Ver. 1.-The true city watchman. "Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Thie would come home very forcibly to the restored exiles if, as we may well assume, the psalm was written before Nehemiah restored the walls of the holy cily. Then the only protection of the city must have been the vigilance of the night-watchmen, which never could be depended on. And yet the city containing God's people was absolutely secure; and would havo been as secure if no watchmen had ever paced their ordered rounds. '!'heir God was their defence. In older days, foes gathered round, but they never broke in, unless God gave them a commission of discipline or judgment. The restored exiles were surrounded by active enemies, and exposed on every side. But it did not matter. 'l'he fiat of Divine love and power held them in strictest restraint. Scheme they might, but they could not overpass Jehovah'a limits, "Hitherto sh11lt thou come, and no further." The truth may be illustrated in 232 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [Pll. oxxvrr. 1-5
nil those human e.rrangements for mutual safety which have for their type the city watchman, and which we call national aud local government. So elaborate is man's device for securing the liberty of the person, the safety .of property, and the health of the family, that there is grave danger of losing all sense of needing God. Indeed, God in city life is but a sentiment. And yet we remove his direct relation from the various forms of human association at our peril. De it government, or socialistic self-government, "unless the Lord keep the city, the watct man waketh but in vain." Very remarkable is the way in which man's civilization l1rings mischief as well as good; and his seemingly perfect schemes leave loop-holes foL· the entrance of de~olating eYils. This may be illustrated from city sanitary schemes, and from the prevalence of particular types of diseases, and from the masterful spread of epidemics such as influenza. It may be shown that the true preservation of a city is an immaterial matter as well as a material; it is as closely related to morals and religion as to safety for property, healthy houses, and pure water. And if it could be so--which it cannot- that we succeed in separating God from tbe material, no one can delude himself with the idea that God is not concerned with the moral and religious. So, after all, it must be God who "keeps the city."-R. T . . Ver. 2.-The limited value of self-exert£on. The great lesson of this psalm is" that without God's blessing all human efforts and human precautions are in vain; that man can never command success; that God gives and man receives." It is suggested that the psalm was written to check self-congratulation and self-reliance on the part of those who were rejoicing in their national restoration. The sentence, "so he giveth his beloved sleep," may mean-so much as others gain by hardest toil and pains God gives to his beloved even while they sleep and can do nothing. While they are slumbering he is giving. "The pious, God-fearing man attains the same end without exertion of his own." Delitzsch well summarizes the points of the psalm: "The rearing of the house which affords us protection, and the stability of the city in which we secure!y and peaceably dwell, the acquisition of possessions that maintain and adorn life, the begetting and rearing of sons that may contribute substantial support to the father as he grows old,-all these are things which depend upon the blessing of God, without natural preliminary conditions being able to guarantee them, well-devised arrange- ments to ensure them, unwearied labours to obtain them by force, or impatient care and murmuring to get them by defiance." I, SELF-EXERTION SHOULD DE ESTIMA1"ED. It has its value. It is not necessarily wrong. Human enterprise and energy, the impress of a man's self on his work, is required in every department of life. Human labour and watchfulness are never superfluous in their right spheres. It is no true piety to under.value self-exertion, Man must everywhere be bis best possible. _ ·IL SELF-EXERTION SHOULD BE BIGIITLY ESTIMATED. It has no right to claim tho first place in a man's confidence. 'l'hat he must keep for dependence on God. A man may work in dependence on himself, and he may work in dependence on God. Self- exertion is only rightly estimated when it is seen as loyalty nnd service to God (comp. Phil. ii. 12, 13, and illustrate by the prophet's putting his hand on the king's hand when the king drew the bow). III. SELF-EXERTION SHOULD BE DIVINELY ES'rIMATED. '!'be question is not what men think of our energy and enterprise. It is-What does God think of it? Does be see it as a trying to push beyond him, and to be independent of him? or does he see it to be loyal and loving working with him? If the latter, then his blessing is upon the righteous.-R. 'l', Ver. 3.-CJhildren a man's reward. 'l'be picture presented is of the Hebrew man in mid-life at rest in bis country home, with his sturdy sons about him; his wife is still young; 'her fair daughters arc like cornices ~cul_ptured as decorations for ~ palace " (Isaac Taylor;. '.!'he Jews at all_ times o_f th_cir history e~teemed_ a large f~~ily one of the chief of blessmgs. "'l'he Oriental view Lllterweavcs itself with the rcllg1ous creed of the llrahmins, according to which a son, by offering the funeral libation, is said to procure rest for the departed spirit of his father." . By "reward" wo may under~tand "sign of Divine favour." 'l'he reward of a whole life's goodness cannot come until the PB. cttvrr. 1-5.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 233