ew poetry, it is throughout
subservient to the interests of revealed religion. This is implied in
what has been already said of the loyalty of the Hebrew poets to the
institutions of the Theocracy. It follows that the poetry of the Bible
is all _sacred_ in its character. It contains no examples of purely
secular poetry except here and there a short passage which comes in as a
part of history; for example, the words of "those that speak in
proverbs," Numb. 21:27-30; perhaps also the lament of David over Saul
and Jonathan. 2 Sam. 1:19-27. It is certain that the song contained in
the forty-fifth psalm and that of the Canticles were received into the
canon solely on the ground that they celebrate the mutual love between
God and the covenant people, considered as his bride; or, in New
Testament language, between Christ and "the bride, the Lamb's wife."

But sacred poetry has various uses. One of its earliest offices was to
celebrate the praises of God for his interposition in behalf of his
covenant people, as in the song of the Israelites at the Red sea, and
that of Deborah and Barak. But when David was raised to the throne of
Israel, the time had now come for introducing lyric poetry as a
permanent part of the sanctuary service. God accordingly bestowed upon
this monarch the needful inward gifts, and placed him in the appropriate
outward circumstances; when at once there gushed forth from his bosom,
smit by the spirit of inspiration, that noble stream of _lyric song_,
which the congregation of the faithful immediately consecrated to the
public service of the sanctuary, and which, augmented by the
contributions of Asaph, the sons of Korah, and other inspired poets, has
been the rich inheritance of the church ever since. In the book of Job,
sacred poetry occupies itself with the mighty problem of the justice of
God's providential government over men. It is, therefore, essentially
_didactic_ in its character. In the Proverbs of Solomon, it becomes
didactic in the fullest sense; for here it moves in the sphere of
practical life and morals. The book of Ecclesiastes has for its theme
the vanity of this world, considered as a satisfying portion of the
soul; and this it discusses in a poetic form. Finally, the prophets of
the Old Testament exhaust all the wealth of Hebrew poetry in rebuking
the sins of the present time, foretelling the mighty judgments of God
upon the wicked, lamenting the present sorrows of Zion, and portraying
he