The Psalms, with Intr. and Critical Notes by A. C. Jennings Assisted by W. H. Lowe

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1875 edition. Excerpt: ...upon MacKlath fannM." Mascilax "instructive composition," on the other hand, denotes the inner character of the Psalm, and determines the species of literary composition to which it belongs: to this then, naturally, is attached the name of the author, viz. Heman the Ezrachite. Such is the obvious explanation of the title, when viewed apart from the baseless assumption that the sons of Korah, the hereditary choirmen, were also of necessity poets, and poets of the highest order. The Psalm itself is of the most cheerless character. "Not Ps. lxxvii. as the old expositors answer to the question, Quaenam ode omnium tristissima? but this Ps. lxxxviii. is the darkest and gloomiest of all the plaintive Psalms." Del. The subject is a personal affliction of an intolerable nature; sickness embittered by the desertion of friends, above all by a consciousness of God's displeasure. The hopelessness of the Psalmist is manifested more and more as the Psalm advances, as if the disclosure of his sorrows did but increase his sense of their poignancy. Supplication gives place to complaint, and the Psalmist, after the manner of Job, reasons with God on the purpose of his affliction. Why should the Almighty snatch His servant and worshipper from the world of active service to the realm of annihilation? "Can His acts of mercy be proclaimed by those who are in the tomb, can His wonders be known in the land of oblivion?" Why is it that the constant worshipper finds no alleviation? Why does sorrow sweep upon him like a flood, and gloom and desolation attend him as if the deputed successors of those "lovers and companions" who are now no longer visible. The leprosy of Uzziah, the sickness of Hezekiah, the imprisonment of...