Ver. 54.-.A good man's songs. "Thy statutes have been my songs." "When the Ea.stern tra.veller takes sheltc:r from the scorching heat of noon, or halts for the night in some inn or caravansary, which is for the time the house of his pilgrimage, he takes the sackbut or the lyre, and soothes his rest witb a song-a song, it may be, of war, roma.nce, or love. But the poet of Israel finds h:s theme in the statuteii of Jehovah. "These ha.ve been my pastime, with these I ha.ve refreshed my resting hours by the way, and cheered myself onward through the wearisome journey and across the scorching deserts of life. Not songs of old tradition, not ballads of war, or wine, or love, ha.ve supported me; but I have sung of God's commandments, and these have been the solace of my wea.ry hours, the comfort of my rest." What is striking in this expression of the psalmist is that he makes his obligations appear as if they were, what he sincerely esteems them to be, his privllege. Here is surely an unusual thing; the man is glad to be placed under restraint, only it must be clearly seen that it is Divine restraint. "Let me fall into the hands of God, and not into the bands of man." I. A GOOD IIIAN 18 SONGS BEAR THEIR OWN PECULIAR STAMP. Song is the relief of life; but it is one of the most genuine expressions of life. It may be said that a man can be judged by the songs that be loves to sing or to bear sting. 1. The good man always wants to sing. Joy is one of the necessary constituents of goodness. 2. The good man wants the singing to match himself. And since his joy is in God, bis sing- ing must be about God. 3. The good man's supreme concern is loyalty and duty, and therefore his songs are about the statutes by which duty is controlled. II. A GOOD IIIAN1S BONGS ARE THE EVIDENCE OF RIB GOODNESS. They surprise his fellow-men, who wonder how he can find rest and pleasure in what seems to them so dull. He could not but for that vital change through which he has passed, which we recognize in calling him "a good man." "I thirst, but not as once I did, The vein delights of eo.rth to she.re." 1. The delight in vulgar and comic songs evidences the low, uncultured man. 2. The delight in high-class music evidences the educated taste. 3. The delight in songs whose interest lies in their religious tone and suggestion rather than in their music, evidences the renewed man. The delight in songs tllat encourage and inspire obedience evidences a noble sense of the Divine obligations and responsibilities that rest ou human life.-R. T.
Ver. 59.-Self-ea;amination. "I thought on my ways;" "Let a man examine himself;" "I called my own ways to remembrnnce" (Prayer-book Version). 'l'liere are two directions in which the important duty of self-examination is abused 0.11d made mischievous. 1. lt may be turned into introspection, which concerns itself only with moods and feelings. 2. It may be conducted in the light of fictitious human etaudards of goodness. '!'he first is the error of sentimental religion; the second fa the error of ceremonial religion. Both are mischievous in the so.mo way. 'l'bey nourish untruthfulness. The one forces feeling, the other exaggerates fro.ilties into 11ins. The true sphere and the true standard of self-examination ueed to be prestnted. I. 'l'llE TRUE SPHERE OF SELF-EXAMINATION. It is that or 0. man's conduct in his relationships; not that of a man's thoughts and feelings. It is that which II mnu bas beyond himself, which, nevertheless, bears the impress of himself, upon which he cau look, which he can appraise. A man cannot examine his own thoughts and feelings; but let thought find expression in act, and feeling put tono and charnctcr 011 the act, then the man can exercise judgment. 'l'hought and feeling are too variable ever to be arrested for examination. They are the" secret things which belong only to God." !!lust.: what weakness is brought into Christian liives by introspection I lt makes o. particulo.r type of religious life, and leads in a subtle form of trusting the self instead of t1'u6tin9 God. 'l'ruo self-examination is" consid(lring our ways." We can cstima~ 154 'l'HE B•JOK OF PSALMS. [PB. OXlX, 1-170,
tl::te conduct of others; we can estimate our own. "\Ve cannot estimate the feelings of otbP.rs; we cannot estimate our own. II. THE T~UE STANDARD OF SELF-EXAMINATION, 'l'here are three possible standard• that are mamfestly unworthy. 1. The priestly standard, provided for the confessional. 2. The sectarian standard, which manufactures an experience through which all must pass. 3. The personal standard, which a man shapes according to his particular disposition and temperament. The true standard is twofold. (1) The revealed idea of right conduct in the relations of life. That was the standard wholly for the psalmist, and in part for us. (2) The revealed model of right conduct in relations-the Lord Jesus. That is the standard especially provided for us; and it was the full obedience of God's will.-R. T.