which
is the highest of all the mountains in Samaria. Moreover he promised that
he would do this with the approval of Darius, the king. Manasseh, being
elated with these promises, remained with Sanballat, thinking that he
would gain a high priesthood as the gift from Darius, for Sanballat was
then well advanced in years. Now there was a great disturbance among the
people of Jerusalem because many of the priests and Levites were entangled
in such marriages, for they all revolted to Manasseh, and Sanballat
offered them money and distributed among them land for cultivation and
dwelling places also. He did all this in order in every way to gratify
his son-in-law.

I. Prosperity of the Judean Community. Behind their restored walls the
Jews of Jerusalem enjoyed a sense of security and peace that had not been
theirs since the days of Josiah. At last they were free to develop the
limited resources of little Judah and gradually to extend their territory
northwestward over the fertile plain of Sharon. At the most their numbers
and territory were small. The memories of their glorious past and their
hopes for the future were their chief inspiration. The belief that in
supporting faithfully the service of the temple and in conforming to the
definite demands of the ritual they were winning Jehovah's favor was to
them an unfailing source of comfort and thankfulness. In the rich services
of the temple and in the contemplation of Jehovah's character and deeds
they found true joy. These feelings are expressed in certain of the
psalms, as, for example, Psalm 36, which probably comes from this period.
In their weakness they looked up in confidence and gratitude to Jehovah
who ruled supreme in the heavens, and who was able and eager to preserve
those who "put their trust in the shadow of his wings." Their one prayer
was that his loving-kindness would continue to protect them.

II. The Growth of the Psalter. Nehemiah's work apparently gave an
impulse not only to the development of the law and the temple ritual, but
also inspired poets to voice their own feelings and those of the community
in certain of the psalms now found in the Psalter. It also encouraged them
to collect the earlier religious songs of their race. The result of their
work is the first edition of the Hebrew Psalter. In its present form the
Psalter, like the Pentateuch, is divided into five books with a general
introduction consisting of Psalms 1 and 2 and a concluding doxolo