The meaning is, that the good man, during his journey through life, fhall be under God's protection at all feafons; as Ifrael in the wilderness was defended from the burning heat of the fun, by the moist and refreshing fhadow of the cloud; and fecured against the inclement influences of the nocturnal heavens, by the kindly warmth and fplendour diffused from the pillar of fire. Be thou with us thy fervants, O Lord, in the world, as thou wast with Ifrael in the wildernefs; fuffer not our virtue to diffolve before the fultry gleams of profperity; permit it not to be frozen by the chilling blasts of adverfity.

7. The LORD fhall preferve thee from all evil: he fhall preferve thy foul. 8. The LORD shall preServe thy going out, and thy coming in, from this time forth for evermore.

To diffipate our fears, and remove every ground of diffidence, Jehovah promiseth, by his holy prophet, to "preserve us from all evil," which might befal us in the way, either by turning it afide, or turning it finally to our advantage, fo that we shall not perith, but fee our labours happily begun and ended in him; he " fhall preferve our going out, and "our coming in," until, through all the viciffitudes of this mortal ftate, he shall have brought us into his holy temple," there to become " pillars," and to

PSALM CXXII.

ARGUMENT.

The author of this Pfalm, as we are informed by it's title, was David. The fubject of it is that joy which the people were wont to exprefs, upon their going up in companies. to keep a feast at Jerufalem, when the divine fervices were regulated, and that city was appointed to be the place of public worship. Every thing which can be faid upon this topic, must naturally hold good in it's application to the Chriftian church, and the celebration of her feafts; at which feafons the believer will as naturally extend his thoughts to the Jerufalem above, and to that festival which fhall one day be there kept by all the people of God.

1. I was glad when they fuid unto me, Let us go. into the house of the LORD.

Great was the joy of an Ifraelite, when his brethren called upon him to accompany them, on fome festive occafion, to the tabernacle, or temple at Jerufalem; great is the joy of a Chriftian, when he is invited, in like manner, to celebrate the feats of the church, to commemorate the nativity, or the refurrection, and to eat and drink at the table of his Lord. Such, in kind, but far greater in degree, is that gladness,

which the pious foul experiences, when he is called hence; when defcending angels fay unto her, Thy labour and forrow are at an end, and the hour of thy enlargement is come; put off mortality and mifery at once; quit thy houfe of bondage, and the land of thy captivity; fly forth, and "let us go together "into the houfe of the LORD, not made with hands, "eternal in the heavens."

2. Our feet fhall ftand within thy gates, O Jerufalem.

Yes, O thou holy and happy city of peace, and love, and everlafting delight, our God will in time bring us to behold, and to enter thee; "our feet," which now, with many a weary ftep, tread the earth, "fhall" one day "ftand within thy gates," which are opened to all believers; we fhall at length reft in thy celeftial manfions, and converfe for ever with thy bleft inhabitants.

3. Jerufalem is builded as a city that is compact together.

We fee thee not, indeed, as yet, but we hear of thy stability, thy unity, thy beauty, and thy magnificence. Thy foundations are firm upon the holy hills; they are garnished with all manner of precious ftones; and in them are the names of the twelveapostles of the Lamb. Thy gates are of pearl, twelve in number, and open to all quarters, for the tribes. of the fpiritual Ifrael to come in. Thy ftreets are of pure gold, as it were tranfparent glafs; thou art crowned with the unfading brightness of eternal glory; and the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple in the midst of thee. All thefe glorious things are spoken of thee, thou city of God!

And

And yet, when we come to fee thee with our eyes, we fhall be forced to confefs, as the queen of Sheba did, upon viewing the earthly Jerufalem, with it's material temple, and the court of it's mortal king, that thou far "exceedeft the fame which we had "heard," and that "the half was not told us." 1 Kings x. 7.

4. Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto, or, according to the testimony of Ifrael, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.

As all the "tribes" of Ifrael, three times in the year, were seen "going up" to the old Jerusalem, in compliance with the " teftimonies," the injunctions and inftitutions of their law, to acknowledge the mercies, and to give thanks unto the name of " Je"hovah," who had done fuch great things for them; fo from the ends of the earth are the redeemed of the Lord, out of every nation, and kindred, and people, continually afcending, by faith and charity, to the new Jerufalem. St. John faw the nations of them that were faved, walking in the light of the heavenly city, and he heard her streets refound with the hallelujahs of ten thousand times ten thousand.

5. For there are fet thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.

The Ifraelites reforted to Jerufalem, because it was the metropolis of the country, and there was the refidence of their monarchs, after the kingdom was eftablished in "the house of David." But alas, that metropolis is defolate, and "the thrones of judg"ment," which were therein, have been long fince caft down to the ground. A Jerufalem, however, remains,

remains, which shall never be moved; in that Jerufalem is the throne of eternal judgment erected, and the Son of David fitteth upon it. Of him it was faid by the angel to Mary, "The Lord God fhall give "C unto him the throne of his father David: and he "shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of "his kingdom there fhall be no end." Luke i. 32. And he himself thus addreffed his Apoftles; "Verily,

"I I fay unto you, that ye which have followed me, "in the regeneration, when the Son of Man fhall fit "on the throne of his glory, ye alfo fhall fit upon "twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Ifrael.” Mat. xix. 28.

6. Pray for the peace of Jerufalem: they fhall profper that love thee.

In this latter part of our Pfalm, the members of the Ifraelitish church are exhorted to pray for it's peace and welfare. What that church was, the Chrif tian Church militant upon earth now is, and demandeth, in like manner, the prayers of all Chriftian people for it's peace and welfare in a troublesome and contentious world. It's increafe here below is in reality the increase of Jerufalem above, of which it is a part, and ought to be a resemblance. Heaven has therefore decreed, that they who contribute their labours as well as their prayers, to promote so good and fo glorious an end, fhall enjoy it's protection, and it's bleffing shall be upon the work of their hands; "They shall profper that love thee."

7. Peace be within thy walls, and profperity, or plenteoufnefs, within thy palaces.

Come, O thou divine Spirit of peace and love, who didft refide in the foul of the holy Jefus, defcend

into