se Jehovah. I will sing praises unto my God while I "e any being. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the 1 of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth th, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts rish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, hose hope is in Jehovah, his God: who made heaven, and `rth, the sea, and all that therein is: who keepeth truth r ever: who executeth judgment for the oppressed: who iveth food to the hungry. Jehovah looseth the prisoners: Jehovah openeth the eyes of the blind: Jehovah raiseth them 'hat are bowed down: Jehovah loveth the righteous: Jehovah preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. Jehovah shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye Jehovah. Praise ye Jehovah: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. Jehovah doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is Jehovah, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. Jehovah lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground. Sing unto Jehovah with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp, unto our God: who covereth the heaven with clouds; who prepareth rain for the earth; who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. He delighteth not in the strength of the horse he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. Jehovah taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. Praise Jehovah, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. For he hath strengthened the bars of gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee. Hey peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the fin wheat. He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth, his word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoar frost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. He sheweth his word unto Jacob; his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye Jehovah. Praise ye Jehovah. Praise ye Jehovah from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of Jehovah: for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also established them for ever and ever he hath made a decree which shall not pass. Praise Jehovah from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps: fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word: mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars: beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl: kings of the earth, and all people: princes, and all judges of the earth both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: let them praise the name of Jehovah: for his name alone is excellent: his glory is above the earth and heaven. He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye Jehovah.* The temple being thus rebuilt, and the Jewish polity in a measure restored, the captives who remained in Babylon Ps. cxlvi. cxlvii. cxlviii. "In the Septuagint version these psalms are styled the Psalms of Haggai and Zechariah, as if they had been composed by them for this occasion; and this no doubt was from some ancient tradition." Prid. i. 239. doubted the propriety of continuing the observance of those fasts, which they had strictly kept during the last seventy years; and, therefore, sent Sherezer and Regemmelech, to pray before Jehovah, and consult the priests and prophets, whether they should weep in the fifth month, and separate themselves as they had done so many years.* To this inquiry, God saw fit by the prophet Zechariah, to vouchsafe the following answer; Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying; When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? Should ye not hear the words which Jehovah hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain? Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassion every man to his brother; and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which Jehovah of Hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets; therefore, came a great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts. Therefore, it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear; saith Jehovah of Hosts: but I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate. * Zech. vii. 1-3. still further to excite and alarm this torpid people, saying Jehovah hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore, say thou unto them; Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith Jehovah of Hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith Jehovah of Hosts. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith Jehovah. Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as Jehovah of Hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us." Zerubbabel and his companions having shewn a spirit of submission to the admonition of the prophets, Jehovah authorized Haggai to give them the following condescending declaration, I am with you, saith Jehovah ;† and having stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and of all the remnant of the people, they proceeded in the work of the house of Jehovah of Hosts, their God. And as a further encouragement to their diligence, the same prophet was ordered to deliver that magnificent prophecy of the Messiah, which modern Jews have ever found one of the most difficult passages in the Old Testament to contend with; Speak now to Zerubbabel, and to Jeshua, saying, Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith Jehovah; and be strong, O Jeshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be Zech. i. 2-6. + Hag. i. 13. |