The

Lastly, Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God.' language of this verse occurs more than once in this and other Psalms; and some people very much shrink from the use of it, as expressing feelings which are unchristian towards the wicked. Now, if people would only remember the key-note of it all, this difficulty would be at once removed. It is the controversy that God has with His enemies, and the victory over them that must be and this is no expression of hatred or triumph over enemies; it is merely the acknowledgment that He has triumphed and shall triumph, until all enemies are put under His feet for ever. There is no personal enmity, no personal malice in this and other similar expressions. It is the honour of my Lord, the glory of His cause; and even as I love Him, I must hate the sin that nailed Him to the cross, whenever and wherever I see it. Even as He Himself, while He speaks now in gentle accents, 'Come unto Me,' shall at last be heard to say, 'Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.'

Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone.' The idea here is that of scorn, contempt, and derision, as in Psalm ii. 4.

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Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly;' speaking of them no longer as men, but as wild beasts. Of these he says, Thou hast taken away all their power; they can harm me no longer.

'Salvation belongeth unto the Lord.' All the glory of it is His, and His alone! Of the people there was none with Him! He trod the winepress alone! The battle fought and the victory won, were alike His. 'I, even I, am Jehovah, and beside Me there is no God;' and if I am to be delivered from my foes, if I am to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, it must be in His strength and His alone. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord.' He is my Strength, my Rock, my Refuge, my High Tower. Oh! dear friends, cast your

selves into His Hands, as little children. He bids you trust Him and lean upon Him. He says, Trust me for justifying you, trust me for sanctifying you, trust me for glorifying you, and then come to Me, and let Me put My Fatherly Hand upon you, and I will give you My salvation and the blessings which I have purchased for you for ever and for ever; the blessings for time and for eternity which were purchased for you at Calvary, and which shall only be fully realised and seen hereafter, at the glorious Throne of Jesus above.

'Thy blessing is upon Thy people.' Yea, 'blessed are all they that put their trust in Him!' He says to you and me, beloved, 'I have done all this for you; I have redeemed you; I have pardoned, I have loved you! Will you not trust Me? Believe, and you shall be saved!'

'He that hath the Son hath life,' and unto him the Lord imputeth no sin.

Oh! my beloved friends, let there be no doubt or hesitation in this matter. Be earnest in going to Christ, that He may make you holy and like Himself; and so when the King comes in to see the guests, you will be found among the blessed company of those who love His appearing,' you shall enter in and dwell with Him, and be like Him for ever. Oh! what joy, what happiness! We feel sometimes, 'Oh that I had wings like a dove, for then would I fly away and be at rest.'

Beloved, there is a conflict yet for you and me to fight. The resting-time is yonder. But walk closely with Jesus now; seek to be made holy like Him, day by day growing in His likeness; and so shall your happiness, begun even on earth, be but as the first drops of that blessed shower of bliss which shall be poured out hereafter on the children of God when the end comes. Truly His salvation, His peace, His love, His blessing, are upon His people. Selah.'

In every trouble, sharp and strong,
My soul to Jesus flies;
My anchor-hold is firm in Him
When swelling billows rise.

His comforts bear my spirits up,
I trust a faithful God;
The sure foundation of my hope
Is in a Saviour's blood.

Loud Hallelujahs sing, my soul,
To thy Redeemer's Name!
In joy, in sorrow, life or death,
His love is still the same.

COOMBES.

PSALM IV.

LIGHT, GLADNESS, AND PEACE.

'Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. 'O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? How long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.

'But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him.

'Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

'Offer the sacrifices of righteousness; and put your trust in the Lord. "There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us.

'Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.

'I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.'

THIS Psalm opens with an earnest appeal to God, an earnest supplication, Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness;' a far deeper expression than if it had been, O righteous God! There is more than that implied; it is 'God of my righteousness.' It is as much as to say, 'Whatever righteousness I have, O my God,

ness.

is all from Thee; it is all out of Thy fulness; Thou hast enlarged my heart; Thou art the God of my righteousness.' The Psalmist in another place speaks of Him as 'the God of my salvation,' but here it is the God of my righteousness.' Not only has He saved Me, and set me free from Satan, but He has Himself in His own person become my righteousness before God, so that being in Him, I am no longer under condemnation. Again and again in the Psalms and elsewhere God is thus spoken of as the righteousness of His people. Well might David pray, 'Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. Thou, and Thou alone, art my righteousWell may I come to Thee with holy boldness, for Thou art my hope and my expectation. Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.' Yes, David had indeed proved, not once only, but many times, that when he called, the Lord heard and answered him. When every refuge failed me,' saith he, and no man cared for my soul, Thou didst draw near to me; Thou didst deliver me and set me in a large room. And I will trust Thee still, for Thou art the God of my righteousness. Why should I be cast down? I will hope in God, I will yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my God.' This deliverance in times past gives the Psalmist increased confidence and perseverance: Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress, have mercy upon me, and hearken unto my prayer.' 'For still the more the servant hath, the more shall he receive;' the greater and the more blessed the gifts bestowed upon the believer, in that proportion does Christ live in him. There is nothing, I think, in all the life of faith, so precious as this, the stirring up of the heart frequently to more lively faith, more assured confidence, by the remembrance of the great things which have been done for us. How it should send us on our way rejoicing! on our way rejoicing! Thou hast enlarged me.' Yes, when God puts His people into

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prison, it is but that He may enlarge them. would make them feel the narrowness of the prison, in order that He may afterwards bring them out into a large place.' Oh, how blessed it would be for us, if when everything seems dark around us, and the sunshine has faded from our path, we could say, 'it is the step into a large place.' This very trial was needed to give us a fuller sense of the deliverance from it.

'O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame?' Here he is addressing those who were without God, the heathen nations round about him, and to them he says, they have turned his glory into shame, that is, the glory of my God, of Jehovah my King. Oh, that when we see the ways of the world around us, the darkness and the sin, we may ever feel, they are turning my glory, that which I prize and in which I glory, into shame!

Then the Psalmist seems to turn from the contemplation of this state of the world to that of himself and God's people. Know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for Himself.' Know this, be persuaded of it. Not only is Messiah 'set upon His holy hill of Sion,' but all that are His people are set apart with Him. There is a bond which unites them to Him eternally, the King to His subjects, the Father to His children, the Redeemer to His people.

The expression Stand in awe, and sin not' (in the 4th verse) is better and more correctly rendered Be deeply moved, but sin not;' an expression similar to that in Ephesians, Be ye angry, and sin not.' These two verses evidently are addressed to the people of God, warning them to be especially watchful over their conduct to their fellow-men. To stand up in any case for God's honour, but at the same time to be jealous of their own spirit and conduct; to be 'deeply moved' because of sin, but to take heed that they sin not themselves.