“For there (MDL) are set (Ezek. xlviii. 35). Thrones for judgment, (↳) Thrones for the house of David." (?) In all this, we may easily trace a type of our Jerusalem and its privileges. With Christ our Head, as well as with David, we look for another city that "hath foundations"—surely built, and "that lieth foursquare," compactly built (Rev. xxi. 16) a city where we shall meet none but friends, our own friends and friends of God,-a city where the Lord's testimony is fully opened out, and his name praised,—a city at whose gates judgment is fully given, and where "a King reigneth in righteousness, and princes decree judgment,” (Isa. xxxii. 1). And if Israel's devout people did so pray for their Jerusalem, verses 6, 7, 8, 9, how much more shall the pilgrims toward that New Jerusalem "seek the better, that is, the heavenly country." It is interesting to know that the expression, Diby Ny (ver. 6), generally means, "Salute ye,”-q. d., Greet ye Jerusalem with your good wishes reminds us of some of the medieval hymns,* e. g. "Urbs in portu satis tuto, De longinquo, te saluto, Te saluto, te suspiro, And these old hymns were borrowed from Augustine, who (in his De Spirit. et Anim.) exclaims, "O civitas sancta, civitas speciosa, de longinquo te saluto, ad te clamo, te requiro." All of us, who follow the Lord, surely join in this ardent panting for entrance into that city of which the other was but a type, and of which we can say * And of Tasso's famous passage (Gierus. lib. iii. 3) "Ecco apparir Gierusalem si vede, Horne mentions from De Thou, that Theodore Zuinger felt this Psalm so appropriate to one getting near glory, that he spent his last hours in versifying it in Latin: for he could sing "Per Christi meritum patet Vitæ porta beatæ.” “They that love thee shall prosper ; There shall be peace in thy bulwarks, Or take it, as some render the words; "Peace within thy ram PSALM CXXIII, A Song of degrees. 1 UNTO thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. 2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, And as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress ; So our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, Until that he have mercy upon us. 3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. 4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, And with the contempt of the proud. dependence. If we have found hope, faith, joy, and love in these "Songs of The theme. Degrees” hitherto, we now find long-suffering patience. David Patient is said to have been the writer. The worshipper, whether David, or David's greater Son, or any member of his body, 'lifts his eyes" upward to the Lord in the heavens. The same Lord who, in Psa. cxxi. 1, is seen on Zion-hills, is here seen, "in the heavens," because the contrast is intended to be made between the Earth that persecutes, and the Majesty, overcanopying earth, which protects. Scorn is felt, such as Nehemiah's case illustrates (Neh. ii. 19), or Hezekiah's case, in 2 Chron. xxx. 10, when that godly king incited the tribes of Israel to join him in the passover feast. It is the scorn of those "at ease," D', persons on whom the world smiles, and who say in their hearts, “Where is the promise of his Coming?" like the nations of earth, in Zech. i. 15, ' . It is the contempt of “the proud” r , that class of scorners who shall be found abounding on earth when "the day of the Lord" comes on every one that is (N) proud," the "boasters, lovers of pleasure,” of 2 Tim. iii. 2. The prayer for help has reference to the high priest's blessing, Num. vi. 24. In Psa. cxxi. 3, 4, he lifted up his eyes to the Lord, and sought that part of the blessing which consists in safe keeping; here, he asks, 1, Be gracious! Be gracious! (Num. vi. 24.) The Lord makes his face shine upon the pilgrim; and the grace that beams thence is the antidote to the contempt of men. Yes, even now it is so but if even now, what then when the lifted-up countenance shall be "the grace that shall be brought us at the appearing of Jesus Christ ?" Such is the reward of The upward look of the Lord's servant amid contempt. The theme. Thankful acknowledg ment. PSALM CXXIV. A Song of degrees of David. 1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say; 2 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us: 3 Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: 4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: 5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. 6 Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. 7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: The snare is broken, and we are escaped. 8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. EBENEZER! Hitherto the Lord hath helped! This seems to be the tone of this song of David, sung at a stage of the way, or at a time, when the thought of past difficulties overcome, and dangers escaped, was active and lively. Thankfulness characterises it as much as hope, faith, joy, love, patience, characterised the previous Psalms. In the year 1582, it was sung on a remarkable occasion in Edinburgh. An imprisoned minister, John Durie, had been set free, and was met and welcomed on entering the town by two hundred of his friends. The number increased till he found himself in the midst of a company of two thousand, who began to sing, as they moved up the long High Street, "Now Israel may say," &c. They sang in four parts with deep solemnity, all joining in the well-known tune and Psalm. They were much moved themselves, and so were all who heard; and one of the chief persecutors is said to have been more alarmed at this sight and song than at anything he had seen in Scotland. "Had it not been Jehovah! He was for us, Oh (N)) let Israel say; Had it not been Jehovah! He who was for us, when men rose against us : They had at that time made one morsel of us (Patrick), When their wrath burnt against us." We should have been dealt with by them as Korah and his company were by the Lord, Num. xvi. 32. But the thunderbolt was not in our enemies' hand. We have got the help we sought (Psa cxxi and cxxiii.), and have escaped every snare. Is not this a strain in which all saints can join by the way, at every palm-tree station, at every resting-stage, at every refreshing well,-a strain which the Lord of Pilgrims himself would often raise? And Oh! how he and his company shall sing it at the journey's end, when they who "were counted worthy to escape all things, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke xxi. 36), lift up their voice in mighty thunderings- "The snare is broken, and we are escaped! Our help has been in the name of Jehovah !' that Jehovah to whom belongs earth, as well as heaven. Such is this Ebenezer song, The song of the Lord's servant for deliverance vouchsafed at every step of the way. Faithfulness. The theme. PSALM CXXV. A Song of degrees. 1 THEY that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, Which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. 2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, So the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. 3 For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; Lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity. 4 Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts. 5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, The Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity : FAITHFULNESS under temptation is the grace that shines out “They that trust in Jehovah are like the hill of Zion, It moves not; For ever it abides. Jerusalem, the hills are round about her ; And (so) Jehovah is round about his people, From henceforth, and unto eternity." In verse 3 the "lot of the righteous" is inheritance or possession. The worshipper rejoices that never shall rod, or sceptre, of the wicked, extend its influence to that happy spot, the allotted portion, the Canaan-lot of the Lord's people; and thus the old temptation to idolatry, and other evils, shall be for ever escaped. The language of verse 3 has a peculiarity in it; it is literally, "the rod of the Wicked One," thus fitting the Psalm for the circumstances of the saints even in the last days, when "that Wicked," y shall be revealed and then destroyed. In verse 5 the pilgrim seems to sing the unhappy end of backsliders, of those who once joined their company in going |