"3. In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. 4. All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth. 5. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD."

From this part of the Psalm it appears to be a prophetical one. The deliverance which it celebrates is of such a nature, that when the glad tidings of it should be published to the world, we are told, it should induce the nations, with their princes, to adore Jehovah, to walk in his ways, and to chant forth his praises. The call of the Gentiles to the Gospel is here foretold in words which cannot be mistaken, and the redemption of the church, in Christ her head, is spoken of as the subject of thanksgiving among the kings of the earth. "In the day when I cried, thou answeredst me and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul." For this reason, “All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord," &c.

"6. Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off."

Humility is the way to salvation and glory. It is said of our blessed Lord, that "because he humbled himself, therefore God highly exalted him:" and the great potentates of the world must tread in his steps, if they would be exalted with him. As to the proud, God knoweth, and he detesteth them; he beholdeth and keepeth them at a "distance."

7. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt receive me; thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me."

Who doth not "walk in the midst of trouble," while his pilgrimage is prolonged upon the earth? Who hath not enemies encompassing him on every side? O how comfortable, then, the reflection that he is with us, who can revive the dead; that we are under the protection of an arm which is almighty! Yes, blessed Lord, we believe that this saying of thy holy Psalmist will be verified to every child of thine, even as it was to him, and to thy Son Jesus, in whose person he might speak it, as a prophet. Great indeed were the "troubles," in the midst of which the true David walked up and down amongst us. He carried all our sorrows, because he bare all our sins. "Yet didst thou revive him; thou didst raise him from the dead, and exalt him to thy throne in heaven, where he ever liveth to make intercession for us,' " that we who, in the days of our flesh, do also walk in the midst of trouble, may be revived by the Spirit, the giver of life and holiness.

8. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands."

In troublous times, and the days of affliction, we must, look back on that which God hath already done for us, and from thence draw an argument, that he will perfect that which remains, and not leave his work unfinished we must remember, that his mercies fail not, after a time, but endure for ever the same; and when we call to mind that we are the "work of his own hands," how can we think he will forsake us, unless we utterly and finally forsake him?

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TWENTY-NINTH DAY.-MORNING PRAYER.

PSALM CXXXIX.

ARGUMENT.

It seems evident, from the latter part of this noble and instructive Psalm, that the author penned it, at a time when he was persecuted and calumniated, as an appeal to the all-seeing Judge between him and his adversaries. He takes the opportunity of expatiating in the sublimest manner, 1-12. on the omnipresence and omniscience of him who, 13-16. formeth man in the womb by his power, and, 17. preserveth him through life by his providence.

He then, 19, 20. expresseth his confidence, that God, as knowing all things, would deliver him from his enemies; 21, 22. he declareth his zeal and fidelity in the service of his divine Master, by whom, 23, 24. he petitioneth to be proved, purified, and perfected in the way of holiness.

"1. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3. Thou compassest my path, and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether, or, When there is not a word in my tongue, lo, O LORD, &c. 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it."

The Psalmist employeth a beautiful variety of expressions to denote his faith in the omnipresence and omniscience of Jehovah, to whom, in the latter part of this Psalm, he appealeth, as the proper judge between him and his implacable enemies. He describeth his God as having that complete knowledge of him and his affairs, which, among men, the most accurate search, and the strictest scrutiny, could not obtain; as being thoroughly "acquainted with all his ways," or proceedings, nay, with his very thoughts, while yet existing only in embryo, in his own mind; as watching and observing him at all seasons, during the actions of the day, and his repose at night; and, in short, as having so beset him on all sides, and laid his hand upon him, that he could not move without his knowledge and consent. When we reflect "that all things are thus naked and open to him with whom we have to do;" that although he dwelleth in the highest heavens, he surveyeth not only the outward acts, but the very hearts and imaginations of men upon earth-must we not each of us cry out, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it;" I cannot admire it enough, for I cannot conceive of it aright!" The actual, constant consideration of God's presence, would be the readiest way in the world to make sin cease from among the children of men, and for men to approach to the blessed estate of the saints in heaven, who cannot sin, for they always walk in the presence, and behold the face of God." See Bishop Taylor's Holy Living, chap. i. sect. 3.

"7. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in hell, or, the grave, behold thou art there. 9. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10. Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. 11. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about 12. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day the darkness and the light are both alike to thee."

me.

We can never sin with security, but in a place where the eye of God cannot behold us. And where is that place? Had we a mind to escape his inspection, "whither should we go?" Heaven is the seat of his glory, creation the scene of his providence, and the grave itself will be the theatre of his power; so that our efforts will be equally vain, whether we ascend, or descend, or fly abroad upon the wings of the morning light, which diffuseth itself with such velocity over the globe, from east to west. The arm of the Almighty will still at pleasure prevent, and be ready to arrest the fugitives in their progress. Darkness may, indeed conceal us and our deeds from the sight of men; but the Divine presence, like that of the sun, turns night into day, and makes all things manifest before God. The same consideration which should restrain us from sin, should also encourage us to work righteousness, and comfort us under all our sorrows; namely, the thought, that we are never out of the sight and protection of our Maker. The piety and the charity which are practised in cottages; the labour and the pain which are patiently endured in the field, and on the bed of sick

ness; the misery and torment inflicted by persecution in the mines, the galleys, and the dungeons; all are under the inspection of Jehovah, and are noted down by him against the day of recompence. He sees, and he will reward all we do, and all we suffer as becometh Christians. He who, for our sakes, caused his Son to descend from heaven to the lower parts of the earth, and from thence to ascend to heaven again, will watch over, preserve, and resemble the parts of our bodies, though dissolved in the grave, buried in the ocean, or dispersed to the four winds. So that, with allusion to this event also, a dying servant of God may exclaim; Whither can I go from thy Spirit? or whether can I flee from thy presence? If, as to my spiritual part, I ascend into heaven, thou art there to receive me; If, as touching my body, I make my bed in N, or the grave, behold thou art there to secure me. If I take the wings of the wind, or those yet more expeditious ones of the morning, and am carried by them to dwell in the midst of the sea, instead of the bowels of the earth, still shall I be under thy power and providence; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me fast, preserving me for a joyful resurrection at the time appointed.

"13. For thou hast possessed, or, formed, my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. 14. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."

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That God seeth in darkness, and that from him nothing is hidden, his knowledge of, and power over, our most inward parts, do plainly show. He "formed," and he therefore "possesseth," as his own property, reins," and is, consequently, privy to all those affections and desires which flow from thence. It was he who "covered" us in the womb, or, as it is elsewhere expressed, Job x. 11. who "clothed us with skin and flesh, and fenced us with bones and sinews:" A work so astonishing, that before the Psalmist proceeds in his description of it, he cannot help breaking forth in rapture at the thought: "I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made!"

15. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought, or variegated like needle-work, in the lowest parts of the earth. 16. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them."

By the "lower parts of the earth" is undoubtedly to be understood the womb, where the fœtus is gradually formed and matured for the birth, like plants and flowers under ground. The process is compared to that in a piece of work wrought with a needle, or fashioned in the loom; which, with all its beautiful variety of colour, and proportion of figure, ariseth by degrees to perfection under the hand of the artist, framed according to a pattern lying before him, from a rude mass of silk, or other materials. Thus, by the wisdom and power of God, and after a plan delineated in his book, is a shapeless mass wrought up into the most curious texture of nerves, veins, arteries, bones, muscles, membranes, and skin, most skilfully interwoven and connected with each other, until it becometh a body, harmo niously diversified with all the limbs and lineaments of a man, not one of which at first appeared, any more than the figures were to be seen in the ball of silk. But then, (which is the chief thing here insisted on by the Psalmist,) whereas the human artificer must have the clearest light whereby to accomplish his task, the Divine Work-master seeth in secret, and effecteth all his wonders within the dark and narrow confines of the womb. The reformation of our corrupted and dissolved bodies, which is to be

wrought, at the last day, in the womb of the earth, in order to their new birth, will crown all the works of the Almighty.

"17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto, or, concerning, me, O God! How great is the sum of them! 18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee."

From the wonders of God's forming hand, the Psalmist proceeds to those of his all-directing providence, which afford additional proofs of the Divine omniscience and omnipresence. The thoughts and counsels of Jehovah concerning David, his appointment to the throne, his troubles and his preservation in the midst of them, were precious and delightful subjects of meditation and praise, never to be exhausted of the rich matter they contained. With these in his mind he lay down at night to rest, and "when he awoke" in the morning, his thoughts naturally recurred to the pleasing theme; he began where he left off, and found himself, in heart and soul, "still present with God," still ruminating on him and his works. The mercies of heaven in the redemption of the church by the sufferings and exaltation of the true David, according to the Divine decree concerning him— how precious are they to believers! How great is the sum, how far exceeding all human arithmetic to number them? Let them be to us the constant subjects of contemplation, admiration, and thanksgiving, day and night; and let death, that last sleep, find us engaged in an employment, which, when we awake and arise from the grave, we shall resume and prosecute to eternity, in the presence of God.

"19. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God; or, wilt thou not slay the wicked, O God? depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. 20. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.”

David now draws the intended conclusion from the premises so largely expatiated upon in the former part of the Psalm. As if he had said-And wilt thou not O God, thou who art every where present, seeing and knowing all things: thou to whom the justice of my cause, and the iniquity of mine adversaries, are equally open; thou who hast formed, and hitherto, in so wonderful a manner, watched over and preserved thy servant; "wilt thou not slay the wicked," and deliver me, as thou hast promised to do, out of their hands? I know thou wilt; "depart from me, therefore, ye bloody men;" I trust in my God, and will have no connexion, in the way of treaty or friendship, with you. You are not my enemies, but those of Jehovah, against whom, not considering that he is privy to all your words, and even to your thoughts, you speak presumptuously and "wickedly," and whose "name" you take in vain," no less when you do evil under a godly pretence, and call him to witness the truth of your lies and calumnies, than when you openly blaspheme him. Such seemeth to be the full import of those two verses; and their application to the members of the church, when at any time in similar circumstances, is obvious.

"21. Do not I hate them O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? 22. I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies."

A faithful servant hath the same interests, the same friends, the same enemies, with his master, whose cause and honour he is, upon all occasions, in duty bound to support and maintain. A good man hates, as God himself doth; he hates not the persons of men, but their sins; not what God made them, but what they have made themselves. We are neither to hate the men, on account of the vices they practice; nor to love the vices, for the sake of the men who practise them. He who observeth invariably this distinction, fulfilleth the perfect law of charity, and hath the love of God and of his neighbour abiding in him.

"23. Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: 24. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

In the first verse of the Psalm, David declared, that Jehovah had

"searched him out, and known him;" he concludes with a petition that his proceedings, and even his thoughts, might be still scrutinized by his Maker, in order to their perfect purification from any evil which might be in them or adhere to them. Should the hottest furnace of adversity be found necessary to purge the dross from the silver, he refuseth not to be dissolved in it, and new formed, so that he might only become a vessel of honour, fitted for the Master's use here below, and vouchsafed a place afterwards in his temple above. "See if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!"

PSALM CXL.

ARGUMENT.

This Psalm containeth, 1-8. a prayer for deliverance from persecutors and calumniators, their violence and their wiles; 9-11. a prophecy of their final destruction, and, 12-13. the salvation of the afflicted righteous. It was composed by David in his troubles, and is applicable to Christ and to the church, respectively, in theirs.

"1. Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man; 2. Which imagine mischiefs in their heart: continually are they gathered together for war.'

"Evil and violent men" exist in all ages, to harass and oppress the servants of God; their thoughts are employed in "imagining mischief" against such, and their hands are ready at all times for the "war." Had we no enemies without, there are those within, who are ever fighting and troubling us. We cannot put off our Christian armour for a moment in this world, nor enter into peace and rest, but by a happy death, and a joyful resurrection. Then God will "deliver us," as he delivered David, and our blessed Lord and Master, the Son of David, from their respective enemies. "3. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent: adders' poison is under their lips."

Slander and calumny must always precede and accompany persecution, because malice itself cannot excite people against a good man, as such; to do this, he must first be represented as a bad man. What can be said of those, who are busied in this manner, but that they are a "generation of vipers," the brood of the old "serpent," that grand accuser and calumniator of the brethren, having under their tongues a bag of poison, conveying instant death to the reputation on which they fasten. Thus David was hunted as a rebel, Christ was crucified as a blasphemer, and the primitive Christians were tortured as guilty of incest and murder.

"4. Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent men, who have purposed to overthrow my goings. 5. The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords: they have spread a net by the way-side they have set gins for me."

David here describeth the subtlety and industry employed by his enemies to effect his destruction, by lying in wait for him, as a skilful fowler doth for his game, so that they thought it impossible he should escape their hands. Such was the conduct of the Jews with regard to the Son of David. And, O how refined the policy, how unweared the application of our spiritual adversaries, to "overthrow our goings" in the path of life and salvation, to circumvent and to destroy us for ever! "How are the snares, the nets, and the gins," placed for us by that cunning and experienced artist, who takes care that nothing should appear in view, but the alluring baits of honour, pleasure, and profit, while of the toils we have no notice, till we find ourselves entangled and caught in them. Who shall preserve us thus walking in the midst of dangers? He to whom David, in the following verses, preferreth his prayer, and teacheth us to do likewise.