earth shall yield her increase, the cattle shall feed in large pastures, the seasons shall be kindly, the air salutary, and the smiling face of nature shall attest the loving kindness of the Lord. Thus, in the dispensations of grace, hath he dealt with Jews and Gentiles. The synagogue of the former, once rich in faith, watered with the benedictions of heaven, fruitful in prophets and saints, adorned with the services of religion, and the presence of Jehovah, hath been, since the murder of the Son of God, cursed with infidelity, parched like the withered tops of the mountains of Gilboah, barren and desolate as the land of their ancient residence, whose naked rocks seem to declare to all the world the hard-heartedness and unprofitableness of its old possessors. When the fruitful field' thus became a' forest,' the wilderness,' at the same time, became a fruitful field.' A church was planted in the Gentile world, and the Spirit was poured out upon it from on high.' In that wilderness did waters break out, and streams in that desert.' There was faith sown, and holiness was the universal product. The wilderness and the solitary place was glad, and the desert rejoiced, and blossomed as the rose. It blossomed abundantly, and rejoiced even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon was given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon;' the privileges and honours of the synagogue were conferred upon the church; and the nations now 'saw the glory of Jehovah, and the excellency of God:' Isa. xxxii. 15; xxxv. 1, 2. Spiritual increase, health, and plenty, spiritual peace, joy, and happiness, appeared in beauteous and lovely procession, and the blessing of Jesus was upon this his new inheritance in every way.

39. Again they are minished and brought low, through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. 40. He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. 41. Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.

But let not those who have received the largest share of heaven's favours therefore boast and presume. The continuance of those favours dependeth upon the continuance of their fidelity and obedience. Mighty empires, with their princes,' have, for their wickedness, been brought low' by the arm of Jehovah, and laid in the dust, while nations 'poor' and feeble, and never thought of, have been taken from thence, and exalted over them.' What revolutions have, in like manner, happened, and probably are still to happen, in the church! Jerusalem is fallen, through unbelief; and the Gentile church standeth only by faith, from which if she depart, vengeance will be executed on her likewise. Yet, even in the worst of times, there is a promise, that the poor' in spirit, the faithful and humble disciples of the holy Jesus, shall be preserved from the evil, and 'set on high from affliction;' yea, that they shall be multiplied 'like a flock,' under the care of the good Shepherd, to preserve his name, and to continue a church upon the earth, until he shall return again.

42. The righteous shall see it, and rejoice; and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.

Two consequences will follow from this alternate, display of the mercy and the judgment of God. The righteous, finding themselves still the objects

of the former, will have cause to rejoice and give thanks; and the wicked, when visited with the latter, will be forced, by their silence at least, to own that their punishment is just. This will certainly be the case at the last day, when the dispensations of God, and the perfect rule of equity observed in them, shall be manifested to all the world.

43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord; or, Who is wise? and he will observe these things; and they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.

6

A truly wise' person will treasure up in his heart the contents of this most instructive and delightful Psalm. By so doing he will fully understand' and comprehend the weakness and wretchedness of man, and the power and 'lovingkindness' of God, who, not for our merit, but for his mercy's sake, dispelleth our ignorance, breaketh off our sins, healeth our infirmities, preserveth us in temptations, placeth us in his church, enricheth us with his grace, sheltereth us from persecution, blesseth us in time, and will crown us in eternity.

Twenty-second Day.-Evening Prayer.

PSALM CVIII.

ARGUMENT.-This Psalm is composed of parts taken, without any material alteration, from two others. The first five verses occur in Ps. lvii. 7-11; the last eight are found

in Ps. lx. 5-12. The reader is therefore referred to the exposition already given of those Psalms.

PSALM CIX.

ARGUMENT.-St. Peter, Acts, i. 20, hath taught us to apply the predictions in this Psalm to the betrayers and murderers of Messiah, who is, consequently, the person here speaking, and 1-5. complaining of the injuries which he suffered from them; after which, 6—20. he forewarneth them of all the judgments and sore calamities that should come upon them and their posterity; 21-25. he returneth to the subject of his passion; 26-29. repeateth his supplications for himself and his church; and 30, 31. concludeth with an act of praise. In this light was the Psalm considered and interpreted in the ancient church, by Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, Theodoret, and others.

1. Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise: i. e. who art the subject of my praise; 2. For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. 3. They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause. 4. For my love, they are my adversaries; but I give myself unto prayer. 5. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

The holy Jesus, in these words, maketh supplication to the Father for redress and deliverance. He complaineth of the manner in which he was treated, when he came unto his own, and his own received him not.' John, i. 11. Sometimes 'the mouth of the wicked was opened upon him,''

1 Hæc autem cecinet David spirituali sensu in personâ Christi a Judæis impetiti omnimodis blasphemiis.-Bossuet.

6

roaring against him, like the roaring of lions, while they cried out, 'He is a Samaritan and hath a devil, and is mad; away with him, away with him; crucify him, crucify him.' Sometimes, 'deceitful and lying tongues' were employed, either to entangle and entrap him in his talk, or to bear false witness against him. And all this was done, not only without a cause,' but men were his bitter and implacable adversaries,' in return for that 'love' which brought him from heaven, to save them with an everlasting salvation. Let the afflicted and traduced disciple rejoice, in that he is conformed to the image of his Master. And from the example of that Master let him learn what course to take, when in such circumstances-' But I give myself unto prayer.'

1

6. Thou wilt set a wicked man, or, the wicked one, over him, and Satan shall stand at his right hand. 7. When he is judged, he shall be condemned, and his prayer shall become sin.

A transition is here made to the adversaries of Messiah; primarily to Judas, who was guide to them that took Jesus,' Acts, i. 16; secondarily, to the synagogue, of whom Judas may be considered as an epitome and representative. It is foretold, that by betraying and murdering the best of masters, they should subject themselves to the tyranny of the worst; that they should become slaves to

1 As most of the following verbs are in the future tense, and the rest have evidently a predictive and future import, the same liberty is here taken, as in Ps. lxix. of rendering them throughout uniformly in that tense: by which means the curses pronounced in this Psalm will at once appear to be of the same import with those in the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy. The reader is entreated, when he shall have perused the Psalm, to turn to that chapter and judge for himself.