key-note of the Jewish religion. It expresses the conception of God. "Hear, O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord." So unity most be the idea everywhere and in every~ thing. The pri_m~r:r idea. of the r?ligion most ~et representation in every conceivable form. A mult1phc1ty of concept10ns of God 1s condemned. A variety of altars is regarded e.s distinctly mischievous. And even an extension of sacrifice and service beyond Jerusalem was not permissible. The whole nation was required to join in the most solemn acts of worship-the Passover, Day of Atonement, etc. Subject to all kinds of disintegrating influences in their tribal associations, the nation was recalled to what may be termed its doctrinal and ecclesiastical unity three times a year. The formal religious unity so jealously preserved for the Jews should not be thought of as requiring our formal imitation. It was the outward and pictorial illustration of that spiritual unity which ie the true religious unity, the family unity of those who ha.ve one Father. IIJ. TREY WEBE DESIGNED TO CONSERVE TBE GREAT NATIONAL TRUST. Israel, or the Abraha.mic ra.ce, wa.s called out from other nations to be the depositories of those primary truths concerning God which were imperilled by man's being left to his self- development. "To them were committed the oracles of God," which include the threefold conception of God as one, spiritual, holy; e.nd only to be served by righteous- ness. 'l'his was the national trust; and it must be kept ever before the minds of the people. In the most solemn way they were reminded of it e.t the great feasts. IV. TREY WEBE DESIGNED TO SANCTIFY TBE NATIONAL BOLIDAY-TUIES. The feasts of heathen religions are times of moral licence, only suggested by the drunken- ness and immorality of country fairs. Israel must realize that all life and relations are consecrated to God. They must see that the true relations e.nd pleasures of life most be sanctified, must be kept within the holy restraints of religion. Their feast- times were their great holiday-times, and in them joy must blend with self-restraint, e.nd freedom with purity.-R. T. Ver. 5.-The b"lending of the civil and religious. This subject need not be treated controversially. All are agreed that e. vital union of the civil e.nd religious, of Church and State, is desirable, and even necessary. There may be differences of opinion as to the formal ways in which such union may be represented. If we look for its realization in the ancient Jewish nation, we must bear in mind that it w11s based on the theocratic notion. The unseen Jehovah was as truly the Head of the State e.s he was Head of the Church. Modern difficulty arises from the apparent necessity for making an ordinary human being at once the head of both State e.nd Church. What was possible when men could look past all delegated authorities to one unseen, spiritual, and supreme Being, in whom absolute authority rested, may not be possiblo under modern conditions. We must fully recover the theocratic sentiment before we can safely blend the civil and religious. Jerusalem we.a first the civil metropolis beforo it became the "city of God." It became the religious ea.pita.I of the nation because it was already the civil capital (Deut. xvii. 8, 9). Israel, as the poople of the revelation, was at once e. civil society and a Church-tho two were not then essentially distinct, as has been and is the case in Christendom. I. THE CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS ARE THE TWO BIDES OF MAN'S RELATIONS. Thero is no conceivable antagonism between them ideally, whatever there me.y be actually. Mlln is e. being who is set in relations with God e.nd with his fellow-man. And ono set of relations is as right and as necessary e.s the otbor. A man's rolations with God aro the concern of religion. A man's relations with his fellow-man are the business of civil governments. No man can meet his nature.I obligations by exaggerating the impor- tance of either one of thos.e relations and neglecting the other. No me.n can be truly religious and neglect his civil duties. And this the apostles clearly taught the early Christians. II. 'l'HE CIVIL AND THE RELIGIOUS 0AN BE HARMONIOUSLY BLENDED. They always have been in the most manly and most ChrisLie.n man. '!'hey have been in the representa.tivo nation of Israel. They have been in the healthiest e.nd best periods of modern ne.ti.ons. They can be when the sonse of God dominates both.-R. T.
Vers. 6, 7.-Pea~e, prosperity, and prayer. Emphalice.lly a pilgrim-song, and by 200 THE nooit OF PSALMS. [PII, CXXIl, 1-9,