And as the flame setteth the mountains on fire, 15 So pursue them with thy tempest,

And terrify them with thy storm. 16 Cover their faces with shame,

That they may seek thy name, O Lord!

17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; Yea, let them be put to shame, and perish;

18 That they may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah,

Art the Most High over all the earth.

PSALM XLVII.

SONG OF VICTORY ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE.

AFTER the confederate army of the invaders had fallen asunder, and the several parts of which it was composed had destroyed each other, the army of Jehoshaphat spent three days in gathering the spoil. On the fourth day, as we are told in 2 Chron. xx. 26, they assembled in a valley which they called Berachah (Blessing), because "there they blessed the Lord." There is something in the simple, animated, flowing style of the psalm before us, which agrees very well with the supposition of its having been composed and sung upon that occasion. The last verse, which may have been subsequently added, seems to allude to a fact mentioned in the twenty-ninth verse of the same chapter, that "the fear of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of those

countries, when they heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel."

PSALM XLVII.

1 O, CLAP your hands, all ye people!
Shout unto God with the voice of triumph!
2 For the Lord most high is terrible;
He is a great king over all the earth.
3 He hath subdued the people under us,
And the nations under our feet.

4 He hath chosen an inheritance for us,
The excellency of Jacob whom he loved.

5

God goeth up with a shout;

The Lord with the sound of a trumpet. 6 Sing praises to our God, sing praises! Sing praises unto our king, sing praises! 7 For God is the king of all the earth; Sing ye praises with understanding! 8 God reigneth over the nations;

God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

9 The princes of the nations gather themselves together Unto the people of the God of Abraham;

For the mighty of the earth belong unto God;
He is greatly exalted.

Ver. 5. "God goeth up with a shout," &c. This alludes, probably, to the carrying of the ark in solemn procession to Mount Zion, on its return from the war, to which it may have been carried. Comp. 1 Sam. iv. 3-5; 2 Sam. vi. 15. N.

PSALM XLVIII.

SONG OF THANKSGIVING IN THE TEMPLE.

THE narrative goes on to state that "they returned every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the fore-front of them, to Jerusalem. And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets, unto the house of the Lord." The psalm before us was probably composed for that occasion.

1

PSALM XLVIII.

GREAT is the Lord, and greatly to be praised In the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. 2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion,

The joy of the farthest North is the city of the great king.

3 God is known in her palaces for a refuge.

4 For lo, kings were assembled against it;
They passed away together.

5 As soon as they saw, they were astonished;
They were confounded, and hasted away.
6 Fear took hold upon them there,

And pain, as of a woman in travail.

7 They were scattered, as by the east wind, That breaketh in pieces the ships of Tarshish.

Ver. 7. "Ships of Tarshish." It is an interesting coinci

8 As we have heard, so have we seen

9

In the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our

God;

God will establish it for ever.

We think of thy loving-kindness, O God,

In the midst of thy temple.

10 As thy name, O God, so thy praise extendeth unto the ends of the earth;

Thy right hand is full of righteousness.

11 Mount Zion rejoiceth,

12

The daughters of Judah exult,

Because of thy righteous judgments.

Walk about Zion, and go round about her; Tell the towers thereof;

13 Mark ye well her bulwarks; consider her palaces; That ye may tell it to the generation following. 14 For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide unto death.

dence, that such a disaster did befall the navy of Jehoshaphat himself. See 2 Chron. xx. 36, 37.

Ver. 8. "As we have heard," &c. This alludes to the deliverance promised by the prophet Jehaziel. See 2 Chron. xx. 14 and foll.

Ver. 10. "Of righteousness." Manifested in the punishment of the enemies of thy people, equivalent to "righteous judgments" in the next verse. N.

PSALM XLIV.

INVASION OF THE ASSYRIANS UNDER SENNACHERIB.

FROM the time of Jehoshaphat to that of Hezekiah is two hundred years. During that time the kingdom of Judah had had several able and worthy kings, but Israel, on the contrary, a succession of weak and wicked ones; so that the more powerful of the two kingdoms in territory and population had become, through misgov. ernment, decidedly the weaker. Finally, Samaria, the capital, was taken by the Assyrians, the people were carried away captive, and the kingdom of Israel was brought to an end.

This event happened a few years after Hezekiah succeeded his father, Ahaz, on the throne of Judah. The Assyrians, having subdued Israel, now threatened Judah, and took several of her frontier towns. Heze. kiah bought off the invaders with tribute. But the peace was not of long duration. Sennacherib sent messengers charged with an insulting message, to summon Jerusalem to surrender; and this message, proclaimed aloud under the walls of the city, filled the people with dismay, and caused the pious king to "cover himself with sackcloth, and go into the house of the Lord." Ver. 15 and 16 allude to it. The psalm that follows may be supposed to be the utterance of his feelings upon that occasion.