4 Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house they will be alway praising Thee. 5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee : in whose heart are Thy ways. 6 Who going through the vale of misery use it for a well and the pools are filled with water. : 7 They will go from strength to strength: and unto the God of gods appeareth every one of them in Sion. 8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: hearken, O God of Jacob. 9 Behold, O God our defender : and look upon the face of Thine Anointed. : 6. They through the valley of Baca [weeping], but the vale of barren sorrow becomes to them fruitful with joy, and the rain of 10 For one day in Thy courts is better God's grace fills its than a thousand. 11 I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of ungodliness. 12 For the LORD God is a light and defence the LORD will give grace and worship, and no good thing shall He withhold from them that live a godly life. 13 O LORD God of hosts: blessed is the man that putteth his trust in Thee. PSALM 85. Benedixisti, Domine. [There is no internal evidence as to the immediate circumstances under which this Psalm of the sons of Korah was written. It suits any occasion of national deliverance, such as that from Egypt in the time of Rehoboam, 2 Chron. xii. 9-13; or the return from the Babylonish captivity.] LORD, Thou art become gracious unto Thy land Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob. 2 Thou hast forgiven the offence of Thy people and covered all their sins. : erence to Job xlii. 10, "The Lord turned the captivity Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.' dry pools. newed in His house in Sion. 9. Thine Anointed -i.e., the king anointed by God. sun. 12. Light; Heb. This metaphor with reference to God is found only in this place. The thought is found elsewhere as "The LORD shall be thine everlasting light," Isa. lx. 20. Christmas Day. The third and last Psalm for Morning Prayer. 1. Turned away The the captivity. Hebrew phrase means "Thou hast restored to former happiness." It is used with refof Job;" also, "The 2. [SELAH.] 3 Thou hast taken away all Thy displeasure and turned Thyself from Thy wrathful indignation. 4 Turn us then, O God our Saviour : and let Thine anger cease from us. 5 Wilt Thou be displeased at us for ever and wilt Thou stretch out Thy wrath from one generation to another? 6 Wilt Thou not turn again, and quicken us that Thy people may rejoice in Thee? 7 Shew us Thy mercy, O LORD and grant us Thy salvation. : 8 I will hearken what the LORD God will say concerning me : for He shall speak peace unto His people, and to His saints, that they turn not again. 9 For His salvation is nigh them that fear Him that glory may dwell in our land. 10 Mercy and truth are met together: righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11 Truth shall flourish out of the earth and righteousness hath looked down from heaven. 12 Yea, the LORD shall shew lovingkindness and our land shall give her in crease. : 13 Righteousness shall go before Him: and He shall direct His going in the way. 13. And [He] shall direct. Either, "and shall follow His footsteps-i.c., righteousness shall precede and follow Him; or, righteousness shall make His footsteps a way for us to follow." The Hebrew word will suit either interpretation. Morning Prayer. PSALM 86. Inclina, Domine. [This Psalm is ascribed to David, the only one so ascribed in the Third Book. There is no internal evidence to disprove David's authorship, nor is any object to be gained by disproving it. The commentators are divided upon the point.] Bow down Thine ear, O LORD, and hear me for I am poor, and in misery. 2 Preserve Thou my soul, for I am holy : my God, save Thy servant that putteth his trust in Thee. 3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord : for I will call daily upon Thee. 4 Comfort the soul of Thy servant : for unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5 For Thou, Lord, art good and gracious: and of great mercy unto all them that call upon Thee. 6 Give ear, LORD, unto my prayer and ponder the voice of my humble desires. 7 In the time of my trouble I will call upon Thee for Thou hearest me. : 8 Among the gods there is none like unto Thee, O Lord: there is not one that can do as Thou doest. and 9 All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship Thee, O Lord shall glorify Thy Name. 10 For Thou art great, and doest wondrous things: Thou art God alone. 11 Teach me Thy way, O LORD, and I will walk in Thy truth: O knit my heart unto Thee, that I may fear Thy Name. 12 I will thank Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart and will praise Thy Name for evermore. 13 For great is Thy mercy toward me : and Thou hast delivered my soul from the giving relates to a denethermost hell. 14 O God, the proud are risen against me and the congregations of naughty men have sought after my soul, and have not set Thee before their eyes. 15 But Thou, O Lord God, art full of compassion and mercy: long-suffering, plenteous in goodness and truth. 16 O turn Thee then unto me, and have mercy upon me: give Thy strength unto Thy servant, and help the son of Thine handmaid. 17 Shew some token upon me for good, that they who hate me may see it, and be ashamed because Thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me. PSALM 87. Fundamenta ejus. [The glorious and universal kingdom of JESUS CHRIST is celebrated in this Psalm. All nations shall be enrolled into it; it shall be, in the fullest sense of the word, THE CITY OF GOD.] HER foundations are upon the holy hills: the LORD loveth the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 2 Very excellent things are spoken of thee thou city of God. : 3 I will think upon Rahab and Babylon : with them that know me. 4 Behold ye the Philistines also: and they of Tyre, with the Morians; lo, there was he born. 5 And of Sion it shall be reported that he was born in her and the most High shall stablish her. : liverance from some the peril of death. great danger, such as 15. "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness truth. Ex. and xxxiv. 6. 16. The son of Thine handmaid-i.e., born in the service of God. "I am Thy servant, and the son of Thine handmaid," Ps. cxvi. 14. 1. Her foundation; Heb. His foundation -i.e., the city which God founded. 2. [SELAH.] 3. Rahab. The word Rahab, meaning pride, is used for Egypt. Egypt and Assyria were the menacing enemies of Israel. The Psalmist speaks of these nations as knowing— i.e., being converted -to God. 4. The Morians-i.e., Moors, Africans. There-i.e., in Sion. God will account of all men as having the freedom of Sion. 5. That he was, &c.; Heb. "This man and that was born in her "-i.e., shall be accounted a citizen of the kingdom of God. 6 The LORD shall rehearse it when He writeth up the people that he was born there. 7 The singers also and trumpeters shall He rehearse : All my fresh springs shall be in Thee. PSALM 88. Domine Deus. [The authorship of this Psalm is attributed to Heman the Ezrahite, as that of the next is to Ethan the Ezrahite. They appear to be the sons of Zerah.-1 Chron. ii. 6. The occasion of the Psalm is uncertain; but it may refer to King Uzziah, when separated from society by leprosy. It was certainly called forth under circumstances of the deepest depression; scarcely a ray of light relieves the gloom.] O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before Thee: O let my prayer enter into Thy presence, incline Thine ear unto my calling. whole Psalter." commences with a cry of sorrow, and 2 For my soul is full of trouble and ends with darkness. my life draweth nigh unto hell. : 3 I am counted as one of them that go down into the pit and I have been even as a man that hath no strength. 4 Free among the dead, like unto them that are wounded, and lie in the grave: who are out of remembrance, and are cut away from Thy hand. 5 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit: in a place of darkness, and in the deep. 6 Thine indignation lieth hard upon me : and Thou hast vexed me with all Thy storms. 7 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me and made me to be abhorred of them. inal verb means loosed, spread out; hence the derived 6. Storms—i.e., waves, breakers, as in Ps. xlii. 9, storms are gone over me. [SELAH.] 2. Cf. "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death," S. Matt. xxvi. 38. Helli. e., Hades, the unseen world. 3. Pit-i.e., sepulchre. I have been; Heb. I am. 4. Free. The Hebrew word is variously translated. It may be understood as free, severed, apart, from God, cast away, dismissed. Others understand it as prostrate, infirm; others, my couch-is among the dead. The origmeanings. "All Thy waves and 7. Acquaintance; rather, those who are well known to me-my intimate friends; who treated him as his friends treated Job. |