observe again the frame of mind which our Church looks for in the true worshippers; it is a spiritual frame. She expects that we be of the number of those who "hunger and thirst after righteousness -who open our mouths wide, expecting that God will fill them. The next petition of the minister is for help, "O God, make speed to save us;" and the people re-echo the prayer, "O Lord, make haste to help us;" being fully conscious that our own strength is perfect weakness, and that it is "God alone who must work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure."

And now, having on bended knees poured out our confessions and supplications before the mercyseat, we stand up to bless the Lord for his goodness, and to rehearse his righteous acts. The whole congregation stands up as one man, and with joyful hearts give glory to the eternal Trinity.

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Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen." And now, the true minister of Christ, himself being alive to the goodness of his God and Saviour, and knowing that it is a good thing to sing praises to the Lord, calls on his fellowworshippers to unite their adorations with his own, Praise ye the Lord." And the people, filled with the same desire, make answer and say, "The Lord's name be praised." Their language is the same as David's, "O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory! yea, my mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless His holy name for ever and ever."

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To conclude; strive, my beloved brethren, to enter more fully into the experience of the true worshipper: strive to catch more of his spirit who exclaimed, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows now in the presence of all his people. . . . I will offer to Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord," and you will then enjoy with far greater profit the scriptural services of our Church. Alas! I know there are many who cannot do this. They are insensible of their obligations to love and praise God; they are still unconverted in heart and life-strangers alike to the divine efficacy of the blood of the Lamb to wash out their sins, and to the regenerating and sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost to renew them after the divine image in righteousness and true holiness. They are still of the earth, earthy; conformed to this world in its corrupt ways and maxims, and unrenewed in the spirit of their minds. Alas! while thus alienated in heart and affections from God, they cannot pray they may take a form of sound words on their lips, or they

may

from custom repeat a form in private; but the heart is not in it. It is the prayer of the hypocrite, which is an abomination to the Lord. How awful a state! Adding sin to sin, at the very moment when they flatter themselves that they are doing God service, and earning His favour by their doings! Dear friends, the eye of the Omniscient is now upon us; He reads our inmost thoughts, and knows the secrets of our hearts; He knows who are the true and who the pretending worshippers. O! ask yourselves, 'To which

of the two do I belong?' If conscience return a verdict of guilty, I ask, why will ye thus deceive yourselves? Ye cannot deceive God. O, that you would now begin to pray! O, that God might say of you this night, as He once said of Saul of Tarsus, " Behold, he prayeth !”

And if the Lord has graciously bestowed on any of us the spirit of prayer, let us adore Him for His grace: let us value and use the gracious gift. It is the praying Christian who is the happy Christian, and the holy Christian, and the victorious Christian. With a spirit of prayer, every other covenanted blessing is ready to descend. Pray for a deeper sense of your obligations to the Triune Jehovah-to the Father for electing you, to the Son for redeeming you, and to the Holy Ghost for sanctifying you. In proportion as the love of Christ is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, will our gratitude abound. We shall take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. Our prayers and our praises will ascend up to the mercy-seat perfumed with the incense of Christ's atonement and intercession; and soon will our adorations mingle with those of angels and archangels, who sing around the throne in heaven, "Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever." Amen.

SERMON VII.

THE PSALMS.

PSALM XCV. 2.

"Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with Psalms."

THESE Words contain an exhortation to the Church to praise the Lord for his goodness. The "righteous rejoice in the Lord," and "praise is comely for the upright." "O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name: for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth,' Isa. xxv. 1. Praise is the fruit of love, and love is the offspring of saving faith: we shall praise our God acceptably only in proportion as we are savingly interested in the blood and righteousness of Immanuel, and alive to the power and value of His free grace. All will be discord within until Christ occupies His throne in our hearts. Then, and only then, will our affections be fixed on the right object:

then our whole soul will be in harmony with the truth as it is in Jesus: Christ's grace and presence makes heavenly melody in the soul: every faculty will be then in tune, and inclined to take its part in blessing the name of the Lord; the understanding sees it right, the will chooses, the heart loves to give him all the praise; and the mouth joins to glorify him with joyful lips: we "come into his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with Psalms." By virtue of the grace and intercession of Christ, and through faith in His name, we "offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name."-O, that we were more alive to our obligations to the Triune Jehovah! It is to Him we are indebted for all we have and all we hope to enjoy of happiness here and glory hereafter. It is a thankful heart we need, and that will always be an obedient and loving heart. And if the assurance of God's willingness to forgive the sins of all truly penitent sinners, and of His readiness to "supply all our need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus," do not prompt us to praise His holy name, nothing else will.

It is on this account, that the next part of our Liturgy is taken up with praise and thanksgiving; the subject therefore of our present consideration will be,

THE PSALMS IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY

ARE APPOINTED:

I. As an introduction to this important part of our Service, in which the word of God is so prominently brought forward, the 95th Psalm is read or