiah  contains  a  long  penitential  meditation  which 
appears  to  have  been  composed  for  church-use,  and 
well  deserves  to  be  placed  by  the  side  of  our  psalm. 

13 


1 78         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSAL7ER. 

It  extends  from  Isa.  Ixiii.  7  to  Ixiv.  12,  and  contains 
these  remarkable  words, — 
And  we  are  all  become  as  one  that  is  unclean, 
And  all  our  righteousnesses  are  as  a  polluted  garment : 
And  we  all  do  fade  as  a  leaf, 
And  our  iniquities,  like  the  wind,  take  us  away.1 
There  is   a    great    range  of  thought   in    the   psalm. 
The  contrast  of  Israel's  past  and   present   is    most 
powerfully  exhibited,  and  its  actual  depressed  state 
is  attributed  to  its  own  transgressions  against  Jeho- 
vah.    The  Church  is  the  speaker,  and  her  only  hope 
is  in  the  tender  mercy  of  Him  who  is  the  true  father 
of  Israel.     Now  let  us  turn  to  the  5ist  psalm  ;  several 
parts  of  it  receive  fresh  light  from  the  passage    to 
which  I  have  just  referred. 

Have  pity  upon  me,  O  God,  according  to  tJiy  loving- 
kindness. 

Notice  here  at  once  that  this  penitential  psalm  is  a 
[great  hymn  to  the  divine  mercy.  It  is  the  vivid 
sense  of  God's  mercifulness  that  inspires  the  petition 
— '  Have  pity  upon  me,  O  God.'  But  it  is  not 
merely  mercy  or  compassion  for  which  the  psalmist, 
in  the  name  of  the  Church,  pleads  ;  it  is  lovingkind- 
ness.  Now  '  lovingkindness '  in  the  Old  Testament 
means  specially  the  covenant-love  of  Jehovah  to  His 
people.  God  is  not  merely  man  s  sovereign  lord,  but 

1  Isa.  Ixiv.  6.     (This  section  is,  however,  probably  post-Exilic.) 


PS  A  LAI  LI.  179 

the  head  of  a  community  bound  together  by  mutual 
love.  And  so  in  that  confession  of  the  Church  in  the 
Second  Isaiah  we  read,  '  Surely  tJiou  art  our  father, 
tJiougJi  A  braJiam  knoiveth  us  not  .  .  .  t/wu,  O  Jehovah, 
art  our  father  ;  our  redeemer  is  tJiy  name  from  of  old?  x 
This  is  a  deep  and  tender  view  of  the  nature  of  God. 
He  is  not  as  yet  fully  known  as  the  father  of  the 
individual,  but  He  is  the  head  of  a  community,  nay,  of 
a  family,  and  can  no  more  disavow  the  love  which 
binds  Him  to  the  people  with  which  He  is  in  covenant 
than  He  can  cease  to  be  God.  Just  so  we  read  in 
Ps.  xxv.  6,  '  Remember  tliy  compassions,  O  Jeliovah, 
and  tJiy  lovingkindnesses,  for  tJiey  have  been  from  of 
old'  ;  that  is,  ever  since  Israel  was  born  as  a  nation, 
God  has  graciously  fulfilled  His  covenant  promises 
to  it,  and  how  should  God  be  unfaithful  to  Himself? 
The  psalmist  continues,  'According  to  the  multitude 
of  thy  compassions  blot  out  my  transgressions.  Wash 
me  throughly  from  mine  iniquity,  and  cleanse  me  • 
from  my  sin'  Each  line,  almost  each  word,  has  a 
deep  thought.  One  of  those  covenant-promises,  to 
which  the  Church  makes  its  first  appeal,  is  this — '/, 
even  1,  am  he  that  blotteth  out  thy  transgressions  for 
mine  own  sake,  and  will  not  remember  thy  sin.'2  These 
words  are  in  the  psalmist's  favourite  prophetic  Scrip- 
ture— the  Book  of  the  Second  Isaiah.  They  give  us 
1  Isa.  Ixiii.  16.  2  Isa.  xliii.  25  ;  cf.  xliv.  22. 


i8o         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  7^HE  PSALTER. 


a  thrilling  idea  of  the  completeness  of  the  covenant- 
provision  for  sin — '  to  forgive '  with  God  is  '  to  forget.' 
And  the  opening  words  of  verse  2,  strictly  rendered, 
are — '  Wash  me  often  and  wash  me  throughly  as  a 
fuller  doth.'  Is  not  this  suggestive  ?  First,  of  the 
condition  of  the  Church,  i.e.  of  the  human  race,  by 
nature.  Sin  is  so  deeply  ingrained  in  mankind  that 
as  Jehovah  says  by  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  *  TJiongJi 
tJwu  wash  tkee  with  nitre \  and  take  thee  much  soap,  yet 
thine  iniquity  is  marked  before  me.'  J  And  the  weak- 
ness of  many  parts  of  the  prophecies  is  simply  this — 
that  the  prophets  do  not  always  tell  us  how  this  sad 
defect  of  nature  is  to  be  remedied.  'O  Jerusalem* 
says  Jeremiah,  '  was/i  thine  heart  from  wickedness  that 
tJwu  mayest  be  saved'  2  How  pathetic  these  limita- 
tions of  holy  men  are  !  Later  on,  Jeremiah  knew  by 
revelation  that  the  days  were  coming  when  God 
Himself  would  '  throughly  wash '  His  people,  and 
'  write  His  law  in  their  heart.'  And  so  our  psalmist, 
who  lived  after  the  time  of  Jeremiah,  when  the  Jewish 
nation  had  become  a  Church,  and  a  foretaste  of 
evangelical  blessings  was  already  enjoyed,  could  offer 
these  words  for  the  use  of  the  Church,  '  Wash  me  (i.e. 
we  thy  Church)  often  and  throughly  from  mine 
iniquity,  and  cleanse  me  (pronounce  me  clean,  as  the 
priest  pronounces  the  recovered  leper  to  be  clean) 

1  Jer.  ii.  22.  3  Jer.  iv.  14  ;  cf.  my  fereniiali,  p.  152. 


PSALM  LI.  181 

from  my  deeply-dyed  sin.'  Nor  can  I  help  connecting 
these  words  with  a  later  verse  of  the  same  psalm, 
'  Purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be  clean  ;  wash 
me  throughly,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow. 
Myself  I  cannot  purify,  any  more  than  the  Ethiopian 
can  change  his  skin,  or  the  leopard  his  spots.1  Be 
thou  my  priest  ;  declare  me  pure,  like  the  priest  with 


the  ceremonial  hyssop,  and  then  shall   I  be  whiter 
than  snow.'    And  now  for  the  second  plea  for  pardon, 

For  I  acknowledge  my  transgressions \ 

A  nd  my  sin  is  ever  before  me? 

The  Church-nation  here  pleads  to  be  forgiven  on 
the  ground  of  its  sincere  confession.  There  was  a 
notion  prevalent  among  most  ancient  peoples  and 
not  least  in  Israel  that  the  divine  forgiveness  could  be 
purchased  by  a  costly  sacrifice.  This  has  now  so  far 
disappeared  from  Israel  that  a  temple-poet  can  venture 
to  disregard  it  altogether.  The  efforts  of  the  old  pro- 
phets, especially  Jeremiah  (xxxi.  34),  have  been  almost 
crowned  with  success.  No  priest  is  needed  by  suchf 
believers  as  the  psalmist  to  specify  the  particular! 
sacrifice  which  will  atone  for  sin;  for  all  men  may 
have  a  direct  knowledge  of  God,  and  sacrifices  are,  to 
those  who  can  receive  the  saying,  but  the  holiest  of 
symbolic  forms.  Or  rather,  the  true  sacrifice  is — the 
hearty  confession  of  sin. 

1  Jer.  xiii.  23.  2  Cf.  Isa.  lix.  12$,' 


1 82         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


We  have  now,  I  hope,  caught  a  glimpse  of  what 
was  in  the  psalmist's  mind  when  he  wrote  the  first 
three  verses  of  the  5ist  psalm.  To  repeat  them  in 
his  sense  and  with  his  degree  of  fervour  would  no 
doubt  be  difficult.  First  of  all,  is  England  one,  as 
Israel  after  the  Return  was  one  ?  Is  it  not  the  fact 
that  England  consists,  religiously,  not  of  one  great 
Church  but  of  many  churches  and  sects,  and  socially, 
not  of  one  nation,-  but  of  two — the  rich  and  the  poor  ? 
One  may  admit  that  the  forces  of  union  are  stronger 
than  those  of  disunion,  and  yet  apprehend  that  it  may 
require  fresh  national  troubles  to  bring  the  disunited 
ones  more  completely  together.  And  yet  the  5ist 
psalm  has  an  application  to  ourselves.  Every  news- 
paper that  we  read  brings  to  our  notice  some  sad 
calamity  caused  by  a  violation  of  some  divine  law, 
and  such  calamities  ought  in  some  degree  to  be  felt 
and  repented  of  by  all  Christian  people,  for  we  are 
members  one  of  another.  In  this  spirit  we  should  any 
and  every  day  be  ready  to  repeat,  in  the  name  of  the 
Church,  not  only  that  sweet  sentence  '  The  Lord  is 
my  shepherd,'  x  but  the  sad  but  far  from  despairing 
words,  '  Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  after  thy  great 


goodness.' 


1  Cf.  Ps,  Ixxviii.  51,  Ixxx.  I,  Mic.  vii.  14. 


CHAPTER    IV. 
PSALM  LI.  (continued). 

Ps.  li.  4. — Against  thee,  thee  only,  have  I  sinned, 

And  done  that  which  is  evil  in  thy  sight : 
That  thon  mightest  be  justified  when  thou 

speakest, 

And  be  clear  when  tJioujudgest. 

THE  5  ist  psalm  is  a  penitential  prayer  of  the  Church- 
nation  of  Israel,  groaning  under  the  twofold  sense 
of  sin  and  punishment.  By  a  pathetic  illusion,  the 
ancient  Israelites  were  prone  to  regard  all  misfortunes 
as  penal  ;  they  were  unable  to  realize  that  the  sins  of 
Israel  could  be  forgiven  until  its  temporal  afflictions 
had  been  removed.  Our  psalmist  is  no  doubt  feeling 
his  way,  not  without  a  higher  guidance,  to  a  nobler 
view,  but  his  aspirations  are  still  somewhat  checked 
by  the  same  antiquated  orthodoxy  which  so  much  I/ 
troubled  the  afflicted  Job.  The  salvation  for  which 
he  prayed  (see  ver.  14)  was  certainly  not  merely  a 


184         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


spiritual  one,  and  the  sign  of  God's  restored  favour 
was  not  merely  inward  but  outward  prosperity.  But 
notice  here  that  adaptation  of  means  to  ends  in  which 
Providence  delights — the  words  which  the  psalmist 
has  chosen  are  so  wide  and  comprehensive  that  we 
can  perfectly  well  apply  them  to  our  own  case  when 
the  Holy  Spirit  convinces  us  of  sin  without  subjecting 
us  to  the  fire  of  temporal  adversity.  And  to  the 
honour  of  the  psalmist  it  must  be  said  that  the 
thought  of  Israel's  punishment  is  not  so  painfully 
present  to  him  as  that  of  Israel's  sin.  That  he  and 
his  have  offended  against  the  gracious  heavenly 
Father — this  it  is  which  chiefly  bows  down  his  spirit 
and  makes  life  a  burden.  He  appeals  in  the  first 
instance  to  Jehovah's  lovingkindness,  i.e.  His  covenant- 
love,  which  includes  not  merely  temporal  but  spiritual 
guidance.  Deep  as  Israel's  sinfulness  may  be, 
measured  by  the  double  standard  of  Jehovah's  Law 
and  of  the  affliction  which  is  Israel's  punishment, 
it  cannot  be  deeper  than  the  divine  lovingkindness 
and  tender  mercy.  And  in  the  second  place  the 
psalmist,  speaking  for  Israel,  appeals  to  the  frankness 
and  unreservedness  of  his  confession.  He  needed  no 
prophet  like  Nathan  to  remind  him  of  his  sin  ;  no 
parable  to  awaken  his  conscience.  He  could  have 
truthfully  used  these  beautiful  words  of  a  kindred 
psalm, — 


PSALM  LI.  185 

My  sin  I  made  known  unto  thee, 
And  mine  iniquity  I  covered  not.'1 
And    now  he  ventures  on  a  third    plea  for  pardon. 
It  is  at  first  sight  a  strange  one.     He  might  well  have 
prefaced    it  with   those  humble  words  of  Abraham, 
when  pleading  for  others,  '  Behold  now,  I  have  taken 
upon  me  to  speak  unto  the  Lord,  which  am  but  dust 
and    ashes.'2     But  we  dare  not  blame  him  for   not 
doing  so  ;  Abraham  was  not  so  severely  tried  as  these 
poor  oppressed  Israelites. 

Against  tJiee,  tJiee  only,  have  I  sinned, 
A  nd  done  that  which  is  evil  in  thy  sight : 
That  thou  mayest  be  justified  when  thou  speakest, 
And  be  clear  wJien  thou  judgest. 
Do  you  understand  these  words  ?   Luther,  to  whom 
this  psalm  was  so  dear,  found  them  the  most  difficult 
in  the  whole   poem.      David,  he   said,  cannot   have 
written  them  of  himself,  or,  if  of  himself,  not  with 
reference  to  his  recent  flagrant  offences  against  both 
God  and  man,  but  only  as  one  of  the  great  body  of 
the  saints.     And  do  you  not  agree  with  him  that  the 
ordinary  reference  of  this  verse  to  David's  confession 
of  his  sin,  after  the  parable  of  Nathan,  involves  too 
great  a  strain    upon    our  faith?     Even   if  Uriah  or 
Uriah's  children  had  forgiven  David,  the  royal  peni- 
tent, if  of  like  nature  with  cgarselves,  could  not  have 

1  Ps.  xxxii.  5.  *  Gen.  xviii.  27. 


186         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

said,  '  Against  thee,  thee  only,  have  I  sinned.'  It  may 
be  true  that  the  sting  of  sin  to  the  true  penitent  is 
that  for  a  time  it  separates  him  from  his  God.  But 
\  he  does  not  on  this  account  ignore  the  separation 
from  his  brother-man.  '  Father,  I  have  sinned  against 

(heaven  and  in  thy  sight,' said  the -prodigal  son,  and 

• 
,  ever   must   he  have  retained  a  tender  sense  of  the 

j  trouble  which  he  had  caused  to  his  father.  '  Against 
thee,  thee  only,'  could  only  be  said  by  the  Jewish 
Church  which  made  it  its  chief  concern  to  carry  out 
the  precepts  of  the  Law,  and  was  afraid  (as  we  saw 
in  chap,  iii.)  even  of  involuntary  sins.  But  how 
could  a  just  and .  generous  man,  like  David,  after 
having  fallen  into  the  triple  sin  of  treachery,  murder, 
and  adultery,  permit  such  bold  words  to  issue  from 
his  lips  ?  Nay,  verily ;  misjudge  not  so  far  the  most 
delicate  character  in  ancient  Israelitish  history.  It  is 
neither  David  nor  any  other  individual  who  speaks, 
but  the  Church -nation  in  its  corporate  capacity. 
Cruelly  oppressed  by  the  kings  of  Babylon  and 

!  Persia,1  against  whom  it  had  not  sinned,  it  bethinks 
itself  of  one  greater  than  they,  against  whom  it  is 
conscious  of  having  deeply  sinned,  and  who  has  used 
these  unjust  men  as  the  instruments  of  His  just 
anger.  'Against  thee,  thee  only,  have  I  sinned.' 

1  This  interpretation  of  '  against  thee  only '  is  given  by  Chrysostom 
and  Theodoret. 


PSALM  LI.  187 

All  the  sins  of  the  many  thousand  Israelites  are  but 
the  consequence  of  that  ingrained  sinfulness  which 
is  inherent  in  the  community  to  which  they  belong. 
The  Servant  of  Jehovah  is  ideally  but  not  actually 
perfect.  As  the  fuller  washes  clothes,  so  must  God 
throughly  and  often  wash  the  garments  of  His 
Church,  before  He  can  say,  '  Thou  art  all  fair,  my 
Bride  ;  there  is  no  spot  in  thee.' x  'Against  thee,  thee 
only.'  But  are  not  these  words  fitted  to  inspire 
alarm  rather  than  hope  ?  For  '  the  Lord's  hand  is 
not  shortened  that  it  cannot  save,  neither  his  ear 
heavy  that  it  cannot  hear  ;  but  your  iniquities  have 
separated  between  you  «and  your  God,  and  your  sins 
have  hid  his  face  from  you,  that  he  will  not  hear.'  2 
Yes  ;  but  to  whom  were  these  words  addressed  ? 
Not  to  humble  believers  who  confess  and  abhor  their 
inconstancy.  To  them  their  sins  may  be  a  sore 
burden,  but  to  the  forgiving  love  of  God  these  same 
sins  are  but  as  a  spider's  web.3  '  Against  thee  only.' 
Yes,  indeed  ;  rather  '  against  thee,'  who  art  full  of 
compassion  and  mercy,  than  against  a  fellow-servant, 
who  will  cast  me  into  prison  till  I  shall  pay  the  debt. 
'Against  thee  only.'  For  '  wJio  is  a  God  like  unto  thee, 
that  pardonetJi  iniquity,  and  passet/t  by  tJie  transgres- 

1  Song  of  Sol.,  iv.  7  (one  word  changed).    The  Song  was  interpreted 
by  the  Synagogue  of  Jehovah  and  Israel. 

2  Isa.  lix.  i,  2.  3  St.  Chrysostom. 


1 88         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

sion  of  the  remnant  of  his  heritage  ?  he  retaineth  not 
his  anger  for  ever,  because  he  deligJiteth  in  mercy!  x 

But  the  second  half  of  the  verse  remains  to  be 
studied. 

That  tJiou  mightest  be  jiistified  when  thou  speakest, 

And  be  clear  when  thon  judgest. 

Perhaps  we  are  so  used  to  these  words  that  we  do 
not  see  how  hard  they  are.  Let  us  try  to  look  a 
little  more  closely  into  them.  The  phrases  '  when 
thou  speakest'  and  'when  thou  judgest '  need  not  de- 
tain us  long.  They  can  be  explained  from  Ps.  1.,  where 
God  is  imagined  as  a  prosecutor  bringing  charges 
against  the  sinful  Church-nation,  while  heaven  and 
earth  are  rhetorically  introduced  as  witnesses  ;  and  so 
it  is  in  the  verse  now  before  us.  But  what  is  the 
meaning  of  the  words, '  that  thou  mightest  be  justified 
and  be  clear '  ?  We  often  find  them  explained  as 
equivalent  to  '  so  that  thou  art  justified  (or,  declared 
just)  and  clear.'  But  though  this  is  not  quite  impos- 
sible, the  evil  consequences  of  an  action  being  some- 
times represented,  by  a  kind  of  optical  illusion,  as 
foreseen  by  the  agent,2  it  is  harsh  in  the  extreme  to 
suppose  that  such  an  idiom  is  used  here.  Are  there 
any  parallel  passages  in  the  Old  Testament  which 
may  throw  light  upon  this  difficult  phrase?  There 

1  Mic.  vii.  1 8. 

2  See  e.g.  Isa.  xliv.  9,  and  cf.  Matt,  xxiii.  34,  35. 


PSALM  LI.  189 

are  ;  let  me  only  mention  one  which  occurs  in  that 
great  Church-confession  in  Isa.  Ixiii.  to  which  I  have 
already  referred.  Listen  to  this  strange  ejaculation, — 
'  O  Jehovah,  ivhy  dost  thou  make  us  to  err  from  thy 
zvays,  and  hardenest  our  heart,  so  as  not  to  fear  thee  ? ' T 
Terribly  strong  words  !  In  reading  them,  I  myself 
always  feel  impelled  to  lower  my  voice,  out  of  re- » 
verence  for  the  great  sorrow  which  alone  can  excuse 
them.  The  case  is  similar  to  that  of  many  passages 
in  the  Book  of  Job,  a  truly  sacred  Scripture,  and  yet  / 
not  to  be  viewed  as  a  storehouse  of  doctrine  without } 
serious  injury.  Only  that  Job  resolutely  insists  on 
his  own  innocence,  whereas  both  in  our  psalm  and  in 
the  Second  Isaiah  the  speakers  confess  that  they  have 
sinned.  But  they  add  (and  this  is  the  startling 
element  in  their  confession)  that  it  was  God's  doing 
at  least  in  part,  that  their  freedom  was  imperfect, 
being  limited  by  divine  predestination.  Will  not  a 
merciful  God  deal  more  gently  with  them  on  this 
account  ?  Yes  ;  these  are  startling  words.  But  we 
may  thank  God  for  thus  permitting  in  the  human 
records  of  revelation  so  full  and  frank  a  naturalness 
of  expression.  It  should  be  a  lesson  to  us  to  be 
always  genuine  and  true  in  our  own  approaches  to 
God.  '  Come  now,  and  let  us  reason  together,' 2  is 
the  divine  message  in  Isaiah  ;  '  Pour  out  your  heart 

1  Isa.  Ixiii.  17;  cf.  Isa.  vi.  10.  a  Isa.  i.  18. 


190         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

before  him,' *  is  the  kindred  exhortation  of  a  psalmist. 

/I '  We  are  free  to  argue  out  the  whole  mystery,  burden, 

and  anguish  of  our  experience  with  God,  and  not 

merely  in   orthodox   and   traditional  phrasing,  shut 

up  to  worship  or  adoration  alone.     Nay,  verily.     He 

loves  to  hear  our  very  own  thought  and  emotion  in 

integrity.     Measurelessly  more  precious  to  the  Lord 

/  Jesus  was   the  poor   father's  "Help  mine  unbelief" 

/    than  if  he   had   professed   inviolate  and  untouched 

faith.'  2 

Behold,  in  iniquity  was  I  brought  forth, 
And  in  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me. 
These  words   may  suggest   the   question   whether 
they   can    really  be   spoken    by   the    Church-nation, 
and  do  not  rather  necessarily  proceed  from  an  indi- 
vidual ?  3      The  answer   is   that   rightly   understood 
they  do  not  militate  against  the  view  to  which  the 
psalm  as  a  whole  conducts  us.     The  people  of  Israel 
is  repeatedly  described  in  the  Old  Testament  as  a 
living   organism    which    passed    through    life-stages 

1  Ps.  ixii.  8. 

2  Grosart,  Three  Centuries  of  Hymns,  Preface,  p.  xxii. 

3  Dr.  Driver  fully  admits  that  Ps.  li.  5  may  be  spoken  in  the  name  of 
the  Church-nation,  but  thinks  that  it  is  '  probably  better '  to  suppose 
the  psalmist  to  be  speaking   [here]   individually  as   a   representative 
Israelite  (Introd.  p.  367).     Such  transitions  from  the  Church-nation  to 
the  individual  are,  indeed,  not  unexampled.     But  the  supposition  is 
unnecessary,  when  we  have  thoroughly  realized  the  connexion.     Here, 
as  elsewhere,  the  psalmist's  ideas  and  expressions  are  moulded  by  his 
favourite  prophet.     See  above. 


PSALM  LI.  191 

similar  to  those  of  an  individual.1  Just  as  a  family 
was  conceived  of  as  a  living  union  of  individuals,2 
so  the  nation  was  represented  as  a  living  union  of 
families.  This  idea  pervades  the  prophecies  of  the 
Second  Isaiah.  '  Thy  first  father  hath  sinned,' 3  he 
says  in  one  place  ;  and  in  another,  '  Thou  wast  called 
"  Rebellious  from  the  womb." '  4  No  individual  can 
possibly  be  addressed  here  ;  in  the  contexts  of  both 
passages  '  Jacob '  and  '  Israel '  are  expressly  men- 
tioned. Now  the  psalmist  is  well  acquainted  with 
the  Second  Isaiah ;  can  we  help  supposing  that  his 
ideas  and  phraseology  are  influenced  by  those  of  the 
prophet?  And  now  notice  at  once  the  strength  of 
his  faith  and  the  depth  of  his  humility.  '  Thy  first 
father  hath  sinned,'  says  Jehovah  by  the  prophet, 
'  therefore  I  gave  Jacob  to  the  ban,  and  Israel  to 
reproaches.'  '  In  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me,' 
replies  Israel  by  the  psalmist,  '  therefore,  since  I  am 
so  weak  by  nature,  forgive  me,  O  my  God,  for  the 
past,  and  strengthen  me  for  the  future.'  Can  we 
help  remembering  the  Syro-Phcenician  woman  in  the 
Gospels,  whom  the  Saviour,  to  try  her  faith,  included 

1  See  Ex.  iv.  22  ;  Num.  xx.  14  ;  Hos.  vi.  4,  vti.  9,  xi.  i,  xiii.  i,  13  ; 
Isa.  xlvi.  3,  4  (and  other  passages) ;  Ps.  xxv.  7>  Ixxi.  5,  6,  17,  18,  cii.   . 
23,  24,  cxxix.  i,  2.     The  nation-man  had  a  special  name,  Jeshurunf) 
(Deut.  xxxii.  15,  xxxiii.  26). 

3  See  W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  255. 

3  Isa.  xliii.  27.  4  Isa.  xlviii.  8. 


192         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


among  the  dogs,  and  who  replied,  '  Yea,  Lord,  for 
even  the  dogs  eat  of  the  crumbs  which  fall  from  their 
masters'  table  '  ?  r  The  same  humble  faith  belongs 
to  the  Jewish  Church.  She  admits  that  she  cannot 
say,  'I  have  set  the  Lord  alway  before  me,'2  and 
humbly  urges  this  as  a  plea  for  mercy. 

The  psalmist's  phraseology  is  seemingly,  but  only 
seemingly,  a  contradiction  of  that  fine  prophetic 
passage  3  which  declares  that  Israel  had  been  called 
to  proclaim  the  true  God  from  its  mother's  womb 
(i.e.  from  the  beginning  of  its  nationality),  and  had 
obeyed  the  call.  It  speaks  of  those  members  of  the 
Church  who,  like  the  prophet  himself,  earnestly 
sought  to  bear  witness  against  Babylonian  heathen- 
ism, and  of  all  those  prophets  in  the  former  age  who 
had  tried  in  vain  to  purify  Israel's  religion.  But  the 
psalmist,  like  the  Second  Isaiah,  states  that  there  is  a 
wide  difference  between  the  spiritual  and  the  natural 
Israel,  and  that  the  majority  of  Israelites  in  all  ages 
have  been  deaf  to  Jehovah's  voice.  It  implies  that 
supernatural  grace  alone  can  make  a  nation  into  a 
Church  ;  that  while  there  are  nations  which  have  a 
natural  gift  for  art,  for  war,  and  for  government,  there 
is  no  nation  which  has  a  natural  gift  for  spiritual 
religion.  This,  then,  is  the  argument  of  the  Church, 
'  Thou,  O  God,  hast  called  us  ;  but  without  thy  grace 

1  Matt.  xv.  27.  E  Ps.  xvi.  8.  3  Isa.  xlix.  i,  2. 


PSALM  LI.  193 

we  cannot  obey  the  call.  Thou  askest  of  us  obedience, 
but  we  are  the  children  of  those  who  turned  aside 
quickly  out  of  the  way,  and  made  them  a  molten 
calf.  Forgive  us  therefore  by  a  marvellous  exhibi- 
tion of  thy  lovingkindncss,  and  —  for  this  idea  is 
already  in  the  psalmist's  mind — not  only  forgive, 
but  create  us  anew.' 

And  now  supplement  verse  5  by  verse  6.  Both 
verses  begin  with  'behold,'  to  indicate  the  close  re- 
lation in  which  they  stand  to  each  other.  '  Behold, 
human  nature  is  deeply  ingrained  with  sin,'  says 
verse  5  ;  '  behold,  thou  desirest  that  it  should  be  as 
deeply  penetrated  with  truth,'  says  verse  6.  Or,  as 
the  psalmist  himself  puts  it, 
Behold,  thou  desirest  truth  in  the  imvard  parts, 
Therefore  in  the  hidden  part  make  me  to  knozv  'wisdom. 
In  the  former  passage  it  is  Israel's  deep  humility 
which  speaks  ;  in  the  latter,  his  no  less  earnest  faith. 
By  nature,  he  '  starts  aside  '  continually  from  God 
'  like  a  broken  bow '  ;  by  grace,  he  is  confident  that 
the  '  guile '  which  he  has  inherited  from  his  '  first 
father'  Jacob  may  give  place  to  '  truth'  and  '  wisdom.' 
There  is  the  same  antithesis  in  Ps.  xxxii.  i, 
Blessed  is  the  man  to  whom  Jehovah  reckons  not 

iniquity, 
And  in  whose  spirit  there  is  no  guile. 

If  the  set   of  the  will  is  towards  God   and    His 
14 


194          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

moral  law,  a  man  is  '  guileless '  ;  if  away  from  God, 
he  is  '  treacherous  '  or  '  faithless.'  '  Guilelessness  '  is 
a  negative  expression,  '  truth  '  a  positive  one ;  but 
they  mean  the  same  thing.  And,  if  you  like,  you 
may  substitute  the  word  'constancy'  or  'stability' 
for  '  truth '  and  the  words  '  the  fear  of  God '  for 
'  wisdom  '  without  any  detriment  to  the  sense.  What 
God  desires  to  see  in  the  '  inward  parts,'  i.e.  in  the 
character,  both  of  Israel  and  of  each  Israelite,  is  that 
stability  which  arises  from  the  constant  fear  of  God. 
'  The  fear  of  God,'  says  the  wise  man,  '  is  the  begin- 
ning of  knowledge ' ; *  but  how  shall  the  elements  of 
spiritual  wisdom  be  implanted  in  the  natural  mind  ? 
'  The  heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things,'  says  Jere- 
miah, '  and  desperately  sick.'  2  Wisdom  may  '  cry 
aloud,  and  utter  her  voice  in  the  streets  ;  '  but  the 
'  simple '  will  still  c  love  simplicity,  and  the  scorners 
delight  in  their  scorning,  and  fools  hate  knowledge,' 3 
until  God  '  creates  in  them  a  clean  heart,  and  renews 
within  them  a  constant  spirit'4 

We  are  now  very  near  the  end  of  the  first  part  of 
the  psalm  ;  the  three  remaining  verses  need  only  be 
glanced  at.  The  7th  and  gth  virtually  repeat  the 
petitions  of  the  ist  and  2nd,  but  with  fresh  images. 
Purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be  clean,  shows  that 
the  psalmist  has  begun  to  see  the  latent  symbolism 

1  Prov.  i.  7.        2  Jer.  xvii.  9.        3  Prov.  i.  20,  22.         4  Ps.  li,  10. 


PSALM  LI.  195 

of  the  sacrificial  rites.  It  is  not  however  the  sprinkling 
of  the  blood  upon  the  recovered  leper  which  attracts 
his  attention,  but  the  choice  of  a  lowly  plant  like  the 
hyssop  as  the  instrument  of  the  sprinkling.  In  the 
second  part  of  the  verse  he  uses  the  humble  image 
of  the  fuller,  and  we  cannot  be  surprised  that  in 
the  parallel  line  he  selects  from  the  objects  used  in 
the  rite  of  purification,  not  the  precious  blood,  not 
the  noble  cedar-wood,  but  the  hyssop  '  that  springeth 
out  of  the  wall.'  The  idea  in  his  mind  is  that  of 
the  divine  condescension.  For  sinning  but  forgiven 
angels  some  grander  symbol  may  be  imagined,  but 
for  men,  whose  origin  and  whose  thoughts  are  so 
low,  the  humblest  of  all  the  herbs  is  an  adequate 
sacramental  sign.  Is  not  this  idea  beautiful  ?  Is  it 
not  suggestive  of  Him  who  was  meek  and  lowly  in 
heart,  and  who  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin  ?  Wash  me, 
he  continues,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow.  To 
estimate  this  latter  figure  as  it  deserves,  you  should 
go  on  pilgrimage  in  that  sacred  land,  where  the  sunlit 
snows  of  Hermon  continually  offer  you  a  speaking 
symbol  of  heavenly  purity.  The  unexpectedness 
gives  a  fresh  charm  to  these  bright  glimpses,  and 
one  may  well  be  reminded  of  a  still  more  unexpected 
phenomenon — the  transformation  of  our  dark  and 
selfish  nature  by  the  rays  of  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness. 


196          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

With  a  boldness  which  God  Himself  has  inspired, 
the  psalmist  (i.e.  not  David,  but  Israel),  supplicates 
for  this  wondrous  boon,  and  as  he  prays  he  conceives 
the  possibility  of  a  return  of  his  old  happiness.  Make 
me  to  hear  joy  and  gladness,  he  asks,  that  the  bones 
which  thou  hast  crushed  may  rejoice.  What  the 
'  crushed  bones  '  mean  exactly,  we  will  consider 
in  chap  v.  Suffice  it  to  remark  here  that  the 
message  which  will  lift  him  up  out  of  his  misery, 
and  restore  to  him  joy  and  gladness  is  that  of  the 
forgiveness  of  his  sins. 

There  are  but  few  words  in  the  first  half  of  this 
psalm  (verses  1-9)  which  we  cannot  apply  first  of  all 
to  England  as  a  Christian  nation,  and  next  to  our- 
selves individually.  The  4th  verse  may  indeed  be 
beyond  us.  It  is  only  the  Jewish  Church-nation 
which  could  truthfully  say,  '  Against  thee,  thee  only, 
have  I  sinned.'  Poor,  despised,  and  oppressed  Israel 
was  physically  unable  to  violate  human  rights.  I 
fear,  I  greatly  fear,  that  we  English  dare  not  claim 
never  to  have  acted  unjustly  towards  other  nations. 
Not  only  for  our  national  vices,  which  the  psalmist 
might  regard  as  offences  against  God  alone,  but  also 
for  many  an  oppressive  act  towards  weaker  and  de- 
pendent races,  we  need  to  humble  ourselves  in  the 
dust  before  the  God  alike  of  the  weak  and  of  the 
strong.  When  God  wills,  He  puts  the  trumpet  into 


PSALM  LI.  197 

the  hand  of  a  prophet  such  as  Clarkson  or  Wilber- 
force,  and  to-day  I  feel  that  I  must  add  the  name  of 
Lowell,1  whose  voice  helped  so  much  to  animate  the 
American  people  to  the  great  deed  of  the  abolition 
of  negro-slavery.  At  present  we  may  perhaps  com- 
plain with  the  psalmist,  '  We  see  not  our  signs  ;  there 
is  no  more  any  prophet.'  But  we  may  at  least  antici- 
pate the  prophet's  coming,  and  seek  by  God's  grace 
to  set  in  order  the  things  that  are  wanting  in  our 
Israel.  And  in  order  to  correct  the  nation,  let  each 
of  us  be  more  earnest  in  correcting  himself.  Where 
would  crime  be,  if  we  had  each  a  proper  sense  of 
sin  ?  It  is  no  doubt  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
give  us  this.  But  the  Spirit  loves  to  work  through 
the  appointed  means,  and  the  oldest  and,  must  we 
not  say  ?  the  greatest,  of  these  means  is  the  Scripture. 
He  who  would  live  like  the  psalmists  must  study  the 
psalmists'  words.  And  where  should  they  be  studied 
more  than  in  our  cathedrals,  which  are  as  it  were 
fountains  of  psalmody  ?  With  all  modern  helps,  and 
in  the  fearlessness  of  the  love  of  truth,  let  us  pass 
through  the  portals  of  a  faithful  interpretation  of  the 
letter  to  the  high  and  heavenly  truth  enshrined  within. 
O  God  of  Revelation  !  we  believe  that  there  is  still 
more  light  and  truth  to  break  forth  out  of  Thy  word. 

1  This  sermon  was  preached  after  Lowell's  death,  Aug.,  1891. 


igS         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

Speak  to  us  through  the  words  of  Thy  psalmists,  we 
beseech  Thee  !  Fill  us  with  Thy  Spirit,  that  we  may 
be  led  into  the  knowledge  and  practice  of  all  the 
truth  ! 


CHAPTER  V. 

PSALM  LI.   (concluded]. 

Ps.  li.  10. — Make  me  to  hear  joy  and  gladness, 

That  the  bones  which  tJiou  hast  crusJied  may 

rejoice. 

THAT  is  a  pathetic  saying  over  which  we  came  to  a 
pause — 'that  the  bones  which  thou  hast  crushed 
may  rejoice.'  The  '  crushing  '  spoken  of  is  by  no 
means  only  a  figure  for  deep  grief  of  mind  ;  it  is 
meant  as  a  literal  description  of  the  condition  of 
Israel.  Israel,  being  a  living  organism,  with  stages 
in  its  life  comparable  to  those  of  infancy  and  man- 
hood, must  be  liable  to  similar  misfortunes  to  those 
of  an  individual,  and  one  of  these  had  actually  be- 
fallen it  when  this  psalm  was  written.  Persia  was 
not  always  so  mild  and  gentle  to  the  Jews  as  in  the 
time  of  Cyrus ;  and  the  psalmist  now  tells  us  that 
the  'bones' — i.e.  the  framework  of  society1 — have 
1  Sec  Ezek.  xxxvii.  i-io. 


200          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


been  lately  crushed  beyond  recognition  in  the  re- 
morseless grip  of  Persian  oppressors.  He  is  beset  by 
a  sickening  fear  of  what  the  next  hour  may  bring 
forth.  Israel  seems  'at  the  point  to  die,'  and  the 
psalmist  'suffers  God's  terrors  with  a  troubled  mind.'1 
Another  psalmist,  writing  in  Israel's  name  at  the 
same  or  at  a  similar  period,  says  2 — 

Have  pity  upon  me,  Jehovah  ;  for  I  am  languishing  : 

Heal  me,  Jehovah  ;  for  my  bones  are  vexed. 

For  in  Death  there  is  no  mention  of  thee  ; 

In  Sheol  who  will  give  thee  thanks  ? 

Our  own  psalmist  indeed  is  too  earnest  a  believer 
to  look  only  upon  the  dark  side  of  Israel's  ex- 
periences;  is  it  not  Jehovah  who  '  createth  evil'?  3 
'  My  bones  which  thou  hast  crushed,'  he  says,  and 
he  derives  some  comfort  from  the  thought.  But, 
alas  !  there  is  something  else  broken  besides  '  bones.' 
If  only  the  framework  of  society  were  crushed,  there 
might  still  be  hope,  but  the  very  citadel  of  life  has 
been  touched  ;  there  is  a  '  broken  spirit,'  a  '  broken 
and  crushed  heart'  4  The  psalmist  does  not  men- 
tion this  till  the  end  of  the  psalm,  but  we  must 
refer  to  it  now  because  it  helps  to  account  for 
ver.  12 — 


1  Ps.  vi.  2,  4.  2  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  15  (Prayer  Book). 

3  Isa.  xlv.  7. 

4  '  Heart '  of  a  nation,  as  in  Isa.  i.  5,  vi.  10,   I  Kings  xviii.  37,  &c. 


PSALM  LI.  201 

Create  in  ine  a  clean  heart,  O  God, 
And  renew  a  firm  spirit  within  me  ; 
that  is,  Give  me  a  new  and  clean  heart  and   a  firm 
spirit  in  return  for  those  broken  ones  which  I  would 
,  fain  sacrifice  to  thee. 

There  is  no  greater  saying  than  this  in  the  Old 
Testament — '  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God.' 
It  is  suggested  no  doubt  by  passages  of  Jeremiah, 
the  prophet  of  the  '  new  covenant,'  and  of  Ezekiel, 
and  of  the  Second  Isaiah  j1  but  it  has  a  special  great- 
ness of  its  own  because  it  is  the  utterance  of  the 
whole  Church-nation.  Jeremiah  planted,  Ezekiel 
watered,  and  in  His  own  good  time  God  gave  the 
increase.  But  how  does  this  petition  lead  on  to  the 
next,  Cast  me  not  aivay  from  thy  presence  ?  This 
phrase  too  has  a  history.  What  it  still  meant  long 
after  the  time  of  David  we  see  from  2  Kings  xxiv. 
20,  For  throngJi  the  anger  of  Jehovah  did  it  come  to 
pass  (i.e.  all  the  trouble  of  Zedekiah's  reign)  in  Jeru- 
salem and  JudaJi,  until  he  had  cast  them  out  from  his 
presence.2  Here  the  word  '  presence '  has  of  course 
a  purely  local  reference.  To  the  early  Israelites 


1  I  Sam.  x.  6  is  of  course  not  parallel.  But  see  Jer.  xxxi.  33,  xxxii. 
39  ;  Ezek.  xi.  19,  xviii.  31,  xxxvi.  26,  Isa.  xliv.  3.  (The  Second  Isaiah 
represents  the  new  creation  as  a  spiritualization  of  the  old  one,  for 
Israel  was  'formed  from  the  womb,'  &c. ,  Isa.  xliii.  3.)  Comp.  Ps. 
xxii.  31,  cii.  19. 

'•*  Parallel  passages,  2  Kings  xiii.  23  (end),  xxiv.  3. 


202          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

Canaan  was  very  much  like  what  Paradise  was,  ac- 
cording to  the  allegoric  narrative,  to  Adam  and  Eve  ; 
it  was  not  only  their  home,  but  Jehovah's.  To  be 
cast  out  of  Palestine  was  therefore  to  be  cast  out  of 
Jehovah's  house.1  -But  to  the  Church-nation,  formed 
after  the  return  from  Babylon,  a  fuller  insight  into 
the  truth  was  vouchsafed.  Not  the  land  of  Canaan, 
but  the  temple,  was  the  place  where  Jehovah's 
presence  was  -to  be  enjoyed ;  and  the  nobler  psalmists 
certainly  felt  more  or  less  distinctly  that  His  presence 
in  the  temple  was  sacramental,  and  only  enjoyed  by 
the  pure  and  upright  in  heart.  The  consequence 
was  that  the  phrase  'to  be  cast  away  from  God's 
presence '  acquired  a  new  and  deeper  significance  ; 
it  meant  henceforth  for  each  believer  who  used  it  to 
enjoy  the  conscious  experience  of  the  divine  favour, 
not  only  outwardly  but  inwardly,  not  only  as  a 
member  of  the  Church-nation,  but  as  an  individual. 

And  now  do  we  not  see  the  connexion  of  verses 
10  and  n?  Must  it  not  be  this  ?  '  Give  me  a  clean 
heart,  O  God,  for  this  will  bring  me  near  to  Thee, 
and  (to  quote  from  Ps.  Ixxiii.  28)  nearness  to  God  is 
my  joy.'  And  how  shall  such  a  gift  and  such  a 
station  be  preserved  ?  Not  by  any  self-reliant  resolu- 
tions on  Israel's  part,  but  by  the  Holy  Spirit  within 

1  In  Hos.  viii.  I  the  land  of  Israel  is  actually  called  the  '  house  of 
Jehovah.' 


PSALM  LI.  203 

the  Church-nation,  according  to  that  saying  of 
penitent  and  afflicted  Israel  in  the  Second  Isaiah, 
'  Where  is  he  that  put  his  Holy  Spirit  in  the  midst  of 
it '  (i.e.  of  Israel)  ?  I  For  although  there  was  as  yet 
.no  theological  doctrine  of  persons  within  the  God- 
head, yet  God's  gracious  influences  were  already 
traced  to  an  objective  Cause,  which  was  sometimes 
conceived  of  as  personal,  and  this  personal  Cause 
was  from  the  close  of  the  Captivity  onwards  believed 
(not  without  the  best  of  reasons)  to  be  closely  asso- 
ciated with  the  Church-nation.  Israel  as  a  people 
was  being  directed  and  as  a  Church  was  being 
morally  educated  by  the  Divine  or  (as  it  is  called 
only  here  and  in  Isa.  Ixiii.  10,  n)  the  Holy  Spirit. 
How  remote  all  this  is  from  the  David  of  the  Book 
of  Samuel  (who  sought  counsel  of  Jehovah  by 
material  objects  like  the  Urim  and  Thummim  2),  and 
how  near  spiritually  to  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of 
God! 

Take  not,  therefore,  thy  Holy  Spirit  front  me,  prays 
the  Church-nation.  And  since  the  Divine  Spirit 
within  God's  people  manifests  Himself  in  many 
forms  (six  are  mentioned  by  Isaiahs),  our  psalmist 
specifies  two  of  these — a  firm  (or  constant)  spirit  in 

1  Isa.  Ixiii.  1 1  (in  a  probably  post-Exilic  section). 

-  The  Targum  interprets  '  holy  spirit '  here  of  the  spirit  of  pro- 
phecy. But  how  different  was  prophecy  in  David's  age  from  the  lofty 
inspiration  which  the  Targumist  has  in  view  !  3  Isa.  xi.  2. 


204          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

ver.  10,  and  a  willing  spirit  (i.e.  a  spirit  of  zeal  in 
God's  service)  in  ver.  13,  as  gifts  chiefly  to  be  desired 
for  Israel.  But  does  he  forget  that  God  Himself  must 
still  work  on  behalf  of  His  people,  and  that  no  vessel 
can  be  filled  so  full  of  His  grace  as  to  satisfy  the 
needs  of  the  Church  ?  Oh,  no.  What  would  life  be, 
if  God  never  interposed  specially,  surpassing  the 
deeds  of  the  very  noblest  of  His  servants,  according 
to  that  saying  of  the  psalmist,  '  who  alone  doeth 
great  wonders  '  ?  *  And  this  is  why,  between  the 
three  petitions  for  spiritual  influences,  we  find  two 
inserted  which  relate  to  the  immediate  operation  of 
God  through  the  Angel  of  His  Presence.2  One  is, 
Cast  me  not  away  from  thy  presence  (i.e.  Let  not  thine 
Angel  cast  me  away  from  Himself),  and  ,the  other, 
which  forms  a  vigorous  antithesis  to  the  first,  Restore 
unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation.  Beautiful  words  ! 
How  much  they  symbolize  to  the  mature  Christian  ! 
They  speak  of  joy  victorious  over  grief  in  the  power 
of  the  Crucified  One,  '  who  for  the  joy  that  was  set 
before  him  endured  the  cross,'  3  that  all  future  cross- 
bearers  might  enter  into  His  joy.  But  turn  back  a 
few  miles  in  the  path  of  human  experience,  and  see 
the  tiny  child  (if  one  may  draw  an  image  from 
Blake's  lovely  lyric)  Infant  Joy.  It  has  no  doubt 
spiritual  qualities,  but  traces  of  its  material  origin 
1  Ps.  cxxxvi.  4.  2  Isa.  Ixiii.  9.  3  Heb.  xii.  2. 


PSALM  LI.  205 

are  still  visible  enough.  It  is  spiritual,  I  say  ;  we 
must  not  disparage  the  holy  psalmists  by  denying 
this.  Tliou  hast  put  gladness  in  my  Jieart,  says  one 
of  them,  more  than  tJiey  have  when  their  corn  and  their 
wine  are  increased.1  But  it  has  still  a  tinge  of  earthli- 
ness,  and  we  sympathize  all  the  more  with  those 
whom  it  gladdened,  knowing  our  own  weakness. 
For  salvation  in  Hebrew  meant  originally  '  victory ' 
(regarded  as  a  deliverance),  as  when  in  the  2Oth 
psalm  the  worshippers  address  God's  Anointed  with 
the  words,  We  will  shout  for  joy  at  thy  salvation.2 
When  David  laid  the  giant  low  the  Israelites,  we  are 
told,  shouted.3  It  is  a  joy  as  exulting  as  this  that 
the  psalmist  anticipates,  when  all  Israel's  foes  shall 
have  been  overthrown  by  the  Angel  of  Jehovah's 
Presence.  But  the  foes  of  whom  he  thinks  are  not 
only  Persian  oppressors  but  those  known  and  un- 
known sins  which,  he  believes,  have  brought  the 
present  sad  troubles  upon  Israel. 

But  with  what  object  does  Israel  seek  this  '  salva- 
tion '  from  outward  and  inward  foes  ?  If  his  idea  of 
'  salvation '  is  mixed,  may  there  not  be  a  tinge  of 
selfishness  in  his  motives?  No  ;  so  far  as  the  5ist 
and  other  psalms  are  authorities,  his  intention  is 
pure.  What  he  seeks  is,  in  the  language  of  our 
collect,  '  to  serve  the  Lord  in  all  godly  quietness  ; ' 

1  Ps.  iv.  7.  2  Ps.  xx.  v.  3  j  Sam.  xv.  52. 


206          7 HE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

he  needs  deliverance  from  outward  foes  in  order  to 
devote  himself  to  his  special  work  in  the  world. 
We  know  what  that  is  from  the  Second  Isaiah.  The 
regenerate  Israel  is  to  be  in  some  sense  a  missionary 
people  ;  he  is  to  '  bring  forth  judgment '  (i.e.  true 
religion)  'to  the  Gentiles.'1  He  has  but  a  vague 
idea  how  this  is  to  be  done,  and  feels  that  he  must 
himself  be  taught  God's  ways  more  perfectly  2  before 
he  can  properly  teach  them  to  others.  But  he  will 
not  refuse  to  make  the  attempt.  And  he  will  begin 
with  the  sinners  and  transgressors  of  his  own  people, 
in  accordance  with  the  ideal  of  the  Lord's  Servant 
sketched  in  the  Second  Isaiah.  Therefore,  relying 
on  the  longed-for  gifts  of  the  Spirit  and  'hot,'  as 
Bishop  Fisher  of  Rochester  says,  '  with  the  fire  of 
charity,'  he  exclaims, 

Then  will  I  teach  transgressors  thy  ways, 
And  sinners  shall  return  unto  thee. 
Let   us  pause  here  a  moment.     It  is  one's  duty 
seriously  to  ask  the  question,  Can  these  words  pos- 
sibly have  been  written  by  David  after  his  interview 
with  Nathan,   as  the  heading,  which   is  no   part  of 
sacred  Scripture,  supposes  ?      To  decide  this  point 
we  must  refer  to  the  sequel  of  the  Uriah-narrative, 
2  Sam.   xii.  26-31   (see   p.    33),  which    at   any  rate 

1  Isa.  xlii.  I. 

2  See  Ps.  xxv.  4,  5,  xxvii.  II,  Ixxxvi.  II,  cxix.  12,  26  &c.,  cxliii.  10. 


PSALM  LI.  207 

shows  that  the  thoughts  which  David  had  after  his 
repentance  were  very  different  from  those  of  the 
psalmist.  Nor  can  we  safely  stop  here.  It  is  well 
to  be  loyal  to  one  of  the  greatest  of  our  Lord's 
ancestors,  but  not  at  the  expense  of  truth.  There  is 
'  no  period  in  the  historical  life  of  David  at  which 
'  rivers  of  water  ran  down  his  eyes  because  men  kept 
not  God's  law.' *  And  is  it  at  all  more  conceivable 
that  he  wrote  the  I4th  verse  of  our  psalm  ?  Sup- 
posing that  he  did  express  his  lively  penitence  in  the 
form  of  a  psalm,  can  he  have  omitted  to  refer  to  his 
miserable  treatment  of  the  noble  Uriah  till  the  last 
verse  but  three,  and  then  only  alluded  to  it  in  the 
vague  words,  Deliver  me  from  bloodshed,  0  God,  thou 
God  of  my  salvation  ?  2 

But,  the  Bible-reader  will  ask,  What  does  the 
psalmist  refer  to  in  this  line,  if  not  to  some  act  of 
murder  committed  by  himself  which  weighs  like  lead 
upon  his  conscience  ?  The  question  is  a  reasonable 
one  ;  a  psalm  in  such  familiar  use  as  the  5 1st  should 

1  Ps.  cxix.  136.     Mr.  Mozley,  it  is  true,   quotes  I  Sam.   xvii.   46, 
'  that  all  the  earth  may  know  that  Israel  hath  (indeed)  a  God '  (David 
in  the  Psalms,  p.  35).     But  this  is  from  a  non-critical  point  of  view. 

2  The  only  answer  I  can  think  of  is  this — that  Nathan  himself  (see 
his  parable)  was  more  shocked  by  David's  act  of  adultery  than  by  his 
deed  of  blood  (so  common  were  assassinations  in  those  fierce  times). 
But  if  Nathan  under-estimated  the  guilt  of  murder,  I  am  sure  that 
David  felt  the  villany  of  all  the  parts  of  his  sin.     One  cannot  mistrust 
one's  instinct  on  such  a  point.     I  am  sure  too  that  if  David  had  alluded 
to  his  murder  at  all,  he  would  have  done  so  in  clear  terms. 


208         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

be  clearly  understood  in  all  its  parts.  And  the  answer 
is  that  murder — the  besetting  sin  of  hot-blooded 
natures — was  very  prevalent  in  ancient  Israel,1  and 
that  if  the  Church-nation  is  the  speaker,  it  is  all  the 
accumulated  murders  of  past  years  that  are  referred 
to,  since  those  of  the  heathenish  king  Manasseh,  of 
which  we  are  told  that  God  removed  Judah  out  of  his 
presence,  for  the  innocent  blood  whicJi  Manasseh  shed ; 
for  lie  filled  Jerusalem  with  innocent  blood :  and  Jehovah 
would  not  pardon.12  Let  us  then  turn  to  those  Old 
Testament  writers  who  lived  after  the  great  removal 
spoken  of — the  Babylonian  Captivity.  The  blood- 
shed of  Jerusalem  had  been  '  purged  from  the  midst 
thereof,'  according  to  the  word  of  Isaiah, 3  '  by  a 
blast  of  judgment '  ;  but  was  the  old  Semitic  fierce- 
ness also  purged  away  ?  If  we  can  show  that  this 
was  not  entirely  the  case  even  at  the  time  when  the 
Church-psalms  were  written,  we  shall  be  able  to 
account  for  the  prayer,  Deliver  me  from  bloodshed,  O 
God,  without  supposing  a  reference  to  any  single 
notorious  act  of  an  individual. 

The  most  remarkable  passage  in  the  later  Scrip- 

1  How  much  more  prevalent  it  must  have  been  among  the  ancestors 
of  the  Israelites  we  may  guess  from  the  actual  condition  of  the  Arabian 
nomads.     '  Bloodguiltiness,'   says  Mr.  Doughty,   '  they  think  to  be  a 
[mere]  misfortune  in  one's  life '  (A.D.,  ii.  444). 

2  2  Kings  xxiv.  3,  4  ;  cf.  Ezek.  vii.  23,  xxii.  2-4.     See  also  Matt. 
xxiii.  34,  35.  3  Isa.  iv.  4. 


PSALM  LI.  209 

tures  bearing  on  this  subject  is  in  the  Second  Isaiah. 
In  Isa.  lix.  3  we  read,  For  your  hands  are  defiled  'with 
blood,  and  your  fingers  ivitJi  iniquity ;  and   again  in 
vcr.  7,  Their  feet  run  to  evil,  and  they  make  haste  to 
sited  innocent  blood :  their  works  are  works  of  iniquity, 
and  tlie  act  of  violence  is  in  tJieir  hands.     And   in 
ver.  1 1  the  Jewish  Church  complains,  We  roar  all  like 
bears,  and  mourn  sore  like  doves :  we  look  for  judg- 
ment (a  judgment  of  God  in  our  favour),  but  tJiere  is 
none ;  for  salvation,  but  it  is  far  off  from  us.     The 
whole  chapter  is  a  commentary  on  the  5istpsalm; 
the  circumstances  presupposed,  and  the  tone  of  the 
prophet,  and  of  the  Church  which  at  ver.  9  becomes 
the  speaker,  strikingly  resemble  those  of  the  psalmist. 
But  the  Psalter  itself  contains  numerous  references  to 
the  shedding  of  innocent  blood  within  the  Church- 
nation.     I  will  only  mention  three.     In  Ps.  lix.  2  a 
psalmist   prays.   Deliver    me   from    the    workers    of 
iniquity,   and   save   me   from   the    bloodthirsty   men. 
Another  temple  singer,  in  Ps.  cxxxix.  19,  exclaims, 
O  that  thou  wouldest  slay  the  ungodly,  O  God, 
And  that  men  of  blood  tuould  depart  from  me. 
And  in  Ps.  xxvi.  we  read  (ver.  9), — 

Take  not  away  my  soul  with  sinners, 
Nor  my  life  witJi  men  of  blood. 

Clearly,  then,  it  is  only  too  natural  for  the  psalmist, 
speaking  in  the  name  of  the  Church,  to  use  the  peti- 

15 


2io          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

tion  in  the  i/j.th  verse  of  our  psalm.  He  regards  the 
recent  calamity  as  the  punishment  of  the  national 
sins,  chief  among  which  is  that  of  murder.  So  he 
first  of  all  asks  in  Israel's  name  for  forgiveness  and 
regeneration,  and  then  to  be  '  delivered  from  blood- 
shed,' i.e.  primarily,  from  the  punishment  of  bloodshed.1 
In  the  parallel  line  he  adds,  And  my  tongue  shall 
sing  aloud  of  thy  righteousness,  righteousness  being 
the  divine  attribute  specially  concerned  with  deliver- 
ance from  trouble.  Thus  there  are  two  motives  for 
his.  last  request.  He  desires  I.  that  he  may  have 
leisure  to  teach  God's  ways  to  transgressors,  and  2. 
that  he  may  be  able  to  take  part  worthily  in  the 
temple  thanksgivings.  The  first  reason  has  been 
given  already  in  ver.  13  ;  the  second  is  new,  and 
may  be  illustrated  by  Ps.  xxvi.  6,  7,  where  the 
speaker  vows  to  'wash  his  hands  in  innocency,'  i.e. 
to  keep  himself  free  from  sins  of  violence,  that  he 
may  '  compass  God's  altar '  and  '  make  the  voice  of 
thanksgiving  to  be  heard.'  Our  own  psalmist  con- 
tinues, 

O  Lord,  open  thou  my  lips  (closed  at  present  by  my 
trouble), 

And  my  mouth  shall  show  forth  thy  praise. 
i 

1  The  psalmist  chooses  his  words  carefully.  He  does  not  say  *  purify 
me,'  but  '  deliver  me'  ;  punishment  is  like  a  net  (Ps.  xxv.  15  ;  Isa.  li. 
20).  When  '  deliver '  or  some  synonymous  word  is  used,  '  from  my 
transgressions'  (or  the  like)  means  'from  my  punishment,'  at  least 
inclusively.  See  Ps.  xxv.  22,  xxxix.  8,  cxxx.  8,  Isa.  Ixiv.  5. 


PSALM  LI.  2il 

Obedience  doubtless  comes  before  praise.  It  was 
obedience,  as  Jeremiah  tells  us,1  not  burnt  offerings 
or  sacrifices,  of  which  Jehovah  spake  of  old  unto  the 
fathers,  but  the  praiseful  temper  is  the  aromatic! 
odour  which  should  accompany  obedience,  and  which/ 
makes  it  well  pleasing  to  God.  And  therefore,  as  the 
reason  why  the  speaker  now  promises  to  shew  forth 
God's  praise,  he  adds  in  ver.  16, 
For  thou  deligJitest  not  in  sacrifice,  that  I  should  give 

it : 

TJion  hast  no  pleasure  in  burnt  offering. 
This  is  a  very  strong  statement,  and  it  shows  that 
God  permits  many  things  in  His  Church  which  are 
very  far  from  ideal.  This  at  least  it  is  our  duty  to 
say  ;  but  we  are  not  bound  to  turn  iconoclasts,  any 
more  than  the  psalmist  felt  bound  to  fulminate 
against  the  sacrificial  laws.  We  are  not  bound  to 
destroy  works  of  art  in  our  churches,  even  if  we  do 
not  think  them  conducive  to  edification,  as  long  as 
the  Church  permits  and  encourages  us  to  hold  and  to 
teach  spiritual  religion.  Our  psalmist  evidently  feels 
this.  He  has  lost  the  sense  of  sin  and  of  separation 
from  God,  and  is  confident  that  the  national  calamity 
which  has  so  distressed  him  will  be  either  removed 
altogether,  or  so  mitigated  as  to  be  no  great  hindrance 
to  Israel's  spiritual  work.  It  is  upon  that  work  that 
1  Jer.  vii.  22. 


212          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

his  last  thoughts  in  this  psalm  are  concentrated.    The 
right  doctrine  of  sacrifice  is  otie  of  the  chief_triiths- 
which  he  will  teach  transgressors.     The  sacrifices  of 
God,  what  are  they  ?     And  the  answer  echoes  to  us 
still  from  the  far-off  times  of  the  Second  Temple, 
TJie  sacrifices  of  God  are  a  broken  spirit : 
A  broken  and  cruslied  (or,  contrite}  heart,  O  God,  tJiou 

wilt  not  despise. 

Let  us  pause  here  a  moment  again.  Does  this 
definition  quite  agree  with  what  we  read  in  Psalms 
xl.  and  I.1  where  obedience  and  praise  are  specified 
as  the  sacrifices  acceptable  to  God  ?  No ;  but  I 
suppose  that  it  is  not  a  complete  definition.  It  is 
implied  in  verse  15  that  grateful  praise  is  also  one 
of  God's  sacrifices,  though,  strictly  speaking,  no  man 
by  his  own  unassisted  efforts  can  offer  it  aright.  All 
that  poor  weak  human  nature  can  present  to  God  is 
the  expression  of  its  own  miserable  state,  and  its 
only  altar  (as  a  Jewish  hymn  finely  says)  is  formed 
out  of  the  fragments  of  a  broken  heart.  How  can  I 
help  at  once  applying  this  to  ourselves  ?  '  Thou  wilt 
not  despise.'  Did  ever  man  speak  like  this  man,  till 
the  Master  who  said,  Him  that  cometh  unto  me  I  will 
in  110  wise  cast  out  ?  God  loves  that  which  the  world 
would  think  least  desirable.  Heaven  is  for  those  who 
have  failed  upon  earth,  says  a  mocking  proverb.  We 
1  Ps.  xl.  6, 1.  14,  23. 


PSALM  LI.  213 

accept  the  augury,  and  confess  that  having  failed  to 
do  anything  worth  doing  in 'our  own  strength,  we 
bring  our  failures  to  Him  who  can  turn  them  into 
victories.  We  would  far  rather  '  lie  at  the  threshold 
of  the  house  of  our  God  than  dwell  in  the  tents  of 
ungodliness.1  The  blessed  sense  of  forgiveness  gives 
us  not  only  a  comfort  but  an  inward  strength  which 
is  more  than  a  compensation  for  a  '  broken  heart.' 

The  last  two  verses  have  no  very  close  connexion 
with  what  precedes,  and  are  best  regarded  as  an 
appendix  added  (perhaps  very  soon)  by  a  different 
writer.2  '  Spiritual  duties  and  blessings  give  place  to 

1  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  11. 

-  No  peculiarity  of  language  enforces  this  view,  but  the  delicacies  of 
exegesis  are  effaced,  as  it  seems  to  me,  if  we  deny  this.  The  preoccu- 
pation of  the  writer  of  w.  1-17  is  the  forgiveness  of  his  (or  rather 
Israel's)  sins  ;  that  of  the  writer  of  vv.  18  and  19,  the  rebuilding  of  the 
walls  and  the  re-establishment  of  the  sacrificial  system.  The  one  is  pene- 
trated with  the  ideas  of  Jeremiah  (vii.  22,  23,  xxxi.  33,  34)  ;  the  other 
virtually  says,  No  perfect  human  worship  without  the  Levitical  sacrifices, 
but  also,  No  perfect  sacrifice  without  the  oblation  of  an  obedient  heart. 
Verses  18  and  19  may  be  viewed  as  a  substitute  for  the  joyous  chorus 
which  is  appended  to  Ps.  xxxii.  They  need  not  have  been  added  long 
after  the  composition  of  the  psalms.  It  has  been  objected  to  the  theory 
here  adopted  that  Ps.  li.  17  would  form  too  abrupt  a  conclusion  for  the 
psalm,  and  that  after  irv.  14  and  15  we  expect  the  notes  of  song  to  die 
away  with  a  cry  of  joy.  But  why  should  not  the  psalmist  close  with  the 
verse  which  contains  his  special  contribution  to  the  doctrine  of  sacrifice? 
I  have  pointed  out  elsewhere  that  there  is  a  beautiful  progress  of  ideas 
in  the  three  kindred  psalms,  xl.,  1.,  and  li.  'The  first  merely  says, 
Obedience  is  better  than  sacrifice  ;  the  second  adds  that  prayer  and 
thanksgiving  are  essential'to  true  worship  ;  the  third,  that,  since  Israel 
and  each  Israelite  are  sinners,  they  must  be  forgiven  before  they  can 
obey  or  praise,  and  that  God  will  forgive  them,  not  for  sacrifices,  but 


214         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

Jerusalem  and  the  temple,  the  disciple  of  the  Second 
Isaiah  to  the  earnest  fellow-worker  of  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah.  The  community  has  to  be  built  up  ;  it 
needs  walls  and  a  systematized  ritual.'  Let  not  the 
friend  of  prophets  and  psalmists  despise  the  sober 
practical  reformer.  There  may  be  great  differences 
in  functions,  and  in  the  way  of  regarding  divine 
truth,  but  it  is  the  same  Spirit  who  worketh  all  in 
all,  and  where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  both 
liberty  and  unity. 

Such  is  the  5ist  psalm  to  those  who,  out  of 
reverence  for  historical  truth,  are  compelled  to  reject 
the  conventional  explanation.  It  belongs  first  of  all 
to  the  Church  in  the  widest  sense  of  the  word,  and 
next  to  the  individual  in  so  far  as  he  is  a  true 
Churchman.  More  especially  should  it  be  dear  to 
those  who  look  forward  with  hope  to  what  Milton 
described  as  a  '  new  reformation.'  Standing  almost 
at  the  edge  of  the  igth  century,  we  are  called  upon 
to  take  our  share  in  the  creation  of  a  new  England. 
'  The  old  order  changeth,  yielding  place  to  new,'  and 
it  depends  upon  us  whether  the  new  shall  be  better 

for  heartfelt  repentance'  (The  Book  of  Psalms,  1888,  p.  144).  Observe 
that  Ps.  1.  closes  in  the  same  style  with  a  declaration  on  sacrifice 
('  Whoso  sacrificeth  thanksgiving,  glorifieth  me ').  And  if  the  psalmist's 
tone  is  subdued,  is  there  not  an  undertone  of  penitence  in  Christian 
praises?  The  Te Deum  closes  with  '  Let  me  never  be  confounded.'  If 
Ps.  li.,  as  has  been  said,  anticipates  St.  Augustine,  why  should  it  not 
close  with  humble  contrition  ? 


PSALM  LI.  215 

or  worse  than  the  old.  Or  rather,  it  depends  upon  us 
as  '  workers  together  with  God.'  And  in  order  that 
the  new  England  may  be  produced,  and  may  corre- 
spond in  some  measure  to  the  divine  ideal,  we,  God's 
human  agents,  must  ourselves  be  '  renewed  in  the 
'  spirit  of  our  mind.'  What  then  is  the  first  step 
towards  this  renewal  ?  The  5 1st  psalm  will  tell  us  : — 
it  is  the  breaking  of  the  proud  natural  heart  which 
claims  to  be  good  enough,  wise  enough,  strong 
enough,  to  rectify  all  wrongs,  to  solve  all  problems, 
to  conquer  all  enemies.  He  who  would  be  '  filled 
unto  all  the  fulness  of  God ' J  must  first  be  emptied 
of  all  the  insufficiency  of  man.  It  is  a  defect  of  the 
finest  of  those  eloquent  passages  in  which  Milton  | 
anticipates  the  new  reformation  that,  too  forgetful  of/ 
human  weakness,  he  represents  England  as  a  Samson/ 
awaking  out  of  his  sleep,  and  shaking  his  invincible! 
locks.  Alas  !  that  ambition  '  o'erleap'd  itself 
England  was  taken  captive  by  spiritual  foes  worse 
far  than  the  Philistines,  and  her  blind  poet  learned  to 
sympathize  with  defeated  Samson, 

'  In  darkness,  and  with  dangers  compass'd  round, 
And  solitude.'  ~ 

Not  to  Samson  will  we  compare  the  band  of  Christian 
reformers  in  Church  and  State  whom  we  see  rising 

1  Eph.  iii.  19,  R.V.  2  Paradise  Lost,  vii.  27. 


216         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

up  among  us,  but  to  David  the  shepherd-boy  meeting 
the  Philistine  giant  in  the  power  of  a  humble  but 
invincible  faith.  Or,  to  return  to  Milton's  circle  of 
ideas,  who  was  thinking  in  the  first  instance  of  a 
great  religious  movement,  may  we  not  say  that  the 
spirit  of  the  new  reformation  should  be  the  same 
which  characterized  the  old  ?  Milton  may  have 
forgotten  it,  but  it  is  none  the  less  true  that 
the  spirit  of  Luther  was  profoundly  penitential 
in  the  psalmist's  sense,  i.e.  full  of  self-distrust  and 
jubilant  reliance  upon  God's  promises.  There  was 
wisdom  in  the  counsel  of  that  too  despondent  bishop 
who  at  the  beginning  of  Luther's  career  bade  him  go 
back  and  repeat  the  5ist  psalm.  Luther  did  repeat 
that  psalm  again  and  again,  not  however  as  a  psalm 
of  despair,  but  of  boundless  hope.  And  however 
mistaken  in  some  points,  he  is  worthy  to  be  followed 
in  this.  No  one  ever  regretted  giving  anything  to 
God,  even  if  it  were  but  a  broken  heart.  Every 
sacrifice  which  we  make  to  God  is  more  than 
compensated  to  us  by  the  richest  heavenly  gifts. 
And  this  is  true  not  only  of  the  individual  but  of 
each  little  band  of  fellow-workers.  Let  but  the 
spirit  of  supplication  come  upon  'two  or  three' 
brothers  in  soul,  and  break  their  hearts  in  true 
penitence,  and  'prove  me  now  herewith,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  if  I  will  not  open  you  the  windows 


PSALM  LI,  217 

of  heaven,  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing,  that  there 
shall  not  be  room  enough  to  receive  it.' x     And  how 
much  more  will  God's  royal  munificence  exhibit  itself 
to  his  Bride  the  Church,  if  she  do  but  wait  upon  Him 
with    broken    heart   and  united  intercessions !      For 
then    surely  will  that   beautiful  promise  be  fulfilled, 
/  zvill  give  them  one  heart?     Ah,  what   might    not 
be  done  in  England  by  a  united  Christian  Church,  of 
which  it  could  be  said,  as  of  the  first  disciples,  And 
the  multitude  of  them  that  believed  were  of  one  heart 
and  of  one  soul !  3     Then  we  might  venture  to  hope 
that  England's  Church  might  become  conterminous 
with  the  nation,  and  that  the  privilege  coveted  for 
England  by  Milton  might  at  length  be  granted  her, 
1  of  teaching  the  nations  how  to  live.     Let  us  then 
seek   to    unite    more   with   our   neighbours   both   in 
prayer  and  in  work.     So  shall  we  enter  more  into 
the  spirit  of  the  psalms  ;  so  may  we  trust  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  will  not  only  not  be  taken  from  us,  but 
may  come  from  heaven  as  with  a  'rushing    mighty 
wind,'  filling  the  whole  house  (our  England)  in  which 
we  dwell,  and    transforming  each  of  us   into   living 
vessels  of  His  flame-like  energy. 

1  Mai.  iii.  10.  *  Jer.  xxxii.  39.  3  Acts  ii.  2. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

PSALM   XXXII. 

THIS  32nd  psalm  was  the  favourite  of  two  great  men, 
who,  different  as  they  were,  agreed  in  their  deep  sense 
of  sin  and  their  exaltation  of  grace — St.  Augustine 
and  Martin  Luther.  It  was  their  favourite,  because  it 
was  one  of  the  penetential  psalms,  and  both  of  them 
had  learned  the  sweetness  and  the  bliss  of  repent- 
ance, which,  in  its  purest  and  truest  form,  is  'the  eager 
and  enthusiastic  struggle  of  the  soul  to  reach  and 
fasten  itself  to  God.' *  Both  of  them  have,  not  only 
blistered  this  psalm  with  their  tears,  but  tried  to  sing 
it  to  the  bright  allegro  music  which  they  overheard 
from  the  angels'  harps.  How  could  they  sing  the 
penitential  psalms  to  doleful  chants  when  they  had 
caught  sweet  fragments  of  the  angelic  melodies  ? 
For  '  there  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God 
over  one  sinner  that  repenteth.' 

1  Right  Rev.  Phillips  Brooks. 


PSALM  XXXII.  219 

But  St.  Augustine  and  Luther  are  not  the  only 
noted  persons  who  have  loved  this  psalm.  God's 
word  is  like  the  sword  at  the  garden  of  Eden  ;  it 
turns  every  way,  and  sometimes  pierces  where  you 
would  least  expect  it.  As  if  to  show  that  the  most 
frivolous  follies  do  not  shut  out  heaven-sent  glimpses 
of  the  deeper  and  more  serious  side  of  life,  this  psalm 
was  also  a  favourite  with  Diana  of  Poitiers,1  whose 
name  has  such  a  doubtful  sound  in  French  history. 
No  one  who  has  used  this  psalm  for  himself  can 
afford  to  be  a  Pharisee,  and  look  down  on  those  who 
travel  in  the  miry  ways  of  the  world.  God  may  see 
many  latent  possibilities  of  good  in  those  of  whom 
we  are  tempted  to  despair,  and  a  work  of  grace  may 
be  going  on  in  the  soul  which  some  providential 
event  may  suddenly  bring  to  a  surprising  maturity. 
It  would  be  no  kindness  to  condone  the  vices  of 
worldlings,  but  our  Saviour  teaches  us  to  be  as 
hopeful  as  we  can,  and  to  divide  mankind  not 
into  the  saved  and  the  unsaved,  but  into  the  children 
who  live  in  the  home-like  sense  of  God's  fatherhood, 
and  those  who,  through  ignorance  or  folly,  have 
wandered  away  into  a  far  land. 

Yes  ;  those  who  seem  to  be  at  the  top  of  human 

1  On  the  remarkable  popularity  of  the  Huguenot  Psalter,  see 
Henry's  Lcben  Johann  Cahrins,  ii.  161.  The  gentlemen  and  ladies  of 
the  court  had  each  their  favourite  psalms  (even  Queen  Catherine  de 
Medicis). 


THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


happiness  are  not  on  this  account  to  be  congratulated. 
You  know  that  fine  old  English  poem  of  Sir  Henry 
Wotton's,  called  '  The  Character  of  a  Happy  Life.' 
Well,  the  psalmist  here  tells  us  how  he  would  describe 
this  character.  All  men  seek  happiness  ;  but  the  only 
durable  happiness  is  that  of  the  truly  righteous,  that 
is,  of  the  forgiven  man.  Loud  as  are  the  songs  in 
the  houses  of  luxury,  there  are  carols  whose  note  of 
joy  is  purer  and  deeper. 

'  Be  joyful  in  JeJiovah,  and  exult,  ye  righteous  ' ;  for 
'  happy  are  ye,  whose  transgressions  are  forgiven, 
and  whose  sins  are  covered' 

How  full  of  meaning  are  these  verses  when  taken 
together  !  How  far  they  soar  above  the  melancholy 
and  incomplete  wisdom  of  Ecclesiastes  !  '  Weary  of 
earth  and  laden  with  (his)  sin,'  the  wise  man  wrote 
the  results  of  his  sad  experience,  and  among  them  he 
mentions  this — that  '  there  is  not  a  just  man  upon 
earth,  that  doeth  good  and  sinneth  not '  (Eccles.  vii. 
20).  It  is  true,  the  author  of  the  i/|.th  psalm  had 
said  so  before  ;  but  then  the  psalmists  and  prophets 
belong  to  the  little  flock  of  those  who  have  given  up 
all  for  God,  and  who  are  sometimes  thought  to  be 
too  severe  on  those  who  still  cling  to  worldly- 
pleasures.  To  the  testimony  of  Ecclesiastes  no 
exception  can  be  taken.  He  had  tried  the  world, 
and  found  that,  in  his  experience,  the  few  good  men 


PSALM  XXXII. 


were  absolutely  lost  among  the  crowd  of  bad.  '  One 
man  among'  a  thousand  have  I  found1  (Eccles.  vii. 
28).  He  does  not  tell  us  what  this  rare  product  of 
humanity  was  like.  I  think  I  can  supply  his  omis- 
sion. If  this  'one  man'  really  kept  his  head  above 
the  tide  of  wickedness  in  the  age  of  Ecclesiastes,  it 
was  not  as  a  product  of  humanity  that  he  did  so,  but 
as  a  penitent  and  forgiven  sinner.  He  was  like  the 
author  of  the  32nd  psalm,  who  had  not  indeed 
escaped  sin,  but  who  had  taken  his  sin  direct  to  God 
for  forgiveness.  The  psalmist  too  has  written  down 
his  impressions,  and  they  are  more  satisfactory, 
though  less  copious,  than  those  of  Ecclesiastes.  Shall 
we  study  them  together  for  a  few  minutes  ? 

It  is  clear  that  some  grievous  trouble  had  befallen 
the  psalmist,  and  clear  too  that  even  if  he  speaks  for 
himself  primarily,  he  thinks  also  of  all  who  are  in 
the  same  distressed  condition.  His  trouble  is  pro- 
duced by  his  profound  sympathy  with  the  calamity 
which  has  come  upon  Israel ;  he  may  indeed  be,  not 
indeed  David,  but  the  spiritual  head  of  the  Church- 
nation.  If  he  is  not  contemporary  with  the  author 
of  Ps.  li.,  he  belongs  at  any  rate  to  the  same  circle 
of  inspired  thinkers  and  poets.  Now  let  us  study 
his  experiences.  There  are  two  different  effects  of 
trouble.  Either  it  makes  us  trust  God  all  the  more, 
according  to  that  fine  saying,  '  Though  he  slay  me,  yet 


THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


will  I  trust  in  him!  *  This  effect  however  it  can 
only  produce  if  the  set  of  the  will  and  the  affections 
is  towards  God  and  the  moral  law.  Or  it  reveals  to 
us  the  dreadful  fact  that  we  do  not  love  God,  and  so 
becomes  to  us  the  punishment  of  our  rebellion.  The 
psalmist's  trouble  at  first  produced  this  latter  result. 
He  tells  us  that  he  could  do  nothing  but  cry  out  all 
day  long,  '  Oh,  how  cruel  God  is  !  '  He  thought : 
'  Great  plagues  may  be  proper  for  the  ungodly,  but 
I  am  not  one  of  that  class.  I  have  been  constantly 
to  Jehovah's  temple  ;  I  have  punctually  brought  my 
sacrifices  ;  I  have  given  tithes  of  my  corn,  my  wine, 
and  my  oil ;  and  this  is  all  the  return  that  I  get ! ' 
He  did  not  say  this  ;  for  he  may  have  remembered 
that  verse  of  Job, — 
'  Why  dost  tlwu  strive  against  him  ? 
For  he  gvveth  not  account  of  any  of  Jiis  matters'  (Job 

xxxiii.  13). 

You  see,  he  could  not  frame  his  lips  to  prayer  ;  but 
at  least  he  would  not  blaspheme.  He  had  no  true 
love  of  God,  but  he  felt  at  times  that  after  all  he 
might  be  misapprehending  his  Maker.  And  so 
perhaps  this  unspoken  prayer  went  up — you  will  find 
it  in  the  same  book  of  Job — '  Show  me  wherefore 
thon  contendest  with  me'  (Job  x.  2).  And  imme- 

1  Job  xiii.  15)  A.V.  ;  it  is  an  erroneous  version,  however  (see  Fiar. 
Bible). 


PSALM  XXXII.  223 


diately  the  prayer  was  answered.  Was  it  by,  the 
help  of  a  prophet  that  the  sufferer  found  out  his 
unrepented  sin  ?  or  was  it  the  imperious  voice  of 
conscience  which  at  last  made  itself  heard  ?  The 
former  is  the  old  but  uncritical  view  adopted  by 
Robert  Burns  in  that  truly  sacred  poem,  'The  Cottar's 
Saturday  Night,'— 

'  Or  how  the  royal  bard  did  groaning  lie 
Beneath  the  stroke  o'  Heaven's  avenging  ire. ' 

I  prefer  the  latter,  because  it  is  the  most  natural,  and 
suits  the  words  of  the  psalm  best.     Surely  there  is 
nothing  kept  back  ;  the  psalmist  tells  us  the  whole 
history  of  his  repentance  : 
'  /  acknowledged  my  sin  unto  thee,  and  mine  iniquity  I 

covered  not  ; 

I  said,  I  will  confess  my  transgressions  unto  Jehovah, 
And  so  tJwu  forgavest  the  iniquity  of  my  sin' 

Now  let  us  try  to  understand  the  psalmist.  How 
did  he  know  that  God  had  forgiven  his  sin  ?  He  says 
nothing  about  sacrifices.  I  suspect  that  he  felt  at 
this  moment  as  all  men  who  are  deeply  concerned 
about  their  souls  must  feel,  that  no  ritual  performance 
as  such  could  have  any  real  effect  upon  God  ;  that  he 
must  throw  himself  absolutely  upon  God's  mercy, 
trusting  simply  and  solely  in  His  pardoning  love. 
But  even  then,  how  could  he  know  that  God  had 


224         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

pardoned  him  ?    Perhaps  he  felt  it,  you  may  say ;  but 
how  could  he  trust  his  feelings  ?      I  am  certain  that 
no  ancient  Israelite  would  have  trusted  his  feelings. 
'  The  Jews  require  a  sign,'  says  St.  Paul  (i   Cor.  i. 
22)  ;  and  this  expresses  a  characteristic  quality  of  the 
Jewish  nation.      The  Apostle  Thomas  was  a  typical 
Israelite.      The    sceptical    spirit,   which    had    been 
modified  in  the  other  apostles,  seems  to  have  existed 
in  him  in  all  its  original  force.      The  psalmist  must 
have  required  a  sign  that  his  transgression  was  really 
forgiven,  and  his  sin  covered.     Well,  there  can  hardly. 
be  a  doubt  as  to  what  that  sign  was.     It  was  the 
removal  of  that  outward  misfortune  which  had  first 
led   him    to   think   that   he    had   sinned.     There   is 
nothing  more  pathetic  than  the  limited  views  which 
many  of  the  best  of  the  Israelites  entertained  even 
down  to  our  Lord's  time.      They  could  not  conceive 
of  trouble  as  intended  to  deepen  and  purify  their  love 
to  God  ;  and  so,  when  trouble  came,  they  at  once 
leaped  to  the  conclusion  that  God  was  angry  with 
them.     I  call  it  pathetic,  because  being  such  earnest, 
devout  men,  it  seems  as  though  they  ought  to  have 
been  taught  better.     But  who  was   there   to   teach 
them  ?     One  can  blame  the  Roman  missionary  in  the 
Northumbrian  kingdom  for  letting  the  noble  Edwin 
form  such  an  imperfect  conception  of  the  Gospel  as 
this — that  it  would  necessarily  lead  those  who  em- 


PSALM  XXXII.  225 


braced  it  to  earthly  prosperity  :  a  mistake  fatally 
avenged  on  the  field  of  Hatfield  Chace.  But  whom 
are  we  to  blame  for  the  mistakes  of  the  psalmists  and 
prophets  ?  How  many  were  there  competent  to  teach 
them  better  ? 

So  then  the  sign  which  this  pious  Israelite,  and 
those  who  suffered  like  him,  desired  was  the  restora- 
tion of  earthly  prosperity  ;  and  a  merciful  God 
granted  it.  There  are  such  things  as  answers  to 
prayer,  whatever  sceptical  men  of  science  may  think  ; 
and  though  prayers  for  spiritual  are  safer  than  those 
for  temporal  blessings,  yet  even  these  latter  are  for 
wise  and  gracious  reasons  very  often  heard.  It  was 
so  in  the  case  of  the  penitent  sinner  who  wrote  this 
psalm.  God  dealt  tenderly  with  His  servant,  and 
would  not  shake  his  new-born  faith  by  leaving  him  in 
his  distress. 

But  will  any  of  us  try  to  bargain  with  God,  and 
offer  to  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins,  if  God 
will  also  take  away  all  the  impediments  to  our  earthly 
happiness  ?  Surely  not.  That  were  to  doubt  God's 
love,  and  to  set  up  our  wisdom  against  His  ;  that 
were  to  compare  two  classes  of  good  things  which 
are  by  their  nature  wholly  incommensurable.  The 
sign  of  a  spiritual  blessing  must  itself  be  spiritual. 
Need  I  say  what  the  true  sign  is  ?  Listen  to  St.  Paul. 

'  There  is  therefore  now  no  condemnation  to  them  that 

16 


226          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

are  in  Christ  Jesus.  For  tJie  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life 
in  Christ  Jesus  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and 
of  death'  (Rom.  viii.  I,  2,  R.V.).  That  is,  if  you  have 
been  forgiven  through  Christ  Jesus,  you  have  also 
received  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  walk 
not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit.  There  is  no 
arbitrary  connexion  in  this  case  between  the  sign  and 
that  of  which  it  is  the  evidence.  Because  Christ  died, 
not  merely  to  obtain  our  forgiveness,  and  restore  us 
to  infant  innocence,  but  to  mould  us  into  His  own 
likeness,  qualify  us  to  be  fellow  workers  with  Himself 
in  God's  kingdom.  Neither  is  any  mistake  about  this 
sign  possible.  A  young  Christian  may  stumble  very 
joften,  but  no  one  who  observes  him  closely  can  mis- 
I  take  the  direction  in  which  he  is  walking.  In  private, 
he  will  be  seen  to  court  solitude,  to  read  his  Bible, 
and  to  pray ;  in  public,  to  avoid  those  sins  to  which, 
before  he  made  his  baptismal  vow  a  reality,  he  was 
specially  prone,  and  to  cultivate  those  Christian 
graces  the  most  which  are  least  congenial  to  his 
temperament.  There  will  be  a  growing  earnestness 
in  his  manner,  a  growing  conscientiousness  in  his 
work,  and  a  growing  spirituality  in  his  use  of  forms, 
especially  of  the  most  sacred  and  best  beloved  of  all 
forms,  which  will  mark  him  off  at  once  from  those 
who  have  missed  the  happiness  of  coming  to  Jesus 
for  what  He  alone  can  give. 


PSALM  XXXII.  227 


But  note  the  beautiful  inconsistency  of  the  psalmist. 
He  believes  that  even  in  this  life  the  good  are  always 
rewarded,  and  the  bad  punished.  '  Great  plagues ;'  he 
says,  '  remain  for  the  ungodly,  but  whoso  trusteth  in 
JeJiovah,  lovingkindness  embracetJi  him  on  every  side' 
But  he  also  quotes  one  of  the  loveliest  promises  in 
the  Old  Testament — I  say,  he  quotes  it,  because 
beyond  doubt  it  was  in  a  special  sense  a  revelation 
to  him. 
'  /  ivill  instruct  thee,  and  teach  tJiee  in  the  way  tJion 

art  to  go  ; 
I  will  give  thee  counsel,  (keeping]  mine  eye  upon  thee? 

So  that,  you  see,  the  psalmist  was  not  merely 
anxious  for  temporal  deliverance  ;  he  longed  for 
trustworthy  moral  guidance,  and  the  sense  of  God's 
constant  protection.  Perhaps  indeed  one  may  say 
that  though,  in  deference  to  the  orthodoxy  of  his 
time,  he  gives  the  chief  prominence  to  an  earthly 
sign  of  forgiveness,  yet  in  reality,  in  his  heart  of 
hearts,  he  longs  most  for  the  spiritual  sign  of  intimate 
communion  with  God. 

Last  of  all,  observe  the  psalmist's  grateful  com- 
ment in  verse  6  : 
'  For  this  let  every  one  that  is  godly  pray  unto  thee  in 

time  of  distress, 

When  the  flood  of  the  great  waters  is  heard  ; 
Unto  such  an  one  they  shall  not  reach.11 


228         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


What  does  this  mean  ?  Well,  the  psalmists  delight 
in  picture-speech,  and  '  great  waters '  are  the  symbol 
of  a  great  trouble. 

'  Save  me,  O  God,  for  the  waters  are  come  in  even 
unto  the  life.' 

And  again,  '  All  thy  waves  and  thy  billows  are 
gone  over  me.' 

Now  does  the  writer  mean  that  in  really  great  per- 
sonal sorrows  the  only  true  comfort  is  in  prayer  ?  I 
do  not  think  he  meant  only  this.  If  you  look  at  the 
passages  in  which  this  figurative  language  is  used, 
you  will  find  that  the  troubles  chiefly  referred  to  as 
'  deep  waters '  are  not  personal  and  domestic  ones, 
but  those  great  calamities  in  which  all  the  members 
of  a  nation  participate.  Doubtless  the  psalmists  had 
personal  joys  and  sorrows — they  laughed  at  wed- 
dings, and  they  wept  at  funerals  ;  but  they  did  not 
make  these  the  theme  of  song.  How  widely  different 
in  this  respect  are  Christian  hymns  !  Do  I  blame 
their  writers  ?  Not  at  all ;  the  psalmists  had  such  an 
absorbing  interest  in  God's  kingdom  that  it  perhaps 
stunted  other  elements  in  their  character  not  less 
worthy  of  being  cultivated. 

Still  there  is  a  bracing  quality  in  the  old  Israelitish 
psalms,  which  contrasts  happily  with  the  softer,  sub- 
jective element  so  conspicuous  in  Christian  hymn- 
books  ;  and  this  arises  from  the  constant  reference  of 


PSALM  XXXII.  229 

the  psalms  to  the  temporal  and  spiritual  prospects  of 
the  Jewish  Church  and  nation.  If,  then,  we  desire  to 
taste  the  full  sweetness  of  the  psalms,  we  must  first 
of  all  learn  what  the  writers  meant,  and  then  apply 
this  not  merely  to  our  own  personal  circumstances 
(which  the  words  will  not  always  fit),  but  to  those  of 
the  universal  Church  and  the  English  nation.  The 
dangers  we  think  of  will  be  sometimes  material, 
sometimes  purely  spiritual ;  for  it  may  be  said  of 
bodies  of  men  as  well  as  of  individuals,  that  their 
wrestling  is  not  against  flesh  and  blood.  Is  it  not 
so  ?  Do  not  the  forces  of  evil  sometimes  almost 
seem  to  have  a  personal  life,  and  to  be  fighting  pas- 
sionately against  us  ?  Then  it  is  that  the  heart  finds 
its  way  to  its  chosen  psalms,  '  as  the  warrior's  hand 
to  the  hilt  of  his  sword.'  Luther  was  right  in  calling 
this  and  the  companion-psalms  the  best.  For  him 
they  were  the  best.  And  the  missionaries  of  our 
own  Church  are  right  in  going  to  the  psalms  for  com- 
fort in  the  moral  wastes  of  Central  Africa.  '  But  for 
the  psalms  of  David  and  of  Asaph,'  said  one  of  them 
in  Uganda  recently,  'I  could  not  bear  to  see  this 
all-but-omnipotent  reign  of  evil  ! '  But  we  need  not 
go  to  Central  Africa  ;  evil  is  all  too  potent  in  our 
very  midst  Let  us  fight  against  the  evil  in  our- 
selves, and  we  shall  have  need  enough  of  the  psalms 
of  David  and  of  Asaph.  We  shall  find  out  our  own 


230          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

special  psalms,  as  Luther  found  out  his.  Only  there 
is  one  verse  which  we  shall  never  have  occasion  to 
use,  '  Save  we,  O  God,  for  tJie  waters  are  come  in 
even  to  the  Life'  For  our  '  life  is  hid  with  Christ 
in  God.' 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PSALM   VIII.1 
(With  Note  on  Pss.  viii.,  xxiii.) 

ONE  can  perfectly  sympathize  with  that  ancient 
scribe  who  gave  the  heading  to  this  psalm  which 
assigns  it  to  David.  Has  not  its  poetry  a  clear  mark 
of  an  altogether  exceptional  genius  ?  If  the  scribe 
could  have  compared  this  psalm  with  contemporary 
songs,  Oriental  or  Greek,  how  he  would  have  been 
struck  by  its  moral  superiority !  In  all  ages,  indeed, 
it  has  been  difficult  to  infuse  a  moral  meaning  into  a 
poem  without  spoiling  it.  But  our  poet,  aided  by 
that  most  delicate  of  artists,  the  Divine  Wisdom,2  has 
been  easily  successful.  Can  we  wonder  that  this 
psalm  was  a  favourite  with  the  Lord  Jesus,  who 
quoted  it  at  the  climax  of  His  history,  and  may 
have  partly  derived  from  it  His  best-loved  title,  '  the 
Son  of  man ' ;  or  that  two  of  the  greatest  New  Tes- 

1  On  the  period  of  this  psalm,  see  B.L.,  pp.  201,  464. 

2  Prov.  viii.  30. 


232          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

tament  writers  quoted  it  to  justify  their  loftiest  in- 
tuitions ? z  We  must  not,  however,  approach  any 
Old  Testament  passage  from  the  point  of  view  of 
Christian  applications  of  it.  In  our  study  of  the  Old 
Testament  we  must  make  but  this  one  theological 
assumption  :  that  Christ  is  not  only  the  root  of  the 
new  Israel  but  the  flower  of  the  old,  and  that  the 
literature  of  the  Jewish  Church  contains  many  a  true 
germ  of  the  truths  of  the  gospel.  Beautiful  as 
mystical  interpretations  may  often  be,  it  is  not  wise 
to  indulge  in  them,  unless  they  are  consistent  with 
the  original  meaning  which  the  writer  himself  put 
upon  his  words. 

It  is  a  hymn  in  three  stanzas  that  we  are  about  to 
study,  with  the  two  first  lines  repeated  (in  ver.  9)  as 
a  chorus, — 

'Jehovah  our  Lord, 
How  excellent  is  thy  name  in  all  the  earth  /' 

The  three  stanzas  are  vers.  I  and  2,  3-5,  and  6-8. 
The  first  gives  the  occasion  of  the  poem  ;  the  '  sweet 
psalmist '  dedicates  his  powers  to  the  glory  of  Him 
who  is  at  once  the  God  of  Israel  and  of  all  nations, 
of  man  and  of  the  universe.  Like  the  author  of  the 

iO3rd    psalm,  he  looks    upon  man  as  the  priest  of 

\ 

nature,  and  in  the  abeyance  of  proper  worship  from 
the  Gentiles,  upon  Israel  as  the  priest  of  mankind. 

1  I  Cor.  xv.  27  ;  Heb.  ii.  8. 


PSALM  VIII.  233 


'Jehovah  our  Lord,' then,  means  '  Jehovah,  Lord  of 
praiseful  Israel,  and  of  mute  mankind.'  God  in  His 
lovingkindness  chose  the  family  of  Abraham  to  set 
an  example  of  that  righteous  way  of  life  which  He 
approves,  but  with  the  further  object  that  in  distant 
'days  all  nations  of  the  earth  should  'bless  themselves 
by  Abraham.' J  But  as  yet  few,  if  any,  of  the  Gen- 
tiles '  are  joined  unto  the  people  of  the  God  of 
Abraham.' 2  The  restored  exiles  have  no  material 
strength  ;  they  are,  as  the  psalms  so  often  say,  the 
4  poor  and  afflicted,'  and  the  nations  around  are 
hostile  to  them,  not  out  of  pure  spite,  but  because 
Jehovah's  religion  is  so  unlike  every  other.  '  Thine 
adversaries,'  the  psalmist  calls  them,  and  also  '  the 
enemy  and  the  avenger ' ;  or,  to  put  it  more  clearly, 
'the  self-avenger'  (i.e.  the  revengeful).  How  well 
one  can  understand  this  in  the  light  of  what  we  are 
told  of  Sanballat  the  Horonite  and  Tobiah  the  Am- 
monite in  the  book  of  Nehemiah,  and  again  of  what 
we  are  told  in  Psalm  Ixxxiii.  of  the  furious  nations, 
whom  '  Asaph  '  calls  '  thy  (i.e.  God's)  enemies,'  and 
whose  desire  was  '  that  the  name  of  Israel  might  be 
no  more  in  remembrance '  (vers.  2,  4)  ! 3  Against 
such  foes  what  weapons  had  so  small  and  weak  a 

1  Gen.  xviii.  18,  19.  2  Ps.  xlvii.  9,  Prayer  Book  Version. 

3  Note  that  the  phrase,  '  Jehovah  our  Lord  '  occurs  in  Nehemiah 
(x.  29),  and  that  '  our  Lord '  =  ' Jehovah  '  in  Neh.  viii.  10,  cf.  Ps. 
cxxxv.  5,  cxlvii.  5. 


234          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

people  ?  None  but  the  greatest  of  all.  Do  you 
guess  what  I  mean  ?  It  is  prayer  ;  not  only  that 
kind  of  prayer  which  expresses  itself  in  passionate 
cries  for  help — cries,  like  those  in  the  83rd  psalm, 
but  also,  when  Israel  has  had  time  to  collect  himself, 
the  prayer  which  is  transfigured  into  praise.1 
'  Out  of  the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  hast  thou 

established  strength, 
Because  of  thine  adversaries, 
That  thou  migJitest  still  the  enemy  and  the  avenger' 

Need  I  justify  myself  for  explaining  the  phrase 
'  babes  and  sucklings '  of  true  believers  (see  p.  247), 
or  remind  you  of  that  great  saying  of  Christ,  so 
thoroughly  Old  Testament-like  in  its  expressions, 
which  I  have  already  quoted  in  connexion  with  the 
story  of  Goliath  ? 2  Indeed,  the  sense  of  the  whole 
passage  ought  to  be  clear  enough.  It  means  that 
notes  of  praise  in  their  clear  and  heavenly  purity 
rise  far  above  the  harsh  discords  of  earth,  and  reach 
the  throne  of  God.3  There  they  become  like  the 
cherub  on  which  the  fancy  of  the  olden  time  pictured 
Jehovah  descending  to  fight  for  His  people.  A  later 
psalmist  of  more  spiritual  imagination  beautifully 
said  that  God  '  inhabiteth  the  praises  of  Israel.'  4 
Another  declared  that  praise  was  His  favourite  sacri- 

1  Ps.  xlii.  8.  2  Matt.  xi.  25  ;  cf.  p.  75. 

3  Cf.  Lam.  iii.  44.  4  Ps.  xxii.  3. 


PSALM  VIIL  235 


fice,1  and  our  present  psalmist  that  the  praises  of  the 
Church  are  like  a  tower  of  strength,  from  which  He 
will  invisibly  issue  forth  to  deliver  His  people.  For 
who,  if  Israel  be  destroyed,  will  praise  Him  ?  '  Who 
will  give  thee  thanks  in  the  pit  ? '  2  '  This  people  have 
I  formed  for  myself ;  they  shall  sJww  forth  my 
praise.'  3 

And  what  shall  be  the  subject  of  Israel's  praise  ? 
Let  another  psalmist  answer.  '  Many,  JeJiovah,  my 
God,  are  tJiy  wonderful  works  which  tJwu  hast  done, 
and  thy  thoughts  which  are  to  us-ward'  4  Israel  will 
assuredly  praise  his  God  for  the  wonders  of  his 
history  ;  but  shall  he  be  silent  when  he  '  considers ' 
the  wonders  of  creation,  especially  the  glorious 
'  moon  and  stars '  of  an  eastern  night,  which  give  so 
deep  a  notion  of  infinity  ?  You  see  that  to  this 
psalmist,  as  well  as  to  the  author  of  Psalm  civ.,  the 
name  Jehovah  suggests,  not  what  some  might  call 
a  narrow,  national  idea,  but  the  grand  though"  ^f  the 
universe,  heaven  and  earth,  moon  and  stars,  man  and 
his  willing  subjects.  '  How  excellent  is  thy  name  ! ' 
But  what,  more  precisely,  do  we  mean  by  the 
'  name '  of  Jehovah  ?  The  divine  name  can  neither 
be  shut  up  in  a  word  nor  in  a  house.  '  Our  Father  ' 
can  be  worshipped  by  those  who,  like  some  theists  in 

1  Ps.  1.  14.  2  Ps.  vi.  5. 

3  Isa.  xliii.  21.  4  Ps.  xl.  5. 


236          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


ancient  and  modern  times,  fear  to  name  Him,  and 
who  have- an  almost  morbid  distaste  for  sacred  places 
and  liturgical  forms.  The  '  name '  of  which  the 
psalmists  adoringly  speak  is  that  '  wonderful '  and 
ineffable  name,  in  which  all  the  manifestations  of 
Himself,  which  God  either  has  granted  or  may  grant 
are  summed  up.  That  great  storehouse  is  like  some 
mighty  stream,  from  which  millions  of  men  can  draw 
without  exhausting  it ;  save  that  the  Nile  and  the 
Euphrates  have  but  a  provincial  course,  whereas 
Jehovah's  name  '  is  excellent  in  all  the  earth.'  Time 
was  when  a  temple-poet  could  say,  '  His  name  is 
great  in  Israel.' J  But  our  psalmist  can  go  beyond 
this ;  to  praise  Jehovah .  is  the  birthright  of  every 
child  of  man,  seeing  that  he  is  also  ideally  a  child  of 
God.2  The  prayer,  '  Hallowed  be  thy  name,'  shall . 
one  day  be  a  reconciling  force  which  shall  '  make 
wars  to  cease  unto  the  end  of  the  earth.'  Why  not  ? 
Are  not  the  prayers  and  praises  of  the  Church  the 
true  cherubim  ?  And  must  not  Jehovah's  manifesta- 
tions of  Himself  in  the  future  be  as  great  as  those  in 
the  past  ? 

That  some  of  these  angels,  as  the  psalmist  might 
have  called  them,  are  on  their  way,  we  may  learn 
from  the  second  line  of  the  first  verse,  '  TJwu  whose 
majesty  is  raised  above  (see  Septuagint)  the  heavens? 

1  Ps.  Ixxv  .  i.  2  Luke  iii.  38. 


PSALM  VIII,  237 


The  thought  is  the  same  as  in  that  other  song  of 
creation — the  iO4th  psalm  (see  vers.  1-3).     There  is 
a    never-to-be-explored    storehouse   of  divine    glory 
above  the  heavens,  where  Jehovah  invisibly  sitteth, 
wrapped  in  light  as  in  a  mantle.     No  more  than  all 
that  light  which  was  created,  according  to  a  prose- 
poet,  on  the  first  day,  was  expended  on  the  sun,  the 
moon,   and    the   stars,   can    the    glory   of    Jehovah, 
whether  in  the  natural  or  the  spiritual  sphere,  have 
been  as  yet  fully  revealed.     His  mighty  acts,  not  less 
than  His  tender  mercies,  '  are  new  every  morning,'  * 
and  there  is  the  freshness  of  the  morning  dew  upon 
each    of   His    works.      Yes ;   the   saying,   '  There   is 
nothing  new  under  the  sun,'  may  be  half  true  when 
applied  to  man's  works ;  it  is  altogether  untrue  when 
applied    to    God's.     Shall    we  not  then    resist  those 
subtle  influences  which  tend  to  impair  the  faculty  of 
admiration,  by  which,  in  a  certain  sense,  as  Words- 
worth  says,  'we    live,'   not   less   than    by  hope  and 
love  ?     Shall  we  not  seek  to  renew  it,  if  it  is  impaired, 
and  say,  in  the  words  of  an  Egyptian  hymn,  '  O  my 
God  and   Lord,  who  hast   made  me  and  formed  me, 
give  me   an    eye   to    see   and    an    ear   to    hear   thy 
glories  ?  ' 2     For  if  we  are  only  able  to  perceive  it, — 
'  Day  unto  day  poureth  out  speech, 
A  nd  night  unto  night  showeth  forth  knoivledge '  (Ps. 

xix.  2). 
1  Lam.  iii.  23.  -  Renouf,  Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  126. 


238          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

One  of  the  greatest  of  the  prophetic  writers  says, 
'  He  wakeneth  mine  ear  morning  by  morning '  (Isa. 
1.  4).  This  openness  of  the  inner  eye  and  ear  we  call 
faith.  That  spiritually  minded  poet  to  whom  I  have 
just  now  referred  assures  us  in  Platonic  style  that 
every  child  has  visions,  denied  to  the  grown  man,  of 
the  heavenly  palace  from  which  he  came,  and  bids 
us  give  thanks  for  those  shadowy  recollections  which 
'  are  the  fountain  light  of  all  our  day,'  and  are  inti- 
mations of  immortality.  Let  us  follow  him  in  his 
happy  faith  respecting  those  who  in  age  are  children  : 
a  faith  which  accords  so  well  with  the  great  Teacher's 
assurance  of  their  nearness  to  the  King  of  kings.1 
But  let  us  not  resign  the  hope  that  visions  as  glorious 
of  their  palace-home,  and  a  resistance  as  absolute  to 
the  idea  of  death,  may  be  granted  to  all  those  who 
are  childlike  in  heart.  For  although  it  was  of  the 
children  of  a  Jewish  village  that  Jesus  said,  '  Their 
angels  do  always  behold  the  face  of  my  Father  which 
is  in  heaven  '  (Matt,  xviii.  10),  yet  is  there  any  reason 
to  think  that  God  cherishes  the  ideal  of  a  child  of  six 
more  than  the  ideal  of  a  child  of  sixty  ?  What  dif- 
ference can  fifty  or  sixty  years  make  in  God's  esti- 
mate of  us,  as  long  as  we  are  still  '  following  on  to 
know  Jehovah,'  still  improvable,  still  becoming  a 

1  Matt,  xviii.  10.     The  guardian  'angels  are  the  divine  ideals  of  the 
children. 


FSALM  VIII.  239 


little  more  idealized  year  by  year?     What  is  a  guar- 
dian angel  but  an  ideal  which  to  God  is  real,  and  very 
near  His   heart?1     Let  us  see  to  it  that  we   keep 
God's  ideal  of  our  lives  very  close  to  us,  and  that  we 
make   progress    in    the    language   of  childlike  faith, 
'which   He  so  loves  to  hear.     As  the  natural  faculty 
of  speech,    quite    apart   from    character,    makes   the 
poorest   child  more  glorious  than  the  whole  of  the 
mute  creation,  so  the  supernatural  faculty  of  praise 
gives  a  glory  to  the  meanest  believer  which  the  most 
intellectually  gifted  unspiritual  person  cannot  possess.! 
And  this  glory  is  the  '  strength '  or  '  stronghold '  of 
which  the  psalmist  speaks,  and  which  (according  to 
the  experience  of  the  Jewish  Church)  can  '  still  the 
enemy  and  the  revengeful.' 

Paradoxical  indeed  it  is  that  '  the  weak  things  of 
the  world '  should  thus  claim  the  ability  '  to  con- 
found the  things  which  are  mighty.' 2  But  not  more 
so  than  the  theistic  belief  itself.  No  theism  short  of 
absolute  trust  in  God  is  tolerable  in  the  face  of  the 


1  The  devout  faith  of  the  Old  Testament  writers  is,  that  God  has 
ever  at  hand  a  crowd  of  ideas  and  ideals,  waiting  to  be  realized  in  the 
world  of  humanity.     The  most  important  of  these  the  later  Jews  called 
'  the  seven  holy  angels  which  go  in  and  out  before  the  glory  of  the 
Holy  One  '  (Tob.  xii.  15;  cf.  Luke  i.   19).     But  our  Lord  assures  us 
that  the  ideal  of  each  childlike  soul  is  as  near  to  His  Father  as  the  ideal, 
say,  of  a  seventh  part  of  the  world.     It  is  the  glory  of  Jehovah  to  delight 
Himself  equally  in  the  greatest  and  in  the  seemingly  smallest  objects. 

2  i  Cor.  i.  27. 


240          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


miseries  of  human  life.  Job  had  not  this  absolute 
trust,  and  so  he  turned  the  admiring  exclamation  of 
the  psalmist  in  ver.  4  into  food  for  his  despairing 
pessimism. 

'  /  loathe  my  life  ;  I  would  not  live  alway. 

What  is  frail  man,  that  thou  shouldest  magnify  him, 
And  that  thou  shouldest  set  thine  heart  upon  him, 
And  that  thou  shouldest  visit  him  every  morning, 
And  try  him  every  moment?  ' x 

But  to  the  psalmist  it  is  a  pleasure  to  live,  even  (it 
may  be)  in  some  part  of  the  period  of  national  decline. 
High  thoughts  of  God  have  visited  Israel  in  its  humi- 
liation. The  more  exalted  Jehovah  is  seen  to  be, 
the  greater  becomes  the  wonder  and  the  joy  of  His 
continual  nearness  to  Israel.  There  is  no  greater 
marvel  even  to  us  than  the  success  with  which  the 
Jewish  saints  have  combined  in  their  practical  religion 
the  idea  of  God's  transcendence  with  that  of  His  im- 
manence. With  such  a  God  so  near,  so  high  and  yet 
so  lowly  (the  epithet  is  surely  more  suitable  than 
'  condescending '),  how  can  favoured  man  envy  the 
state  of  angels  ? 
'  Thou  madest  him  scarce  less  than  angels, 

1  Job  vii.  16-18.  The  date  of  the  Book  of  Job  is  either  Exilic  or 
post-Exilic.  Note  that  'enes/i,  with  the  connotation  of  weakness,  is 
characteristic  of  Job,  Psalms,  2  Isaiah,  and  2  Chron.  There  is  a  slight 
presumption  therefore  that  these  books  are  contemporary. 


PSALM  VIII.  241 


And  didst  crown  him  with  glory  and  honour  ; 

Thou  madest  him    to  have  dominion  over  the  works 

of  tJiy  hands, 
Thou  didst  put  all  things  under  his  feet J 

But,  again,  how  can  these  things  be  ?  For,  as  the 
.'earliest  Christian  commentator  on  the  psalms  has 
said,  '  we  see  not  yet  all  things  put  under  him.' z 
Well,  the  psalmist  doubtless  alludes  to  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis,  which  is  not  indeed  described  as 
a  vision,  but  is  as  much  a  vision  as  -any  poetic 
description  of  what  is  ideally,  but  not  altogether 
really  true,  ever  was.  We  need  not  be  surprised  that 
one  of  the  temple-poets  glides  into  the  same  style. 
In  ver.  2,  he  is  in  the  midst  of  the  daily  life  of  his 
people,  and  speaks  of  the  spiritual  '  stronghold ' 
which  Jehovah  has  granted  to  it.  Then,  being  a 
special  admirer  of  the  first  of  the  two  primitive 
histories  in  Genesis,  he  throws  himself  into  its  ideal- 
izing mode  of  thought,  and  contemplates  God's  high 
purpose  for  man.  But  with  the  biblical  writers  the 
ideal  is  not  '  baseless  as  the  fabric  of  a  vision  '  of  the 
night ;  it  is  the  prophecy  of  the  real  that  shall  be. 
St.  Paul  therefore  rightly  interprets  our  psalm  2  in  the 
light  of  Isaiah  xxv.  8,  '  He  hath  swallowed  up  death 
for  ever.'  Death  is  the  great  hindrance  to  the  reali- 
zation of  God's  purpose  for  man,  and  death,  according 

1  Heb.  ii.  8.  2  i  Cor.  xv.  26,  27,  54. 

17 


242          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

to  the  unnamed  prophet  of  the  Jewish  Church  who 
wrote  those  words,  is  to  be  annihilated  in  the  Mes- 
sianic age.  '  For  behold,'  as  another  glorious  un- 
named prophecy  says,  '  I  create  new  heavens  and  a 
new  earth,  and  the  former  things  (darkened  as  they 
were  by  the  shadow  of  death)  shall  not  be  remembered, 
nor  come  into  mind.' J  And  that  scholar  of  St.  Paul, 
though  different  in  many  ways  from  his  master,  who 
wrote  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  with  not  less  sub- 
stantial truth  speaks  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Person 
who  was  for  a  little  while  made  lower  than  the  angels, 
and  yet  was  Lord  of  all,  because  in  Jesus  the  spiritual 
ideal  of  man  is  fully  realized.2  The  psalmist  does,  in 

(fact,  look  forward,  not  consciously  to  the  coming  of 
Jesus  Christ,  but  to  the  realization  of  the  human  ideal 
through  some  mighty  act  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  He 
recapitulates  the  ancient  charter  of  man's  royal  dignity, 
and  refuses  to  admit  a  doubt  as  to  man's  ultimate 
assumption  of  his  rights.  So  to  think  is  to  have  a 
foretaste  of  future  blessedness ;  so  to  trust  is  to  be 
beyond  the  power  of  grief  to  sadden,  or  of  trouble  to 
cast  down. 

'  What  a  piece  of  work  is  man  ! '  exclaims  Shake- 
speare. '  How  noble  in  reason !  how  infinite  in 
faculties !  in  form  and  moving  how  express  and 
admirable  !  in  action  how  like  an  angel  !  in  appre- 

*  Isa.  Ixv.  17.  a  Heb.  ii.  6-9 


PSALM  VIII.  243 


hension  how  like  a  god  !  '  But  who  can  say  this 
unless  he  believes  with  our  noble  Milton  that  Time 
can  take  away  nothing  that  is  '  sincerely  good  and 
perfectly  divine  '  ?  It  remains  true  that  only  as  we 
•'  live  in  God  have  we  the  promise  of  realizing  our 
ideals  in  a  blessed  immortality.  Unless  we  can  say 
the  1 6th  psalm,  the  despairing  question  recurs  in  all 
its  gloom, — 
'  What  man  is  lie  tJiat  shall  live  on  and  not  see 

death, 

That    shall   deliver    his    soul  from     the    hand    of 
Hades?' 

The  charter  of  man's  dignity  is  a  dead  letter  to 
those  who  have  no  germs  of  the  Christlike  cha- 
racter. 

'  Man  that  is  in  honour,  but  understandetJi  not, 
Is  like  unto  the  beasts  that  perish.1  * 

Man    is   not   only   not   above  nature,  apart    from 
Christ,  but   among   the   weakest  of  nature's  slaves. 
The  beasts  suffer  less,  the  trees  are  more  long-lived! 
than  he;  civilization  does  but  make  him  less  inde-' 
pendent,    less    easy   to    content.       He   cannot   even 
comfort  himself  with  his  ideals,  for  what  proof  is 
there   that  they  will  ever   be  realized  ?      A  Jewish 
saint  could  only  build  up  his  faith  on  the  intuitions 
of  greater   saints    than    he  ;    a   Christian    saint   can 

1  Ps.  xlix.  20. 


244          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

build  up  his  upon  facts  —  upon  the  facts  of  the 
historical  revelation  of  God  in  Christ.  Well  may 
we  Christians  say,  with  a  clearer  consciousness  of  the 
meaning  of  the  words  than  the  psalmist  can  have 
enjoyed, 

'  What  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him  ? 
And  the  son  of  man,  that  tJiou  visitest  him  ?  ' 


NOTE  ON  PSALMS  VIIL,  xxm. 

These  psalms  agree,  not  only  in  the  smoothness  of 
their  style  (which  separates  them  from  the  psalms  of 
persecution),  but  in  the  situation  implied,  which  is 
that  of  one  who  has  found  '  rest  after  toil,  port  after 
stormy  seas.'  They  differ  in  three  respects, —  i.  Ps. 
viii.  is  avowedly  a  Church-psalm  (see  vv.  I,  9),  while 
Ps.  xxiii.  is,  at  any  rate  at  first  sight,  a  psalm  of  the 
individual  (but  cf.  ver.  6ti]  ;  2.  Ps.  viii.  fixes  the  atten- 
tion on  the  lordship  and  condescending  graciousness 
of  Jehovah,  Ps.  xxiii.  on  His  ever-present  guardian- 
ship, and  3.  Ps.  viii.  is  a  contemplation  of  the  works 
of  God  in  creation,  Ps.  xxiii.  of  His  providential 
dealings  with  His  guarded  one.  The  ascription  of 
these  psalms  to  David  has  taken  hold  of  the  popular 
fancy,  and  we  often  find  them  referred  to  as  illustra- 


PSALM  VIII.  245 


tivc  of   David's  thoughts  while   tending  his  father's 
sheep  at    Bethlehem.      Tholuck  for  instance,    in  his 
popular    work   on    the    Psalms,    represents   them   as 
having  been  actually  composed  in  these  circumstances, 
though  Mrs.  Oliphant,  while  regarding  them  as  '  doubt- 
less the  product  of  David's  early  thoughts  and  expe- 
riences/ leaves  it  uncertain  whether  they  were  '  pro- 
duced then  or  in  an  after  day.' z     If  indeed  we  apply 
to   critics    like    Ewald  and    Hitzig,    who  were    but 
half  emancipated  from  the  late  Jewish  tradition,  we 
shall  hear  that  Ps.  viii.  is  more  certainly  Davidic  than 
Ps.    xxiii.  ;    but   probably    most    readers   would    far 
sooner   yield,  up  the  former   psalm  than    the   latter. 
For  while  Ps.  viii.  is  only  marked  out  as  the  work  of 
a  shepherd,  or  of  one  who  had  been  a  shepherd,  by 
the  fact  of  its  being  a  night-psalm  (cf.  Luke  ii.  8), 
Ps.  xxiii.  draws  its   chief  images   directly  from  the 
pastoral  life.     Let  us  then  mention,  first  of  all,  the 
two  objections  to  the  '  Davidic  theory  '  which  apply 
to  both  psalms  equally.      First,   how  unlike  is  the 
conception   of  Jehovah  which  they  present   to   that 
found   in  that  undoubtedly  primitive  Hebrew  poem 
— the  Song  of  Deborah.     Some  of  the  germs  of  that 
conception  may  indeed  be  traced  in  Judg.  v.,  but  how 
undeveloped   they  are  !     Secondly,  how  improbable 

1  Jerusalem,  p.  9.     Hengstenberg  too  thinks  that  David  wrote  these 
psalms  after  he  had  become  king. 


246 


THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


it  is  that  a  young  shepherd-boy  should  have  indited 
psalms  like  these  !  As  Hengstenberg  says,  '  Only  the 
wine-press  produces  wine,'  i.e.  such  psalms  necessarily 
presuppose  the  mellowing  influence  of  a  long  and 
varied  career. 

Let  us  next  consider  these  psalms  separately. 
Ps.  viii.  manifestly  presupposes  the  existence  of  Gen. 
i.  i-ii.  4*7.  But  this  great  section  of  the  priestly 
narrative  is  at  any  rate  post-Davidic.  Ps.  viii.  also 
refers  to  true  believing  Israelites  under  the  figure  of 
'  little  children  and  sucklings,'  whereas  David,  even 
according  to  the  less  historical  tradition,  could  '  play 
with  lions  as  with  kids'  (Ecclus.  xlvi.  3).  Ps.  xxiii.  is 
closely  akin  to  Ps.  xxvii.  1-6,  and  must  belong  to 
some  part  of  the  same  period.  Both  poems  express 
a  love  for  the  sanctuary,  the  intensity  of  which  is 
inconceivable  before  the  centralizing  movement  of 
Josiah.  And  though  Delitzsch  urges  with  justice 
that  '  house '  may  be  used  in  the  sense  of  '  tent,'  yet, 
unless  compelled  to  do  so  by  a  convergence  of  other 
arguments,  we  have  no  right  to  explain  the  phrase, 
'  house  of  Jehovah  '  otherwise  than  we  explain  '  Jeho- 
vah's palace '  (Ps.  v.  8,  and  elsewhere),  which  must 
mean  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.  The  arguments  for 
a  late  and  presumably  post-Exilic  date  are  suggested 
by  a  faithful  exegesis  of  the  psalms,  and  by  their 
affinities  to  other  post-Davidic  and  (often)  post-Exilic 


PSALM  VIII.  247 


works.  Cf.  B.L.,  201,  464  (for  Ps.  viii.),  236,  237, 
272  (for  Ps.  xxiii.),  and  for  the  figure  of  Jehovah  as 
the  Shepherd  and  Teacher  both  of  Israel  and  of  each 
good  Israelite,  343-348,  352. 

I  venture  to  add  that  this  psalm-study  first  ap- 
peared long  before  Professor  Kirkpatrick's  commen- 
tary, which  makes  the  same  use  of  Wordsworth's 
great  Ode  on  Immortality.  The  view  here  adopted 
on  Ps.  viii.  2  differs,  however,  from  Professor  Kirk- 
patrick's. A  reflexion  on  the  inarticulate  testimony 
to  the  Creator  borne  by  the  weakness  of  natural 
infancy  seems  to  me  improbable  in  this  context,  and 
expressed  in  such  an  awkward  form.  Surely  Ps. 
xliv.  16  is  evidence  of  the  original  meaning  of  the 
verse,  which,  standing  as  it  does  in  the  midst  of 
persecution-psalms,  most  naturally  refers  to  the  special 
circumstances  of  Jewish  believers. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PSALM   XVI.  x 

(With  Note  on  Ps.  xvii.   15.) 
I. 

HERE  is  a  psalm  well  worthy  to  be  called,  as  the 
margin  of  King  James's  Bible  translates  the  Jewish 
heading,  a  '  golden  '  psalm.  Golden  indeed  it  is  ;  it 
belongs  to  that  Bible  within  the  Bible  which  the 
Christian  instinct  teaches  all  of  us  to  rediscover  for 
ourselves,  and  in  which  the  New  Testament  writers 
took  such  keen  delight.  In  childlike  faith  these 
holy  men  of  old  found  their  Saviour  in  the  i6th 
psalm  ;  and  so  may  we,  on  the  single  condition  that 
we  do  not  disregard  those  laws  of  the  human  mind 
which  God  Himself  made.  Childlike  faith  must  in 

1  On  the  period  of  Pss.  xvi.  and  xvii.,  see  B.L.,  pp.  196-198,  226-229, 
and  the  linguistic  argument,  pp.  465,  466. 


PSALM  XVI.  249 


us  be  coupled  with  manly  reasonableness.  The  first 
believers  practically  rewrote  the  Psalter  for  edifica- 
tion, without  thinking  of  its  original  meaning  ;  they 
took  every  one  of  the  150  psalms  into  the  shrine  of 
Gospel  utterances.  We  who  come  after  them  cannot 
give  this  particular  proof  of  our  belief  in  the  divinity 
of  the  Old  Testament  revelation.  In  adapting-  the 
psalms  to  the  needs  of  edification,  we  who  desire 
to  consecrate  our  intellect  to  Christ  must  seek 
counsel  of  a  criticism  and  an  exegesis  which  are 
nothing  if  they  are  not  psychological;  that  is,  if 
they  are  not  in  full  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the 
human  mind. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact,  that  the  latest  German 
commentator  on  the  psalms1 — the  editor  of  an  ex- 
position by  that  unimpassioned  but  yet  evangelical 
theologian  Hupfeld — has  no  hesitation  in  including 
Psalm  xvi.  among  those  which  were  influenced  by 
the  Second  or  Babylonian  Isaiah.  Obviously  the 
exegesis  which  finds  real  though  imperfect  Christian 
anticipations  in  the  psalm  is  much  more  credible 
(see  p.  133)  upon  this  theory  of  the  date  than  upon 
any  other.  Let  us  see  how  the  theory  lends  itself 
to  the  purposes  of  practical  exegesis,  and  regard 
this  not  as  a  royal,  but  as  a  Church-psalm. 

1  Dr.  Wilhelm  Nowack.  See  Hupfeld's  Psalmen,  3rd  edition,  vol.  i., 
P-  233- 


250          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


1  Preserve  me,  0  God :  for  in  thee  do  I  put  my  trust. 
I  have  said  unto  JeliovaJi,  tliou  art  my  Lord  : 
I  have  no  good  beyond  thee' 

The  words  in  the  third  line  are  not  a  mere  flower 
of  rhetoric.  They  tell  us  that  the  'pleasant  land,' 
so  fruitful  and  so  fair,  would  have  no  charm  in  the 
eyes  of  true  Israelites  without  the  spiritual  glory  of 
the  knowledge  of  Jehovah's  will.  Do  not  mistake 
the  meaning  of  '  I  have  said.'  The  speaker  does 
not  mean  to  tell  us  that  at  a  certain  day  and  hour 
he  '  read  his  title  clear '  to  the  divine  favour.  No ; 
he  refers  not  to  the  past,  but  to  the  present.  The 
words  of  the  solemn  confession  have  been  uttered 
just  now  in  his  heart,  and  the  rest  of  the  psalm  is 
but  an  expansion  of  them.  '  Thou  art  my  Lord  ; 
Thou  art  my  only  happiness.'  How  thoroughly 
Christian  this  is  !  The  Christian  and  the  Moham- 
medan both  address  their  God  as  '  Lord/  but  in 
what  a  different  sense  !  A  Christian  looks  upon  his 
God  as  not  merely  his  Master,  but  the  director  and 
helper  of  his  work.  God  and  he  are  united  in  the 
same  great  moral  enterprise.  The  sense  of  this 
constitutes  his  happiness. 
'  As  for  the  saints  that  are  in  the  land, 
And  thine  excellent  ones,  all  my  delight  is  in  them.' J 

1  .Here  I  have  been  obliged  to  deviate  from  the  Revised  Version. 
Nor  can  I  adopt  either  of  two  ingenious  conjectures  (Baethgen's  and 
Wildeboer's)  based  more  or  less  on  the  Sept.  and  on  passages  of 


PSALM  XVI.  251 


Why  this  mention  of  the  '  saints,'  or,  literally, 
'  holy  ones '  (i.e.  the  faithful  Israelites),  and  the 
'  excellent  (or,  glorious)  ones '  (i.e.  the  priests,  who 
in  Isaiah  xliii.  28,  I  Chronicles  xxiv.  5,  are  called 
'  holy,  or  consecrated,  princes ')  almost  in  the  same 
breath  with  Jehovah  ?  Because,  in  the  troublesome 
days  which  followed  the  reforms  of  Ezra  and  Nehe- 
miah,  the  society  which  a  man  kept  was  the  test  of 
his  religion.  Israel  was  surrounded  by  heathen 
peoples,  and,  as  Psalm  Ixxiii.  shows,  many  believers 
in  Jehovah  stumbled  at  the  prosperity  of  the  un- 
godly (i.e.  of  the  heathen).  Our  psalmist  disclaim 
connexion  with  such;  Jehovah  is  his  L'ord,  an 
Jehovah's  priests  are  his  honoured  leaders.  The 
house  of  David  has  passed  into  obscurity,  and  the 
priests  and  the  teachers  of  the  Scriptures  are  more 
and  more  seen  to  be,  under  God,  the  true  defenders 
of  the  Church-nation.  t 

'  They     multiply     their     own    griefs,     who     change 
(Jehovah)  for  another' 

The  meaning  of  this  depends  on  our  interpretation 
of  the  close  of  the  psalm.     Presupposing  that  vers. 
10  and   ii    involve    the    belief  in  'eternal  life,'  one 
% 

Isaiah  (cf.  Expositor,  Dec.,  1891).  I  have  thought  it  well,  however,  in 
this  conference,  if  I  may  call  it  so,  on  a  much-prized  psalm,  to  give 
way  to  the  Received  Text  by  retaining  the  first  part  of  its  third  verse, 
as  I  have  already  yielded  to  the  Revised  Version  by  adopting  its  version 
of  the  difficult  and,  as  I  think,  corrupt  words  in  ver.  2/>. 


252          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

may  hold  that  the  above  words  refer  either  to  the 
great  judgment-day,  or  to  the  preliminary  judgment 
of  the  soul  after  death,  when  the  wicked,  as  the  pro- 
phet says,  'shall  lie  down  in  anguish.' *     How  should 
the  psalmist  desire  the  short-lived  pleasures  of  these 
doomed  sinners?     '  Let  me  not  eat  of  their  dainties,' 
says  a  like-minded  temple-poet.  2     For  at  every  meal 
there,  would  be  a  libation  of  wine  to  some  false  god 
('  blood,'  our  psalmist  calls  it3),  and  some  light  idola- 
trous phrase  would  be  on  every  tongue.    Therefore, — 
'  Let  me  not  pour  out  their  drink-offerings  of  blood, 
Nor  take  their  (idols')  names  upon  my  lips? 
Observe  that  this  fine    psalm  is  free  from  impre- 
cations.    The  speaker  gazes  in  sadness  at  the  poor 
deluded  heathen,  and  passes  by.     They  have  their 
'  portion '    in .  the    life   of    the    senses,   as   the   next 
psalm  says  (v.  14)  ;  but  Israel's  '  portion  '  is  not  chiefly 
the  '  pleasant  places  '  in*  which  tJie  lines  have  fallen 
unto  him  (ver.  6),  but  moral  friendship  with  his  God. 
'Jehovah  is  mine  appointed  portion  and  cup  '  (ver.  5)  ; 
or,  as  another  poet  says,    '  Whom  have  I  in  heaven 
\biit  Thee)  ? '  meaning  that  heaven  is  but  '  a  closer 
/walk  with  God.'     Our  psalmist  continues,  '  Thou  art 

I 

1  Isa.  1.  11.  2  Ps.  cxli.  4. 

3  Cf.  the  phrase  '  the  blood  of  grapes '  (or,  the  grape),  Gen.  xlix.  n, 
Ecclus.  1.  15,  I  Mace.  vi.  34.  If,  with  Prof.  W.  R.  Smith  (Religion  of 
the  Semites,  p.  214),  we  take  '  blood  '  literally,  the  psalm  still  need  not 
be  pre-Exilic  (see  Isa.  Ixv.  II,  Ixvi.  3). 


PSALM  XVI.  253 


continually  my  lot'  '  Continually  '  implies  that 
spiritual  blessings  are  not  like  '  treasures  upon 
earth.'  'While  he  has  any  being,'  the  saint  will 
need  no  other  treasure  but  his  God.  But  the  word 
suggests  more  than  this.  There  is  a  larger  and  a 
lesser  interpretation  of  the  fine  word  '  continually.' 
If  at  the  end  of  the  psalm  the  poet  should  be  found 
to  have  risen  to  the  conception  of  'eternal  life,'  it 
will  be  not  unreasonable  to  see  an  allusion  to  this 
already.  But  the  two  next  verses  certainly  refer  in 
the  main  to  time  present. 

'/  bless  Jehovah,  who  hath  given  me  counsel, 

Yea,  in  the  nights  my  longings  prompt  me  thereto. 

/  have  set  Jehovah  before  me  continually  : 

For  with  him  at  my  right  hand  /  cannot  be  moved.' 

Wise   counsel    was   indeed  the  great  need  of  the 

Israelites  who  returned  from    Babylon.     Sad  would 

have  been  their  fate,  if  God  had  not  raised  up  Ezra 

as   a    reformer,  and    the  psalmists   as   purifiers  and 

fosterers  of  the  spiritual  life !     And  what   was  true 

of  the    Church    might   also    be    said   of  each  of  its 

members,  in  so  far  as  they   recognized    their   share 

in    the   common    work.     The   comfort  of  each   true 

believer,  as  well  as  of  the  Church  was  that  expressed 

by  our   psalmist  in  the  first  part  of  ver.  7,  and  by 

another   in  the   beautiful    words,    '  Thou   wilt  guide 

me  with  thy  counsel'  (or,  'according    to    thy  pur- 


254          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

pose  ').  I  In  other  words,  regenerate  Israel  rejoices 
in  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  For  this  best 
of  gifts  the  speaker  who  represents  his  people  blesses 
Jehovah  by  day  and  by  night.  *  Whither  can  I  go 
from  thy  spirit  ? '  says  another  psalmist  ;  '  when  I 
awake,  I  am  still  with  thee.' 2  How  beautiful ! 
The  thought  of  God  is  his  pillow,  and  when  he  rises 
from  his  couch,  it  is  to  utter  the  praises  of  which  his 
heart  is  full.  His  eyes  are  ever  towards  Jehovah, 
and  he  fears  not  what  the  future  may  bring.  Trouble 
itself  is  a  sweet  and  strengthening  wine,  because  the 
cup  has  been  filled  by  the  King  of  love. 

How  different  is  the  mysticism  3  of  psalms  like 
xvi.,  xvii.,  and  Ixxiii.  from  much  that  passes  by 
this  word  of  various  acceptations  !  Where  but  in 
the  Bible  can  we  find  an  absorption  in  God  which 
does  not  prevent  a  true  and  tender  interest  in  the 
cares  and  sorrows  of  humanity?  There  is  a  morbid 
and  artificial  corruption  of  Bible-mysticism  which 
has  done  violence  to  our  best  natural  feelings,  and 
even  lighted  the  flames  of  religious  persecution. 
But  the  psalmists  whom,  from  their  grasp  of  the 
mystery  of  the  life  in  God,  we  call  '  mystic '  do  not 
debar  themselves  from  simple,  natural  pleasures,  nor 
do  they  close  their  eyes  to  the  '  pleasant  places '  of 

1  Ps.  Ixxiii.  24.  2  Ps.  cxxxix.  7,  18. 

3  I  cannot  help  wishing  that  we  could  distinguish  the  true  mysticism 
from  the  false  by  using  for  the  former  such  a  word  as  mystique. 


PSALM  XVI.  255 


their  'delightsome  land.'  They  have  got  beyond 
that  most  pathetic  sigh  of  a  wounded  spirit,  in 
which  the  psalmist  appeals  to  God  for  clemency 
as  a  '  stranger  '  and  a  '  sojourner.' J  But  they  would 
cheerfully  give  up  all  for  God  and  His  law ;  the 
Jewish  Church  is  being  prepared  for  the  great  per- 
secution of  the  following  period.  The  psalmist  knew 
that  he  dwelt  in  God,  and  God  in  him,  that  as  a 
member  of  the  true  Israel  he  was  safe  in  life  and  in 
death.  Let  us,  spiritual  Israelites,  take  a  lesson  from 
his  faith.  Only  if  we  can  say  to  our  God,  '  Thou  art 
my  Lord,  I  have  no  good  beyond  thee,'  can  we  join 
with  perfect  confidence  in  the  prayer,  '  Preserve  me, 
O  God  :  for  in  thee  do  I  put  my  trust.'  Perfect 
trust  belongs  only  to  him  who  has  surrendered  him- 
self wholly  to  God.  How  perfect  our  psalmist's  trust 
is,  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  he  does  not  repeat 
this  prayer.  So  clear  is  his  believing  insight  into 
God's  purposes,  that  his  one  prayer  passes  directly 
into  prophecy  and  into  glad  rejoicing  at  an  assured 
inheritance.  And  why  should  not  our  spiritual 
standard  be  equally  high  ?  Why  should  we,  living 
in  the  full  light  of  the  Gospel,  be  outdone  by  Jewish 
saints  ? 

1  Ps.  xxxix.  12.  We  can  hardly  accept  the  interpretation  of  this 
passage  given  in  Heb.  xi.  13-16.  The  psalmist's  tone  precludes  the 
idea  that  he  looks  forward  to  '  a  better  country,  that  is,  an  heavenly.' 
Would  that  it  were  otherwise  ! 


256          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

For  consider.  This  1 6th  psalm  is  not  merely  the 
record  of  a  personal  mood,  and  to  be  realized  only  in 
those  exceptional  moments  when  we  happen  to  be  in 
a  like  mood  ourselves.  It  is  a  Church-psalm,  and 
describes  a  state  open  to  every  true  Jewish  Church- 
man, in  so  far  as  he  is  a  Churchman.  What  was  it 
that  made  a  Jewish  Churchman,  do  you  ask  ?  The 
same  which  makes  each  of  us  a  Christian  Churchman, 
— the  possession  of  or  the  being  possessed  by  the 
Holy  Spirit.  The  difference  between  a  Jewish  and 
a  Christian  Churchman  is  this — that  the  one  had  not, 
and  the  other  has,  a  clear  and  consistent  idea  of  the 
character  of  his  Divine  Guest.  '  God,  having  of  old 
times  spoken  unto  the  fathers  in  the  prophets  by 
divers  portions  and  in  divers  manners,  hath  at  the 
end  of  these  days  spoken  unto  us  in  His  Son,  .  .  .  the 
effulgence  of  His  glory,  and  the  very  image  of  His 
substance.'  So  says  the  nameless  author  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  the  words  cast  a  bright 
light  on  the  difference  between  the  dispensations. 
Both  were  dispensations  of  the  Spirit ;  but  there  was 
a  want  of  uniformity,  a  want  of  consistency,  a  want 
of  clearness  in  the  one  which  made  it  painfully  diffi- 
cult to  maintain  the  highest  level  of  spiritual  religion. 
But  to  us  a  vision  has  been  granted  of  One  whom  the 
Holy  Spirit  so  filled,  that  an  apostle  speaks  with 
equal  readiness  of  the  Spirit  of  God  and  the  Spirit 


PSALM  XVI.  257 


of  Christ  The  life  of  Christ  is  to  us  the  highest 
embodiment  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  Why  should  it  be 
hard  to  '  set  God  always  before  us,'  and  to  find  our 
sole  happiness  in  Him,  when  we  have  such  a  sweet 
and  affecting  picture  of  the  character  of  God  in  the 
Gospel  history,  and  when  the  Father  has  sent  us 
such  a  perfect  expositor  of  the  things  of  Jesus  'in  the 
Paraclete  or  Comforter?  Few  Jewish  Churchmen 
probably  had  the  constant  sense  of  the  Spirit  abiding 
upon  them  ;  but  the  meanest  Christian  Churchman  is 
privileged  to  have  this  sense,  if  so  be  that  he  has 
really  believed  in  Christ,  and  been  '  sealed  with  that 
Holy  Spirit  of  promise,  which  is  the  earnest  of  our 
inheritance.'  Truly  may  we  say,  '  The  lines  are  fallen 
unto  me  in  pleasant  places  ;  yea,  I  have  a  goodly 
heritage ' :  for  to  have  within  us  the  Spirit  of  God 
and  of  Christ,  and  to  love  and  trust  and  rejoice  in 
God,  is  the  secret  which  transforms  this  earth  into 
the  vestibule  of  heaven. 

II. 

'  In  the  forum  of  a  ruined  Roman  city  in  what  is 

now  Algeria  is  a  pavement-slab,  with  an  unfinished 

•inscription  rudely  scratched,  and  still  so  fresh  that  it 

might  have  been  scratched  only  a  night  or  two  before 

the  overthrow  of  the  city.     Within    an  ornamental 

bower  are  the  words,  "  To  hunt,  to  bathe,  to  play,  to 

18 


258         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  Off  THE  PSALTER. 

laugh — that  is  to  live."  '  We  know  the  stern  but 
kind  judgment  which  the  God  in  history  pronounced 
on  this  corrupt  type  of  society.  But  this  low  ideal  of 
life  was  not  peculiar  to  the  Romanized  subjects  of 
the  seven-hilled  city.  The  want  of  a  belief  in  a 
second  and  happier  life,  open  not  merely  to  special 
favourites  of  the  gods,  but  to  all  who  followed  after 
righteousness,  drove  many  men  at  all  times  into  a 
position  practically  the  same  as  that  of  the  degenerate 
Romans.  In  the  autobiographic  Book  of  Ecclesiastes 
we  see  an  Israelitish  thinker  succumbing  to  a  sensual- 
istic  theory  ;  only  at  intervals  and  at  the  end  of  the 
book  does  a  break  in  the  clouds  perhaps  reveal  a 
loftier  view  of  the  aims  of  life.  On  the  other  hand, 
in  the  beautiful  Book  of  Wisdom,  another  Jewish 
sage,  residing  at  Alexandria,  after  describing  at 
length  the  theory  and  the  practice  of  those  who  made 
pleasure  their  god,  expresses  his  own  utter  abhorrence 
of  both ;  and  before  him  the  authors  of  Psalms  xvi., 
xvii.,  and  Ixxiii.  successfully  resist  the  temptations  of 
sensualism,  and  burst  into  the  noblest  utterances  of 
their  own  perfect  contentment  with  the  true  chief 
good,  that  is,  God.  Listen  to  these  words  from 
Psalm  xvii.  : 

'  Deliver  my  soul  from  the  wicked  by  thy  sword  ; 
From  men  of  the  world,  whose  portion  is  in  life, 
And  whose  craving-  thou  fillest  with  thy  treasure. 


PSALM  X  VI.  259 


As  for  me,  I  shall  behold  thy  face  in  rigJiteousness  : 
Let  me  be  satisfied,  when  I  aivake,  with  thine  image  !  ' 
Do  you  not  seem  to  hear  the  ring  of  one  of  St. 
John's  favourite  phrases — '  the  world  '  ?  '  Love  not 
the  world,  neither  the  things  that  are  in  the  world.' 
Psalmist  and  apostle  alike  teach  that  the  true  life  is 
the  life  in  God,  and  that  the  soul's  true  home  is  not  a 
place,  call  it  earth  or  call  it  heaven,  but  the  light 
which  no  earthly  eye  can  see  of  Jehovah's  counte- 
nance. This  is  the  sweet  mysticism  of  the  psalmists, 
based  upon  the  mystery  into  which  they  have  been 
divinely  initiated  of  the  'path  of  life'  (ver.  n).  To 
understand  this,  it  is  not  enough  to  be  an  accom- 
plished critic  of  words  and  sentences  ;  a  man  must 
have  a  real  affinity  to  the  mind  of  the  psalmists. 
'He  that  is  spiritual,' as  St.  Paul  says, 'judgeth  all 
things.' J  For  the  doctrine  of  immortality  there  may 
be  divers  logical  arguments  ;  but  the  scholar  of  the 
psalmists  does  not  reach  it  by  any  of  them.  It  is  to 
him  an  almost  inevitable  inference  from  the  facts  of 
his  spiritual  experience.  (I  say  nothing  at  present  of 
the  great  historical  fact  which  completes  his  assur- 
ance.) Living  as  he  does  by  prayer,  and  with  a  sense 
of  the  invisible  things  which  grows  every  day  in 
strength  and  purity,  he  cannot  imagine  that  his 
intimacy  with  God  will  come  to  an  abrupt  end.  His 

1   I  Cor.  ii.  15. 


26o         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

delight  is  to  carry  on  God's  work  in  the  world,  even  if 
it  be  only  by  the  silent  testimony  of  a  godly  life  ;  and 
will  he  for  his  recompense  be  cast  out  into  '  the  land 
where  all  things  are  forgotten  '  ?  *  There  was  a  time 
when  even  psalmists  feared  this.2  But  how  could  a 
saint  who  so  loved  God  as  to  say,  '  Whom  have  I  in 
heaven  but  thee?'  acquiesce  in  the  thought  that  God's 
love  to  him  would  be  terminated  by  his  death  ?  And 
why  should  the  lot  of  those  heroic  saints  of  whom 
tradition  told  that  God  had  taken  them  to  Himself 
be  an  altogether  exceptional  privilege?  And  so  in 
Psalms  xlix.  15,  Ixxiii.  23,  24,  we  seem  to  overhear 
whispered  anticipations  of  something  not  less  glorious 
for  each  believer  than  was  granted  of  old  to  Enoch 
and  Elijah.  True  happiness  to  the  psalmists  is  not 
merely  the  round  of  vanities  so  unblushingly  set 
forth  in  that  Algerian  inscription,  nor  can  the  '  path 
of  life'  issue  in  a  delusive  mirage.  Thou,  O  God, 
being  the  saint's  '  ruler  and  guide,'  he  can  '  so  pass 
through  things  temporal '  as  '  finally  not  to  lose  the 
things  eternal.'  Or  rather  there  is  no  sharp  antithesis 
between  this  world  and  the  next.  Heaven  is  where 
God  is  felt  to  be.  The_pnly  distinction  which  Psalms 
xvi.  and  xvii.  recognize  is  life  with  and  life  without 


1  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  12  (Prayer  Book  Version). 

2  Ps.  xxx.  8,  9 ;  Ixxxviii.  5  (both  in  R.V.). 


PSALM  XVI.  261 


St.  Peter,  as  reported  in  the  Acts,  calls  the  author 
of  Psalm  xvi.  a  prophet.  The  psalmists  are  in  fact 
half-prophets.  All  prayer  is  based  upon  a  revelation, 
and  the  highest  kind  of  prayer  leads  on  to  fresh 
revelations.  Not  of  course  mechanical  revelations, 
if  the  phrase  may  be  used  without  offence  ;  the 
revelations  in  which  a  modern  exegesis  can  acquiesce 
must  be  and  are  at  once  natural  and  supernatural. 
The  teachers  of  the  Jewish  Church-nation  refounded 
— or,  if  you  will,  founded — by  Ezra,  came  to  believe 
as  they  did  by  a  gradual  development,  under  the 
Spirit's  influence,  of  germs  already  in  their  minds. 
And  some  modern  interpreters  find  it  a  much  less 
strain  upon  their  faith  to  believe  that  the  '  mystic 
psalms '  teach  immortality,  if  these  psalms  are  as- 
signed to  the  age  of  Ezra,  than  when  they  felt 
compelled  by  an  uncriticized  tradition  to  refer  at 
any  rate  Psalms  xvi.  and  xvii.  to  the  rude  age  of 
David.  The  deepening  of  personal  religion  which 
went  on  during  and  after  the  Captivity  made  it 
(as  one  is  now  permitted  to  think)  natural  to  the 
strongest  believers  to  accept  the  Holy  Spirit's 
highest  teaching.  Tennyson  speaks  of  '  faintly ' 
trusting  the  '  larger  hope.'  The  larger  hope  of  those 
times  was  personal  immortality.  It  may  well  be  that 
some  Jewish  Churchmen  could  trust  it  but  faintly. 
But  this  was  not  the  case  with  the  greater,  the  mystic 
psalmists. 


262         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OP  THE  PSALTER. 


1  TJierefore  my  heart  is  glad,  and  my  glory  rejoiceth, 

My  flesJi  also  dwelleth  confidently  ; 

For  thoii  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  to  Sheol, 

Neither  wilt  tJwu  suffer  thy  godly  one  to  see  the  pit.1  * 

Does  this  merely  mean  that  the  believer's  God  will 
deliver  him  out  of  his  distress,  and  not  suffer  him  to 
go  down  to  the  grave  in  the  midst  of  his  days  ?  I 
cannot  think  it.  The  psalmist  does  not  pray  as  in 
Psalm  xiii.,  '  Lighten  mine  eyes,  that  I  sleep  not  in 
death.'  His  tone  is  calm  and  his  style  is  smooth. 
There  is  in  his  work  none  of  the  abruptness  and 
excitement  characteristic  of  some  gloomy  persecution 
psalms.2  The  only  trouble  he  mentions  is  the  con- 
tinual presence  of  a  gross  heathenism,  but  God 
preserves  him  from  being  cast  down  even  by  this. 
Yes  ;  there  are  worse  troubles  than  death.  To  see 
millions  of  our  fellow-creatures  subject  to  moral 
death  is  far  worse  to  a  Christian  than  to  be  called 
away  when  his  work  on  earth  is  done.  Read  the 
letters  of  the  heralds  of  the  Cross  in  heathen  lands. 
'  Oh  !  it  is  a  stifling  atmosphere,  this,'  says  a  zealous 

1  Ps.  xvi.  9,   10  (quoting  from  R.V.,  and  adopting  three  marginal 
renderings).      On  the  rendering  '  the  pit,'  see  Dean  Perowne's  very 
moderately  expressed  note. 

2  This  remark  does  not  apply  to  Ps.  xvii.    If  Pss.  xvi.  and  xvii.  were 
written  in  the  same  period,  we  must  suppose  that  the  heathen,  whose 
presence  is  felt  indeed  in  Ps.  xvi.,  but  not  as  a  cause  of  disquietude,  had 
begun  again  to  trouble  faithful  Israel.     Circumstances  seem  to  have 
changed  almost  as  frequently  in  the  days  of  post-exile  Israel  as  in  the 
life  of  the  great  poet-king  David. 


FSALM  XVI.  263 


French  missionary  in  Africa.1     'To  battle  with  un- 
mixed heathenism  is  more  painful  than  our  friends  at 
home  can  imagine.      It  would   be  quite  unbearable 
without  Him  "in  whose  presence  is  fulness  of  joys.'" 
You    see,  he    draws   comfort   from   the   i6th   psalm. 
Does  he  fear  death  ?     No  ;  as  little  as  another  earnest 
French  believer2  who  said,  'I  cannot   be  afraid  of' 
death,  for  I  have  talked  so  much  with  God.'     The 
psalmist,  be  sure,  would   have  said  the  same  thing. 
The  habit  of  prayer  makes  it  unnatural  not  to  believe 
in  immortality.     To  say, — 
'  0  God,  thou  art  my  God,  early  do  I  seek  thee  ; 
My  soul  tJiirstetJi  for  thee,  my  flesh  longeth  after  thee,' 3 
would  be  impossible,  after  the  problem  of  the  future 
life  had  once  been  raised,  if  God  did  not  answer  the 
prayer  by  shedding  abroad  in  the  heart  the  conscious- 
ness of   eternal    life.       Let  us  read  the   loth  verse 
again,  substituting  however  the  phrase  '  loving  one ' 
for  '  godly  one.' 
'  For  thou  wilt  not  leave   (or,  abandon)   my    soul  to 

Sheol ; 
Neither  wilt  thou  suffer  thy  loving  one  to  see  the  pit' 

Now,  what  does  '  thy  loving  one '  mean  ?     That 
depends  on  what  '  love  '  or  '  lovingkindness '  mc^ns 

1  M.  Coillarcl.     Conip.  the  late  Bishop  French's  last  letter. 

2  Mme.  de  Broglie,  a  friend  of  Erskine  of  Linlathen. 

3  Ps.  Ixiii.  I. 


264         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

in  the  psalms.  You  could  not  guess,  even  from  the 
Revised  Version,  how  often  this  word  occurs,  the 
translators  having  too  commonly  put  '  mercy '  in- 
stead of  '  lovingkindness.'  It  has  three  kindred 
meanings :  '  first,  the  covenant-love  of  Jehovah  to 
those  who  know  and  serve  Him ;  next,  the  covenant- 
love  of  a  servant  of  Jehovah  to  his  God  ;  and,  lastly, 
the  love  of  Jehovah's  servants  among  themselves  ' 
(i.e.  brotherly  love).  By  calling  himself  God's 
'  loving  one '  the  psalmist  implies  an  argument — 
— virtually  the  same  argument  which  I  have  put  into 
words  already.  The  fact  that  the  God  of  love  has 
entered  into  a  covenant,  both  with  Israel  and  with 
•  each  Israelite,  has  made  it  possible  for  a  child  of 
,  man,  weak  and  sinful  as  he  is,  to  know  the  everlast- 


*  »>  ^ing  God.     Now  '  God  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead,  but 
t**\\fa.  God  of  the  living.'     That  being  so,  God's  love  to 

fr  \Jr* 

man  and  man's  love  to  God  form  a  bridge  by  which 
the  human  spirit  can  cross  the  river  of  Death  un- 
harmed. Not  only  the  true  Israel  (that  is,  the 
Church),  but  the  true  Israelite  (that  is,  the  believing 
Churchman),  is  made — to  use  New  Testament  lan- 
guage— '  partaker  of  the  divine  nature.'  J  '  Because 
I  live,'  says  the  Son  of  God,  '  ye  shall  live  also.' 

Do  you  ask,  further,  as  to  the  nature  of  this  eternal 
life  ?     Our  Lord  Himself  tells  us,  '  This  is  life  eternal, 

1  2  Pet.  i.  4. 


PSALM  XVI.  265 


that  they  might  know  thee  the  only  true  God,  and 
Jesus  Christ,  whom  thou  hast  sent.' *  The  psalmist, 
indeed,  could  not  have  uttered  the  last  part  of  this 
definition.  His  eyes  were  holden,  so  that  he  could 
not  see  the  historical  form  of  the  fulfilment  of  pro- 
phecy. What  he  says,  he  says  of  himself;  God's 
'  loving  one '  (or,  '  godly  one ')  is,  of  course,  the 
psalmist,  as  in  Psalm  iv.  3-2  But  of  this  he  is  well 
aware,  that  only  those  who  know  God  spiritually  can 
be  in  covenant  with  Him. 
'  For  with  tJiee  is  the  fountain  of  life  : 
In  tJiy  light  can  we  see  light. 

O  continue  thy  lovingkindness  unto  them  that  know  thee, 
A  nd  thy  righteousness  to  the  upright  in  Jieart!  3 

Now  it  is  in  the  nature  of  knowledge  to  grow. 
The  bonds  of  sense  prevent  the  knowledge  of  God 
from  expanding  to  the  uttermost ;  therefore  even 
God's  '  loving  one '  must  die.  Calmly  does  the 
psalmist  look  forward  to  his  dissolution  ;  for  to  die 
is  to  depart  and  be  in  the  fullest  sense  with  God. 
Some  students  have  been  uncertain  whether  he  ex- 
pects to  pass  through  an  intermediate  state,  or 
anticipates  an  immediate  admission  to  the  divine 
presence  after  death.4  The  story  of  Enoch  and 

1  John  xvii.  3. 

-  Where  A.  V.  and  R.  V.  both  render  '  him  that  is  godly. ' 

3  Ps.  xxxvi.  9,  10.  4  See  note,  p.  269,  &c. 


266         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


Elijah  would  suggest  the  latter  view  to  him  ;  two  post- 
Exilic  prophecies  the  former.  The  question  is,  Did  the 
authors  of  Psalms  xvi.  and  xvii.  know  either  of  those 
prophecies  as  well  as  those  striking  narratives  ?  For 
my  own  part,  I  cannot  doubt  that  they  did  ;  for  at  the 
end  of  Psalm  xvii.  I  read  these  remarkable  words, — 
'  Let  me  be  satisfied,  when  I  awake,  with  thy  form  ! ' 

Does  not  this  at  once  remind  us  of  Isaiah  xxvi. 
I9,1  '  Awake  and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in  dust,'  not 
to  mention  the  still  later  prophecy  in  Daniel  xii. 
2,  ( Many  of  those  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the 
earth  shall  awake '  ?  Now,  if  we  hold  that  these 
psalms  belong  to  the  post-Exile  period,  how  can 
we  be  surprised  to  find  in  one  of  them  an  allusion 
to  the  resurrection  ?  And  since  they  are  twin-psalms, 
the  Christian  instinct  must  be  right  in  interpreting 
them  both  as  referring  to  the  same  great  belief.  An 
intermediate  state  must  therefore  also  be  presup- 
posed— not  a  joyless  Hades,  in  which  the  voice  of 
prayer  and  praise  is  hushed,  but  a  true  though  faint 
copy  of  the  mansion  prepared  in  heaven.  Our  Lord, 
who  nourished  His  own  spiritual  life  upon  the  psalms, 
beautifully  expresses  the  psalmists'  meaning,  when 
He  says  in  the  parable  that  '  the  beggar  was  carried 
by  the  angels  into  Abraham's  bosom.' 

1  See  Mr.  G.  A.  Smith's  striking  treatment  of  this  late  prophecy, 
and  of  the  prophetic  intuition  of  immortality,  in  the  Expositor's  Bible. 


PSALM  XVI .s  267 


That  the  psalmists'  expressions  are  vague,  I  know. 
They  had  a  firm  but  not  a  very  definite  faith  in  a 
future  life.  We  cannot  wonder  that  many  of  the  Jews 
hesitated  to  admit  such  sweet  and  comforting  ideas. 
The  Sadducees,  as  the  Gospels  tell  us,  expressly 
denied  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  and  were 
rebuked  by  our  Lord  for  their  want  of  insight.  They 
were  the  agnostics  of  their  time;  at  least,  they  wished 
to  minimize  the  element  of  mystery  in  revealed 
religion.  It  was  Jesus,  the  '  Author  and  Perfecter  of 
our  faith,'  who  saved  His  Church  from  the  variations 
and  vacillations  of  Judaism  by  the  great  fact  of  the 
resurrection.  Say  what  you  will  of  the  difference 
between  prediction  and  poetry,  it  remains  true  that 
the  noblest  passages  of  the  psalms  belong  to  Jesus 
Christ  in  a  higher  sense  than  to  any  Jewish  or 
Christian  saint,  simply  because  He  and  He  alone 
is  the  perfect  Israelite,  the  fulfilment  of  the  ideals  of 
the  elder,  and  the  pattern  for  the  imitation  of  the 
younger  Church.  Sweet  it  is  to  find  something  in 
which  we  can  agree  with  the  most  uncritical  inter- 
preters, viz.  the  view  that  the  best  parts  of  the 
psalms  are  true  anticipations  of  Christ,  '  that  in  all 
things,'  as  St.  Paul  says,  '  he  may  have  the  pre- 
eminence.' 

The  fewest  words  are  the  best  in  summing  up  a 
psalm  like  this.  I  would  only  ask,  Have  we  in  some 


268         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


measure  caught  that  faith  and  hope  which  glowed  so 
brightly  in  the  psalmist  ?  Unless  we  can  conscien- 
tiously apply  vers.  9-11  in  some  degree  to  ourselves, 
there  is  no  inward  compulsion  upon  us  to  apply  it  in 
a  secondary  and  mystic  sense  to  Christ.  It  would 
be  something,  no  doubt,  merely  to  have  discovered 
an  improved  form  of  the  argument  for  Christianity 
from  the  Christian  elements  in  the  Old  Testament. 
But  the  1 6th  psalm  ought  to  enable  us  to  do  more 
than  this.  The  holy  psalmist  talked  with  God.  Can 
we  in  like  manner  talk  with  God,  and  with  the 
Saviour  who  died  to  bring  us  near  to  God  ?  Noble 
as  the  prayers  of  the  Psalter  are,  we  ought  not  to.  rest 
in  them,  but  to  follow  in  the  path  which  the  psalmists 
trod.  '  Let  me  hear  what  the  Lord  God  will  say  con- 
cerning me]  says  the  Prayer  Book  Version  of  Psalm 
Ixxxv.  S.1  '  Speak  thou  to  me,  O  Lord,  not  Moses, 
nor  the  prophets,'  says  the  devout  author  of  the 
Imitation.  The  habit  of  spiritual  converse  with  God 
gives  us  an  insight  into  His  purposes,  and  enables  us 
who  are  united  to  Christ  by  faith  to  apply  to  our- 
selves St.  Peter's  comment  upon  ver.  9 :  '  Whom  God 
raised  up,  having  loosed  the  pangs  of  death  :  because 
it  was  not  possible  that  he  should  be  holden  of  it.' 2 

1  The  Septuagint  inserts  the  words  tv  ipoi.  2  Acts  ii.  24. 


PSALM  XVI.  269 


NOTE  ON  PSALM  xvn.  15. 

It  is  impossible  to  study  Ps.  xvi.  without  illus- 
trating it  by  its  fellow-psalm,  which,  at  its  conclusion, 
rises  into  the  same  bright  region  of  ideal  hope  as 
Ps.  xvi.  This  is  how  ver.  15  runs  : — 

As  for  me,  I  shall  behold  thy  face  in  righteousness  ; 
Let  me  be  satisfied,  when  I  awake,  with  thy  form. 

Ps.  xvii.  is  one  of  the  most  striking  persecution-psalms 
of  the  late  Persian  age.1  We  cannot  on  that  account 
say  that  it  is  bound  to  contain  a  reference  to  the  new 
great  hopes  current  in  that  period  ;  but  we  may, 
when  two  interpretations  are  equally  possible,  prefer 
the  one  which  involves  such  a  reference.  The 
'awaking,'  then,  spoken  of  in  ver.  15,  is  not  that 
from  nightly  sleep,  but  is  of  a  transcendental  order. 
f^pn?,  literally  '  at  the  awaking,'  may  mean  '  when 
life's  short  night  is  past,'  or  when  the  relative  sleep  of 
the  intermediate  state  gives  place  to  the  intense 
vitality  of  a  new  phase  of  being.  In  the  one  case 
the  higher  immortality  is  the  hope  of  those  whom 
the  psalmist  represents  ;  in  the  other,  this  combined 
with  the  resurrection.  And  if  both  the  idea  of  the 
resurrection  and  that  of  immortality  are  equally 
characteristic  of  the  Persian  age,  what  object  is  there 

1  I  take  the  following  from  a  university  lecture  printed  in  the  Ex- 
pository Times,  Aug.,  1891. 


270         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

in  resting  satisfied  with  what  is  in  one  sense  the 
lesser  meaning?  If,  in  Isa.  xxvi.  19,  Dan.  xii.  2, 
'awaking'  has  the  definite  sense  of  rising  again,  what 
reason  is  there  for  giving  it  any  vaguer  meaning 
here  ?  Notice,  however,  that  there  is  no  separating 
veil  between  heaven  and  earth.  The  risen  man  will, 
according  to  the  psalmist,  see  God  as  truly  as  if  he 
were  in  heaven.  '  Face  '  and  '  form  '  are,  of  course, 
but  symbols  for  the  divine  glory.  Need  I  add  that 
this  verse,  especially  if  taken  with  the  preceding  one, 
is  thoroughly  Zoroastrian  in  spirit?  (See  Yasna 
xliii.  3.) 

But  here  I  come  into  conflict,  to  some  extent,  with 
the  latest  commentator  on  the  psalms,  Professor 
Kirkpatrick  of  Cambridge.  This  conscientious 
scholar  comments  as  follows  on  ver.  15:  '  The 
words  are  commonly  explained  of  awaking  from  the 
sleep  of  death  to  behold  the  face  of  God  in  the  world 
beyond,  and  to  be  transfigured  into  His  likeness. 
Death  is  no  doubt  spoken  of  as  sleep  (xiii.  3),  and 
resurrection  as  awakening  (Isa.  xxvi.  19  ;  Dan.  xii. 
2).  But  elsewhere  the  context  makes  the  mean- 
ing unambiguous.  Here,  however,  this  meaning  is 
excluded  by  the  context.  The  psalmist  does  not 
anticipate  death,  but  prays  to  be  delivered  from 
it  (vers.  8  ff).'1  Professor  Kirkpatrick's  criticism 

1  The  Book  of  Psalms,  vol.  i.  (Cambridge,  1891),  p.  83. 


PSALM  XVI.  271 


upon  the  incomplete  interpretation  which  he  adduces, 
is  partly  justified.  The  psalmist's  words  do  not  refer 
exclusively  to  the  state  of  the  soul  after  death.  But 
he  errs,  I  venture  to  think,  in  supposing  that  either 
here  or  in  xvi.  9-11  'death  fades  from  the  psalmists' 
view '  altogether.  Reading  Psalms  xvi.  and  xvii.  as 
products  of  the  late  Persian  period,  when  the  higher 
Jewish  religion  had  become  conscious  of  its  ten- 
dency, and  been  stimulated  by  the  example  of  Zoro- 
astrianism,  I  find  it  very  difficult  to  assert  that  there 
is  no  reference  at  all  to  the  bliss  into  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  higher  religion,  the  soul  is  introduced  after 
death.  Let  us  pass  to  Ps.  xvi.  The  psalmist  prays 
thus  :  '  Preserve  me,  thou  God  in  whom  I  trust,  to 
whom  I  am  entirely  devoted,  and  who  art  my  sole 
happiness.'  The  divine  answer  is :  'I  will  not 
abandon  thee  to  thy  murderous  assailants,  but  will 
both  prolong  thy  life  and  sweeten  it  with  proofs  of 
my  lovingkinclness,  and  with  the  assurance  of  my 
nearness.'  Does  the  prayer  seem  to  us  sufficiently 
covered  by  the  answer,  from  the  point  of  view  which 
we  have  adopted  ?  For,  after  all,  the  peril  of  death 
must  return,  and,  according  to  the  traditional  ortho- 
doxy, '  Who  remembereth  [God]  in  death,  or  can  give 
[Him]  thanks  in  the  pit  ? '  The  deliverance,  then, 
for  which  the  psalmist  prays  must  be  twofold :  first, 
from  the  immediate  peril  of  death,  and,  secondly, 


272          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PS  ALTER. 


that  from  death  itself  absolutely  and  entirely.  And, 
to  judge  from  the  lofty  tone  of  vers.  5-8,  he  cares 
most  for  the  second.  The  life  for  which  he  craves  is 
that  communion  with  God  which,  though  begun  in 
this  life,  can  only  be  perfected  in  another.  Death,  to 
the  nobler  psalmists,  is  not  departure  to  dark  Sheol, 
but  an  'assumption'  to  be  with  God  (Ps.  xlix.  16, 
Ixxiii.  24).  Such  death  cannot  '  fade  from  the 
psalmist's  view.' 

I  know  the  objections  that  may  be  raised  to  this 
interpretation,  and  have  already  endeavoured  to 
answer  them  in  my  Bampton  Lectures.  It  may  be 
said,  for  instance,  that  it  presupposes  a  mysticism  in 
the  psalmist,  which  is  alien  to  the  Jewish  character. 
'  For  opposite  reasons,'  says  Professor  Seth,  '  neither 
the  Greek  nor  the  Jewish  mind  lent  itself  to 
mysticism.' *  The  answer  is,  first,  to  define  mys- 
ticism rightly,  and  next  to  enlarge  our  view  of  the 
facts  of  Jewish  literature.  Another  objection  is  that 
I  have  antedated  the  distinction  between  this  life  and 
the  next — this  and  the  coming  age.  There  is  some 
reason,  however,  to  think  that  in  this,  as  in  many 
other  respects,  the  evolution  of  Jewish  thought  has 
been  continuous,  and  that,  while  elaborate  logical 
theories  were  late,  the  germs — or  rather  some  of  the 
germs — of  later  theories  can  be  traced,  if  not  with 

1  (Encyclopedia  Britannica,  xvii.  130.) 


PSALM  X  VI.  273 


clearness  to  the  first,  yet  to  the  second  century  of 
the  Persian  rule  in  Palestine.  On  this  subject  I  can- 
not now  dwell  at  length,  but  will  ask  the  reader  to 
remember  the  constant  presence  of  Zoroastrian  ideas 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Jews.  The  distinction 
in  question  was  already  familiar  to  Mazda-wor- 
shippers, and  its  adoption  would  be  helped  forward 
by  the  nascent  consciousness  of  the  Jews  that  '  com- 
munities are  for  the  divine  sake  of  individual  life,  for 
the  sake  of  the  love  and  truth  that  is  in  each  heart.' T 
Could  this  love  and  truth  be  'as  water  spilt  on  the 
ground  '  ?  Must  there  not  be  a  second  stage  of  life  ? 
There  was,  however,  no  sharpness  in  the  antithesis, 
because,  according  to  a  fundamental  principle  alike 
of  the  higher  Zoroastrian  and  the  higher  Jewish 
religion,  heaven  is  primarily  not  a  place,  but  a 
spiritual  state.  One  point  more  and  I  will  pass  on. 
The  reader  will  not  be  surprised  that  here,  too,  I  sup- 
pose a  diversity  of  interpretation  to  have  existed 
from  the  first,  and  to  have  been  anticipated  and 
sanctioned  by  the  writers  of  Ps.  xvi.  and  xvii.  I 
have  stated  which  interpretation  was,  in  my  opinion, 
preferred  by  the  psalmists,  and  mentioned  a  second 
less  adequate,  but  still  possible,  one.  There  is  also  a 
third  which  I  have  indicated  in  my  commentary.  It 
was  adopted  by  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  of  old  and 

1  Kingsley. 
19 


274         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

has  found  its  ablest  modern  advocate  in  Rudolf 
Smend.1  The  view  is  that  the  speaker  is  the  Church- 
nation  personified.  Modern  minds  find  it  difficult 
to  take  in  the  nationalistic  interpretation  of  the 
psalms  ;  I  have  endeavoured  in  my  Bampton  Lec- 
tures to  meet  their  difficulties.  There  is  much  in  the 
Psalter  which  is  primarily  said  of  the  true  Israel. 
But  since  whatever  is  said  of  the  Church-nation  is 
applicable  to  each  faithful  Israelite,  we  must,  I  think, 
reject  Smend's  assertion  of  the  exclusive  reference  of 
Ps.  xvi.  and  xvii.  to  the  nation.  'A  study  of  the 
spiritual  atmosphere  of  the  psalmist's  age  leaves  no 
doubt  in  my  mind  that  Ps.  xvi.  10,  n  [and  still  more 
Ps.  xvii.  15]  must  have  been  appropriated  without 
deduction  by  faithful  Jews.' 2 

1  Zeitschrift   f.d.    alttestamentliche    Wissenschaft,    1888,   P.   93-96. 
l^pHS    '  at  the  awaking,'  is  very  difficult  on  Smend's  theory.     He  pro- 
poses to  correct  %?]V'li?L!?.  '  when  thou  awakest.'    God  is  said  to  'awake' 
to  judgment  in  xxxv.  23,  Ixxiii.  20.     But  a  reference  to  the  judgment 
introduces  a  jarring  note. 

2  B.L.,  p.  407. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PSALM   XXIV.1 

PSALM  xxiv.  3  (part),  8  (part)  : 

'  Who  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  Jehovah  ?  .  .  . 

Who  is  the  King  of  glory  ?  ' 

Two  striking  questions,  even  apart  from  the  context. 
Mountain  scenery  spoke  not  to  the  ancients  with  the 
same  thrilling  and  inspiring  voice  with  which  it  speaks 
to  us  ;  and  yet  many  a  fair  Eastern  mountain  had  that 
to  give  for  which  the  traveller  gladly  ascended  its 
wooded  heights.  But  here,  says  the  psalmist,  is  a 
mountain  still  more  difficult,  on  moral,  not  physical 
grounds,  than  snow-white  Hermon ;  it  is  the  hill 
where  Jehovah  dwells.  Who  can  venture  to  climb 
it  ?  And  the  other  question  is  equally  searching. 
What  is  the  King  of  glory  like  ?  How  shall  His 
nature  be  best  described  ?  A  God  can  give  but  that 
which  He  has.  Is  the  King  of  glory  like  unto  or 
1  Comp.  B.L.,  pp.  235,  236. 


276         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

different  from  the  nature  which  He  has  given  to 
man  ?  Upon  the  solution  of  the  problem  the  whole 
character  of  a  religion  depends.  Nobly  has  Charles 
Wesley  described  the  soul's  struggle  to  obtain  an 
adequate  one.  From  that  truly  great  hymn,  '  Come, 
O  Thou  Traveller  unknown,'  how  can  I  help  quoting 
a  single  verse  ? — 

'  Wilt  Thou  not  yet  to  me  reveal 

Thy  new,  unutterable  name  ? 
Tell  me,  I  still  beseech  Thee,  tell  ; 

To  know  it  now  resolved  I  am  ; 
Wrestling,  I  will  not  let  Thee  go, 
Till  I  Thy  name,  Thy  nature  know.' 

But  I  wish,  not  directly  to  assume  the  Christian 
vantage-ground  in  answering  these  questions,  but  to 
consider  how  the  magnificent  psalm  in  which  they 
occur  may,  with  due  regard  to  the  laws  of  the  human 
mind,  be  interpreted.  I  wish  that  we  may  learn  how 
to  make  the  reading  and  the  singing  of  the  psalms, 
more  than  it  sometimes  is,  a  sacrifice  of  the  intellect. 
To  understand  the  24th  psalm  we  must  take  it  in 
connexion  with  the  23rd.  The  Song  of  the  Shepherd 
concludes  with  the  hope  of  dwelling  in  the  house  of 
Jehovah  for  ever  ;  and  the  psalm  before  us,  putting 
aside  the  solemn  overture  in  vers.  I,  2,  begins  with  a 
question  as  to  the  qualifications  of  those  who  can 
ascend  the  mountain  where  Jehovah  dwells.  The 
hope  of  Jehovah's  lamb  is  not  merely  to  spend  all 


PSALM  XXIV.  277 


his  days  in  the  temple,  much  as  he  loves  the  house 
where  he  has  so  often  'seen  God's  power  and  glory,'  * 
it  is  to  feel  that  wherever  he  may  be,  there  the  tent  of 
his  Shepherd  is  stretched  above  him — there  he  may 
be,  inwardly  at  least,  safe  from  his  enemies — there  he 
may  experience  that  '  lovingkindness '  which,  as  a 
kindred  psalm  expresses  it,  'is  better  than  life  itself.'2 
And  now  each  Israelite  who  covets  this  high,  privilege 
of  seeing,  though  but  in  a  shadow,  the  face  of  God  is 
taught  to  question  himself  as  to  his  ability  to  pass  the 
divine  tests.  The  verses  in  which  this  lesson  is  con- 
veyed (vers.  2-5)  remind  us  of  the  I5th  psalm,  and 
both  have  a  certain  affinity  to  the  declaration  which 
the  soul  of  a  deceased  person  pronounces  before  the 
divine  judge  Osiris,  according  to  the  religion  of 
Egypt.  '  I  am  pure,  am  pure,  am  pure '  (from  each 
of  the  transgressions  mentioned),  the  soul  repeats;  and 
then,  if  it  has  spoken  the  truth,  it  becomes  justified, 
and  enters  into  Elysium— the  land  of  sunshine  and 
fruitful  fields  which  is  the  Egyptian  heaven.  3  But 
our  psalm  does  not  only,  nor  even  primarily,  refer  to 
the  great  final  examination  of  souls,  nor  yet  to  the 
awful  judgment  spoken  of  in  the  1st  psalm,  when  the 
wicked — the  false  Israelites — shall  be  '  like  the  chaff 

1  Ps.  Ixiii.  2.  2  Ps.  Ixiii.  3. 

3  Compare  also  the  importance  attached  by  Pindar  to  moral  prepara- 
tion for  the  future  life,  icadapni  was  a  term  for  those  initiated  into  the 
Mysteries.  Cf.  Dyer,  The  Gods  in  Greece,  p.  209. 


278         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


which  the  wind  driveth  away,' r  and  God's  people 
upon  earth  shall  be,  as  the  prophet  said,  '  all  righ- 
teous.' 2  Permissible  as  it  would  be  to  expound  this 
psalm  sometimes  of  a  judgment  to  come,  it  relates 
primarily,  not  to  the  future,  but  to  the  present.  A 
judgment  is  continually  going  on.  God  is  ever  dis- 
tributing rewards  and  punishments  ;  and  if  we  only 
took  a  more  spiritual  and  a  less  earthly  view  of  His 
providential  assignments,  we  should  say,  'Surely  God 
is  gracious  unto  Israel,  even  unto  the  pure  in  heart,' 3 
because  to  them  He  gives,  not  those  seeming  goods 
for  which  worldlings  crave,  but  those  which  never 
pass  away — '  faith,  hope,  charity,'  and  above  all,  the 
inward  vision  of  God.  It  is  to  this  last  that  one  of 
the  greatest  of  the  mystic  psalmists  refers,  when  he 
says — 
Thou  makest  known  to  me  (not  merely  tliou  wilt 

make  knowii)  the  path  of  life  ; 
Near  thy  face  is  fulness  of  joys  ; 
Pleasures  are  in  thy  right  hand  for  evermore!  4 

The  24th  psalm,  like  that  which  precedes  it, 
belongs  to  a  group  of  very  peculiar  psalms — those 
which  speak  of  being  a  guest  in  Jehovah's  house 
(Guest-psalms  we  may  call  them),  the  material  house 
or  sanctuary  of  Jehovah  having  almost  become  a 

.  *  Ps.  i.  4.  -  Isa.  Ix.  21. 

3  Ps.  Ixxiii.  I.  4  Ps.  xvi.  ij. 


PSALM  XXIV.  279 


grand  metaphor  for  the  spiritual  presence-chamber 
discerned  only  by  faith.  Neither  the  Jewish  Church, 
indeed,  nor  even  its  most  advanced  members,  saw 
clearly  whither  the  course  of  revelation  was  tending. 
The  temple  always  held  a  place  of  special  honour  in 
their  minds  ;  it  never  quite  became  to  any  of  them 
merely  a  symbol  or  material  metaphor.  But,  as  we 
shall  see  more  and  more,  some  of  the  psalmists  were 
being  guided  to  a  view  of  forms  which  is  almost 
Christian  in  its  spirituality.  They  felt  that,  even 
when  far  from  the  temple,  they  could  enjoy  a  very 
close  communion  with  their  God,  not  dissimilar  in 
'  kind  to  that  which  they  knew  so  well  on  Mount  Zion. 
They  could  not  have  given  a  consistent  and  logical 
theory  of  their  experience,  but  the  experience  itself 
they  recorded  in  their  temple-songs,  and  they  thus 
became  ktrue  heralds  of  the  Gospel.  How,  in  fact, 
could  Jesus  have  won  His  disciples  if  Jeremiah  and 
the  psalmists  had  not  first  of  all  prepared  the  ground  ? 
The  saying,  '  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart :  for  they 
shall  see  God',  presupposes  a  spiritual  movement 
among  the  Jews,  the  impulse  to  which  was  given  by 
these  illuminated  teachers.  Do  not  suppose  that  I 
shall  try  to  find  the  full  Gospel  in  the  24th  psalm.  It 
does  not  contain  as  large  an  evangelical  element  as 
some  others,  because  it  lacks  that  sweet  mysticism 
which  endears  to  us  the  i6th,  the  63rd,  and  the  73rd. 


280         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

It  is  meant  perhaps  for  beginners  in  the  spiritual  life. 
It  tells  us  virtually  that  the  only  sacrifice  which  is 
acceptable  to  God  is  that  of  moral  obedience ;  but  it 
does  not  tell  us  how  that  obedience  is  to  be  rendered, 
and  gives  a  very  meagre  description  of  it  compared, 
for  instance,  with  our  Lord's  in  the  beatitudes  of  His 
first  sermon.     Yet  it  says  quite  enough  to  stimulate 
spiritual   ambition.      '  For   whosoever   hath,  to   him 
shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  abundance.' z 
'  He  that  hath  clean  hands,  and  a  pure  heart ; 
That  hath  not  set  his  desire  upon  zvickedness, 
A  nd  that  hath  not  sworn  deceitfully, — 
He  shall  receive  a  blessing  from  Jehovah, 
Even  righteousness  from  the  God  of  his  salvation? 
Do  you  ask  what  blessing  ?     I  reply,  one  blessing  to 
the  worshipper  as  an  individual,  and  another  as  a 
branch  on  the  stem  of  God's  Church  ;  the  blessing  of 
the  sense  of  God's  love  to  him  personally,  and  the 
blessing  of  '  rejoicing '  sooner  or  later  '  in  the  glad- 
ness of  God's  people,'  and  '  giving  thanks  with  his 
inheritance.'  2     And  the  link  between  the  two  bless- 
ings is  this,  that  without  a  spiritual  movement  in  the 
individuals  who  form  the  nation,  God's  promise  to 
the  Church  (which  ideally  is  the  nation)  must  remain 
unfruitful.     And  so  to  each  of  us  the  psalmist  would 
say,  Purity  of  heart  and  life  is  the  one  condition  of  all 

1  Matt.  xiii.  12.  2  Ps.  cvi.  5  (Prayer  Book). 


PSALM  XXIV.  281 


the  best  blessings.  Each  man  must  be  in  some  sense 
his  own  John  the  Baptist  before  he  can  be  admitted 
into  the  inner  circle  of  the  friends  of  Jesus.1  If  even 
a  Jewish  psalmist  could  say, 

'  /  wash  mine  hands  in  innocency, 

And  (so)  would  I  compass  thine  altar,  Jehovah,' 2 
the  sternest  moral  self-criticism  cannot  be  too  severe 
for  those  who  would  take  part  in  the  prayers,  the 
praises,  and  the  sacraments  of  the  evangelical  Church. 
Far  from  any  of  us  be  the  spirit  of  the  Pharisee  ! 
There  is  One  who  accompanies  us  in  our  self-criticism 
with  eyes  as  keen  as  they  are  loving,  and  who  breathes 
into  us  a  holy  discontent  with  any  earthly  attain-* 
ments.  From  Him  alone  can  we  receive  the  purifica- 
tion which  is  better  than  that  of  hyssop,  and  without 
which  no  correction  of  the  details  of  our  'Jife  will  be 
acceptable  to  God.  For  Christ  is  not  only  '  the  end 
of  the  Law,'  but  the  'end'  or  consummation  of  the 
Psalter.  When  the  psalmist  says,  '  Only  he  that 
hath  clean  hands  and  a  pure  heart  can  dare  to  ascend 
Jehovah's  mountain,'  we  must  expand  it  by  those 
words  of  St.  Peter,3  '  purifying  their  hearts  (i.e.  their 
consciences)  by  faith,'  and  again,  '  elect  .  .  .  unto 

1  Theodoret  illustrates  a   partly  parallel  passage  (Ps.   xxv.   12)    by 
John  the  Baptist's  answer  to  the  question,  '  What  shall  we  do  ? ' 

2  Ps.  xxvi.  6. 

3  Acts  xv.  9  ;  i  Pet.  i.  2.      It  is  unimportant  for  our  present  purpose 
who  actually  wrote  these  words,  which  are  in  the  fullest  sense  Scriptures. 


282         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

obedience  and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ.'  And  yet  we  must  not  despise  even  the 
somewhat  bare  catechism  of  this  temple-poet,  re- 
membering that  no  Scripture  is  without  an  educa- 
tional value,  even  for  us  with  our  (as  we  hope)  ad- 
vanced knowledge.  It  is  well  to  turn  back  sometimes, 
as  Lessing  long  ago  advised  his  too  sceptical  country- 
men, to  the  first  pages  of  our  primer,  and  learn  to 
sympathize  with  the  24th  psalm,  when  it  says 
(ver.  6),— 

'  Such  is  tJie  race  of  those  that  inquire  after  Jehovah, 
Of  those  that  seek  the  face  of  Jacob's  God' 
And  now  notice  the  connexion  between  vers.  I  and 
2  and  those  which  follow.  If  we  prepare  ourselves 
aright  to  '  stand  in  God's  holy  place,'  how  exceeding 
great  is  our  reward  !  For  into  whose  presence  is  it 
that  we  enter  ?  and  whose  are  the  '  hands  stretched 
out  to  draw  us  near  '  ?  It  is  He  to  whom  '  the  earth 
belongeth  and  the  fulness  thereof/  who  '  founded  it 
upon  the  seas,  and  established  it  upon  the  floods,'  and 
who  will  '  make  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,'  and 
regenerate  a  people  who  shall  be  '  all  righteous.' * 
And  now  add  the  distinctively  Christian  thought  that 
it  is  also  He  who  '  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but 
delivered  him  up  for  us  all,'  and  does  not  the  reward 
of  our  evangelical  self-discipline  shine  with  a  still 

1  Isa.  lx.  21. 


PSALM  XXIV.  283 


deeper,  softer  brightness  ?  I  know  that  we  all  have  a 
tincture  of  Christianity,  but  it  is  only  the  consistent 
follower  of  a  holy  Saviour  who  can  '  receive  the  bless- 
ing '  of  a  strong  and  undoubting  faith  in  his  own  and 
the  world's  future.  It  is  only  he  who  can  look  around 
on  this  magnificent  but  mysterious  universe,  not 
merely  (like  Job)  with  reverential  awe,  laying  his 
hand  upon  his  mouth,  but  with  trustful,  filial  love,  and 
exclaim,  '  How  great,  and  rich,  and  strong  is  our 
Father ! '  And  if  such  an  one  turns  his  gaze  to  the 
hazards  and  perils  of  our  national  history,  is  not  the 
reward  of  a  disciplined  Christian  character  equally 
great  ?  Who  are  the  most  hopeful  politicians  ?  Those  I 
who  both  in  thought  and  in  practice  are  most  earnestly  l| 
Christian. 

And  the  editor  of  the  psalm  (for  I  scruple  not  to 
press  one  of  the  surest  critical  theories  into  the  service 
of  edification)  has  provided  for  the  wants  of  such 
religious  patriots  both  in  the  Jewish  and — may  I  not 
add  ? — in  the  English  Church.  He  had  by  him  a 
fragment  of  an  older  psalm,  too  beautiful  to  be  left  to 
perish,  and  joined  it  on,  in  the  manner  common  to 
Jewish  with  Assyrian  and  Indian  editors  of  sacred 
hymns,  to  the  short  Guest-psalm  which  precedes.  It 
must  originally  have  belonged  to  a  processional  hymn 
of  victory,  a  Jewish  7>  Deum.  How  noble  it  is  !  You 
know  the  words  ;  let  me  try  to  reproduce  the  scene. 


284         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


We  are  among  the  crowd  in  the  streets  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  as  we  gaze  a  hero  of  mighty  stature 
draws  nigh,  alone,  and  '  marching  in  the  greatness  of 
his  strength.'  *  He  stands  before  his  palace,  and  a 
loyal  cry  bursts  from  his  people,  '  Lift  up  your  heads, 
O  ye  gates'  They  mean  that  no  gate  of  man's  device 
is  fit  for  so  noble  a  king  to  enter  by  ;  just  as  the 
prophet  whose  work  begins  at  Isaiah  xl.  would  have 
the  valleys  exalted  and  the  mountains  and  hills  made 
low  to  prepare  a  highway  for  Jehovah.2  For  it  is 
Jehovah,  none  else,  who  approaches.  The  gates, 
which  the  poet  boldly  endows  with  life,  well  know 
\  this  ;  but  for  the  pleasure  of  hearing  His  name,  they 
•.  ask,  as  if  in  surprise,  '  WJw  is  the  King  of  glory?' 
And  again  and  again  the  answer  echoes,  '•Jehovah  the 
Strong  and  Valiant,  Jehovah  the  Valiant  in  battle, 
Jehovah  SabdotJi  is  his  name' 

You  may  be  sure  that  something  more  is  meant  by 
this  than  meets  the  ear.  Throughout  the  post- Exile 
period  the  temple  was  becoming  more  and  more 
regarded  as  a  symbol  of  the  greater  sanctuary  not 
made  with  hands.  The  old  popular  notion  of  a 
territorial  and  local  Deity  had  faded  away,  and  the 
traditional  names  of  God  had  received  an  ampler 
meaning.  Jehovah  was  not  merely  the  '  God  of  the 
armies  of  Israel,'  but  the  God  of  all  the  hosts  of 

1  Isa.  Ixiii.  i.  2  Isa.  xl.  4. 


PSALM  XXIV.  285 


heaven,  the  God  of  the  stars  and  of  the  angels,  and 
of  all  the  forces  of  nature, — the  God  who  needs  not 
to  descend  from  His  throne,  for  at  a  word  from  Him- 
self His  will  is  done.  The  psalmist  is  therefore 
Really  thinking  of  the  triumph  of  the  omnipotent  God 
in  His  heavenly  sanctuary.  This  he  figures  as  an 
ascent  to  the  earthly  temple,  the  gate  of  which  is  in 
his  own  time  still  called  'the  gate  of  Jehovah,'  J  and 
from  which  the  poets  and  prophets  still  say  that 
Jehovah  issues  forth  to  fight  for  His  people.2 

What  deliverance  was  originally  commemorated  is 
uncertain.  The  song  could  be  applied  to  many  a 
grand  interposition  of  ( him  that  keepeth  Israel.'  It 
was  well  fitted  to  raise  the  confidence  of  such  a  wor- 
shipper as  is  described  in  ver.  4  to  be  told  that  his 
covenant-God  was  far  more  than  a  match  for  the 
mightiest  kings  of  the  earth.  For  the  devout  Israelite 
subordinated  his  own  joys  and  griefs  to  those  of  his 
people,  and  between  the  return  from  the  Exile  and  the 
Maccabaean  insurrection  Israel  was  literally  a  '  poor 
and  needy '  people,  the  natural  prey  of  its  stronger 
neighbours.  To  sing  this  hymn  was  therefore  a  heroic 
act  of  faith.  It  was  a  prophecy  that  Jehovah  would 
not  '  give  Israel  over  unto  death,'  but  would  overthrow 
its  most  powerful  enemies,  both  without  and  within,  till 

1  Cf.    Ps.  cxviii.  19,  20.     Note  also  the  prominence  in  the  require- 
ment of  righteousness  from  those  who  enter  these  gates. 

2  Isa.  Ixvi.  6  ;  cf.  Zech.  xiv.  3,  Ps.  Ixviii.  35. 


286         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

a  '  new  song '  should  be  sung  by  a  regenerate  people 
on  the  great  judgment-day. 

To  persons  of  a  mystic  turn  of  mind,  who  felt  the 
sweetness  of  the  hidden  life,  and  who  had  got  far 
beyond  the  elementary  teaching  of  vers.  3-6,  we  can 
hardly  doubt  that  the  latter  part  of  the  psalm  (I  mean 
the  song,  or  fragment  of  a  song,  that  was  added  on) 
supplied  delightful  material  for  pious  meditation.  In 
the  synoptic  gospels  the  prophetic  summons  in  Isaiah 
xl.  3,  4,  is  interpreted  metaphorically  of  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  heart.1  And  we  have  no  reason  to  think 
that  the  symbolic  interpretation  of  ancient  phrases 
was  altogether  new  in  the  time  of  the  Evangelists.  If 
the  material  temple  had  become  virtually  a  symbol  of 
the  heart  of  the  believing  worshipper,  who  even  '  in  a 
dry  and  weary  land  ' 2  had  immediate  access  to  his 
God,  may  we  not,  in  the  spirit  of  the  Evangelists  and 
of  their  great  copyist,  John  Bunyan,  find  a  new  and 
yet  a  true  interpretation  of  these  poetic  words, 

'  Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates,  .  .  . 

That  the  King  of  glory  may  come  in '  ? 

I  It  is  indeed  no  mere  rhetorical  figure  that  the  heart 
has  gates,  which  may  be  closed  even  against  the  King 
of  glory.  The  wise  men  of  Israel  were  accustomed  to 
the  idea  that  the  spirit  is  to  a  man  what  a  fortified 

1  Matt.  iii.  3,  Mark  i.  3,  Luke  iii.  4. 

2  Ps.  Ixiii.  i  (see  chap.  xi.). 


PSALM  XXIV,  287 


city  is  to  a  country.  '  He  that  ruleth  his  spirit,'  says 
one,  'is  better  than  he  that  taketh  a  city.'1  '  He  that 
hath  no  rule  over  his  own  spirit,'  says  another, '  is  like 
a  city  that  is  broken  down  and  without  walls.' 2  '  Keep 
thy  heart  with  all  diligence,'  says  a  third  ;  '  for  out  of 
it  are  the  issues  of  life.'  3  In  this  last  passage,  we  see 
that  the  parable  has  become  an  allegory,  the  figure 
and  the  meaning  of  the  figure  being  fused  together. 
We  may  explain  it,  '  Guard  thy  heart  as  thy  best  pos- 
session, for  all  good  and  evil  influences  proceed  from 
it.'  But  how  can  I  guard  my  own  heart  ?  '  Give  me 
thy  heart,'  is  the  reply  of  personified  Wisdom ;  4 
anticipate  the  temptations  of  the  world  by  early 
taking  heed  of  her  strict  but  wholesome  precepts. 
And  what  is  the  Wisdom  of  Proverbs  i.-ix.  but  God 
in  so  far  as  He  reveals  His  all-wise  purposes  for  man's 
present  and  future  salvation  ?  Jehovah  Sabaoth  was, 
to  an  Israelite  in  David's  time,  the  God  of  battles  ; 
but  He  has  become  the  God  who  conquers  men  by 
coming  to  them  with  moral  and  spiritual  gifts,  in 
order,  by  sharing  their  lowliness,  to  make  them  great : 
who  does  not  remember  the  fine  saying,  '  Tliy  gentle- 
ness (  or  rather  lowliness)  made  me  great '  ?  s  And  so 
in  the  Second  Isaiah  we  read,  '  Thus  saitk  the  Jiigli 
and  lofty  One  that  abidetJi  for  ever,  whose  name  is  Holy 

1  Prov.  xvi.  32.  2  Prov.  xxv.  28.  3  Prov.  iv.  23. 

4  Prov.  xxiii.  26.  5  Ps.  xviii.  35. 


288         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

One  :  I  abide  in  tiie  high  and  holy  place,  with  him  also 
that  is  contrite  and  Jmmble  in  spirit,  to  revive  the  spirit 
of  the  humble,  and  to  revive  the  heart  of  the  contrite 
ones.' *  Illustrate  the  latter  part  of  this  psalm  by 
such  passages,  and  it  will  point  onwards  to  the  sweet 
5  ist  psalm,  which  bids  us  pray, 

'  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God ; 

And  renew  a  firm  spirit  within  me?  2 
Hitherto  we  have  studied  the  two  parts  of  the 
psalm  in  the  order  in  which  they  have  been  placed  by 
the  Jewish  editor.  The  psalm  thus  treated  becomes 
a  fitting  Christmas  hymn.  For  what  is  the  spiritual 
meaning  of  the  nativity,  but  that  our '  meek  and  lowly' 
Saviour  loves  to  humble  Himself  anew  in  the  poor 
lodging  of  each  human  heart  ?  To  one  who  feels  that 
he  cannot  even  obey  the  smallest  of  Wisdom's  pre- 
cepts, can  neither  get '  clean  hands  '  nor  a  '  pure  heart' 
in  his  own  strength,  and  whose  longing  often  is  rather 
that  Wisdom  may  become  his  guest,  than  he  Wisdom's, 
the  order  of  the  Jewish  editor  is  the  natural  one.  Such 
an  one  first  examines  himself  in  the  light  of  the  ques- 
tion and  answer  in  vers.  3-6,  or  that  of  their  Christian 
equivalent  the  Beatitudes  ;  and  then  with  joyous 
but  humble  faith  invites  the  Sinner's  Friend  to  enter 
and  purify  his  heart.  For  has  not  Wisdom  said, 
'  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock  :  if  any  man 

1  Isa.  Ivii.  15.  2  Ps.  li.  10. 


PSALM  xxir.  289 

hear  my  voice  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to 
him,  and  will  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me  '  ? x  But 
there  are  times  when  another  order  of  the  two  parts 
of  the  psalm  seems  more  natural.  He  who  follows 
the  life  of  Christ  with  even  more  sympathy  than  the 
lover  of  poetry  follows  some  epic  or  dramatic  strain, 
would  gladly  forget  himself  and  live  in  the  great 
deeds  of  his  Master.  Such  an  one  thinks  of  the  lowly 
Son  of  man  raised  to  the  highest  heavens  as  the 
reward  of  His  obedience  unto  death,  and  mentally 
transposes  the  parts  of  the  psalm,  thus  obtaining  an 
appropriate  hymn  for  Easter  and  Ascensiontide.  Far 
above  that  star-bright  vault  which  perhaps  originally 
suggested  the  title  '  Jehovah  of  hosts,'  he  follows  his 
Lord — the  Lord  of  hosts  2 — with  the  inner  eye,  and 
takes  up,  with  as  much  fervour  as  the  most  uncritical 
reader  of  the  psalms  the  glowing  Ascension  Ode  of 
Drummond  of  Hawthornden,  which  is  in  part  but  the 
24th  psalm  rewritten, — 

'  Now  each  ethereal  gate 

To  Him  hath  opened  been  ; 
And  Glory's  King  in  state 

His  palace  enters  in  : 
Now  come  is  this  High  Priest 

In  the  most  holy  place, 
Not  without  blood  addrest, 
With  glory  Heaven,  the  Earth  to  crown  with  grace?  ' 

1  Rev.  iii.  20. 

2  I  venture  to  apply  this  title  to  our  Lord,  because  I  do  not  believe 
that  the  Kvpiog  of  Sept.  was  meant  as  a  full  translation  of  Yahvth. 

20 


290         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


And  seeing  the  '  High  Priest  of  our  profession 
seated  in  royal  glory  at  God's  right  hand,  he  asks 
himself,  not  with  shrinking  awe,  but  with  faith  in  the 
indwelling  presence,  '  Who  shall  ascend  (like  my  Lord) 
into  JeJiovalis  mount  ?  aud  who  shall  rise  up  in  his 
holy  place  ?  '  And  the  answer  is  echoed  from  within  : 
'  He  in  whose  heart  Christ  dwelleth  by  faith,  and  who 
seeketh  those  things  which  are  above,  he  shall  be  kept 
by  the  power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salvation 
ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  last  time.' 


CHAPTER   X. 

PSALMS   XXVI.   AND   XXVIII.1 

THE  26th  and  the  28th  are  twin-psalms,  and  reflect 
light  upon  each  other.  You  might  imagine  that  in  the 
first  verse  of  the  former  the  Church,  which  is  the 
speaker,  says  more  than  it  can  justify,  and  that  its 
rash  self-confidence  will  sustain  a  fall.  For  there  are 
two  kinds  of  self-confidence.  One  belongs  to  the 
man  who  says  that  he  can  do  without  God,  because 
in  the  depths  of  his  nature  there  are  inexhaustible 
springs  of  strength  and  happiness  ;  another  to  him 
who  says,  '  I  trust  in  the  Lord  without  wavering,' 
without  having  learned  in  the  school  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  what  this  rare  experience  means.  To  do  the 
psalmist — that  is,  the  Jewish  Church — justice,  we 
want  to  see  how  his  profession  wore.  The  28th 
psalm  may  enable  us  to  do  so.  Anxious  as  the 

1  Comp.  B.I..,  pp.  230,  233. 


292          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

times  were  in  which  the  26th  psalm  was  written,  a 
deepening  gloom  is  manifest  at  the  first  glance  in  the 
28th.  If  the  Church's  confidence  is  still  maintained, 
it  will  be  a  proof  that  the  words  of  Psalm  xxvi.  i  are 
no  exaggeration.  But  before  we  lovingly  examine 
the  expressions  of  the  28th  psalm  —  expressions 
which  are  as  much  a  historical  document  as  any 
chronicle  could  be, — let  us  seek  to  realize  the  situation 
portrayed  in  the  earlier  psalm.  In  vers.  9  and  10  we 

read, 

'  Take  not  azvay  my  soul  with  sinners, 
Nor  my  life  with  men  of  blood  : 
In  ^vhose  hands  is  mischief, 
And  their  right  hand  is  full  of  bribes' 
Certainly  these  words  were  not  \vritten   under  a 
summer  sky  ;  storm  and  tempest   were   coming  up 
from  the  horizon.     The  psalmist  lived  during  one  of 
the  darker  parts  of  the  period  between  Ezra  and  the 
Maccabees.1     He  and  his  fellow  believers  were  sur- 
rounded  by   openly   ungodly  men,  partly,  as  other 
kindred  psalms  show,  foreign  tyrants  (for  the  Persians 
were  not  always  kind  to  their  Jewish  subjects),  partly 
traitorous  Israelites,  not  less  tyrannical  than  the  Per- 
sians, whose  hands  were  stained  with  the  blood  of 
their  innocent  victims.     These  false  Jews,  as  we  can 

1  The  '  anointed  '  spoken  of  in  Ps.  xxviii.  8  is  probably  the  high 
priest.     Cf.  Lev.  iv.  3,  5. 


PSALMS  XXVI.  AND  XXVIII.  293 

see  from  vers.  5  and  6,  had  given  up  the  habit  of 
worshipping  the  true  God  in  the  temple,  and  met 
together  in  '  congregations  '  of  their  own,  not  for  wor- 
ship, but  to  plan  fresh  outrages  on  the  defenceless 
servants  of  Jehovah.  Ver.  4  further  mentions  'dis- 
semblers '  or  hypocrites,  who  would  fain  have  been 
admitted  to  the  confidence  of  the  righteous,  but 
whose  treacherous  wiles  were  seen  through  by  the 
sharp-sighted  psalmist.  The  Church  has  full  confi- 
dence in  the  just  judgment  of  God,  which,  though  as 
yet  delayed,  will  surely  be  '  revealed  from  heaven 
against  all  ungodliness.'  'Take  not  away  my  soul 
with  sinners,'  she  cries,  '  when  thou  comest.'  But 
when  Psalm  xxviii.  was  composed,  the  peril  of  true 
believers  had  become  still  greater  ;  and  unless  the 
Divine  Judge  soon  appears,  the  true  Israel  will  be- 
come (so  the  first  verse  declares)  '  like  those  that  have 
gone  down  into  the  pit.'  Bitter  imprecations  force  their 
way  to  the  lips  of  these  much-tried  saints.  Not  con- 
tent with  praying  to  be  set  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
Judge,  they  assume  the  character  of  His  assessors, 
and  call  for  the  immediate  punishment  of  the  evil- 
doers. 

'  Give  them  according  to  their  work, 
And  according  to  the  evil  of  their  doings  : 
Give  them  after  the  operation  of  their  hands  ; 
Render  to  them  their  deserts."1 


294         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


Dare  we  praise — can  we  blame  them  ?    Our  Lord  has 
said,  '  Judge  not,  that  ye  be  not  judged/  and  in  their 
over-wrought  feelings  these  Jewish  Churchmen  both 
judged  and  condemned.     And  yet  had  they  not  a 
strong  excuse  ?     Here  and  there,  outside  the  land  of 
Israel,  a  true  though  faint  light  may  have  shone  from 
heaven  ;  but  such  heathen  as  the  Jews  at  this  time 
knew   were   offenders   against   the    primal    laws    of 
morality,  while  their  Jewish  helpers  were  alike  untrue 
to  their  nationality  and  their   religion.     And  if  we 
survey  the  scene  from  the  point  of  view  of  history,  is 
it  not  plain  that,  had  the  effort  to  crush  Israel  been 
successful,   the   prophecies   of    salvation    could    not, 
humanly  speaking,  have  been  fulfilled,  and  the  Christ 
could    not   have   come?     The  nobler  Israelites  had 
more   than   a   dim    perception   of  this.     They   were 
aware   of   the  spiritual   mission  entrusted  to  them ; 
'  who,'  they  said  to  Jehovah,  '  will  give  thee  thanks  in 
the  pit  '  (i.e.  in  Hades)  ?     Can  we  wonder  then,  that, 
as  the  darkness  closed  about  them,  they  became  dis- 
mayed, alike  for  Israel  (for  they  were  patriots  l)  and 
for  the  deposit  of  true  religion  of  which  Israel  was 
the  shrine  ? 

And  yet  true  believers,  true  Churchmen,  however 
dismayed,  were  not  entirely  without  hope.  They 
still  ventured  to  call  Jehovah  '  my  rock,'  '  my  strong- 

1  In  the  sense  in  which  Nehemiah  was  a  patriot  (Neh.  ii.  3). 


PSALMS  XXVI.  AND    XXVIII.  295 

hold,'  '  my  shield,'  some  of  those  consecrated  sym- 
bolic words  which  abound  in  the  psalms,  and  which 
imply  so  firm  a  faith  in  the  invisible.  By  addressing 
God  thus  under  such  circumstances,  they  fully  justified 
the  claim  which  they  had  shortly  before  advanced,  of 
'  trusting  in  Jehovah  without  wavering '  ;  and  the 
more  we  study  the  28th  psalm,  the  more  we  shall  be 
convinced  that  the  professions  of  its  fellow  psalm 
\\erc  but  the  literal  statement  of  inward  spiritual 
facts. 

But  some  one  may  ask,  Would  not  the  psalm  be 
more  perfect  without  any  claims  or  professions  at  all  ? 
To  God  the  very  secrets  of  the  heart  are  all  open.  True, 
but  the  essence  of  prayer  is  free  communion  with  God  : 
'  Pour  out  your  heart  before  him.'  Prayer  is  not 
merely  asking  for  things  ;  it  is  the  converse  of  friend 
with  Friend.  And  since  we  cannot  but  examine  our- 
selves whether  we  have  been  faithful  to  our  covenant 
with  God,  why  should  we  be  hindered  from  telling 
Him  how,  as  we  think,  we  stand  with  Him  ?  '  If  our 
heart  condemn  us  not,'  then,  as  St.  John  says,  '  we 
have  confidence  toward  God  ' ; J  and  if  our  heart  con- 
demn us,  then,  I  suppose,  the  natural  thing  is  to  tell 
God  of  this,  and  to  appeal  to  the  provision  made  in 
the  covenant  for  our  cleansing  from  all  unrighteous- 
ness. The  condensed  and  purified  extract  of  the 

'    I  John  iii.  21. 


296          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


devotions  of  the  Latin  Church  supplied  in  the  collects 
is  by  no  means  without  appeals  to  the  comparative 
purity  of  the  Church's  conscience.  I  willingly  admit 
that  these  appeals  display  a  more  developed  spiri- 
tuality than  is  found  in  Psalms  xxvi.  and  xxviii. 
It  is  plain  that  those  who  wrote  the  collects  laid 
somewhat  more  stress  on  the  general  tone  of  the 
character  than  on  the  particular  details  of  practice. 
And  accordingly  Christians  trained  in  their  school 
may  find  it  hard  to  sympathize  with  negative  state- 
ments like  those  in  vers.  4  and  5  of  Psalm  xxvi.  ; 
even  positive  statements  they  will  probably  make 
with  much  reluctance,  a  conscience  sharpened  by  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  being  naturally  predisposed  to  humble 
confessions  of  failure.  Still  a  Christian  who  reads 
the  Bible  historically  as  well  as  devotionally  may 
admire  the  first  part  of  Psalm  xxvi.  for  its  childlike 
simplicity.  And  though  the  views  of  duty  opened  by 
nineteen  Christian  centuries  may  be  deeper  than  those 
of  the  psalmist,  yet  we  have  not  outgrown,  and  never 
shall  outgrow,  the  need  of  a  childlike  spirit.  A  too 
introspective  religion  would  not  be  conducive  either 
to  our  growth  in  grace  or  to  the  success  of  our  work ; 
but  never  to  examine  ourselves  as  to  our  performance 
of  particular  duties  would  show  that  we  were  careless 
of  the  approval  of  our  Father,  and  forgetful  of  the 
solemn  condition  attached  to  Christ's  parting  promise, 


PSALMS  XXVI.  AND  XXVIII.  297 

'  If  ye  abide  in  me,  and  my  words  abide  in  you,  ye  shall 
ask  ivhat  ye  will,  and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you?  z 

But  let  us  give  some  attention  to  the  details  of  the 
childlike  professions  of  the  psalmist.     The  same  Holy 

'  Spirit  who  taught  the  apostles  taught  him  ;  and, 
making  due  allowance  for  different  circumstances,  the 
words  which  the  psalmist  wrote  for  the  Jewish  Church 
cannot  be  without  a  message  for  the  Christian.  '  / 
^valk  still  in  my  integrity]  he  says.  It  is  no  trifle  for 
any  one  to  be  able  to  say  this  when  Providence  seems 
to  be  on  the  side  of  the  ungodly.  '  Dost  thou  still 
retain  thine  integrity  ?  '  2  said  Job's  wife  to  him  when 
an  awful  disease — the  type  of  sin — came  upon  that 
model  of  ancient  virtue.  And  even  now  the  tempter 
puts  this  question  to  manya  struggling  Christian  in  the 
vortex  of  modern  life.  Is  it  not  worth  while  to  learn 
how  a  Jewish  saint  resisted  such  a  temptation  ?  Now 
read  the  second  half  of  the  first  verse,  '  /  trust  in 

JeJiovali  without  ivavering.'  This  means,  I  am  sure, 
that  (in  the  words  of  the  collect)  they  who  do  lean 
only  upon  the  hope  of  God's  heavenly  grace  will  (in 
ways  unknown  to  man)  evermore  be  defended  by  His 
mighty  power.3 

The   next    profession    of    the   psalmist    is  equally 
suitable  for  an  earnest  Christian. 

1  John  xv.  7.  2  Job.  ii.  9. 

3  Collect  for  fifth  Sunday  after  Epiphany. 


298          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

'  For  tJiy  lovingkindness  is  ever  before  my  eyes  ; 
And  I  have  walked  in  thy  truthfulness.' 
'Thy  lovingkindness/;  he  might  simply  have  said, 
'  Thou,  O  God.'  For  of  course  he  means  the  same 
thing  as  another  psalmist  who  declares,  '  I  have 
set  Jehovah  always  before  me.' z  But  he  wishes  to 
convey  a  deep  lesson  to  the  Church.  Would  there 
be  any  comfort  in  directing  our  thoughts  continually 
towards  God  unless  we  had  learned  with  St.  John, 
and  with  the  psalmist,  that  God  is  Love  ?  We  studied 
the  meaning  of  God's  lovingkindness  in  chap.  iii. 
(p.  178),  and  saw  that  it  had  reference  to  the  gracious 
covenant,  given  with  a  view  to  man's  salvation,  and 
known,  however  imperfectly,  even  to  the  Jewish 
Church.  To  have  God's  lovingkindness  2  ever  before 
one's  eyes  is  to  look  to  Him  alone  for  all  blessings, 
both  temporal  and  spiritual,  for  food,  for  shelter,  for 
guidance,  for  moral  instruction,  and,  most  important 
of  all,  to  frail  and  tempted  man,  for  conversion  and 
forgiveness.  And  which  conception  of  God  is  dearest 
to  the  psalmist  after  that  of  His  lovingkindness  ? 
His  truthfulness.  3  The  two  expressions  are  almost 


2  St.  Augustine,  misled  by  the  niisericordia  of  the  Vulgate,  sees  an 
allusion  to  the  narrow  escape  of  the  sinner  from  the  consuming  fire. 

3  See  Exod.  xxxiv.  6  (cf.  Num.  xiv.  18),  where  the  proclamation  of 
the  divine  name  includes  the  title,  '  rich  in  lovingkindness  and  truth- 
fulness '  (or,  truth). 


PSALMS  xxvi.  AND  xxvin.  299 

synonymous ;  they  represent  different  aspects  of  the 
same  attribute  :  God  loves  us,  and  being  ever  true  to 
Himself,  He  is  truthful  or  faithful  to  us,  that  is,  to 
His  covenant  for  our  salvation.  And  so  that  beauti- 
ful little  anthem  which  we  call  Psalm  cxvii.  says, — 
'  O  praise  JeliovaJi,  all  ye  nations  ; 

Land  him,  all  ye  peoples. 

For  Jiis  lovingkindness  is  mighty  over  us, 

And  the  truthfulness  of  Jehovah  endureth  for  ever.' 
The  thought  of  Him  who  is  '  the  same  yesterday,  to- 
day, and  for  ever  '  may  well  exercise  a  transforming 
influence  on  the  heart,  and  form,  as  it  were,  a 
spiritual  atmosphere,  in  which  the  believer  can  walk, 
unhurt  by  the  poisonous  vapours  around  him.  '  I 
have  walked,'  says  the  psalmist,  '  in  thy  truthfulness.' 
And  if  the  believer  distrusts  his  own  ability  to  do 
this,  then  let  him  say  with  another  psalmist,  '  Guide 
me  in  thy  truthfulness,  and  teach  me  ' ; z  and  again, 
'  Send  forth  thy  light  and  thy  truthfulness,  that  they 
may  lead  me.'  2 

Next  come  the  negative  professions  : 
'  /  have  not  sat    with    vain   (i.e.    good-for-nothing) 

persons  ; 

Neither  have  1 fellowship  zvith  dissemblers. 
I  hate  the  congregation  of  evil-doers, 
NeitJier  will  I  sit  with  the  wicked. ' 

1  Ps.  xxv.  5.  2  Ps.  xliii.  3. 


300          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

We  can  hardly  imagine  a  Christian  putting  these 
matters  into  the  foreground  of  his  prayer,  at  least  in 
ordinary  circumstances.  But  take  the  case  of  a  recent 
convert  from  heathenism  in  Africa,  exposed  to  danger 
from  persecution.  How  natural  it  would  be  for  him 
to  adopt  the  language  of  our  psalmist,  or  to  say,  in 
the  words  of  the  i6th  psalm, — 

'  As  for  the  saints  that  are  in  the  land, 

A  nd  thy  noble  ones,  all  my  delight  is  in  tliem  '  / 
For  when  all  around  tempts  a  man  to  palter  with  his 
conscience,  and  a  false  god  is  enthroned  in  the  place 
of  Jehovah,  the  only  safety,  unless  duty  compels  us  to 
be  aggressive,  is  in  fleeing  from  occasions  of  unfaith- 
fulness.    A  man's  company  becomes  in  such  circum- 
stances the  test  of  his  piety.     And  this  is  why  in 
the    ist   psalm,  written  while   there  was    still  great 
danger  to  the  Church  from  heathenism,  we  read, — 
'  Happy  is  the  man  that  hath  not  walked  in  the  counsel 

of  the  wicked, 

Nor  stood  in  the  ivay  of  sinners, 
And  hath  not  sat  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful ; 
Bzit  his  delight  is  in  the  law  of  JeliovaJi, 
And  on  his  law  doth  he  meditate  day  and  niglit? 

Plainly,  this  passage  contains  a  more  balanced 
description  of  a  righteous  character  than  the  26th 
psalm.  The  good  man  withdraws  from  the  company 
of  scoffers  and  unbelievers  to  delight  himself  in  the 


PSALMS  XX  VL  AND  XXVIII.  301 


inspired  teaching  of  the  Scriptures.     But  though  the 
26th  Psalm  does  not  express  an  antithesis  to  sitting 
with  the  vain  and  the  ungodly,  the  context  enables 
us  to  supply  one  for  ourselves.      This  is    how  the 
psalmist  continues, — 
'  /  wash  mine  hands  in  innocency  ; 
And  (so)  would  I  compass  thine  altar,  Jehovah  : 
That  I  may  publish  vvith  the  voice  of  thanksgiving, 
And  tell  out  all  thy  wonders' 

He  longs  to  take  part  one  day  in  a  great  religious 
procession,  such  as  we  find  described  in  the  68th 
psalm — a  procession  enlivened  with  happy  songs  of 
thanksgiving  to  a  Saviour-God.  In  short,  he  gives 
up  the  '  congregation  of  evil-doers '  for  a  far  better 
society — that  of  his  fellow  worshippers  in  the  temple, 
and,  above  all,  of  the  gracious  God,  who  in  some 
sense  dwells  there. 

'  Jehovah  (he  says),  I  love  the  habitation  of  thy  house, 

And  the  place  where  thy  glory  dwelleth? 

For  the    temple   is  now  the   sacramental  sign   of 

Jehovah's  presence.     Between  the  exalted  idealism  to 

which  some  of  the  prophets  inclined,  and  according 

to  which  temple  and  sacrifices  were  alike  unworthy  of 

Jehovah,  and  the  inherited  superstition   of  a  literal 

divine  inhabiting  of  the  sanctuary  on  Mount  Zion,  a 

compromise,  more  suitable  than  either  belief  to  the 

wants   of  ordinary  Jewish  nature,  was  suggested  to 


302  THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


the  leaders  of  the   Jewish  Church.     It  is  beautifully 
expressed  in  a  passage  in  the  first  book  of  Kings, — 

'  But  zvill  God  in  very  deed  dwell  on  the  earth  ? 
behold,  heaven  and  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain 
thee  ;  hoiv  much  less  this  house  that  I  have  builded ! 
Yet  •  .  .  hearken  thou  to  tJie  supplication  of  thy  servant, 
and  of  thy  people  Israel,  ivhen  they  shall  pray  toward 
this  place  ;  yea,  hear  t/iou  in  heaven  thy  dwelling-place : 
and  iv hen  thou  Jiearesl,  forgive?  T 

Our  psalmist  fully  believes  this  ;  namely,  that  if  he 
prays  (to  use  an  expression  in  the  28th  psalm) 
'  towards  the  innermost  part  of  the  sanctuary,'  2  i.e. 
towards  the  most  holy  place,  his  prayer  will  assuredly 
be  answered.  And  see,  his  simple  faith  in  God's 
appointed  sign  is  rewarded.  His  recent  crushing 
anxiety  gives  place  to  a  joyous  faith  in  the  tendance 
of  His  people  by  the  Good  Shepherd.3 
'  Blessed  be  Jehovali  ! 

For  he  has  heard  the  voice  of  my  supplication. 
Jehovah  is  my  stronghold  and  my  shield ; 
My  heart  trusted  in  him,  and  I  was  helped : 
Therefore  my  heart  dancethfor  joy, 
And  with  my  song  will  I  praise  kirn.' 
This  is  how  he  speaks  in  the  28th  psalm.     In  the 
26th  he  is  calmer,  but  not  less  confident.     '  My  foot 

1  I  Kings  viii.  27-30.  2  Ps.  xxviii.  2  ;  cf.  v.  7. 

3  See  Ps.  xxviii.  9. 


PSALMS  XXVI.  AND  XXVIII.  303 

standet/i  on  even  ground]  he  says ;  that  is,  after 
stumbling  along  on  the  rough  paths  of  affliction,  I 
can  walk  at  ease  in  a  '  wealthy  place  '  ;  and  he  adds, 

'  In  the  assemblies  (or  choirs)  will  I  bless  JeJiovaJi '  : 
for  his  joys  and  sorrows  are  those  of  the  Church,  and 
as  he  complained  and  lamented  with  his  brethren,  so 
with  them  he  will  sing  and  give  thanks. 

There  is  still  one  of  the  psalmist's  professions  to  be 
studied.  I  have  already  quoted  the  striking  symbolic 
words,  '  /  ivask  mine  liands '  (he  says)  '  in  innocency ' 
(Ps.  xxvi.  6).  How  impossible  it  is  to  do  without 
primitive  forms  of  expression  !  The  ceremonial 
washings  of  heathenism  were  supposed  to  have  an 
inherent  power  to  purify  from  sin.  Nowhere  are  they 
more  prevalent  than  in  Japan,  where  Shintoism  has 
the  unique  peculiarity  of  substituting  such  lustrations 
for  sacrificial  offerings.  Japan,  then,  may  at  least  help 
us  to  realize  the  force  of  this  passage.  When  a 
Shinto  worshipper  approaches  the  shrine,  he  dips,  we 
are  told,  with  a  bamboo  cup,  enough  water  to  pour 
over  his  hands  and  cleanse  his  mouth,  and  having 
done  this,  ventures  to  ascend  the  steps  and  make  his 
petition.  Ancient  Palestine  too  was  no  stranger  to 
these  rites.  The  Gospel  narrative  shows  us  that 
ceremonial  washings,  or  baptisms,  as  they  are  called,1 
assumed  a  great  importance  in  the  time  of  Christ,  but 

1  See  the  Greek  of  Mark  vii.  4,  Heh.  ix.  10. 


304          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


were  performed  in  a  formalistic  spirit.  There  is  no 
trace  of  such  formalism  however  in  the  inspired 
psalmist.  To  him  lustrations  have  no  more  inherent 
power  of  moral  cleansing  than  sacrifices  had  according 
to  the  5oth  and  5ist  psalms.  If  notwithstanding  he 
performs  them,  he  will  take  good  care  not  to  miss  the 
thing  signified  :  he  will  wash  his  hands  in  innocency  ; 
that  is,  he  will  keep  them  free  from  sins — from  the 
heinous  sins  referred  to  in  Psalm  xxvi.  9,  10.  An 
easy  thing,  perhaps  you  will  say,  for  the  persecuted 
Jews  ;  for  sins  of  violence  belong  to  the  oppressors  and 
not  to  the  oppressed.  True  ;  but  remember  that  the 
speaker  is  virtually  the  Jewish  people,  which  was  not 
always  either  '  clean  of  hands '  or  '  pure  of  heart.' 
Not  only  its  greatest  king  (David),  but  its  most 
prominent  and  religious  citizens,  had  been  guilty  of 
the  sin  of  murder,1  which  to  pious  Israelites  seemed 
to  pollute  their  land  with  an  indelible  stain. 
'  Deliver  me  from  blood-guiltiness  (says  the  Church  in 

the  5 ist  psalm),  Jehovah  my  Saviour-God ; 
And  my  tongue  shall  sing  of  thy  righteousness.' 

'  It  was  no  small  thing  that  Israel  had  now  purged 
itself  from  this  awful  guilt,  and  could  describe  its 
religious  ideal  in  the  searching  catechism  (Ps.  xxiv. 
3,  4),  which  we  studied  last  month,  and  which  contra- 
dicts so  emphatically  the  antique  heathen  conception 
1  Cf.  Isa.  i  15,  lix.  3  ;  Mic.  iii.  10  ;  Ps.  v.  6,  &c. 


PSALMS  XXVI.  AND  XXVIII.  305 


of  what   a  recent  writer   has  called    '  practical  reli- 
gion.' * 

And  is  there  not  a  special  fitness  in  the  mention  of 
this  symbolic  washing  just  before  the  psalmist's 
•'longing  to  take  part  in  a  solemn  Church  rite?  Many 
of  us  have  doubtless  heard  of  the  great  Mysteries  at 
Eleusis,  which  were  the  most  sacred  part  of  the  Greek 
religion,  and  in  the  most  spiritual  minds  produced 
something  like  what  we  are  accustomed  to  call  sanc- 
tification.  These  Mysteries  opened  with  a  proclama- 
tion that  murderers  and  other  impious  persons  should 
depart,  and  with  solemn  lustrations  performed  by  the 
devout  who  remained.  I  mention  these  purifications 
here,  because  the  Mysteries  were  in  a  certain  sense  a 
great  Church  rite,  and  analogous  therefore  to  the 
procession  longed  for  by  the  psalmist.  This  ancient 
Israelite  felt,  like  the  noblest  of  the  Greeks,  that 
without  inward  purity  it  was  presumptuous  to  join 

1  Mr.  Grant  Allen,  in  the  article  which  bears  this  title  (Fortnightly 
Review,  Dec.,  1889),  takes  no  account  of  the  regeneration  of  the 
religious  sentiment  by  Christ  and  His  forerunners.  Ps.  xxiv.  3,  4  does 
not  stand  alone.  Comp.  Pss.  xv.  and  Ixxiii.,  where  '  Israel '  is 
synonymously  parallel  to  'the  pure  in  heart.'  The  view  of  these 
passages  and  of  Ps.  li.,  given  above  may  seem  to  conflict  with  a  striking 
paragraph  in  Dean  Church's  argument  in  favour  of  the  divine  guidance 
of  the  Israelites  (see  his  Lectures  on  the  Psalms}.  It  does  conflict  with 
the  letter,  but  not  with  the  spirit  of  that  paragraph.  The  Dean  writes 
as  if  the  Psalms  were  all  of  one  very  early  period,  or  as  if  the  moral 
character  of  the  Israelites  had  no  phases  to  pass  through.  The  Psalms 
equally  prove  the  divine  guidance  of  Israel  when  studied  upon  different 
critical  principles. 

21 


306         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

the  band  of  the  initiated.     To  sing  Jehovah's  praises 
was  in   his  view  an  action  equal  in  dignity  to  the 
offering  of  sacrifice  ;  nay,  it  was  better  then  heca- 
tombs of  oxen,  for,  as  Jehovah  says  in  another  psalm, 
'  Thinkest  tliou  that  I  will  eat  bulls'  flesli, 
And  drink  tJie  blood  of  goats  ? 
Offer  unto  God  thanksgiving, 
And  pay  thy  vows  unto  the  most  Highest.' 1 
What  a  serious  preparation  then  ought  to  precede  this 
solemn  act !     White  robes  are  given,  in  the  vision  of 
the  Apocalypse  to  those  who  sing  the  great  hymn  of 
salvation.2     And  so  the  psalmist  will  wash  his  hands 
in  innocency,  not  once  only,  but  continually,  before 
taking  part  in  the  Church's  ritual  of  solemn  thanks- 
giving.    Must  we  not  apply  this  to  ourselves  ?     All 
healthy  Christian  churches  follow  that  of  Israel  in  the 
prominence  which  they  give  to  praise,  and  their  chil- 
dren should  take  the  psalmist's  lesson  to  their  heart  of 
hearts.     And  if  the  Jewish  Church  in  the  26th  psalm 
looks  forward  to  a  day  of  solemn  rejoicing,  when  its 
deadly   enemies  shall   have  been  crushed,  have  not 
all  truly  living  members  of  the  Christian  Church  in 
England  an  equal  longing  for  a  great  future  thanks- 
giving-day?    For  our  Church  too  is  surrounded  by 
enemies.      That  which  we  value  more   than  life    is 
trampled    under   foot    by   thousands   of   our    fellow 

1  Ps.  1.  13,  14,  Prayer  Book  Version.  *  Rev.  vii.  9. 


PSALMS  XXVI.  AND  XXVIII.  307 

countrymen.  The  ignorant  and  the  vicious  are  as 
truly,  however  unconsciously,  our  enemies  as  those 
persecutors  were  the  enemies  of  the  Jewish  Church. 
Only  we  do  not,  like  the  psalmist,  call  down  God's 
"judgment  upon  those  who  are  without.  We  have 
learned  from  Christ  to  despair  of  no  one.  The 
destruction  we  pray  for  is  not  that  of  sinners,  but  of 
sin.  We  have  to  add  much  in  thought  even  to  the 
more  missionary  psalms  to  make  them  full  expres- 
sions of  our  spiritual  aims.  Let  us  see  to  it  however 
that  we  fall  not  behind  the  Jewish  Church  in  our  zeal 
for  personal  purity.  It  is  true  that  we  cannot,  strictly 
speaking,  purify  ourselves.  The  initial  act  of  purifi- 
cation is  Christ's.  But  for  those  who  are  justified  by 
faith  there  still  remains  a  long  and  earnest  process  to 
be  carried  out  in  the  power  of  that  baptism — the  daily 
subjugation  of  the  flesh,  the  daily  striving  onwards 
and  upwards,  the  daily  endeavour  to  walk  in  the 
blessed  steps  of  His  most  holy  life.  A  Church 
whose  members  so  purified  themselves  could  not  have 
long  to  wait  for  the  happy  completion  of  its  home- 
missionary  work,  and  would  be  able  to  devote  itself 
without  distraction  to  the  ever-broadening  task  of  the 
conquest  of  the  world  for  God.  Blessed  is  he  that 
followcth  after  purity,  not  merely  for  his  personal 
salvation,  but  for  the  share  that  is  given  him  in  the 
travail  of  Christ's  soul. 


CHAPTER  XL 

PSALM    LXIII.1 

THE  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  important  in  the  very 
earliest  times,  became  still  more  endeared  to  the  Jews 
by  its  connexion  with  the  Maccabaean  heroes.  It  is 
in  the  later  Maccabaean  age  that  we  first  hear  of  a 
custom  which  perhaps  illustrates  John  vii.  37,  of 
drawing  water  from  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  and  pouring 
it  out  as  a  drink-offering  at  the  foot  of  the  altar. 
The  rejoicings  of  the  multitude  passed  all  bounds, 
and  an  ordinary  teacher  would  perchance  have  des- 
paired of  winning  the  ear  of  the  excited  spectators. 
Jesus,  however,  with  His  keen  eye  for  symbols,  saw 
that  this  popular  ceremony  might  furnish  a  text  for 
one  of  His  heart-searching  appeals.  Just  as  the  priest 

1  On  the  date,  see  B.L.,  pp.  99,  199,  468.  Those  who  will  may 
assume  that  this  and  the  other  royal  psalms  are  based  on  older,  pre* 
Exilic  psalms,  provided  that  in  their  present  form  they  (especially 
Pss.  Ixi.  and  Ixiii.)  are  recognized  as  post-Exilic. 


PSALM  LXIII.  309 


had  poured  out  the  water  from  the  golden  pitcher  at 
the  foot  of  the  altar  (on  the  seventh  day  of  the  feast, 
the  '  great  Hoshianna  '),  Jesus  stood  forth  and  cried, 
'  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me,  and  drink.' z 
The  words  presuppose  that  the  people  were  accus- 
tomed to  symbolism  like  this.  And  certain  it  is  that 
many  of  those  who  heard  them  at  once  began  to 
question  whether  this  might  not  be  the  prophet  who 
was  to  come  in  the  latter  days,  or  even  the  Messiah 
himself.  I  should  not  wonder  if  the  idea  was  sug- 
gested to  them  by  a  passage  from  a  prophetic  hymn  in 
Isaiah  which  was  sung  at  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles :  ' In 
that  day  '  (i.e.  probably  in  the  Messianic  age)  ' ye  shall 
draw  water  with  joy  out  of  the  wells  of  salvation  '  (Isa. 
xii.  3  ;  cf.  xliv.  3,  Iv.  i).  Nor  was  the  idea  of  spiritual 
thirst  unexpressed  in  that  complete  devotional  manual 
of  the  Jewish  Church,  the  Psalter.  Let  us  therefore 
connect  our  Lord's  words  with  the  first  verse  of  the 
63rd  psalm,  than  which  few  of  the  temple-songs  are 
more  beautiful,  or  better  reward  a  repeated  study. 
This  '  prayer  without  a  petition,'  as  it  has  been  called, 
has  been  a  favourite  with  devout  minds  in  all  ages  ; 
and  if  we  no  longer  use  it,  with  St.  Athanasius,  as  a 
morning  hymn — for  the  experiences  of  the  author 
were  perhaps  too  uncommon  to  justify  this — we  may 
at  least  treasure  it  up  as  a  precious  jewel,  to  be  taken 

1  See  the  Talmuclic  treatise  Sitcca,  48^. 


310         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PS  ALTER. 


out  and  contemplated  in  our  deepest  and  most  sacred 
moments. 

Let  me  first  tell  the  story  of  the  psalmist,  which  the 
trained  eye  can  recover  in  some  of  its  details  from  his 
own  work,  illustrated  by  a  neighbouring  psalm.     He 
is  one  of  those  faithful  Jews  whose  allegiance  both  to 
their  heavenly  and  to  their  earthly  king,  no  temporary 
reverses  can  shake.     He  has  probably,  though  but  a 
temple-singer,  accompanied  the  royal  army,  which  is 
still  battling  for  religious  and  political  independence. 
Not  long  ago  (if  the  6oth  psalm  belongs  to  the  same 
period)  Jehovah  '  caused  his  people  to  see  hard  things, 
and  made  them  to  drink  the  wine  of  bewilderment.' 
They  had  taken  the  field  for  the  true  religion  ;  Jehovah 
had,  as  it  seemed,  raised  their  banner,  but  it  was  only 
that  they  might  flee  before  the  bow.1     And  though 
some  improvement  in  their  fortunes  has  taken  place, 
yet  how  can  they  pray  with  their  wonted  confidence 
that  God  will  answer  ?     Were   they  at   home,  they 
would  go  up,  like  Hezekiah,  to  the  house  of  Jehovah, 
and  spread  the  matter  before  the  Lord.     But  here,  in 
the  wilderness,  how  can  they  open  their  parched  lips 
save  to  cry  aloud,  and  lament  their  distance  from  the 
God  of  their  sal'vation  ?     '  From  the  end  of  the  eartJij 
says  one   of  them,   '  /  call  unto   tliee   witJt  fainting 
heart ' ; 2  and  another,  '  My  soul  tliirstetJi  for  t/iee,  my 

1  Ps.  Ix.  3,  4  (see  Ewald).  *  Ps.  l.xi.  2. 


PSALM  LX I II.  311 


flesli  pinetJi  for  t/iee,  in  a  dry  and  weary  land,  where  no 
water  is?     It  is  not  that  they  are  incapable  of  braving 
physical  hardships,  not  that  they  cannot  stand  long 
marches  or  endure  the  pains  of  thirst.     *  The  end  of 
the  earth,'  '  a  dry  and  weary  land,' — these  are  symbols 
of  spiritual  privations  which  are  harder  to  bear  than 
any  physical  ones.     The  speakers  may,  likely  enough, 
be  in  a  remote  part  of  the  country,  and  the  time  may 
be  close  upon  midsummer,  when,  except  in  the  moun- 
tains, the  soil  is  dried  up,  and  its  deep  cracks  seem  to 
gape  wearily  for  the  showers  which  come  not.     But 
what  the  sufferers  miss  the  most  is  the  sense  of  near- 
ness to  God.     They  long,  as  the  second  verse  says,  to 
see  God's  power  and  glory  (by  transposing  its  two 
clauses  in  the  Bible  version  we  shall  see  the  meaning 
better),  even  as  in  time  past  they  have,  in  some  sense, 
gazed  upon  Him  in  the  sanctuary.     They  have  been 
wont  to  look  through  the  forms  of  the  ritual  to  the 
Face  which  shines  behind  them,  and  in  so  doing  they 
have  had  soul-satisfying  impressions  of  God's  power 
and  glory.     They  are  now  deprived  of  this  privilege : 
but  they  can  at  least  complain  of  their  misery,  and 
pant  like  the  hunted  gazelle  to  slake  their  thirst  at 
the  living  waters.  x     They  have  not   ceased  for  one 
moment  to  appropriate  their   share  in    the  common 
Father.     They  can  still  pray,  '  O  God,  thou  a,rt  my 
1  Cf.  Ps.  xlii.  i. 


312          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

God ' ;  and  if  they  seem  separated  from  Him,  they 
will  still  obey  His  gracious  command,  '  Seek  ye  my 
face.'  And,  lo,  the  answer  to  this  '  prayer  without  a 
petition '  is  on  its  way.  They  wish  themselves  back 
in  the  sanctuary.  But  God  will  teach  them  how  to 
dispense  even  with  this  most  sacred  means  of  grace. 
The  ages  are  rolling  on  ;  Christ  is  nearer  now  than 
when  David  said  to  Nathan  the  prophet,  '  See  now,  I 
dwell  in  a  house  of  cedar,  but  the  ark  of  God  dwelleth 
within  tent-curtains.' z  It  is  time  that  men  should 
cease  to  think  that  the  presence  of  God  can  be  con- 
fined in  any  sense,  either  to  a  tent  or  a  house  of  stone. 
But  how  gently  does  the  guiding  Spirit  lift  Israel  up 
to  a  higher  point  of  view !  A  far-seeing  prophet  has 
already  cried,  '  What  manner  of  house  will  ye  build 
unto  me  (i.e.  unto  Jehovah)  ?  and  what  place  shall  be 
my  rest  ? ' 2  This  was  too  paradoxical  for  the  Church 
at  large  to  realize.  But  even  ordinary  believers  might 
see  that,  though  the  temple-services  were  the  highest 
means  of  grace,  yet,  when  they  were  parted  from 
them,  there  were  compensations  to  be  had  from  an 
all-sufficient  God.  And  it  was  this  that  Jehovah 
taught  His  Church  through  a  succession  of  psalmists 
after  the  return  from  the  Captivity.  Other  temple- 
poets  preceded  our  psalmist,  who  seems  to  have  lived 
in  the  times  of  the  Maccabaean  princes.  But  God's 

1  2  Sam.  vii.  2.  2  Isa.  Ixvi.  I. 


PSALM  LXIII.  313 


lessons  need  to  be  repeated  to  the  Church  again  and 
again  ;  and  there  were  doubtless  reasons  why  the 
lesson  should  be  renewed  in  the  time  of  the  psalmist, 
who  was  rewarded  for  his  thirst  after  God  by  a  special 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit — not  for  his  own  sake  alone 
but  for  that  of  the  Church. 

How  long  he  waited  for  it,  we  know  not.  It  is 
possible  that  the  two  first  verses  are  but  a  condensed 
record  of  a  painful  experience,  such  as  occupies  many 
verses  in  the  42nd  and  43rd  psalms.1  But  it  is  also 
possible  that  this  psalmist  had  but  a  short  time  to 
wait  before  his  unspoken  petition  was  abundantly 
granted.  God  selects  His  instruments  with  a  view  to 
their  special  work.  The  authors  of  the  42nd  and  the 
63rd  psalms  were  both  lyric  poets,  but  the  former  was 
of  a  still  more  sensitive,  and  therefore  still  more 
poetic,  nature  than  the  latter.  His  mission  was  to 
describe  with  inimitable  truth  and  beauty  the  pain 
of  unsatisfied  aspiration.  That  of  his  brother-poet 
was  to  contrast  the  agony  of  spiritual  longing  with 
the  joy  of  recovered  communion  with  God.  Psalm 
xlii.  rises  no  higher  than  a  confident  expectation  of  a 
return  to  Mount  Zion  ;  but  in  Psalm  Ixiii.,  as  it  has 
come  down  to  us,  we  pass  at  once  from  the  complaint 
of  the  thirsting  to  the  anthem  of  the  refreshed  and 

1  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  these  originally  formed  but  one  psalm 
(see  Delitzsch). 


3 H          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

rejoicing  soul.  The  author  of  Psalm  xlii.  is  great  in 
remembering  ;  he  '  pours  out  his  soul '  in  a  sad  retro- 
spect ;  but  our  psalmist  knows  that  there  is  a  time  to 
remember  and  also  a  time  to  forget.  He  forgets  for 
a  time  all  that  is  painful  in  his  situation,  and  remem- 
bers only  what  God  is  permanently  and  essentially. 
From  this  great  source  of  comfort  he  draws  the  assur- 
ance that  God's  countenance  is  not  really  veiled,  and 
that  he  can  still  praise  God  as  joyfully  as  in  the 
temple-choir  ;  and  when  he  does  remember  the  diffi- 
culties of  his  situation,  he  turns  the  thought,  in  the 
power  of  the  new  assurance  which  has  come  to  him, 
into  a  prophecy  of  the  destruction  of  his  heathen 
enemies. 

But  it  is  not  upon  the  latter  part  of  the  psalm  that 
I  would  now  dwell.  I  have  already  excused  the 
bitterness  which  mars  some  of  the  Maccabsean  psalms. 
It  is  the  course  taken  by  this  thoroughly  human- 
hearted  poet  to  which  I  desire  to  draw  attention.  He 
rises  from  the  thought  that  God  is  love  (the  thought 
is  his,  though  not  the  very  words)  to  the  denial 
(implied,  though  not  expressed)  that  his  communion 
with  God  can  be  vitally  affected  by  his  absence  from 
the  temple.  Love  knows  no  barriers — least  of  all  the 
divine  love.  Hints  have  already  been  given  of  a 
catholic  Church  of  all  nations.  How  should  any  of 
its  worshippers — above  all,  Israelitish  ones — be  de- 


PSALM  LXIII.  315 


barred    from    the   fullest   spiritual    privileges   by  the 
accident  of  their  habitation  ?     What,  then,  can   the 
psalmist  have  lost  but  a  symbol  of  Jehovah's  presence 
among  His  people  which  He  who  has  fora  time  with- 
.'dravvn  it  will  not  suffer  him  to  miss  ?     The  psalmist 
has  indeed   missed  it  for   a  moment ;  but  when   he 
thinks  of  God's  eternal  love,  he  passes  into  a  stage  of 
experience  which  is   independent  of  forms,  because 
that   which   alone    makes  forms   desirable   has   been 
.obtained   without  them — the  inward  vision  of  God. 
Nay,  has  he  not,  here  in  the  wilderness,  had  specially 
strong  proofs  of  that  which  could  not  be  learned  so 
well  in  the  temple — the  divine  lovingkindness  ?     No 
doubt   the  pious  worshipper  drank  in  the  sense  of 
God's  love  in  the  temple ;  but  there  was  a  certain 
awfulness  attached  by  long  association  to  the  place 
where  the  ark  *  had  been,  which  may  have  weakened 
the   impression    of  the   divine   love.      The   psalmist 
himself  tells  us  that  God's  power  and  glory  were  what 
he  had  chiefly  beheld  in  the  temple  services,  and  from 
the   psalm  which   precedes  this  we  gather  that  the 
truth  of  God's  essential  lovingkindness  was,  even  after 
the  return,  less  generally  recognized  in  the  Church 
than   that  of  His  absolute  power.2     Should  not  the 
psalmist  then  acquiesce  in  a  temporary  loss,  without 
which  he  could  not  so  effectually  have  learned  that 

1  Cf.  Ps.  Ixxviii.  60,  cxxxii.  8.  2  See  Ps.  Ixii.  11,  12. 


316         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


God's  lovingkindness  followed  him  all  his  days,  and 
that  in  the  highest  and  fullest  sense  he  could  dwell  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord  for  ever  ?  Well  may  he  say, 
'  My  soul  is  satisfied  as  with  marrow  and  fatness, 
And  my  mouth  praiseth  thee  with  joyful  lips' 
Yes  ;  it  was  worth  while  to  sojourn  in  a  thirsty 
land  to  receive  such  showers  of  blessing  from  the 
Lord  of  life.  If  God's  lovingkindness  is  better  than 
life  itself,  much  more  must  it  be  better  than  any  of 
those  symbolic  services  from  which  the  psalmist  is  at 
present  parted,  and  to  which  he  will  return  with  so 
deep  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  which  they  symbolize  ? 
This  pious  man  felt  as  if  he  had,  not  indeed  lost  his 
God,  but  been  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  immediate 
access  to  Him.  He  must  indeed  have  known  better 
than  this,  for  psalmists  before  his  time  had  at  any 
rate  suggested  a  doctrine  on  ritual  almost  Christian 
in  its  spirituality.  But  trouble  had  brought  a  film 
over  his  eye,  and  he  could  not  see  the  new  and  but 
half-assimilated  truth.  Hence  his  restless  discontent. 
For  '  Thou  hast  made  us  for  Thyself,  and  our  heart 
remains  restless  until  it  find  rest  in  Thee.'  The 
most  sacred  forms  do  us  harm  if  they  step  between 
us  and  the  supreme  object  of  devotion.  It  is  well  to 
be  parted  from  them — it  is  well  even  to  part  ourselves 
from  them — for  a  time,  that  we  may  the  better  realize 
the  directness  of  the  soul's  relation  to  God  and  the 


PSALM  LXIII.  317 


inexhaustible  riches  of  His  grace.  For,  alas  !  there 
is  such  a  thing  as  a  merely  formal  and  notional  re- 
ligion. Too  many  ritual  forms  are  as  dangerous  as 
too  many  sermons.  Forms  and  sermons  are  only  use- 
ful to  those  who  come  to  them  with  an  unappeasable 
longing  to  get  that  which  by  nature  we  cannot  have — 
filial  intercourse  with  God.  The  essential  is,  neither 
to  be  a  ritualist  nor  a  non-ritualist,  neither  to  hear 
many  nor  to  hear  few  sermons,  but  to  hunger  and 
thirst  after  God.  And  nothing  can  satisfy  this  noble 
craving  but  experience. 

And  now  I  can  return  to  the  glorious  saying  of 
Jesus  on  the  last  day  of  the  feast.  The  historical 
fact,  that  on  the  scene  of  history,  once  in  the  ages  a 
Divine  Man  has  appeared  is  a  far  greater  proof  than 
any  which  the  psalmists  possessed  of  the  incon- 
ceivable love  of  God.  They  knew  indeed  that  even 
greater  wonders  than  any  in  the  past  were  in  store 
for  Israel  and  the  world  in  the  latter  days  ;  but  they 
could  not  guess  what  form  Jehovah's  creative  origi- 
nality would  select.  Moreover  they  knew  and  loved 
Jeremiah's  great  prophecy  of  the  new  covenant ;  but 
they  could  not  divine  how  the  promised  blessings  of 
forgiveness  and  regeneration  would  be  conveyed  to 
thirsting  souls.  We,  more  fortunate,  do  know.  We 
have  it  all  at  our  fingers'  ends.  But  do  we  really 
know  it  ?  Why  then  do  we  not  live  more  in  accord- 


3i8          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


ance  with  these  blessed  truths  ?  Were  it  not  best  to 
forget  our  poor,  ineffectual,  fancied  knowledge,  and 
once  more  become  learners  in  the  school  of  Jesus  and 
His  apostles  ?  It  is  too  often  our  fatal  familiarity 
with  modern  religious  phrases  which  hinders  us  from 
getting  to  the  root  of  religious  truth.  The  best 
remedy  for  educated  persons  is  the  historical  and  yet 
devotional  study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  more  espe- 
cially of  the  gospels.  I  cannot  be  too  earnest  in  im- 
pressing this  :  the  life  of  Christ,  historically  studied, 
is  at  once  the  best  evidence  of  Christianity  and  the 
unfailing  source  of  new  impulses  to  repentance  and 
faith.  Follow  Jesus  as  He  moves  about,  healing 
bodies  and  souls,  in  the  narrow  streets  of  Eastern 
towns  and  villages ;  follow  Him  from  the  manger  to 
the  cross  and  to  the  opening  tomb.  Believe  that  He 
was  not  less  the  Son  of  man  because  he  claimed  to 
be  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  what  He  was  1800  years 
ago  He  still  is. 


'  What  if  Thy  form  we  cannot  see  ? 
We  know  and  feel  that  Thou  art  here.' 


Come  to  Him  when  He  calls  the  weary  and  heavy- 
laden  to  His  side — if  at  least  you  feel  yourself  to 
belong  to  this  class.  Come  to  Him  when  He  says, 
c  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me,  and 
drink  ' — if  at  least  you  feel  that  the  words  '  any  man  > 


PSALM  LXIII.  319 


cover  your  own  case  ;  for  how  should  you  open  your 
lips  to  drink,  if  you  are  not  athirst  ?  True  life,  which 
in  that  Eastern  book  the  Bible  is  compared  to  sweet, 
fresh  water,  consists  in  likeness  to  God.  If  you  do 
not  thirst  for  this  God-likeness,  which  consists  in 
'  doing  always  those  things  that  please '  God,  how 
should  you  drink  of  the  life-giving  water  which  the 
Son  of  God  brings  ? 

'  Ye  believe  in  God,'  said  Jesus,  '  believe  also  in 
me.'  The  psalmists  did  believe  in  God  ;  they  thirsted 
for  new  life,  and  so  God  gave  it  them — how,  they  knew 
not,  save  that  it  was  through  His  abundant  loving- 
kindness,  and  that  it  was  the  first-fruits  of  the  new 
covenant  of  Jeremiah's  prophecy.  And  if  we  believe 
in  God  as  they  did,  and  cry  to  Him  as  they  did,  '  O 
God,  thou  art  my  God  :  teach  me  to  do  the  thing 
that  pleaseth  thee,'  He  will  assuredly  respond  to  us 
as  He  did  to  the  holy  psalmists,  and  still  more 
clearly  to  His  own  first  disciples.  The  great  want, 
both  of  the  world  and  of  the  Church,  is  this — to 
believe  more  earnestly  in  God.  It  would  be  untrue 
to  say  that  we  do  not  believe  at  all.  Faith  is  not 
dead,  but  sleepeth.  We  do  believe,  but  intermit- 
tently. We  do  in  our  best  moments  wish  to  please 
God,  but  we  do  not  give  thought  enough  to  the 
manifold  difficulties  which  hinder  the  accomplishment 
of  the  wish.  We  do  not  draw  upon  the  magnificent 


320          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

resources  so  freely  placed  at  our  disposal — resources 
of  '  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctification, 
and  redemption.'  We  have  faith,  but  not  that 
which  worketh,  which  energizeth,  by  love.  If  we 
had — if,  for  instance,  in  those  social  and  religious 
difficulties  which  so  strikingly  characterize  our 
times,  we  leaned  more  constantly  and  avowedly  on 
the  help  of  the  Divine  Spirit  of  wisdom,  would 
there  have  been  such  disputes  between  capital  and 
labour  as  those  which  so  lately  saddened  the 
bright  summer  weather  ?  and  would  such  important 
sections  of  our  population  be  in  part  or  altogether 
alienated  from  the  Christian  Church  ? 

Let  us  then  put  more  earnestness  into  our 
religious  life.  When  we  have  time  to  think  our 
own  deepest  thoughts,  we  do  crave  for  that  which 
is  far  better  than  all  earthly  excitement — the  joy 
of  the  experience  of  Christ's  love.  When  the  world 
leaves  us  free,  and  the  outer  noises  are  still,  our 
heart  does  thft>b  in  response  to  the  psalmist's  cry, 
'  O  God,  thou  art  my  God,  earnestly  do  I  seek  thee.' 
Let  us  then  dare  to  be  ourselves  more  constantly, 
and  make  it  our  one  ambition  (as  St.  Paul  says  J) 
to  be  well-pleasing  unto  Christ.  No  difficulties 
need  be  too  great  for  us ;  '  for  of  his  fulness,'  says 
an  evangelist,  '  have  all  we  received,  and  grace  for 

1  2  Cor.  v.  9  (Rev.  Ver.,  margin). 


PSALM  LXIII.  321 


grace.'  Let  us  not  consider  ourselves  excused  for 
the  weakness  of  our  spiritual  pulse  by  the  demands 
of  business.  It  is  possible  to  hallow  those  dry 
details  which  no  hard  worker  can  escape  by  the 
thought  that  we  are  placed  where  we  are  for  a 
moral  purpose  by  the  holy  will  of  God. 

'  There  are  in  this  loud  stunning  tide 

Of  human  care  and  crime 
With  whom  the  melodies  abide 
Of  the  everlasting  chime  ; 
Who  carry  music  in  their  heart 
Through  dusky  lane  and  wrangling  mart, 
Plying  their  daily  task  with  busier  feet, 
Because  their  secret  souls  a  holy  strain  repeat.' J 

Would  you  know  this  holy  strain  ?  The  psalmists 
can  give  you  the  words,  but  the  music  must  come 
from  within  your  soul.  '  Sing  unto  the  Lord  a  new 
song '  ;  for  when  has  the  experience  of  two  souls 
been  altogether  alike  ?  We  are  born  into  the 
world  of  nature  alone,  and  alone  we  are  born  into 
the  world  of  grace.  Special  mercies  need  special 
gratitude.  The  music  of  the  soul  is  like  the  '  new 
name,  which  no  man  knoweth  saving  he  that 
receiveth  it.'  My  God  must  '  open  my  lips,'  and 
give  me  the  new  song,  before  my  tongue  can  rightly 
'  show  forth  his  praise.' 

And  what  is  it  that  cheers  the  tired  worker  when 

1  Keble,  Christian  Year:  'St.  Matthew  the  Apostle.' 


322         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

the  melodies  of  the  holy  strain  sound  faintly  within 
him?  This  simple  thought  :  that  in  heaven  his 
thirst  after  goodness  and  righteousness,  and  after 
Him  who  is  their  living  image,  will  be  filled.  '  Thy 
lovingkindness,'  said  the  psalmist,  '  is  better  than  life 
itself  ;  of  course,  for  life  at  its  best  is  but  an 
imperfectly  transparent  veil,  on  the  other  side  of 
which  '  just  men  made  perfect '  have  an  immediate 
perception  of  the  glory  of  God  in  Christ.  Strictly 
speaking,  indeed,  '  the  eye  is  not  satisfied  with  seeing,' 
even  in  heaven.  Aspiration  will  still  be  the  glory  of 
those  who  have  been  born  into  the  better  life.  But 
the  thirst  of  heaven  will  have  no  trace  of  pain  in  it. 
It  will  be  simply  the  sense  that  for  ages  upon  ages 
we  shall  still  be  able  to  make  fresh  discoveries  of  the 
greatness  and  goodness  of  our  King,  and  of  the 
beauty  and  wisdom  of  His  works.  We  shall  only 
thirst  because  the  '  wells  of  salvation  '  are  too  deep 
to  exhaust,  because  that  Feast  of  Tabernacles  will 
never  come  to  an  end.  But  our  thirst  will  not  check 
the  stream  of  our  melody.  '  The  ransomed  of  the 
Lord  shall  return,  and  come  to  Zion  with  songs  and 
everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads  :  they  shall  obtain 
joy  and  gladness,  and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee 
away.' I 

*  Isa.  xxxv.  10. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

PSALM   LXVIII.1 

1  LET  God  arise,  let  his  enemies  be  scattered  ; 
And  let  them  that  hate  him  flee  before  Jiim" 
These  words  and  those  which  follow,  in  the  striking 
old  French  version,  formed  a  war-song  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, those  Maccabees  of  Reformed  Christianity. 
The  psalm  was  not  indeed  intended  as  a  war-song  ; 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  the  only  fighter 
mentioned  is  that  invincible  one,  Jehovah  Sabaoth. 
But  who  can  blame  these  heroes  for  so  employing 
the  Exsurgat  Deus  ?  Never  in  modern  times  have 
there  been  soldiers  of  such  steadfast  faith  as  the 
Huguenots  (except  it  be  Cromwell's  Ironsides),  and 
so  deeply  possessed  with  the  truth  that  the  best 
equipments  of  war  are  of  no  avail  without  the  help 
of  God.  The  spirit  of  the  psalms  had  passed  into 

1  Comp.  B.L.,  pp.  113,  114,  175,  475. 


324         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


their  lives,  and  though  we  may  not  read  the  psalms 
precisely  as  they  read  them,  yet  it  would  be  an 
object  worthy  of  a  Chrysostom  to  make  English 
people  sympathize  more  with  the  Huguenot  feeling 
towards  the  Psalter.  It  is  true,  the  modern  Chrysos- 
tom will  have  a  harder  task  than  his  predecessor  ; 
for  unless  he  has  assimilated  the  method  and  the 
best  results  of  criticism,  he  will  not  be  competent 
to  teach  those  who  most  need  to  be  taught. 
Somewhere  perhaps  he  is  even  now  passing  through 
his  varied  discipline,  human  and  divine  ;  and  while 
we  are  waiting  for  him,  let  us  listen  to  the  golden- 
tongued  preacher  of  Antioch,  as  he  stirs  up  the 
indolent  Christians  of  his  own  day  to  a  more 
intelligent  use  of  the  treasures  of  the  Psalter. 

'  The  words  of  this  psalm  are  universally  known  ; 
men  continue  to  sing  them  all  through  life,  but  they 
know  not  the  meaning  of  the  things  spoken.  One 
may  justly  find  fault  with  those  who  sing  the  same 
words  every  day,  but  do  not  investigate  the  thoughts 
which  are  stored  up  in  them.  And  yet  if  any  one 
saw  a  pure  and  limpid  water,  he  could  not  refrain 
from  going  near,  and  touching  and  drinking  it  ;  or 
if  he  frequented  a  meadow,  he  could  not  bear  to 
leave  it  without  gathering  a  few  flowers.  But  you 
who,  from  your  earliest  age  to  your  latest  years, 
practise  this  psalm,  are  content  to  know  the  words 


PSALM  LXVI1L  325 


alone,  and  sit  by  a  hidden  treasure,  and  carry  about 
a  sealed  purse,  and  not  one  of  you  is  moved  by 
curiosity  to  acquaint  himself  with  that  which  is  said. 
Nor  can  you  excuse  your  sleep  by  the  clearness  of 
the  meaning  ;  for  it  is  most  unclear.'  x 

St.  Chrysostom  is  speaking  of  the  14 1st  psalm,  the 
ordinary  evening  psalm  of  the  Eastern  Church.  But 
his  words  may  still  be  applied,  though  I  hope  in  a 
less  degree,  to  many  of  the  psalms  which  Anglican 
Churchmen  at  any  rate  repeat  in  their  daily  services. 
Do  not  let  us  accuse  the  great  preacher  of  austerity. 
St.  Chrysostom  held  up  no  impossible  standard.  He 
was  not  a  mere  cloistered  cenobite  ;  he  studied  men 
as  well  as  books,  and  sympathized  with  the  difficulties 
of  the  various  classes  of  his  people.  In  expounding 
another  psalm  (xlii.)  he  earnestly  recommends  his 
hearers  to  be  constantly  repeating  the  psalms,  both  at 
home  and  in  their  walks  abroad,  as  a  preservative 
against  temptation,  even  if  they  do  not  understand 
the  meaning  of  the  words.  '  For,'  he  says,  '  the 
tongue  is  sanctified  by  the  words  when  they  are 
spoken  with  a  well-disposed  mind.'  It  is  clear,  how- 
ever, that  he  only  makes  this  concession  to  beginners 
in  the  hallowed  practice  of  psalmody  ;  for  elsewhere 
he  is  urgent  on  the  necessity  of  both  praying  and 
singing  praise  with  the  understanding,  and  reckons  it 

1  Horn,  in  Ps.  cxl.  (cxli.) 


326         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


among  the  advantages  of  true  psalmody  that  it  does 
not  require  the  aid  of  the  tongue.  This,  St.  Chrysos- 
tom  thinks,  is  what  the  psalmist  means  by  the  words, 
'  Bless  Jehovah,  O  my  soul '  ;  for  it  is  only  too  easy, 
as  he  can  sadly  testify,  for  the  spirit  to  flag  in  accom- 
panying the  sacred  words. 

The  68th  psalm  is  one  of  those  which  most  require 
explanation  for  the  ordinary  reader.  Slowly  and 
gradually  have  trained  students  been  penetrating  its 
historical  sense  ;  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  teachers 
who  have  drawn  their  views  of  its  meaning  from  an 
uncritical  tradition  should  have  cast  but  little  light 
upon  it,  and  that  mostly  deceptive.  Were  I  address- 
ing a  Church  Congress  instead  of  the  wider  Christian 
public,  I  should  endeavour  to  excuse  the  backward- 
ness of  preachers  and  of  the  accredited  Church  litera- 
ture in  the  exposition  of  psalms  like  the  68th.  I 
should  point  out  that  the  wants  of  the  Church  are 
so  varied,  and  the  number  of  subjects  pressing  for 
recognition  in  theological  examinations  so  large,  that 
we  can  hardly  be  surprised  if  a  comparatively  new 
subject  like  the  historical  study  of  the  psalms  fails 
to  make  its  existence  adequately  realized.  But  I 
should  add  that  in  our  cathedrals  and  other  scarcely 
less  important  churches  an  example  ought  to  be  set 
both  by  those  who  preach  and  by  those  who  hear  ' 
by  those  who  preach  in  devoting  more  study  than 


PSALM  LXV1I1.  327 


formerly  to  the  historical  meaning  of  the  psalms,  and 
developing  a  legitimate  Christian  meaning  out  of 
this  ;  and  by  those  who  hear  in  absorbing  fresh  know- 
ledge and  making  it  fruitful  for  their  own  Bible  study. 
For  instance,  the  Church  of  England  attaches  great 
weight  to  the  68th  psalm,  which  it  appoints  to  be 
said  or  sung,  not  only  once  a  month  in  the  ordinary 
course,  but  on  Whitsunday.  But  must  not  an  open- 
minded  clergyman  anxiously  ask,  how  far  and  in 
what  sense  this  psalm  can  any  longer  be  set  apart  for 
that  high  day  ?  Historical  criticism  was  hardly  yet 
in  its  infancy  when  the  English  Reformers  compiled 
or  rearranged  the  Prayer  Book,  and  it  is  perfectly 
conceivable  that  we  might  have  to  make  on  their 
behalf  a  confession  of  error.  Let  us  examine  into 
the  circumstances  of  the  case  ;  more  than  merely 
Anglican  Church  interests  are  concerned. 

From  the  very  outset  we  must  regard  this  psalm 
in  its  true  light  as  a  grand  historical  ode,  one  of 
those  to  which  we  can  most  confidently  appeal  in 
confirmation  of  the  theory  that  the  Old  Testament  is 
a  literature.  There  are  indeed  other  historical  psalms 
— psalms  with  a  wide  sweep  of  historical  reference — 
but  they  are  didactic  ;  whereas  in  the  68th  the  glories 
of  the  past  and  the  hopes  and  fears  of  the  present  are 
fused  together  by  the  central  fire  of  a  deeply  stirred 
emotion.  The  psalm  falls  into  two  parts,  dividing  at 


328         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


ver.  19.  The  first  four  verses  consist  of  an  appeal  to 
Jehovah  to  deliver  Israel,  and  a  summons  to  the 
people  to  prepare  for  His  coming.  Then  begins  a 
magnificent  historical  retrospect.  The  psalmist  can 
look  back  upon  two  great  returns  of  the  Israelites  to 
Canaan  ;  and  if  he  lays  much  more  stress  upon  one 
than  upon  the  other,  it  is  because  the  return  from 
Egypt  was  the  consecrated  type  both  of  that  from 
Babylon  and  of  that  which,  even  after  the  second 
return,  fervent  Israelites  craved  (see  ver.  22)  from 
the  distant  lands  of  the  Dispersion.  In  ver.  6 
however  the  psalmist  clearly  refers  to  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  great  prophecy  of  the  Second  Isaiah. 
He  says  : 

'  God  maketh  the  desolate  to  return  home  ; 
He  bringeth  out  the  prisoners  into  prosperity  : 
But  the  rebellious  dwell  in  a  parched  land! 
Here   the  '  parched    land  '  is    Babylon,   where  the 
refreshing    streams   which    flow  from    Zion    are  un- 
known ;  the  '  desolate  '  and  the  '  prisoners  '  are  those 
who,  unlike  the  careless  or  rebellious   Israelites,  feel 
their  privations,  and  long  to  return  to  their  soul's  true 
home.      Observe,  the  psalmist  generalizes  from  the 
facts  of  Israel's  experience  of  God's  redeeming  love 
at    Babylon.      He   who   so  gloriously  interposed  to 
deliver   His  people  will  surely  do  so  again.     Israel 
personified  can  still  most  truly  say, 


PSALM  LXVIII.  329 


'  For  thy  sake  I  have  borne  reproacJi  ; 
Shame  hath  covered  my  face!  J 

And  though  at  present  his  destruction  as  a  nation 
seems,  humanly  speaking,  certain,  he — that  is,  the 
righteous  who  constitute  the  true  Israel — can  '  rejoice 
and  triumph  '  before  the  God  whose  victorious  advent 
they  anticipate.  We  shall  see  later  on  what  extra- 
ordinary faith  the  jubilant  words  of  vers.  3,  4  imply. 

In  vers.  7-18  we  have  a  highly  poetic  sketch  of 
the  journey  through  the  wilderness,  the  conquest  of 
Canaan,  and  the  occupation  of  Mount  Zion  by  the 
great  King.  It  is  gemmed  with  fine  quotations  from 
ancient  songs,  one  of  which  we  still  possess  in  full  ; 
it  is  the  Song  of  Deborah  in  Judges  v.  These  quota- 
tions do  not  always  carry  their  meaning  on  their 
front  ;  all  the  more  they  stimulate  us  to  think.  And 
if  we  do  spend  a  little  thought  upon  them,  we  shall 
be  rewarded.  We  shall  not  indeed  find  Scripture 
proofs  of  Christian  doctrine,  or  suitable  texts  for 
missionary  sermons  and  addresses.  It  is  an  ideal 
world  in  which,  fancy-free,  the  poet  roams.  Attended/" 
by  His  hosts,  Jehovah  transfers  His  holy  habitation) 
from  Mount  Sinai  to  Mount  Zion.  There  are  the  hosts 
of  heaven,  '  chariots  of  God,  many  myriads,  thousands 
upon  thousands'  (ver.  17)  ;  and  there  are  the  hosts  of 
earth,  as  weak  as  those  of  heaven  are  strong,  and  yet 

1  Ps.  Ixix.  7. 


330         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


the  special  objects  of  Jehovah's  protecting  care.  It  is 
for  them  that  He  leaves  the  most  ancient  of  the 
mounts  of  God,  where  already  He  has  appeared  unto 
Moses,  and  where,  as  an  exceptional  favour,  the  fugi- 
tive prophet  Elijah  was  again  to  find  Him  in  years  to 
come,  and  to  witness  that  divine  acted  parable,  the 
depths  of  which  he  failed  perhaps  to  fathom.  Long 
since  indeed  Jehovah  had  chosen  Canaan  to  be  His 
inheritance  ;  but  not  till  the  tribes  of  Jacob  were 
ready  to  become  the  people  of  the  true  God  did 
Canaan  become,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  right,  the  Holy 
Land.  And  when  did  the  tribes  of  Israel  become 
Jehovah's  people,  and  Jehovah  become  Israel's  God  ? 
At  the  giving  of  the  law.1  Then  it  was  that,  as  the 
psalmist  says,  quoting  from  the  Song  of  Deborah, 
'  even  yon  Sinai  trembled  at  the  presence  of  God,  the 
God  of  Israel '  (ver.  8)  ;  or,  in  the  words  of  the  story 
in  Exodus,  '  there  were  tJmnderings  and  lightnings, 
and  a  thick  cloud  upon  the  mount j  and  when  Jehovah 
came  down,  '  the  whole  mount  quaked  greatly'  (Exod. 
xix.  1 6,  1 8).  These  were  the  symbols  of  that  sterner 
side  of  the  divine  nature  which  was  most  prominent 
to  the  early  men.  But  was  there  no  evidence  of  a 
gentler  aspect  as  well  ?  Yes  ;  '  the  heavens^  as  the 
poet  tells  us,  '  dropped  (with  water),'  and  the  rain 
which  was  lost  upon  the  peaks  of  Sinai,  fell  in 

1  See  Deut.  xxxiii.  2-5. 


PSALM  LXVIII.  331 

gracious,  fertilizing  abundance  on  the  land  of  Canaan. 
'  Thou,  O  God,  didst  send  a  plentiful  rain, 
Thou  didst  restore  thine  inheritance,  ivhen  it  was  weary. 
Thy  congregation  (or,  thine  army)  dwelt  therein  (i.e.  in 

Canaan)  ; 

In   thy  goodness,    O   God,   thou  didst  prepare  for  the 
poor*  (vers.  9,  10). 

Next  we  have  a  scene  from  the  early  wars  of  the 
Israelites  with  the  Canaanitish  kings. 
'  The  Lord  givetJi  the  word  ; 

The  women  that  publish  the  tidings  are  a  great  host ' 
(ver.  11). 

The  Lord  Himself,  that  is,  raises  the  battle-cry  ; 
victory  follows,  and  choruses  of  singing  women  cele- 
brate the  event  among  all  the  tribes  of  Israel. 

The  next  three  verses  may  be  a  fragment  from 
one  of  the  songs  which  these  gifted  women  chanted. 

Ver.  15  places  us  among  the  Israelites  warring 
with  Og,  the  king  of  Bashan.  That  highland  region 
has  its  sacred  mountains,  not  less  than  Arabia.  And 
the  poet,  somewhat  like  the  author  of  the  ascension 
fragment  which  we  studied  not  long  since  in  the  24th 
psalm,  who  endows  palace-gates  with  the  faculty  of 
speech,  represents  the  grand  mountain-range  of 
Bashan  as  casting  jealous  eyes  at  the  little  mountain 
which  Jehovah  has  prepared  on  the  other  side  of 
Jordan.  For  at  length,  though  the  details  are 


332         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

omitted,  the  poet  would  have  us  understand  that  the 

triumphal  march  is  finished.     The  mighty  Warrior, 

with  His  chariots  of  angels,  'hath  come   (as  ver.   17 

says)  from  Sinai  into  the  sanctuary'     And  the  poet 

concludes  the  first  part  of  the  ode  with  the  cry  of 

praise, — 

'  Thou  hast  gone  up  to  the  height  to  abide  ; 

Jehovah,  thou  hast  carried  away  captives  ;  tliou  hast 

received  gifts. 
A mong  men, yea,  even  among  the  rebellious' J 

The  height  which  Jehovah  ascends  is  clearly  not 
the  heavenly,  but  the  earthly  sanctuary ;  for  we  are 
told  that  He  carries  with  Him  His  '  captives,'  and  the 
'  gifts  '  or  '  tribute '  which  He  has  received  among 
men,  no  longer  '  rebellious '  to  His  will.  And  the 
comfort  which  the  psalmist  draws  from  his  now 
completed  historical  retrospect  is,  that  Jehovah's 
residence  on  Mount  Zion  will  not  be  of  as  short 
a  duration  as  that  on  Mount  Sinai,  but  that  He  has 
ascended  up  on  high  to  abide.  Twice  within  these 
verses  this  significant  word  '  abide  '  is  used  with  refer- 
ence to  Jehovah  ;  and  since  He  is  the  same  yesterday, 
to-day,  and  for  ever,  the  victory  which  was  the  pre- 
lude to  His  royal  entrance  into  Jerusalem  was  a 
prophecy  of  many  another  victory  in  times  to  come. 

1  In   justification  of  this  rendering,  I  cannot  help  referring  to  my 
commentary  (1888). 


PSALM  LXVIII.  .      333 


In  what  sense  can  the  Christian  use  this  part  of  the 
psalm  ?  It  is  of  course  edifying  to  see  how  a  religious 
Jewish  poet  read  his  nation's  history  ;  but  is  there 
any  distinctively  Christian,  and  more  especially  any 
Whitsuntide,  application  that  we  can  make  of  these 
verses  ?  A  simple-minded  reader  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment will  perhaps  reply  by  pointing  to  that  most 
beautiful  exhortation  to  unity  in  the  fourth  chapter  of 
Ephesians,  where  the  apostle  illustrates  the  truth  that 
all  spiritual  gifts  come  from  one  God  through  one 
Mediator  by  quoting  the  eighteenth  verse  of  our 
psalm  in  an  incorrect  form,  using  the  liberty  then, 
even  more  than  now,  accorded  to  a  preacher.  But 
though,  as  we  sing  the  psalm,  we  may  sometimes 
recall  with  interest  this  passage  in  Ephesians,  we 
cannot,  as  thinking  men,  justify  the  Whitsuntide  use 
of  this  psalm  by  St.  Paul's  inaccurate  quotation.  It 
may  perhaps  help  us  to  remember  that  this  was  one 
of  the  special  psalms  for  the  Jewish  day  of  Pentecost. 
That  festival  was  held  in  later  times  to  commemorate 
the  giving  of  the  law  on  Mount  Sinai,  and  Psalm 
Ixviii.  was  doubtless  connected  with  the  feast  on 
account  of  its  description  of  the  awful  phenomena 
reported  in  the  twentieth  of  Exodus,  when  the  people 
trembled  and  stood  afar  off,  for  they  were  afraid  to 
meet  God.1 

1  Exocl.  xx.  18,  19. 


334         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


But  the  Christian  Feast  of  Pentecost  commemorates 
a  greater  event  than  the  giving  of  the  Decalogue — 
even  that  mighty  inspiration  by  which  the  apostles, 
as  representatives  of  the  Church,  were  fitted  to  con- 
tinue Christ's  work  in  Christ's  spirit.  And  I  think 
that  we  may  find  an  anticipation  of  this  second  and 
greater  coming  of  God  in  the  latter  verses  of  this 
section  of  the  ode.  Jehovah  has  not  come  down  for 
a  time  only,  with  thunder  and  lightning  and  earth- 
quake, but  to  abide,  as  the  Author  of  peace  and 
the  Father  of  mercies,  for  evermore  in  His  temple. 
And  what,  from  a  Christian  point  of  view,  is  His 
temple  ?  A  material  building  ?  No  :  the  Church  of 
Christ,  and  therefore  each  member  of  that  Church,  in 
so  far  as  he  is  one  with  Christ  by  faith. 

At  this  point  (ver.  19)  the  second  part  begins  in 
the  language  of  benediction. 
'  Blessed  be  the  Lord! 

Day  by  day  he  bearetJi  us  (or,  beareth  our  burden], 
Even  the  God  who  is  our  salvation' 
A  different  strain  this  from — 

'  Blessed  be  Jehovah  my  Rock  ! 
Who  teacheth  my  hands  to  war, 
And  my  fingers  to  fight' J 
The  poet  who  wrote  these  words  lived  at  a  time 

1  Ps.  cxliv.  I. 


PSALM  LXVIII.  335 


when  Israel,  full  of  martial  prowess,  could  fight  for 
the  accomplishment  of  God's  purposes.  But  now 
Israel  is  too  feeble,  too  depressed,  to  dream  of  self- 
defence,  and  if  God  does  not  soon  interpose,  will  be 
torn  in  pieces  by  the  ruthless  potentates  who  are 
contending  over  his  body.  The  psalmist's  function 
is  to  keep  alive  the  spirit  of  trust  in  God.  Outwardly 
Israel  may  have  been  brought  very  low,  but  inwardly 
he  has  still  cause  enough  for  soaring  on  the  wings  of 
faith.  There  are  in  fact  two  Israels  :  the  one  which 
is  '  despised  and  rejected  of  men '. ;  the  other  which 
is  invisibly  borne  up  on  angels'  wings,  lest  he  dash 
his  foot  against  a  stone.  And  corresponding  to  these 
two  Israels,  we  find  two  classes  of  utterances  in  the 
Psalter,  one  which  is  represented  by  the  words, 

'  Hoiv  long,  Jehovah,  wilt  thou  forget  me  for  ever  ?  ' * 
and  the  other  by  the  courageous  profession  of  faith  in 
ver.  20  of  our  psalm, — 
'  God  is  unto  us  a  God  of  deliverances  ; 
A  nd  unto  Jehovah   the   Lord  belong  the  issues  from 
death: 

Israel's  God  has  not  lost  His  ancient  strength,  nor 
has  He  '  forgotten  to  be  gracious.'  Still  does  He 
direct  the  affairs  of  His  people  from  His  holy  hill  of 
Zion  ;  still  does  He  grant  new  prophetic  revelations, 
or  disclose  the  present  meaning  of  the  old.  One  of 

1  Ps.  xiii.  i. 


336         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


these  old  or  new  oracles  points  to  a  great  restoration 
of  Jewish  exiles,  preceding  an  awful  judgment  upon 
Jehovah's  enemies  (see  vers.  21-23).     From  this  the 
poet  draws  fresh  hope,  and  he  still  further  encourages 
himself  by  the  proofs  which  the  well-attended  festival 
processions  of  his  day  supply  of  the  unbroken  con- 
nexion between  God  and  His  Church. 
'  They  have  seen  thy  goings,  O  God, 
Even  the  goings  of  my  God,  my  King,  into  the  sanctuary? 
And  then  follows  a  description  of  the  procession. 
The  singers  and  players  upon  instruments  take  the 
lead,  surrounded  by  damsels,  like  Miriam,  playing  on 
timbrels.   After  this  comes  the  laity  in  general.     Four 
tribes  only  take  part,  two  belonging  to  Judaea,  and  two 
to  Galilee — the  two  provinces  into  which  the  Jewish 
'   territory  was  divided  in  the  post-Exile  period. 
'  Then  went  little  Benjamin  before, 
The  chiefs  of  Judah  in  its  bands, 

The  chiefs  of  Zebulnn,  the  chiefs  of  NapJitali  '  (ver.  27). 
The  tribe  of  Benjamin  was  always  a  small  one— 
hence  the  epithet  '  little,'  which  has  no  mystic  refer- 
ence, as  the  Fathers  uncritically  supposed,1  to  the 
Apostle  Paul.  The  '  chiefs '  (or,  princes)  are  the 
elders,  one  or  more  of  whom  would  naturally  precede 
the  representatives  of  each  district.  But  there  was 
One  invisibly  present,  without  whom  the  procession 

1  So  even  Theocloret. 


PSALM  LXVIII.  337 


would  have  lost  its  sanctity.  In  the  olden  days,  the 
ark  would  have  been  carried  at  the  head  of  the  pro- 
cession, the  ark  which  was  revered  as  the  material 
pledge  of  Jehovah's  presence.  But  those  who  de- 
voutly used  the  psalms  could  not  possibly  want  what 
had  only  been  given  for  a  time  for  the  hardness  of 
men's  hearts.  They  knew  that  God  was  everywhere 
present,  though  they  could  not  see  Him,  and  more 
specially  present  in  the  assemblies  of  the  Church. 
Hence  the  poet  boldly  ventures  on  the  phrase  '  thy 
goings,'  just  as  if  the  Lord,  according  to  the  pro- 
phecy of  Malachi,  had  suddenly  come  in  person  to 
His  temple.1 

Encouraged  by  the  vigorous  church-life  thus  ex- 
emplified, the  psalmist  rises  into  the  tone  of  prayer. 
May  He  who  has  again  and  again  '  wrought  '  for 
Israel  '  strengthen '  His  work  in  our  day  (ver.  28)  ! 
And  now,  instead  of  picturing  the  routed  enemy 
overtaken  by  God's  just  vengeance,  as  in  the  two 
opening  verses,  a  new  and  more  blessed  vision  passes 
before  his  eyes.  It  is  a  new  sort  of  religious  pro- 
cession which  he  sees — distant  kings  hastening  to 
Jerusalem  with  presents  for  the  King  of  kings.  But 
how  can  this  be  realized  while  Israel's  land  is  no 
better  than  a  football  to  the  great  rival  kings  of 
Egypt  and  Syria — the  Ptolemies  and  the  Seleucidae, 


1  Mai.  iii.  I. 
23 


338         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

of  whom  we  read  in  veiled  language  in  the  eleventh 
chapter  of  the  book  of  Daniel  ?  Hence  the  poet 
utters  an  earnest  prayer  for  the  humiliation  of  these 
proud  heathen  kingdoms.  '  The  wild  beast  of  the 
reeds '  (not  '  the  company  of  the  spearmen  ')  means 
Egypt,  whose  symbol  was  leviathan;  while  'the  troop 
of  bulls  .  .  .  that  delight  in  silver,'  refers  to  the 
mercenaries  of  various  nations  who  fought  on  the 
side  of  Egypt  (see  note,  p.  341).  When  these 
proud  empires  have  been  '  rebuked,'  i.e.  restrained 
and  humiliated,  then  will  Israel  be  at  liberty  to 
assume  its  peaceful,  educational  functions  for  the 
nations  of  the  world.  Then  will  the  bold  predic- 
tions of  the  Second  Isaiah  be  fulfilled  ;  Egypt  and 
Ethiopia  shall  become  the  voluntary  vassals  of 
Israel  :  ' 'After  thee  shall  they  go,  and  in  chains  pass 
over ;  and  unto  thee  shall  they  bow  down,  unto  thee 
shall  they  fray,  Of  a  truth  in  thee  is  God;  and  there 
is  none  else,  no  Godliead  at  all.' J  For  the  chains,  as 
any  one  must  see,  are  those  of  affectionate  reverence, 
by  which  these  noble  proselytes  are  linked  to  those 
who  unfold  to  them  the  way  of  truth.  Or,  as  the 
psalmist  puts  it — 

'  ( Then}  shall  they  come  in  haste  out  of  Egypt ; 
Quickly  shall  Ethiopia   stretch   out    her  hands   unto 
God: 

1  Isa.  xlv.  14 ;  cf.  xliii.  3. 


PSALM  LXV1II.  339 


The  psalmist  is  not  in  the  mood  for  following  out 
the  train  of  thought  naturally  suggested  by  this  pros- 
pect. We  shall  see  in  a  subsequent  Study  how  another 
temple-singer  treats  the  grand  theme  of  the  conver- 
'  sion  of  the  nations.  With  the  thought  of  .Ethiopia 
stretching  out  her  hands  unto  God  our  poet  closes 
what  I  may  call  the  historical  part  of* the  ode.  His 
fears  for  Israel's  future  are  allayed.  He  has  '  con- 
sidered the  days  of  old,  and  the  years  that  are  past' 
He  has  reflected  on  the  many  proofs  of  Israel's  present 
devotion  to  its  God.  He  has  presented  the  Church's 
earnest  prayer,  and,  relying  on  the  unchangeableness 
of  the  divine  nature,  he  can  have  no  doubt  as  to  the 
result. 

The  68th  psalm  is  a  poem  of  grandly  wide  com- 
pass, and  reveals  no  ordinary  degree  of  art.  The 
singing-robes  of  David  were  taken  up  by  some  who 
almost  equalled  him  in  gifts,  and  far  surpassed  him 
in  culture.  The  psalm  is  also  a  fine  monument  of 
post-Exile  religion.  It  shows  us  how,  even  in  dark 
days,  when  ruin  menaced  from  without,  and  inward 
moral  decay  was  visible  in  the  highest  family  of  the 
State,  there  was  still  a  Church  of  true  believers,  who 
read  their  past  history  in  the  light  of  their  religion, 
and  were  encouraged  by  it  to  wait  patiently,  and  even 
rejoicingly,  for  their  God.  We  have  seen  how  we 
may  still  repeat  the  first  part  of  the  ode  at  Whit- 


340         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


suntide,  and  we  shall,  I  think,  agree  that  the  mis- 
sionary prospect  with  which  the  second  part  closes 
makes  it  equally  fit  with  the  first  for  our  Christian 
Pentecost-day.  It  is  the  missionary  idea  which 
prompts  the  grand  thanksgiving  which  concludes 
the  psalm,  and  in  which  all  nations  of  the  earth 
are  summoned  to  join. 

'  O  kingdoms  of  the  earth,  sing  ye  unto  God, 

Make  ye  melody  unto  the  Lord'  (ver.  32). 
For  the  conversion  of  Egypt  and   Ethiopia,  antici- 
pated in  ver.  31,  is  but  like  the  first  droppings  of 
a  shower.     The  words  of  another  psalmist, 
'  All  nations  whom  thou  hast  made 

Shall  come  and  worship  before  thee,  JehovaJi, 

And  shall  glorify  thy  name,' I 

have  found  an  echo  in  our  poet's  heart.  His  sum- 
mons to  all  the  heathen  nations  to  glorify  God  for 
His  deliverance  of  Israel  implies  that  they  have  at 
least  understood  that  Israel  is  to  be  the  first-born 
among  many  brethren,  and  that  in  Abraham's  seed 
all  the  families  of  the  earth  will  be  blessed.  They 
have,  in  short,  received  into  their  hearts  the  germ  of 
the  true  religion.  Inwardly  as  well  as  outwardly  the 
power  of  heathenism  has  been  broken.  'The  kingdoms 
of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  God,'— 
it  remains  for  the  Christian  to  add — 'and  of  His 

1  Ps.  Ixxxvi.  9. 


PSALM  LXV1II.  341 


Christ.'  Can  we  not,  then,  without  the  least  un- 
faithfulness to  historical  truth  and  to  sound  Biblical 
interpretation,  continue  to  read  and  to  repeat  the 
68th  psalm  in  the  services  of  the  Christian 
Church  ? 

NOTE. — Partly  following  Professor  Nestle,  I  would 
correct  ver.  30  thus  : — 
'  Rebuke  the  wild  beast  of  the  reeds >  t/ie  troop  of  bulls ', 

Tlie  lords  of  peoples  from  Pathros  ; 

\Punis Ji\  them  that  delight  in  silver, 

Scatter  the  peoples  that  have  pleasiire  in  wars! 

(See  my  article,  Journal  of  Biblical  Literature  and 
Exegesis,  June,  1892.) 


CHAPTER     XIII. 

PSALM   LXXXVI.1 

THE  86th  psalm,  though  ascribed  in  the  heading  to 
David,  forms  a  strong  contrast  to  those  admitted  into 
the  earliest  '  Davidic '  collection  (Psalms  iii.-xxxii., 
xxxiv.-xli.).  These  poems,  which,  with  the  addition  of 
three  others,  the  Jews  called  the  first  book  of  psalms, 
have  a  freshness  of  style  and,  in  some  cases,  a  plausibly 
supposed  appropriateness  to  moments  in  the  life  of 
David,  which  justify  the  title  Davidic.  But  this  poem, 
if  poem  it  can  be  called,  is  not  the  work  of  an  accom- 
plished singer,2  but  a  piece  of  literary  mosaic,  express- 
ing the  thoughts  and  aspirations  of  average  members 
of  the  Church  in  phrases  already  familiar  by  liturgical 
use.  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  go  through  the  psalm, 

1  See  B.L.,  pp.  119,  479. 

2  '  Prayer  of  David  '  is  a  most  unhappy  title,  suggested,  no  doubt, 
by  the  occurrence  in  the  psalm  of  expressions  taken  from  the  earlier 
'  Davidic '  Psalter. 


PSALM  LXXX  VI.  343 


its/ 
off 


pointing  out  the  probable  sources  from  which  almost 
every  verse  was  drawn.  So  true  it  is,  that  even  ordi- 
nary intellects  may  be  so  honoured  by  the  Spirit's 
guidance  as  to  produce  something  which  the  Church 
will  never  forget.  And  may  I  not  illustrate  this  by 
some  of  our  own  hymns,  which  owe  their  well- 
deserved  popularity  less  to  any  slight  poetical  merits 
than  to  their  close  following  of  the  great  lines 
spiritual  experience  ? 

Our  psalmist  has  no  mere  head-knowledge  of  that 
experience.  He  clings  to  those  foundation-truths 
which  are  the  only  consolations  in  time  of  trouble. 
There  is  not  much  consecutiveness  in  his  writing. 
He  tells  the  Church  for  what  it  most  needs  to  pray, 
and  upon  what  grounds,  not  for  God's  sake,  but  for 
its  own,  it  ought  to  base  its  petitions.  He  speaks, 
not  in  his  private  capacity,  but  as  a  Churchman. 
Even  where,  as  in  the  words, '  Give  thy  strength  unto 
thy  servant,  and  help  the  son  of  thine  handmaid  ' 
(ver.  1 6),  he  may  seem  to  refer  to  his  own  pious 
education,  he  is  really  thinking  of  his  spiritual  mother 
the  Church,  for  the  accompanying  complaint  and  peti- 
tion need  a  reference  to  the  Church  to  justify  them. 
'  O  God,  the  proud  are  risen  up  against  me> 
And  a  congregation'1  of  violent  men  have  sought  after 
my  so2il, 

1  Kay  renders  '  faction.' 


344         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


And  have  not  set  thee-  before  them. 

Show  me  a  token  for  good, 

TJtat  they  who  hate  me  may  see  it  and  be  ashamed.1 

Those  were  the  happy  times  when  '  Church '  and 
'  nation '  were  synonymous  terms.  True,  the  awful 
sin  of  apostasy  had  already  raised  its  head  in 
Jehovah's  inheritance.  But  those  '  proud  '  and 
'  violent '  men,  who  are  again  referred  to  in  other 
psalms,1  especially  the  iigth,  were  self-excluded 
from  the  Israelitish  community.  The  psalmist  could 
have  said  of  them  what  St.  John  said  of  the  early 
heretics  :  '  They  went  out  from  us,  but  they  were 
not  of  us  ;  for  if  they  had  been  of  us,  they  would 
have  continued  with  us.'  2  And  for  some  time  past 
the  faithful  worshippers  had  been  accustomed  to  use 
the  solemn  interrogatories  of  the  i5th  and  the  24th 
psalms,  describing  the  qualities  which  Jehovah  re- 
quired in  those  who  would  be  guests  in  His  pavilion, 
and  rise  up  in  His  holy  place.3  Indeed,  in  this  very 
psalm  the  Churchman  is  taught  to  pray,  not  only 
Incline  thine  ear,  for  I  am  poor  and  needy'  (ver.  i), 
but,  'Preserve  thou  my  soul;  for  I  can  trace  in  myself 
the  chief  note  of  the  character  which  thou,  O  God, 
requirest'  (ver.  2). 

Let  us  pause  a  little  on  the  second  verse,  to  which 

1  Cf.  Pss.  xix.  13  ;  liv.  3  ;  cxix.  21,  &c. 
2   I  John  ii.  19.  3  Pss!  xv.  I  ;  xxiv.  3. 


PSALM  LXXXVI.  345 


I  have  referred.  Both  the  Bible  and  the  Prayer 
Book  version  make  the  psalmist  say,  '  Preserve  thoii 
my  soul,  for  I  am  holy ' ;  and  St.  Augustine  unsus- 
piciously remarks,  '  Who  can  be  the  speaker  of  these 
words  but  the  Sinless  One,  who  took  the  form  of  a 
servant,  and  through  whom,  and  through  whom  alone, 
the  sanctified,  that  is,  the  baptized  members  of  the 
Church,  can  dare  to  repeat  them  ?  '  But,  as  we  can 
see  from  the  Revised  Version,  the  ground  of  the 
psalmist's  appeal  is,  not  something  which  he  has 
received,  but  something  which  he  is.  It  may  be 
true — it  is  true — that  not  even  the  least  motion 
towards  God  can  the  soul  make  without  a  prior 
motion  of  God  towards  us.  But  the  psalmist  is  not 
regarding  himself  from  this  high  and  heavenly  point 
of  view.  He  says,  according  to  the  Revised  Version, 
'  Preserve  thou  my  soul,  for  I  am  godly ' ;  or,  since 
no  single  word  will  express  the  meaning,  '  Preserve 
thou  my  soul,  for  to  thy  covenant-love  T  respond 
with  a  feebler  but  still  sincere  covenant-love  of  my 
own.'  You  see,  it  is  not  the  state  of  holiness  to 
which  the  psalmist  lays  claim,  but  the  overmastering 
affection  of  moral  love,  the  same  in  kind  as  that  of 
which  he  is  conscious  towards  his  brother  Israelites, 
and  in  some  degree  towards  his  brother  men.  To  a 
good  Israelite  there  is  no  boastfulness  implied  in  such 
a  claim  as  the  psalmist's.  Whom  should  he  love  but 


346         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


Jehovah,  who  has  granted  Israel  a  '  covenant  ordered 
in  all  things  and  sure/  a  covenant  based  on  the  pre- 
supposition that  those  who  desire  its  benefits  are 
bound  by  practical  love  to  each  other,  and,  both  as 
individuals  and  as  a  community,  by  worshipping  and 
obedient  love  to  Jehovah  ?  Israel's  proudest  title  is 
that  he  is  one  that  loves,  not  vaguely  and  at  random, 
but  supported  by  the  profound  consciousness  of  duty. 
'  Thou  shalt  love  Jehovah  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  strength.' J 
This  is  the  duty  ;  and  here  is  the  reward  : 
'  Because  Jie  hath  set  his  love  upon  me,  therefore  will  I 

deliver  him  : 
I  will  set  him  on  high,  because  he  hath  known   my 

name.'  2 

Observe,  it  is  not,  Because  he  hath  set  his  love  upon 
me,  therefore  I  also  v/ill  love  him.  By  nature,  Israel 
was  not  worthy  to  be  loved  ;  and  if,  in  spite  of  this, 
Jehovah  loved  him,  it  was  for  the  sake  of  the  fathers,3 
especially  Abraham  the  '  friend  of  God.'  But  now, 
after  the  lapse  of  ages,  a  regenerate  Israel  is  learning 
to  love  God  ;  the  title  '  Jehovah's  friend,'  so  gloriously 
borne  by  Abraham,  can  be  given  by  a  psalmist  to 
faithful  Israelites.  '  O  friends  of  Jehovah,'  he  says, 
'  hate  the  evil  thing.'  4  And  this  is  really  implied  in 

1  Deut.  vi.  5.  2  Ps.  xci.  14. 

3  Exod.  ix.  6;  Deut.  iv.  37,  x.  15  ;  cf.  Rom.  xi.  28. 

4  Ps.  xcvii.  10. 


PSALM  LXXXVI.  347 


the  title  assumed  by  the  typical  Churchman  in  the 
86th  psalm,  '  Preserve  thou  my  soul,  for  I  am  one  that 
loves.'     For  Jehovah  too  is  '  one  that  loves.' 
'  RigJiteous  is  JeJiovah  in  all  his  zvays, 
And  loving  (or  kind]  in  all  his  works.'  T 

Consequently  the  relation  between  Jehovah  and 
the  true  Israel — the  Israel  which  is  not  stiff-necked, 
but  yields  to  the  soft  guidance  of  Jehovah's  eye2 — 
is  a  sublimation  of  human  friendship.  Yes  ;  just  as 
God  leads  the  child  through  the  happy  experience  of 
human  fatherhood  to  the  enrapturing  conception  and 
experience  of  a  Divine  Father,  so  through  the  pearl 
of  human  friendship  He  would  have  us  form  some 
dim  but  truthful  idea  of  that  pearl  of  great  price,  the 
divine  friendship. 

To  me  this  verse  seems  transfigured,  when  under- 
stood as  an  appeal  from  one  friend  to  another.  I  do 
not  forget  the  more  awful  aspects  of  the  divine 
nature  ;  there  are  times  when  it  is  natural  and  right 
to  dwell  upon  them.  But  for  a  happy  Christian  life 
we  need  to  dwell  predominantly  on  the  softer  picture 
of  our  God  presented  to  us  by  and  in  Christ.  God  is 
our  friend.  He  knows  our  wants  (our  real  wants) 
better  than  we  do  ourselves,  and  He  has  the  will  and 
the  power  to  relieve  them.  We  will  not  say  to  Him, 
'  Preserve  thou  my  soul  ;  for,  through  Christ,  I  am 

1  Ps.  cxlv.  17.  2  Ps.  xxxii.  8,  9. 


348         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

holy  and  acceptable  unto  thee,'  but  rather,  as  that 
noble  1 6th  psalm  says,  'Preserve  thou  me,  for  I  have 
no  good  beyond  thee,'  or,  as  our  psalm,  when  rightly 
understood,  expresses  it,  '  Preserve  me,  for  I  am  one 
of  thy  circle  of  friends.' x  There  is  nothing  arrogant 
in  this.  God  in  the  olden  time  offered  this  friendship 
to  every  true  Israelite  ;  and  in  these  happy  Christian 
days  He  offers  it  to  every  child  of  man. 

'  I  say  to  thee,  do  thou  repeat 
To  the  first  man  thou  mayest  meet 
In  lane,  highway,  or  open  street, 

That  he  and  we  and  all  men  move 

Under  a  canopy  of  love, 

As  broad  as  the  blue  sky  above  ' :  2 

or,  in  the  words  of  our  psalmist : 

'  (That)  thou,  O  Lord,  art  good  and  ready  to  forgive, 

And  rich  in   lovingkindness  unto  all  them  that  call 

upon  thee! 

You  will  see  that  I  have  had  to  amend  one  word 
even  in  the  Revised  Version  of  this  passage  ;  follow- 
ing the  American  Revisers,  I  have  changed  '  mercy  ' 
into  '  lovingkindness.'  Both  are  gentle  words,  and 
fill  the  air  with  benediction.  But  the  psalmists  draw 
a  deeply  felt  distinction  between  them,  and  to  ob- 
literate it  is  to  spoil  many  psalms,  and  especially  the 

1  Ps.  xxv.  14  may  be  rendered,  '  The  intimacy  of  Jehovah  is  for  them 
that  fear  him.'  2  Trench. 


PSALM  LXXXVI.  349 


86th,  the  keynote  of  which  is  lovingkindness.  Do  but 
observe  how  ever  and  anon  this  sweet  word  or  its 
adjective  drops  from  the  writer's  pen.  '  Preserve 
thou  my  soul,  for  I  am  one  that  loves.'  '  Thou, 
Jehovah,  art  rich  in  lovingkindness.'  '  Great  is  thy 
lovingkindness  towards  me.'  '  Thou,  O  Lord,  art  a 
God  rich  in  lovingkindness  and  truth.'  I  have  pointed 
out  how  the  first  of  these  passages  is  marred  by  an 
imperfect  rendering.  But  the  three  other  verses 
from  which  I  have  quoted  have  suffered  equally.  And 
even  Jeremy  Taylor,  great  alike  as  a  saint  and  as  a 
prose-poet,  has  in  some  respects  marred  two  of  his 
gorgeous  sermons,  nominally  based  on  ver.  5  of  this 
psalm,  by  not  seeing  that  this  is  one  of  the  group  of 
psalms  of  lovingkindness.  All  that  he  can  find  in 
this  text  is  '  miracles  of  the  divine  mercy'  Listen  to 
his  solemn  word-music. 

'  Man  having  destroyed  that  which  God  delighted 
in,  that  is,  the  beauty  of  his  soul,  fell  into  an  evil 
portion,  and  being  seized  upon  by  the  Divine  Justice 
grew  miserable,  and  condemned  to  an  incurable 
sorrow.  .  .  .  God's  eye  watched  him  ;  His  Omni- 
science was  man's  accuser,  His  Severity  was  the 
Judge,  His  Justice  the  Executioner.  ...  In  the 
midst  of  these  sadnesses,  God  remembered  His  own 
creature,  and  pitied  it,  and  by  His  Mercy  rescued 
him  from  the  hand  of  His  Power,  and  the  Sword  of 


350        THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

His  Justice,  and  the  guilt  of  his  punishment,  and  the 
disorder  of  his  sin.  ...  It  was  Mercy  that  preserved 
the  noblest  of  God's  creatures  here  below  ;  he  who 
stood  condemned  and  undone  under  all  the  other 
attributes  of  God,  was  only  saved  and  rescued  by  His 
Mercy  ;  that  it  may  be  evident  that  God's  Mercy  is 
above  all  His  works,  and  above  all  ours,  greater  than 
the  Creation,  and  greater  than  our  sins.  .  .  .  And 
God's  Justice  bowed  down  to  His  Mercy,  and 
all  His  Power  passed  into  Mercy,  and  His  Omni- 
science converted  into  care  and  watchfulness,  into 
Providence  and  observation  for  man's  avail  ;  and 
heaven  gave  its  influence  for  man,  and  rained  showers 
for  our  food  and  drink  ;  and  the  attributes  and  acts 
of  God  sat  at  the  feet  of  Mercy,  and  all  that  mercy 
descended  upon  the  head  of  man.' * 

This  is  what  the  great  preacher  means  by '  miracles 
of  the  divine  mercy,'  and  supposes  to  be  in  the  mind 
of  the  writer  of  the  86th  psalm.     Well,  '  miracles '  the 
psalmist  certainly  does  refer  to.     He  says  in  ver.  10, 
'  Thou  art  great,  and  doest  wondrous  things, 

Thou  art  God  alone  '  ; 

and  in  ver.  15,  he  refers  to  the  divine  mercy, 
'  Thou,  O  Lord,  art  a    God  full  of  compassion   (i.e. 

merciful)  and  gracious.' 
But,  as  I  have  said,  the  divine  '  mercy  '  is  not  fore- 

1  Sermons  (1678),  p.  383. 


PSALM  LXXXVI.  351 


most  in  the  writer's  mind  ;  God's  '  miracles '  are  to 
him  miracles  of  lovingkindness.  Nor  is  Jeremy 
Taylor's  idea  of  the  divine  'mercy'  the  only  admis- 
sible nor,  for  ordinary  Christians,  the  most  wholesome 
one.  If  you  feed  upon  the  view  of  truth  presented 
in  this  fine  passage  till  it  colours  your  inmost  nature, 
you  will  no  doubt  gain  a  grand,  a  simple,  and  a  con- 
centrated Christian  character,  but  the  moral  tension 
in  which  you  live  will  communicate  to  your  bearing  a 
certain  hardness  which  will  contrast  unfavourably 
with  the  gentleness  of  the  gracious  Master.  It  is  well 
sometimes  to  say  and  to  feel  the  words  : 


'  Mercy,  good  Lord,  mercy  I  ask  ; 

This  is  my  humble  prayer  ; 
For  mercy,  Lord,  is  all  my  suit, 
O  let  Thy  mercy  spare.' 


For,  as  another  psalmist  says, 
'  God  is  a  righteous  Judge, 

Yea,  a  God  that  katk  indignation  every  day  '  ;  * 
and,  looking  at  ourselves  apart  from  Christ  and  His 
Spirit,  we  can  have  no  hope  of  acquittal.  But  as 
soon  as  we  admit  into  our  mind  the  idea  of  the 
divine  covenant,  the  conceptions  of  'justice'  and 
'  mercy  '  become  transfigured,  and  '  shine  with  some- 
thing of  celestial  light.'  All  that  fine  passage  of 
Jeremy  Taylor  then  becomes  simply  a  description  of 

1  Ps.  vii.  II  (Revised  Version). 


352         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


what  God  and  man  would  respectively  be  apart  from 
that  succession  of  covenants  which  both  Old  and  New 
Testament  writers  trace  in  the  very  earliest  age  of 
history.  There  never  was  a  time  when  God's  name 
was  any  other  than  Love  ;  man  might  not  know  the 
covenant,  or  might  know  it  but  vaguely,  and  yet  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world  the  relation  of  God  to 
man  was  the  same  as  it  is  now  through  the  eternal 
Word.  Nor  can  it  be  said  that  the  first  covenants 
were  merely  legal  covenants.  Oh  no  ;  there  are 
germs  of  the  Gospel  in  the  book  of  Genesis,  and  even 
if  the  eyes  of  the  early  men  could  but  dimly  see 
them,  yet  God  seeth  not  as  man  seeth,  and  '  with 
Him  is  no  variableness.' 

To  realize  this  is  the  secret  of  an  equable  and  serene 
Christian  temper.  God's  '  righteousness  '  now  be- 
comes His  consistent  and  undeviating  adherence  to 
His  revealed  purpose  of  salvation.  '  He  is  faithful 
and  just '  (or,  righteous),  as  St.  John  says,  '  to  forgive 
us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteous- 
ness.' '  Spare  us,  good  Lord,'  may  be  paraphrased 
by  another  psalmist's  words,  '  Think  upon  the  cove- 
nant.' And  God's  '  mercy '  now  becomes  something 
very  different  from  that  clemency  which,  in  considera- 
tion of  human  weakness  an  omnipotent  King  may 
extend  to  His  erring  subjects.  The  word  needs 
rather  to  be  expanded  into  '  tender  mercy,'  so  as  to 


PSALM  LXXXVI.  353 


form  a  fit  accompaniment  to  '  /<?7'/;^kindness,' z  ac- 
cording to  that  sweet  saying  of  the  iO3rd  psalm  in 
the  common  version,'  Who  crowneth  thee  with  loving- 
kindness  and  tender  mercies  '  (ver.  4).  For  it  suggests, 
or  ought  to  suggest,  not  the  narrowness  of  our  escape 
from  a  punishment  too  awful  for  words,  but  that 
yearning  of  a  father  over  his  child,  the  suppression  of 
which  would  be,  not  only  unmerciful,  but  a  breach  of 
an  eternal  covenant.  There  are  some  things  which  are 
beyond  even  God's  omnipotence,  and  one  of  these  is 
the  withholding  of  love  from  any  single  child  of  man. 
Or  rather,  there  is,  according  to  Biblical  religion,  no 
such  thing  as  omnipotence ;  there  is  only  a  strong, 
righteous,  wise,  everlasting  love  2 — a  love  which  has 
bound  itself  to  shrink  from  no  effort  in  order  to  bring 
the  beloved  object  into  moral  union  with  itself.  Such 
love  has  an  enthralling  power ;  '  the  love  of  Christ 
constraineth  us,'  or,  as  St.  John  says,  according  to 
the  undoubtedly  correct  revised  version,  '  We  love  (no 
need  to  say  whom),  because  he  first  loved  us.'  We 
cannot  from  the  nature  of  the  case  return  God's 
'  mercy,'  except  in  deeds  of  mercy  to  those  who  are 
in  greater  need  than  ourselves.  But  we  can  return 

1  The    A.V.   of    Ps.   cxvii.   2,    cxix.    76,    produces   the   alternative 
'  merciful  kindness ' ;    in  Ps.  cxix.  77,  the  Prayer  Book  renders,  for 
'  mercies'  or  'compassions,'  '  loving  mercies.'     Both  fine,  but  confusing 
the  synonyms. 

2  Cf.  Tennyson's  beautiful  line, '  Strong  Son  of  God,  immortal  Love,' 

24 


354         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


His  love.  Looking  upon  God  in  Christ,  not  as  an 
awful  King,  far  away  and  uninterested  in  our  small 
concerns,  but  as  a  Friend,  as  close  to  us  as  our  own 
soul  is  to  our  body,  a  Friend,  who  has  made  known 
His  high  purposes  to  us,  and  given  us  the  inestimable 
privilege  and  power  of  forwarding  them,  how  can  we 
but  love  Him  ? 

And  shall  we  not  even  love  those  passages  of  the 
Psalms  which  give  us  an  insight  into  the  loving  heart 
of  Jehovah,  and  supply  a  chaste  and  yet  fervent 
expression  for  our  own  responsive  feeling — love  them 
with  a  love  which  will  take  some  trouble  to  learn 
better  why  they  are  worth  loving?  Were  this  the 
time  and  the  place,  it  would  be  pleasant  to  go  through 
these  passages,  and  set  forth  their  beauties.  But 
three  out  of  the  four  psalms  which  we  have  studied 
already  contain  one  or  more  of  them,  and  from  these 
three  psalms  let  me  in  conclusion  gather  up  some  five 
words  on  lovingkindness. 
'  See  what  surpassing  lovingkindness  Jehovah  hath 

shown  me  ; 
Jehovah  heareth  when  I  call  unto  him  (jv.  8  ;  cf.  I  John 

iii.  i). 
'  For  this  let  all  men  of  love  pray  unto  thee  in  time  of 

distress, 

When  the  flood  of  the  great  waters  is  heard'  (xxxii.  6). 
'  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  to  Hades, 


PSALM  LXXXVL  355 


Neither  ^vilt  thou  suffer  tJiy  loving  one  to  see  the  pit ' 

(xvi.  10). 
'  Preserve   thou   my   soul,  for  I  am   one   that  loves ' 

(Ixxxvi.  2). 

(;For  thou,  Lord,  art  good  and  forgiving, 
And  rich   in   lovingkindness  imto   all  that  call  upon 

thee '  (Ixxxvi.  3). 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

PSALM   LXXXVII.1 

THE  86th  psalm,  as  we  have  just  seen,  is  not  one  of 
the  most  original  psalms,  and  yet  no  one  but  a 
spiritually  enlightened  man  could  have  entwined  such 
tender  aspirations  and  sweetly  humble  petitions. 
To  friends  of  missions  the  psalmist  ought  to  be 
especially  dear,  for  he  has  given  us  in  the  Qth  verse 
one  of  the  most  distinct  prophecies  of  the  conversion 
of  heathen  nations.  God,  he  assures  his  fellow  wor- 
shippers, has  made  all  nations  of  the  world,  and  not 
merely  the  Israelites.  Consequently  there  must  be  a 
kind  of  filial  yearning  after  God  in  the  minds  of  the 
heathen.  They  are  prodigal  sons  who  have  wan- 
dered far  from  their  Father,  but  a  day  is  coming 
when,  as  the  22nd  psalm  says,  '  all  the  ends  of  the 
earth  shall  remember  themselves,  and  return  unto 

1  See  B.L.,  pp.  118,  119,  479. 


PSALM  LXXXVII.  357 


Jehovah.'  We  cannot  doubt  what  that  day  is, 
according  to  the  intention  of  the  psalmists.  It  is 
the  day  when  in  the  fullest  sense  God  shall  take  up 
His  abode  among  men,  and  'judge'  or  rule  the 
world  in  righteousness.  And  so  in  the  '  Revelation  of 
St.  John,'  immediately  before  the  seven  last  great 
plagues,  the  faithful  who  stand  by  the  glassy  sea,  and 
sing  the  song  of  Moses  and  of  the  Lamb,  remember 
and  quote  the  words  of  the  Hebrew  psalmist.1 

Not  unfitly  then  did  the  editor  of  the  third  Book 
of  the  Psalms  (Ps.  Ixxiii.-lxxxix.)  place  this  psalm 
immediately  before  the  S/th.  It  was  a  neglected 
work  of  great  spiritual  beauty  which  needed  an 
honourable  place  in  the  temple-hymnbook,  and  so  he 
not  only  called  it  a  '  prayer  of  David,'  but  placed  it 
between  the  85th  (like  itself,  a  psalm  in  praise  of 
lovingkindness 2)  and  the  8/th — the  psalm  of  the 
catholic  Church.  Let  us  now  pass  on  to  the  8/th 
psalm,  regarding  it  as  an  inspired  poetic  sketch  of 
the  happy  results  of  the  conversion  of  the  nations. 

The  author  of  this  brief  but  fascinating  hymn  is 
one  of  the  temple- singers,  who,  devoted  as  he  must 
be  to  his  own  class,  looks  forward  with  joy  to  the 
enlargement  of  the  sacred  choir  by  the  admission  of 


1  Rev.  xv.  4. 

2  '  Lovingkindness  and  truthfulness '  occurs  both  in  Ixxxv.  10  and 
Ixxxvi.  15. 


358         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

foreigners.  This  however  is  not  the  main  subject  of 
the  psalm,  though  it  forms  a  leading  feature  in  the 
description.  The  idea  which  fills  this  holy  minstrel 
with  enthusiasm  is  the  expansion  of  the  Church  of 
Israel  into  the  Church  universal.  Just  as  the  nation 
of  Israel  became  transformed  into  the  Jewish  Church 
through  the  chastenings  of  the  exile  and  the  single- 
hearted  devotion  of  the  reformers  Ezra  and  Nehe- 
miah,  so  in  time  to  come  the  Church  which  arose  out 
of  a  single  nation  should  swell  and  grow  till  it 
embraced  within  its  ample  limits  all  that  was  capable 
of  regeneration  in  the  family  of  man.  The  psalmist 
was  thoroughly  penetrated  with  the  great  truths 
revealed  through  the  Second  Isaiah,  who,  though  an 
admiring  student — in  Babylon — of  the  First  Isaiah, 
had  risen  to  heights  of  almost  Christian  insight  far 
beyond  the  elder  prophet.1  Listen  to  these  words 
uttered  by  the  Second  Isaiah  in  the  name  of 
Jehovah : 

'  Fear  not,  O  Jacob,  my  servant ;  and  thoti,  Jeshurun, 
whom  I  have  chosen.  For  I  will  pour  water  upon  the 
thirsty,  and  streams  upon  the  dry  ground :  I  will  pour 
my  spirit  upon  thy  seed,  and  my  blessing  upon  thine 
offspring :  and  they  shall  spring  up  among  the  grass, 
as  willows  by  the  watercourses.  One  shall  say,  I  am 
Jehovah's  ;  and  another  shall  proclaim  tJie  name  of 

1  I  put  aside  for  the  moment  the  disputed  passage  Isa.  xix.  18-25. 


/ '.Sv / LAI  LXXX  VII.  359 


Jacob  ;  and  another  shall  zurite  on  his  hand,  Jehovah's, 
and  give  for  a  title  the  name  of  Israel.1  * 

Observe,  it  is  not  merely  the  natural  '  seed  '  of 
Jacob  to  which  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
latter  days  is  promised,  but  the  whole  body  of  be- 
lievers, increased  by  the  accession  of  converts  from 
heathenism.  '  God  is  able,'  as  our  Lord  told  the 
Jews,  '  of  these  stones  to  raise  up  children  unto 
Abraham.'  2  And  since  it  is  not  permissible  to  efface 
altogether  the  distinction  between  poetry  and  pro- 
phecy —  the  psalms  being  historical  documents  and 
implying  a  certain  historical  situation  —  we  must 
assume  that  an  initial  fulfilment  of  this  and  other 
prophecies  had  already  taken  place  when  our 
psalmist  wrote.  An  accession  of  proselytes  must 
already  have  gladdened  Jewish  believers,  even  if  only 
on  a  small  scale.  It  was  a  common  Jewish  saying  in 
later  times  that  a  proselyte  is  like  a  new-born  child, 
and  our  Lord  alludes  to  this  when  he  tells  Nico- 
demus  that  '  except  a  man  be  born  anew,  he  cannot 
see  the  kingdom  of  God.'  3  We  find  the  germ  of 
this  noble  phrase,  so  full  of  deep  meaning  to  our- 
selves, in  this  old  temple-hymn.  Let  us  read  the 
psalm.  To  readers  who  have  not  the  key  it  is 


'I1  Isa.  xliv.  2-5.     Comp.  the  preceding  Study.  2  Matt.  iii.  9. 

3  John  iii.  3.     The  Septuagint  begins  ver.  5  differently  from  our  text, 
M»)njp  Siioy  tpel  dvQpwirot;,  on  which  Theodoret  compares  Gal.  iv.  26. 


360         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


obscure.      But   to  those  who  have  already  devoted 
some  attention  to  the  style  of  the  psalms,  and  who 
have  also  a  sympathy  with  the  progressive  elements 
tin  the  Jewish  Church,  the  forest-shades  are  pierced 
.through  and  through  by  the  rays  of  a  summer  sun. 
'  His  foundation  on  the  holy  mountains, 
The  gates  of  Zion  JeliovaJi  loveth 
More  than  all  the  dwellings  of  Jacob' 
So  far  the  psalm  might  have  been  written  in  the  days 
of  Josiah,who  first  fully  carried  out  the  principles  of  the 
great  prophets  by  centralizing  the  worship  of  Jehovah 
at  Jerusalem.     To  this  most  pious  king,  as  the  in- 
strument of  God's  purposes,  we  are  indebted  for  that 
spirit   of   fervent  love   for  the  house  of  God  which 
breathes    in    so    many   of   the   finest   psalms.      The 
psalmist  continues, — 

'  Glorious  tilings  are  spoken  of  thee, 

TJiou  city  of  God,' 

viz.  by  the  prophets,  such  as  Jeremiah  and  the  two 
Isaiahs,  especially  the  later  Isaiah,  from  whom  I  have 
quoted  one  .striking  passage  already.  Then  Jehovah 
Himself  is  introduced,  making  a  solemn  declaration 
respecting  five  important  nations  well  known  to  the 
Jews.  A  prophetic  excitement  runs  through  the 
words  which  embody  it,  and  renders  them  obscure. 
'  RaJiab  and  Babylon  I  mention  among  them  that 
know  me  ; 


PSALM  LXXXVII.  361 


Behold,  PJiilistia  and  Tyre  with  EtJiiopia — 
Each  one  zvas  born  there  ! 
And  concerning  Zion  it  shall  be  said, 
"  Each  and  every  one  "Mas  bom  in  her" 
And  he,  the  Most  High,  shall  stablish  her. 
Jehovah  shall  reckon,  when  he  registers  the  people, 
"  Each  one  was  born  there."  ' 

Rahab,  as  all  agree,  means  '  pride,'  a  name  given  by  //' 
both  Isaiahs  to  Egypt.  Babylon  is  either  Chaldaea, 
or  some  one  of  the  nations  which  succeeded  to  its 
imperial  position.  '  Them  that  know  me/  means 
'  them  that  have  entered  into  covenant  with  me '  ; 
only  those  can  know  God  to  whom  He  reveals  Him- 
self by  a  special  covenant.  '  Each  one  was  born 
there,'  in  ver.  4,  means  each  of  the  five  nations  men- 
tioned just  before.  Then  comes  the  climax  in  ver.  5. 
In  the  preceding  verse  the  nations  are  regarded  as 
unities,  but  in  ver.  5  we  catch  a  whisper  of  the 
individualizing  conception  of  religion  hinted  at  by 
Jeremiah  and  thoroughly  expounded  in  the  Gospel. 
The  most  glorious  thing  which  has  been  spoken  of 
the  city  of  God  (viz.  by  the  two  Isaiahs)  is  that 
there  is  neither  Egypt  nor  Babylon,  nor  even  Israel, 
in  the  great  catholic  Church  of  the  future,  but  that  of 
each  Egyptian  and  Babylonian  it  can  be  said  that  he 
was  regenerated  or  born  into  a  new  life  in  Zion. 
There  are  two  prophetic  passages  which  illustrate 


362         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


this.     One  is  at  the  end  of  the  iQth  chapter  of  Isaiah 
(vers.  24,  25) : 

'  In  that  day  shall  Israel  be  the  third  with  Egypt 

and  with  Assyria,  a  blessing  in  the  midst  of  the  earth  : 

\  for  that  Jehovah  of  hosts  hath  blessed  them,  saying, 

Blessed  be  Egypt  my  people,  and  Assyria  the  ivork  of 

my  hands,  and  Israel  mine  inheritance! 

The  other  is  in  the  Second  Isaiah,  in  chap.  xlv. 
14: 

'  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  The  gains  of  Egypt,  and  the 
merchandise  of  Ethiopia,  and  the  Sabeans,  men  of 
stature,  shall  come  over  to  thee,  and  they  shall  be  thine  ; 
.  .  .  they  shall  fall  down  unto  t/iee,  they  shall  make 
supplication  unto  thee,  (saying^)  Surely,  God  is  in  thee  ; 
and  tJiere  is  none  else,  there  is  no  God.1 

These  passages  show  that  it  was  not  a  sudden  light- 
ning-flash which  irradiated  the  psalmist's  mind  ;  his 
insight  was  due  to  the  blessing  of  God  upon  a  long- 
continued  and,  if  I  may  say  so,  critical  study  of  the 
Scriptures.  The  Holy  Spirit  had  sharpened  this 
early  saint's  perceptions  ;  he  passed  over  all  those 
passages  in  which  Israel  from  a  spiritual  point  of 
view  is  put  too  high  and  the  other  nations  too  low, 
and  singled  out  those  of  purest  and  noblest  intuitions, 
which  anticipate  all  but  the  most  advanced  evangeli- 
cal truth.  And  may  we  not,  must  we  not,  believe — 
that  the  same  blessing  is  waiting  for  us,  if  we  will 


PSALM  LXXXVIL  363 


only  search  the  Scriptures  with  an  earnestness  and  a 
disposition  to  take  trouble  equal  to  that  of  the 
psalmist  and  his  fellows  ?  '  Be  very  confident  that 
the  Lord  has  yet  more  light  and  truth  to  break  out 
of  His  holy  word,'  are  the  words  of  a  Nonconformist, 
in  the  old,  sad  days  of  persecution,  but  they  are 
echoed  by  one  whom  all  Churches  and  sects  delight 
to  honour,  and  who  once  ministered  in  my  own 
venerable  cathedral,  Bishop  Butler,  the  author  of  the 
A  nalogy. 

The  psalmist's  insight  was  not  perfect.  Though 
he  lived  six  hundred  years  after  David,  he  still 
retained  a  shred  of  the  old  narrow  nationalism, 
which  for  so  many  centuries  enveloped  and  protected 
the  germ  of  higher  truth.  He  was  still  subject  to  jV 
one  of  those  illusions  by  which  God  in  all  ages  hasii 
educated  His  disciples,  and  which,  by  His  providence, 
He  at  last  safely  and  tenderly  dispels,  Few  even  of 
the  psalmists  could  as  yet  have  borne  those  far-reach- 
ing words  of  Christ,  '  The  hour  cometh  when  neither 
in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  at  Jerusalem,  shall  ye  wor- 
ship the  Father.' *  Much  less  could  the  few  pro- 
selytes who  felt  the  attraction  of  the  holy  revelation 
of  Jehovah  have  entered  into  a  saying  so  totally 


1  John  iv.  21.  There  were  probably  a  few  who  were  reaching  out 
after  this  great  truth  (see  Studies  on  Psalms  xxiv.  and  Ixiii.),  but  our 
psalmist  was  less  advanced  than  they. 


364        THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

opposed  to  the  accepted  ideas  of  the  whole  non- 
Jewish  world.  A  visible  centre  of  the  true  religion 
both  seemed  and  was  necessary,  so  long  as  truth  was 
but  as  a  stranger  and  pilgrim  in  this  lower  world  ; 
nay,  have  we  not  seen  that,  while  the  forces  of  evil 
predominated  greatly  over  the  good,  a  similar  religious 
centre  was  providentially  given  to  the  mediaeval 
Western  Church  ?  But  God  was  already  preparing 
both  the  Jewish  Church  and  its  proselytes  to  do 
without  this  centre.  Already  synagogues  had  arisen 
— places  for  prayer  and  reading  the  Scriptures,  which 
were  the  true  predecessors  of  our  Christian  churches. 
And  already  that  excessive  regard  for  sacrifices  as 
/  the  only  correct  form  of  public  worship  was  being 
\  greatly  reduced  by  the  new  love  for  the  Scriptures 
)  and  for  prayer — in  the  Second  Isaiah  we  even  find 
that  great  saying,  endorsed  by  the  Teacher  of  teachers, 
f  '  My  house  shall  be  called '  (not  a  house,  of  sacrifice, 
but)  '  a  house  of  prayer  for  all  nations.' *  So  that 
even  though  the  temple  remained  pre-eminently 
sacred,  yet  its  sacred  ness  was  in  some  sense  shared 
by  each  of  those  scattered  houses  and  riverside 
oratories  where  '  prayer  was  wont  to  be  made.' 2 

But  consider  what  faith  it  implied  in  these  men  of 

/T 

I  alien  races  to  come  to  the  puny  mountain  of  Zion  for 

religious  instruction,  and  to  recognize  its  temple  as 

1  Isa.  Ivi.  7  (probably  post- Exilic).  2  Acts  xvi.  13. 


PSALM  LXXXVIL  365 


the  most  sacred  spot  upon  the  earth  !  We  do  not 
hear  as  much  about  faith  in  the  Old  Testament  as  in 
the  New.  But  if  any  sacred  books,  or  even  psalms, 
had  been  specially  written  for  proselytes,  we  should 
no  doubt  have  found  in  them  much  kindly  recogni- 
tion of  those  heroes  of  faith.  Later  Jewish  doctors  j 
admitted  that  Abraham  their  father  himself  was  but 
the  first  of  the  proselytes,  and  who  knows  not  those 
noble  verses  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  which 
throw  such  a  flood  of  light  on  the  spiritual  import  of 
Abraham's  migrations  ? — 

'  By  faith  A  braham,  when  he  was  called,  .  .  .  went 
out,  not  knowing  whither  he  tvent.  By  faith  he  became 
a  sojourner  in  the  land  of  promise,  as  in  a  land  not  his 
own' J 

It  was  just  such  faith  when  the  converts  from  the 
heathen  nations  broke  the  countless  ties  which  bound 
them  to  great  and  ancient  religions  and  became  the 
humble  disciples  of  a  poor  and  lowly  Israelite.  And 
what  was  it  that  made  Jerusalem,  in  the  days  between 
Ezra  and  our  Lord,  the  spiritual  capital  of  a  Church 
that  already  began  to  be  catholic  ?  It  was  a  simple 
yet  fervent  doctrine  of  God,  supported  by  a  few  great 
but  simple  historical  facts.  If  we,  reading  the  psalms, 
which  are  the  best  historical  documents  we  have  of 
Jewish  religion  after  the  captivity,  are  inexpressibly 

1  Heb.  xi.  8,  9. 


366         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


moved  by  the  combined  sweetness  and  power  of  the 
spirit  which  breathes  in  them,  how  much  more  must 
those  prepared  minds  among  the  heathen  which  saw 
Jewish  religion  in  action,  have  been  drawn  towards  it 
as  by  invisible  cords  ?  The  doctrine  without  the  facts 
would  never  have  attracted  them.  Grand  as  is  the 
conception  of  God,  the  Almighty,  the  Allwise  Creator, 
in  the  Second  Isaiah,  it  is  rather  fitted  to  depress  than 
to  encourage,  without  the  attendant  assurance  of  the 
call  of  Israel  to  be  God's  favoured  servant.  If  we 
could  see  God  even  afar  off  in  that  awful  greatness 
revealed  to  us  in  the  4<Dth  chapter  of  Isaiah,  '  the  spirit 
would  fail  before  him,  and  the  souls  that  he  hath 
made.' J  But  when  the  prophet  adds  to  this  revela- 
tion of  God  as  the  Creator,  that  of  Jehovah  who  hath 
'  called  his  servant  Israel  in  righteousness,'  and  will 
'  hold  his  hand,  and  keep  him,'  and  will  '  set  him  for  a 
light  of  the  nations,  to  become  God's  salvation  unto 
the  ends  of  the  earth,'  2  then  a  strange  new  feeling  of 
f  reverent  love  comes  upon  the  sympathetic  reader. 
And  so  must  it  have  been  in  antiquity.  Awe  at  the 
infinite  power  of  Israel's  holy  God  must  have  become 
softened  into  humble  filial  trust.  And  if  we  turn  back 
to  that  passage  in  the  Second  Isaiah  which  I  quoted 
before,  we  find  that  the  Gentile  converts  who  at  first 
fall  down  before  Israel  with  the  half-superstitious 

1  Isa.  Ivii.  16.  2  Isa.  xlii.  6,  xlix.  6. 


PSALM  LXXXVIL  367 


prayer,  '  Surely  God  is  in  thee,'  rise  in  the  next  verse 
to  the  perception  that  the  one  true  God,  the  Almighty, 
is  also  a  Saviour,  able  and  willing  to  deliver  those 
who  put  their  trust  in  Him.1 

But  there  is  a  still  higher  interest  attaching  to  this 
beautiful  psalm.  It  is  not  only  a  historical  document, 
illustrating  the  progress  of  our  mother  the  Jewish 
Church,  it  is  a  virtual  prophecy — more  strictly,  it  is  a 
lyric  reflexion  of  earlier  prophetic  pictures — of  the 
Church  of  the  latter  days.  It  foreshadows  the  gradual 
expansion  of  the  original  Jewish  Christian  Church 
into  a  catholic  Church  of  many  divers  races,  frater- 
nally united  in  Jesus  Christ.  '  For  tJiere  is  no  distinc- 
tion between  Jeiu  and  Greek  :  for  the  same  Lord  is  Lord 
of  all,  and  is  rich  unto  all  that  call  upon  him :  for, 
Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall 
be  saved' 2  These  are  the  words  of  an  apostle  of 
Christ.  They  are  anticipated  by  the  prophets  and  by 
the  psalmists.  Yes  ;  there  is  a  germ,  though  only  a 
germ,  in  our  psalm  of  the  conception  of  corporate  and 
yet  personal  union  with  Christ  which  we  find  in  St. 
Paul.  Each  of  the  five  foreign  nations  spoken  of  in 
ver.  4  were,  or  should  be,  born  again,  says  the  psalm, 
to  a  higher  life  in  and  through  Zion.  But  in  the  next 
verse  we  are  told  that  besides  this  each  member  of 
these  several  nations  should,  in  his  individual  capacity, 

1  Isa.  xlv.  14,  15.  2  Rom.  x.  12,  13. 


368         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


be  born  again  in  and  through  Zion.     This  brings  us, 
as  I  have  said,  very  close  to  the  declaration  of  Christ 
to  Nicodemus,  and  it  suggests  that  the  true  theory  of 
the  Church  had  already  loomed  on  the  horizon  of  this 
Hebrew  saint.     Only  those  who  have  themselves  laid 
hold  on  the  Saviour  can  unite  together  in  the  Church 
of  the  redeemed.     In  short,  we  receive  the  grace  of 
the  Spirit,  as  individual  human  beings,  and   not  in 
virtue  of  belonging  to  a  nation  or  to  a  Church  by  the 
accident  of  birth.     How  all-important  this  truth  is  ! 
A  great  preacher,  of  long  experience,  especially  among 
the  educated  classes,  has  said,  that '  there  are  men  who 
are  tossed  all  their  lives  on  a  sea  of  misgiving  and 
perplexity,  for  want  of  a  real  new  birth.' T     Nominally 
indeed  we  are  all '  children  of  the  kingdom,'  but  really, 
unless  we  live  and  act  as  citizens  of  Zion,  how  can  it 
besaidafus  that  we  have  been  'born  there  '  ?    '  That 
which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born 
of  the   Spirit  is  spirit'     There  is  a  fleshly,  natural 
religion,  and  there  is  a  spiritual,  supernatural  religion  ; 
and  unless  we  know  in  an  increasing  degree  what  this 
latter  means,  it  is  only  too  doubtful  whether  we  have 
ever  really  been  born  in  Zion.     And  if  any  one  refers 
me   to  the  psalmist  in  justification  of  his  want   of 
assurance  on  this  point,  I  reply  that  the  psalmist's 
words  on  Jehovah's  registering  of  the  regenerate  ought 

1  Dean  Vaughan. 


PSALM  LXXXVII.  369 


to  be  supplemented  by  those  which  I  have  quoted 
from  the  Second  Isaiah,  who  distinctly  says,  that  the 
proof  that  we  are  of  the  spiritual  Israel  is  given  by 
ourselves.  '  One  shall  say,  " I  am  Jehovatis"  and 
another  shall  even  (as  a  willing  slave)  write  upon  his\ 
hand,  "Jehovah's."'  In  other  words,  he  whose  one 
aim  in  life  is  to  obey  God's  law  from  love  and  in  the 
strength  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  may  be  sure  that  He 
who  registers  both  nations  and  individuals  will  say 
when 'the  books  are  opened,'  This  man  was  born 
there.  Let  us  each  ask  ourselves  therefore,  Is  this 
my  single  aim  ?  Do  I  serve  God  from  love,  or — 
which  is  the  germ  of  this  happy  state, — earnestly  and 
constantly  desire  to  do  so  ?  If  it  is,  what  should  make 
me  afraid  ? 

'  To  love  Thee,  Saviour,  is  to  be 
Cheerful  and  brave  and  strong  and  free, 
Calm  as  a  rock  'mid  striving  seas, 
Certain  'mid  all  uncertainties.' z 

I  have  said  that  the  true  theory  of  the  Church  had 
loomed  on  the  horizon  of  the  psalmist.  Certainly  the 
idea  which  he  had  formed  of  it  was  not  a  logically 
accurate  one.  The  order  of  vers.  4  and  5  suggests 
that  nations  are  in  some  sense  brought  into  the  city 
of  God  before  individuals.  This  is  in  accordance  with 
the  religious  development  of  ancient  Israel,  in  which 

1  Miss  Macready,  Devotional  Lays. 
25 


370         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


the  corporate  sense  of  spiritual  life  preceded  the 
individual.  The  normal  course  in  evangelical  Christ- 
endom is  different.  We  are  saved  as  individuals,  but 
our  salvation  is  incomplete  until  we  share  a  common 
and  united  life  with  our  brethren.  Indeed,  the  very 
first  impulse  of  the  saved  soul  is  to  seek  the  society 
of  those  who  have  been  '  in  Christ '  before  him.  They 
have  need  of  him,  and  he  has  even  more  need  of  them. 
Such  is  God's  appointment.  '  He  that  findeth  his  life 
shall  lose  it.'  Not  individual  but  social  happiness  is 
the  end  set  before  us  by  our  Redeemer — social  happi- 
ness which  cannot  be  complete  as  long  as  one  of  our 
fellow  men  is  a  stranger  to  it,  or  seeks  it  in  false  ways 
— social  happiness  which  means  the  combination  of 
all  God's  human  children  in  the  delighted  service  of 
their  heavenly  Father.  And  of  this  combined  life  the 
natural  type  is  the  city.  A  Hebrew  psalmist  may 
speak  of  Jerusalem  as  the  type,  but  this  is  only 
because  the  capital  of  the  post-Exile  Church  seemed  to 
him,  by  a  pardonable  illusion,  to  be  a  model  city,  and 
because  he  knew  that  Jerusalem  (that  is,  the  Church 
which  dwelt  there)  was,  for  the  good  of  the  world,  as 
'  the  apple  of  the  eye '  to  Jehovah.1  Long  afterwards, 
a  saintly  non-Christian  philosopher  (M.  Aurelius) 
speaks  in  full  sympathy  with  prophets  and  apostles, 
of  the  world  itself  as  the  city  of  God — he  too  had 
1  Zech.  ii.  8- 


PSALM  LXXXVIL  371 


learned  that  the  object  for  which  man  was  made  was 
that  social  life  of  mutual  help  and  common  obedience 
to  the  laws  of  God,  of  which  the  city  is  the  type. 

'  Glorious  things  are  spoken  of  thee,  thou  city  of 
God,'  says  our  psalmist.  It  is  God's  own  '  foundation 
upon  the  holy  mountains.'  Jerusalem's  girdle  of  hills 
is  to  his  sharpened  perceptions  a  symbol  of  the 
heavenly  heights,  and  of  that  love-directed  strength 
which  is  more  durable  than  the  heaven  itself.  But 
the  glory  of  Zion  would  be  incomplete,  unless  the 
'  city  of  God '  were  also  the  city  of  the  world.  Not 
that  all  individuality  is  to  be  crushed  out  of  the  non- 
Jewish  nations,  any  more  than  we  desire  this  for  the 
infant  Churches  of  India  and  Africa  for  which  English 
lives  have  been  so  freely  spent.  National  differences  I 
are  to  continue  in  the  '  city  of  God/  but  these  differ-  // 
ences  will  cease  to  be  divisive ;  the  union  of  the 
federated  peoples  is  to  be  not  less  close  than  that  of 
the  several  quarters  of  the  '  well-compacted  '  city — 
Jerusalem.1  In  short,  the  catholic  Church  is  to 
become  identical  with  that  human  race  for  which  in 
due  time  Christ  died,  and  the  primary  work  both  of 
the  national  Churches  and  of  each  of  their  members 
is  so  to  commend  the  principles  of  the  city  of  God, 

1  Cf.  Rev.  xxi.  3,  '  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and 
he  shall  tabernacle  with  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  peoples  '  ;  and  ver. 
24,  '  And  the  nations  shall  walk  amidst  the  light  thereof  (viz.  of  the 
holy  city).  See  Revised  Version. 


372         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


that  every  child  of  man  may  eagerly  embrace  the  new 
citizenship. 

Is  the  task  hard  ?  Too  hard  indeed  it  is  for  human 
strength  ;  not  the  greatest  of  political  philosophers 
has  been  able  to  counteract  sin,  and  devise  a  perfect, 
moral  city-life.  Feeling  this,  noble-minded  dreamers 
have  bidden  us  return  to  nature,  and  make  it  our  aim 

!  to  restore  the  idyllic  conditions  of  the  garden  of  Eden. 
But  we  '  have  not  so  learned  Christ.'  He  has  called 
us  to  shrink  frpm  no  task  because  it  is  hard,  for '  lam 

I !  with  youl  saith  He,  '  all  tJie  days '  (words  of  sweetest 
comfort  for  tired  workers)  ;  that  is,  '  I  am  the  master- 
builder  of  the  new  Jerusalem.'  In  remote  antiquity 
(said  a  Greek  myth,  true  in  idea,  if  not  in  fact)  the 
walls  of  the  city  of  Thebes  rose  to  the  divine  music 
of  Orpheus.  But  '  our  highest  Orpheus '  (as  an 
English  prophet  of  the  latter  days  has  finely  said) 
'  walked  in  Judaea,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago  :  his 
sphere- melody,  flowing  in  wild  native  tones,  took 
captive  the  ravished  souls  of  men.' x 

'  A  simple  reed  by  Syrian  waters  found 
From  human  lips  took  a  celestial  sound  : 
Through  it  strange  melodies  our  Shepherd  blew, 
And  wondering,  wistful  ones  around  Him  drew. 

Of  heavenly  love,  with  cadence  deep  it  told, 
Of  labours  long  to  win  them  to  the  fold, 
Of  bleeding  feet  upon  the  mountains  steep, 
And  life  laid  down  to  save  the  erring  sheep. 


*  Carlyle,  Sartor  Resarttts,  bk.  iii.,  chap.  via. 


PSALM  LXXXVII,  373 

O  loving  Shepherd,  to  that  gracious  strain 
We  listen  and  we  listen  once  again  ; 
And  while  its  music  sinks  into  our  heart, 
Our  fears  grow  fainter  and  our  doubts  depart.' l 

Gracious  strain,  indeed  !  Without  it,  how  should  the 
'  prisoned  soul '  burst  the  bonds  of  sin  and  fly  to  join 
other  kindred  spirits  in  building  up  the  fair  city'  of 
God  ?  But,  as  our  English  prophet  says  again,  'being 
of  a  truth  sphere-melody,  (it)  still  flows  and  sounds, 
though  now  with  thousandfold  accompaniments,  and 
rich  symphonies,  through  all  our  hearts  ;  and  modu- 
lates, and  divinely  leads  them.'  And  though,  if  we 
look  at  its  performance,  thaJ_uniQn  of  Christian  hearts 
\vhich_we  call  the  Church  has  produced  comparatively 
little  that  is  worthy  of  the  supernatural  glory  of  its 
origin,  yet,  if  we  look  at  its  promise  with  eyes  sharp-  (JJ\^ 
ened  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  we  can  discern,  under-  k~££— ' 
neath  the  pettiness,  and  the  prejudice,  and  the  folly,  fy*~" 
and  even  the  sin,  which  mar  the  Church's  record,  bright 
gleams  and  sometimes  as  it  were  tropical  outbursts  { 
of  heavenly  light  and  love  which  are  the  reflexion 
of  the  gates  of  pearl  and  the  golden  streets.  The 
seer  of  Patmos  '  saw  the  holy  city  Jerusalem  coming 
down  new  out  of  heaven.'  2  This  is  a  form  of  expres- 
sion highly  characteristic  of  Hebrew  idealism.  We 
perhaps  may  with  equal  justice  think  of  the  new 

1  Wilton,  Lyrics  Sylvan  and  Sacred. 

2  Rev.  xxi.  2  (K.V.  marg.). 


374         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


Jerusalem  as  fashioned  in  the  course  of  the  ages  upon 
this  our  earth,  and  then,  for  its  '  perfect  consummation 
and  bliss,'  transported  into  that  ideal  world,  where  the 
boldest  aspirations  are  the  most  fully  realized  and  the 
strongest  faith  receives  the  largest  reward.  Just  as  we 
say  that  Christ's  Church  must,  in  spite  of  appearances, 
possess  unity,  because  He  asked  for  it,  so  we  must 
believe  that  the  city  of  which  the  Church  is,  under 
Christ,  the  builder  is  growing  in  heavenliness  as  the 

* 

years  roll  on,  and  that  we  are    surely   and    swiftly 
moving  towards  that  great  dedication-festival,  when, 
in  the  words  of  the  psalmists,  we  shall  '  sing  unto  the 
Lord  a  new  song,' *  and  when, — 
'  They  that  sing  as  'well  as  they  tJiat  dance  (shall  say), 
All  my  fountains  (of  life,  and  joy,  and  peace)  are  in' 

thee  (O  Zion).' 2 

Then  shall  we  indeed,  according  to  that  fine  primitive 
use  of  the  phrase,  celebrate  our  true  '  birthday,' 
wherein  we,  with  '  the  nations  of  them  that  are  saved,' 
shall  be  delivered  for  ever  from  temptation  and  sin 
and  sorrow,  and  be  '  born  again  '  into  the  perfect  life. 

1  Ps.  xcvi.  I  ;  cf.  Rev.  v.  9.  -  Ps.  Ixxxvii.  7,  R.V. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

PSALM&   CXIII.-CXVIII.1 

THE  lawgiver  of  whom  later  ages  formed  so  high  an 
opinion,  that  they  might  seem  to  be  groping  their 
way  to  a  conception  of  Christ,2  or  at  any  rate  those 
who  after  him  formally  or  informally  continued  his 
work,  took  up  and  sanctified  certain  customary  / 
Semitic  festivals,  which  had  their  origin  in  the  ( 
changing  phenomena  of  the  seasons.  By  being  con- 
nected with  the  great  deliverance  which  made  Israel, 
ideally  at  least,  a  Church-nation,  they  were  converted 
into  picture-lessons  of  the  mighty  works  of  Jehovah, 
which,  as  a  psalmist  said,. God  'commanded  Israel's 
forefathers  to  teach  their  children.'  3  But  as  time 
went  on,  each  of  these  festivals  received  a  still  richer 
meaning  through  the  new  associations  attached  to  it 

1  See  J3.L.,  pp.  16-19. 

2  See  the  apocryphal  book  called  the  Assumption  of  Moses. 

3  Ps.  Ixxviii.  5. 


376          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

by  history  ;  and  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  in  particu- 
lar, as  it  came  round  autumn  by  autumn,  revived 
grateful  recollections  of  two  of  the  greatest  events  in 
the  post-Exile  period,  viz.  the  rebuilding  of  the  altar 
of  burnt  offering,  in  B.C.  538,1  and  the  recovery  of 
the  public  means  of  grace,  B.C.  165,  when  Judas  the 
Maccabee  again  rebuilt  the  altar,  and  the  faithful  Jews 
rejoiced  eight  days,  to  compensate  for  the  miserable 
Feast  of  Tabernacles  which  they  had  so  recently  kept 
'  in  the  mountains  and  in  the  caves  like  wild  beasts.' 2 
The  1 1 8th  psalm  has  been  explained  by  Ewald  from 
the  former  and  by  Hitzig  from  the  latter  event. 
Certain,  or  at  least  highly  probable,  it  is  that  it  was 
Simon,  the  second  and  more  ideal  David  or  Solomon 
of  the  Israelites,  who  reorganized  the  temple  service 
with  special  regard  to  the  psalmody,  and  appointed 
the  group  of  psalms  called  the  Hallel,  or  Song  of 
Praise  (Pss.  cxiii.-cxviii.),  to  be  sung  on  the  eight 
successive  days  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles.  Read 
these  psalms  in  the  light  of  this  great  period,  and  they 
will  gain  vastly  in  colour,  warmth,  and  meaning. 
Read  the  1 1 8th  psalm  in  particular,  and  all  that  may 
have  shocked  you  in  it  becomes  pathetically  intel- 
ligible. Can  you  not  imagine  the  deep  thankfulness 
and  impassioned  love  to  God  with  which,  as  long  as 
the  memory  of  these  events  was  recent,  the  priests, 

1  Ezra  iii.  1-6.  -  i  Mace.  iv.  44-47,  56;  2  Macc.x.  6. 


PSALMS  CXIII.-CXVIII.  377 

shaking  their  festal  branches,  moved  in  procession 
round  the  altar,  chanting  again  and  again  the  25th 
verse, 

'  Ah,  Jehovah  !  save  (still]  ; 
Ah,  Jehovah  !  send  prosperity  (still} '  ! 
I  must  confess  however  with  some  regret,  at  least 
from  a  Church  point  of  view,  that  Psalm  cxviii.  is  not 
throughout  as  congenial  to  Christianity  as  could  be 
wished.  The  Huguenots,  who  used  it  as  a  battle-song, 
showed  thereby  that  they  knew  not  '  what  spirit  they 
were  of.' T  And  if  even  Luther,  to  whom  evangelical 
doctrine  was  so  dear,  and  who  was  free  from  the 
excessive  regard  for  the  Old  Testament  displayed  by 
the  French  Protestants,  called  this  psalm,  at  one  great 
crisis  in  his  fortunes,  his  '  proper  comfort  and  life,'  he 
could  only  do  this  by  qualifying  some  verses  of  it  (see 
vers.  10-12)  with  an  infusion  of  later  Christian  truth. 
The  Authorized  Version  indeed  does  not  permit  the 
English  reader  to  realize  fully  the  fierceness  of  the 
original  expressions.2  Reuss  and  Bruston,  translating 
for  students,  are  less  considerate  ;  the  one  gives,  '  Je 
les  taille  en  pieces,'  the  other,  '  Je  les  massacre.'  So 
that  coming  fresh  from  the  tender  meditations  in 
Psalm  cxvi.  (written  perhaps  a  little  later  by  some 


1  Luke  ix.  55. 

2  The  margin,  however,   gives  '  Heb.  cut  down '  ;  R.V.  renders,  '  / 
^v^ll  cut  them  off.'1 


378          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

one  who  had  not  gone  into  battle  with  '  the  high 
praises  of  God  in  his  mouth  and  a  two-edged  sword 
in  his  hand '),  the  Anglican  worshipper  is  conscious  of 
an  effort  as  he  reads  or  sings  it  in  the  congregation.1 
The  Biblical  student  however  is  delighted  with  the 
psalm,  because  it  gives  us  a  contemporary  record,  not 
indeed  of  the  facts,  but  of  the  feelings  of  the  period. 
Judas  the  Maccabee  was  a  divinely  inspired  hero,  but 
he  was  as  ruthless  as,  if  we  may  follow  Joshua  x.,  xi., 
Joshua  was  of  old  to  the  Canaanites.  He  was  a  very 
Elijah  in  prayer  (see  the  prayer  reported  in  i  Macca- 
bees iv.  30-33),  as  well  as  in  '  jealousy  '  for  the  name 
of  Jehovah  ;  but  he  had  not  the  versatility  by  which 
the  ancient  prophet  passed  from  the  declaration  of 
awful  judgments  to  the  relief  of  the  necessities  of  a 
poor  heathen  woman.  But  how  can  we  blame  him 
for  his  limitations  ?  Ardent  natures  could  not  restrain 
themselves  when  the  future  of  the  true  religion  was  at 
stake.  The  '  flashing  zeal '  of  Judas  and  his  friends 
purified  the  moral  atmosphere,  and  for  good  and  evil 
affected  subsequent  periods.  '  Fanatics  '  is  too  -mean 
a  title  for  those  who  sang  these  words  : 

1  It  is  significant  that  none  of  the  accounts  of  Christ's  purification  of 
the  temple  suggest  that  He  thought  of  the  purification  of  Judas  ;  the 
quotations  are  from  passages  of  a  more  spiritual  tone  than  Ps.  cxviii. 
Soon  afterwards  He  does  quote  from  this  psalm,  but  with  reference  to 
another  subject  (see  Mark  xii.  10,  1 1).  We  must  not,  however,  overlook 
the  expressions  of  humility  and  faith  which  are  not  wanting  in  Ps.  cxviii. 
(see  especially  vers.  13-18). 


PSALMS  CXIII.-CXVIIL  379 


'  Should  not  I  hate  them,  Jehovah,  that  hate  thee  ? 
A  nd  loathe  them  that  rebel  against  tJiee  ? 
I  hate  them  ivith  perfect  hatred  ; 
I  count  them  mine  enemies.'  T 

Once,  and  once  only,  in  the  New  Testament  the 
Maccabaean  times  are  referred  to  ;  it  is  in  the  noble 
eleventh  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 
Does  the  writer  blame  the  Jews  for  the  fierceness  and 
bitterness  of  their  struggle  ?  No  ;  he  forgets  it,  or, 
rather,  sees  underneath  it  that  absolute,  rock-like  faith 
which,  as  he  says,  is  '  the  assurance  of  things  hoped 
for,  the  proving  of  things  not  seen.' 

Now  I  think  that  we  English  people  are  to  be 
blamed  for  our  ignorance  of  these  stirring  times.  In 
spite  of  Handel's  grand  musical  reminder,  it  is  but 
seldom  that  we  find  in  our  literature  such  a  happy 
reference  to  the  Maccabaean  story  as  that  made  by 
Edmund  Burke  in  these  words  : 

'  I  am  as  sure  as  I  am  of  my  being,  that  one  vigor- 
ous man,  confiding  in  the  aid  of  God,  with  a  just 
reliance  on  his  own  fortitude,  would  first  draw  to  him 
some  few  like  himself,  and  then  that  multitudes  hardly 
thought  to  be  in  existence  would  appear  and  troop 
around  him.  Why  should  not  a  Maccabaeus  and  his 

1  Ps.  cxxxix.  21,  22.  Written  obviously  before  the  Maccabsean 
revolt,  but  well  expressing  the  thoughts  of  its  leaders.  Prof.  Reuss 
(art.  '  Asmonaer '  in  Hcrzog's  Realencydopadie)  heartily  admits  that 
Judas  the  Maccabee  stands  alone  in  his  greatness  among  fanatics. 


380          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


brethren  arise  to  assert  the  honour  of  the  ancient  law, 
and  to  defend  the  temple  of  their  forefathers,  with  as 
ardent  a  spirit  as  can  inspire  any  innovator  to  destroy 
the  monuments,  the  piety,  and  the  glory  of  the 
ancient  ages  ? ' x 

It  is  possible  that  our  popular  religious  literature 
(which  few  men  can  profess  to  know  thoroughly) 
might  yield  a  few  striking  allusions.2  But  I  can 
myself  only  recall  the  late  Bishop  Wordsworth's 
stirring  exhortation  to  resist  the  removal  of  the  real, 
or  supposed,  safeguards  of  Christianity  in  England, 
in  two  sermons  preached  at  Cambridge,  as  I  believe, 
in  1871.3 

If  the  truth  must  be  told,  this  unacquaintance  with 
one  of  the  great  epochs  in  the  history  of  our  religion 
is  of  purely  Protestant  origin  ;  we  ignore  the  Books 
of  Maccabees  equally  with  the  glorious  Book  of 
Wisdom,  because  they  form  part  of  the  Apocrypha. 
On  this,  as  on  some  other  points,  the  greatest  mediae- 
val poet  shows  a  wider  spirit  than  many  moderns. 
Among  Dante's  references  to  the  Maccabees,  who 
does  not  admire  that  noble  passage  where,  in  the  cross 
of  Mars,  next  after  Joshua,  shines  resplendent  '  the 

1  Burke,  '  Letter  to  Wm.  Elliot,  Esq.'  ( Works,  vii.  366) ;  quoted  by 
the  late  Bishop  Wordsworth. 

2  Since  the  above  was  written,  Prof.  Church  and  Mr.  Seeley  published 
their  stirring  novel,  The  Hammer,  which  deserves  to  be  widely  read. 

3  The  Church  of  England  and  the  Maccabees.     Second  edition,  1876. 


PSALMS  CXIII.-CXVIII.  381 

lofty  Maccabee '  ? z  It  is  not  that  he  neglects  the 
heroes  of  the  Scriptures  correctly  called  canonical  ; 
few  poets  have  known  the  simple  Bible-story  better 
than  he  :  but  he  has  a  conception  of  the  religious 
history  of  Israel  which,  though  of  course  not  critical, 
is  yet  as  complete  as  our  own  too  often,  from  our 
neglect  of  the  Apocrypha,  is  incomplete.  The 
services  of  the  Church  helped  him  in  this.  In  the 
time  of  St.  Augustine  2  the  Latin  Church  had  already 
sanctified  the  kalends  of  August  as  the  spiritual 
'  birthday  of  the  Maccabees,'  by  which  was  meant,  not 
the  entrance  into  rest  of  the  five  heroic  sons  of  Mat- 
tathias,  but  that  of  the  seven  sons  of  a  fervently 
believing  mother,  whose  death  of  torture  is  related  in 
2  Maccabees  vii.3  Probably  this  great  episode  in  the 
story  of  the  Maccabees  was  all  that  was  generally 
known  in  the  Christian  Church.  '  The  seven  Mac- 
cabees '  seems  to  have  been  a  common  phrase  ;  and  to 
these  martyrs,  according  to  St.  Augustine,  a  basilica 
was  dedicated  at  Antioch,  *ut  simul  sonet  et  nomen 
persecutoris  et  memoria  coronatoris.'  How  popular 
the  festival  (iravrjyvpis)  of  the  Maccabees  was  at 


1  Paradise  xviii.  37-42.     The  dramatic  scene  (so  familiar  to  us  from 
Raphael)  of  the  discomfiture  of  Heliodorus  forms  the  subject  of  another 
striking  passage.     William  Caxton  has  also  a  fine  reference  to  Judas 
Maccabaeus  in  his  preface  to  our  English  epic  of  Morte  if  Arthur. 

2  See  Sermons  CCC.  and  CCCI.  (Opera,  ed.  Ben.,  V.  1218,  &c.). 

3  Cf.  Mr.  Kendall's  note  on  Heb.  xi.  35. 


382          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


Antioch  we  know  from  St.  Chrysostom,  whose  works 
contain  two  sermons  '  on  the  holy  Maccabees  and 
their  mother.'1  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen  has  also  left 
us  an  oration  on  the  same  subject,  largely  based  on 
the  so-called  fourth  Book  of  Maccabees.2  All  these 
eloquent  Fathers  (to  whom  a  Syriac-writing  theo- 
logian— St.  Isaac  of  Antioch — may  be  added)  dwell 
much  on  the  essentially  Christian  character  of  these 
heroes  of  faith — none  however  as  forcibly  as  St. 
Augustine,  whose  words  may  be  here  quoted  as 
applying  to  others  besides  the  martyrs  specially 
commemorated  on  August  ist: 

'  Nee  quisquam  arbitretur,  antequam  esset  populus 
Christianus,  nullum  fuisse  populum  Deo.  Immo 
vero,  ut  sic  loquar,  quemadmodum  se  veritas  habet, 
non  nominum  consuetude,  Christianus  etiam  ille  tune 
populus  fuit.  Neque  enim  post  passionem  suam 
coepit  habere  populum  Christus  :  sed  illius  populus 
erat  ex  Abraham  genitus.  .  .  .  Nondum  quidem  erat 
mortuus  Christus  ;  sed  Martyres  eos  fecit  moriturus 
Christus.'  3 

The  early  martyrdoms  of  the  Syrian  persecution 
have  found  no  vatem  sacrum  in  the  Psalter.  The 

1  Opera,  ed.  1636,  I.  516,  &c.,  552,  &c. ;  cf.  ¥.972  (Serm.  LXV.). 

2  Oral.  XXII.  (Opera,  ed.  1630,  I.  397,  &c.).     The  oration  is  very 
fine,  but  the  preacher  draws  very  largely  from  4  Maccabees,  which 
Freudenthal    has    shown   to  be   most    probably  a    Hellenistic-Jewish 
sermon.  3  Opera,  ed.  Ben.,  V.  1218,  1219. 


PSALMS  CXIII.-CXVIII.  383 


next  scene  in  the  history  is  the  flight  of  the  aged 
priest  Mattathias  and  his  five  sons  to  the  desert 
mountains,  where  the  faithful  Jews  gather  round 
them.  According  to  St.  Chrysostom  this  situation 
is  presupposed  in  Psalm  xliv.  Many  modern  students 
lean  to  this  view,  and  though  the  psalm  falls  short 
of  the  faith  in  the  resurrection  so  nobly  expressed  by 
the  martyrs  according  to  2  Maccabees  vii.,  yet  there 
are  the  gravest  reasons  for  doubting  whether  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection  was  altogether  accepted 
in  the  Jewish  Church  as  early  as  B.C.  167.  Certainly 
Psalms  cxvi.  and  cxviii.  do  not  give  the  impression 
that  these  writers  were  wholly  emancipated  from  the 
fear  of  death.  The  '  rest '  spoken  of  in  cxvi.  7  is 
probably  that  of  an  assured  tenure  of  earthly  life,  not 
that  of  which  Richard  Baxter  writes  in  the  lines  : 


'  Lord,  it  belongs  not  to  my  care 

Whether  I  die  or  live  ; 
To  love  and  serve  Thee  is  my  share, 
And  this  Thy  grace  must  give.' 


The  psalmist  may  have  advanced  beyond  his  fellow 
singer,  who  cried  out  in  the  agony  of  his  soul,  less  as 
an  individual  than  as  a  Churchman,  to  whom  a  share 
in  the  '  felicity  of  God's  chosen  ' x  is  far  more  than 
isolated  happiness, — 

1  Ps.  cvi.  5  (1'rnyer  Book). 


384          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

1  Return,  JeJiovah,  deliver  my  soul, 

Save  me,  for  thy  lovingkindness'  sake. 

For  in  DeatJi  there  is  no  mention  of  tJiee ; 

In  Sheol  who  zv ill  give  thee  thanks  ? '  x 
But  not  many  days  before  he  did  ejaculate  the 
first  part  of  his  '  bitter  cry '  (see  Ps.  cxvi.  4),  and  it 
is  only  the  presence  of  a  sort  of  undertone  in  some 
parts  of  Psalms  cxvi.  and  cxviii.  which  permits  us  to 
hope  that  the  writers  had  now  and  then  been  visited 
by  glimpses  of  the  fair  prospect  opened  in  the  i6th 
and  other  kindred  psalms.  I  refer  to  such  passages 
as  cxvi.  15  : 

'  A  weigJity  thing  in  the  sight  of  Jehovah 

Is  the  death  of  his  loving  ones  '  ; 
and  the  refrain  which  recurs  in  Psalm  cxviii., — 
'  For  his  lovingkindness  endure th  for  ever '  ; 
on  the  former  of  which  St.  Chrysostom  finely  remarks, 
connecting   it  with  ver.    12,  '  He   includes  it  among 
God's  bounties,  that  not  only  the  life,  but  the  death 
of  the  saints  is  a  matter  for  which  He  cares.' 

Yes,  the  Maccabaean  psalms  do  not  at  first  present 
a  very  consistent  psychological  picture,  and  it  is  only 
by  thinking  ourselves  into  the  peculiar  mental  situa- 
tion of  the  faithful  Israelites  that  we  can  at  all 
understand  them.  Not  only  are  different  views  of 
death  suggested  by  different  passages,  but  different 
1  Ps.  vi.  4,  5. 


PSALMS  CXIIL-CXVIII.  385 


estimates  of  the  religious  capacities  of  the  heathen. 
*  Israel  could  not  altogether  disown  the  new  spirit  of 
friendliness,  not  to  polytheism,  but  to  polytheists,' 
which  the  second  part  of  Isaiah  had  communicated 
to  the  post-Exile  Church.  Let  the  reader  work  out 
this  idea  for  himself  in  connexion  with  the  history  of 
the  times  ;  I  should  fear  to  try  his  patience  were  I  to 
enter  upon  so  fruitful  a  topic.  Suffice  it  to  add,  that 
if  Psalm  cxvii.  was  chanted  as  a  preface  to  Psalm 
cxviii.,  when  this  newly  written  hymn  was  introduced 
(by  Simon  ?)  into  the  liturgical  services  (it  does  at 
any  rate  form  part  of  the  Hallel),  the  harsh  expres- 
sions in  Psalm  cxviii.  become  greatly  softened,  and 
Luther  may  not  have  been  so  far  wrong  in  selecting 
this  psalm  for  his  own  special  Scripture. 

Let  us  now  sum  up  a  few  of  the  leading  ideas  of 
Psalm  cxvi. 

(a}  St.  Augustine  begins  his  exposition  of  the 
Psalm  at  the  wrong  end  ;  he  spiritualizes  too  much, 
applies  the  words  too  directly  to  the  joys  and  sorrows 
of  the  individual.  '  Let  the  soul  sing  this  psalm,'  he 
says,  '  which,  though  at  home  in  the  body,  is  absent 
from  the  Lord  ;  let  the  sheep  sing  this,  which  had 
gone  astray  ;  let  the  son  sing  this,  who  had  been 
dead,  and  became  alive  again,  who  had  been  lost,  and 
was  found.'  But  evidently  the  trouble  from  which 

the  grateful  speaker  has  been  delivered  is  the  danger 

26 


386          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

of  physical  not  spiritual  death,  and  he  utters  his 
thanksgiving  in  the  name  of  the  Church.  I  hasten 
to  add  that  the  reason  why  he  values  life  is,  that  he 
as  an  individual  shares  in  the  work  of  the  Church, 
which  is  (see  Ps.  cxviii.  17)  to  '  tell  out  the  works  of 
Jehovah'  to  those  who  as  yet  indeed  know  Him  not, 
but  who,  as  prophecy  declares,  shall  one  day  be  added 
to  Jehovah's  flock.  Even  where  the  psalmist  says,  '  I 
will  call  (upon  him)  all  my  days '  (ver.  2),  he  means 
chiefly,  '  I  will  join  my  prayers  to  those  of  the  con- 
gregation,' as  is  plain  from  the  other  context  in  which 
the  same  phrase  occurs  (ver.  13).  The  psalm  is 
therefore  a  strong  though  unconscious  protest  against 
dwelling  too  much  on  our  own  individual  joys  and 
griefs.  Deliverance  from  selfishness  is  most  surely  and 
perfectly  attained  by  absorbing  ourselves  in  the  cause, 
not  of  any  party  or  sect,  but  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
(£)  What  has  the  psalmist  to  tell  us  of  the  '  name  ' 
or  revealed  character  of  Jehovah  ?  Three  attributes 
are  mentioned  :  His  compassion,  His  righteousness 
(or  strict  adherence  to  His  revealed  principles  of 
action),  and  His  readiness  to  answer  prayer.  The 
divine  lovingkindness  is  not  referred  to  expressly  in 
this  psalm  (which  differs  in  this  respect  from  Psalm 
cxviii.).  But  the  divine  '  righteousness '  is  only  the 
other  side  of 'lovingkindness'  (khesed},  and  the  'love' 
of  Jehovah's  '  loving  (or,  pious)  ones '  (kJiasidini)  pre 


PSALMS  CXIII.-CXVIII.  387 

supposes  that  of  Jehovah.  The  fact  however  that 
the  psalmist  lays  so  much  stress  on  Jehovah's  '  com- 
passion '  is  significant.  There  are  moods  in  which, 
either  from  conviction  of  sin,  or  from  the  overpower- 
ing consciousness  of  our  own  weakness  and  misery,  it 
is  a  solace  to  recall  the  infinite  pity  and  sympathy  of 
our  Creator.  The  psalmist  was  probably  in  one  of 
these.  He  had  said  '  in  his  panic  '  that  '  all  men  were 
liars'  (ver.  n),  i.e.  that  none  of  the  powers  of  this 
world  was  ranged  on  his  side.  But  thoughts  of  Him 
who  is  '  the  father  of  the  orphans  and  the  advocate  of 
the  widows  '  once  again  (cf.  Pss.  Ixviii.  5,  cxlvi.  9; 
more  than  reconciled  Israel  to  his  loneliness.  '  If 
God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  ? ' 

But  what  can  Israel  say  to  the  seemingly  conflicting 
evidence  respecting  the  divine  righteousness?  The 
Church-nation  has  indeed  been  saved  from  extermi- 
nation, but  at  the  cost  of  precious  lives.  The  law 
promised  a  long  and  happy  life  as  the  reward  of 
obedience,  and  yet  true  Israelites  have  had  to  choose 
between  life  with  transgression  and  death  with  fidelity 
to  conscience.1  This  is  the  difficulty  which  so  greatly 
harassed  the  author  of  the  44th  psalm.2  Does  our 
psalmist  throw  any  light  upon  it?  Incidentally  he 
does,  by  the  declaration  that  it  is  no  light  matters 

1  2  Mace.  vii.  2.  2  Ps.  xliv.  17-19. 

3  '  It  is  an  expense  that  God  delights  not  in,'  is  Jeremy  Taylor's 
comment  on  the  word  'precious'  in  the  A.V.  of  our  psalm. 


388          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

with  God  to  permit  the  lives  of  His  faithful  ones  to 
be  cut  short  (ver.  15).  If  the  promises  of  the  law 
have  been  so  strikingly  unfulfilled,  it  is  because  the 
Church  is  now  fully  prepared  for  the  higher  revelation 
which  is  on  its  way.  There  is  a  plan  in  the  dealings 
of  Jehovah  both  with  the  Church  and  with  individuals, 
and  His  righteousness  is  not  less  closely  linked  with 
His  wisdom  than  with  His  lovingkindness. 

The  third  attribute  specially  referred  to  in  Psalm 
cxvi.  is  Jehovah's  readiness  to  answer  prayer.  And 
whose  prayer  is  permitted  to  reach  His  ear  ?  A 
more  complete  answer  could  be  given  from  other 
psalms  ;  the  special  contribution  of  the  writer  of 
Psalm  cxvi.  is,  that  those  whom  Jehovah  preserves 
are  '  the  simple,'  i.e.  those  who  feel  that  they  '  lack 
wisdom,'  and  that,  as  Jeremiah  says  in  one  of  his 
prayers,  '  it  is  not  in  man  that  walketh  to  direct  his 
steps.' z  Simplicity,  in  this  sense  of  the  word,  was 
specially  called  for  at  the  terrible  crisis  through  which 
the  Church  was  now  passing.  No  other  principle 
but  the  simplest  faith  could  possibly  have  inspired 
either  the  prompt  resolutions  or  the  fearless  courage 
of  the  glorious  six  years  of  Judas  the  Maccabee.  But 
would  it  be  true  to  say  that  Jehovah  only  '  preserveth 
the  simple  '  ?  Does  He  not  also  answer  the  prayers 
of  those  who  feel  that  they  have  already  received  the 

'  Jer.  x.  23. 


PSALMS  CXIII.-CXVIII.  389 


earnest  of  God's  promised  gift  of  wisdom,  and  that 
they  cannot  be  any  longer  '  children,'  but  must  '  grow 
up  unto  him  in  all  things,  unto  the  measure  of  the 
stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ '  ? *  Next  to  and 
because  of  Jehovah,  the  psalmist,  who  humbly  ranks 
himself  among  the  '  simple,'  doubtless  loves  the  book 
of  revelation.  But  is  it  not  the  special  property  of 
this  volume  that,  rightly  used,  it  can  'give  wisdom 
and  understanding  unto  the  simple '  ?  2  And  would 
not  St.  Paul  reproach  us,  as  he  reproached  the 
Corinthian  Church  of  old,3  for  our  slowness  in  obey- 
ing the  call  of  Providence,  when  some  too  dearly 
loved  relic  of  '  simplicity  '  has  to  be  exchanged  for  a 
comparatively  clear  intuition  of  the  truth  ?  Gladly 
as  we  listen  to  those  who,  like  St.  Augustine  and 
Christopher  Wordsworth,  bid  us  learn  from  these 
Christians  before  Christ  how  to  die  for  the  truth,  we 
decline  to  accept  in  all  points  the  definition  of 
Christian  truth  current  in  any  one  age  ;'  for  that 
would  mean,  not  strength,  but  weakness  of  faith 
relatively  to  that  Spirit  of  wisdom  who,  as  Christ 
promised,  is  guiding  disciples  into  all  the  truth.  The 
word  '  faith '  ought  not  to  become  a  symbol  for 
intellectual  narrowness,  and  blindness  to  the  leadings 
of  Him  who,  not  without  storms  and  revolutions, 
'  reneweth  the  face  of  the  earth.' 

1  Eph.  iv.  13,  15.  -  Pss.  xix.  7,  cxix.  130.          3  i  Cor.  iii.  i. 


f 


390          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

Psalms  cxvi.  and  cxviii.  are  the  most  striking 
psalms  of  the  Hallel.  But  other  members  of  the 
group  deserve  to  be  studied  more  in  connexion  with 
the  Maccabaean  period.  When  was  the  description 
in  Psalm  cxiii.  7,  8  more  exactly  verified  than  in  the 
elevation  of  the  previously  little  known  Asmonaean 
family  to  the  rank  of  '  princes  of  God's  people '  ? 
Even  if  the  psalm  were  written  somewhat  earlier,  yet 
its  words  received  their  fullest  historical  justification 
in  that  surprising  event.  And  does  not  the  threefold 
division  of  the  faithful  in  Psalm  cxv.  9-13,  and  the 
emphasis  laid  there  on  the  one  sufficient  helper, 
Jehovah,  justify  the  irrepressible  conjecture  that  this 
psalm,  like  the  iiSth,  is  Maccabaean?  Why  should 
Christian  ministers  hesitate  to  answer  in  the  affirma- 
tive ?  Truly,  if  they  can  honestly  do  so,  they  will 
find  it  become  all  the  easier  to  use  these  psalms  for 
purposes  of  edification.  If  the  story  of  the  Macca- 
bees is  as  important  even  now  as  Christopher  Words- 
worth assures  us  that  it  is,  would  it  not  be  a  great 
help  to  students  if  they  could  illustrate  it  from  the 
most  certain  of  the  Maccabaean  psalms  ?  When  will  * 
some  English  scholar,  with  the  gift  of  interesting  the 
people,  seize  the  noble  opportunity  of  usefulness  pre- 
sented to  him  ?  The  Jews  at  any  rate  have  long 
since  set  us  a  good  example  by  appointing  Psalms 
cxiii.-cxviii.  to  be  recited  on  each  of  the  eight  days  of 


PSALMS  CXIII.-CXVUI.  391 

the  two  great  historical  feasts  of  the  second  temple, 
the  Tabernacles  and  the  Dedication.1  Is  it  reverent 
in  us  who  are  under  such  deep  obligations  to  the 
Jewish  Church  to  set  at  naught  this  example? 
Surely  the  lesson  of  faith  in  God  was  never  more 
urgently  needed,  both  in  Church  and  in  State,  both 
in  thought  and  in  practice  than  to-day.  And  from 
whom  can  this  lesson  be  learned  better  than  from 
those  psalmists  whose  works  can  be  shown  to  possess 
definite  historical  references  ?  For  these  poets  express 
not  merely  the  mood  of  the  individual,  but  the  stir- 
rings of  the  mighty  heart  of  the  Church  of  God/ 


NOTE  ON  PSALM  ex. 

The  1 1 8th  psalm  naturally  suggests  the  thought  of 
the  iioth.  Both  psalms  are  distinguished  from  most 
of  the  other  members  of  Book  V.  by  the  comparative 
clearness  of  the  historical  situation.  Both  belong  to 
a  period  of  great  warlike  religious  enthusiasm,  and 
both  contain  certain  details  which  are  (as  I  believe) 
most  easily  accounted  for  on  the  supposition  of  a 

1  The  Maccabaean  festival  of  the  Encaenia  (John  x.  22)  was, 
in  fact,  a  kind  of  supplementary  Feast  of  Tabernacles.  •  See  2  Mace. 
1.9. 


392          THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 

Maccabaean  origin.  But  whereas  at  any  rate  the 
post-Exilic  origin  of  Ps.  cxviii.  is  universally  acknow- 
ledged, that  of  Ps.  ex.  is  still  exposed  to  much  con- 
tradiction. Until  the  fundamental  principle  of  this 
contradiction  has  been  refuted,  it  will  be  vain  to  hope 
that  either  of  the  rival  theories  as  to  the  post- Exilic 
origin  of  Ps.  ex.  will  receive  a  fair  consideration. 
What,  then,  is  this  principle  which  stands  in  the  way 
of  critical  progress  ?  It  is  a  theological  one,  and  we 
may  state  it  briefly  thus — Jesus  Christ,  being  the 
'  teacher  come  from  God  '  and  even  '  the  Son  of  God/ 
cannot  be  liable  to  error.  This  of  course  needs  such 
verification  as  is  possible.  We  test  it  therefore  by 
the  facts  of  the  Gospel-narrative,  and  more  especially 
those  of  the  Synoptic  Gospels.  These  facts  justify  us 
in  supposing  in  the  Christ  a  unique  superiority  both  to 
moral  error  and  (so  far  as  this  was  necessary  for  the 
discharge  of  the  Messianic  functions  at  that  time  and 
place)  intellectual  error.  Let  us  next  inquire  whether 
it  was  necessary  that  the  Messiah  should  at  that 
period  have  clear  intuitions  as  to  the  date  and 
authorship  of  the  psalms.  Take  for  instance  His 
controversy  with  the  Pharisees  as  to  the  sonship  of 
the  Christ  (Matt.  xxii.  41-45).  Our  Lord's  object 
was  to  get  the  Pharisees  to  see  that  no  mere  son  of 
David  nor  king  of  Israel  could  fulfil  the  highest 
prophecies  respecting  the  bringer  of  the  divine  salva- 


PSALMS  CX1IL-CXVIII.  393 

tion.  Would  it  have  promoted  this  to  have  asserted 
(contrary  to  the  universal  belief)  that  Ps.  ex.  was  not 
written  by  David  himself,  nor  even  at  a  time  when 
the  hope  of  a  perfect  king  of  the  Davidic  family  was 
vividly  realized  ?  Surely  not.  The  question,  '  What 
think  ye  of  the  Christ  ?  '  was  such  a  one  as  Socrates 
might  have  put  in  his  dialogues  ;  it  was  designed  to 
bring  out  what  lay  involved  in  the  interpretation  of 
Ps.  ex.  i  adopted  by  the  Pharisees  themselves.  Our 
Lord  made  no  declaration  as  to  His  own  belief  or 
knowledge.  He  may  have  accepted  the  current  view 
of  the  schools,  or,  being  such  a  keen  critic  of  Jewish 
traditions  on  other  points,  He  may  have  seen  the 
futility  of  the  received  Biblical  criticism,  and  rejected 
it  in  so  far  as  it  was  opposed  by  His  own  spiritual 
tact.  Our  knowledge  of  the  inner  life  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  necessarily  so  slight,  that  we  cannot  venture  to 
speak  positively  of  His  attitude  towards  the  current 
criticism.  But  it  is  by  no  means  inconceivable  that 
the  ascription  of  Psalm  ex.  to  the  same  author  as 
Psalms  xvi.,  xxii.,  and  Ixix.  may  have  struck  this 
most  spiritual  of  interpreters  as  violently  improbable. 
I  would  ask  in  conclusion  whether  the  present 
theological  controversy  as  to  the  admissibility  of  any 
other  theory  respecting  the  origin  of  Ps.  ex.  than  that 
alluded  to  in  Matt.  xxii.  43  may  not  be  closed  by  the 
acceptance  on  both  sides  of  such  a  compromise  as  this, 


394 


THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


viz.  that  while  the  liberals  grant  the  bare  possibility1 
that  divine  oracles  like  those  in  Ps.  ex.  I,  4  may  have 
been  delivered  by  Gad  or  Nathan  to  David,  the  con- 
servatives on  their  side  admit  that  the  poetical  setting 
of  such  oracles  must  have  been  considerably  modified 
between  the  times  of  David  and  of  Simon  the  Macca- 
bee.  An  able  writer  in  the  Church  Times  doubts 
whether  liberal  scholars  '  have  done  justice  to  the  diffi- 
culty which  now  exists  of  verifying  traditions  about 
the  original  authorship  of  poems  handed  down  through 
successive  generations  amongst  the  members  of  musical 
guilds,  and  liable  from  time  to  time  to  such  modifica- 
tion as  we  see  exemplified  in  Psalms  xiv.  and  liii.'  2 
Being  myself  in  the  habit  of  speaking  of  the  psalms 
as  of  recent  origin  'in  their  present  form,'  I  may 
fairly  retort  that  conservative  theologians  need  still 
more  to  consider  this  great  truth — viz.  that  pre-Exilic 
psalms  in  order  to  be  adapted  to  post-Exilic  use 
would  necessarily  have  to  be  modified  or  even  recast. 
In  its  present  form  Ps.  ex.  can  scarcely  be  conceived 
of  either  as  Davidic  or  even  as  pre-Exilic.  The 
more  ancient  its  basis  is  thought  to  be,  the  more 
extensively  modified  must  the  superstructure  be.  I 
confess  however  that,  if  I  am  asked  whether  the 

1  It  is  no  more  than  this.     The  psalm  is  perfectly  explicable  without 
assuming  an  antique  basis.     Historically  and  philologically,  the  evidence 
seems  to  me  to  point  away  from  David,  and  to  be  fully  satisfied  by  the 
theory  of  a  Maccabsean  date. 

2  Review  of  Gore's  Bampton  Lectures,-  Dec.  n,  1891. 


PSALMS  CXIIL-CXVIII.  395 


words  '  unto  my  Lord  '  (Ps.  ex.  i)  can  in  the  mouth  of 
David  have  meant  '  unto  that  far  greater  king  who  is 
at  some  future  time  to  follow  me,  and  to  be  Jehovah's 
perfect  vicegerent,'  I  must  reply  that  the  historical 
evidence  points  in  an  opposite  direction.  The  speaker 
here  is  evidently  not  himself  a  king,  but  refers  respect- 
fully to  the  reigning  king  as  '  my  Lord.'  These 
introductory  words  cannot  possibly  be  interpreted 
Messianically. 

For  my  own  part,  I  humbly  venture  to  think  that 
God  is  leading  us  to  a  better  Messianic  interpretation 
of  the  Old  Testament  than  we  have  received  from 
the  first  Christian  ages,  and  I  seem  to  see  the  first 
outlines  of  it  in  the  works  of  free  but  devout  students 
of  critical  exegesis.  The  Christ  within  the  Church 
is  teaching  us  a  few  more  of  those  '  many  things ' 
which  the  disciples  of  Jesus  in  the  olden  time  '  could 
not  bear.'  That  dwelling  on  words  and  phrases  of 
the  Old  Testament  which  was  characteristic  of  the 
early  times  must  be  reduced  to  very  modest  propor- 
tions ;  it  is  the  general  spirit  and  tendency  of  old 
Hebrew  thought  and  feeling  which  we  shall  value, 
rather  than  the  real  or  supposed  correspondence  of 
Old  Testament  words  and  phrases  to  New  Testament 
facts.  This  change  of  attitude  is,  I  believe,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  mind  of  the  Master,  if  indeed  He  really 
meant  to  utter  those  striking  words,  '  Ye  search  the 


396         THE  CRITICAL  STUDY  OF  THE  PSALTER. 


Scriptures,  for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal 
life,1  and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me  ;  and  yet 
ye  are  not  willing  to  come  unto  me  that  ye  may  have 
life  '  (John  v.  39).  Neither  eternal  life  nor  that  truth 
which  conduces  to  the  intellectual  appreciation  of 
life  can  be  had  from  that  minute  but  petty  investiga- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  which  was  practised  by  the 
Jews.  '  Come  unto  Me,'  is  the  call  of  Jesus  to  the 
student  of  theology  as  well  as  to  the  convinced 
sinner.  Converse  with  the  Christ  will  settle  the 
grave  question  as  to  the  nature  of  His  inerrancy 
during  those  few  short  years  so  incompletely 
chronicled.  Few  mistakes  can  be  so  great  as  to 
waste  our  precious  energies  in  disputing  about  words 
which  have  no  doubt  their  interest,  but  cannot  be 
explained  on  dogmatic  theological  principles. 

Yes,  the  words  of  Ps.  ex.  I  have  their  interest 
They  introduce  a  psalm  full  of  a  lofty  religious 
enthusiasm  which  glorifies  the  period  to  which  it 
belongs.  The  psalm  is  not  indeed  a  prediction  of 
the  Messiah ;  if  it  were  so,  it  would  stand  alone  in 
the  Psalter.  And  yet  it  is  'germinally  Messianic.' 
Like  the  author  of  Ps.  cxlix.  (see  ver.  7)  the  psalmist 

1  '  In  them.'1  It  was  the  later  Jewish  doctrine  that  the  Torah  was  the 
tree  of  life,  the  fruit  of  which  conveyed  immortality.  '  Ye  think?  Our 
Lord  rejects  this  inadequate  opinion.  So  '  What  think  ye  of  the 
Christ '  ?  implies  that  He  is  not  the  son  of  David  in  the  sense  in  which 
they  think  the  Messiah  is  so. 


PSALMS  CXIII.-CXVIII.  397 


regards  the  exploits  of  the  Maccabees  as  the  begin- 
ning of  that  '  world-judgment '  which  will  introduce 
the  perfect,  the  Messianic  age.  The  highest  honour 
which  he  can  put  upon  his  much-loved  prince,  Simon 
the  Maccabee,  is  to  represent  him  as  the  initiator  of 
a  series  of  victories  which  will  at  last  verify  the  grand 
idealistic  description  in  the  second  psalm.  There 
was  illusion  in  this,  but  has  not  Frederick  Robertson 
taught  us  that  Providence  leads  men  on  through 
paths  of  illusion,  not  breaking  the  illusion  till  the 
truth  which  nestled  within  it  was  ready  to  be  revealed 
in  all  its  soul-satisfying  splendour  ? 

May  I  ask  a  candid  and  repeated  consideration  of 
my  discussion  of  Ps.  ex.  in  B.  L.,  pp.  20-29,  49,  482 
(linguistic  evidence)?  See  also  pp.  34-36,  68,  200, 
with  my  commentary  (1888),  Driver's  Introduction, 
p.  362  (note  J),  and  my  suggestions  in  the  Expositor, 
April,  1892,  pp.  238-239. 


UNWIN   BROTHERS, 
CHILWORTH  AND  LONDON. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


m 


Form  L9-Series  444 


t 


DO   NOT    REMOVE 
THIS   BOOK  CARDZ! 


a 
a 

K 
t3 

a 

8 
K 
•a 

n 
0 
« 

K 
V 

e 
K 


University  Research  Library