earthly David petitioned for Israel; the heavenly David ever continueth to intercede for the church; and every Christian ought to become a suppliant for his brethren, still looking and longing for that glorious day, when, by a joyful resurrection unto life eternal, God shall indeed 'redeem Israel out of all his troubles.'

PSALM XXVI.

ARGUMENT.-The party speaking in this Psalm, whether we suppose it to be the typical, or the true David, the church, or any member thereof, lying under the false accusations of calumny, 1, 2, 3. appealeth to God in behalf of injured innocence; 4, 5. disclaimeth all connexion with wicked men ; 6, 7, 8. declareth a fixed resolution to adhere to the worship of God in the church; 9, 10. prayeth to be delivered from the ungodly; 11. again protesteth integrity, and, 12. determineth to praise the Lord.

1. Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in mine integrity; I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.

We have here an appeal to God, in behalf of injured and calumniated innocence. This was the case of David, with regard to the accusations of Saul; of Christ, with regard to those of the Jews; and it is often the case of the church, and of good men in the world; for whose use this Psalm seems peculiarly calculated.

6. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.

A trial of this sort might be desired by David, and may be desired by men, like him, conscious of

their integrity, as to the particular crimes charge upon them by the malice of their enemies. Christ alone could ask such a trial at large, as being equally free from every kind and degree of sin; and certain of receiving additional lustre from the increasing heat of the furnace.

3. For thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.

They who study, in order to copy, the loving kindness' and the 'truth' of God, may have confidence towards him, whose 'truth' will not suffer him to be false to the promises, which his lovingkindness' prompted him to make.

4. I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. 5. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.

David, driven by Saul into a land of aliens, yet preserved himself from the contagion of idolatry. And happy the Christian, who can say, that, during the time of his banishment and pilgrimage, he hath escaped the pollutions that are in the world, namely, vanity and hypocrisy, evil practices, and wicked principles. Christ alone, like his emblem the light, passed through all things undefiled.

6. I will wash mine hands in my innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Lord: 7. That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

Instead of consorting with the heathen, David comforts himself with the future prospect of resto

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ration to Jerusalem; of attending the service of God in the tabernacle; of performing the legal ablutions, in token of innocency thereby signified; and of singing, before the holy altar, psalms of praise for his deliverance. The believing soul, in like manner, may find perpetual consolation, while she looks forward, toward her return home from her exile in the world, to the Jerusalem above; her access to the fountain of life and purity; her employment of serving God in the eternal temple; and chanting forth, with angels and archangels, the new songs of the celestial Sion for so great salvation.

8. Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thy honour dwelleth, Heb. the place of the tabernacle of thy glory.

With what ardent affection the banished prophet sighs for the beauty of holiness in the church! the most amiable object on earth, because the nearest resemblance of heaven, where is the true 'habitation of God's house, and the place of the tabernacle of his glory; since of the heavenly Jerusalem St. John tells us, that 'the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple.' Rev. xxi. 22.

9. Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men: 10. In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.

In consideration of his integrity and piety, David beseeches God not to deliver him over into the hands of his unjust and bloody enemies, nor to reckon him in their number. Let our lot, O

Lord, be among thy children here, that it among them hereafter.

may be

11. But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity : redeem me, and be merciful unto me.

The Christian's resolution, like that of the prophet, must be, to hold fast his'integrity' in the midst of his enemies, and not follow a multitude to do evil; as knowing, that the day of final ‘redemption and mercy' will come.

12. My foot standeth in an even place; in the congregations will I bless the Lord.

The law of God is that even place,' that plain and direct path, in which the affections, which are the feet' of the soul must be immovably fixed, so that nothing may induce her to swerve from the stability of her purpose, to the right hand or to the left. David, upon his return to his country, blessed the Lord in the congregation' of Israel, by singing Psalms of praise and thanksgiving; and by the constant use of those very Psalms, the Lord is daily 'blessed' in all Christian congregations' throughout the world; yea, and he shall be so blessed to the end of time.

Fifth Day.-Evening Prayer.

PSALM XXVII.

ARGUMENT.-This Psalm containeth, 1-3. a declaration of trust and confidence in Jehovah, amidst the dangers and tumults of war; 4. a longing desire of restoration to the city and house of God; 5, 6. a triumphant assurance of final victory and exultation; 7-12. earnest prayer for support and

protection; 13. a profession of faith, and its mighty power and comfort in affliction; 14. an exhortation to patience.

1. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

God is our light,' as he showeth us the state we are in, and the enemies we have to encounter; he is our 'strength,' as he enableth us, by his grace, to cope with, and overcome them; and he is our salvation,' as the author and finisher of our deliverance from sin, death, and Satan. All this he was to the blessed person whom David represented; and all this he will be to his faithful servants. If God' therefore be for us, who can be against us?' Rom. viii. 31.

2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me, to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

The past time is often used, in the prophetical language, to intimate the certainty of the future. Faith sees the foe already vanquished, and the prey snatched from the jaws of the devouring lion.

3. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

What avails it, that the host' of darkness is in arms, and the world taking the field against us, when the Lord is our light, and heaven our ally?

4. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the