and 103 being ascribed to David. This book, therefore, is one emphatically of anonymous psalms, for the most part of a very general character, evidently arranged with reference to the service of song in the sanctuary, abounding in praise and thanksgiving. Throughout, the name Jehovah prevails; the name Elohim (God) being rarely used except in connection with a pronoun or some epithet, as my God, God of Facob, etc. It is believed to have been compiled and added soon after the return from the Babylonish captivity, probably in the time of Ezra, and either by him or under the supervision of the great synagogue, a little more than four hundred and fifty years before Christ. It closes with the doxology, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting; and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord."

The fifth book contains the remaining forty-four psalms, 107 to 150. Ps. cvii., the opening psalm of the return is supposed to have been sung at the first feast of tabernacles (EZRA iii.). In this book are found the fifteen "Songs of Degrees," 120-134, presumed to belong to the period when the Jews under Nehemiah were repairing the walls of Jerusalem in the face of their enemies, and to have been sung by the workmen and guards while engaged in their duties. As Zerubbabel, and the prophets

Haggai and Zechariah, were members of the great synagogue established by Ezra, the authorship of this book is mainly attributed to them. In the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Peshito versions, many of these psalms are ascribed to those prophets in their running titles. In this last collection the name Jehovah prevails almost exclusively. It is largely devoted to thanksgiving and praise, and closes with the ascription which has passed so widely into Christian usage, Hallelujah, "Praise ye the Lord."

The date of its compilation, and addition to the other books, is usually put in the time of Nehemiah, or about four hundred and twenty-five years before Christ. All the psalms therefore were then gathered into one book, as we now have it; and this became the Psalm Book of the second temple; the temple of the restoration.

In the original language several of the psalms are arranged in alphabetical order. Each verse usually begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, till all are gone over. This may be seen exemplified in Ps. xxv., which has twenty-two verses, the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. There are seven of these psalms, 25, 34, 37, III, 112, 119, 145. But they do not all carry out the plan regularly or fully. In III and 112 every half verse begins with a different letter.

In 37 every alternate verse has

such a beginning; while Ps. 119 has twenty-two divisions or cantos, each one of which begins thus, and in our Bibles has the names of the respective Hebrew letters written over them. Every couplet also of this psalm contains some reference to the Word of the Lord, under the several appellations of Word, Law, Precepts, Testimonies, Commandments, Judgments and Statutes.

Portions of certain psalms are repeated in later ones. Thus the fourteenth of the first book is put also into the second book, as Ps. liii. with only a slight alteration. The re-writing is supposed to have been by David himself. Ps. xviii. is found with some variations in II. SAM. xxii. From the fourteenth to the eighteenth verses, the seventieth psalm is a repetition of the fortieth. Five verses (8 to 12) of the fiftyseventh, with three verses (8 to 11) of the sixtieth, reappear with some alterations in Ps. 108.

Several of the Hebrew words in the titles of some of the psalms refer to the musical performance. Neginoth means stringed instruments; Nehiloth, some wind instrument like flutes. Alamoth, meaning virgins, probably denoted the treble voices. Selah, so frequent in the midst of psalms, is supposed by many to denote a pause or rest in the music; by others, however, with more probability, it is believed to have indicated

the point at which the instruments were to lift up, joining in with the voices, which up to that place had been singing alone.

We have our Lord's authority in the Gospel for saying that the psalms in their real prophetic or spiritual import refer to Him. This is so obvious in the mere letter of some that a large number have always been termed Messianic Psalms, both in the Jewish and Christian Churches. In their supreme sense, however, all relate to Him. David is a type of Him, alike in his temptations, sufferings, and royalty; and his kingdom is a type of the spiritual kingdom of the Lord. The writers of the New Testament repeatedly make quotations from the book of psalms as a holy and inspired book; and this no less than sixtynine times, frequently connecting them with circumstances of our Lord's life on earth.

XIX.-The Music and Choirs of the
Temple.

Music, both vocal and instrumental, appears to have existed from the most ancient times. In GEN. iv. we read of both wind and stringed instruments in use before the flood. And in the ages after Noah, music was cultivated in Chaldea, Syria, and Egypt. Job mentions the three kinds of instruments as in use in his day. Thus the Israelites possessed it from the first, and gave it much attention.

We read in Exodus of the song of triumph that was sung at the deliverance at the Red Sea, with the accompaniment of music and dancing. After this we find frequent allusions to it. As described in the Bible, it is in connection with its true and most proper use, of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, and the public worship of the sanctuary. The cultivation of it by the Levites was a part of their official training; while in the schools of the prophets founded by Samuel, it received marked attention and reached a high degree of development. In the days of David and Solomon, when the psalms had come to be written, and especially after the temple service began, the arrangements in connection with it were very elaborate and complete.