Vera. 119, 120.-Oonfidence in Goil:sjudgments blendingwithfe,ars. "Thou puttest away all the ungodly of the earth like dross. . . . My flesh trembleth for fear of thee." 'l'he good man h ve.riously affected by the judgments of God. He is not always in the mood to view them aright. It is intended that he should be influenced by them. It is well to remember that Divine judgments never exhaust their mission in punishing wickedness, they are designed to wam the unwary, and to assure the perplexed of the living working of the great Vindicator. But good people sometimes misuse Divine judgments. They do when they exaggerate judgment as a feature of the Divine administration. They do when they dwell on the physical suffering that the judgment may involve, and pay little heed to the moral purpose which is at the heart of all Divine judgment. They do when they cherish the fear that the Divine judgments are indiscriminate, at least practically, and sweep away the righteous with the wicked. And when it seems as if, in a bodily and temporal sense, the judgment of the wicked does affect the righteous, the good man is full of fears lest his bodily calamities should destroy his heart-confidence in God. There are human calamities, such as epidemic disease; natural calamities, such e.s storm and famine; and national calamities, such as war and commercial panic, which the good and evil share together, and everything depends on the good man keeping the right attitude of mind in relation to such things. I. WHAT THE GOOD MAN BEES. In some moods-as that of Asaph-a\l he can see is the wicked prospering, and then he is tempted to question the justice of the Divine dealings. In other moods he can see how short is the tether of the wicked, and how certain and overwhelming are the Divine judgments. The difficulty is tha.t the seeing is usually so unqualified; it is exclusive and exaggerated on the one side or on the other. II. WHAT THE GOOD MAN FEELS. Based on what he sees. He seldom can trust his feelings, because they respond to sense-conditions, e.nd are inefficiently toned by the sanctified will. So he either feels as if God were ne~lecting him, or as if be would be borne away by circumstances. Then he needs the cheer of God's Word.-R. T. Ver. 125.-Vie cry for spiritual discernment. "Oh grant me understanding." By this term is often to be understood that particular spiritual discernment which is n special power of the spiritual man; of the man who looketh "not nt the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." It is scarcely possible to describe the spiritual man more sharply or more suggestively than is done by the Apostle Paul in these sentences (2 Cor. iv. 18). By" understandiag" is said to be meant "a deeper knowledge of God's Law and dispensation," but this keeps us outside, on the surface of things; and what the good man wants is inward discernment of tbe rele.tivity of Divine counsels, warnings, revealings, and promises, to himself. We only understnnd moral things as we discern their relativity. The immediate connection of the verso may be the delay of God's judgment on the wicked. The good me.n often finds himself puzzled to explain God's ways with the wicked. " If our heart fail in its longing for speedy retribution, 'it is our own infirmity;' fuller conception of the mind of God would take away perplexity and impatience." J. SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT AS ONE 01!' THE POWERS OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. Tho Divine life in me.n involves two things: I. A quickening of the powers of the soul that have been dimmed and deadened by the service of self and sin. 2. A bostowment of fresh powers, as trusts (gifts) for the ministry to which the renewed man is called. Spiritual discernment is one of the natural powers thnt get quickened, freed from entanglements, and exercised. But it is a power whose vigour depends on the general culture of the spiritual life. It fades and revives with the variation of our soul-moods. So its renewal is a subject of prayer. II. SPinlTUAL DISCERNMENT AS THE WORK OF THE INDWELLING SPIRIT. This lends us into the Christian apprehension of the matter. In the renewed mnn the Holy G~ost abides. He works his work of grace in us through our faculties. These and especuilly our spiritual discernment, he quickens into power.-R. 'l'.
Ver. 126.-Making void Goil:s Word. "For they have made void thy Law." Rendered it ineffective. Put it aside, as if it were some impossible, ineffective thing, 166 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PB, CXIX, 1-176.