illumine, malevolent to burn, he remains always in some
degree a God of wrath.

It was by one of the strange growths of the advancing popular thought
that David, the valiant, passionate soldier-king, came to be conceived of
as the writer of the book of Psalms. Historically a misconception, it
yet lent a continuity and ideal unity to the nation's self-interpretation.

The book of Psalms, says Dean Stanley, is the selected hymns of the
Jewish people, for a period as long as from Chaucer to Tennyson. The
service-book of the Second Temple is Kuenen's description. Beyond any
other single book, it shows us the heart of Judaism in its ripest, most
characteristic development. Its language has become saturated with the
associations of many centuries. In these intense, direct, and fervid
utterances we can see the form and lineaments of a faith which was the
ancestor of our own, yet is not the same.

The religion of the Psalms has different phases. We have here the
experiences of many souls, with a certain kinship, yet with wide
differences. In many of these hymns one recognizes the religion in which
Jesus was cradled. Imagination and feeling have full scope. The
constant idea is of Yahveh, ruler of the world and its inhabitants, the
judge of the wicked and friend of the good. "Mark the perfect man and
behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." "How excellent is
thy loving-kindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust
under the shadow of thy wings." "Thy righteousness is like the great
mountains; thy judgments as a great deep." "The Lord redeemeth the soul
of his servants, and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate."
"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that
trusteth in him."

The depth and passion of the struggle against sin is shown in the
fifty-first Psalm. "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy
loving-kindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot
out my transgressions." "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned." "Wash
me, and I shall be whiter than snow." "Make me to hear joy and
gladness." "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit
within me." "Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O
God, thou wilt not despise."

This passion against sin--this cry for inward purity--is the root of the
religion of Jesus, the bl