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become of the political fabric erected upon them? Verily it must fall; and great and terrible will be the fall thereof. A community, whether ecclesiastical or civil, consisteth of great numbers; but its wellbeing dependeth on a few, in whose hands the administration is placed. When the salt hath lost its savour, the mass must putrefy; when the light becometh darkness, how great must be that darkness!

6. I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. 7. But ye shall die like men, or, Adam, and fall like one of the princes.

It is true, then, that magistrates are exalted above other men; that they are dignified with a commission from above; appointed to be the vicegerents of Heaven upon earth; and therefore called by the name of him in whose name they act. But it is likewise as true, that, notwithstanding all this honour conferred upon them, for the good of others, and of themselves, if they use it aright, they still continue to be the mortal sons of mortal " Adam;" like him, they must fall and perish; God can, at any time, cast them down from their high estate, as he did the Heathen "princes" who misbehaved themselves, and opposed his counsels: death certainly will strip them of all their authority, and lay them low in the grave; from thence the last trumpet shall call them forth, to stand, with the rest of their brethren, before the judgement-seat of Christ, there to take their trial, and receive their everlasting sentence. How necessary oftentimes is this consideration, to check the spirit of tyranny and injustice, to qualify the pride and insolence of office!

8. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

A view of that disorder and confusion in which frequently the Jewish nation, as well as the rest of the world, was involved, caused the prophets most earnestly to wish and pray for the coming of that time when "God" should" arise," in the person of Messiah, to visit and "judge the earth;" to deliver it from the powers of darkness, and the tyranny of sin; to "inherit all nations," as purchased and redeemed by him; to establish his church among them; and to rule with a sceptre of righteousness, in the hearts of his people. "Arise" yet once again, O Lord Jesu, from thy throne, where thou sittest at the right hand of the Father; " judge the earth," again corrupted and overwhelmed with iniquity; do away sin, and put an end for ever to the power of Satan; "inherit all nations," redeemed from death and ransomed from the grave; and reign to eternity, King of Righteousness, Peace, and Glory.

PSALM LXXXIII.

ARGUMENT.

In this Psalm the church, 1-8. complaineth to God of the insolence, subtilty, rage, and malice, of her enemies, united in close confederacy against her; 9-12. she prayeth for a manifestation of that power which formerly discomfited Jabin, Sisera, and the Midianites; that so the hostile nations, 13-15. made sensible of the superiority of

Israel's God, 16-18. might either themselves be induced to acknowledge him, or else, by their destruction, become a warning and admonition to others. As, while the world endureth there will be a church, and while there is a church she will have her enemies, who are to increase upon her as the end approacheth, this Psalm can never be out of date. And to the spiritual adversaries of his soul, every private Christian may apply it at all times.

1. Keep not thou silence, O God; hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. 2. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up their head.

The church entreateth God again and again to hear and help her in the day of trouble. Her enemies and haters are here said to be the enemies and haters of God, because Christ and the church, like man and wife, are one; they have one common interest; they have the same friends and the same foes.

To him

therefore she applieth, terrified by the tumultuous noise of confederated nations, roaring against her like the roaring of the sea, and "lifting up their

heads," as so many monsters of the deep, to devour her at once. When temptations are urgent upon the soul, and the passions rise in arms against her peace and innocence, then do "the enemies of God “make a tumult, and they that hate him lift up "their heads;" and then is the time for her to be instant in prayer.

3. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. 4. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Irael may be no more in remembrance.

The combination, so much dreaded, is described as having been formed upon the best principles of secular policy, with much subtilty, and the most determinate malice, against the "people" of God, and his "hidden ones," that is, his peculiar nation, separated from the world, and taken under the cover and protection of his wings. To root up the plantations of paradise, to extirpate the holy seed, to extinguish the very "name of Israel," was the scheme intended by these associated adversaries of Sion, Such are our spiritual enemies; such is their cunning, their rage, and their resolution: what prudence, what vigilance, what courage are necessary, that we may oppose them with success!

5. For they have consulted together with one consent; they are confederate against thee.

When Christ was about to be crucified, it is observed by St. Luke, that "the same day Pilate and "Herod were made friends together; for before "they were at enmity between themselves:" Luke xxiii. 12. And however the enemies of the church may quarrel with one another, when they have nothing else to do, yet if a favourable opportunity offer itself for making an attack upon her, they lay aside their differences, and unite as one man ; by no means refusing the friendly aid even of infidels and atheists,

who are always ready to join in carrying on the war against the common adversary.

6. The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; 7. Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines, with the inhabitants of Tyre: 8. Assur also is joined with them; they have holpen the children of Lot.

These are the names of the confederates. The Edomites were descended from Esau, that old original enemy of Jacob; the Ishmaelites from Ishmael, the son of the bond-woman, and sworn foe to Isaac, heir of the promises; the Moabites sprang from Moab, one of the incestuous children of Lot; the Hagarenes were other descendants of Hagar; who the Gebalites were is uncertain; the Ammonites came from Ammon, the son of Lot, and incestuous brother of Moab; the Amalekites were the progeny of Amalek, the grandson of Esau; Gen. xxvi. 16. the Philistines and Tyrians are well known; and to complete all, Assur, or the power of Assyria, was called in by the children of Lot, the Moabites and Ammonites, to assist in the great work of exterminating Israel from the face of the earth. These were the ten nations banded together, by a solemn league and covenant, against the people of God. And as Israel was the grand figure of the Christian church, which is now "the Israel of God," so her enemies are often represented by the above-recited nations, and in prophetical language are called by their names. Every age has its Edomites, and its Ishmaelites, &c. &c. The actors are changed, and

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