psalmist saw men sinning :1gninst light; in the great outlying world of heathendom he saw them sinning without the light of revelation (Rom. ii. 12-14). But in all the root-mischief is the same-human self-will. If all men, instead of pleasina themseives, set themselves to do God's will, a change would pass over all life, privati and public, like the breaking forth of spring out of winter. l?aith does not dictate to God how or when men are to be brought to their right senses; to see that Goel is God, and men "but men "-weak, frail, ignorant, sinful. But faith longs and pleads that it be done. II. ~HERE ARE TIMES AND CIRCUMSTANCES which give to this appeal special urgency. !n ancient Israel, when idolatry threatened to suppress true religion; or heathen mvaders threatened the national existence. For the Christians of the first three centuries, in the deadly persecutions of the Roman emperors. For lovers of God's pure Word and of freedom, during the dark years before the Reformation, in the gigantic growth of superstition, corruption, and ecclesiastical tyranny. The blood of Albigenses, Lollards, Huguenots, and a great army of martyrs beside, seemed to cry for vengeance (Rev. vi. 10). In our own time the frightful prevalence of crime and vice, and of squalid misery in the midst of wasteful luxury; the m1,1rderous war-preparations of Christian nations ; the slow progress of the iospel where it is matched against the mighty forces of heathenism, Buddhism, Mohammedanism; and the bold and subtle forms of atheism or unbelief that fill the very atmosphere of our age ;-all these awaken in our hearts this earnest, passionate longing; try our faith with this deep perplexity (Isa. lxiv. 1). Multitudes of earnest Christians find no comfort but in the belief that the second comin'! of the Lord is near at hand. They echo St. John's "come quickly" (Rev. xxii. ~O). / ill. THE GOSPEL SHEDS A LIGHT ON THIS MYSTERY, which prophets- and kings of old longed for, but could not see (see 2 Pet. iii. 9; 1 Tim. ii. 3). God could crush and stamp out sin, and destroy sinners quickly enough, by his almighty power. But his amazing purpose bas been and is to" overcome evil with good;" subdue unbelief and rebellion, not by vengeance, but love. Mercy rejoices against judgment. The cross- grace and truth by Jesus Christ--exerts a power impossible before. The prophets show the possibility of the penitent being pardoned (Isa. i. 18; Ezek. xxxiii. 11, etc.). Yet M:masseh's conversion is almost a solitary instance. 'l'he regeneration of a nation-as of nations of cannibal savages ill our own day by the preaching of the gospel-was a thing impossible. Hence inspired psalmists saw no alternative but either the pros- perity of the wicked or their destruction (Luke ix. 54-56; xxiv. 46, 47). But power will not always sleep, nor judgment tarry (2 Pet. iii, 7, 10; 2 Thess. i. 7, 0),
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-20.-Praisefor the destroyer's destruction. The title of this psalm is obscure. Its archaisms cannot now be satisfactorily explained. And even a reference to the most learned expositors may possibly only increase the confusion.1 The title, indeed, is very sua,,estive. It reads, "Upon the death of Labben." Walford regards "Muth-labben" as tht~iame of a musical instrument. For this we can find no warrant. 'fhe word muth, which is equivalent to" death," seems to put us on a line of thought which is, at any rate in harmony with the entire psalm. If we grant (as appears from the whole ten~r of the verses) that the reference is to the death of some enemy, by whose plots and snares the people of God were imperilled, the whole. song reads na~urally enough. Whether we read "Labben" as a proper name, or read 1t "of the Son, or regard the psalm as referring to the death of Goliath of Gath, is of no consequence as re;.(ards its general meaning or spiritual signific:i,~ce. De~itzsch, incleed 1 says, "1:his psalm i_s a thorou~hly national song of thanksg1vrng for victory by David, belongrng to the time when Jahvc was already enthroned on Zion (ver.14), and therefore to the time after the 1 Hengstenberg and Delitzsch may be consult!ld. with n?vnntngo; ~nd even. Dames, though often inadequate end not always ex~ct, is_ ~nstruc~1vc on the title of this psalm (see also Cnlvin). Matthew Poole's 'Synopsis Cr1hcorum hos n good summary of the different theories thereon. Keil's 'Introduction to the Ol<l Testament' has a very I.Jelpful section on the" Titles of the Psalms," vol. i. § 109. The introduction to Pss. ix. and x. in the • Cambridge Bible,' 18911 should be rend, and itl notes thneon, throughout. 1'8, lX, 1-20.] THE DOOK. OF PSALMS. 61