CAPH.-PART XI.

81. My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word, or, I have expected thy word.

But the

Thus have the true servants of God, in every age, expressed their ardent desire of his salvation. Thus did the patriarchs, the prophets, the kings, and the faithful people, formerly wish to behold the advent of their Saviour in the flesh; until Simeon, taking him in his arms, spoke what they would all have spoken had they been present, "Lord, now lettest thou thy "servant depart in peace, according to thy word; "for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Bridegroom was soon taken away, and the heavens have received him, until the restitution of all things; for which the church upon earth at this day waiteth and prayeth; that she may be delivered from all her troubles, and inseparably united to him in whom she delighteth. Every individual, when oppressed by sin and sorrow, may make his supplication in the same words, for that salvation which is by grace, through faith.

82. Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?

While the promised salvation is delayed, the afflicted soul thinketh every day a year, and looketh toward heaven for the accomplishment of God's word, saying to "her Friend and her Beloved,

"When wilt thou comfort me? Come, Lord Jesu,

83. For I am become like a bottle in the smoke : yet do I not forget thy statutes.

" Bottles" among the Jews were made of skins. One of these, if exposed to heat and smoke," would become shrivelled and useless. Such a change will labour and sorrow cause in the human frame; and the Psalmist here complaineth, that his beauty and his strength were gone; the natural moisture was dried up; in consequence of which, the skin shrivelled, and both colour and vigour departed from him. Disease and old age will produce the same sad effects in us all; but the body's weakness is the soul's strength; as the outward man decayeth, the inward man is renewed: "I do not forget thy statutes."

84. How many are the days of thy servant? When wilt thou execute judgement on them that persecute me?

The well-beloved John heard a question, of the

* "Defecerunt oculi mei." Ambrosius: "Nonne quando aliquem desideramus et speramus adfore, eò dirigimus oculos "unde speramus esse venturum? Sic teneræ uxor ætatis, de "specula litorali indefessâ expectatione conjugis præstolatur "adventum: ut quamcunque navim viderit, illic putat conju66 gem navigare, metuatque ne videndi gratiâ dilecti, alius an"tevertat, nec ipsa possit prima dicere, Video te, mi marite." Vide reliqua apud Ambrosium, ejusdem planè spiritûs, nec tamen potui temperare, quin hæc exscriberem. Sic affectus est quisquis cum Paulo dissolvi cupit, et esse cum Christo. Sic denique qui semel gustato bono Dei verbo, ut idem Paulus ait, sibi postea relictus, deficit tædio sui, ac reddi sibi postulat prægustatam suavissimi amoris dulcedinem. BOSSUET.

same import with this, asked by the spirits of the martyrs, that had left their bodies, and were waiting, in the separate state, for the day of retribution. The answer, which was made to them, may likewise satisfy our impatience, when suffering affliction and persecution: "I saw under the altar the souls of them that "were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a "loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and "true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood "on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes "were given unto every one of them, and it was "said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little

season, until their fellow-servants also, and their "brethren, that should be killed as they were, should "be fulfilled." Rev. vi. 9, &c.

85. The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.

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The manner of taking wild beasts was by "digging pits," and covering them over with turf, upon which when the beast trod, he fell into the pit, and was there confined and taken. But there was a

law," that if a pit were left open, and a tame beast, an ox, or an ass, fell into it, the owners of the pit should make good the damage: Exod. xxi. 33. Much more shall men be called to a severe account, who purposely lay snares and stumbling-blocks before the feet of their innocent brethren, to cause them to fall and perish.

86. All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.

Man is perfidious and deceitful, God is "faith

"ful" and true; he hath promised to "help" those who suffer “wrongfully," and he will, in the end, show himself to be the avenger of all such. Let them wait with patience, since the King of Righteousness himself suffered as a malefactor, before he entered into his glory.

87. They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts.

However low the church, or any member thereof, may, by persecution and tribulation, be brought upon earth, yet nothing can separate them from the love of God, while they "forsake not his precepts," nor disbelieve his promises. The soul, we know, must forsake the body; but God will forsake neither.

88. Quicken me after thy loving kindness, so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.

Through the "loving kindness" of God our Saviour, the Spirit of life is given unto us, by whose "quickening" influences we are revived, when sunk in sins, or in sorrows, and are enabled with joy and gladness, to persevere in keeping the testimony of his "mouth."

LAMED.-PART XII.

89. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven: or, Thou art for ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. 90. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. 91. They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.

The eternity of Jehovah, and the immutability of

his counsels, are considerations which afford comfort and encouragement to his people, when their enemies are in arms against them. Even in this world the unwearied "heavens" continue to perform invariably their operations upon themselves and the bodies placed in them; while the globe of the “earth,” rẻtaining its original form and coherence of parts, still, as at the beginning, supports and maintains the successive "generations" of men, which live and move upon it, to whom the faithful promises of God are fulfilled from age to age.. Thus doth the unchangeable order of nature itself point out to us the truth of her great Author, and at the same time reprove the eccentric motions of rebellious man. The heavens and the earth" continue this day according to thine "ordinance," O Lord, " for all things are thy ser"vants;" all invariably serve thee, except man, who alone was endowed with reason that he might obey and glorify thee in this life, and that which is to

come!

92. Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.

The Psalmist assureth us, from his own experience, how pleasant and how profitable, in time of trouble, is the meditation on the fidelity of God, as displayed in the stability of his works. The "delights," by this afforded, sustained his soul in "afflictions," which must otherwise have brought him to an end. And the same everlasting Word shall be the believer's support and consolation, even when the heavens shall melt around him with fervent heat, and the earth, and all that is therein, shall be burnt up. "Heaven