No More Learning

10 I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of
the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will
fill it. 11 But my people would not hearken to my
voice; and Israel would none of Me. 12 So I gave
them up unto their own heart's lust: and they walked
in their own counsels. 13 Oh that My people had
hearkened unto Me, and Israel had walked in My
ways! 14 I should soon have subdued their
enemies, and turned My hand against their adver-
saries. 15 The haters of the Lord should have
submitted themselves unto Him: but their time
should have endured for ever. 16 He should have
fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and
with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied
thee.
IHote on The eighty-first Psalm begins with a cheerful call
IPs. LXXXI. j. o song and music in honour of God.
When we are thinking about God, the sound of
noble music seems to echo the thoughts which
are in our minds, but which we cannot put into
words. There are many beautiful songs in the
Bible besides the Book of Psalms; for the heroes of
Israel were wont to use music and poetry to express
their deepest feelings.
Thus Moses sang a song of thanksgiving after the
great deliverance of Israel at the Red Sea, and forty
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
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years later his last words to the children of Israel mote on
before his death were in the form of a great elegiac (C)8* LXXXI-
song.
King David, a poet and musician himself, per-
ceived that music is the best language of worship,
and instituted a daily service of song by the Levites
in charge of the ark. * In the history of the world
* The heading "For the Chief Musician" which occurs in
so many of the Psalms doubtless means that these Psalms were
destined for use in this daily service of song.
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
on these are the first recorded daily prayer-services as
AAAi- distinguished from sacrificial offerings. They were
the model, not only for the prayer-services of the
Temple and the Synagogue, but for every modern
form of prayer-service to this day. Wherever a
congregation gathers for the worship of God, in
synagogue, cathedral, chapel, or mosque, the con-
gregants take part in a service modelled on the
service of song established by King David 3,000
years ago.
After the stirring call to song and praise, a word
in the fifth verse recalls Israel's slaver}' in Egypt,
and then the Psalmist pictures God Himself speaking
to Israel, reminding them how He rescued them
from slavery and cherished them, and revealed His
Law to them. "But my people would not hearken
to My voice. "
The last ten verses of the Psalm recall the lines
in Paradise Lost in which the Almighty is pictured
as saying of Adam:--
"He and his faithless progeny. Whose fault?
Whose but his own? I made him just and right,
Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall. "
But the tenderness of the Divine reproach in the
Psalm, is strikingly absent in Milton's poem.
The moral teaching of the 13th, 14th, and 15th
verses is illustrated throughout the history of the
PSALM LXXXII.
a Ipsalm of asapb.
God standeth in the congregation of God: He
judgeth among the judges. 2 How long will ye
judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked?
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
world. So long as nations are dominated by lofty mote on
and pure ideals--implying the virtues of self-sacrifice LXX
and self-control--so long they remain mighty. But
whenever selfishness and self-indulgence have taken
possession of them, they have lost their might, and
their capacity for ruling, and have sunk out of
existence. The Israelites could only triumph over
their enemies when they triumphed over themselves,
and proved themselves worthy to be God's chosen
people. The triumph of Israel therefore meant the
triumph of goodness. Thus we come to see the real
meaning clothed by the Psalmist in the majestic
imager}' of God turning His hand against the
adversaries of Israel.
It is the sacred duty of every Israelite to shun
those "strange gods" of selfishness, greed, in-
difference to human suffering, and self-indulgence,
that taint the purity of the human soul even more
fatally than the image worship of primitive times.
However humble our lot may be, it is within the
power of us all to strive toward this ideal if we do
but fully realize the meaning of the farewell words
of Moses: "For this commandment which I
command thee this day is not hidden from thee,
neither is it far off. But the word is very nigh to
thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou
mayest do it"
lxxxii. no
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
ps. Selah. 3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do
LXXXII justice to the afflicted and needy. 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.
IRote on This impressive exhortation of Asaph tells a
Exxxn sorrowml ta-le between its lines. Judges charged in
the name of the Supreme Judge of all with the
solemn duty of preventing wrong being done to their
fellow-beings, had betrayed their sacred trust, and
had judged unjustly and favoured evil-doers. Asaph
mourns their sin in the terrible words, "All the
foundations of the earth are out of course," i. e. the
moral foundations on which the well-being of man-
kind depend.
It is natural that unjust judges should be held
in peculiar horror and contempt by the "People
of the Book," and Asaph's words bring the feeling
vividly before us.
The equal right of every human being, however
lowly, to personal justice is repeatedly and
emphatically proclaimed in the Laws of Moses. The
passage in Exodus, chap. 21, "Thou shalt give
life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth," &c, has
sometimes been misinterpreted as a harsh and cruel
law, comparing unfavourably with the teachings of
the New Testament. But that comparison leaves out
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
of account the essential difference between the Law, mote on
which is an evenhanded instrument of justice to LXXXII.
protect both the weak and the powerful, and sermons,
which are moral precepts based on the Law. The
precepts of the prophets and preachers are based on
the Laws of Moses. The passage in Exodus quoted
above lays down the law on the sacred value of life
and bodily powers. The life and limbs of the slave
are as precious as those of the prince, and the
penalty of depriving a fellow-creature of them must
be the same in either case. But the rigid fairness
and rectitude enjoined in the Mosaic Law, and
above all in the Ten Commandments, did not mean
either harshness or cruelty; on the contrary the Law
of Moses is conceived in the very spirit of mercy and
kindness: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as Thy-
self" (Leviticus xix. 18). "Love ye the stranger, for
ye were strangers in the land of Egypt" (Deuteronomy
x. 19). "Let thy manservant and thy maidservant
rest as well as thou" (Deuteronomy v. 14). These
are the keynotes of the Mosaic Law, which enjoins
kind and considerate treatment of the unfortunate
m7
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
mote on and afflicted and of dependants, and punctual pay-
LXXXII rnen* ^or a^ service> generous treatment of faithtul
servants and charity to the poor--not as the out-
come of passing pity or generosity but as a perpetual
binding duty. * It also contains humane provisions
in regard to many matters (such as the prevention of
cruelty to animals, and of wanton waste of bird life,
safeguards against dangerous buildings, &c. ) only
dealt with by statute in this country as recently as
the Victorian era. f When Asaph calls on the judges
to defend the" poor and the fatherless, and to do
justice to the afflicted and the needy, and rid them
out of the hand of the oppressor, he is echoing the
very words of Moses.
The crowning law of all, which--as Hillel said --
is The Law, and all the rest only commentary, is the
famous eighteenth verse of the nineteenth chapter of
Leviticus:--
"Love thy neighbour as thyself. "
The word "neighbour" is used in no narrow
sense: "If a stranger sojourn with thee in thy land,
ye shall not vex him . . . thou shalt love him as
thyself" (Lev. xix. 34).
"Ye shall have one manner of law as well for the
stranger as for one of your own country" (Lev.
xxiv. 22).
* Leviticus xix. 13, 14; Deuteronomy xvi. 2, xxiv. 15.
t Deuteronomy xxii. 6, 8, 10.
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
The equal right of every human being to justice mote on
seems a matter of course to us who live under PyvXII
English law and justice. But even in England
before the Habeas Corpus Act (of which Numbers
xxxv. 12 and Deuteronomy xix. 15 are the proto-
type), there was little or no check on arbitrary
imprisonment; and to this day, in lands under
despotic rule, dark deeds of secret imprisonment
without trial are still perpetrated, and favouritism is
allowed to interfere with the course of justice.
Very few years ago I heard in Egypt from the lips
of one of the persons concerned, an experience that
throws curious light on the notions of justice in
countries long accustomed to despotic rule. Among
the pupils at a large Government School under an
English Headmaster was the son of a powerful
native Pacha. This boy broke the school rules and
was given a punishment task. Next morning the
Minister of Education sent for the Headmaster, who
found the Pacha angrily complaining to the Minister
that the schoolmaster had dared to punish the son
of a Pacha. "Why did you order the son of the
Pacha to be punished? "said the Minister. "Because
he disobeyed our rules," was the answer. "There-
fore the son of the Pacha must be punished, or I
must resign my post. " "It is just;" said the
Minister, and turning to the Pacha added, " Your
son must be punished. " My informant added, "Since
then that boy has learned to take punishment quietly
like the others. "
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
PSALM LXXXIV.
Zo tbe ablet Musician, S psalm for tbe
eons of Iftorab.
How beloved 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 ever praising
Thee. Selah. 5 Blessed among mankind are they
whose refuge is in Thee ; highways are in their heart.
6 Though they be wayfarers in the valley of tears,
they make of them a living fountain, even as the spring
rain covereth blessings. 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 up-
rightly. 12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man
that trusteth in Thee.
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
LXXXIV. "T2
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
mote on The third verse of the Psalm describes the beautiful
iyyyiv or(iering of the life of birds, by which those tiny
creatures are given the power to make their nests
where they can hatch their eggs and rear their
young in safety.
These nests are, as it were, altars of praise to
God, showing the lovingkindness of His ordering of
the Laws of Nature.
This picture of bird life illustrates the thought ot
the verses that precede and follow it. As with the
birds, so it is with human beings; their safety is given
them by the lovingkindness of God. The soul of
man, longing for communion with God, is only
happy when it can dwell with God.
The Psalmist compares the tears of those who
trust in God to a spring of pure water, and to the
soft showers of rain in February covering "bless-
ings" (i. e. covering the early seeds, and helping
their growth).
In this country, where there is generally plenty of
PSALM LXXXV.
Zo tbe Cbief Ausictan. & ipsalm for tbe
sons of Tkoxnb.
Lord, Thou hast been favourable unto Thy land:
Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of Thy people,
Thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. 3 Thou
hast taken away all Thy wrath: Thou hast turned
Thyself from the fierceness of Thine anger. 4 Turn
us, O God of our salvation, and cause Thine anger
toward us to cease. 5 Wilt Thou be angry with us
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
rainfall, we can hardly understand the anxious mote on
watching for spring rain, and the thankfulness when Pf^Yiv
it comes, in the land of Palestine, where this song
was written, and where plenty of rain in the spring
means a good summer harvest.
The second half of the song expresses in varied
images the Psalmist's hope and trust in God.
I think this Psalm helps us to feel brave and trust-
ful in bearing disappointment. "I had rather be a
door-keeper (i. e. the humblest of workers) in the
house of my God, than dwell (as a rich man) in the
tents of wickedness. " "No good thing will He with-
hold from them that walk uprightly. " If we long
for a thing very much, we are sometimes tempted
to do what is wrong in order to get it. The Psalmist
warns us against this. Be true and honest always,
and try for what you want by fair and honourable
ways. If you fail you will keep your self-respect, and
feel that, however humble, you are still a faithful
door-keeper in the house of God.
t t :'-t tiv ji t - t t i- ? |av*
lxxxv. no
5
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
ps. for ever? wilt Thou draw out thine anger to all gene-
XXV. rations? 6 Wilt not Thou turn and revive us again:
that Thy people may rejoice in Thee? 7 Shew us
Thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us Thy salvation.
8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for
He will speak peace unto His people, and to His
saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
9 Surely 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 spring out
of the earth; and righteousness shall look down
from heaven. 12 Yea, the Lord shall give that
which is good; and our land shall yield her
increase. 13 Righteousness shall go before Him;
and shall set us in the way of His steps.
Hote on ^ often happens in Hebrew psalmody that the
pfi- same word is used in one verse and in the next for a
LXXXV. qUite different thought, the contrast serving both
to link and to divide the two ideas. The word
"turn " is used thus in the first, third, fourth, sixth,
and ninth verses of this Psalm. 1
"Thou hast turned the captivity of Jacob. . . .
Thou hast turned Thyself from the fierceness of
Thine anger. Turn Thou us, O God (i. e. help us to
turn from evil to good), so will Thine anger towards
us be caused to cease. . . . Wilt not Thou turn and
revive us again? "
1 (the same root as the English "shove") conveys the
sense of the English words "turn" and "move," including the
emotional meaning of the latter word.
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
The Psalm opens with a song of thanksgiving -Mote on
(verses I, 2, 3), followed by a prayer for God's mercy t*s.
(verses 4, 5, 6, 7), which fills the soul of the Psalmist LXXXV-
with hope and the courage of trustfulness, expressed
in the next verse: "I will hear what God the Lord
will speak, for He will speak peace unto His people
and to His saints: but let them not turn again to
folly. " The meaning of verse 9 is perhaps clearer if
we read the second half of the verse, "that fit's
glory may dwell in our land. " JION, truth, in verses
10 and 11 conveys the sense of both truth and
faithfulness.
The poem flows on in a series of images inspired
by the thought of the harmony of the goodness of
God, and the faith of mankind. The second part of
"5
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
mote on each verse is an echoing response to the first half.
LXXXV Thus, in verse 10, " Mercy [the Mercy of God] and
faithfulness [man's trust in God] are met together. "
Then comes the response: "Righteousness and
peace have kissed each other "--recalling Isaiah's
PSALM LXXXVI.
21 iprager of Davio.
Bow down Thine ear, 0 Lord, hear me: for I am
poor and needy. 2 Preserve my soul; for I am
holy: O Thou my God, save Thy servant that
trusteth in Thee. 3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord:
fori cry unto Thee all the day long. 4 Rejoice the soul
of Thy servant: for unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up
my soul. 5 For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to
forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that
call upon Thee. 6 Give ear, O Lord, unto my
prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.
7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon Thee:
for Thou wilt answer me. 8 Among the gods there
is none like unto Thee, O Lord; neither are there
any works like unto Thy works. 9 All nations
whom Thou hast made shall come and worship
before Thee, O Lord; and shall glorify Thy name.
10 For Thou art great, and doest wondrous things:
Thou art God alone. 11 Teach me Thy way, O
Lord; I will walk in Thy truth: unite my heart to
fear Thy name. 12 I will praise Thee, O Lord my
God, with all my heart: and I will glorify Thy
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
words: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace who mote on
trusteth in Thee. " These four closing verses are fxxXV
grand and musical and peaceful, "like the sound of
a great Amen. "
LXXXVI. IS
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? THE CHILDREN'S PSALM-BOOK
IPs. name for evermore. 13 For great is Thy mercy
LXXXVI. towar(j me. and xhou hast delivered my soul from
the lowest depths. 14 O God, the proud are risen
against me, and the assemblies of violent men have
sought after my soul; and have not set Thee before
them. 15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of
compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plen-
teous in mercy and truth. 16 O turn unto me,
and have mercy upon me; give Thy strength unto
Thy servant, and save the son of Thine handmaid.
17 Shew me a token for good; that they which hate
me may see it, and be ashamed: because Thou,
Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me.
mote on This prayer of David helps and comforts all who
f>s. read it in moments of trial and misery. David's
LXXXVI. absolute faith in the goodness and mercy of God,
and his deep feeling of God's mercy towards himself,
pervade every line of this Psalm.
They were the keynote of his religion, and led to
his vivid consciousness of the spirit that is within us,
and of its power of communion with God.