Ver. 2.-Prayer as ccmplaint. "I pour out my complaint before him." "Before God we may speak out our minds fully, and name the persons that afilict, affro:it, or trouble us." True religion must be geuuiae. What a man really does feel he ought to be able to express. Reserve is the bane of friendship; it is of our friendship with God. A friend should be free to tell his friend precisely what he is feeling, even when the feelings are neither good nor right. It is healthy and hc.peful when there is such confidence between child and mother that the child can tell its bad thoughts and wfahes as well as its good. When there is absolute confidence in the love o"r GoJ. to us, there can be free utterance before him of our bad moods as well as of our good. .A.nd seeing that the best or men are subject to human frailties, are influenced \Jy bodily elates, affected by changing circumstances, and mastered by peculiarities of J.isposition, he could be no God to us at all who could only bear relations to conditions nod moods which represented us at our best. I. A SPIRIT OF COMPLAINING NEED NOT BE WRONG. It ofte11 is the proper 1md natural response to surrounding conditions. As no.tural as the response we mako to things thnt are pleasing. To be tempted involves us in no wrong. To be set upon complain- ing need not involve us in wrong. To complain is a pnrt of our complex: human nature. The mnn is below bis full manhood who is unable to complain. lie docs not feel in response to his circumstances as he ought to. II. A. CHERISHING OF THE BPinlT OF COMPLAINING MUST DE wnoNo. \Vheo the spirit is nwakeued in us, we have to deal with it. Aml everything depends on how wo deal with it. If we keep it, nourish it, brood over it, it exerciEes a. mischievous influence ou us, it grows into an evil far worse tho.n itself, it excites to envious and unworthy conduct towards others. Keep to ourselves tho complnioing spirit, nod a spiritual "dry rot" will be sure to get into our souls. III. PUTTING COMPLAINT INTO PRAYER PROVIDES SAFETY AND REI.IEF. It is evident that prayer must include more than petition. Prayer is really the expression or the soul's confidence in God. And there is no fuller sign of confidence tha11 telling freely our complaints. And yet doing BO is a request for the Divine intervention and help; only in telling our trouble we wholly leave with God the way in which our circum- stances shall be dealt with.-R. T.
Ver. 8.-The confidence of the crushed heart. Literally, "In the muffiing of my spirit upon me." When my spirit was BO wrapped in trouble am! gloom, so muffled 348 'l'HE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PS. 0XLII. 1-7,