Evening.]

PSALM XLVII.

SONG OF PRAISE FOR ALL NATIONS.

Proper Psalm for Ascension Day.

[Day 9.

CLAP your hands together, all ye people: O sing unto God with the voice of melody.

2 For the Lord is high, and to be feared; He is the great King upon all the earth.

3 He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.

4 He shall choose out an heritage for us, even the worship of Jacob, whom He loved. 5 God is gone up with a merry noise, and the Lord with the sound of the trump.

6 O sing praises, sing praises unto our God; O sing praises, sing praises unto our King.

7 For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.

power and dominion. 1 Cor. xv. 25.

4. Even the worship of Jacob,] The honour or "excellency of Jacob," namely, the land of Canaan, his inheritance, which was "the glory of all lands."

5. God is gone up, &c.] Words applicable in the first instance to the procession of the ark (the symbol of God's presence) into the tabernacle, 2 Sam. vi. 16; and secondly, to the ascension of Christ into Heaven.

8 God reigneth over the heathen, God sitteth upon his holy seat.

9 The princes of the people are joined unto the people of the God of Abraham, for God, which is very high exalted, doth defend the earth as it were with a shield.

PSALM XLVIII.

JERUSALEM AN EMBLEM OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

G

Proper Psalm for Whit-Sunday.

REAT is the Lord, and highly to be praised in the city of our God, even upon his holy hill.

2 The hill of Sion is a fair place, and the joy of the whole earth upon the north-side lieth the city of the great King; God is well known in her palaces as a sure refuge.

3 For lo, the kings of the earth are gathered, and gone by together.

9. The princes of the people] The meaning seems to be that the Heathen and the Jewish people are united under one heavenly King.

As it were with a shield.] or, "The shields of the earth belong to God." The meaning is, either, that God Himself is the shield and defence of his people, or, that He uses princes and rulers as the protectors of their subjects. See Hosea iv. 18, where, for the word "rulers," which occurs in the text, the reading in the margin is "shields."

Ps. XLVIII.-The language

which is used in this Psalm to describe the external beauty and solid strength of the city of Mount Zion, bears an obvious spiritual application to the true Church of God which is" built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone." Ephes. ii. 20.

3. For lo, the kings of the earth, &c.] "For lo, the kings were assembled; they passed by together. They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled and hasted away." Kings who were banded together for the destruction of

4 They marvelled to see such things; they were astonished, and suddenly cast down. 5 Fear came there upon them, and sorrow, as upon a woman in her travail.

6 Thou shalt break the ships of the sea through the east-wind.

7 Like as we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God upholdeth the same for

ever.

8 We wait for thy loving-kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.

9 O God, according to thy Name, so is thy praise unto the world's end: thy right hand is full of righteousness.

10 Let the mount Sion rejoice, and the daughter of Judah be glad, because of thy judgements.

11 Walk about Sion, and go round about her, and tell the towers thereof.

Jerusalem were alarmed at seeing its strong defences, and hastily retreated. 2 Chron. xx.

5. Fear came there upon them, &c.] The sudden terror of the enemy is compared, (1) to the apprehensions of a woman in travail, (2) to the alarm and terror occasioned by a storm at sea, when ships are destroyed by the violence of the winds.

7. Like as we have heard, so have we seen] We have now seen wonders like those in the old time of which our fathers have told us, and we are assured thereby of God's favour and protection to his holy city.

12 Mark well her bulwarks, set up her houses, that ye may tell them that come after.

13 For this God is our God for ever and ever; He shall be our guide unto death.

PSALM XLIX.

THE TRANSITORY NATURE OF WORLDLY PROSPERITY.

HEAR ye this, all ye people; ponder it with your ears, all ye that dwell in

the world;

2 High and low, rich and poor, one with another.

3 My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and my heart shall muse of understanding.

4 I will incline mine ear to the parable, and shew my dark speech upon the harp.

5 Wherefore should I fear in the days of wickedness, and when the wickedness of my heels compasseth me round about?

6 There be some that put their trust in their goods, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches.

12. Set up her houses,] "Consider her palaces." The people are invited to survey the Holy City in her strength and beauty, resting in safety under the shield of her Heavenly Protector. It will be borne in mind that Jerusalem is an emblem of the Church of Christ.

XLIX.-4. I will incline mine ear to the parable, &c.] I will listen to hear the secret

meanings of God; I will declare his hidden counsels in a psalm to the music of the harp.

5. In the days of wickedness,] Rather, of evil or adversity.

When the wickedness of my heels, &c.] When my treacherous enemies come round about me to catch me by the heel, that is, to trip me up.

7 But no man may deliver his brother, nor make agreement unto God for him;

8 For it cost more to redeem their souls; so that he must let that alone for ever;

9 Yea, though he live long, and see not the grave.

10 For he seeth that wise men also die, and perish together, as well as the ignorant and foolish, and leave their riches for other.

11 And yet they think that their houses shall continue for ever, and that their dwelling-places shall endure from one generation to another; and call the lands after their own

names.

12 Nevertheless, man will not abide in honour, seeing he may be compared unto the beasts that perish; this is the way of them.

13 This is their foolishness, and their posterity praise their saying.

14 They lie in the hell like sheep, death gnaweth upon them, and the righteous shall

7. But no man, &c.] None of those who trust in their riches" can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him."

8. For it cost more, &c.] "For the redemption of their soul is precious [costly], so that such an attempt must be for ever abandoned.

9. Yea, though he live long, and see not the grave.] The sense, according to the Bible Version, is, no man can redeem his brother, so "that he should live for ever and not see corruption."

10. For he seeth] For it is

seen that wise men also die, and therefore man's wisdom is no security against death.

12. Nevertheless, man will not abide, &c.] Yet man, though in a state of honour and prosperity, abideth not. He is like the beasts that perish.

13. This is their foolishness,] "This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings."

14. They lie in the hell like sheep,] They are laid in the grave like sheep in a slaughterhouse.

Death gnaweth upon them,] "Death shall feed on them."