have they been put to the test, in the trials of the faithful, like silver committed to the furnace, in an earthen crucible; but, like silver in its most refined and exalted purity, found to contain no dross of imperfection, no alloy of fallibility in them. The words of Jehovah are holy in his precepts, just in his laws, gracious in his promises, significant in his institutions, true in his narrations, and infallible in his predictions. What are the thousands of gold and silver, compared to the treasures of the sacred page!

7. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

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As if it had been said, Yes, blessed Lord, what thou hast promised shall surely be performed, since there is with thee no variableness, nor shadow of turning thou wilt keep thy poor and lowly servants, as thou hast promised, from being circumvented by treachery, or crushed by power; thou wilt preserve them undefiled amidst an evil and adulterous generation; thou wilt be with thy church to the end of the world, and then admit her to be with thee for ever.

8. The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

While the faithful repose, as they ought to do, an unlimited confidence in God's promises, they have, in the meantime, but too much reason to mourn the prevalence of wickedness, stalking, like its author, to and fro, and up and down in the earth, uncontrolled by those who bear the sword, but who either blunt its edge, or turn it the wrong way. Such is often the state of things here below;

and a reflection, made upon the subject by our Lord, when his enemies drew near to apprehend him, may satisfy us how it comes to be so: 'It is your hour, and the power of darkness.' But that hour will quickly pass with us, as it did with him, and the power of darkness will be overthrown; the Lord will be our everlasting light, and the days of our mourning shall be ended.

PSALM XIII.

ARGUMENT.-This Psalm contains, 1, 2. a complaint of desertion; 3, 4. a prayer for the divine assistance; 5, 6. an act of faith and thanksgiving.

1. How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

While God permits his servants to continue under affliction, he is said, after the manner of men, to have forgotten, and hid his face from them.' For the use, therefore, of persons in such circumstances, is this Psalm intended; and, consequently, it suits the different cases of the church universal, languishing for the advent of our Lord to deliver her from this evil world; of any particular church, in time of persecution; and of each individual, when harassed by temptations, or broken by sickness, pain, and sorrow. He who bore our sins, and carried our sorrows, may likewise be presumed to have made it a part of his devotions in the day of trouble.

2. How long shall I take counsel in my soul, hav

ing sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

To excite compassion, and prevail for help from above, the petitioner mentions three aggravating circumstances of his misery: the perplexity of his soul, not knowing which way to turn, or what course to take; his heart-felt sorrow, uttering itself in sighs and groanings; and the mortifying reflection, that his enemies were exulting in their conquest over him. All this will happen, and be particularly painful, to him who has yielded to temptation, and committed sin.

3. Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.

On the preceding considerations is founded a prayer to Jehovah, that he would no longer hide his face, but consider,' or, more literally, have respect to, favourably behold' his servant; that he would hear, attend to, be mindful of' his supplication in distress. The deliverance requested is expressed figuratively, Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.' In time of sickness and grief, the eyes' are dull and heavy; and they grow more and more so as death approaches, which closes them in darkness. On the other hand, health and joy render the organs of vision bright and sparkling, seeming, as it were, to impart light' to them from within. The words, therefore, may be fitly applied to a recovery of the body natural, and thence of the body politic, from their respective maladies. Nor do they less significantly describe the restoration of the soul to a state of spiritual health and holy joy, which will manifest themselves

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in like manner, by the eyes of the understanding being enlightened;' and in this case, the soul is saved from the sleep of sin, as the body is, in the other, from the sleep of death.

4. Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

This argument we often find urged in prayer to God, that he should be pleased to work salvation for his people, lest his and their enemies should seem to triumph over him as well as them; which would indeed have been the case, had Satan either seduced the true David to sin, or confined him in the grave. And certainly it should be a powerful motive to restrain us from transgression, when we consider, that as the conversion of a sinner brings glory to God, and causes joy among the angels of heaven; so the fall of a believer disgraces the Gospel of Jesus, opens the mouths of the adversaries, and would produce joy, if such a thing could be, in hell itself.

5. But I have trusted, or, I trust, in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice, or, rejoices, in thy salvation. 6. I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt, or, deals, bountifully with me.

The heart which 'trusteth in God's mercy,' shall alone rejoice in his salvation,' and celebrate by the tongue, in songs of praise, the loving kindness of the Lord. It is observable, that this and many other Psalms, with a mournful beginning, have a triumphant ending; to show us the prevailing power of devotion, and to convince us of the certain return of prayer, sooner or later, bringing with it the

comforts of heaven, to revive and enrich our weary and barren spirits in the gloomy seasons of sorrow and temptation, like the dew descending by night upon the withered summit of an eastern mountain.

PSALM XIV.

ARGUMENT.-This Psalm is in a manner the same with the 53d. It sets forth, 1-3. the corruption of the world; 4—6. its enmity against the people of God; 7. the prophet longs and prays for salvation.

1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God: they are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

It does not appear upon what occasion David composed this Psalm. The revolt of Israel in Absalom's rebellion, is by most writers pitched upon as the subject of it. But, be this as it may, the expressions are general, and evidently designed to extend beyond a private interpretation. And accordingly, the apostle (Rom. iii. 10, &c.) produces some passages from it, to evince the apostacy of both Jews and Gentiles from their King and their God, and to prove them to be all under sin. In this light, therefore, we are to consider it, as characterizing the principles and practices of those who oppose the Gospel of Christ in all ages. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.' Infidelity is the beginning of sin, folly the foundation of infidelity, and the heart the seat of both. Their foolish heart (says St. Paul of the heathen, Rom. i. 21) was darkened.' The sad consequence of defection in principle, is corruption in practice. They

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