Page:The spirit of the Hebrew poetry 1861.djvu/35

 of the Psalms, a formal alternation of the two classes of utterances. An instance of this interchange occurs in the 147th Psalm, just above referred to; for in this Psalm, with its strophe and its antistrophe, there is first a challenge to the worship of God, as a delightful employment—then an evoking of religious national sentiment—then a message of comfort and hope, addressed to the destitute, the oppressed, the sorrowful; and last, there is the interwoven theologic element in affirmation of the Providence, Power, and bounty of God; for it is said of Him who "healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds," that "He telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by their names; for great is our Lord, and of great power:—His understanding is infinite."

So it is throughout the devotional and poetic portions of the Hebrew Scriptures, that the theologic and the emotional elements are counterpoised—not as if the two diverse elements might be logically compacted into a scheme of theism; nor as if they were contradictory, the one of the other; but they are so placed as to be counteractive the one of the other, in their influence upon the human spirit. Lest the devout affections should pass off into a feeble sentimentalism (as it is their tendency to do) there is conjoined with the expression of pious emotion some reference to those attributes of the Divine Nature which inspire awe and fear; and again, lest the meditation of infinite power and purity should