mercy of her Saviour; as well knowing, that her night can be turned into day, and her winter give place to fpring, only by the fun of righteousness rifing, and caufing his face to fhine upon her defolations. This ought, therefore, to be the wish and the prayer of every perfecuted church, and of every afflicted foul.

4. O LORD God of hofts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?

The fins of a people may for a time "feparate be"tween them and their God, and hide his face from "them that he will not hear:" Ifai. lix. 2. he may "cover himself with a cloud, that their prayers should "not pass through;" Lam. iii. 44. and seem to reject even the devotions of his distressed servants, while he is proving the strength of their faith, and the fincerity of their repentance. But if the former be strong, and the latter fincere, they will continue to afk, till they have obtained; nor cease to knock, till the door be opened.

5. Thou feedeft them with the bread of tears, or, of weeping; and giveft them tears to drink in great measure.

There cannot be a more ftriking picture of Sion in captivity! Her bread is dipped in tears, and her cup is filled to the brim with them: no time is free from grief and lamentation. They who fin, must fubmit to penance; which if a man doth not impose on himself, God will impose it on him: whereas, if we judged ourselves, we should not be thus judged of the Lord. The church hath appointed feasons,

and

and given directions for this purpose; but who observes either the one, or the other?

6. Thou makeft us a ftrife unto our neighbours : and our enemies laugh among themselves.

Ifrael, when forfaken by her God, was a prey, for which all the neighbouring nations contended, exulting over her, and fcoffing at that condition, to which, not their counfels, or armies, but her own iniquities, had reduced her. Hence let us learn how to form a just estimate of the real state both of communities and individuals. Righteoufnefs alone exalteth man; fin is his reproach, and will be his deftruction.

7. Turn us again, O God of hofts, and caufe thy face to fhine, and we shall be faved. See above, ver. 3. 8. Thou haft brought a vine out of Egypt: thou haft caft out the heathen, and planted it.

God is reminded of the favour once fhewn by him to the church of Ifrael, and of that prosperity which The once enjoyed. She is compared to a "vine," removed, from the unkindly foil of Egypt, to the happier regions of Canaan, and there planted by Jehovah, in the place of nations extirpated for their unfruitfulness. The vine is a plant weak, and lowly, and needing fupport; when supported, wild and luxu riant, unless reftrained by the pruning knife; capable of producing the most valuable fruit; but, if barren, the most unprofitable among trees, and fit only for the flames. In all these respects it is a lively emblem of the church, and used as fuch by Ifaiah, v. 7. by Ezekiel, xv. xvii. xix. and by our Lord himself, Matt. xxi. 33. The Christian church, after

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her redemption, by the death and refurrection of Jefus, was planted in the heathen world, as Ifrael had been in Canaan; and the defcription fuits one as well

as the other.

9. Thou preparedft room before it, and didft caufe it to take deep root, and it filled the land. 10. The hills were covered with the fhadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars; or, and the goodly cedars were covered with the boughs thereof.

As the vine ftriketh it's roots deep into the foil prepared for it, and then diffufeth it's numerous branches all around, covering the fertile hills, by the fides of which it is planted, or running up the lofty cedars, to the bodies of which it is joined; fuch was the growth and fruitfulness of the Ifraelitifh church; but much greater was that of the church Christian. Her roots were faft fixed in the hearts and affections of the faithful, and her boughs fhot forth abundantly; they often felt the knife, but increased under it, both in number, and vigour; till at length, fhe overshadowed the Roman empire with her branches, and replenished the earth with her fruit, grateful to God and man.

11. She fent out her boughs unto the fea, and her branches unto the river.

This relates to the extent of Palestine, which was occupied by the tribes of Ifrael, even from the Mediterranean fea," weftward, to the "river" Euphrates, eastward. This was promifed, Deut. xi. 24. "From the river Euphrates to the uttermoft fea fhall 66 your coaft be;" and fulfilled in the days of Solomon. See i K. iv. 21. Pf. lxxii. 8. To the Chrif

tian church the whole earth was the land of promife, and the Gospel was preached to all nations.

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"I will give thee," faith Jehovah to Chrift, "the heathen "for thine inheritance, and the uttermoft parts of "the earth for thy poffeffion." Pf. ii. 8.

12. Why haft thou then broken down her hedges, fo that all they which pafs by the way, do pluck her?

The Pfalmift, having defcribed the exaltation of Ifrael, under the figure of a vine, proceeds, under the fame figure, to lament her depreffion. She is now represented as deprived of the protection of God, the counfels of the wife, and the arms of the valiant; of all her bulwarks and fortifications, and whatever else could contribute to her defence and fecurity; fo that, like a vineyard without a fence, the lay open, on every fide, to the incurfions and ravages of her neighbouring adverfaries; who foon ftripped her of all that was valuable, and trod her under foot.

13. The boar out of the wood doth wafte it, and the wild beaf of the field doth devour it.

Fierce, and unrelenting, her heathen perfecutor iffued, at different times, from his abode, like a "wild boar" out of the foreft, refolved not only to fpoil and plunder, but to eradicate and extirpate her for ever. Nor let the church Chriftian imagine, that these things relate only to her elder fifter. Greater mercies, and more excellent gifts, fhould excite in her greater thankfulnefs, and call forth more excellent virtues; otherwife, they will ferve only to enhance her account, and multiply her forrows. If the fin, and fall after the fame example of unbelief, the must not think to be diftinguished in her punishment,

D4

unless

unless by the severity of it. She may expect to fee the favour of heaven withdrawn, and the fecular arm, instead of fupporting, employed to crufh her her discipline may be annihilated, her unity broken, her doctrines perverted, her worship deformed, her practice corrupted, her poffeffions alienated, and her revenues feized; till at length the word be given from above, and fome antichriftian power be unchained, to execute upon her the full vengeance due to her crimes. Unclean defires, and furious paffions, are the enemies of the foul, which deface her beauty, and devour all the productions of grace, in that leffer vineyard of God.

14. Return, we beseech thee, O God of hofts; look down from heaven, and behold, and viht this vine; 15. And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madeft fo ftrong for thine own felf.

The church, thus diftreffed and defolated, offereth a prayer for the return of the divine favour, and for a gracious vifitation from on high; fhe befeecheth God to look down, with an eye of pity, from heaven, on the vineyard, which his own hands had

planted," and on that royal branch, the family of David, in particular, which he had raised and established for himself, to accomplish his eternal purpose of faving mankind by Meffiah, who was, one day, to fpring from the root of Jeffe. The Chaldee Paraphraft expounds "the branch," of "On King Meffiah, whom thou hast established," &c. So do the Rabbies, Aben Ezra, and Obadiah, cited by Dr.

על מלכא משיחא,Meffiah himfelf

Hammond,