e soil of actual history,
and they are first of all the war-songs of a nation. That being so, that
they should also be inspired hymns for the church in all ages will
present no difficulty nor afford any consecration to modern warfare, if
the progressive character of revelation be duly kept in mind. There is a
whole series of such psalms, such as xx., xxi., lx., and probably
lxviii. We cannot venture in our limited space on any analysis of the
last of these. It is a splendid burst of national triumph and devout
praise, full of martial ardour, throbbing with lofty consciousness of
God's dwelling in Israel, abounding with allusions to the ancient
victories of the people, and world-wide in its anticipations of future
triumph. How strange the history of its opening words has been! Through
the battle smoke of how many a field they have rung! On the plains of
the Palatinate, from the lips of Cromwell's Ironsides, and from the poor
peasants that went to death on many a bleak moor for Christ's crown and
covenant, to the Doric music of their rude chant--

"Let God arise, and scattered
Let all His enemies be;
And let all those that do Him hate,
Before His presence flee."

The sixtieth psalm is assigned to David after Joab's signal victory over
the Edomites (2 Sam. viii.). It agrees very well with that date, though
the earlier verses have a wailing tone so deep over recent disasters, so
great that one is almost inclined to suppose that they come from a later
hand than his. But after the first verses all is warlike energy and
triumph. How the glad thought of ruling over a united people dances in
the swift words, "I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out
the valley of Succoth;" he has, as it were, repeated Joshua's conquest
and division of the land, and the ancient historical sites that fill a
conspicuous place in the history of his great ancestor are in his power.
"Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine, Ephraim also is the defence of my
head, Judah my staff of command." He looks eastward to the woods and
pastoral uplands across the Jordan, whose inhabitants had been but
loosely attached to the western portion of the nation, and triumphs in
knowing that Gilead and Manasseh own his sway. The foremost tribes on
this side the river are to him like the armour and equipments of a
conqueror; he wears the might of Ephraim, the natural head of the
northern region, as his helmet, and he grasps the power of Judah as his