·

people and kingdom of the world. Look down, O Lord Jefu, yet once again upon thy fervants, ftill under the dominion of death, and the bondage of corruption; loose these chains, even these alfo, O Lord, and bring us forth into the glorious liberty, of thy children; that with the whole affembly of the redeemed, in the heavenly Jerufalem, we may bless and praise thy name for ever and ever..

23. He weakened my ftrength in the way; he hortened my days.

"

The prophet, in the person of captive Sion, having, from verse 13. to verse 22. expreffed his faith and hope in the promised redemption, now returns to his mournful complaints, as at verfe 11. Ifrael doubteth not of God's veracity, but feareth left his heavy hand should crush the generation then in being, before they should behold the expiration of their troubles. They were in " the way," but their " ftrength" was fo" weakened," and their " days fhortened," that they almost despaired of holding out to their journey's end. A fore trial hath the Chriftian church to undergo in the last days, before the second advent of her Lord and Saviour. Strong faith and inviņcible patience will be neceffary, to enable her to endure, until the end fhall come.

24. And I faid, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days; thy years are throughout all generations.

Israel prayeth that the holy feed might not be extirpated, and perifh by a kind of untimely death, ere yet the promise had been made good, and Sion had feen the falvation of her God. Every man hath

reason to pray, that God would not " take him away

in the midst of his days," or call upon him when unprepared; but that time may be allowed him to perfect his repentance, and to work out his falvation.

25. Of old haft thou laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands. 26. They Jhall perish, but thou shalt endure; yea, all of them fhall wax old like a garment, as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they fhall be changed. 27. But thou art the fame, and thy years shall have no end.

Amidst the changes and chances of this mortal life, one topic of confolation will ever remain, namely, the eternity and immutability of God our Saviour; of Lim who was, and is, and is to come. Kingdoms and empires may rife and fall; nay, the heavens and the earth, as they were originally produced and formed by the WORD of God, the Son, or fecond perfon in the Trinity, to whom the Pfalmift here addreffeth himfelf; See Heb. i. 10. fo will they, at the day appointed, be folded up, and laid afide, as an old and worn out garment; or, if the fubftance remain, the present form and fashion of them will perifh, and they will be utterly changed and altered from the ftate in which they now are. But Jehovah is ever the fame; his years have no end, nor can his promise fail, any more than himself. "Heaven and earth,"

faith he, "fhall pafs away; but my words fhall not

"pass away." Matt. xxiv. 35.

28. The children of thy fervants hall continue; and their feed fhall be established before thee.

Whatever be the fate of the prefent generation, whether they may live to fee the accomplishment of

all

all that has been foretold, or not, yet the word of God ftandeth fure; there fhall be always a church, and an holy feed, to whom the promises fhall be made good. They have already been fulfilled with regard to the advent of Meffiah, and the vocation of the Gentiles. The events which are behind will be brought forward and come to pafs in their feasons, until the counfel of God shall be finished, and every prediction receive it's full accomplishment, in the glorification of the redeemed.

PSALM CIII.

ARGUMENT.

In this evangelical and most comfortable hymn, David, after 1, 2. exciting himself to the work, 3-5. praiseth Jehovah for the mercies of redemption; 6, 7. celebrateth his goodness to Mofes and Ifrael; 8-13. fetteth forth the divine philanthrophy, under various beautiful exprefsions and images; 14-16. defcribeth in a manner wonderfully affecting, man's frail and perifhable state; but 17, 18. leadeth him, for confolation, to the everlafting mercy of God in Christ, the stability of whose throne and kingdom 19. he declareth, and 20-22. calleth upon heaven and earth to join with him in blessing and praising his holy name. N 4

1. Bless

1. Bless the LORD, O my foul, and all that is within me bless his holy name.

The Pfalmift, about to utter a fong of praise, first endeavours to awaken and stir up his "foul" to the joyful task. He calleth forth all his powers and faculties, "all that is within him," that every part of his frame may glorify it's Saviour; that the understanding may know him, the will chufe him, the affections delight in him, the heart believe in him, and the tongue confefs him. "Blefs the Lord, O my foul, and all that is within me blefs his holy

name.

2. Bless the LORD, O my foul, and forget not all his benefits.

Thanfgiving cannot be fincere and hearty, unless a man bear impreffed upon his mind, at the time, a quick fenfe of "benefits" received; and "benefits" we are most of us apt to "forget" those, especially, which are conferred upon us by God. Therefore David repeateth his felf-awakening call, and fummoneth all his powers of recollection, that none of the divine favours might continue unnoticed and unacknowledged. A catalogue of fuch particular mercies, temporal, and fpiritual, as each individual hath experienced through life, might be of fervice, to refrefh the memory, upon this important head.

3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities: who healeth all thine infirmities.

At the head of God's mercies muft for ever ftand remiffion of fin," or that full and free pardon purchafed for us by Jefus Chrift, whereby, if we truly repent and believe in him, our tranfgreffions,

though

though ever fo many, and ever fo great, are done away, and become as if they had never been; from a ftate of guilt we pafs into one of juftification, from a state of enmity into one of reconciliation, from a state of fervitude into one of liberty and fonship. Next to the pardon of fin, confidered as a crime, we are to commemorate the cure of it, confidered as a disease, or indeed as a complication of diseases"Who healeth all thine infirmities." The body experienceth the melancholy confequences of Adam's offence, and is fubject to many "infirmities;" but the foul is fubject to as many. What is pride, but lunacy; what is anger, but a fever; what is avarice, but a dropfy; what is luft, but a leprofy; what is floth, but a dead palfy? Perhaps there are spiritual maladies fimilar to all corporeal ones. When Jefus Christ was upon earth, he proved himself the physician of men's fouls, by the cures which he wrought upon their bodies. It is he alone who "forgiveth "all our iniquities;" it is he alone who "healeth all

our infirmities." And the perfon who findeth his fin" cured," hath a well grounded affurance that it is " forgiven."

4. Who redeemeth thy life from deftruction; who crowneth, or, encircleth thee with loving kindness, and tender mercies.

Man hath two "lives;" he is therefore fubject to a double" destruction ;" and, consequently, capable of a twofold "redemption." He who is recovered from fickness, and thereby redeemed from that deftruction which natural death bringeth upon the body, will undoubtedly fing this ftrain in transports

of