p. 133 | NOTES ON SCRIPTURE by Dudley Marvin Canright

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 12, 1861

NOTES ON SCRIPTURE.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

THE BOOK OF PSALMS.

As a collection of prayer and praise this book is without a parallel. The finest compositions of men are far inferior to it. The psalms of David have been reduced to metre in order to be sung, but every such attempt only spoils their beauty. Josephus says they were written tri-metre, and hexa-metre, and it is certain they were written in a form to be sung. 1 Chron. xvi, 7; xxv, 6. The titles of many of the psalms show that they were written expressly to be sung. Verses can be found which can be sung in metres now in use. Ps. xix, 14, is an example in short metre, thus,

Let the words of my mouth, And the meditation Of my heart, be acceptable In thy sight, Lord, my strength.

The first seventy-two psalms were written by David. He says [Ps. lxxii, 20], "The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended." The titles of the remaining seventy-eight show that they were written by various individuals, among whom is Moses [Ps. xc], title, and also many from David. The psalms are not compiled in the order in which they were composed. Compare Ps. lix, title, with 1 Sam. xix, 11; and Ps. iii, title, with 2 Sam. xv, 13-16. The third psalm was written when David fled from Absalom. The eighteenth may be found in the twenty-second chap. of 2 Sam., but there is some difference in the language. The fifty-first is David's confession of his double murder and adultery. The seventy-eighth is a brief outline of the history of Israel from the time they left Egypt down to the time of David. The ninety-first points to the time of the plagues. The ninety-second is a psalm for the Sabbath-day. (This is the only place the Sabbath is mentioned in the book.) The ninety-sixth may be found in 1 Chron. xvi, 23-33. The hundred and second is expressly for the afflicted. The hundred and fifth [verses 1-6] may be found in 1 Chron. xvi, 8-22. The hundred and nineteenth is a beautiful eulogy on the commandments and word of God. It is divided into twenty-two sections, each section containing eight verses. The sections are headed by the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in their regular order. Every verse, with two or three exceptions, contains some allusion to the commandments and word of God. The following is a list of the terms, and the number of times each one occurs. Law, twenty-five; testimonies, twenty-two; ways, twice; precepts, twenty-one; statutes, twenty-two; commandments, twenty-one; judgments, eighteen; word, thirty-seven; way, once; righteousness, once; words, four; judgment, three; testimony, once; faithfulness, once; ordinances, once; commandment, once. The hundred and thirty-seventh is a prophecy of the Babylonish captivity. The three last psalms are a continued outburst of praise; and so ends this wonderful book.

MAN'S MEAT.

In the beginning God gave to man the seed of every herb, and the fruit of every tree for food. Gen. i, 29. It was not the original design that man should subsist on flesh, and death would never have been known in the earth if man had not sinned. Death came by sin. Rom. v, 12. After the flood the Lord permitted man to eat flesh—there was no restriction, he could eat any kind he chose. But when God chose the nation of Israel for his own people he commanded them not to eat certain kinds. Lev. xi. When the Lord rejected the nation of Israel from being his people, men were placed on precisely the same footing in this respect they were before; for the law of Moses (of which the prohibition not to eat certain animals was a part) was done away. The only restrictions relative to eating flesh in this dispensation are found in Acts xv. A council of the church sanctioned by the Holy Ghost declares that it is necessary to abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled. Verses 28, 29. They were not permitted to eat blood in the first place. Gen. ix, 4.

In the beginning every kind of fruit was good to eat, but now some kinds are poisonous. This is the effect of sin.

BEASTS' MEAT.

Great men have wearied themselves in speculating upon the state of the animal creation before the fall, and some have asserted that some species were always carnivorous. But the Bible settles this question beyond all controversy. It expressly declares what was to be the food of man and beast. "And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat." Gen. i, 30. If some species of animals had been carnivorous, and subsisted on others from their creation, there would be some intimation of it, but the explicitness of the language forbids such an idea. Read it again. To every beast, and every fowl, and everything that creepeth upon the earth, I have given every green herb for meat, and it was so. This shows that God designed that animals should eat grass and other herbs, but after man sinned, enmity sprung up between different races and they gradually became carnivorous. It was peace and happiness throughout the animated creation till man sinned; and how great was the effect of that sin. But the blessedness of the first dominion will be restored, praise the Lord. Micah iv, 8; Isa. lxv, 25.

D. HILDRETH.