almost gone." So that bis spirit is failing or his bodily frame is giving ,vay. The writer may menn either or both.1 5. Trusting. (Ver. 5.) "The darkest hour is just before the dawn." 'l'he woe reaches i,ts deepest and bitterest; and then-trust pre- vents absolute despair. 'l'he renewed heart clings to God, even in the dark. And he to whom our spirit thus clings will appear for us at the right time, and in his own wonder-working way. 6. Trust leads to prayer. 'fhe whole psalm is a prayer. One of the greatest blessings in life is to have a friend who will never misunderstand us; and by whom all our unintelligible and contradictory words will be pitie<l, and not blamed; who will bury our follies in his own love. But there is only One in whom all this exists to perfection-even our God. He never misinterprets the lan)!;Uage of broken hearts and bewildered souls-never! ,ve may always tell him exactly what we feel, as we feel it; or, if words will not come, then "our groaning" is not hid from him. He will answer us, not accordi □ g to our imperfection, but will do exceeding abundantly for us "above all that we can ask or think." The fourth verse may not and does not give us the highest style of pleading. But it indicates the burrien on the heart. And whatsoever is a burden on a child's heart is to the Father an object of loving concern, and may be rolled over on to God (Pss. lv. 22; cxlii. 1-7). 7. Deliver- ance comes in answer to prayel'. And thus it ever will be. So that he who moans at the beginning of prayer may sing at the end of it. "I will sing unto the Lord, because he bath dealt bountifully with me." Thus does this psalm run through the various shades or stages of emotion. Having gone down to the depths of the valley of anguish, the writer comes at length to stand on the heights of the mount of praise! II. Suen A REHEARSAL OF EXPERIENCE THI\OWS MUCH LIGHT ON THE SECRET DEli- INGS OF GoD WITH ms PEOPLE. "'l'he secret of the Lord is with them that fear him," says the psalmist elsewhere (Ps. xxv. 14). And this thirteenth psalm lets us into it. It teaches us: 1. That the child of God is the ol>:ject of the Father's tenderest pity ancl love, even at the moment of tumultuous an)!;Uish and deep darkness of soul. The sun shines just as brightly on us, even when :i. film over the eyes obscures our sight of it. Saints are never nearer or dearer to the heart of God than when they are in trouble, 2. God graciously sanctifies the anguish, and makes it the means of quickening to intenser devotion. It is not when all is calm that prayer is at its best. .Ah, no! It is when we are stunned, startled, half-parolyzed by some dreadful and unexpected trial, that we pray the most earnestly. It is quite possible that at such times words may fail; but God reads deep meaning in the tear, and hears heavenly eloquence in the Righs of those that seek him. 3. The anguish wilt be removed in God's own time. When the trial sent us has secured its needed end in the quickening of devotion, the strengthening of faith, and the improvement of the whole life, then will the pressure be taken off. Nor ought we to desire it otherwise. It is far more important to have our afflictions sanctified than to have them removed. 4. By the very trials through which we have passed we shall have learnt to be comforters of others. If the psalmist had known that the written experience of his sorrows o.nd his songs would have gone down to hundreds of generations, to comfort sorrowing souls in all time, he would have beeu thankful for his trouble, sharp as it was. Note: (1) It is only those who have gone through trouble that can effectually be comforters of others (2 Cor. i. 6; cf. Heb. ii. 18), (2) It is not to be supposed that mei·cly because we have sorrow nt one moment we shall have joy in the future. Only God's mourners can expect God's com- forts. Matt. v. 4 is for those named in_,Matt. v. 3. 'l'he vast difference pointed out in Isa. l. 10, 11 should be reverently and anxiously pondered. • (3) It is only tho renewed soul that can possibly thus trust, pray, and plead, when in tho midst of anguish. The supremo concern of each is to accept peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ; to have sin forgiven, and the soul renewed. He who ho.s first cl\st hi11 burden of sin and guilt on an atoni □ g Saviour, and who is being renewed hy tho Holy Ghost, may come every day and cast any care, and all his care, upon his Father, Got!. (4) It is infinitely better to be in the depth of the valley of sorrow, as a good man, and to let our God lead us up to the height of joy, than, as a godless man, to be 11t tho height of merriment and laughter for o. while, only to siuk to the depths of despair.-0,
1 Wo cannot ot o.ll ncccpt Dr. Choyne's view of the phrnse-" Lest I aleop lhe sleop of
death." Bishop Pcrowne ia much more to the point. 84 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [rs. xm. 1-6.