PSALM LXXIX. DESOLATION OF JERUSALEM. THIS psalm is attributed to Jeremiah. The fact that the sixth and seventh verses are the same as Jer. x. 25 seems strong evidence of the correctness of the supposition. PSALM LXXIX. 1 O GOD, the heathen are come into thine inherit ance, Thy holy temple have they defiled, They have made Jerusalem a heap of ruins! 2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be food unto the fowls of the heaven; The flesh of thy worshippers unto the beasts of the earth. 3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem, And there was none to bury them. 4 We are become a reproach to our neighbors, A scorn and derision to them that are round about us. 5 How long, Lord, wilt thou be angry? Shall thy jealousy burn like fire for ever? 6 Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that know thee not, And upon the kingdoms that call not upon thy name; 7 For they have devoured Jacob, And laid waste his dwelling-place. 8 O, remember not against us former iniquities; Let thy tender mercies speedily succor us, For we are brought very low. 9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name; And deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake. 10 Why should the heathen say, "Where is their Let him be known among the heathen in our sight, By the revenging of the blood of thy servants which hath been shed. 11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; According to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die; 12 And render unto our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom Their reproach wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord! 13 So we, thy people, and sheep of thy pasture, Will give thee thanks for ever; We will show forth thy praise to all generations. Ver. 12. "Render unto our neighbors," &c. This seems to refer to the Edomites and other neighboring and tributary nations, which stood aloof, or took sides against Judah, in the last struggle, and thereby drew upon themselves the reproaches of the prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Obadiah. The Edomites were descendants of Esau, and therefore allied by blood to the Jews. Obadiah says, "For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever." PSALMS OF THE CAPTIVITY. PSALM CXXXVII. THE SADNESS OF THE CAPTIVITY AT BABYLON. "NOTHING could present a more striking contrast to their native country than the region into which the Hebrews were transplanted. Instead of their irregular and picturesque mountain city, crowning its unequal heights, and looking down into its deep and precipitous ravines, through one of which a scanty stream wound along, they entered the vast, square, and level city of Babylon, occupying both sides of the broad Euphrates; while all around spread immense plains, which were intersected by long, straight canals, bordered by rows of willows." Thus Milman (History of the Jews, Book IX.) describes the contrast of localities which met the eyes of the Hebrews when they arrived at the place of their banishment. The contrast of artificial scenery was no less striking. "The palace of the Babylonian kings was more than twice the size of their whole city. It covered eight miles, with its hanging gardens, built on arched terraces, one rising above the other, and rich in all the luxuriance of artificial cultivation. How dif ferent from the sunny cliffs of their own land, where the olive and the vine grew spontaneously, and the cool, shady, and secluded valleys, where they could always find shelter from the heat of the burning noon!" This beautiful psalm was probably written very soon after the captivity commenced, while the memory of the sufferings and indignities connected with it was fresh in the mind of the author. N. PSALM CXXXVII. 1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, Yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 We hanged our harps upon the willows that are there. 3 For they that carried us away captive required of us a song, And they that wasted us required of us mirth, Saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." 4 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? 5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget her cunning! 6 If I do not remember thee, 7 Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth! Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, In the day of the calamity of Jerusalem, Ver. 5. "Her cunning." Skill in playing on the harp seems to be referred to, "cunning" being taken in the old English sense. Ver. 6. "My tongue cleave," &c.; i. e. refuse its office in singing. N. Ver. 7. "Children of Edom," who had shown great hostility to the Israelites, and joined with the Chaldeans, in effecting the destruction of Jerusalem. See note on Ps. lxxix. p. 145. The spirit of the imprecation cannot be justified, yet much may be forgiven to the patriotic poet under such circumstances. N., altered. Who said, "Raze it, raze it, Even to the foundation thereof!" 8 O daughter of Babylon, thou destroyer, Happy shall he be that rewardeth thee As thou hast served us! 9 Happy shall he be that taketh thy little ones And dasheth them against the stones! PSALMS LXXVII. AND LXXX. GOD'S FORMER MERCIES A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION AND HOPE. PSALM LXXVII. "THIS psalm rises from a calm and temperate exordium to a high degree of sublimity. The poet, oppressed with a heavy weight of affliction, displays the extreme dejection of his soul, and pathetically describes the internal conflicts to which he is subjected, before he is enabled to rise to any degree of hope. He first pours forth his earnest prayer to the God of his hope: 'I cry unto God,' &c. But prayers afford him no relief. He next endeavors to mitigate his sorrow, by the remembrance of former times; but this only tends to aggravate his grief, by the contrast it presents, and extorts from him the pathetic expostulation, Will the Lord cast off for ever?' &c. Again, recollecting the favor of Jehovah to his chosen people in former days, the wonders he had wrought for them, in a word, the |