n. "I will consider thy heavens, the works of
thy hand, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained . . . the fowls
of the air and the fishes of the sea" . . . (Ps. viii. 3-8). "The
heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament sheweth his handi-
work" (Ps. xix. 1-6). "It is the Lord that commandeth the water: it is
the glorious God that maketh the thunder: it is the Lord that ruleth the
sea: the voice of the Lord breaketh the cedar trees: the voice of the
Lord divideth the flames of fire: the voice of the Lord shaketh the
wilderness: the Lord sitteth above the water flood," &c. (Ps. xxix.).

There are psalms of deep religious experience like the 32d.--"Blessed is
he whose unrighteousness is forgiven, and whose sin is covered . . . Thou
art a place to hide me in. . . . Thy hand is heavy upon me day and night
. . . I will acknowledge my sin unto Thee."

There are psalms, and these are almost the most important of all, such as
the 9th, the 24th and 36th Psalms, which declare the providence and the
kingdom of the Living God, with that great and prophetic 2d Psalm (ver. 1-
5): "Why do the heathen so furiously rage together, and the people
imagine vain things. The kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers
take counsel together against the Lord, and against his anointed," &c.

There are psalms of deep repentance, of the broken and the contrite
heart, like that famous 51st Psalm, which is used in all Christian
churches to this day, as the expression of all true repentance, and
which, even in our translation, by its awful simplicity, its slow
sadness, expresses in its very sound the utterly crushed and broken
heart. "Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness, according
to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences. . . . Behold, I
was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive. . . . The
sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O
God, thou wilt not despise. . . ." Then there are psalms, like the 26th,
of a manful and stately confidence. The words of one who is determined
to do right, who feels that on the whole he is doing it, and is not
ashamed to say so. "Be thou my judge, for I have walked innocently. . . .
Examine and prove me: try out my reins and my heart. I have not dwelt
with vain persons, neither will I have fellowship with the deceitful. . . .
I have hated the congregation of the wicked. I have loved the
habitation of thy house." There a