The thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem;
May they prosper that love thee!
Peace be in thy walls,
Prosperity in thy palaces!
For my brethren and companions’ sake,
I wish thee peace!
For the sake of the temple of our God,
I bless thee with good.—Ps. cxxii.
It is impossible to conceive of the soul-felt exultation with which this psalm was sung, and of its effect on old and young. Now the voices rose, like the notes of the mounting lark, on the summit of the hills, now sunk again in the depths of the valleys. How differently did it operate now upon the heart of Helon, and when he sung it before to his solitary harp on his roof in Alexandria! How did he bless the memory of Samuel, who had given his schools of the prophets the harp and the flute;[[95]] and of David, who, bred up among them, did not forget them even when seated on his throne,[[96]] but appointed Levites for the cultivation of music; and himself often laid down his sceptre, to assume the harp. It was on such a pilgrimage, with such accompaniments, that the sublimity and force of the psalms, and the superiority of Jewish poetry, made itself fully felt.