has begun, it is still with the most exciting incidents of his history, private or public, that his psalms
are mainly associated. There are none to which the period of his reign at Hebron can lay exclusive
claim. But after the conquest of Jerusalem his psalmody opened afresh with the solemn removal
of the ark to Mount Zion; and in Psal 24-29 which belong together, we have the earliest definite
instance of David’s systematic composition or arrangement of psalms for public use. Even of those
psalms which cannot be referred to any definite occasion, several reflect the general historical
circumstances of the times. Thus Psal 9 is a thanksgiving for the deliverance of the land of Israel
from its former heathen oppressors. Psal 10 is a prayer for the deliverance of the Church from the
highhanded oppression exercised from within. The succeeding psalms dwell on the same theme,
the virtual internal heathenism by which the Church of God was weighed clown. So that there
remain very few e.g. Psal 15-17,19,32 (with its choral appendage, 23), 37 of which some historical
account may not be given. A season of repose near the close of his reign induced David to compose
his grand personal thanksgiving for the deliverances of his whole life, Psal 18 the date of which is
approximately determined by the place at which it ia inserted in the history. (2 Samuel 22:1) ... It
was probably at this period that he finally arranged for the sanctuary service that collection of his
psalms which now constitutes the first book of the Psalter. The course of David’s reign was not,
however, as yet complete. The solemn assembly convened by him for the dedication of the materials
of the future temple, 1Chr 28, 29, would naturally call forth a renewal of his best efforts to glorify
the God of Israel in psalms; and to this occasion we doubtless owe the great festal hymns, Psal
65-68, containing a large review of the past history, present position and prospective glories of
God’s chosen people. The supplications of Psal 69, suit best with the renewed distress occasioned
by the sedition of Adonijah. Psal 71 to which Psal 70 a fragment of a former psalm, is introductory,
forms David’s parting strain. Yet that the psalmody of Israel may not seem finally to terminate
with hint, the glories of the future are forthwith anticipated by his son in Psal 72. The great
prophetical ode, Psal 45, connects itself most readily with the splendors of Jehoshaphat’s reign.
Psal 42-44, 74 are best assigned to the reign of Ahaz. The reign of Hezekiah is naturally rich in
psalmody, Psal 46,73,75,76 connect themselves with the resistance to the supremacy of the Assyrians
and the divine destruction of their host. We are now brought to a series of psalms of peculiar interest,
springing out of the political and religious history of the,separated ten tribes. In date of actual
composition they commence before the times of Hezekiah. The earliest is probably Psal 80 A
supplication for the Israelitish people at the time of the Syrian oppression. All these psalms—80-83—
are referred by their superscriptions to the Levite singers, and thus beer witness to the efforts of
the Levites to reconcile the two branches of the chosen nation. The captivity of Manasseh himself
proved to be but temporary; but the sentence which his sins had provoked upon Judah and Jerusalem
still remained to be executed, and precluded the hope that God’s salvation could be revealed till
after such an outpouring of his judgments as the nation had never yet known. Labor and sorrow
must be the lot of the present generation; through these mercy might occasionally gleam, but the
glory which was eventually to be manifested must be for posterity alone. The psalms of Book
IV.—bear generally the impress of this feeling. We pass to Book V. Psal 107 is the opening psalm
of the return, sung probably at the first feast of tabernacles. Ezra 3 A directly historical character
belongs to Psal 120-134, styled in our Authorized Version “Songs of Degrees.” Internal evidence
refers these to the period when the Jews under Nehemiah were, in the very face of the enemy,
repairing the walls of Jerusalem and the title may well signify “songs of goings up upon the walls,”
the psalms being from their brevity, well adapted to be sung by the workmen and guards while
frankie
(Frankie)
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