mine. A man keeps right so long as he feels-I am one of Christ's stewards, and it is "required of stewards that they be found faithful." 'l'he good man is "God's roservoir, and forth from his abundance flow streams of liberality to supply the needy." "Bene- volence of heart, when displayed in the benefaction of the hand, is the surest mark and fairest accomplishment of a moral and religious mind." I. GIVlNG IS A SIGN OF SERVICE TO GoD. lt is a way of working for him. 'l'he man who gives acknowledges himself to be a servant, an almoner. None of the things he possesses are regarded as his own. Everything is a trust for use. II. Grvnm 18 A SIGN OF SYMPATHY WITH MAN. "The poor" (in some sense poor) "we ha,·e always with us." Civilization tends to make very rich and very poor. Calamities bring sorrow; ma.ny are born with disabilities. Sentiment concerning the poor is a sign of poor character, unless it be conjoined with self-deuying and wise efforts tor their wdl-being. When the man said he fdt for a poor sufferer, the•Quaker replied, " I feel half a crown, friend; bow much dost thou feel?" III. GIVIXG IS A SIGN OF LIM.ITED HOLD OF THE WORLD. Compare the miser and the generous Christian in their grip of the world. The miser grips the world hard; he can have bis treasure only as long as he lives. The Christian is but passing through the world, and wants to do as much good as be can while he passes along. IV. GIVING IS A SIGN OF A MAN'S LIKE-MINDEDNESS WITH GoD. "He giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not;" "He so loved the world, that he gave his ouly begotten Son." (See our Lord's teaching in his Sermon on the Mount, especially Matt. v. 42, 45; vi. 1-4.)-R. T. Vers. 1-10.-The blessedness of the eminently good. "That deligbteth greatly in his commandments." I. His CHILDREN SIIALL BE BLESSED. (Ver. 2.) "Mighty II in a warlike sense hero. II. SHALL PROSPER IN OUTWARD OIBCUAISTANCEB, (Ver. 3.) "Godliness is profit- able unto all things," etc. III. SHALL ENJOY THE LIGHT OF GoD'B PRESENCE, AND OF HIS OWN COHPABSION..!.TB DEEDS IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY. (Vere. 4, 5.) "Gracious, full of compassion and righteous;" these attributes will irradiate his darkest hours. IV. BEING RIGHTEOUS, BE IS WMOVABLY GROUNDED rn GoD. (Ver. 6.) Fixed in his trnst and hope, and iu all the priuciples of his character. V. HAVING A CLEA.B CONSCIENCE, HE IS RAISED ABOVE ALL FEAB. (Vers. 7, 8.) Delivered from the terrors that beset the guilty. VL fuVING .AN INNER RIGHTEOUSNESS, HE ENJOYS THE HIGHEST IIONODB FROM Goo .A.ND M.A.N. (Ver. 9.}-S.
EXPOSITION. Ver. 1.-Praise ye the Lord (comp. Pas. PSALM CXIIL oiv. 35; cv. 45; cvi. I, 48; cxi. I; cxii. I). Tms is the first of the " Halle! " psalms, or Praise, 0 ye servants of the Lord, praiso of those sung at the Fee.ate of the Passover, the Name of the Lord. Dy "ye serve.r,t~ of the Lord," u.ll faithful Israelites 1u·e Pentecost, and Tabernacles. It is e. "He.lle- certainly intended; but tho phrase neecl lnjah psalm," like the two preceding, but is not be o.bsoluteJy limited to them (oomp. not e.lphe.betic. As a most joyful hymn of ver. 3). praise, it ie selected by our Church to be Ver. 2.-Blessed be the Name of the Lord one of the psalms for Easter Day. from this time forth and for evermore. The prayer here is that God mo.y be praised The composition falls into three stanzas through e.ll time, as in the next VCl'Se it ie of three verses each. In the first (vers. 1-3) tho.t be mo.y be praised through e.!l spo.ce. the servants of the Lord a.re called upon to In connection witll the prnise of God, limits praise him. In the second (vers. 4-6) of time and place o.re unsuilu.ble (comp. Pas. God ie praised in the heavens, with re8pect cxv. 18; cxxi. 8; cxxv. 8; cxxxi. 3; Isa. lix. 21; Micah iv. 7). to his glory there. In the third (vere. 7-9) Ver. 3.-From tb.e rising of the sun unto he is eulogized iu respect of Lis great doings the going down of tho snme (comp. Mo.I. i upon the earth, 11); i.e. all over tbewol'!J, from tho furthest re. OXIII, 1-9.] THE .COOK OF PSALMS. 51
east to the furthest west. The Lord's Name his mercy nod Iovino-kindness. Tho words is to be praised; or," pmiaed be the Name of l Sam, ii. 8 are~ consciously or uncon- of the Lol'd" (Kay). sciously, quoted. And lifteth the needy out Ver. 1.-The Lord is high above all na- of the dunghill; rather, from the dur,,Jhill tions. As being "the ll;l'ea~ King over all (Revised Version). the eo.rth" (Pa. xlvii. 2). Aud his glory Ver. 8.-That he may set him with princes. above the heavens. "The heaven, an<l The words of I Sam. ii. 8 a.re still followed. heaven of heo.vens, cannot contain him" (For the sentiment, s~e aleo Job xxxvi. 7.) (2 Chron. vi. 18). It is o, "humbling of Historically, the statement ia illustrated by himself" to "behold the things that are in the examples of Joseph, Saul, David, Daniel, hettven and e11rth" (see ver. 6). Mordecai. Even with the princes of his Ver. 5.-Who is like onto the Lord our people. Not merely with heathen princes, God 1 (comp. P~. lxxxix. 6; Isa. x.l. 18, 25). but with tuoso who exercise sovereigatr The highest created being does not approach over Israel, e.s Joseph with Pharaoh, Daniel within anything but e.n immeasurable dis- with Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus, Mordecai tance of God. Who dwellcth on high; or, with Ahe.sueras or Xerxes. "who sitteth enthroned on high." Ver. 9.-Re maketh the barren woman to Ver. 6.-Who humbleth himself to behold keep honse. Hanne.h's song is still in the the things the.te.reinheaven. e.ndintheearth. psalmist's thouglits, e.ncl suggests this illus- It is a condescension in God to regard even tration (see 1 Sam. ii. 5). Diit it must not "the things that are in heaven," since the be restricted to a. literal interpretation. very "heavens are not clean in bi.a sight" The true "barren woman" was Israel (IEn. (Job xv, 15). Much more is it e. conde- liv. 1), whose curse of barrenness was ulti- scension in him to behold the gross material mately removed, and who became, a.a here thiugs of earth. Yet he gives them his prophesied, a. joyful mother of children constant care and attention, since otherwise (comp. Isa. xlix.12, 18, 20; !iv. 2, 3; lv. 5; they would cease to be. Go.I. iv. 27). Praise ya the Lord (comp. Ver. 7.-He re.iseth up the poor out of the P8s. civ., ov., ovi, cxv., cxvi, cxvii., cxxxv., dust. Heaven is_ fall of his glory, earth of cxlvi.-1., which terminate similarly).