Not so the Psalmist. He knew a pearl of far greater price, namely, the loving kindness' of Jehovah, on which is suspended not only the life which now is, but that which is to come. The sense of this loving kindness tuned the harp of the son of Jesse, and now tunes those of the spirits before the throne.

4. Thus will I bless thee while I live; I will lift up my hands in thy name.

'While we live,' however wretched our condition may be, we have an opportunity of obtaining pardon, grace, and glory; for which we ought, at all times, to bless' God, lifting up pure hands' in prayer, employing them in every good work, and all in the 'name' of Jesus.

5. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: 6. When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

Solitude and stillness render the 'night watches' a fit season for meditation on the so often experienced mercies of God; which, when thus called to remembrance, become a delicious repast to the spirit, filling it with all joy, and peace, and consolation ; giving songs in the night, and making darkness itself cheerful. How cheerful, then, will be that last morning, when the righteous, awaking up after the divine likeness, shall be satisfied' with all the fullness of God, and praise him with joyful lips,' in those eternal courts where there is no night, and from whence sorrow and sighing fly far away!

7. Because thou hast been my help, therefore un

der the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. 8. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

Recollection of past mercies inclines the soul to put herself under the 'wing' of an all-shadowing Providence. Should her Redeemer, for a time, seem to be deserting her, faith constraineth her to 'follow hard after him,' as a child doth after the father; and not to let go the 'hand' which hath so often upholden' her from falling.

9. But those that seek my soul to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. 10. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.

The enemies of Jehovah, and his Anointed, if they come not to a violent death, an early grave, or to have their carcases devoured by the beasts of the field, (as hath sometimes been the case,) yet in an after-state, their condition will certainly be deplorable. Their habitation must be in the pit ;' their punishment, the flaming sword' of almighty vengeance; and their companions, those crafty and malicious ones, who, having contributed to seduce, will help to torment them.

11. But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

If David found cause to rejoice in God, who gave him the victory over all his enemies; if the subjects of David might well glory in their king; if the slanderers of David were put to silence, at beholding him exalted to the throne of Israel; how much greater is the joy of Messiah in the Godhead, giving the manhood victory over his ene

mies; sin, death, and hell; how much rather may his subjects and worshippers glory in their triumphant King; and how much more shall the blasphemers of such a Saviour be everlastingly confounded, when they shall behold him invested with all the power and majesty of the Father, and seated on the throne of judgment! Surely, then, 'the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.'

PSALM LXIV.

ARGUMENT.-David, in the person of Messiah, 1, 2. prayeth to be delivered from his enemies, from their counsels and insurrections; 3, 4. he describeth their calumnies and slanders, their scoffs and blasphemies, and, 5, 6. their indefatigable malice; predicting, 7-9. their astonishing fall, with, 10. the exaltation of the church, in God her Saviour.

1. Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer; preserve my life from fear of the enemy.

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The prophet, after beseeching God to hear him, prefers his petition, which is, to be preserved from fear of the enemy.' A petition of this kind is granted either by a removal of the ground of fear, when the enemy's power to hurt is taken from him, or his will changed; or else, by an extirpation of the fear itself, through the increase of faith, charity, and fortitude. For the former let us pray conditionally, if it may be done, and if it is God's will that it should be done,' as Christ prayed against the bitter cup in the garden; for the latter we may pray absolutely; since a victory, gained by the fear of God over the fear of man, is a necessary step,

and a happy prelude, to a full and final triumph over every enemy of our salvation.

2. Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked: from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity.

The counsels and insurrections' of the Israelites against David; of the same people afterwards, against the Son of David; of worldly and wicked men against the church; and of the powers of darkness against us all, are here, respectively, understood to be deprecated.

3. Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words : 4. That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.

In personal scoffings and revilings, the tongue performs the part of a sword,' which is a weapon that can be used only in open renconters: but' bitter words,' spoken in secret, and at a distance from him who is the subject of them, are like arrows,' which may be shot from an obscure and remote corner, and therefore cannot be warded off. The tongue in both these capacities was employed against that perfect one, the holy Jesus, in the days of his flesh. Would to God it had never been since employed against him and his disciples, or by his disciples against each other!

5. They encourage themselves in an evil matter; they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who

shall see them?

Sin doth not often appear abroad without a veil; and the more atrocious the sin, the more specious must be the pretence which is to cover it. Envy

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and malice crucified the Son of God; but, during the course of the proceedings against him, you hear only of zeal for the law, and loyalty to Cæsar. Such are the snares,' set by the crafty, to deceive the simple and unwary; without considering that the broad eye of heaven, all the time, surveys their most secret devices, by which they impose upon others, and frequently upon themselves.

6. They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart is deep.

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Truth and righteousness may be found, and practised, with half the pains that are often employed to search out iniquity,' and establish error. Jews could not accomplish the death of Christ without counsels, stratagems, and subornations, 'deep' and dark as hell itself: all which trouble they might have saved themselves at once, by believing on him. The case is the same with virtue and vice; and honesty is the readiest, as well as the best policy.

7. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. 8. So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves; all that see them shall flee away.

While the enemies of the Just One' were shooting in secret at him, he that dwelleth in the heavens was levelling an arrow at them, and one which would not fail to take place. It accordingly did so; and the direful imprecations of their own tongues fell,' in unexampled vengeance, on the heads of them and their children, who continued to justify the deeds of their fathers. All would flee away' from

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