SELECT PSALMS,

&c.

PSALM 1.

THIS psalm may be considered as a sort of pre

lude to the whole Psalter. It contrasts, in an elegant poetical manner, the happiness of the just man with the unhappiness of the wicked.

Dr. Geddes.

How bless'd! that wicked counsel ne'er obeys,
Nor leads a careless life in sinner's ways,
Nor, sitting in their chair, full fraught with pride,
Will scornfully the righteous deride;

But makes God's holy laws his soul's delight,
Recording them each day, and every night.
He shall be like the fruitful tree, which grows
Upon a bank, by which a river flows;

Whose leaf shall know no fall; whose fruit deceives
No hopeful owner, but exceeds the leaves.

But wicked men, as chaff from better corn,

With every puff of wind away is borne:

So when the judge of heaven and earth shall come To sit in judgment at the day of doom,

They shall not stand before his sight; but then
Their sins shall sever them from righteous men.
Thus ill-men perish; God them not regards,
But knows all good-mens ways, and them rewards.
GIPPS. MS.

PSALM II.

THE subject of the second psalm is the establishment of David upon the throne, agreeably to the Almighty decree, notwithstanding the fruitless opposition of his enemies. The character which David sustains in this poem is two-fold, literal and allegorical. If, on the first reading of the psalm, we consider the character of David in the literal sense, the composition appears sufficiently perspicuous, and abundantly illustrated by facts from the sacred history. Through the whole, indeed, there is an unusual fervour of language, a brilliancy of metaphor; and sometimes the diction is uncommonly elevated, as if to intimate, that something of a more sublime and important nature lay concealed within, and as if the poet had some intention of admitting us to the secret recesses of his subject. If, in consequence of this indication, we turn our minds

to contemplate the internal sense, and apply the same passages to the allegorical David, a nobler series of events is presented to us, and a meaning, not only more sublime, but even more perspicuous, rises to the view. Should any thing at first appear bolder and more elevated than the obvious sense would bear, it will now at once appear clear, expressive, and admirably adapted to the dignity of the principal subject. If, after having considered attentively the subjects apart, we examine them at length in a united view, the beauty and sublimity of this most elegant poem will be improved. We may then perceive the vast disparity of the two images, and yet the continual harmony and agreement that subsists between them, the amazing resemblance, as between near relations, in every feature and lineament, and the accurate analogy which is preserved, so that either may pass for the original, whence the other was copied. New light is reflected upon the diction, and a degree of dignity and importance is added to the sentiments, whilst tney gradually rise from humble to more elevated objects, from human to divine, till at length the great subject of the poem is placed in the most conspicuous light, and the composition attains the highest point of sublimity.-BISHop Lowth.

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PSALM III.

How, O my God, do they increase;
Who seek to rob me of my peace!
They say, my soul's forsook by thee,
And that thou hast no help for me:
But thou
my shield art, thou my praise,

Thou my dejected head dost raise;

When troubled, unto thee I cry,

Thou hear'st, and help descends from high.

In peace I'll lay me down and sleep,

And rise: who hurts whom thou.dost keep? Thus guarded, though ten thousand were About me set, I would not fear;

Rise, Lord! and shield me from their power, And break the jaw that would devour.

Oh! bless thy people, who alone

Can'st bless us with salvation.

GOODRIDGE.