Ps. xciv. 1 9. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul.
TO judge of the efficacy of Divine grace, we should see it in actual exercise, and under circumstances calculated to display its power. The writer of this psalm, whoever he was, (for respecting the author or the occasion of it we have no certain information,) was sorely oppressed under the sanction and autho- rity of legal enactments. But he committed his cause to God ; and warned his oppressors that they should give an account of their conduct before another tri- bunal, where their atheistical impiety would receive its just reward a. At the same time, he declared that he had heartfelt consolations, of which it was not in their power to deprive him : for that " in the multi- tude of his thoughts, which their cruelty excited within him, God's comforts delighted his soul."
In these words we see,
I. The fluctuations of mind to which the saints are exposed —
When men become saints, they are not raised above the feelings of mortality : they still have the common sensibilities of men, and consequently are exposed to great fluctuations of mind :
1> In reference to their temporal concerns —
[As members of society, they must be engaged in earthly occupations of some kind ; and must depend, not on themselves only, but on others also, for their prosperity in the world. The misfortunes of others may involve them ; and, without any fault of their own, they may be drawn into circumstances of most painful embarrassment. In such a predicament, it would ill become them to be careless and unconcerned. They must of necessity have many thoughts, how to extricate them- selves from their trouble, and to maintain their good character
before men
In a domestic relation, too, the saint cannot be insensible to the welfare of his wife and children : their health, their ho- nour, their happiness, must of necessity occupy a deep interest
a ver. 5 — 10, 20—23.