Yea and Amen in Christ; they aro scaled by" the blood of the everlasting covenant." And hence they who repose their trust in them can never be moved. In conclusion, the preacher may well warn against any attempt to divorce these two departments of character-trwt and action. 1. Without trust in God there can be no tight action. 2. Without tho aim at right action we have no right 1 to trust in God.-C. Vers. 1-5.-A life without reproach. In all ages there bas been a sense of imper- fection, and a longing and a cry for the perfect in human character. 'l'he ethical philosophers of Grecco and Rome have given us their views; Christian teachers have aimed to set forth, in poetry and prose, their ideals of perfection; but it may be questioned whether anywhere we can find a truer or more beautiful portrait than t:..i, by the ancient Jewish poet. It has been said, "Christian chi miry bas not drawn a brighter." And we might even dare to say that it compares well with the character of the perfect man as depicted by our Lord in the Sermon on the l\lount. No doubt there are traits in the character that are peculiar to the times, and things are put differently in some respects from what they would have been in the light of tbo gospel; but we cannot contemplate the picture except with wonder and delight. In heart and tongue, in deed and life, as a member of society and as an individual, tho man of this psalm is without reproach. I. His H.SPIRATION IS FROM ABOVE. It is the life within that determines character. Abraham walked before God, and therefore was exhorted to aim at perfection. Tho "tabernacle'' is not wholly a figure of speech, but representa the meeting-place with God. For us Christ is the "t11hernacle." Here we ever find light and strength. "Our life is hid with Christ in God." II. HIS CHARACTER IS MOULDED AFTER THE IlIGllEST PATTERN. (Vers. 2, 3.) The law of righteousness is his rule. Conscience is not enough; the lives of the good aro not enough: there is more needed. The will of God as revealed to us is our true rulo of faith and· practice. There is a certain order observed-first, the person must he acceptable by entire surrender to God; theu he must work by righteousness; lastly, his word mnst be truth. So God bad regard first to Abel, and then to his oITcring (cf. 2 Vor. viii. 5). III. His SOCIAL LIFE IS MARK.ED BY THE NOnLEST VIRTUES. (Vcrs. 3-5.) Some have counted her~ ten or eleven particulars; but it is better t.o regard the spirit than the letter. The chief things are truth, justice, and benevolence, while with these t_here is humility of spirit and charity towards all men. All this is brought out the more vividly by contrast with the seUish and worldly life of the wicked. IV. His HAPPY DESTINY IS SURE AS THE THRONE OF THE ETERNAL. (Vor. 5.) There are things that can be moved; they have no stability or permanence. '!'hero are other things which cannot bo moved; they aro true as God is true, and stablo as God is stable, with whom there is "no variableness, neither shadow of turning." This holds good of religion and the religious life (Heb. xii. 27, 28). Thero are people who have no fixed principles. '!'hey cannot be trusted. St. James compares them to tho waves of the sea-driven with the wind and tossed (Jns. i. 6). But the man who trusts in God can say, "My heart is fixed;" and of such it is true-he "shall never be moved" (cf. 1 Cor. xv. 56-58; Acts n:. 22-24; xxi. 13).-W. F. Vers. 1-5.-Tlie essentials of a spiritual religion. 'l'his psalm is supposed by some to have been written on the removal of the ark to Zion. "As it is not only in David's time that the uymbol has been placed above the thing signified, and a superstitious efficacy attached to the externals of worship, this psalm has an equal value in every ago in keeping before the mind the great lesson that sanctity of life and truth of heart are the absolute essentials of a spiritual religion." How can we dwell truly and in the most intimate abiding fellowship with God 1 That is the question which the psalm answers; and the answer is-Access to God lies open to none but his pui·e u·orshippers. Two answers are given, each answer having both a positive anu a negative form. I. FmsT ANSWDll. 1. Positively. ( Ver. 2.) (1) He walketh upriyhtly; i.e. with integrity, with an undivided purpose of heart and mind. Ho docs not try "to servo two nrnslus," (2) He wcrlceth righteousness, or does the will of God. Nc,t his O\\'ll 11·ill, 1 Seo our homily on Ps. xx:s.vii. 3. 96 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [re. XVI. 1-11.
or tbe desires of the passions and appetites. He loves and doca the right. (3) He spealcs the truth in his liea,·t. Speaks the truth because he loves it, not with unwilling co11· straint. He speaks it in his heart, because it dwells there, before he utters it with his tongue. 2. Negatively. (Ver. 3.) He is not one who injures others (1) by word; or (2) by deed; or (3) by listening to and propagating slander. II. SECOND ANSWER. (Vers. 4, 5.) 1. Positivdy. (Ver. 4.) (1) He turns away from the company of evil persons because he has no sympathy with them. He con• tcmns them. (2) He honours the good in every way that he can honour them- defending, applauding, imitating them. (3) He keeps sacred his word or his oath. "Not a casuist, who sets himself to find a pretext for breaking his word when it is inconvenient to keep it." 2. Negatively. (Ver. 5.) (1) Not one who loves usury, but is willing to help the poor from a generous heart (Exod. xxii. 25). (2) Does not take bribes in the administration of ;'ustice. Incorruptibly just. "Such a man may not take up hls dwelling in the earthly courts of the Lord; but he shall so live in the presence of God, and under the care of God, that his feet shall be upon a rock." Would tha.t all Christians answered to this picture 1--S.