The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 1 — Section 94

dost thou give it to all men to find their rest in theo? If not, who are these happy ones?" "Who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell iu thy holy hill?" II. ONLY SOl!E SOULS FIND Gon A HO:ll'.E FOR THEM. The rest of the psalm answers the question which is raised at the outset of it. Inasmuch as the very J1hraseology of the psalm is built upon and assumes the divinely appointed institutions of priesthood, sacrifice, penitence, prayer, and pardon, it is needful only to remark in passing that the man who dwells in God's holy hill is the one who accepts th~ divinely revealed plan of mercy and pardon through an appointed sacrifice. But the fact that by God's mercy we are permitted to base the edifice of our life on such a foundation doos by no m~ans dispense with the necessity or lessen the importance or our erecting such edifice with scrupulous exactness according to the Divine requirements, The two parts of revealed religion cannot be disjoined now, any more than of old; the sacrificial and ethical departmeuts must be equally recognized. And we are here called upon to study a Scripture portraiture of a virtue which God will approve, by seeiu:~ how a man who lives in God will demean himself before the world. 1. His walk is upright. His entire life and bearing will be of unswerving integrity. Bishop Perowne renders the word "uprightly," "perfectly," which in the scriptural sense is equivalent to "sincerely," with an absolutely iucorruptible aim at the glory of God. 2. His deeds are right. They correspond with the simplicity and integrity of his life's aim and intent. 3. His heart is tru, to his words. He does not say one thing and mean another, nor will he cajole another by false pretences. 4. He guards his tongue. He will not "backbite" or "dander:" the verb is from a root signifying "to go about," and convevs the idea of one going about from house to house, spreading an evil report of 11 neighbour. 5. He checks the tongues of others. He will not take up a reproach against Lis neighbour. Retailers of gossip and scandal will find their labour lost on him. 6. Ee abstains from injuring a friend-by deeds of wrong. 7. He estimates people according to a moral standard, not according to their wealth. A base person is rejected, hov,ever rich. A man who fear5 the Lord is honoured, however poor. 8. He is true to his promise, though it may cost him much, even more than he at first supposed. D. He is conscientious in the use of what he has. He will not be one to bite, to devour, or to oppress another by greed of gain, nor will he take a bribe to trick a guileless man. lie will be clear as light, bright as day, true as steel, firm as rock. Whjlo resting on the promises of God as a l!l"ound of hope, he will follow the Divine precepts as the rule of his life. As Bishop Perowne admirably remarks, "Faith in God and spotless integrity may not be sundered. Religion does not veil or excuse petty dishonesties. Love to God is only then worthy the name, when it is the life and bond of every social virtue." l A holy man said on his death-bed, "Next to my hope in Christ, my greatest comfort is that I never wronged any one in business." III. Fnoll THEIB HOME nr GOD BUCH SOULS CAN NEVER DE DISLODGED. (Ver. 5, "He that doeth these things shall never be moved.") The man is one who lives up to the Divin.e requirements under the gospel. "Yet when his holiest worke are done, His sonl depends on grace alone." Even so. .And he shall not ba disappoiuted. Note, in passing, it is not his excel- lence that ensures this security; but the grace of God honours a man whose faith and works accord with his will. 1. No convulsionB can disturb such a man. His reot in Divine love is one which is secure against any catastrophe whatever (Ps, xJ vi. 1, 2; Rom. viii. 38, 3D). 2. Time is on the 6irle of such a one. For bot.h the graces of faith and obedience will strengthen with age; while the Being who is his Stronghold is the same "yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." Such characters, moro- over, can never get out of date. 3. No discoveries in science nor fa any department can dim the lustre of such a life. 'l'o trust in the great etornal God and to aspire to bis likeness, is surely that of which no advance in human thought can ever make ns ashamed. 4. The faithful God will never desert such a one. Whoever clings to God i □ faith, love, and obedience will never find his love unreciprocatcd or his trust uurecompensed. 5. The 1>romises made to such a one will never fail. They nre nll ~ Perowno, in loc., an.d notes on tho whole psalm in 'The CllIIlbridge Dible,' Pa. xv. 1-5.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 05