I find refugo, the God who has eaved me and is saving me, and in whom I trust that he will fully save me, from the guilt, power, and consequences of my sine, and ell the 11.t1s11ults of tho dendly enemies of my soul. II. 'l'nE DF:CLA.RATION MADE RESPECTING HIM. "The Lord liveth." Which expreRses: 1. His real ea;istence.' In contrast with idols, which a.re dead, helpless, and unable to bPlp. 2. Ilis continued er,;istence. In contrast with men, who die a.nd pass a.way. 3. His manifested er,;istence. He lives and works in the world, in the Church, in eaci:t believer. By bis opero.tions for the good of his people, be shows himself the livin" God, 4. The satisfaction which his servants feel in him as ever-living. (1) Joy tha~ such a Being is their God. 'fhat the_v know and worship the true and living God. (2) Confidence that his life renders all their interests secure for this world and the next. And not only their interests as individualH, but those of the whole Church of God. Because he lives, bis Church cannot perish. (3) Comfort under the death of Christian friends. He lives ; and therefore their death was his act. It did not befall them because he had ceased to be or to be able to deliver. He lives, to support and comfort those who survive. He lives, to supply the place of the departed in the family, the Church, the world. He lives, and therefore they live and will live for ever. For through Christ their life was and is rooted in his. He is their abiding Dwelling- place. III. THE PRAISE RENDERED TP HUL "Blessed" (equivalent to "praised"), "exalted." 1. Praise .i~ the utterance of exalted thoughts and feelings respecting him. Without these the language of praise is of no value. 2. To publish his praise by speech or writing is to exalt hi!II in view of others. 3. Praise in such words as are here employed expresses the desire that all should exalt him by accepting, loving, obeying, and extol- ling him. 4. The publication of his praise is adapted to produce this result. 5. The exaltation of Go_d should ever be sought in our services of praise. Some such services tend rather to the e_xaltation of musical composers, organists, and choirs.-G. W. Vera. 50, 51.-Praising God among the nations. In bringing to a close this grand psalm of praise, the royal writer looks around and forward. He reveals a purpose and expectation that his Hong will .be heard among the nations at large, and he expresses his assurance that the kindness of God which he had experienced would be extended to his family down to the latest ages, yea, for evermore. The two verses are closely connected. Translate "nations" inste~d of "heathen; " and instead of "Ile is the 'fower of salvation for his king," read, "Effecting great salvations [deliverances] for bis king." Thus _the verses will run, " Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, 0 Lord, among the nations, and to thy Name will I sing praises; who effecteth great deliver- ances for his king, and showeth loving-kindness to his anointed, to David and to his seed for evermore." I. THE aROUNDS OF THE PSALMIST'.s PRAISE. 1. His position. God's " king," "his anointed," the messiah (Christ) of God. David was literally anointed by Samuel as the future king of Israel, and. had been prepared for and brought to the throne in marvellous ways. He _recognized, as Saul had failed to do, that he was God's kin1; and represi·ntative, ruling God'it people in subjection to him. The position was far more honourable the.n that of any heathen monarch, however much wider his dominion. 2. His experience of the goodness and power of God. Protectin~, delivering, giving victory, ex14ting to the throne, and preserving in it. "Therefore," because of all that I have here recorded of th1;1 Divine favour to me, "I will give thanks," etc. Note the value of expedence as a help and _incentive to praise. It gives reality to our thoughts of God, and personal knowledge of bis power and goodness. It stirs the heart to gratitude, and to a desire that all should know and praise hiai. It furnishes interesting subjects for praise. 3. 'J!he assurance he had of the futi,~e kindness of God to hims~lf and his family. 'fh1s assurnnce sprang from the promise of God by Nathan (eh. vn. 12-16), and which finds its ultimate and complete fulfilment in the exaltation of the Christ, the Son of David, to be King of all ·men, of all beings and things in heaveu as well as earth. It was II great honour. conferred on_ David and his family t? _be made rulers for many generations of the people in and through whom trua rehg10u was preserved, to ha at len"th diffused through nil the earth; it was a far greater for HIM to spring from them ;.ho should be the Sal'iour of all meo, and the eternal King. For consider: (1) THE StrooN"n nook. OP BAMUEt. [Ott. xxtn. 1--a9,
His pel'IIOnal glory. Not only Son of David, but Son of God, filled "with all- the fulnesa o_f the ~ h ~ " (Oo_l. ii. 9); th~ inoarn~te Word. (2)_ 'l'he nature of hie rule. Espe- cially his spmtuel reign-the reign of D1vme truth, holm8811, and love in the hearts and lives of men; the reign of peeoe and joy. (3) Its extent. Far wider than thRt of D11i.rid or Solomon. To include at length 1111 n11tions (Ps. b:xii. 8, 11). (4) Its duration. "For ,vermore." David discerned, in the Divine promise to him and his, enough to fill his heart with gl11dness and thankfulness; if he could have seen even ea much a.s we are permitt,ed to behold, his wonder and gratitude would have known no bounds. II: THE SPHERE. OF ms PRAISE. "Amo~g the nations.". 1. The fulness of his gratirude fMlled h~m to mak6 lcnoum Gods goodn&s as widely as possible. 2. He lkaired to instr!J,Ct other nations, and bring them to worship a God so able and willing to bless his won;hippers. He may have felt a special obligation to instruct and benefit the peoples who had been brought .into subjection t.o himself. 3. The interest which the natiom at large had in what God had done and promised to him. See Rom. xv. 9, wherever. 50 is quoted by St. Paul in proof that it was the purpose of God that the Gentiles should "glorify God for his mercy."-G. W.
EXPOSITION.