Whether the titles constitute a part of the psalms; that is,
whether they were prefixed by the writers themselves, is a
question that has been much debated, and answered differently by
different writers. That they are very ancient--so ancient that
the meaning of the terms employed had passed into oblivion when
the Alexandrine version was made--must be admitted. But it would
be too much to affirm that they are a part of the inspired word.
The correctness of some of them is doubtful. If we admit their
general correctness, reserving for critical investigation the
question of the historical validity of particular titles, it is
as far as we need go.

III. THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON.

12. The _place_ of the book of Proverbs in the system of divine
revelation is obvious at first sight. It contains a complete code of
practical rules for the regulation of life--rules that have a divine
breadth and fulness, and can make men wise not for time alone, but also
for eternity. The principles embodied in them admit of endlessly varied
applications, so that the study of a life cannot exhaust them. The more
they are pondered, and prayed over, and reduced to practice, the more
are their hidden treasures of wisdom brought to light. Solomon lived
himself in the sphere of practical life. He had constantly to deal with
men of all classes, and he knew men and the course of human events most
thoroughly. His maxims are therefore adapted to the actual world, not to
some imaginary state of things; and they contain those broad principles
of action which meet the wants of all men in all circumstances and
conditions of life. Whoever gives himself, in the fear of God, to the
study of these proverbs, and conforms his life to the principles which
they set forth, will be a truly happy and prosperous man. Whoever shapes
his conduct by different principles will be compelled in the end to
acknowledge his folly. To the young, for whose instruction they were
especially intended, they are affectionately commended as their manual
of action.

13. In respect to _outward form_, the book of Proverbs naturally falls
into four parts. Of these, the first nine chapters, consisting of
earnest and fatherly exhortations addressed to the young in a series of
discourses, of which the parts are more or less connected with each
other, constitute the _first_ part. The title prefixed to this part,
giving both the author's name and