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carved images, and that delight in vain gods :

worship Him, all ye gods.

LXX. And worship Him, all ye His angels.

Heb. i. 6. And let all the angels of God worship Him.

In that mighty revelation of the Only-begotten to the world, all idolaters, and liars, and 'enemies of the Cross of Christ' shall be utterly dismayed and filled with deepest shame. They who have chosen another God instead of the eternal Son, will cry to the melting mountains and the burning rocks to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. He is God: no being may be worshipped, but God alone. We worship not angels; but let us imitate angels, and worship Him Who is worshipped by angels, even the Co-equal and Almighty Son. 'Him the Father hath appointed Heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds, Who is made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent Name than they. For unto which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thet? And again, I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son? And again, when He bringeth in the Firstbegotten into the world, He saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him.'

8. Sion heard of it, and rejoiced and the daughters of Judah were glad, because of Thy judgements, O Lord.

9. For Thou, Lord, art higher than all that

are in the earth: Thou art exalted far above

all gods.

But while the wicked shall be confounded at the proclamation of the Advent of the Judge, the Church shall rejoice. The holy and pious souls who dwell within her, the daughters of Judah, shall be glad because of the judgments of their Lord,-they will rejoice and lift up their heads because their redemption has drawn nigh,-they will be glad because their Lord, Who loved them, Who was once lifted up from the earth in shame, is now exalted above all, higher than the highest in Almighty power, King of all kings, Lord of all lords, God of all gods.

10. O ye that love the Lord, see that ye hate the thing which is evil the Lord preserveth the souls of His saints; He shall deliver them from the hand of the ungodly.

Then will God shew His fierce hatred of evil by destroying it utterly: and they who would win His love then, must hate it now. To love God and to hate evil are one and the same; if we love Him, we hate that which He hates; and we cannot hate that which is evil as we ought, except in and by the love of Him Who is perfect goodness. They who love God need only to hate evil, for they need not to fear it: He will preserve the soul of His saints in the power of His own mighty love. He will daily deliver them, as they ask in their daily prayer, both

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from evil and from the Evil one. His love delivers from sin, for He hath pardoned sin; from death, for He hath overcome death; from hell, for the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them.'

11. There is sprung up a light for the righteous and joyful gladness for such as are true-hearted.

Heb. Light is sown for the righteous.

12. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous : and give thanks for a remembrance of His holiness.

The Sun of righteousness hath even now risen, and scattereth on all sides His beams of grace, like a sower scatters his seeds. He is now shining with the clear brightness of grace and truth, Who shall hereafter shine with the lightning-blaze of judgment and of power. In this light of His love there is no darkness and no fear for them that are His. In Him is not only light, but consolation and joy for them that are true of heart,-for them that hate that first-born of all evil, falsehood and lies. And in Him is joy-joy, the seed whereof is little, but the harvest great-here and for ever; and in the thought of His coming there are causes of unending thanksgivings in the remembrance of His holiness. Heed we Him Who biddeth us rejoice, not in things temporal, but in Himself; and give we thanks to Him for the hope which He giveth us, that when

all things here are passed away, we shall reign with Him in His holiness.

This Psalm is a glorious and awful prophecy of the coming of the kingdom of God. That it is prophetic of the Saviour is proved by the quotation of verse 7 in the Epistle to the Hebrews; and it can hardly be doubted but that it refers to His second Advent. It has no title in the Hebrew. The LXX. give as a title "A Psalm of David, when his land was restored." It may perhaps have been written by David after his restoration to his country and throne; and its resemblance to the former part of Psalm xviii., and the mention of Sion, are in favour of the supposition which assigns it to "the Psalmist of Israel."

Evening Prayer.

ONE OF THE CANTICLES FOR EVENSONG.

PSALM XCViii. Cantate Domino.

1. O SING unto the Lord a new song for He hath done marvellous things.

2. With His own right hand, and with His holy arm hath He gotten Himself the victory.

A new life wants a new song. Our Saviour Christ hath made us new creatures, and our old penitential lamentation for ourselves and our misdeeds must give way to a new song of joy and exultation in the marvels of His Almighty love. The Lord alone has gotten the victory over the evil of the world; 'His own arm brought salvation.' By His nailpierced hand and His stretched-out arm hath He overcome the world; and in Him and with Him have

they gotten the victory, who 'stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God, and who sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy Name? For Thou only art holy for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made

manifest.'

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3. The Lord declared His salvation : His righteousness hath He openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.

4. He hath remembered His

truth toward the house of Israel

mercy and

and all the

ends of the world have seen the salvation of our God.

LXX. He hath remembered His mercy to Jacob:

And His truth to the house of Israel.

In Him 'the mystery which was kept secret since the world began is now made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, is made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.' In Christ on the Cross is the salvation of God declared; in Christ on the judgment-throne shall His righteousness be openly shewed. He hath shewn Himself, Who is salvation and righteousness, to the heathen who knew Him not, to the Gentiles who were afar off; He has remembered the mercy and truth of the

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