THE PSALMS
TRANSLATED
AND
EXPLAINED
JOSEPH ADDISON ALEXANDER, D.D.
1864 Edinburgh; Andrew Elliot and James Thin.
Digitized by Ted Hildebrandt
and Erin Bensing.
PREFACE
The present publication owes its origin
to Hengstenberg's Commentary on
the
Psalms. The original design was to make that work, by abridgment
and
other unessential changes, more acceptable and useful to the English
reader
than it could be in the form of an exact translation. It was soon
found,
however, that by far the most important part of such a book would
be
a literal version of the Hebrew text, and that this was precisely what
could
not be obtained at second hand, by the awkward and unsatisfying
process
of translating a translation, but must be derived directly from an
independent
scrutiny of the original. In attempting this, the deviations
from
Hengstenberg, continually in form and not unfrequently in substance,
rendered
it wholly inexpedient and improper to make him responsible for
what
was really a new translation. The only course remaining therefore
was
to make this general acknowledgment, that his work is the basis of the
one
now offered to the public, and that more has been directly drawn from
that
source than from all others put together. The present writer has so
freely
availed himself of Hengstenberg's translations, exegetical suggestions,
and
illustrative citations, in preparing his own version and explanatory
comments,
that nothing could have led him to forego the advantage of in-
serting
that distinguised name upon his title-page, except a natural unwill-
ingness
to make it answerable for the good or evil which is really his own.
At
the same time, he considers it by no means the least merit of the book,
that
it presents, in a smaller compass and a more familiar dress, the most
valuable
results of so masterly an exposition.
In justice to his work and to himself, the
author wishes it to be distinctly
understood,
that he has aimed exclusively at explanation, the discovery and
statement
of the meaning. To this he has confined himself for several
reasons:
first, because a wider plan would have required a larger book than
was
consistent with his general purpose; then, because this is really the
point
in which assistance is most needed by the readers of the Psalter; and
lastly,
because he had especially in view the wants of ministers, who are
better
able than himself to erect a doctrinal, devotional, or practical super-
structure
on the exegetical basis which he has endeavoured here to furnish.
It
follows of course, that the book is not designed to supersede the admirable
1
2
PREFACE.
works
in common use, except so far as it may be found to correct their
occasional
errors of translation or verbal exposition.
It may be thought that, in order to
accomplish this design, the author
might
have satisfied himself with a bare translation.
But experience has
more
and more convinced him, that the meaning of an author cannot be
fully
given in another language by the use of exact equivalents, which are
in
fact so few, that the deficiency can only be supplied by the addition of
synonymous
expressions or by explanatory paraphrase, or by exegetical
remark
directly added to the text, or by the use of all these means together.
The
idea which he has endeavoured here to realize is that of an amplified
translation. In the version properly so called, he has
endeavoured to pre-
serve,
not only the strength but the peculiar form of the original, which is
often
lost in the English Bible, by substituting literal for figurative and
general
for specific terms, as well as by a needless deviation from the order
of
the words in Hebrew, upon which the emphasis, if not the sense, is fre-
quently
dependent, and which has here been carefully restored wherever the
difference
of idiom would suffer it, and sometimes, it may possibly be thought,
without
regard to it. Another gratuitous
departure from the form of the
original,
which has been perhaps too scrupulously shunned, but not, it is
believed,
without advantage to the general character of the translation,
arises
from the habit of confounding the tenses, or merging the future and
the
past in a jejune and inexpressive present.
The instances where this
rule
has been pushed to a rigorous extreme may be readily detected, but
will
not perhaps be thought to outweigh the advantage of preserving one
of
the most marked and striking features of the Hebrew language.
The plan of the book, as already defined,
has excluded not only all devo-
tional
and practical remark, but all attempt to give the history of the
interpretation,
or to enumerate the advocates and authors of conflicting
expositions. This, although necessary to a complete
exegetical work, would
rather
have defeated the design of this one, both by adding to its bulk and
by
repelling a large class of readers. It
has therefore been thought better to exclude it, or rather to reserve it for a
kindred work upon a large scale, if
such
should hereafter be demanded by the public.
The same course has been
taken
with respect to a great mass of materials, relating to those topics
which
would naturally find their place in a Critical Introduction. Many of
these,
and such as are particularly necessary to the exposition, have been
noticed
incidentally as they occur. But
synoptical summaries of these, and
full
discussions of the various questions, as to the age and authors of the
several
psalms, the origin and principle of their arrangement, the best mode
of
classification, and the principles on which they ought to be interpreted,
would
fill a volume by themselves, without materially promoting the main
object
of the present publication. As the
topics thus necessarily excluded
will
probably constitute a principal subject of the author’s private and pro-
fessional
studies for some time to come, he is not without the hope of being
able
to bring something of this kind before the public, either in a separate
work
upon the Psalms, or in a general Introduction to the Scriptures.
PREFACE. 3
The difficulty of discussing these
preliminary matters within reasonable
compass,
although great in the case of any important part of Scripture, is
aggravated
by the peculiar structure of the Psalter, the most miscellaneous
of
the sacred books, containing a hundred and fifty compositions, each com-
plete
in itself, and varying in length, from two sentences (Ps. cxvii.) to a
hundred
and seventy-six (Ps. cxix.), as well as in subject, style, and tone,
the
work of many authors, and of different ages; so that a superficial reader
might
be tempted to regard it as a random or fortuitous collection of uncon-
nected
and incongruous materials.
A closer inspection shews, however, that
this heterogeneous mass is not
without
a bond of union; that these hundred and fifty independent pieces,
different
as they are, have this in common, that they are all poetical, not
merely
imaginative and expressive of feeling, but stamped externally with
that
peculiar character of parallelism, which distinguishes the higher style
of
Hebrew composition from ordinary prose. A still more marked resem-
blance
is that they are all not only poetical but lyrical, i. e. songs, poems
intended
to be sung, and with a musical accompaniment. Thirdly, they are
all
religious lyrics, even those which seem at first sight the most secular in
theme
and spirit, but which are all found on inquiry to be strongly expres-
sive
of religious feeling. In the fourth place, they are all ecclesiastical lyrics,
psalms
or hymns, intended to be permanently used in public worship, not
excepting
those which bear the clearest impress of original connection with
the
social, domestic, or personal relations and experience of the writers.
The book being thus invested with a certain
unity of spirit, form, and
purpose,
we are naturally led to seek for something in the psalms them-
selves,
which may determine more definitely their relation to each other.
The
first thing of this kind that presents itself is the existence, in a very
large
proportion, of an ancient title or inscription, varying in length and ful-
ness;
sometimes simply describing the composition, as a psalm, a song, a
prayer,
&c.; sometimes stating the subject or historical occasion, either in
plain
or enigmatical expressions; sometimes directing the performance, by
indicating
the accompanying instrument, by specifying the appropriate key
or
mode, or by naming the particular performer: these various intimations
occurring
sometimes singly, but frequently in combination.
The strenuous attempts which have been made
by modern writers to
discredit
these inscriptions, as spurious additions of a later date, containing
groundless
and erroneous conjectures, often at variance with the terms and
substance
of the psalm itself, are defeated by the fact that they are found
in
the Hebrew text, as far as we can trace its history, not as addenda, but
as
integral parts of the composition; that such indications of the author
and
the subject, at the commencement of a composition, are familiar both
to
classical and oriental usage; and that the truth of these inscriptions may
in
every case be vindicated, and in none more successfully than those which
seem
at first sight least defensible, and which have therefore been appealed
to,
with most confidence, as proofs of spuriousness and recent date.
The details included in this general
statement will be pointed out as they
4
PREFACE.
occur,
but are here referred to by anticipation, to explain and vindicate the
constant
treatment of the titles in this volume as an integral part of the
sacred
text, which in some editions of the Bible has been mutilated by
omitting
them, and in others dislocated or confused, for the purposes of refer-
ence,
by passing them over in the numeration of the verses. As this last arrangement is familiar to all
readers of the English Bible, an attempt has been made in the following
exposition to consult their convenience, by add-
ing
the numbers of the English to those of the Hebrew text, wherever they
are
different.
Another point of contact and resemblance
between these apparently de-
tached
and independent compositions is the frequent recurrence of set
phrases
and of certain forms extending to the structure of whole psalms,
such
as the alphabetical arrangement, in which the successive sentences or
paragraphs
begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
This is the more remarkable, because these alphabetic psalms have all a
common
character,
distinguishing them from the rest, to wit, that instead of a pro-
gression
of ideas, they consist of variations on a theme propounded at the outset,
whether this be regarded as the cause or the effect of the peculiar
form
itself.
The same inquiries which have led to these
conclusions also shew that the arrangement of the psalms in the collection is
by no means so unmean-
ing
and fortuitous as may at first sight seem to be the case, but that in
many
instances at least, a reason may be found for the juxtaposition, in
resemblance
or identity of subject or historical occasion, or in some
remarkable
coincidence of general form or of particular expressions. If
in
some cases it is difficult to trace the reason of the collocation, there are
others
in which two psalms bear so intimate and obvious a mutual relation,
that
they seem to constitute a pair or double psalm, either because they
were
originally meant to match each other, or because one has been sub-
sequently
added for the purpose. Sometimes,
particularly in the latter
part
of the collection, we may trace not only pairs but trilogies, and even
more
extensive systems of connected psalms, each independent of the rest,
and
yet together forming beautiful and striking combinations, particularly
when
the nucleus or the basis of the series is an ancient psalm; for instance
one
of David’s, to which others have been added, in the way of variation or of
imitation, at a later period, such as that of the Captivity.
Although the facts just mentioned are
sufficient to evince that the Book
of
Psalms was not thrown together at random, but adjusted by a careful
hand,
the principle of the arrangement is not always so apparent, or of
such
a nature as to repress the wish to classify the psalms and reduce them
to
some systematic order. The most obvious
arrangement would be that
by
authors, if the data were sufficient.
But although the title ascribe one
to
Moses, seventy-two to David, two to Solomon, twelve to Asaph, one to
Ethan,
and eleven to the Sons of Korah, it is doubtful in some of the
cases,
more particularly those last mentioned, whether the title was designed
to
indicate the author or the musical performer, and more than fifty are
PREFACE. 5
anonymous.
In some of these the hand of David may be still distinctly
traced,
but as to most, we are abandoned to conjecture, which of course
affords
no solid basis for a satisfactory or useful distribution.
Another principle of classification is the
internal character, the subject,
style,
and manner of the psalms. This was applied by the older writers,
in
accordance with the forms of artificial rhetoric, and with endless variety
in
the result. But the best application of the principle is that proposed by
Hengstenberg,
and founded on the tone of pious feeling which the psalm
expresses:
whether joyous, as in the general psalms of praise, and more
especially
in those of thanksgiving; or sad, as in the querulous and peni-
tential
psalms; or calm, as in most of the prophetic and didactic psalms.
All
these, however, are arrangements which the reader can make best to
please
himself, and which are rather the results of exposition than prelimi-
nary
aids to it.
Apart from these attempts at systematic
distribution and arrangement,
there
is also a question with respect to the division of the Psalter as it
stands.
There is an ancient division into five parts, corresponding, as the
Rabbins
say, to the five books of Moses, and indicated by doxologies at the
close
of Ps. xli., lxxii., lxxxix., cvi., while Ps. cl. is itself a doxology,
winding
up the whole. The modern critics, more especially in
have
tasked their ingenuity to prove that these are distinct collections,
contemporaneous
or successive, of detached compositions, afterwards com-
bined
to form the present Psalter. But they never have been able to
account,
with any plausibility or show of truth, for the remarkable position
which
the psalms of David occupy in all parts of the book. A much more
probable
hypothesis, though coupled with a theory, to say the least,
extremely
dubious, is that of Hengstenberg, who looks upon the actual
arrangement
as the work of Ezra, or some other skilful and authoritative
hand,
and accounts for the division into five books as follows. The first
book
(Ps. i.–xli.) contains only psalms of David, in which the use of the
divine
name Jehovah is predominant. The second (Ps. xlii.-lxxii.) contains
psalms
of David and his contemporaries, i. e.,
Solomon, Asaph, and the
Sons
of Korah, in which the predominant divine name is Elohim. The third
(Ps.
lxxiii.–lxxxix.) contains psalms of Asaph and the Sons of Korah, in
which
the name Jehovah is predominant. The fourth (Ps. xc.–cvi.) and
fifth
(cvii.–cl.,) contain, for the most part, psalms of later date, the princi-
pal
exceptions being one by Moses (Ps. xc.), and several of David's, to
which
others in the same strain have been added, in the way already
mentioned.
However ingenious this hypothesis may be,
it will be seen at once that
it
contributes very little to the just appreciation or correct interpretation of
the
several psalms, except by enabling us, in certain cases, to derive illus-
tration
from a more extended context, as the reader will find stated in its
proper
place. Even granting, therefore, the historical assumption upon
which
it rests, and the favourite doctrine as to the divine names, with
which
it is to some extent identified, it will be sufficient for our present
6
PREFACE.
purpose
to have stated it in outline, leaving the reader to compare it with
the
facts as they successively present themselves, and reserving a more full
investigation
of the general question to another time and place.
The best arrangement for the ordinary student
of the Psalter is the
actual
arrangement of the book itself: first, because we have no better,
and
the efforts to invent a better have proved fruitless; then, because, as
we
have seen, there are sufficient indications, of a principle or purpose in
this
actual arrangement, whether we can always trace it there or not;
lastly,
because uniform tradition and analogy agree in representing it as
highly
probable that this arrangement was the work of Ezra, the inspired
collector
and rédacteur of the canon, so that
even if nothing more should
ever
be discovered, with respect to his particular design or plan, we have
still
the satisfaction of relying, not on chance, but on a competent or rather
an
infallible authority, as well as the advantage of studying the psalms in
a
connection and an order which may possibly throw light upon them, even
when
it seems to us most fortuitous or arbitrary.
If any subdivision of the book is needed,
as a basis or a means of more
convenient
exposition, it may be obtained by taking, as the central column
of
this splendid fabric, its most ancient portion, the sublime and affecting
Prayer
of Moses, known from time immemorial as the Ninetieth Psalm,
and
suffering this, as a dividing line, to separate the whole into two great
parts,
the first composed entirely of psalms belonging to the times of
David,
the other of a few such, with a much greater number of later com-
positions,
founded on them and connected with them.
This simple distribution seems to secure
all the substantial advantages
of
Hengstenberg's hypothesis, without its complexity or doubtful points.
Among
the latter may be reckoned the extraordinary stress laid by this
eminent
interpreter on what may be called Symbolical Arithmetic, or the
significance
ascribed to the number of verses, of Selahs, of Jehovahs, of
Elohims,
used in any given psalm. Setting out from the unquestionable
fact,
that certain numbers are symbolically used in the Old Testament;
that
seven is the symbol of the covenant, twelve of the theocracy, ten of
completeness
or perfection, five of the reverse, &c., he attempts to trace
the
application of this principle throughout the psalms, and not, as might
have
been expected, without many palpable failures to establish his favour-
ite
and foregone conclusion. The effect which this singular prepossession
might
have had upon his exposition is prevented by his happily restricting
it
entirely to form and structure, and putting it precisely on a level with
the
alphabetical arrangement of the Hebrews, and with rhyme as used by
other
nations. There is still, however, reason to regret the space allotted
to
this subject in his volumes, and good ground for excluding it from works
of
an humbler and more popular description. As all the views of such a
mind,
however, are at least entitled to consideration, this subject may
appropriately
take its place among the topics of a Critical Introduction.
With respect to the historical relations of
the Psalter and its bearings
on
the other parts of Scripture, it will be sufficient to remind the reader,
PREFACE. 7
that
the Mosaic system reached its culminating point and full development
in
the reign of David, when the land of promise was in full possession, the
provisions
of the law for the first time fully carried out, and a permanent
sanctuary
secured, and, we may even say, prospectively erected. The chain
of
Messianic promises, which for ages had been broken, or concealed
beneath
the prophetic ritual, was now renewed by the addition of a new
link,
in the great Messianic promise made to David (2 Sam. vii.) of per-
petual
succession in his family. As the head of this royal race from which
the
Messiah was to spring, and as the great theocratical model of succeed-
ing
ages, who is mentioned more frequently in prophecy and gospel than
all
his natural descendants put together, he was inspired to originate a new
kind
of sacred composition, that of Psalmody, or rather to educe from the
germ
which Moses had planted an abundant harvest of religious poetry,
not
for his own private use, but for that of the Church, in the new form of
public
service which he added by divine command to the Mosaic ritual.
As
an inspired psalmist, as the founder and director of the temple-music.
and
as a model and exemplar to those after him, David's position is unique
in
sacred history. As his military prowess had been necessary to complete
the
conquest of the land, so his poetical and musical genius was necessary
to
secure his influence upon the church for ever. The result is, that no
part
of the Bible has been so long, so constantly, and so extensively fami-
liar,
both to Jews and Christians, as the Psalms
of David. This deno-
minatio a potiori is entirely correct, as
all the other writers of the psalms,
excepting
Moses, merely carry out and vary what had been already done
by
David; and as if to guard the system from deterioration, the further we
proceed
the more direct and obvious is this dependence upon David, as
"the
man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the
sweet
psalmist of
other
psalmists, from the days of Solomon to those of Ezra.
The interesting questions which have so
often been discussed, as to the
theology
and ethics of the Psalter, and especially in reference to the doc-
trine
of a Messiah and a future state, and to the so-called imprecations of
the
psalms, can be satisfactorily settled only by detailed interpretation of
the
passages concerned, and any summary anticipation of the general
result
may here be spared, although it would be highly appropriate in a
Critical
Introduction.
After this brief statement of preliminary
points which might be fully
treated
in an Introduction, it only remains to add, in explanation of the
plan
adopted in the work itself, that the reader is constantly supposed to
be
familiar with the Hebrew text and with the authorised version, but that,
in
order to make the exposition accessible to a larger class of educated
readers,
the original words have been introduced but sparingly, and only
for
the purpose of saving space and avoiding an awkward circumlocution.
The
translation of the text is printed in italic type as prose, partly for a
reason
just assigned, to save room; partly because it is really prose, and
not
verse, according to the common acceptation of those terms; partly be-
8
PREFACE.
cause
the effect of the poetical element, so far as it exists, is weakened
rather
than enhanced when printed as irregular blank verse: but especially
because
the version is not meant to stand by itself, or to be continuously
read,
but to be part and parcel of the exposition, and to be qualified by the
accompanying
paraphrase and comments.
The religious uses of the Psalms, both
doctrinal and practical, though
not
directly aimed at in these volumes, are so far from being undervalued
by
the author, and indeed so essential to his ultimate design, that any effect
which
the book may have, however humble or remote, in the promotion of
this
end, will be esteemed by him as its most flattering success, and the
most
acceptable reward of his exertions.
THE
PSALMS.
PSALM I.
The book opens with an exquisite picture
of the truly Happy Man, as seen
from
the highest ground of the old dispensation. He is described both
literally
and figuratively, positively and negatively, directly and by contrast,
with
respect both to his character and his condition, here and hereafter.
The
compression of all this into so short a composition, without confusion
or
obscurity, and with a high degree of graphic vividness, shews what the
psalm
is in a rhetorical or literary point of view, apart from its religious
import
and divine authority. Its moral design is both didactic and con-
solatory.
There is no trace of any particular historical occasion or allusion.
The
teams employed are general, and admit of an easy application to all
times
and places where the word of God is known. The psalm indeed con-
tains
a summary of the doctrine taught in this book and in the Scriptures
generally,
as to the connection between happiness and goodness. It is well
placed,
therefore, as an introduction to the whole collection, and although
anonymous,
was probably composed by David. It is altogether worthy of
this
origin, and corresponds, in form and substance, to the next psalm,
which
is certainly by David. The two seem indeed to form a pair or double
psalm,
of which arrangement there are several other instances. The struc-
ture
of the first psalm is symmetrical but simple, and the style removed
from
that of elevated prose by nothing but the use of strong and lively
figures.
1. The Happy Man is first described in
literal but negative expressions,
i. e. by stating what he does
not habitually do. The description opens with
a
kind of admiring exclamation. (Oh) the blessedness of the man! The
plural
form of the original (felicities or happinesses), if anything more than
a
grammatical idiom like ashes, means,
&c., in our language, may denote
fulness
and variety of happiness, as if he had said, How completely happy is
the man! The negative
description follows. Happy the man who
has not
walked, a common figure for
the course of life or the habitual conduct, which
is
furthermore suggested by the use of the past tense, but without excluding
the
present, who has not walked and does not walk, in the counsel, i. e. live
after
the manner, on the principles, or according to the plans, of wicked
(men), and in, the way of sinners has not stood. The word translated sinners
properly
denotes those who fall short of the standard of duty, as the word
translated
wicked denotes those who positively
violate a rule by disorderly
10 PSALM
I. [VER.
2, 3.
conduct.
Together they express the whole idea of ungodly or unrighteous
men.
And in the seat, not the chair, but
the company, or the place where
men
convene and sit together, of scorners,
scoffers, those who treat religion
with
contempt, has not sat. The three
verbs denote the three acts or pos-
tures
of a waking man, namely, walking, standing, sitting, and are there-
fore
well adapted to express the whole course of life or conduct. It is also
possible
that a climax was intended, so that walking, standing, and sitting
in
the company of sinners will denote successive stages of deterioration, first
occasional
conformity, then fixed association, then established residence
among
the wicked, not as a mere spectator or companion, but as one of
themselves.
The same kind of negative description reappears in Psalm
xxvi.
4, 5, and in Jer. xv. 17. It is of course implied that no one, of whom
any
of these things can be affirmed, is entitled to the character of a Happy Man.
2. A positive trait is now added to the
picture. Having shewn what the
truly
happy man does not, the Psalmist shews us what he does. But, on
the
contrary, in contrast with the previous description, in the law of Jehovah,
i. e. the written revelation
of his will, and more especially the Pentateuch
or
Law of Moses, which lay at the foundation of the Hebrew Scriptures, (is)
his delight, not merely his
employment, or his trust, but his pleasure, his
happiness.
And in his law he will meditate, i. e. he
does so and will do so
still,
not merely as a theme of speculation or study, but as a cherished
object
of affection, a favourite subject of the thoughts, day and night, i. e.
at
all times, in every interval of other duties, nay in the midst of other
duties,
this is the theme to which his mind spontaneously reverts. The
cordial
attachment to an unfinished revelation, here implicitly enjoined,
chews
clearly what is due to the completed word of God which we possess.
3. The literal description of the Happy
Man, both in its negative and
positive
form, is followed by a beautiful comparison, expressive of his cha-
racter
and his condition. And he is, or he
shall be; the present and the future
insensibly
run into each other, so as to suggest the idea of continuous or
permanent
condition, like the past and present in the first verse. And
he is, or shall be, like a tree, a lively emblem of vitality
and fruitfulness.
He
is not, however, like a tree growing wild, but like a tree planted, in the
most
favourable situation, on or over, i. e. overhanging, streams of water.
The
original words properly denote canals or channels, as customary means
of
artificial irrigation. Hence the single tree is said to overhang more than
one,
because surrounded by them. The image presented is that of a highly
cultivated
spot, and implies security and care, such as could not be enjoyed
in
the most luxuriant wilderness or forest. The divine culture thus experi-
enced
is the cause of the effect represented by the rest of the comparison.
Which (tree) will give, or
yield, its fruit in its season, and its
leaf shall not
wither; it shall lose neither
its utility nor beauty. This is then expressed
in
a more positive and prosaic form. And all,
or every thing, which he,
the
man represented by the verdant fruitful tree, shall do, he shall make to
prosper, or do prosperously,
with good success. This pleasing image is in
perfect
keeping with the scope of the psalm, which is not to describe the
righteous
man, as such, but the truly happy man, with whom the righteous
man
is afterwards identified. The neglect of this peculiar feature of the
composition
impairs its moral as well as its rhetorical effect, by making it
an
austere declaration of what will be expected from a good man, rather
than
a joyous exhibition of his happy lot. That the common experience,
even
of the best men, falls short of this description, is because their cha-
VER.
4-6.] PSALM I.
11
racter
and life fall short of that presented in the two preceding verses. The
whole
description is not so much a picture drawn from real life, as an ideal
standard
or model, by striving to attain which our aims and our attainments
will
be elevated, though imperfect after all.
4. Not
so the wicked. The direct description of the Happy Man is
heightened
and completed by comparison with others. Not
so the wicked,
i. e. neither in condition
nor in character. The dependence of the one upon
the
other is suggested by describing them as wicked, rather than unhappy.
Not so, i. e. not thus happy, (are) the
wicked, because they are wicked, and
are
therefore destitute of all that constitutes the happiness before described.
The
immediate reference, in the phrase not so,
is to the beautiful, well-
watered,
green, and thriving tree of the preceding verse. To this delightful
emblem
of a healthful happy state the Psalmist now opposes one drawn
likewise
from the vegetable world, but as totally unlike the first as possible.
The
wicked are not represented by a tree, not even by a barren tree, a dead
tree,
a prostrate tree, a shrub, a weed, all which are figures not unfre-
quent
in the Scriptures. But all these are more or less associated with the
natural
condition of a living plant, and therefore insufficient to present the
necessary
contrast. This is finely done by a comparison with chaff, which,
though
a vegetable substance, and connected in its origin with one of the
most
valuable products of the earth, is itself neither living, fruitful, nor
nutritious,
but only fit to be removed and scattered by the wind, in the
ancient
and oriental mode of winnowing. There is a double fitness in the
emblem
here presented, as suggesting the idea of intrinsic worthlessness,
and
at the same time that of contrast with the useful grain, with which it
came
into existence, and from which it shall be separated only to be blown
away
or burned. Not so the wicked, but like
the chaff; which the wind drives
away. The same comparison is
used in Psalm xxxv. 5, Isa. xvii. 13, xxix.
5,
Hos. xiii. 3, Zeph. ii. 2, Job xxi. 18, and by John the Baptist in Mat.
iii.
12, with obvious allusion to this psalm, but with a new figure, that of
burning,
which seems to be intended to denote final and complete destruc-
tion,
while in all the other cases, the idea suggested by the chaff being
blown
away is that of violent and rapid disappearance.
5. Therefore,
because they are unlike a living tree, and like the worth-
less
chaff, fit only to be scattered by the wind, wicked (men) shall not stand,
i. e. stand their ground or
be able to sustain themselves, in the judgment,
i. e. at the bar of God. This
includes two ideas, that of God's unerring
estimation
of all creatures at their real value, and that of his corresponding
action
towards them. The wicked shall neither be approved by God, nor,
as
a necessary consequence, continue to enjoy his favour, even in appear-
ance.
Whatever providential inequalities may now exist will all be rectified
hereafter.
The wicked shall not always be confounded with their betters.
They shall not stand in
the judgment,
either present intermediate judgments,
or
the final judgment of the great day. And
sinners, the same persons
under
another name, as in ver. 1 (shall not
stand) in the congregation, or
assembly,
of righteous (men). They shall not continue intermingled with
them
in society as now, and, what is more important, they shall not for ever
seem
to form part of the church or chosen people, to which the word trans-
lated
congregation is constantly applied in
the Old Testament. Whatever
doubt
may now exist, the time is coming when the wicked are to take their
proper
place and to be seen in their true character, as totally unlike the righteous.
6. The certainty of this event is secured
by God's omniscience, from
12
PSALM I. [VER.
6.
which
his power and his justice are inseparable. However men may be
deceived
in their prognostications, he is not. The
Lord, Jehovah, the God
of
Revelation, the covenant God of Israel, knows,
literally (is) knowing, i. e.
habitually
knows, or knows from the beginning to the end, the way of right-
eous (men), i. e. the tendency
and issue of their character and conduct.
As
if he had said, the Lord knows whither they are going and where they
will
arrive at last. This is a clear though indirect assertion of their safety, here
and
hereafter. The figure of a way is
often used to express the character
and
conduct itself; but this idea is here implied or comprehended in that of
destiny,
as determined by the character and conduct. There is no need, there-
fore,
of taking the verb know in any other
than its usual and proper sense.
The
verse is an appeal to divine omniscience for the truth of the implied
assertion,
that the righteous are safe and will be happy, as well as for that
of
the express assertion, with which the whole psalm closes. The way of
wicked (men), in the same sense as before, shall perish, i. e. end in ruin.
The
apparent solecism of making a way perish only brings out in more
prominent
relief the truth really asserted, namely, the perdition of those
who
travel it. This completes the contrast, and sums up the description
of
the truly Happy Man, as one whose delight is in the law and his happi-
ness
in the favour of Jehovah, and whose strongest negative characteristic
is
his total want of moral likeness here to those from whom he is to dwell
apart
hereafter.
PSALM II.
A sublime
vision of the nations in revolt against Jehovah and his
Anointed,
with a declaration of the divine purpose to maintain his King's
authority,
and a warning to the world that it must bow to him or perish.
The
structure of this psalm is extremely regular. It naturally falls into
four
stanzas of three verses each. In the first, the conduct of the rebel-
lious
nations is described. In the second, God replies to them by word
and
deed. In the third, the Messiah or Anointed One declares the divine
decree
in relation to himself. In the fourth, the Psalmist exhorts the rulers
of
the nations to submission, with a threatening of divine wrath to the dis-
obedient,
and a closing benediction on believers. The several sentences
it
are also very regular in form, exhibiting parallelisms of great uniformity.
Little
as this psalm may, at first sight, seem to resemble that before it,
there
is really a very strong affinity between them. Even in form they are
related
to each other. The number of verses and of stanzas is just double
in
the second, which moreover begins, as the first ends, with a threatening,
and
ends, as the first begins, with a beatitude. There is also a resemblance
in
their subject and contents. The contrast indicated in the first is carried
out
and rendered more distinct in the second. The first is in fact an intro-
duction
to the second, and the second to what follows. And as the psalms
which
follow bear the name of David, there is the strongest reason to believe
that
these two are his likewise, a conclusion confirmed by the authority of
Acts
iv. 25, as well as by the internal character of the psalm itself. The
imagery
of the scene presented is evidently borrowed from the warlike and
eventful
times of David. He cannot, however, be himself the subject of
the
composition, the terms of which are wholly inappropriate to any king
but
the Messiah, to whom they are applied by the oldest Jewish writers,
and
again and again in the New Testament. This is the first of those pro-
VER.
1, 2.] PSALM
II.
13
phetic
psalms, in which the promise made to David, with respect to the
Messiah
(2 Sam. vii. 16, 1 Chron. xvii. 11-14), is wrought into the lyrical
devotions
of the ancient church. The supposition of a double reference to
David,
or some one of his successors, and to Christ, is not only needless
and
gratuitous, but hurtful to the sense by the confusion which it introduces,
and
forbidden by the utter inappropriateness of some of the expressions
used
to any lower subject. The style of this psalm, although not less pure
and
simple, is livelier than that of the first, a difference arising partly from
the
nature of the subject, but still more from the dramatic structure of the
composition.
1. This psalm opens, like the first, with
an exclamation, here expressive
of
astonishment and indignation at the wickedness and folly of the scene
presented
to the psalmist's view. Why do nations
make a noise, tumultuate,
or
rage? The Hebrew verb is not expressive of an internal feeling, but of
the
outward agitation which denotes it. There may be an allusion to the
rolling
and roaring of the sea, often used as an emblem of popular commo-
tion,
both in the Scriptures and the classics. The past tense of this verb
(why have they raged?) refers to the
commotion as already begun, while the
future
in the next clause expresses its continuance. And peoples, not people,
in
the collective sense of persons, but in the proper plural sense of nations,
races,
will imagine, i. e. are imagining and
will continue to imagine, vanity,
a
vain thing, something hopeless and impossible. The interrogation in
this
verse implies that no rational solution of the strange sight could be
given,
for reasons assigned in the remainder of the psalm. This implied