Fallacies of the Higher Criticism. 63 equally high degree of excellence, and there are a few of them which might give some faint color of justice to this deprecia tion of the entire collection. But as a whole they are exactly the reverse of this picture. Furthermore, they contain abso lutely no legalism, but are as free from it as are the Sermon on the Mount and the Pauline epistles. Yet further, the writ ers stand out as personalities, and they must have left a deep impression upon their fellows. Finally, they were full^ of the fire of genius kindled by the Holy Spirit. I t is impossible for us to attribute the Psalms to the unknown mediocrities of the period which followed the restoration. 4. Very many of the Psalms plainly appear to be ancient. They sing of early events, and have no trace of allu sion to the age which is said to have produced them. 5. The large number of Psalms attributed to David have attracted the special attention of the higher critics. They are denied to him on various grounds. He was a wicked man, and hence incapable of writing these praises to the pod of righte ousness. He was an iron warrior and statesman, and hence not gifted with the emotions found in these productions. He was so busy with the cares of conquest and administration that he had no leisure for literary work. Finally, his conception of God was utterly different from that which moved the psalmists;. The larger part of this catalogue of inabilities is mani festly erroneous. David, with some glaring faults, and with a single enormous crime, for which he was profoundly penitent, was one of the noblest of men. He was indeed an iron war rior and statesman, but also one of the most emotional of all great historic characters. He was busy, but busy men not seldom find relief in literary occupations, as Washington, dur ing the Revolutionary War, poured forth a continual tide of letters, and as Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, and Gladstone, while burdened with the cares of empire, composed immortal books. The conception of God with which David began his career was indeed narrow (I. Sam. 26:19). But did he learn nothing
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