it cut down, dried up, and withered. Such is the life of man, sojourning in the land of his captivity, and doing penance for his sins. But the eternity of Jehovah, the infallibility of his promises, and the remembrance of his former works and mercies, comfort our hearts, and encourage us to hope, nay, even to rejoice, in the midst of sorrow and tribulation.

13. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Sion; for the time to favor her, yea, the set time is come. 14. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof.

The history of "this" redemption and restoration by Messiah, thus foretold, hath been "written" in the Gospel for the benefit of "after generations," to the end that "the people who are created" anew in Christ Jesus, may from age to age praise Jehovah, in psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs; as it is done at this day in the church, and ever will continue to be done, till the choirs of heaven and earth shall be united before the throne of the Lamb. 19. For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary: from heaven did the' From this passage, and what follows, it | LORD behold the earth; 20. To hear the' appears, that the suppliant, in this Psalm, groaning of the prisoner, to loose those that bewails not only his own miseries, but those are appointed to death: 21. To declare the of the church. Israel was in captivity, and name of the LORD in Sion, and his praise in Sion a desolation. A "time" notwithstand- Jerusalem; 22. When the people are gathing, a set time," there was at hand, when ered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the God had promised to "arise, and to have LORD. mercy upon her." The bowels of her children yearned over her ruins; they longed to see her rebuilt, and were ready, whenever the word of command should be given, to set heart and hand to the blessed work. Such ought to be our affection towards our Sion, however afflicted and destitute she may, at any tiine, appear to be; such should be our faith in the promises of God concerning the future glorification of his church at the time appointed.

15. So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD: and all the kings of the earth thy glory. 16. When the LORD shall build up Sion, he shall appear in his glory. 17. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

The object to which the prophets of old had chiefly respect, was not only the deliverance of Israel from Babylon, and the rebuilding of the material temple, but the salvation of sinners, and the erection of the Christian church, in the days of Messiah's kingdom. "When the Lord" Jesus thus "built up Sion, he appeared in his glory: the heathen feared his name, and all the kings of the earth" adored his majesty, because he had "regarded the prayer of the destitute" sons of Adam, in their worse than Babylonish captivity, and had arisen himself to be their Saviour and mighty Deliverer. We, in these latter days, look and pray for the second appearance of the same Redeemer, with power and great glory, to raise the dead, and to build up from the dust a Jerusalem which shall experience no more vicissitudes, but continue for ever in unchangeable beauty and brightness.

18. This shall be written for the generation to come; and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD,

Redemption is the subject of praise in the Christian church; and the process of that great work is here described by images borrowed from the temporal deliverance and restoration of Israel. God is represented as looking with an eye of pity from heaven upon poor mankind; as hearing the groans of sinners, fast bound in the chains of their sins, and sentenced to death eternal; as coming down to forgive and to release them; that, being so forgiven and released, they might cause the church to resound with his praises, when, upon the preaching of the Gospel, it should be filled with converts, assembled from every people and kingdom of the world. Look down, O Lord Jesu, yet once again upon thy servants, still under the dominion of death, and the bondage of corruption; loose these chains, even these also, O Lord, and bring us forth into the glorious liberty of thy children; that, with the whole assembly of the redeemed, in the heavenly Jerusalem, we may bless and praise thy name for ever and ever.

23. He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.

The prophet, in the person of captive Sion, having, from verse 13 to verse 22, expressed his faith and hope in the promised redemption, now returns to his mournful complaints, as at verse 11. Israel doubteth not of God's veracity, but feareth lest his heavy hand should crush the generation then in being, before they should behold the expiration of their troubles. They were in "the way," but their "strength" was so "weakened," and their " days shortened," that they almost despaired of holding out to their journey's end. A sore trial hath the Christian church to undergo in the

cry come unto thee. 2. Hide not thy face | I am like an owl, or, bittern, of the desert, 7. I watch, from me in the day when I am in trouble; or, of waste, ruinous places. incline thine ear unto me: in the day when and am as a sparrow alone upon the houseI call, answer me speedily.

Sin and sorrow force "prayers" and "cries" from the sons of Adam. The first petition here preferred is, that these prayers and cries may be "heard" in heaven. The day of human life is "a day of trouble," a day of darkness and gloominess, which nothing can brighten, but the light of God's "countenance;" nothing can render comfortable, but a" speedy answer " of and mercy peace from above.

3. For my days are consumed away like, or, in, smoke, and my bones are burnt as an hearth, or, a fire brand.

top.

The sorrowful man is naturally desirous of retiring from the world, to vent his complaints in solitude, and to pass the nights in watchfulness and prayer. In such a situation the true penitent placeth himself, worthily to bewail his sins, and deprecate the judgments of his God. And in such a situation did captivity place the daughter of Sion, that she might do likewise. The use which Daniel made of it for this purpose, may be seen in his ixth chapter.

8. Mine enemies reproach me all the day: and they that are mad against me, are sworn against me.

The effects of extreme grief on the human frame are compared to those which fire pro- The scoffs.and reproaches of men are geneduceth upon fuel. It exhausts the radical rally added to the chastisements of God; or moisture, and, by so doing, soon consumes the rather, perhaps, are a part, and sometimes the substance. A man's time and his strength bitterest part, of them. How the enemies of evaporate in melancholy, and his "bones," Jerusalem behaved, in the day of her calamitty, those pillars and supports of his body, become is well known. How carnal and ungodly like wood, on which the fire hath done its work, and left it without sap, and without cohesion. A single penitent, or a whole church, bewailing their respective transgressions, when under the rod of God, may use these words, and will understand the force

of them.

4. My heart is smitten ana withered like grass: so that I forget to eat my bread.

The metaphor is continued, and the "heart" itself, out of which flow the streams of life, is represented as suffering that from grief, which the " grass " of the field suffers from the burning heat of the sun; it is " smitten, and withered." And when grief hath thus dejected the spirits, the man has no appetite for that food which is to recruit and elevate them. Ahab, smitten with one kind of grief, David with another, and Daniel with a third, all "forgot," or " refused, to eat their bread:" 1 Kings, xxi. 4. 2 Sam. xii. 16. Dan. x. 3. Such natural companions are "mourning and

fasting."

men behave to a penitent, when mourning for his sins, under the afflicting hand of heaven, is as well known.

9. For, or, Therefore, I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping. 10. Because of thine indignation and wrath; for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.

By "eating ashes, and drinking tears," we may understand the same as if it had been said," "I have eaten the bread of humiliation, and drank the water of affliction; " ashes being the emblem of one, and tears the consequence of the other; while the actions of "eating and drinking" intimate to us the fulness and satiety which the sufferer had experienced of both, from the "wrath and indignation of God." Prosperity and adversity are from him; "he lifteth up, and he casteth down;" he lifted up Jerusalem above all the earth; and he cast her down, to be trodden under foot by the Gentiles.

11. My days are like a shadow that declineth: and I am withered like grass. 12. But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.

A "shadow "never continueth in one stay,

but is still gliding imperceptibly on, lengthen-
ing as it goes, and at last vanisheth into dark-
ness. The period of its existence is limited
to a day at farthest. The rising sun gives it
birth, and in that moment when the sun sets
it is no more.
The "grass
" of the field, in
like manner, hath a being of the same dura-
tion. In the morning, clothed with verdure
and beauty, it refresheth and delighteth the
eye of the beholder; but the evening findeth

6. The LORD executed righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. 7. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

ever so many, and ever so great, are done of his Spirit, he restoreth her from decrepiaway, and become as if they had never tude, to the health and strength of a young been; from a state of gult we pass into one "eagle," so that she can ascend up on high, of justification, from a state of enmity into and contemplate the splendor of the Sun of one of reconciliation, from a state of servi- Righteousness. Thus, at the day of the retude into one of liberty and sonship. Next surrection, clothed anew with salvation and to the pardon of sin, considered as a crime, glory, the body likewise shall arise from we are to commemorate the cure of it, con- earth, and fly away as an eagle toward heaven, sidered as a disease, or indeed as a compli- to begin an immortal life, and be for ever cation of diseases-"Who healeth all thine young. infirmities." The body experienceth the melancholy consequences of Adam's offence, and is subject to many "infirmities;" but the soul is subject to as many. What is pride, but lunacy; what is anger, but a fever; what is avarice, but a dropsy; what is lust, but a leprosy ; what is sloth, but a dead palsy? Perhaps there are spiritual maladies similar to all corporeal ones. When Jesus Christ was upon earth, he proved himself the physician of men's souls, by the cures which he wrought upon their bodies. It is he alone who "forgiveth all our iniquities;" it is he alone who "healeth all our infirmities." And the person who findeth his sin "cured," hath a well-grounded assurance that it is "forgiven."

4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth, or, encircleth, thee with loving kindness and tender mercies.

Man hath two "lives; " he is, therefore, subject to a double "destruction;" and, consequently, capable of a twofold" redemption." He who is recovered from sickness, and thereby redeemed from that destruction which natural death bringeth upon the body, will undoubtedly sing this strain in transports of gratitude; and he ought so to do. But what will be the sensations of him who celebrates, in the same words, the spiritual redemption of his soul from death and destruction everlasting? How is he "crowned" with the "loving kindness" of Jehovah; how is he "encircled" by the arms of "mercy!" "Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor: " never ending "length of days;"true" riches," that abide for ever; and "the honor which cometh from God only."

5. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

It is God who giveth us the "good things" of this world, and who giveth us likewise an appetite and a taste to enjoy them. It is God who restoreth a body, emaciated by sickness, to bloom, vigor, and agility. And he doth greater things than these. He "satisfieth" all the desires of the soul with a banquet of spiritual dainties, and bestoweth on her a relish for the same. By the renovating power

From a consideration of his own particular case, the Psalmist maketh a general reflection on that attribute of God, which inclineth him to deliver his people, and to punish their oppressors, of what kind soever they be. And here that grand display of the "ways" and "works" of Jehovah, the redemption of "Israel" by the hand of " Moses," immediately occurs, and is celebrated. Thus each private mercy, whether of a temporal or spiritual nature, should remind us of that public and universal blessing of redemption by Jesus Christ, from which every other blessing floweth, as a stream from its fountain, and for which God ought, therefore, upon all occasions, to be praised and glorified.

8. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

When Moses desired Jehovah to show him his "way" and his "glory," Exod. xxxiii. 13, 18, Jehovah passed by, and proclaimed himself, as here," Jehovah, merciful, and gracious," &c. Exod. xxxiv. 6. How full of consolation to the penitent soul are all the words of this verse! "The LORD is merciful," , the bowels of his tender compassion yearn over us, as those of a mother yearn over the child of her womb; "yea, a woman may forget her sucking child, yet can he not forget us:" Isa. xlix. 15. He is "gracious," pan, ready to give us freely all things that are needful for our salvation. He is "slow to anger," bearing with the frowardness of his children, with their provocations and relapses for 40, 50, 60, 70 years together, before he strikes the blow; giving them, by this his long suffering, time for repentance.

* Of all birds it is known, that they have yearly their moulting times, when they shed their old, and are afresh furnished with a new stock of feathers. This is most observable of hawks and vultures, and especially of "eagles," which, when they are near an hundred years old, cast their feathers, and become bald and like young ones, and then new feathers sprout forth. Thus St. Ambrose," Aquila longam ætatem ducit, dum vetustis plumis fatiscentibus, nova pennarum successione juvenescit." Dr. HAMMOND.

And he is "plenteous in mercy,"

66

"," Man," fallen, mortal man-❝his days are great, mighty in mercy," placing his chief as grass; " like that he cometh out of the glory in this attribute, and hereby teaching earth, and continueth but a short time upon us how to estimate true greatness. it; as a flower of the field," fair but tran9. He will not always chide: neither will sient, "so he " unfoldeth his beauty in youth, he keep his anger for ever. 10. He hath not and "flourisheth" awhile in the vigor of dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded manhood; but, lo, in a moment, the breath us according to our iniquities. of heaven's displeasure, as a blighting "wind passeth over him, and he is gone;" he boweth his drooping head, and mingleth again with his native dust; his friends and his companions look for him at the accustomed spot, which he once adorned-but in vain-the earth has opened her mouth to receive him, and "his place shall know him no more."

God's chastisements are some of the most eminent proofs of his mercy. They are sent to reclaim us, and to save us from eternal punishment. They continue not always, but are removed when they have done their work; and while they last, are as nothing in comparison of those heavy stripes which our sins have deserved.

17. But the mercy of the LORD is from ever11. For as the heaven is high above the lasting to everlasting upon them that fear earth, so great is his mercy towards them him; and his righteousness unto children's that fear him. 12. As far as the east is from children: 18. To such as keep his covenant, the west, so far hath he removed our trans- and to those that remember his commandments gressions from us. 13. Like as a father to do them. pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

Let not man presume, who withereth like the green herb; but then, let not man desWe are here presented with three of the pair, whose nature with all its infirmities, the most beautiful, apposite, and comforting simi- Son of God hath taken upon him. The flower litudes in the world. When we lift up our which faded in Adam, blooms anew in Christ, eyes, and behold around us the lofty and stu- never to fade again. "The mercy of Jehopendous vault of heaven, encircling, protect- vah," in his Messiah, "is everlasting ;" and ing, enlightening, refreshing, and cherishing of that everlasting mercy, poor frail man is the earth, and all things that are therein, we the object. It extendeth to all the generaare bidden to contemplate in this glass the tion of the faithful servants of God. Death immeasurable height, the boundless extent, shall not deprive them of its benefits, nor and the salutary influences of that mercy shall the grave hide them from the efficacious which, as it were, embraceth the creation, influence of its all-enlivening beams, which and is over all the works of God. Often as shall pierce even into those regions of desowe view the sun arising in the east, and dark-lation, and awaken the sleepers of six thouness flying away from before his face towards sand years. Man must pay to justice the the opposite quarter of the heavens, we may temporal penalty of his sins; but mercy shall see an image of that goodness of Jehovah, raise him again, to receive the eternal reward, whereby we are placed in the regions of il-purchased by his Saviour's righteousness. A lumination, and our sins are removed and put far away out of his sight. And that our hearts may, at all times, have confidence towards God, he is represented as bearing towards us the fond and tender affection of "a father," ever ready to defend, to nourish, and to provide for us, to bear with us, to forgive us, and to receive us in the parental arms of everlasting love.

14. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. 15. As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 16. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof

passage in the First Epistle of St. Peter doth
most admirably illustrate this part of our
Psalm: "We are born again not of corrup-
tible seed, but of incorruptible, by the WORD
of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
For all flesh is grass, and all the glory of man
as the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower thereof falleth away; but the
WORD of the LORD endureth for ever.
this is the WORD which by the Gospel is
preached unto you." 1 Pet. i. 23, &c.

And

19. The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

The glorious Person who worketh all these wonders of mercy for his people, the WORD of God, and Saviour of the world, is triumphantly seated upon his " throne in heaven," and is possessed of all power to accomplish his will, even until all things shall be subdued unto him. The glories of his throne, the