desperate state of the Jews, when their calamities came upon them. "They cried, but-none to save!" They had rejected Him who alone could save, and who was now about to destroy them. They cried to Jehovah, and thought themselves still his favourite nation; but Jehovah and Jesus were one; so that after putting the latter from them, they could not retain the former on their side. "He answered them not!" It was too late to knock when the door was shut; too late to cry for mercy, when it was the time of justice. Let us knock while yet the door may be opened, and not begin to pray when prayer shall be no longer heard.

"42. Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast. them out as the dirt in the streets."

The nature of that judgment which was executed upon the Jews, cannot be more accurately delineated than by the two images here made use of. They were broken in pieces, and dispersed over the face of the earth by the breath of God's displeasure, like "dust before the wind; and as dirt in the streets, they were cast out," to be trodden under foot by all nations. O that every nation would so consider, as to avoid their crime and their punishment.

43. Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people, and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me."

If David was delivered from the striviugs of the people; if the adjacent heathen nations were added to his kingdom, and a "people, whom he had not known, served him;" how much more was this the case of the Son of David, when he was "delivered," by his resurrection, from the power of all his enemies; when he was made "head of the heathen," of whom, after their conversion, his church was, and to this day is composed; and when, instead of the rejected Jews, a people, to whom before he had not been known, became his servants?

"44. As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me; the strangers shall submit themselves unto me. 45. The strangers shall fade away, and

be afraid out of their close places."

"As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me;" hereby is intimated the readiness with which the Gentiles should flow into the church, upon the preaching of the Gospel to them, when the Jews, after having so long and so often heard it, had nailed Christ to the cross, and driven the apostles out from among them. "The strangers shall submit themselves unto me;" the nations who were "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise," either cordially submitted to the sceptre of Christ, or at least dissembled their hostility, and yielded a feigned submission; (for so the n word sometimes signifies;)" the strangers shall fade away;" that is, such of them as set themselves against me, shall find their strength blasted and withered as a leaf in autumn, and shall fall at the sound of my name and my victories: "they shall come trembling from their strong holds," as places not able to protect them, and therefore they will sue for peace. Such seems to be the import of these two verses, which therefore denote the conquest of Messiah to have been everywhere complete. And accordingly, in the remaining part of the Psalm, the church through Christ her Head, blesseth Jehovah for the same.

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46. The LORD liveth, and blessed be my Rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. 47. It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me. 48. He delivered me from mine enemies; yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me; thou hast delivered me from the violent man."

In other words, "And now the Lord God omnipotent liveth and reigneth, for ever blessed and exalted, as the God of salvation; by him I am avenged of those who persecuted me, and am advanced to empire; my enemies are fallen, and my throne is established." Thus we learn to trust in Jehovah

without fear, when our enemies are victorious, and to glorify him without reserve, when we are so.

"49. Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name."

Remarkable is the manner in which St. Paul cites this verse, Rom. xv. 9. The context runs thus, "Now I say, that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy: as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name." This verse is by the Apostle produced as a proof, that the Gentiles were one time to glorify God, for the mercy vouchsafed them by Jesus Christ. But according to the letter of the passage, king David only says, that he will "give thanks unto God among the heathen,' on account of his own deliverance, and exaltation to the throne of Israel; for upon that occasion we know that he composed and sung the Psalm. This citation brought by St. Paul cannot therefore be to the purpose for which it is brought, unless the Psalm have a double sense; unless God be glorified in it for the victory and inthronization of Christ, as well as for those of David; and this cannot be, unless the same words which literally celebrate the one, do likewise prophetically celebrate the other; unless David be a figure of Christ, and speak in his person, and in that of his body the church. While this Psalm is used, as a Christian hymn, in the Gentile Christian church, David still continues, as he foresaw he should do, "to give thanks unto Jehovah, to glorify God among the Gentiles," for the mercies of redemption, and to "sing praises unto his name."*

"50. Great deliverance giveth he to his King: and sheweth mercy to his Anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

"Great deliverance giveth he unto his king;" to king David, in saving him from Saul and his other temporal enemies, and seating him on the earthly throne of Israel; to King Messiah, in rescuing him from death and the grave, and exalting him to a heavenly throne, as Head of the church: "and sheweth mercy to his Anointed;" to him who was anointed outwardly, and in a figure, with oil; and to him who was anointed inwardly, and in truth, with the Holy Ghost and with power: "to David and to his seed for evermore;" to the literal David, and to his royal progeny, of whom, according to the flesh, Christ came; and to Christ himself, the spiritual David, the Beloved of God, and all those who through faith become his children, the sons of God, and heirs of eternal life.

FOURTH DAY.-MORNING PRAYER.

PSALM XIX.

ARGUMENT.

In the former part of this beautiful Psalm, ver. 1-6. the heavens are represented as the instructers of mankind; the subject, the universality, and the manner of their instructions, are pointed out; the glory, beauty, and powerful effects of the solar light are described. The latter part of the Psalm, 7— 14. contains an encomium on the word of God, in which its properties are enumerated; and a prayer of the Psalmist for pardoning and restraining grace, and for the acceptance of these and all other his devotions and meditations. From a citation which St. Paul hath made of the 4th verse, it appears, that in the exposition, we are to raise our thoughts from things natu

* "This verse is applied in Rom. xv. 2. to the calling of the Gentiles unto the faith of Christ, and praise unto God therefor. By which we are taught, that of Christ and his kingdom this Psalm is chiefly intended." Ainsworth.

ral to things spiritual; we are to contemplate the publication of the Gospel, the manifestation of the Light of Life, the Sun of Righteousness, and the efficacy of evangelical doctrine. In this view the ancients have considered the Psalm, and the church hath therefore appointed it to be read on Christmas day.

"1. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handy-work."

Under the name of "heaven," or "the heavens," is comprehended that fluid mixture of light and air, which is everywhere diffused about us; and to the influences of which are owing all the beauty and fruitfulness of the earth, all vegetable and animal life, and the various kinds of motion throughout the system of nature. By their manifold and beneficial operations, therefore, as well as by their beauty and magnificence, "the heavens declare the glory of God;" they point Him out to us, who, in Scripture language, is styled "the glory of God;" by whom themselves and all other things were made, and are upholden; and who is the author of every grace and blessing to the sons of men: "the firmament," or expansion of the celestial elements, wherever it extends, "showeth his handy-work," not only as the Creator, but likewise as the Redeemer of the world. And thus do the heavens afford inexhaustible matter for contemplation and devotion to the philosopher and to the Christian.

"2. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge."

The labours of these our instructers know no intermission, but they continue incessantly to lecture us in the science of divine wisdom. There is one glory of the sun, which shines forth by day; and there are other glories of the moon and of the stars, which become visible by night. And because day and night interchangeably divide the world between them, they are therefore represented as transmitting in succession, each to the other, the task enjoined them, like the two parts of a choir, chanting forth alternately the praises of God. How does inanimate nature reproach us with our indolence and indevotion!

"3. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard."

Our translators, by the words inserted in a different character, have declared their sense of this passage to be, that there is no nation or language, whither the instruction diffused by the heavens doth not reach. But as the same thought is so fully expressed in the next verse, "Their sound is gone out," &c. it seems most adviseable to adhere to the original, which runs literally thus, "No speech, no words, their voice is not heard ;" that is, although the heavens are thus appointed to teach, yet it is not by articulate sounds that they do it; they are not endowed, like man, with the faculty of speech; but they address themselves to the mind of the intelligent beholder in another way, and that, when understood, a no less forcible way, the way of picture, or representation. So manifold is the wisdom of God; so various are the ways by which he communicates it to men.

"4. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world."

The instruction which the heavens disperse abroad is universal as their substance, which extends itself in "lines," or rays, "over all the earth;" by this means their "words," or rather their significant actions" and operations, are everywhere present, even "to the ends of the world ;" and thereby they preach to all nations the power and wisdom, the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord. The apostles' commission was the same with

words) is used for expressing the מלי whence) מלל The verb-מלים

meaning by signs. It has this sense, Prov. vi. 13. I speaking with his feet.

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A COMMENTARY

that of the heavens; and St. Paul, Rom. x. 18. has applied the natural images of this verse to the manifestation of the Light of Life, by the sermons of those who were sent forth for that purpose. He is speaking of those Jews who had not obeyed the Gospel. "But I say," argues he, "have they not heard? Yes, verily their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." As if he had said, They must have heard, since the apostles were commanded not to turn unto the Gentiles, till they had published their glad tidings throughout Judea; but the knowledge of him is now become universal, and all flesh has seen the glory of the Lord; the Light Divine, like that in the heavens, has visited the whole world, as the prophet David foretold, in the xixth Psalm. The apostle cannot be supposed to have made use of this Scripture in a sense of accommodation only, because he cites it among other texts which he produces merely as prophecies. And if such be its meaning, if the heavens thus declare the glory of God-and this is the great lesson they are incessantly teachingwhat other language do they speak, than that their Lord is the representative of ours, the bright ruler in the natural world of the more glorious one in the spiritual, their sun of the "Sun of righteousness?" But of this the following verses will lead us to speak more particularly.

"In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 5. Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.'

In the centre of the heavens there is a tent pitched by the Creator for the residence of that most glorious of inanimate substances, the solar light; from thence it issues, with the beauty of a bridegroom, and the vigour of a champion, to run its course and perform its operations. A tabernacle, in like manner, was prepared for him, who saith of himself, "I am the LIGHT of the world," John viii. 12. And as the light of the sun goes out in the morning with inconceivable activity, new and youthful itself, and communicating life and gayety to all things round it, like a bridegroom, in the marriage garment, from his chamber to his nuptials; so, at his incarnation, did the Light Divine, the promised bridegroom, visit his church, being clad himself, and clothing her with that robe of righteousness, which is styled, in holy Scripture, the marriage garment; and the joy, which his presence administered, was, like the benefits of it, universal. And as the material light is always ready to run its heavealy race, daily issuing forth, with renewed vigour, like an invincible champion still fresh to labour; so likewise did HE rejoice to run his glorious race; he excelled in strength, and his works were great and marvellous; he triumphed over the powers of darkness; he shed abroad on all sides his bright beams upon his church; he became her deliverer, her protector and support; and showed himself able in every respect to accomplish for her the mighty task he had undertaken. What a marvellous instrument of the Most High is the sun at his rising, considered in this view!

"6. His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof."

The light diffused on every side from its fountain, extendeth to the extremities of heaven, filling the whole circle of creation, penetrating even to the inmost substances of grosser bodies, and acting in and through all other matter, as the general cause of life and motion. Thus unbounded and efficacious was the influence of the Sun of righteousness, when he sent out his word, enlightening and enlivening all things by the glory of his grace. His celestial rays, like those of the sun, took their circuit round the earth; they went forth out of Judea into all parts of the habitable world, and there was no corner of it so remote as to be without the reach of their penetrating and healing power. "The Lord gave the word; great was the company of It was the express declaration those that published it," Psalm lxviii. 11. of our Saviour himself, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in

all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come," Matt. xxiv. 14. And St. Paul affirms, that the Gospel was "come unto all the world, and had been preached to every creature under heaven," Col. i. 6, and 23. The prophet therefore, having thus foretold the mission of the apostles, and the success of their ministry, proceeds in the next place to describe their "doctrine;" so that what follows is a fine encomium upon the Gospel, written with all the simplicity peculiar to the sacred language, and in a strain far surpassing the utmost efforts of human eloquence.

"7. The law, or, doctrine, of the LORD is perfect, converting, or, restoring, the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple." The word of God in this and the following verses, has several most valuable properties ascribed to it. It is perfectly well adapted in every particular, to "convert," to restore, to bring back "the soul" from error to truth, from sin to righteousness, from sickness to health, from death to life; as it convinces of sin, it holds forth a Saviour, it is a means of grace, and a rule of conduct. It giveth wisdom, and by wisdom stability, to those who might otherwise, through ignorance and weakness, be easily deceived and led astray; "it is sure," certain and infallible in its directions and informations, making wise the simple."

"8. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoiceth the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes."

To those who study the righteousness of God therein communicated to man, it becometh a never-failing source of consolation and holy joy; the conscience of the reader is cleansed by the blood, and rectified by the Spirit of Christ; and such a conscience is a continual feast; the "statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart." The Divine word resembleth the light in its brightness and purity, by which are unveiled and manifested to the eyes of the understanding, the wonderful works and dispensations of God, the state of man, the nature of sin, the way of salvation, the joys of heaven, and the pains of hell: "the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes."

"9. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether."

"The fear of the Lord," which restrains from transgressing that law by which it is bread in the heart, is in its effect a preservative of mental purity, and in the duration both of its effect and its reward eternal; it "endureth for ever." The judgments of "the LORD are" not, like those of men, oftentimes wrong and unjust, but all his determinations in his word are "truth and righteousness united" in perfection.

"10. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey, and the honey-comb."

What wonder is it, that this converting, instructing, exhilarating, enlightening, eternal, true, and righteous word, should be declared preferable to the riches of eastern kings, and sweeter to the soul of the pious believer, than the sweetest thing we know of is to the bodily taste? How ready we are to acknowledge all this! Yet, the next hour, perhaps, we part with the true riches to obtain the earthly mammon, and barter away the joys of the Spirit for the gratifications of sense! Lord, give us affections towards thy word in some measure proportioned to its excellence; for we can never love too much what we can never admire enough.

11. Moreover, by them is thy servant warned; and in keeping of them there is great reward."

The Psalmist here bears his own testimony to the character above given of the Divine word; as if he had said, The several parts of this perfect law, hereafter to be published to the whole race of mankind, have been all along my great instructers, and the only source of all the knowledge to which thy servant hath attained; and I am fully assured, that the blessed