dawned which is to be followed by no evening; a brighter sun arose upon the world, which is to set no more; a day began, which will never end; and night and darkness departed, to return not again. For thus saith the Lord to his church by the prophet Isaiah, 'Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.' Isa. lx. 20. Easter-day is in a peculiar manner consecrated to Him who, by his resurrection, triumphed over death and hell. On that day, through faith, we triumph with him; we'rejoice and are glad in his salvation.'

25. Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. 26. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of, or, you that are of, the house of the Lord.

As a prelude to the triumphant manner in which Jesus Christ, after his resurrection, should ascend to the heavenly Jerusalem, he entered the earthly city, before his passion, amidst the acclamations of the multitude, who hailed him as King of Sion, and with palm-branches, the emblems of victory, in their hands, sung before him these words, partly taken from our Psalm, Hosanna to the Son of David blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.' The word 'Hosanna,' is in the original win,' Save now!' The form of words used by the people was both a petition and a congratulation; as if they had said, Let us beseech Jehovah, in the language of the hundred and eighteenth Psalm, to grant salvation to

the Son of David, and to send us now prosperity under him. Blessed is he who thus cometh, not in his own name and power, but in the name and power of Jehovah, according to the prophecies concerning him, to deliver us from all our enemies. Ratify, O.Jehovah, in the highest, or in heaven, these petitions which we make for the salvation and prosperity of our king, that thy blessings upon him and us may be established on earth. Since the resurrection of our Lord, the faithful have expressed, in these two verses, the same wishes and prayers for the increase of his kingdom, and the prosperity of his house and family, of his ministers and his people: We bless you that are of the house of Jehovah.'

27. God is the Lord, which hath showed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

As Jehovah hath manifested his power and glory, by raising Christ from the dead; as he hath, by so doing, 'showed us the light' of life and immortality; let us observe the festival which is designed to perpetuate the memory of so great and joyful an event. Christ, our passover,' saith an apostle, 'is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast.' 1 Cor. v. 7. Let us keep it, only changing legal for evangelical sacraments and ceremonies; let us go to the altar, not to see a figure of the Lamb of God, as he was to be slain; but to behold a representation of him as he hath been slain; to behold, in figure, his body broken, and his blood poured out; to eat the bread of life and drink the cup of salvation.

28. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou

art my God, I will exalt thee. 29. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

The prophet declareth his resolution to 'praise' and to exalt,' to magnify and to glorify, his God;' he then concludes, as he began, with exhorting all the world to do the same. Preserve to us, blessed Lord, the use of these divine hymns in thy church, until, at the resurrection of the just, we shall celebrate an Easter in heaven, and sing them new in the kingdom of God.

Twenty-fourth Day.-Evening Prayer.

PSALM CXIX.

ARGUMENT.-This Psalm is divided, (most probably for the advantage of memory,) according to the number of letters which compose the Hebrew alphabet, into twenty-two portions, of eight verses each; and not only every portion, but every verse of that portion, begins with the letter appropriated to it. David must, undoubtedly, have been the author. He describeth, in a series of devotional meditations, the instruction and the comfort which, through all vicissitudes of mind and fortune, he had ever found in the word of God. The many strong expressions of love towards the law, and the repeated resolutions and vows to observe it, will often force us to turn our thoughts to the true David, whose ( meat and drink it was to do the will of him that sent him.' The passages more especially characteristic of him, as well as those which allude primarily to any particular circumstances in the history of the patriarch David, are pointed out in the course of the comment. But the chief design through the whole hath been, to draw forth the lessons of heavenly wisdom and comfort, contained in this interesting composition, for the service of believers, who, while they are accomplishing their pilgrimage and warfare upon earth, should continually solace

themselves with the hundred and nineteenth Psalm, and repair to it as to a fountain, which can never be exhausted. Between the verses of each portion, a connexion is frequently to be traced; but it doth not often seem to extend from one portion to another. The many words employed to express the revelations of God's will have distinct significations, denoting different parts or portions of the Scriptures, which it hath sometimes been found of great use to take into consideration, while at others the terms appear to be used promiscuously, in a general sense, and for the sake of variety.

ALEPH.-PART I.

1. Blessed are the undefiled, Heb. perfect, or, sincere in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.

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By sin, misery entered into the world; holiness alone, therefore, can lead us to happiness. The law of Jehovah' is the path of life, and by walking in the way' we shall attain to the end. But, alas! we are out of the way; we have walked in the law of sin, after the lusts of the flesh; who will direct and strengthen us to walk in the law of God, after the desire of the Spirit? We are fallen from our integrity; who will raise us again? The gospel, which was preached to Abraham before the Mosaic dispensation, and which was prefigured and believed under it, returneth us, to all these questions, answers of peace. The Redeemer hath prevailed for the pardon of our errors; the Redeemer hath raised us from our fallen state; he hath reconducted us to the path of life; in his name we arise and walk; he maketh us righteous, and, consequently, he maketh us blessed.' For, Blessed are the sincere in the way, who walk in the law of Jehovah.'

2. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with their whole heart.

The divine revelations and institutions, whether of the old or the new law, are called God's 'testimonies;' they are the witnesses of his will, and the pledges of his love. They are committed to the church, as a precious deposit, or trust, to be by her children' kept and observed. In and by these God is to be sought; 'they that seek him with their whole heart,' with ardent and undivided affection, fail not to find him, as an instructor and a comforter; and they who find him, find all things, and are blessed' indeed.

3. They also that do no iniquity, they that walk in his ways.

O blissful state of those who are redeemed from the earth, and all earthly desires, who are delivered from the dominion of sin, who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth,' and, like Zacharias and Elizabeth,' walk in the statutes and ordinances of the Lord, blameless.' Luke, i. 6. Enrol us, O Lord, in the happy number of these thy servants; pardon our offences; give us a new nature, and new desires, averse from sin, and inclined to sanctity; and guard us, that the wicked one touch us

not.

4. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.

He who made us, and redeemed us, hath a double right to our service. We are not our own, having been bought with the blood of our Lord; his will, therefore, and not our own, is to be done by us. And his will is, that we should keep his precepts diligently,' because in keeping' them, and in keeping them diligently,' so as not to halt between