malignant, so venom ons, so hidden and unexpect~d, are his snares? Let those who have been his victims tell, and the many who still are perpetually oppressed by him. II. OuR ONLY BUT SURE DEFENCE. It is God the Lord. No power of our own, or of our fellow-man, or of any religious rite, but all and only in God. So do his delivered ones with unanimous voice declare. III. THIS DEFENCE MADE OUR OWN, How ID6Y we nvail ourselves of the deliverance which God assures us of? Well: 1. Oui· peril must be clearly seen. See how in this whole psalm, especially vers. 1-5, the writer, whoever he was, is vividly conscious of the formidableness of his foe. And so must we be, as, unhappily, too many are not. Many see no peril, feel no anxiety, are wrapped in profound indifference. Such fall an easy prey to the tempter's power. '!'rue, the world is not the devil's world-it was one of his lies when he told our Lord that all the kingdoms of the earth and their glory were given to him; it is not so; but still he is here in the world, and we ever need to be on our guard. 2. We must betake ourselves to prayer.· Prayer brings the unseen and the eternal near to us, so that they become visible and tangible to our spirits, and as living realities exercise their mighty influence upon us. As the earth gets out of the darkness by swinging itself round to the light, so by prayer we turn to where God and all the power of bis blessed Spirit are, and so deliverance comes. 3. Evil must be intensely hated. (Vers. 9-11.) No matter whether it be that embodiment of evil external to us, which is called the devil, or whether it be that inward corruption and wicked disposition which we find still lurking in our souls. We cannot curse it too bitterly or hate it too intensely. "Ye that fear the Lord hate evil "-so are we com- manded, and any less intense feeling towards it is incompatible with the true love of God. 4. Personal appropriation of God. We mnst be able to say unto the Lord, • Thou art my God." A mere abstract creed will not help us; we must each one know God as "the Strength of my salvation." 5. Remembrance of former mercies will greatly help us. " Thou hast covered," etc. (ver. 7). 6. Let there be confident faith. (Vers. 12, 13.) The faith of Israel was shown by their believing shout as they com- passed the city of Jericho. The walls bad not yet fallen, but they knew they would, and so they shouted. So the psalmist says, "I know" (ver. 12), and "surely" (ver. 13). We must come to God, expecting that he will answer our prayers (Jas. i. 6). Such are some of the suggestions of this psalm as to God's way of deliverance. May we be able to avail onrselves of them 1-S. C. Ver. 2.-The mischiefs of evil-disposed men. "Mischiefs" is a very suggestive and comprehensive term. It is frequently used in the Psalms in the singular form, and always suggests scheming, underhanded plotting, to_ do some evil._ In ~he plural fori:n there are only two passa'.c(es in the Scriptures, besides our text, m which the word 1s employed: Deut. xx.xii. 23, "I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them ; " Ps. lii. 2, " Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs ; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully." L REG.!.RD MIBCHIEFB AS MALICIOUS INTENTION. "The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth up_on him with h\s _teeth;" "H_ow long will_ ye. imagine mischief aa-ainst a man?" It IS the charactenst1c of the evil-hearted, ev1l-d1sposed man, that h; "deviseth mfachiefs upon his bed." It is bis pleasure to plan an injury; he delights in makina- misery, and ruining reputations. Any man may do a mischief on impulse or by accident. The evil man cherishes malicious intentions. II. REGARD MISCHIEFS AS INJURIOUS SPEECH. "They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent." There is speech that cuts and wounds by its bitterness; that injures by its untruthfulness; that destr?ys reputations by _its sl~nderi~gs •. There i~ no surer sio-n of the evil heart than the evident pleasure felt m sa.yrng m1sch1evous thmgs. 0 l!L REGARD MISCHIEFS AS VIOLENT ACTS. (Vars. 4, 6.) It is the peculiarity of evil-disposed men that cherished evil thoughts inspire evil d~cds: The good man checks unkind and evil thoughts, lest they should get expression m acts. But the evil man nourishes them, enjoys them, puts himself into their power, and is by them urged on to violent and injurious deeds. Cherish malicious thought, and you put yourself into its power; and it may lead you on to shameful deeds. But the mischiefs of evil men never transcend the Divine limitations. God has his hand on them, and we may be absolutely assured that ha says," Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further; PI!. OXL. 1-13.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 331
here shall thy proud waves be stayed." And we may even see deeper into the heart of Divine dealing, and say that the mischiefs of evil men become ministries of the Divine purpose of gra<::e concerning God's people.-R. T.