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Thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment:
Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters:
Who maketh the clouds his chariot:

Who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
Who maketh his angels spirits;

His ministers a flaming fire:

Who laid the foundations of the earth,

That it should not be removed for ever.

Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment:

The waters stood above the mountains.

At thy rebuke they fled;

At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.

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They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys
Unto the place which thou hast founded for them.

Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over;

That they turn not again to cover the earth.

He sendeth the springs into the valleys,

Which run among the hills.

They give drink to every beast of the field:

The wild asses quench their thirst.

The Revised Version reads, " Who maketh winds his messengers." The

winds and lightning are the Lord's servants.

By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation,
Which sing among the branches.

He watereth the hills from his chambers:

The earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.

He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle,

And herb for the service of man:

That he may bring forth food out of the earth;
And wine that maketh glad the heart of man,
And oil to make his face to shine,

And bread which strengtheneth man's heart.
The trees of the LORD are full of sap;

The cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;

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rabbit.

Cedars of Lebanon.

Where the birds make their nests:

As for the stork, the fir trees are her house.

The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats;

And the rocks for the conies."

He appointed the moon for seasons:

The sun knoweth his going down.

Thou makest darkness, and it is night:

Wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.

The young lions roar after their prey,

The coney,

"the hider," is a shy little creature about as large as a

And seek their meat from God.

The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together,
And lay them down in their dens.
Man goeth forth unto his work
And to his labour until the evening.

O LORD, how manifold are thy works!

In wisdom hast thou made them all:

The earth is full of thy riches.

So is this great and wide sea,

Wherein are things creeping innumerable,

Both small and great beasts.

There go the ships:

There is that leviathan,† whom thou hast made to play therein.
These wait all upon thee;

That thou mayest give them their meat in due season.

That thou givest them they gather:

Thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.

Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled:

Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created:

And thou renewest the face of the earth.

The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever:

The LORD shall rejoice in his works.

He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth:

He toucheth the hills, and they smoke.

I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live:

I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

My meditation of him shall be sweet:

I will be glad in the LORD.

Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth,

And let the wicked be no more.

Bless thou the LORD, O my soul.
Praise

ye the LORD.

-Psalm CIV.

SOLOMON MADE KING.

We are coming near the end of the story of David's life. He was now about seventy years old. At one time one of his sons, Absalom, had tried to take the kingdom from his father. Now Adonijah, another son, made himself king as Absalom had done. He gave a feast and had himself anointed king, at a place very near to Jerusalem, "by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel," the "fuller's spring."

"Leviathan" means any great sea creature.

The spring, which is the only one at Jerusalem, is now called the "Virgin's Well." It is under the temple hill in the Kidron Valley. The rock Zoheleth is the cliff on the hill-side across the valley, on which the village of Siloam stands.

Among those who joined Adonijah were Joab, David's captain, and Abiathar the priest, who had been faithful to David in Absalom's rebellion. Zadok, the other priest, was still faithful to David, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, who commanded the Cherethites and Pelethites, the king's

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Village of Siloam and Kidron Valley, from the Temple hill.

guards. There was also with David Nathan the prophet. These were not asked to Adonijah's sacrifice and feast; nor Solomon the son whom David had said should be king after him.

They told David what Adonijah was doing. Then he sent the faithful priest Zadok and Nathan the prophet and the faithful guards to anoint Solomon king with holy oil from the tent where the ark was kept. They made him ride on king David's own mule, as kings used to ride, and brought him to Gihon "the spring-head." It would seem to mean to the spring of En Rogel where it flows from the hill. This was very near the place where Adonijah was feasting.

Adonijah and his company heard the sound, as they came up the hill into the city blowing the trumpet and rejoicing till the city rang again.

I have told a part of the story so that we shall understand it better when we read it.

Now king David was old and stricken in years; . . . Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom. And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest and they following Adonijah helped him. But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel, and called all his brethren the king's sons, and all the men of Judah the king's servants: but Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not. . . And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon: and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet,

and say, God save king Solomon. Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the LORD God of my lord the king say so too. As the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David. So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon. And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon. And all the people came up after him,

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(Copyright, 1903, by William H. Rau, Phila.)
Tomb of Absalom, Kidron Valley.

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