RESPONSE,

20. Our soul waiteth for the LORD:

He is our help and our shield. 21. For our heart shall rejoice in him,

Because we have trusted in his holy name. 22. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, According as we hope in thee.

NOTES ON PSALM XXXIII.

Verse 1. Rejoice in the LORD, i. e. praise Jehovah with joy and gladness.-Comely here means fitting or becoming. Verse 2. The harp and psaltery are different stringed instruments of music, formerly used by the ancient Hebrews, Verse 3. A new song, i. e. a song commemorative of new favors and obligations.

Verse 4. The word of the LORD here means what he commands or executes, the same as his works in the other clause.-Truth means faithfulness.

Verse 5. Judgment here means justice or equity, a common meaning of this word in the bible.

Verse 6. The host of heaven includes angels and stars.Sentiment of the whole verse: Jehovah created the world with the same ease with which a man speaks or breathes.

Verse 7. The psalmist calling to mind that the waters once covered the earth, (see Gen. 1: 2.) is led to admire the wisdom and power of God in their present location.

Verse 8. Earth here means the inhabitants of the earth. Verse 9. This verse contains a simple, but most sublime description of the power of God, as exhibited in the creation. Comp. Gen. 1: 3.—Stood fast means came into existence.

Verse 10. The heathen included all the nations besides the Israelites or Jews. They were, in the time of the psalmist, sunk in spiritual ignorance and idolatry. The people, i. e. the heathen just mentioned.

Verse 11. The power of God is here finely contrasted with the weakness of man in the preceding verse. -Sentiment: the purpose of the Almighty shall be fulfilled.

Verse 12. The nation and people here pronounced blessed are the Israelites, in ancient times the only worshipers of the true God.

Verse 13. The sons of men means simply men.

Verse 14. The place of his habitation, i. e. heaven. Verse 15. Sentiment: he that formed the hearts of all, must notice all that they think or do. Comp. Ps. 94: 9. Verse 16. The multitude of an host means here a great host or army.

Verses 18 and 19. Sentiment: Jehovah takes care of the righteous, when they are in danger.

Verses 20, 21, and 22. These three verses may be considered as the response of pious hearts, to the sentiments contained in the preceding verses.

General remark. This psalm contains well-defined views of the character and supremacy of God.

QUESTIONS ON PSALM XXXIII.

1. What is the title of the thirty third psalm? 2. Will you please to repeat the psalm?

3. Will you explain the phrase, rejoice in the LORD, in the first verse?

4. What does comely, in the same verse, mean ?

5. What are the harp and psaltery in the second verse? 6. What is meant by a new song in the third verse?

7. What does the word of the LORD, in the fourth verse, mean?

8. What does truth, in the same verse, mean?

9. What does judgment, in the fifth verse, mean?

10. What does the host of heaven, in the sixth verse, include? 11. What is the sentiment of the sixth verse?

12. Will you please to give an account of the seventh verse? 13. What does earth, in the eighth verse, mean?

14. What does the ninth verse contain?

15. What does the phrase stood fast, in the ninth verse, mean? 16. Who are the heathen mentioned in the tenth verse ? 17. Who are the people mentioned in the same verse?

18. What do you say of the eleventh verse?

19. What is the sentiment of the eleventh verse?

20. Who are the nation and people spoken of in the twelfth verse?

21. What does the sons of men, in the tenth verse, mean? 22. What is meant by the place of his habitation, in the fourteenth verse?

23. What is the sentiment of the fifteenth verse?

24. What does the multitude of an host, in the sixteenth verse, mean?

25. What is the sentiment of the eighteenth and nineteenth verses?

26. How may the last three verses be considered? 27. What is the general remark on the whole psalm?

PSALM XXXIV. 15-22.

Jehovah is near for the protection of the righteous, and the punishment of the wicked.

15. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, And his ears are open unto their cry.

16. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

17. The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth,

And delivereth them out of all their troubles.

18. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; And saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous :

But the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

20. He keepeth all his bones :

Not one of them is broken.

21. Evil shall slay the wicked:

And they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. 22. The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants :

And none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

NOTES ON PSALM XXXIV. 15-22.

Verse 15. In order to aid our conceptions of God, he is here represented as having organs of seeing and hearing. But we should remember that the language is figurative.

Verse 18. Those of a broken heart and contrite spirit, are the humble or lowly-minded.

Verse 20. All his bones, by a Hebrew idiom, means all his members.

Verse 21. Evil here means calamity or misfortune.

Verses 21 and 22. Shall be desolate in these verses, might be rendered more correctly shall suffer punishment. Inference from the whole passage: if any one would be happy, let him be righteous and trust in God.

QUESTIONS ON PSALM Xxxiv. 15-22.

1. What is the subject of this passage?
2. Will you please to repeat the passage?

3. What is the comment on the fifteenth verse?

4. Who are the persons of a broken heart and contrite spirit in the eighteenth verse?

5. What is meant by all his bones in the twentieth verse? 6. What does evil in the twenty first verse mean?

7. How ought the phrase shall be desolate, in the twenty first and twenty second verses, to be rendered? 8. What is the inference from the whole passage?

PSALM XXXVII. 35-40.

The prosperity of the wicked is but for a moment, while that of the righteous is enduring.

35. I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a green bay tree.
36. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not:
Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

37. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: For the end of that man is peace.

38. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together : The end of the wicked shall be cut off.

39. But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: He is their strength in the time of trouble.

40. And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them : He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, Because they trust in him.

NOTES ON PSALM XXXVII. 35-40.

Verse 35. In great power, more correctly exercising violence.

Verse 36. This verse is intended to represent the sudden destruction of the wicked.

Verse 37. The end of that man, i. e. his latter state or condition.

Verse 38. The end of the wicked shall be cut off, i. e. the wicked shall be cut off in the end.

Inference from the whole passage: the good man should not be envious of the prosperity of the wicked.

QUESTIONS ON PSALM Xxxvii. 35-40.

1. What is the subject of this passage?
2. Will you please to repeat the passage?

3. How ought the phrase in great power, in the thirty fifth verse, to be rendered ?

4. What is the thirty sixth verse intended to represent ? 5. What is meant by the end of that man, in the thirty seventh verse?

6. What is meant by the clause, the end of the wicked shall be cut off, in the thirty eighth verse?

7. What is the inference from the whole passage?