The PSALMS—In Nature and Literature

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 142, 18 June 1938, Page 3 (Supplement)

The PSALMS —In Nature and Literature

WRITTEN by the Jews, for the Jews, the Psalms are the lyrical poetry of the world, and are in use in all our churches. David wrote many of them; authorities differ as to how many, and attribute to him anything from 30 to 70 odd, out of a total of 1 50. The Hebrew legend is that "the harp of David would give forth music in the midnight, when the wind swept across its strings. David s harp still plays, and its music floats throughout the Christian world.

By J.W.W.

A national collection of lyrical poems written by men of very varied outlook, and in the various phases of Jewish history—is it little wonder thev have no definite ethical standard? This varied authorship accounts for the great variety of subjects—love, hate, sorrow, joy, anger, triumph, victory, ilespair, hope, and so through all the scale of human moods and passions. Heine said, "In the Psalms are collected sunrise and sunset—birth and death—promise an.d fulfilment—the whole drama of humanity." Saint Athanasius described them as "the mirror of the soul."

From this lyrical poetry we can learn to-day all we should know to regulate our conduct. To illustrate the place the Pf-alms take in the Xew Testament, no fewer than 110 out of 2SO odd quotations from the Old Te>tament are taken from the Psalms. Practically all religions— ■ lew and Gentile—read and sing the l'salms in thei> services, a striking tribute to their wide appeal. St. .Augustine said: "1 he Psalms are read in all the world, and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.*' This, though written some 1 .">OO years ayo. could be said to be true to-day, with the possible alteration of the word "heat" for some modern equivalent. The l'salms have given us many of our mottoes for heraldry, the coats of arms for cities, trademarks, and inscriptions on coins, sundials, rings, book-plates, and many others. In a surprising way you will lind short excerpts from them in the ordinary language of our books and newspapers, and even in our advertisements. "The Psalms hath furnished the battle-songs, the prayers and public praises of every nation in Christendom since Christendom was born.'' In the revised Prayer Book, if. and when, it comes into being, it is proposed to cut out many parts of the Psalms and revise others; this may be a good thing—we shall see. With pro priety the hymns, ancient and modern, could well he revised and reduced. Possibly this will follow later.

Many of our best hymns are based on. or paraphrased from, the Psalms. Dr. Watts' beautiful hymn, "0 God, Our Help in Ages Past." is from the 90tli Psalm. As a boy, Milton put the 136 th Psalm into verse: Let us with a gladsome mind Praise the Lord for He is kind ; Fir his mercies a.ve endure, Ever faithful, ever sure. A thunderstorm is wonderfully described in the 29th Psalm. One can imagine the flashes of lightning, and almost hear the peak of thunder. The Harvest Psalm (Xo. 6.»), was apparently written in a particularly bountiful season: Thou hast visited the earth and made it overflow ; Thou hast crowned the year with Thy goodness. Shakespeare in "Henry V" directs attention to the use of the 115 th Psalm, ~ung by the whole English army at the ISattle of Agincourt: Do we all Holy rites; i.ot there he sung a "Non Nobis" and "Te Dgum." Aii idle hour or two can always profitably be spent reading the Psalms, oven by those \s hiv-e regular reading does not include the Bible; tliev wifi be found absorbingly interesting and surprisingly adaptable to present-dav conditions. As the Psalmist sings: They are a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.