places,' he does so because he feels the truth of these words from his own experience. They are true for Israel and, therefore, are true for him. But not only so. Because he has felt them as true for himself, therefore they are true for Israel. But if he says of Israel, Thou wilt not suffer thy loving one to see the pit,' he cannot feel his words to be true for himself as well as for Israel. As an individual he will see the pit' (i. e. the nethe world), for he, like all men, is mortal. The best explanation will therefore be to assume that the Psalmist speaks both for himself and for all other pious Israelites, who together make up the true Israel. Indeed, the Hebrew text in the last line but four reads 'loving ones'-the plural, not the singular. It would not, I think, be inaccurate to say that the Psalmist was, as it were, trembling on the verge of a fuller faith. If the Psalm was written in the late Persian or early Greek period, various conceptions of a life after death, in one form or another, were making their appearance in Judæa. May we not suppose that at a moment when the Psalmist is filled with a sense of close communion with God, he forgets and ignores the approach of death, and conceives of his life with God as enduring for evermore? The Psalmist's joy in God was in truth one of the pathways whereby men climbed up to the conception of immortality. And it was the purest of all the pathways-if I may use so mingled a metaphor. For a belief in immortality is not the mere postulate of God's righteousness; it is not the supposed necessary reward of human merit; but it is the result and the corollary of communion with God. It is the conviction that the spirit which has found its source and home in God has also found a bond and a union which even death is powerless to sever. 'Spirit to spirit, ghost to ghost.'

The 'goodly heritage' is the Lord and the Lord's religion.

6

'My glory rejoiceth. Heart' and 'glory' are synonyms; 'flesh' and soul,' strange though it may seem to us, are synonyms too, both being equivalent to 'life.'

§ 2. The twenty-third Psalm: 'The Lord is my shepherd.'-The second Psalm (xxiii) in this group is the famous hymn, The Lord is my shepherd.' The Shepherd of Israel was a familiar appellation of God. The speaker,' says Professor Cheyne, is any pious Israelite in whose mind both national and personal hopes and fears rest side by side; the "national" and the "personal" elements cannot be dissevered by the most potent analysis. Israel's Shepherd does not neglect the individual. From Jeremiah's time onwards this truth was realized with increasing vividness; it has found its classic expression in this Psalm.'

THE DIVINE SHEPHERD

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The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

He leadeth me to waters of rest.

He refresheth my soul:

He guideth me on right paths for his name's sake

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life:

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

The pastures' and 'waters of rest' keep up the metaphor of the flock and the shepherd. But what do they actually represent? The inward peace and security of those who are assured of God's protecting care. Even in calamity Israel will know no fear.

'He guideth me on right paths.' God leads Israel on paths which are sure and safe, and in the right direction. Right tracks as opposed to delusive tracks which lead nowhere.' The metaphor of the flock is still continued.

'For his name's sake.' The honour and trustworthiness of God are intimately bound up with the salvation of Israel. The idea was that God had made to Israel covenant promises to which he was bound to adhere. Though God of the whole world, he was emphatically and especially the God of Israel. Israel was the only people that knew him and worshipped him. Those who persecute Israel, laugh at and ridicule Israel's God.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.' The Psalmist's faith and even his joy in God are available for dark days as well as bright ones. 'He holds fast to his confidence alike

in prosperity and adversity.' The valley of the shadow of death' is a metaphor for a mortal peril. It keeps up the metaphor of the flock and the shepherd. It alludes to 'one of those narrow mountain glens so common in central Palestine, haunted by robbers and wild beasts, and dismal even at midday' (Cheyne).

'Thy rod and thy staff.' The shepherd's club. The conviction of God's loving protection is a comfort for Israel.

'Thou preparest a table.' A new metaphor. Israel is the guest; God is the host. Israel draws near to God and enjoys

spiritual communion with him. His foes may be near at hand, but Israel fears them not. The 'oil' and 'cup' are part of the feast.

'Goodness and lovingkindness:' perhaps we should rather render, 'welfare and grace.' Israel is assured that God will grant both outward prosperity and inward beatitude. The grace or favour comes from God, Israel will experience it.

'I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.' Is this also a metaphor for communion with God? Not quite, but nearly. The Psalmist was doubtless thinking of the actual Temple, where his highest moments of spiritual experience had been passed. But nobody dwelt' in the Temple without intermission. As in another Psalm of this group, the Temple has become the symbol of that close communion with God which was expressed and often realized by its services.

§ 3. Older translations of the twenty-third Psalm.-Few Psalms have been more widely used and loved than the twenty-third. As Professor Kirkpatrick says, it is 'unrivalled for calm serenity and perfect faith. Under Jehovah's loving care the Psalmist knows neither want nor fear. His words admit of the most universal application to all needs, temporal and spiritual, in every age. The beauty and fame of the Psalm justify my dwelling upon it at some length, and it may be of interest to my readers to have before them some of the earlier English translations. Wycliffe's version was made not from the Hebrew but from the Vulgate, and, like the earlier rendering of Hampole, it is scarcely intelligible unless the Latin accompanies it. The clumsy Vulgate runs as follows:

Dominus regit me et nihil mihi deerit. In loco pascuae ibi me collocavit; super aquam refectionis educavit me. Animam meam convertit; deduxit me super semitas justitiae propter nomen suum. Nam etsi ambulavero in medio umbrae mortis, non timebo mala, quoniam tu mecum es; virga tua et baculus tuus ipsa me consolata sunt. Parasti in conspectu meo mensam adversus eos qui tribulant me; impinguasti in oleo caput meum et calix meus inebrians quam praeclarus est. Et misericordia tua subsequetur me omnibus diebus vitae meae, et ut inhabitem in domo Domini in longitudinem dierum.

Now shall follow Wycliffe's rendering as revised by Purvey (about 1388).

The Lord governeth me, and no thing shall fail to me; in the place of pasture there he hath set me. He nourished me on the water of refreshing; he converted my soul. He led me forth on the paths of righteousness, for his name. For why though I shall go in the midst of shadow of death, I shall not dread evils. for thou art with me.

THE TWENTY-THIRD PSALM

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Thy yerde (rod) and thy staff they have comforted me. Thou hast made ready a boord (table) in my sight against them that trouble me. Thou hast made fat mine head with oil, and my cup, filling greatly, is full clear. And thy mercy shall sue (follow) me in all the days of my life, and that I dwell in the house of the Lord into the length of days.

And now, leaping across the centuries, let us come to Coverdale. I quote from the version printed in the Great Bible of 1539.

The Lord is my shepherd, therefore can I lack nothing. He shall feed me in a green pasture, and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort. He shall convert my soul, and bring me forth in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff comfort me. Thou shalt prepare a table before me against them that trouble me: thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full. But (thy) lovingkindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

The language of the Authorized Version is more nearly approached in the rendering of the Geneva Bible of 1560—a version which held its own in England for many years.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to rest in green pasture, and leadeth me by the still waters. He restoreth my soul, and leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I should walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou dost prepare a table before me in the sight of mine adversaries; thou dost anoint mine head with oil, and my cup runneth over. Doubtless kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall remain a long season in the house of the Lord.

The Bishops' Bible of 1568 was the translation of which the Authorized Version was to be the revision. But in this Psalm the Authorized Version is more like the Geneva rendering. But the Bishops' Bible has one or two good touches. 'Felicity' well expresses the meaning in the last sentence.

God is my shepherd, therefore I can lack nothing. He will cause me to repose myself in pastures full of grass, and he will lead me into calm waters. He will convert my soul; he will bring me forth into the paths of righteousness, for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff be the things that do comfort me. Thou wilt prepare a table before me in the presence of mine adversaries; thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be brimful. Truly felicity and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of God for a long time.

Now finally here is the Authorized Version itself, from which (as will be seen) I have made few changes.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

It may be added that the Revised Version of 1885 made only two slight changes in this Psalm, substituting guideth' for the second 'leadeth' (there are two different words in the Hebrew also), and 'hast anointed' for anointest.'

§ 4. The twenty-third Psalm in Scotland.-I cannot leave this twenty-third Psalm without saying a word of its place in the religious history of Scotland. Mr. Ker has said: Every line, every word of it, has been engraven for generations on Scottish hearts, has accompanied them from childhood to age, from their homes to all the seas and lands where they have wandered, and has been to a multitude no man can number, the rod and staff of which it speaks, to guide and guard them in dark valleys, and, at last, through the darkest.' To Scotsmen it is most familiar in the metrical version still used beyond the Tweed.

The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want.

He makes me down to lie

In pastures green; he leadeth me

The quiet waters by.

My soul he doth restore again,

And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
Ev'n for his own name's sake.

Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale,
Yet will I fear none ill:

For thou art with me; and thy rod
And staff me comfort still.

My table thou hast furnished

In presence of my foes;

My head thou dost with oil anoint,
And my cup overflows.

Goodness and mercy all my life

Shall surely follow me;

And in God's house for evermore
My dwelling-place shall be.

§ 5. Psalm twenty-seven (a): Dominus illuminatio mea.'-My next Psalm in this group is the first part of Psalm xxvii, the present conclusion of which, set in so wholly different a key, we have already