brew patriarchs, and in a great measure their descendants, when settled in Canaan, did not usually intrust their flocks to menials and strangers, but either tended them in person, or intrusted them to their sons or near relations. The flock which David himself tended was that of his father Jesse. In later times, the increase of population and of the town life led to the use of hired shepherds: but the difference of treatment which the flock received under the differing circumstances was most strongly felt by the Jews, and was, on one occasion, most pointedly indicated by our Saviour, who in comparing himself to the shepherd-owner of a flock says, 'I am the good shepherd: the good shep

herd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth... The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling and careth not for the sheep' (John x. 11-13.) This position of our Saviour is admirably illustrated by the conduct of David himself, who combated and slew both a lion and a bear in defence of his father's flock (1 Sam. xvii. 34. 35). If, therefore, the sheep under the shepherd-owner may rest in quiet, confident of lacking nothing which the care of that shepherd can provide, how much more he whose shepherd is the Lord.

PSALM LXXIX.

1 The psalmist complaineth of the desolation of Jerusalem. 8 He prayeth for deliverance, 13 and promiseth thankfulness.

A Psalm of Asaph.

O GOD, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.

2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.

3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.

4 We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.

5 "How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

6 Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.

1 Or, for Asaph. 2 Psal. 44. 14. 3 Psal. 89. 46. 7 Heb. vengeance.

8 Heb. thine arm.

7 For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.

8 50 remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us for we are brought very low.

9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.

10 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the 'revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.

11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of "thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;

12 And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O LORD.

13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.

5 Isa. 64. 9.

PSALM LXXIX. It is not doubted that this psalm was written after the ruin of the city and temple, and the destruction and captivity of the nation by Nebuchadnezzar. It appears to have been composed while the scenes of death and desolation were actually present or fresh in recollection and some have supposed that it was written by Jeremiah, not only because he was the person then living who seems most likely to have been its author, but because it is very much in the style of his writings; and more than a whole verse of it (verses 6, 7) is found in Jer. x. 25. Verse 3. There was none to bury them.'-This in the East is no uncommon result of a great mortality, whether from war or from plague. Those who feel the deepest interest in the departed have already died, and strangers are too much absorbed in their own misery to undertake so great a labour. The bodies are therefore left to be devoured by dogs and jackals, or are disposed of by some summary public act. We saw much of this ourselves during the great plague of Baghdad in 1831. At first the people were so shocked at the mortality that they made great efforts to dispose of their dead. We recollect that 84

6 Or, the iniquities of them that were before us. 10 Heb. to generation and generation.

in one quarter where the dead had accumulated frightfully, all the young men arose, and in one night buried all the dead. But this effort was not repeated; and at length, as the mortality increased, the survivors could not exert themselves further than to put the dead bodies into the street; or they left them in the houses, and withdrew to other houses which the plague had untenanted. This produced many shocking scenes; and at length the government found it necessary to hire men at a high price, to go through the town every day to collect the dead bodies, and-not to bury them, for there was no strength in the city left for that labour-but to cast them into the river Tigris. It was also noticed there, at that time, that as the mortality increased, and a man saw all his household thinned off, his anxiety about the disposal of his own body would become very great-greater it seemed to us than with respect to the question of life or death; and many took extraordinary pains and incurred much expense to secure beforehand the chance of a decent interment as soon as the angel of death should smite them down.

9 Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.

10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like 'the goodly cedars.

11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.

12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?

13 The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. 14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;

15 And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.

16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down : they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. 17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.

18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.

19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

PSALM LXXX. This psalm is generally supposed to refer to the state of the Hebrew nation during the Babylonish captivity but it is not agreed whether it was written during the captivity, or in the spirit of prophecy at an earlier period. Some however refer it to the captivity of the ten tribes by the Assyrians, while others would rather assign it to an intermediate period-as the invasion of Judea by the Assyrians under Sennacherib.

6

13. The boar out of the wood doth waste it.'-Irby and Mangles, travelling near Homs, passed a valley 'grubbed up in all directions in furrows by the wild-boars. The soil had all the appearance of having been literally ploughed up.' The Rev. John Hartley, in his Researches,' relates, that the Rev. Mr. Leeves was proceeding, in the dark of the evening, from Constantinople to Therapia. Passing a vineyard, he observed an animal of large size rushing forth from among the vines, crossing the road, and taking to flight with great precipitation. The Greek syrogee, who was riding first, exclaimed "Wild-boar! wild-boar!"-and really it proved to be a wild-boar, which was retreating from the vineyards to the woods. "What has the wild-boar to do with the vineyards?" inquired Mr. Leeves. "Oh!" said the syrogee, "it is the custom of the wild-boars to frequent the vineyards, and to devour the grapes." And it is astonishing what havoc a wild-boar is capable of effecting during a single night. What with eating, and what with trampling underfoot, he will destroy an immense quantity of grapes.' The propriety of the image in the 12th verse of this psalm must be familiar to all persons who have visited grape countries: All they which pass by the way do pluck her;' but the force and beauty of the succeeding figure, derived

from a practice connected with the natural history of the wild-boar, has probably been seldom observed.

The frequent mention of wild-boars in Scripture shews that these animals were by no means uncommon in Palestine. Many anecdotes might be adduced to shew that they were still of frequent occurrence in the times of the Crusades. There is, for instance, the well known incident of Richard Cœur de Lion's encounter with one of vast size, which he ran through with his lance; and while the animal was still endeavouring to gore his horse, he leapt from its back, and slew the fierce animal with his sword. At present wild-boars frequent the marshes of the Delta, and are not uncommon in Mount Carmel and in the valley of Ajalah; they are abundant about Lake Hulch and the sources of the Jordan, as well as lower down where the river enters the Dead Sea. The wild-boar of the East, though commonly smaller than the old breeds of domestic swine, grows occasionally to a very large size. It is passive while unmolested, but fierce and vindictive when roused. The ears of this species are small and rather rounded, the snout broad, the tusks very prominent, the tail distichous, and the colour dark ashy, the ridge of the back bearing a profusion of long bristles. Col. Č. Hamilton Smith considers it doubtful whether this species is the same as that of Europe, for the farrow is not striped. He thinks it is probably identical with the wild hog of India.

The abode of the Oriental wild-boars is chiefly in the woods, from whence they rush and ravage the fields, plantations, gardens, and vineyards, in the season of production. What they eat is of small consequence compared with the havoc which they occasion by trampling with

PSALM LXXXI.

1 An exhortation to a solemn praising of God. 4 God challengeth that duty by reason of his benefits. 8 God, exhorting to obedience, complaineth of their disobedience, which proveth their own hurt.

To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of Asaph.

SING aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.

2 Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. 3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

4 For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.

5 This he ordained in Joseph for a testinony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.

6 I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.

7 Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of 'Meribah. Selah.

8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;

PSALM LXXXI.—It is supposed that this psalm was composed for the feast of trumpets (Lev. xxiii. 24), and it is still used by the Jews for that occasion. Its date cannot be determined; but it is probably older than the time of David.

Verse 3. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon.—The new moons were used as seasons for religious festivals also by the Egyptians and other nations: and it was probably to prevent an idolatrous appropriation that the celebration of the new moons was admitted into the Mosaical system. The burnt sacrifices which attended its feast among the Israelites may be contrasted with the joy, the victims, and various ceremonies that signalized it in the East. The tribe of Arcat among the pagan Arabs are thus described: 'They acknowledged no law or compact, they worshipped the moon and prostrated themselves before it, when new, and when at the full, at its renewal and its completion: and on the 14th night they demanded of it all their wants and exigencies, renouncing Him who spread out the earth and raised up the skies. In every month they had a fes

9 Heb. lied.

tival and rejoiced at the rise of the new moon.' Antar iii. 326.

5. I heard a language that I understood not.'-The difference of language between the Hebrews and the Egyptians in the time of Joseph, is distinctly intimated in the account of his interview with his brethren, when their communications were through an interpreter: and when the brethren made private observations to each other, in their own language, evidently calculating that Joseph, whom they supposed to be an Egyptian, could not understand what they said.

10. Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.'-This, which to us may seem rather a coarse image, is still very commonly used in the East. A person who forms large expectations from another, is said to open his mouth wide before him and if his expectations are satisfied, his mouth is said to be filled. In Persia a grotesque literalness is given to the idea which is in general figurative-the king and prince-governors often directing the mouths of persons with whom they are pleased to be filled with choice sweet

meats.

4 'Deliver the poor and needy rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are 'out of course.

6 'I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most high.

7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: 6 The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;

7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;

8 Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.

9 Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to 'Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison: 10 Which perished at En-dor: they became as dung for the earth.

11 Make their nobles like "Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as 'Zebah, and as Zalmunna:

2 Heb. heart.

12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.

13 O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;

15 So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.

16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.

17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:

18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.

Verse 13. Like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.' -Instead of wheel,' the original word here employed should be considered as denoting any light matter wheeled or whirled about, as by a whirlwind. Whirling chaff' is a very good translation of the idea. It does not, however, much matter, as the idea of the allusion is preserved in each interpretation. It is clear that the whirlwind is in view-such as sweeps into its vortex, and whirls about with violence, whatever light substances it encounters. We

PSALM LXXXIV.

1 The prophet, longing for the communion of the sanctuary, 4 sheweth how blessed they are that dwell therein. 8 He prayeth to be restored unto it. To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm 'for the sons of Korah.

How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!

2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.

4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.

5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.

Judg. 7. 22.

7 Judg. 8. 21.

think the force of this, and some other texts which refer to the whirlwind, may be best explained by reference to those sudden, partial, and strong currents of air which sometimes arise when, in other respects, there is perfect calm, or when the wind changes; and which sweep into their vortex not only chaff and stubble, but sand and branches of trees, with which are formed moving columns that appear almost to reach to the clouds. These whirlwinds, although less formidable than those of the deserts, are sometimes of great strength, and the weakest of them whirl off in a moment all the chaff and stubble within their scope.

14. The flame setteth the mountains on fire.'-This allusion is doubtless derived from the accidental or intentional kindling of the dried herbage, when the flames sometimes extend to the woods, which sustain great devastation. The text of course supposes the mountains to be wooded.

6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.

7 They go 'from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.

8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.

9 Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.

10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: "no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.