men aro afraid or God; and it is saddening to reflect that the guilt of an uneasy conscience projects its own dark shadow on the face of infinite love! 5. David hacl an eternal p<YTtion in his Gud; they lived only for this life. He calls them (ver. 14) "men of the world" ( cf. Hebrew original). David could say, " Thou art my Portion O God;" but with them their all was laid up here. When they depart hence, they "\11 leave behind them all their treasures; but David would go, at death, to the enjoyment of his. Hence : 6. The outlook of the psalmut was full of gladne.is ; theirs.full of gloom. How blissful the anticipation in the one case! (1) .A glorious vision. "I shall behold thy face in righte1,usuess." Whether the writer thought of a bodily vision of Jehovah'>! form, or of a spiritual vision of the invisible glory, we cannot say. At any rate, know- ing even now the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, we can forecast the ecstatic rapture which we shall feel when he shall be manifested, an•l we shall be like him, becauso we shall see him as he is! (2) A glorious tran.iformation. "When I awake, with thy likeness," i.e. with possessing it (otherwise the phrase would he a tautology). As Watts beautifully puts it- "I sl.Jall behold thy blissful face, And stand complete in rigbteousness.n (3) Entire satisfaction therein; i.o. both with the vision and with the conrormalion. Y cs I There will be full and complete realization of the glory which now we see only "as through a glass darkly." And this will be in the awakening (cf. Ps. xlix. 14, "The upright . . . in the morning"). The state after dea.th has been viowcd in three aspects. (a) As a slumbrous state in the under-wo~ld, from which there was no awaking. This was the pagan view. (b) As o. slumbrous state in the under- world, but with the hope of an awaking "in the mornin~." This was the Hebrew conception. (c) To the Christian, however, the state after death is-" Absent from the body, at home with the Lord" (2 Cor. v. 8, Revised Version). The glory, however, will be completed at the resurrection (Col. iii. 4, Revised Version). But how different the outlook of the wicked I (Mo.tt. vii. 13, 14; Phil. iii. 19; Luke xvi. 22, 23; xii. 21 ; :xiii. 28). Well may preachers plead agonizingly with their hearers to choose life rather ihan death (Heb. xi. 25, 26) I Little will the godly think of past sorrow wben they have their recompense in heaven I Small comfort will earth's wealth give to thoso who miss heaven 1-C. •
Vera. l-15.-71ie righteousness of Goa:s dealing. It is a common saying that N the pillow is a good counsellor;" and there is much truth in this. In the quietness and retirement of night we are able to collect our thoughts and to commune with our own hc:Lrts, as to the past, the present, o.nd the future. And if we do this in the spirit of the psalmist, realizing God's presence and relying upon him for counsel and guidance, it will be well. Whether this psalm was written o.t night or not, we cannot tell; but it contains truths fitted to soothe and comfort the soul in the night of trouble, aud that mark the progress of the light from sunrise to the perfect day. I. THAT Goo WILL HEAR TUE BIGH'l', 'rhis faith accords with the intuitions of the /ieart. We are sure that God must be on the side of right, for we feel that it is only when we are for the right that we are on the side of God. lf we aro true, much mnre must God be true. If we are just, much more must God be just. And this confi- dence is confirmed by God's words and deeds (vers. 4, 5). If it were otherwise, how could we trust God? and how could God govern and judge the world? II. THAT Goo WILL DEFEND THF. FAITUl'UL. Perfect righteousness no man can claim. But as regards spirit and intention, and oven as to actual conduct, some cau plead integrity. Job could say, "Behold, my witness is in heaven" (Job xvi. 19). Samuel could appeal to Israel as to his uprightness," Behold, here I am, witness against me before the Lord, ... whom have I defrauded, or whom have I oppressed?" (1 Sam. xii. 3). So David called Saul to witness to his innocence. "Moreover, my father, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mino hand, and I have not sinned against thee" (1 Sam. xxiv. 11). It is a great matter if wo can thus approach God with a good conscience (1 John iii. 21). Ilut our integrity, after all, is nothing to boast of. Before men, we may be innocent, but not bofore God. Our trust must therefore be, not in our own merits, but in God's mercy, God's loving• 112 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PS, XVII, 1-15,