the nation; the character as drawn in the book is broader and larger than that of an individual. The answer given to the question is, that the afflictions of the righteous are a trial of their righteousness, and when borne with steadfastness they issue in a higher religious condition and a closer fellowship with God, through a more perfect knowledge of Him. "I had heard of Thee with the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee" (xlii. 5).

These were thoughts which consideration of the sin of the nation and its sufferings suggested. Of equal, if not greater, interest were thoughts suggested to the mind by the sufferings and history of the individual. The general principle, that it was well with the righteous and ill with the sinner, was seen to be broken in upon on two sides. The wicked were many times observed to be prosperous, and, on the other hand, the righteous were plagued every day. Now, relief was sought from this anomaly of God's providence in various ways. First, the pious mind sought to comfort itself and other minds in similar distress, with the consideration that the triumphing of the wicked was brief; it was but a momentary interruption to the general flow of God's providence, which would speedily be removed. This is the consideration in some of the Psalms. Or, at any rate, whether brief or prolonged, it would come to an end. The true relation of the wicked to God would be manifested sometime in this world; they would be destroyed, with terrible tokens of His displeasure. This is taught in other Psalms. In the Book of Job this solution no longer satisfies, it is a solution not found universally valid. The wicked not only pass their life in prosperity, but go down to the grave in peace: "They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment (ie. in peace) go down to the grave. He is borne away to the grave, and men keep watch over his tomb. The clods of the valley are sweet unto him, and all men draw after him, as there were innumerable before him" (chap. xxi. 32). When this point is reached there is evidently only the alternative, to leave the question unsolved, or to project the solution beyond death. Secondly,

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another consideration which afforded comfort to the righteous mind was a deeper analysis which he was able to make of that which was to be called true life and true prosperity and blessedness. In all the passages where the question is raised of the outward prosperity of the wicked, the righteous comforts himself with the thought that he has the blessedness of God's favour,-except in the Book of Job. Even in the xxxviith Psalm the pious mind exhorts others: "Delight thyself in God, and He will give thee the desire of thy heart." Yet in this Psalm this delight in God is not regarded as sufficient or altogether satisfying to the mind; there is the demand also that the anomaly of the prosperity of the wicked should be removed, and that the righteous should be externally prosperous. In Ps. lxxiii. the pious

mind dwells more upon its own blessedness in possessing the favour of God: "Nevertheless, I am continually with thee"; but the problem of providence is still found a trouble, which occasions great disquietude to the mind. And a solution of it is anxiously sought. In two remarkable Psalms, however, the xlixth and xviith, the problem seems to have been entirely overcome. In the first of these two passages the author comes forward with a philosophy of the question, and in the other he calmly surveys the prosperity of the wicked almost as if it were a thing of course. This life belongs to the wicked, but there is another which belongs to the righteous. In both these passages the solution seems thrown into the region beyond death. And this is also the solution in the xixth chapter of Job, although the conclusion is there reached in a somewhat different way. One is almost compelled to think

that both Ps. xlix. and Ps. xvii. are later than the Book of Job.

8. Ideas of an After-Life in Psalms xvii., xxxvii.,

xlix., lxxiii.

A brief reference may be made to each of these typical passages. The simplest resolution of the problem is that seen in Ps. xxxvii. There the condition of the perplexed

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mind is not very aggravated, and the relief administered is simple. The difficulty of the prosperous wicked and the afflicted righteous man was felt, but the difficulty was simply a practical one. The fact that many wicked were rich and prosperous, and that righteous men were in distress, led to envy and irritation on the part of the just. And relief is administered in the form of an advice often repeated, with a reference to the great principle of moral government: "Fret not thyself because of evil-doers.. cease from anger, and be not wrathful . . . fret not thyself in any wise to do evil." And the consideration urged is that the prosperity of the wicked is brief; it is an interruption to the general scope of things, but it is speedily overcome by them, and the current flows on in its accustomed channels: "Fret not thyself because of evildoers for they shall soon be cut down like the grass . . . the wicked plotteth against the just; but the Lord laugheth at him, because He seeth that his day is coming," And, on the other hand: "Trust in the Lord and do good, and thou shalt inherit the earth." The Psalmist satisfies himself and others by affirming the general principle, and by saying that the exception to it is of short duration.

This is a practical solution, sufficient when the evil has gone no further than to occasion discontent. The difficulty that there is exception at all, does not bulk largely in presence of the acknowledged brevity of its duration. The other side of the question, the felicity of the righteous in God, is touched upon, though but slightly; it is touched upon in the course of an exhortation to keep the faith even amidst present confusions, because out of these the true moral order will speedily arise: "Delight thyself in God, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." This is one way of reading the Psalm. It may be questioned, however, whether it is sufficient. It makes the Psalmist's doctrine somewhat abstract, and hardly does justice to the manifest eschatological references in it, as that the meek shall inherit the earth. The meek' is technical language for the godly; and inherit the earth refers to the final condition, when the

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kingdom of God has come. The Psalm, therefore, appears to be a real eschatological national Psalm; comforting the righteous with the hope of the nearness of the day of the Lord, and the triumph of the right.

In Ps. lxxiii. an advance is made both in the problem and in the solution. The problem is felt to be more serious. The Psalmist's mind is in a more disquieted condition. The question is no more a mere practical one, but has become a real religious and speculative difficulty, what the writer calls an amal, so great that his faith in God was in danger of being overthrown: "As for me, my feet were almost gone. Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world. . . . Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain." Only after much anxiety had the Psalmist been enabled to return again to peace. In the sanctuary of God a light was shed upon the fate of the wicked which enabled him to walk without stumbling. And just as the problem is more seriously grasped than in Ps. xxxvii., so the solution is also profounder. This solution consists in a contrast between the condition of the wicked and that of the righteous, with the necessary consequences of this condition. The whole is thrown into the form of an analysis of their respective relations to Jehovah. The prosperity of the wicked is a thing merely apparent; it has no substantiality, because of the necessary attitude of Jehovah to sin. The prosperity of the wicked is as "a dream when one awaketh"; so, when "Jehovah awaketh, He will despise their image." The relation of God to them must display itself; and when it displays itself they will perish amidst terrible manifestations of His anger. The righteous, on the other hand, is ever with God: "I am continually with Thee: Thou wilt (or, dost) direct me with thy counsel. . . . It is good for me to draw near unto God . . . all they that go far from Thee shall perish." The essential thing is the relation of men to God. This contains in it the fate of men. And this fate will yet reveal itself.

The Psalmist considers that this fate, so far as the wicked is concermed, will reveal itself in their visible

destruction. It is, indeed, possible that both in this Psalm and in Ps. xxxvii. the prophetic conception of the day of the Lord may be present to the Psalmist's mind, and the destruction of the wicked be that which will overtake them on that day. This is one of the main points, indeed, to which, in studying these Psalms (xvii., xxxvii., xlix., and lxxiii.), attention has to be directed. Is the Psalmist contemplating his own death? or is he contemplating that change which will supervene at the coming of God, on the day of the Lord and the judgment, when the sinners of the people perish, but the godly pass into the peace of God? However this be, the Psalmist sees in the relation of men to God the certain issue of their history. The question is of interest, however, whether he does not pursue the destiny of the righteous beyond death. It is possible that he might have satisfied himself with stating the general principle, with leading back the destiny of the righteous and the wicked alike to that which is really essen tial, their relation to Jehovah ; and assuring himself that the destiny of all will be determined by this. And some scholars understand the words "thou wilt take me to glory" in this sense; meaning that God would take the saint to His care and protection. But (1) the passages adduced by Ewald and Riehm to support this sense are hardly in point. And (2) the same phrase occurs in Ps. xlix., where it can hardly refer to protection and providential care in this life. It is therefore more natural, I think, to regard the phrase as having a reference to that which is beyond death; at any rate, it must have a reference to the eternal relation of the saint to God. And the words, "my flesh and heart faint and fail," not unnaturally refer to death. The hope of the believing mind lies in its relation to Jehovah: "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and on earth I desire nought beside Thee." And his assurance that it shall be ill with the wicked, is based equally upon their relation to God.

Ps. xlix. is even more remarkable. Its reference to the condition after death, in regard both to the wicked and to