thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the Nile, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah (i. e. Temptation) and Meribah (i. e. Strife), because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?'

§ 9. Psalms ninety-six and ninety-seven.-In the next Psalm (xcvi) the writer depicts the great judgement which is soon to follow Jehovah's assumption of universal kingship. From the days of Ezekiel and the Second Isaiah, the Judgement became an abiding feature of the Messianic Age. In later times it was associated with the resurrection of the dead, and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. But now it may be said that the belief in it has faded away. We are far from thinking that the lot of the good and the bad are undiscriminated by God whether in life or death, nor is the conception of the Divine Being as king and judge either false or obsolete. But his rule and his judgements are conceived less outwardly, their methods are withdrawn from our eyes. We can no longer shape them in pictorial form, and even words are inadequate. 'Last judgements' find no place

in our theology.

Note how the conversion of the nations is the chief element of the divine glory.

O sing unto the Lord a new song:

Sing unto the Lord, all the earth.

Sing unto the Lord, bless his name;

Tell the tidings of his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations,

His wonders among all peoples.

For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised:

Awful is he above all gods.

For all the gods of the nations are things of nought:

But the Lord made the heavens.

Splendour and majesty are before him:

Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the peoples,
Give unto the Lord glory and strength.

Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name:
Bring an offering, and come into his courts.
O worship the Lord in holy array:

Tremble before him, all the earth.

6

Say among the nations, The Lord hath become King:'

Now therefore the world is set firm that it cannot be moved:

He shall judge the peoples righteously.

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad ;

Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.

Let the plain be joyful, and all that is therein :
Yea, let all the trees of the forest rejoice
Before the Lord, for he cometh,

He cometh to judge the earth:

He will judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with his faithfulness.

6

The description which Professor Cheyne gives of the next Psalm (xcvii) is the best summary of its contents. The same subject as before. [The first two stanzas] describe Jehovah's accession with the imagery proper to a theophany. [The last two stanzas] give the impressions which this great event must produce upon the Israelites and upon the idolaters respectively.'

The Lord hath become King; let the earth rejoice;
Let the multitude of isles be glad.

Clouds and darkness are round about him:

Righteousness and judgement are the foundation of his throne.

A fire goeth before him,

And burneth round about his steps.

His lightnings illumine the world:

The earth seeth, and trembleth.

The hills melt like wax at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
The heavens declare his righteousness,

And all the peoples see his glory.

Confounded are all they that serve graven images,
That boast themselves of idols:

The gods bow down before him.

'LIGHT FOR THE RIGHTEOUS

Zion heareth, and is glad;

And the daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of thy judgements, O Lord.
For thou, Lord, art high above all the earth:
Thou art exalted far above all gods.

The Lord loveth them that hate evil:

He preserveth the souls of his loving ones;
He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Light ariseth for the righteous,

And gladness for the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous;

And give thanks unto his holy name.

§ 10. Psalms ninety-eight and ninety-nine.

531

Similar thoughts on

the same subject are again presented to us in Psalm xcviii.

O sing unto the Lord a new song ;

For he hath done marvellous things:

His right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

The Lord hath made known his salvation:

His righteousness hath he revealed in the sight of the nations.

He hath remembered his lovingkindness unto Jacob, and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel:

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth:

Make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

Sing unto the Lord with the harp;

With the harp and the sound of melody.

With trumpets and sound of cornet

Make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.

Let the sea roar and the fulness thereof;

The world, and they that dwell therein.

Let the streams clap their hands:

Let the hills be joyful together

Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth:
With righteousness shall he judge the world,
And the peoples with equity.

'Again' (in Psalm xcix) 'the Psalmist luxuriates in the thought of Jehovah's enthronization and in the prospect of the universal anthem to his name. Jehovah is the holy one, i. e. in this connexion the Infinite One; and from this large conception the Psalmist singles out the special feature of the divine righteousness for fuller treatment' (Cheyne).

The Lord hath become King: let the peoples tremble: He is enthroned above the cherubim; let the earth be moved.

The Lord is great in Zion;

And he is high above all the peoples.

Let them praise thy great and terrible name:

Thou art a King that is holy.

He loveth judgement;

Thou hast established equity,

Thou hast executed judgement and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt ye the Lord our God,

And worship at his footstool;

He is holy.

Moses and Aaron among his priests,

And Samuel among them that called

upon his name;

They called upon the Lord, and he answered them.

He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar:

They kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them.

Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God:

Thou wast a God that forgavest them,
And wast appeased at their evil deeds.

Exalt ye the Lord our God,

And worship at his holy hill;
For the Lord our God is holy.

'He spake

The pronouns in the third stanza are rather difficult. " unto them in the pillar of cloud'; presumably the Psalmist refers generally to the Mosaic age, as also in the next sentence. The words, And wast appeased at their evil deeds,' rest on an easy emendation of the text. As it stands, the Hebrew must be translated: And thou tookest vengeance on their evil deeds.' But in this connexion these words seem out of place. God's footstool is the Temple, or the holy mountain of Zion.

'SERVE THE LORD WITH GLADNESS'

533

§ 11. The hundredth Psalm: Jubilate Deo.'-The series of the Accession Psalms is fitly brought to a close in the following short and noble hymn of praise and thanksgiving (c):

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness:

Come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the Lord he is God:

It is he that hath made us, and we are his,
His people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
And into his courts with praise:

Give thanks unto him, and bless his name.

For the Lord is good; his lovingkindness is everlasting;
And his faithfulness endureth to all generations.

The Hebrew consonantal text of the fifth line would give the rendering: 'It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves,' and this is the translation of the Vulgate and of the Authorized Version. But it is an obvious mistake for the true reading which is recommended by the old Jewish editors of the consonantal text. It all depends on a single letter. Lo' spelt one way in Hebrew (5) means 'not'; spelt another way (i) it means 'to him.' Thus we have either to read and not we,' or 'and to him we' (i.e. 'his are we').

Wycliffe's version runs thus :

'All erthe, singe ye hertli to God; serve ye the Lord in gladnesse. Entre ye in his sight in ful out-ioiyng. Wite ye that the Lord hym silf is God; he made us, and not we maden us; his puple and the scheep of his lesewe (pasture). Entre ye in to hise yates in knouleching; entre ye into hise porchis; knouleche ye to him in ympnes (hymns). Herye (praise) ye his name, for the Lord is swete, his merci is with-outen ende; and his treuthe is in generacioun and in to generacioun.'

The famous Hundredth Psalm has been sung, as Dr. Ker says, 'in all lands for many centuries and in countless gatherings. In the Scottish Version, and with the accompaniment of Luther's melody, it has already girdled the earth.' This 'Scottish Version' was made by William Kethe, during his exile in Geneva with other Protestant divines during the reign of Mary. It forms part of the rhymed version of the Psalter edited and partly written by Sternhold and Hopkins, and published as a whole in 1564. It runs thus

All people that on earth do dwell,

Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice:
Him serve with mirth, his praise forth tell,
Come ye before him and rejoice.