can hardly keep back tl,e repining that God does not deal with the big things that trouble him. So his praise is in danger of being half-hearted. The psalmist inrlicates what the good man should do at such times. He should fully learn what God would teach by the single blessing, and, letting trust blend with thanksgiving, praise God with his whole heart. I. PRAISE WITH THE WHOLE HEART IS PRAISE WITHOUT RESERVE. How reserve may spoil prayer we are often pointing out. It is illustrated in St. Augustine's prayer, "Lord, convert me, but not yet I" It is not so often seen that reserve may spoil pralse. \Ve may praise for something; but feel we cannot .praise for everything. We may praise formally, and reserve heart-feeling. We may praise as duty, and yet keep doubts and questionings as to God's perfect wisdom and goodness in our hearts. Our praises are usually left to take their chance. \Ve do not assure ourselves that we have praise-feelings, and worthy ones, before we offer praise or unite in offering it. Aud yet praise needs culture quite as truly as prayer. II. PRAISE WITH THE WHOLE HEART IS PRAISE WITHOUT GUILE. Conscious guile absolutely spoils praise; makes it unworthy and even offensive to God. The con• sciously insincere man is rejected. " Thy heart is not right with God; " and there can be no acceptance of thy worship. But what the godly man has to fear is "uncon- scious, unrecognized" insincerity; a guile that he does not suspect, and so lets go, lets it do its evil work in spoiling his praise.-R. T. Ver. 1.-The term" gods" as a synonym/or" great ones." The allusion may be to the rulers of Israel (Ps. cxix. 46). The 'Speaker's Commentary,' however, thinks the meaning can only be this, " Before, or in presence of, the gods of the heathen, i.e. in scorn of, in sight of, the idols, who can do nothing, I will praise Jehovah, who does miracles for me and his people." Jennings and Lowe prefer the rendering, "before the national elohim," or great men; meaning that, even before persons high in office, in whose presence he would be naturally abashed, he will declare the praise of his Deliverer, Jehovah. It is not easy to fit these words into the experience of an Israelite among his own people. Such a man was not in the least likely to speak of the elders, princes, and statesmen of his own nation as gods. That term does not suit the Hebrew mind or association. But if we could fix the psalm ns N eheminh's, and connect it with his success in securing the perwission of the king to go to J eruse.lem -and this he regarded as a remarknble answer to his prnyer-then the term "~ods" may well enough be applied to the princes, councillors, courtiers, and great men of Babylon, to whom Nehemiah's commission would be known, nod befort1 whom be would testify that God had beard his prayer, and made the wny plain for him. Nehemiah would call the princes of Judah his brethren; he might well cnll the princes of Babylon, with a tinge of satire, "gods." I. WHEREVER A MAN IS, TIIEBE HE IS TO WITNESS FOR Goo BY PilAISING HlM. It is nn absolute and ever-working lnw that there can no more be religious life without outward expression than there can be life in the seed without a blnde thrusting through the soil. And the natural, necessary, and ever-influential expression of the religious life is praise-the praise of God. That (1) tells the sincerity of the religious life; nod (2) tells the character of the religious life ; and (3) tells the worthiness and win- someness of him who is both the Love and the Life of tho godly mnn. So praise is testimony, and the roost persuasive of testimonies. II. WUEREVER A MAN 15, THERE CAN BE NO CONDITIONS ALLOWED TO RESTRAIN PRAISE. He may be among great men and fear. But then ho must praise, only he must be wise in his praise. He may be among scoffers. Still he must praise, only he must be judicious in his praise. There is in relation to praise o. being "wise us serpents, and harmless asdoves."-R. T.
Ver. 2.-God acting beyond expectation. The term" word," in the last clause of this verse, means "promise." So great are God's promises, and so faithful and com- plete is his performance of them, as even to surpass the expectations which the greatness of his Name has excited. The psalmist often speaks of Jehovah's Namo, or reputation, or h,>nour, being at stake. Here the poet can say that the praiso won ls beyond anything that could have been anticir:i.ted. Generally, tho Name of Goll 310 THE BOOK. 0 ~• PSALMS. [Ps. oi.:xx.vm. 1-8.