them, a terrible and inextinguishable enmity of the natural heart against God and His people. The 2nd Psalm comes in and completes the sketch of both the righteous and the wicked. It opens with the enquiry concerning the wicked, 'Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against His Anointed.' How is this possible? how will they dare to act thus? It is not simply the tumultuous thought, but it is the tumultuous act, the rising up against God and His authority! My friends, see in this picture that terrible and awful thing which the Bible calls enmity against God.' Sinners dependent upon God, will yet set themselves against Him and against His Anointed. What was done against the Messiah was done against God.

We cannot be under any mistake as to the ultimate meaning of this Psalm, and it is deeply interesting to look to the reference to it in the New Testament, which may be taken as the testimony of the early Christians (Acts iv. 27). Now if we remember that the Holy Child Jesus' was the manifestation of God in the flesh, and that in the 1st Psalm we have the description of Him as the one perfectly Holy Man, we find at once the link which unites the 2nd and the 1st Psalm. The persecutors of the early Christians, following the example of the enemies of Jesus, were not only 'setting themselves,' but also expressing themselves in acts and in words, 'taking counsel together' (verse 2).

I particularly wish, dear friends, to draw your attention to the arrangement of this Psalm. It is considered the most regularly composed of all the Psalms. In Hebrew poetry, you are aware that all the parts are arranged symmetrically, and in no Psalm is this more marked than in the one under consideration. It is divided into four parts: in the first part (verses, 1-3)

the wicked rise up tumultuously against the Lord and against His anointed, and say, 'Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.' This closes the first part.

The second part begins at verse 4 and ends at verse 6. Here the parallel comes in, or rather the contrast. In the first part it is the wicked who speak; here it is Jehovah who speaks (verse 5). In His everlasting sovereignty He looks with contempt at their vain efforts, and He will vex them in His sore displeasure. He has an eternal controversy against sin (verses 4, 5). I do not for a moment mean by these expressions of contempt, anger, and so forth, that God is subject to emotions such as we are, of contempt, anger, or displeasure. Far from it; but I do mean that God will carry out His decrees with resolution and decision, and these terms are used that we may thoroughly understand that we have to deal with One who will fulfil to the uttermost all His decrees against sin. This is an important matter, my brethren, and I would ask you to dwell upon it. In these latter days there is growing up among us a fallacious way of speaking of God. It is said He is Himself the Father,' the Brother,' that He is gracious and merciful; yea, that He is 'Love' itself. Blessed revelation, that God is love! But we are apt to shut out another important view. The way to be happy, the way to be reconciled, will not be in our own way or by our own means, but in His way and by His means. While these things are all stated of Him, they do not include certain other things which are said of Him equally, viz. that He derides, is angry, &c. These things mean something, and they are certainly not things which we associate with the 'Father,' the Brother,' or one who is only Love. True derision, anger, and such-like, are no part of the being of God. Whenever they show themselves in His dealings, He is working His 'strange work,' while it is 'His nature and property ever to have

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mercy and to forgive.' We have abundant proof of this. When the Son chose to take our nature and to be God manifest in the flesh,' He said, 'He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.' We, my friends, should pray, 'Make me to understand, O let me see the Father, in every way, even in reference to the destruction of the wicked!' Jesus reveals the Father in the most gracious acts of His life here on earth. When He beheld Jerusalem and thought of what its inhabitants were about to do, did contempt or anger get the better of Him? No, brethren, He ‘wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!' (Luke xix. 41, 42). And more than this, He said, 'How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!' (Luke xiii. 34). Observe the words the Lord speaks (verse 6), Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion-an answer to the wicked which bears out the real character of the love of God towards His people. We cannot help admiring the singular beauty of this verse, giving, as it does, the key to the interpretation of the whole. The reference, clearly, is to the Lord Jesus. The sovereignty spoken of is not set as the compass and end of His dominion. That dominion extends over all, but it was at Jerusalem the greatest act was done: 'I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion.' The Saviour claims, beyond His mediatorial sovereignty, the sovereignty over all things: All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth' (Matt. xxviii. 18). In the third division of the Psalm another point is brought out. The speaker is now the Anointed Son Himself: 'I will declare the decree (the eternal purpose of God): the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee.' This day; thus removing every idea as to the point of time, acknowledging the intimate relationship that exists between God and HisAnointed, God's best and

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choicest gift. See how precious the language becomes: 'Ask of Me.' When God brought the First-begotten into the world (Heb. i. 6) He said, 'Lo, I come to do Thy will.' He came to fulfil the Father's will; then He left the world and went down to the grave; from the grave He rose to His throne above; thus bringing out the harmony between the Old and the New Testament ; proving Jesus to be Prophet, Priest, and King. When He arose from the grave as a conqueror, He ascended up to Heaven, and there He ever liveth to make intercession for us. The decree of the Father is being carried out now. He has decreed and willed that everything which is asked through the Son shall be granted. I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance.' The Saviour has an inheritance as well as His people. He is the Heir of all things: He the Head; they the body. Truly we have a precious heritage; a permanent possession; an inheritance incorruptible, and that fadeth not away.

The last part of this Psalm takes up the earnest exhortation to yield entire submission to the will of Jehovah. Jesus Himself entreats them to give themselves up to Jehovah, who alone is the great and only God; to declare themselves His subjects; to 'kiss the Son, lest He be angry;' to close with the invitation, for the great day of His wrath is coming, and who shall be able to abide it? Oh, beloved, yield yourselves unto Jesus! Come in the blessed attitude of love; clasp His feet; come like the woman of old, who washed His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. Come in the same spirit of love, and then all will be well with you. The 1st Psalm begins with a blessing-the 2nd ends with a blessing. May we not accommodate the words of the Patriarch, Hast thou but one blessing? Bless me, even me.' Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. I ask, beloved, for you and for myself, that blessing which

comes through the Cross of Calvary, and which endures throughout eternity!

Jesus, these eyes have never seen

That radiant form divine;

The veil of sense hangs dark between
Thy blessed face and mine.

I see Thee not, I hear Thee not,

Yet Thou art oft with me;

And earth hath ne'er so dear a spot

As where I meet with Thee.

Like some bright dream, that comes unsought

When slumbers o'er me roll,

Thine image ever fills my heart,

And charms my ravished soul.

Yet though I have not seen, and still

Must rest in faith alone,

I love Thee, dearest Lord, and will;

Unseen, but not unknown.

When Death these mortal eyes shall seal,

And still this throbbing heart,

The rending veil shall Thee reveal

All glorious as Thou art!

R. PALMER.

PSALM III.

THE SHIELD OF FAITH.

'Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.

'Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.

'But Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

'I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill.

Selah.

'I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.

'I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.

'Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God; for Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. 'Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: Thy blessing is upon Thy people.'