to the worsliippere. Dut there is no cleo.r tion. I am thy servant, l\nd the son of thine evidence of o.ny such usage, except in con- ho.ndmaid (oomp. Pa. lx:uvi. 16). "Thine nection with the Po.esover, whioh cannot handmaid "-tile Ollurch; or, if the writer here be in question. Hengstenberg there- is Hezekiah, "thy handmaid, Abiyah, the fore proposes to rego.rd the phrase e.s e. mere daughter of Zechariah," who "had under- metaphor, like the "oup of trembling" (lso.. standing in the vision of God" (2 Chron. Ii. 17, 22); and understands the psalmist to xxvi. 5; xxix. 1). Thon hast loossd my mean that he will gladly and thankfully bonds. The "cords of death" (ver. 3) are receive God's mercy vouchsafed to him, and probably intended. thus show his gratitude for it. And oa.ll Ver. 17.-1 will oft'er to thee the saoriftoe upon the Ne.me of the Lord (comp. vere. 4 of thanksgiving. Scarcely an actual sacri- and 17). fice. Ra.tiler, simple thanksgiving, which, Ver. 14.-1 will pay my vows unto the from e. sincere heart, is the best sacrifice Lord now in the presenoe of all his people (see Ps. 1. 14 and Hos. xiv. 2). And will (oomp. vers. 18, 19,. where the thought is oa.ll upon the No.me of the Lord (comp. vers. repeated, and lengthened out). We are not 4 and 13). t.old in Isaiah or 2 Kings that Hezekiah Ver. 18.-1 will po.y my vows unto the made any vows when he lay on his sick- Lord now in the presence of all his people. bed, but he may probably have done so. Compare the comment on ver. H, whereof He certainly intended, as soon as his cure this is a repetition. was complete, to "go up to the honse of the Ver. 19.-In the oourts of the Lord's Lord" (2 Kings xx. 8; Isa. x.xxviii. 22). house. Tho.nksgiving was alwe.ys most Ver. 15.-Precions in the Bight of the appropriately oft'ered in the temple courts, Lord is the death of his saints (comp. Ps. where close at hand dwelt the mysterious lxx:i.i. 14). It is not a matter of indifference presence of God, and where God he.d o.p- to God, when and under what circnmstancee pointed that his worshippers should appear eo.ch of hie saints dies. Rather, it is a before him. In the midst of thee, O Jeru- matter of deep concern to him. " In him so.lem. This expression and the preceding are the issues of life and death" (Ps. lxviii. suit well with Hezekio.h's authorship of the 20), and he appoints to each man the day pee.Im, a.a Dr. Kay well e.rgues. Pre.ise ye and attendant circumstances of his demise. the Lord. The writer calls on e.ll those Ver. 16.-0 Lord, truly I am thy servant; present (see ver. 18) to join him in singing rather, ei,en so, 0 Lord, for I am thy servant. praise to God (comp. Pas. ci v., cv., ovi., cxiii., Entitled, therefore, to thy ea.re and ooneidera- cxv., cxvii.).
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-19.-Danger and deliverance. It is probable that the danger to which the psalmist was exposed was due to a very serious illness, threatening to end in death. lt is certain that this is the most co=on danger we have to confront now. We look, therefore, at-- L .A. BEOURBING EVIL IN OUR MORTAL LIFE-SICKNESS. WHh so complicated a strncture as the human frame, and so intricate a system as that which has to be kept in working order, if we are to be in perfect health, it is no marvel that there should be frequent disorder within. And though improved sanitary conditions and ~he advance of physiological and medical science are favourable to health and long life, yet the increw.ing artificiality and luxuriousness of our age are counteracting forces; so that it may be fairly questioned whether serious sickness, in more varied forms_than ever, is not as often a recnrrinu feature of life as it was in the psalmist's day. II. 1TB COMMON A;TENDANTB. These are: 1. Pain, to which no reference is made in the text, though it may be included in "trouble and sorrow" (ver. 3). 2. Dependence; being so reduced that the feet would_ fall (ver._ 8) without help_ from a friendly hand; the strong man, accusto!Iled to sustain others, 1s brought d?wn ID a f~w days, or even hours, to depend on the ministry of ~he serv~nt or the child. 3. Dis- placement. The most serious "trouble" (ver. 3) which worries and perplexes the busy man is found in being laid aside from his activities; it is nothing less than .".sorr?w" to him to feel that his work is undone, and that he does not know how prov1s1on 1s to be made for his home. Many and bitter are the tears (ver. 8) of anxiety and distress. 4. The apparent approach of death. (Ver.~-) How bitt~r to ~he soul _is the visio~ of death, when it comes in the midst of life, I.I! well exemplified ID the grief of Hezckuth (Isa. mviii.); so also Epaphroditus (Phil. ii. 25-27). It is not the bodily sufferit,gs PB, 0X\'I, 1-19,] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 73