PSALM XC.

THIS psalm is one of the most remarkable in the whole collection. It is said, in the title, to be "A Prayer of Moses, the man of God;" or, as it is in the margin, being a Psalm of Moses." The original word-, tephillah-means properly (1) intercession, supplication for any one; (2) prayer or supplication in general; (3) a hymn or inspired song. Gesenius, Lex. In Ps. lxxii. 20, the word is applied to the whole preceding part of the Book of Psalms,-"The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended." The word prayer would better represent the nature of the contents of this psalm than the word psalm, or hymn.

If the author was Moses, then this is the only one of his compositions which we have in the Book of Psalms. We know, from not a few places in the Pentateuch, that Moses was a poet as well as a lawgiver and statesman; and it would not be improbable that there might have been some compositions of his of this nature which were not incorporated in the five books that he wrote, and which would be likely to be preserved by tradition. This psalm bears internal evidence that it may have been such a composition. There is no local allusion which would make it necessary to suppose that it was written at a later period; there is nothing inconsistent with the sentiments and style of Moses in the Pentateuch; there is much that is in accordance with his style and manner; and there were numerous occasions when the sentiments of the psalm would be exceedingly suitable to the circumstances in which he was, and to the train of thoughts which we may suppose to have passed through his mind. The following remarks of Prof. Alexander seem to me to be eminently just and appropriate: -"The correctness of the title which ascribes the psalm to Moses is confirmed by its unique simplicity and grandeur; its appropriateness to his times and circumstances; its resemblance to the law in urging the connexion between sin and

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death; its similarity of diction to the poetical portions of the Pentateuch, without the slightest trace of imitation or quotation; its marked unlikeness to the Psalms of David, and still more to those of later date; and finally the proved impossibility of plausibly assigning it to any other age or author." As a relic thus of most ancient times,—as coming down from the most remarkable man in the Jewish history, if not in the world, - as well as for its own instructive beauty and appropriateness to all times and lands, it is a composition of great interest and value.

This psalm is placed at the beginning of the fourth book of the Psalter, according to the ancient traditional division of the Psalms. Or, perhaps, the author of the arrangement-probably Ezra-designed to place this by itself between the two great divisions of the book, containing respectively the earlier and the later psalms. It may be regarded, therefore, as "the heart or centre of the whole collection," suggesting thoughts appropriate to the entire current of thought in the book.

The phrase, "the man of God," in the title, is given to Moses in Deut. xxxiii. 1; Josh. xiv. 6; Ezra iii. 2, as a title especially appropriate to him, denoting that he was faithful to God; that he was a man approved by God. The title is indeed given to others, Judges xiii. 6, 8; 1 Sam. ii. 27; ix. 6-8; 1 Kings xii. 22, et al.; but there was a peculiar appropriateness in the title as given to Moses on account of his character, his eminent rank, and his influence in founding the Hebrew commonwealth.

It is impossible, of course, now to determine the time when the psalm was composed, but it may not improbably be supposed to have been near the close of the wanderings in the wilderness. The Hebrew people were about to enter the promised land; the generation that came out of Egypt was passing away; Moses himself felt that he was near the end of his course, for he had been apprized that he could not enter the land of promise to B