wmou TUE ANOINTED O:-E DECLARES. (Vers. 7-9.) "l will declare the decree." The decree or the kings nnd rulers, which they resolve to carry out, is given in vcr. 3; but I will tell of a decrco from n hi~her throne. It has four parts. 1. The ..1noir,ted Q,ne is to be tltc begotten Son of God. (Ver. 7.) 2. He is to have the sway oi:er the whole world. (Ver. 8.) 3. He is to have this as the result of his intercession. "Ask of me" (ver. 8.) 4. llis sway ancl conquest are to be entire an il complete. (Ver. 9.) ]f men will not bend, they must break. v. THE HOLY GnosT CALLS FOR SUBMISSION TO TH,j!: ANOINTED SoN OF Goo. This is set forth in five ways. 1. Be wise. Kings and judges are reminded that the only true wisdom is found io yielding to the Anointed One. Thero id no reason why ho should be resisted. Resistance can end only in defeat. 2. Be instructed. Learn the Divine purpose and plan concerning the King in Zion. 3. Serve the Lord with fear. Not in servile terror, but iu loyal reverence. 4. Rejoice with trembling. Ile glad tLat the sceptre is in such hands. 5. Kiss the Son. Do homage, acknowledging his supremacy. '!.'his course is urged on them by two powerful pleas. (1) If they rcfuoe, they perish from tho way ; i.e. they wander ; they miss the way so seriously as to be lost; they perish as the result of being lost. Professor Cheyne's rendering is, "Ye go to ruin." (2) If they yield the Anointed One allegiance and trust, they will be happy indeed (ver. 12).1 Note: 1. It is very foolish to fret and chafe against the government of God. 2. All mankind are under Christ's sway, whether in this state of being or in any other. 3. Christ has a heart of love as well as a sceptre of power; and he rules to save. 4. Those who will not submit to the sceptre of Christ's grace must feel the weight of his iron rod. 5. '!.'rue blessedness is found in submission to Christ; this blessedness is greater than tongue can express or heart conceive.-C. Vers. 1-12.-The heathen in three aspects. I. As SLAVES OF BIN. The condition of peoples varies. Civilization ,vas more advanced in Greece aud Rome th:-in in other parts of the world. But though there may be superiority in some respects, with regard to tho highest things there is no difference (Rom. iii. 9). What a terrible picture have we in this psalm of the crimes and violence and miseries that desolate the world, where "the lust of the eye, and the lust of the flesh, and the piide of life " prevail, and not the Law of God! II. As OBJECTS OF DIVINE INTEREST. The Jews were in covenant with God as his peculiar people. Ilut this did not imply that other peoples were unloved and uncared for. God has his purposes with regard to all the tribes and kindreds of the earth. Though they have forsaken him, ho has not forsaken them. In their conscience they feel his presence. In the results of their actions they are subject to his Law. In their fears and darkness they are groping after him, and in their cruel rites and superstitions, consciously or unconsciously, they are decla1ing that withont God they aro without hope, and that the desire of their hearts is for his light and blessing. Things are dark and gruesome, but yet, in ways unknown to us, God is ruling over all, and working for the accomplishment of his own will and holy ends. The heathen are in God's hand. He promises to give them to Christ. All prayer and evangelistic effort should be founded on this: "Ask of me." Prayer is good; ,but prayer without work is vain. Have we the mind of Christ? Do our hearts yearn in love and pity over the multi- tudes who are sitting in darkness and the shadow of death? Then let us plead God's word, and labour to carry out Christ's command (Matt. xxvili. 19, 20). III. As THE SUDJECTS OF MEBSIAH's KINGDOM. "Thine inheritance." 1. This inheritance is moral, not material. It is the people that God is concerned about. ".All souls are mine." 2. '!.'his inheritance is obtained by right, and not by might. God" gives," not in an arbitrary way, but in accordance with law. There will be no forcing. The heathen must be won by truth and conviction if they are to be won at all. Hence there is scope for all reasonable motive and argument. 3. This inheritance is for spiritual good, not for personal aggrandizement. Empire has been often sought for selfish ends. If the heathen are given to Christ, it is not that they may remain in 1 " To propose any mere oarthly sovereign as the ohjeot of trust would be opposed to th1a1 whole teuor of Soripture " (' The Book of Psalms,' R.'f.S., 1891). 1G THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PB, II, 1-12,
thoir hee.thenism, but that they me.y be renewed in the spirit of their minds and receive the blessings of the gospel. The_ more that we ourselves, who he.vo so many representa- tives e.mong the heathen, recogmze that the power we hava u.s a nation is given us of G?d, and should be used as a sacred trust for God's glory an~ the good of the peoplo with whom we have to do, the better for us all. Woo to us 1f we seek our own and not also the things of others, if we are eager to make gain nnd to advance our own ~elfish ends and forget the claims of our brethren, who as surely belong to Christ 68 wo do, and for whom he died !-W. F.