All hastened to their respective posts. The service of Jehovah began with the cleansing the altar of incense in the holy place, and laying the wood on the altar of burnt-offering. A male lamb of a year old, without blemish, was brought to the north side of the altar of burnt-offering, the men of the station laid their hands upon it, in the name of the people; one priest killed it, another received the blood, a third sprinkled the altar with it, while others first extinguished five of the lights in the seven-branched lamp in the holy place. Incense was then brought in and burnt upon the altar of incense, and the remaining lights extinguished.
The sun had now risen: the pieces of the animal which had been killed, the usual meat-offering, as well as that which the high-priest offered daily, and that which Helon was to present, and the drink-offering, were all brought to the place between the altar of burnt-offering and the sanctuary, heaved before Jehovah, and then brought to the opposite side of the altar. The pieces were sprinkled with salt, the Kri-schma was prayed, and the flesh laid upon the altar and offered as a burnt-offering to the Lord. The meat-offering which belonged to it was next burnt, and the high-priest’s meat-offering followed. Helon had already heaved the offering, by which he renewed the priesthood in his family, and now brought it to the altar. It consisted of incense and the half of a tenth-deal of an epha of wheat-flour, baked in oil.[68] He salted both and then threw all the incense, but only a handful of the meal, into the fire; for all the rest belonged to the priests.[69] Lastly, the drink-offering of wine was poured into a pipe, which ran from the altar to the brook Kedron, and the daily burnt-offering was closed. While the drink-offering was pouring out, the Levites played and sang upon the fifteen steps the 92d psalm, it being the sabbath day, and the two priests, upon the pillar near the altar, accompanied with their trumpets.
It is a good thing to give thanks unto Jehovah, To sing praises unto thy name, O thou Most High, To show forth thy loving-kindness in the morning, And thy faithfulness every night, Upon an instrument of ten strings and upon the psaltery, Upon the harp with a solemn sound. For thou, Lord, makest me glad through thy work; I will triumph in the works of thy hands. O Lord, how great are thy works, And thy thoughts are very deep! A brutish man knoweth it not, A fool doth not understand it. Though the wicked spring as grass, Though the workers of iniquity flourish, Yet they shall be destroyed for ever. But thou, Jehovah, art Most High for evermore. For lo, thine enemies, O Lord, Lo, thine enemies shall perish; All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. But thou wilt exalt my horn as an unicorn’s, I am anointed with fresh oil; Mine eye shall see my desire on my enemies, Mine ear shall hear it on the wicked that rise against me. The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that are planted in the house of the Lord, They flourish in the courts of our God. They still bring forth fruit in old age, They are fresh and full of sap: To show that Jehovah is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.—Psal. xcii.