psalmist! may I learn with thee, to weigh all things in the balance of the sanctuary; and to sing, with thee, of goodness and mercy which have followed, and shall follow me, all the days of my life!

2. As none who have ventured their souls upon the Lord's promise, make an evil report of his ways; and as their only return for his benefits is devotion to his fear, the psalmist, who speaks their mind, has added the tribute of his gratitude to that of his faith. I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. The same resolution, with a slight variety of phrase, occurs in Psalm lxi. verse 4. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: and they both express the most unreserved and hearty dedication to the service of God. Particularly,

(1.) A deliberate choice on the part of Christians, of the interests of God's glory, and of God's church, as their own most valuable in

terests.

Nothing less can be signified by the house of the Lord, as the object of their affections. They approach him not with the dry compliment of occasional visitors; but with the dispositions of those who mean to be constantly under his eye, and obedient to his will. They "cast in their lot" with his people; they join themselves unto his family; they live in his

house, and everything belonging to it is dear to their hearts.

(2.) Waiting upon God in all the ordinances of instituted worship.

To know him and not to worship him, is a contradiction. To pretend to worship him, and not wait upon him in his ordinances, is to stand self-convicted of slandering his wisdom, and slighting his grace. In Christians, such conduct is impossible. They love the habitation of his house, and the place where his honor dwelleth: thither they repair, that they may behold his beauty and inquire in his temple; may hear from his own lips, and find in his own appointments, solutions of difficulties which would otherwise dishearten and distract them; may be satisfied with the goodness of his house, and with the communion of that loving-kindness which is better than life.

(3.) An open confesssion of his name.

There is nothing in the service of God to create a blush; and a heart renewed by his grace is too honest to play the hypocrite. Worldlings often show a fair face to religion, while their souls overflow with enmity against it, and they secretly plot its ruin. But to pretend affection for the world, while the "hidden man of the heart" cleaves unto God, is repugnant to every principle of the Christian

calling. And such a deception would be not less impracticable than absurd. A living Christian can no more refrain from giving indications of his life, than light can refrain from shining in the dark. Carnal men quickly discern and avoid those who run not with them to the same excess of riot, and are seldom backward to speak evil of them. So that if we take up our abode in the house of the Lord, it cannot be long a secret to the world; nor do we wish it to be so. We pursue different objects in a different manner: we come out from among them, and are separate, as belongeth to the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. And having learned to esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, we can have neither reason nor inclination to conceal, that we had rather be door-keepers in the house of our God for a single day, than to dwell a thousand in the tents of sin.

(4.) As this devotion to the Lord Jesus is voluntary and open, so it is irreversible. I will dwell, saith David, in the house of the Lord for ever; or as he has interpreted his own words, all the days of my life.

Christians make no experiments with their religion; and it is incredible they should. Having passed from death unto life, how can they waste a moment in considering which is

preferable? Their choice being for eternity, and necessarily including the remainder of their days in time, they are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Consequently, there can be no place for repentance. For who would exchange the favor of God for his displeasure? his blessing for his curse? his kingdom for the bottomless pit? Of those who walk according to the course of this world, thousands have expired with curses on their folly. But among all who have made the Lord their trust, not one has recalled his choice, nor regretted that he was too early, too closely, or too long attached to the house of God. A believer's condition affords present enjoyment, and a happy presage of his end. "My soul," cries he, " has regained her rest. Here I am satisfied, and here will I remain. While I live, will I praise the Lord; and when I am to finish my course, I will expect in glory the consummation of what is begun in grace. For both worlds, it is my resolution and my hope, to dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

Out of this review of the psalm, there arises a question deeply interesting to him who speaks, and to them who hear. What acquaintance have I with its truth, and what share in its consolations? The latter spring out of the

former, and are inseparable from it. To aim at their separation, as many do, is the wicked and vain attempt to "put asunder what God has joined." Be it written on the tables of our hearts, "as with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond," that none who are strangers to the grace of the gospel, have any right to its comforts. Through any other channel, all pretensions to them are false, for all enjoyment of them is impossible. Take heed, professor of religion, that thou sport not thyself with thine own deceivings. It is easy to say Lord, Lord; to yield verbal assent to the doctrine of this psalm concerning the mutual relation of Jesus and his people; to preserve such a "form of godliness" as shall obtain credit among thy fellow-mortals; but without something more, and something better, thou shalt not "see God." That religion which shall survive the grave, and go with thee into the eternal world, results from union to Jesus, as the Lord thy Life. It is not enough, that he is the Shepherd of the sheep; he must be thy shepherd, and thou one of his flock-not enough, that he saves sinners; he must save thee, even thee in particular, with an everlasting salvation-not enough, that he supplies the wants of the saved; he must enable thee to live by faith upon him for thine own soul, and