cited in the Epistle to the Hebrews, shews, that the whole psalm is as proper for the use of the Christian, as it was of the Jewish, Church. The peculiar cir- cumstance of its consisting of a mutual exhortation is there expressly noticed : and noticed with parti- cular approbation : " Exhort one another' daily, while it is called To-day a." This hint the Compilers of our Liturgy attended to, when they appointed this psalm to be read constantly in the Morning Service, as in- troductory to the other psalms that should come in rotation : and, as being so appointed, it deserves from us a more than ordinary attention. In discoursing upon it, we shall notice,
I. The exhortation —
[The proper object of our worship is here described. As adcbessed to the Jews, the terms here used would fix their attention on Jehovah, as contra-distinguished from all false gods : but, as addressed to Christians, they lead our minds to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is " God with us," even " God over all, blessed for evermore." He is our Maker ; for " by him were all things created, both which are in heaven and in earth V He is " the good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep," and who watches over them, and preserves them day and night0.
Him then we must worship with all humility of mind,
" bowing down, and kneeling before him." At his hands must
we seek for mercy, even through his all-atoning sacrifice
and from him, as our living Head, must we look for all neces- sary supplies of grace and peace
O come, let us thus approach him ! let us do it not merely in the public services of our Church, but in our secret cham- bers ; and not occasionally only, but constantly ; having all our dependence upon him, and all our expectations from him.]
That this exhortation may not be in vain, we en- treat you to consider,
II. The warning with which it is enforced —
[The Jews who, in the wilderness, disobeyed the heavenly call, were never suffered to enter into the land of Canaan. In the judgments inflicted upon them, they are held forth as a warning to usd. Like them, we have seen all the wonders of God's love, in delivering us from a far sorer than Egyptian
a Heb. iii. 13. b John i. .3.
c John x. 11. Heb. xiii. 20. Ezek. xxxiv. 11 — 1G.
d 1 Cor. x. 1—11.