THE SHORT COURSE SERIES

Edited by Rev. John Adams, B.D.

A Mirror of the Soul

Short Studies in the Psalter

By Rev. John Vaughan, M.A.

Chapter 6 THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS

CLOSELY akin to the sense of gladness in religion, which we considered in our last study, is the feeling of thankfulness to Almighty God for all the benefits that He hath done unto us. Est Deo Gratia was the motto of good Bishop Fox, which may be seen again and again repeated on his architectural work in Winchester Cathedral, and that expression might almost stand as the motto of the Book of Psalms.

1. THE BOOK AS A WHOLE.

In the Hebrew Bible the title of the collection is Book of Praises, or simply Praises, or Praise-Songs. This name prob ably originated in the use of the collection as the hymn-book of the Second Temple. For, as the Dean of Ely points out, " while many of the Psalms cannot be so designated, yet no more fitting name could be found for a book, of which praise and thanksgiving are predominant characteristics, and which ends with a diapason of Hallelujahs."1

Of the three parts, or divisions, into which the Psalter appears to be naturally divided, the last, which comprises Books IV. and V. of the Hebrew Bible (Psalms 90-150), differs2 from the two preceding collections in containing a far larger proportion of psalms of a liturgical character, or psalms composed with a view to use in the public worship of the Temple. It is further noticeable that this third division of the Psalter contains a number of smaller, independent collections, which seem to have been made at different times. Thus, we have the Hallel Psalms (113-118), the Psalms of Ascent (120-134), two little groups of Psalms assigned to David (108-110 and 138-145), and the Hallelujah Psalms (146-150).

It is in some of these independent groups, especially in those of a liturgical character, that the element of praise and thanksgiving is specially prominent. The Psalms of Ascent, as we have already noticed,3 clearly constitute a little hymn-book in itself, probably arranged for the use of pilgrims going up to Jerusalem for the yearly festivals. Not unnaturally the aspect of worship is conspicuous. Like the Canterbury pilgrims in after ages, the heart of the pious Hebrew was " glad when they said unto him, Let us go to the House of the Lord " —

" For thither the tribes went up, even

the tribes of the Lord; to testify unto

Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord."

As the mountains which stand round about Jerusalem, especially Mount Zion which he loved, come into sight, with joy and gladness he would " lift up his eyes unto the hills." His happiness is complete, when his feet are standing within the gates of Jerusalem.

"For the Lord hath chosen Zion";

He hath desired it for his habitation.

'This is my resting-place for ever:

Here will I dwell, for I have desired it.' "

There remains, as Professor Moulton says,4 the departure from the Temple, when the pilgrims thus greet the Night- Watch —

"Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord!

Who by night stand in the house of the Lord;

Lift up your heads in the sanctuary,

And bless ye the Lord " —

With the answer of the Night- Watch —

"The Lord bless thee out of Zion;

Even the Maker of heaven and earth."

2. THE VARIOUS GROUPS.

We may notice in detail one or two of the other groups of psalms in which this feeling of thanksgiving is prominent. We will take the Hallel and the Hallelujah Psalms, with which the Book closes.

Psalms 113-118. — The Hallel.

This collection of eight psalms, known among the Jews as the Hallel or Hymn of Praise, also as the Egyptian Hallel because of the exquisite little poem beginning " When Israel came out of Egypt" (Ps. 114), was sung at the three great festivals of the Pass over, Pentecost, and Tabernacles; as well as at the feast of Dedication and at the New Moons. At the family celebrations of the Passover the Hallel was divided into two parts, Psalms 113 and 114 being sung before the repast, and Psalms 115-118 after it when the fourth cup had been filled. This second part was, in all probability, " the hymn " which our Lord and His disciples sung5 before they left the upper room, and went out unto the Mount of Olives.

Of these six psalms which constitute the Hallel the n8th gives fullest expression to the spirit of thanksgiving. It was clearly composed for some festal occasion to which allusion is made in verse 24 —

"This is the day which the Lord hath made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it "; —

but what the special day was it is impossible definitely to decide. Evidently it is a postexilic psalm, and designed for Temple worship; and the occasion may have been, as Ewald suggested, the first celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles after the Return; but more probably, with Stier and Perowne, the first celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles after the completion of the Second Temple, of which we have an account in the 8th chapter of Nehemiah.

The psalm is a national psalm, as we might say a national Te Deum, an expression of thanksgiving on the part of the nation —

"O give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good:

For his mercy endureth for ever.

Let Israel now say,

That his mercy endureth for ever."

Thus the Hallel psalms have naturally lent themselves to occasions of thanksgiving. It will be remembered that the glad spirits in Dante's poem6 chant the 114th Psalm (In exitu Israel de Egypto) as the swift bark bears them over the waters to the mount of purification. The opening words of the 115th Psalm —

"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,

But unto thy name give the praise,"

was sung by the whole English army, on bended knees, after the battle of Agincourt by command of Henry v., as we are re minded by Shakespeare7 —

"Do we all holy rites;

Let there be sung Non Nobls and Te Deum."

Part of the 116th Psalm is used in the English Church as one of the alternative psalms in the Office for the Thanksgiving of Women after Child-birth, commonly called "The Churching of Women." The 117th Psalm, the shortest, but one of the grandest in the book, was sung by the Parliamentary army " at the foot of Doon Hill," by order of " the Lord General " Cromwell, after the battle of Dunbar.

The Hallel must not be confused with the Great' Hallel, as the 136th Psalm is known in the liturgical language of the Jews. This National Anthem of the wilderness, as Professor Moulton8 calls it, is distinguished by the second line of each verse being the response or refrain, "For his mercy endureth for ever." The Psalmist surveys the history of Israel, from the smiting of Egypt to the inheriting of the Promised Land, and sees in each step, evidence of the loving-kindness of the Lord. The fine version of this psalm, written by John Milton at the age of fifteen when an undergraduate of Christ's College, Cam bridge, is well known. The first verse may be quoted —

"Let us with a gladsome mind,

Praise the Lord for he is kind;

For his mercies aye endure,

Ever faithful, ever sure."

Psalms 146-150. — The Hallelujah Psalms.

"The long-drawn music of the Psalter closes," says Dr. Alexander Maclaren,9 " with five * Hallelujah ' psalms, in which, with constantly swelling diapason, all themes of praise are pealed forth, until the melodious thunder of the final psalm, which calls on everything that has breath to praise Jehovah." Each of the five psalms begins and ends with the Hebrew word Hallelujah, rendered into English, in both the A.V. and the R.V., " Praise ye the Lord." Bishop Perowne in his translation of the Psalter has — after much hesitation, he tells us — retained the Hebrew form; and it will be admitted that the word Hallelujah, like Hosanna and Amen, has become current in our language. The word appears for the first time in the Psalter, and is found, indeed, nowhere else in the Old Testament; although it occurs in one or two places in the Apocrypha.10 From the Old Testament the word passed into the New, where in Rev. xix. 1-10 it forms the keynote of the heavenly hymn of praise.

The one Hebrew word which, as Dean Stanley said, is of the "very pith and marrow " of the Psalter, is the word " Hallelujah," and it is fitting that the book should close with a series of " Hallelujah " psalms. From very early times these psalms have been used in the daily morning service of the Jewish synagogue. One of them, the 1 47th, gives expression to the nation's gratitude for Jehovah's special care —

"He declareth his word unto Jacob,

His statutes and ordinances unto Israel.

He hath not dealt so with any nation:

Neither have the heathen knowledge of his laws "

(vers. 19, 20).

Another, the 148th, which we have already noticed in Lecture IV., celebrates God in nature, and calls on heaven and earth to praise the Lord. The 149th represents the " zealot temper " of the old dispensation—

"To be avenged of the heathen,

And to rebuke the people ";

while the 150th, with a larger outlook, calls upon " everything that hath breath " to praise Jehovah. " Not priests and Levites only, but all Israel; not Israel only, but all mankind; not all mankind only, but every living thing, must join in the chorus of praise. The universe is God's Temple, and all its inhabitants should be His worshippers."11

3. THE SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING.

But while the note of praise, as heard in the worship of the sanctuary, is naturally most conspicuous in the third or liturgical division of the Psalter, we meet with the spirit of thanksgiving throughout the book. Nowhere is it more prominent than in Psalm 50, where the author insists upon the truth, that the sacrifice which meets with God's highest approval is the sacrifice, not of bulls and goats, but of a loving and grateful heart. This aspect of the subject demands the fullest recognition in treating of the " beauty of holiness."

The inspired author of Psalm 50 has learnt in the school, not of the priest, but of the prophet. With him a thankful heart is more than all burnt-offerings and sacrifice.

"Thinkest thou," he represents the Al mighty as asking —

"Thinkest thou that I eat bulls' flesh,

Or drink the blood of he-goats?" (13).

But—

"Sacrifice unto God thanksgiving;

And pay thy vows unto the Most High:

And call upon me in the day of trouble;

So will I hear thee, and thou shalt praise me " (14, 15).

This teaching, that obedience and thanks giving are the true fulfilling of the law, is in keeping with the sentiments of the prophets. It is Isaiah,12 " To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? said the Lord : I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts." But, " wash you, and make you clean; cease to do evil : learn to do well." It is Micah,13 "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or ten thousands of rivers of oil? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? " It is Hosea,14 " I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." It is Jeremiah,15 " I spake not unto your fathers concerning sacrifice; but this I commanded them, Obey my voice." So with our Psalmist. We turn to verse 23. In the A.V., and in the Prayer-Book version of the Psalter, the rendering "offereth praise" misses the allusion to the Mosaic sacrifices. But in the R.V. this is fully brought out —

" Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth me;

And to him that ordereth his conversation aright,

Will I show the salvation of God."

It is not, indeed, that the Mosaic sacrifices are altogether condemned; but, apart from their moral significance, they have no real value in the sight of God. In the spirit of the Psalmist, the saintly Quaker poet of America cries —

"Our Friend, our Brother, and our Lord

     What may thy service be? —

Not name, nor form, nor ritual word,

     But simply following thee.

Thy litanies, sweet offices

     Of love and gratitude,

Thy sacramental liturgies

     The joy of doing good.

The heart must ring thy Christmas bells,

     Thy inward altars raise;

Its faith and hope thy canticles,

     And its obedience praise."16

4. THE NEW TESTAMENT.

And this great duty of thanksgiving, so conspicuous in the Psalter, is no less prominent in the New Testament. We see illustrations of it in our Blessed Lord's own custom, and in His teaching. The story of the cleansing of the lepers is a parable for all time on the duty of thankfulness and gratitude. In the institution of the Lord's Supper, special mention is made of the Master " giving thanks," and it seems probable that within a very few years of His departure the name " Eucharist " came to be associated with that holy rite.17 How lofty a view St. Paul took of this duty appears from his habit of beginning almost all his Epistles with an expression of thanks giving, as well as from numerous passages in his writings!18 In the Epistle to the Hebrews we meet with the very conception of the author of Psalm 50, in regarding thanks giving as a " sacrifice " well-pleasing to God. "Let us offer up," says the writer,19 "a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips giving thanks to his name." This is a sacrifice that will please the Lord " better than a bullock which hath horns and hoofs."

The very great prominence given to the duty of thanksgiving, alike in the New Testa ment and in the Psalter, is worthy of our careful attention. For there is perhaps no

duty that is so frequently neglected. The poet tells us that —

"Our torments may by length of time become

Our elements ";

and so it may be with our blessings.

"God showers down His benefits upon us with both hands, large and free, and we receive them as a matter of course, and never consider whose love has bestowed them; and thus," says Bishop Perowne,20 " in our unthankfulness we rob God of His honour." On the other hand, we meet with a striking example of the spirit of thankfulness, after the manner of the Hebrew Psalmists, in Izaak Walton's Compleat Angler; which the author tells us is "a picture of his own disposition." The book is one which, as Charles Lamb wrote to Coleridge, " would sweeten a man's temper at any time to read it." The writer's heart is full of gratitude to God for the simple blessings of life — a fine day, a cheerful companion, a few hours' fishing, the songs of birds, the beauty of flowers. He thanks God for the green meadows "chequered with water-lilies and lady-smocks," for "the cowslip bank," for "the sweet smell of lavender." Listening to the notes of the nightingale, he exclaims, "Lord, what music hast Thou provided for the saints in heaven, when Thou affordest bad men such music on earth." Resting in " the cool shade of a honeysuckle hedge," he invites his companion to join with him in thankfulness to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. " Every misery that I miss," he says,21 " is a new mercy, and therefore let us be thankful.". . . "Let not the blessings we receive daily from God make us not to value or not praise Him because they be common; let us not forget to praise Him for the innocent mirth and pleasure we have met with since we met together. What would a blind man give to see the pleasant rivers, and meadows, and flowers, and fountains that we have met with since we met together? And this, and many other like blessings, we enjoy daily." And yet again, " I will tell you, scholar, I have heard a grave divine22 say that God has two dwellings, one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart."

It is further of interest to notice that the honest fisherman justifies the description of David as a man after God's own heart, by recalling the fact that " he abounded more with thankfulness than any other that is mentioned in holy Scripture, as may appear," he says, " by his book of Psalms." Izaak Walton's estimate of the Psalter is right. It is an abiding witness to the Duty of Thanks giving. It calls upon us to say with St. Chrysostom, "Glory be to God for all things "; and with good Bishop Fox, Est Deo Gratia.