night." Sleeplessness, if prolonged, if it becomes a habit, is a sore evil; but sleepless hours may be turned to greo.t profit. We have then the opportunity for quiet thought, for self-examination, for converse with God. Perhaps the past, with its joys and sorrows, rises before 1111, or we are troubled about the present or the future; but God is ever near, to counsel and to comfort us. "He giveth songs in the night" (Job xxxv. 10). "One practical lesson at least may be remembered as bearing on this subject- tho duty of storing the mind, while we are yet comparatively young and strong, with that which, in the houl's of sleeplessness and pain, will enable us to rise up to God. A mind well stored with Holy Scripture, with good prayers and hymns, need never feel that the waking hours of the night are lost. We may do more, for the soul's true sanctification and peace, than many others in their own brief earthly pilgrimage" (Canon Liddon).-W. I!'. Ver. 15.-Three awakings. The Bible is a book of contrasts. Here we have a con- trallt between the man of God and " the men of the world." We may bring out some- thing of its force and significance by considering the three awakings here suggested. I. THE AWAKING FROM BLEEP. 'l'be psalmist says (ver. 3), "Thou bast visited me in the night." The sense of God's presence abides. When be awakes, it is not, like the worldling, to a life of selfish pleasure, but to a life of holy service. His first thought is not of self, but of God. His highest joy is in fellowship with God and in doing his work. His prayer is- " Guard my first springs of thought and will, And with thyself my spirit fill." II. TnE AWAKING FROM THE NIOHT OF TROUBLE. Darkness is the image of gloom; light, of joy. "The men of the world" have few troubles, but they have fewer comforts. Their hope is in the things that perish. The godly man may be sorely tried (vers. 7-9), bnt he has "strong consolation." And even if gloom settles dow11 upon him, it is but for a little, and when he awakes, thoughts that troubled him pass away as the visions of the night, and he rejoices in God's favour as in the light. Joy comes with the morning. III. 'l'HE AWAKING FROM THE BLEEP OF DEATH. "Here we see right into the heart of the Old 'l'estament faith." In life and death, God is all. 'l'hus the soul rises to the hope of immortality. "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." 1. This awaking holds good of the whole being. The spirit is first, but the body next. 2, This awaking opens up a glorious vision. There will be many and wondronH sights, but the first and chief of all will be God. "Thy face." So Moses (Numb. xii. 8); so boliover~ (2 Cor. iii. 18). But her~ in a far higher way. 3. This awaking will bring complete satisfaction. Here we are never satisfied. This awaking into glory will first of all, and in the fullest sense of the word, bring satisfaction. "'l'hy likeness." Nothing less will satisfy. This is the hope of all our hoping. Tho joy of joys. "The rest that romnineth for the people of God." How grand must that possessiou be thnt will satisfy the soul, awakened to the highest life and the noblest aspirings ! Not only will the redeemed be satisfied, but the Redeemer also. "He shall see of the tmvnil of his soul, nnd be satisfied." Study the awful contrast (Dan. xii. 2; Luke xvi. 25; John v. 28, 21J).-W. F. Vera. 1-5.-The prayer of the righteous. "In this psalm a servant of Goel, con- scious of his own uprightness, and surrounded by enemies, prays to be kept from the evil world and from the evil men who persecute him, and then from the dark present looks forward with joy to the bright future." The tirst five verses arc o.s tho porch to the temple-the introduction to the main prayer of the psalm. 'l'hc psalmist !Jlends with God- I. Foa THE RIOHTEOUB 0AUBE. (Vors. 1, 2.) God is righteous, therefore he must bo on the side of justice and right. When we pray that liberty may prevail against slavery of mind or body, that justice may triumph over all injustice, that truth mny overcome falsehood, that the spirit may bo stronger than the flesh, and that religion may conquer nil irrcligion, we may be sure that we aro praying accorc.ing to the wi:l (?f God, nnd may expect him to p.nswer ~~. fs,I.LM~. ) 114 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [rs. xvm.1-50.
II. IN A RIGHTEOUS SPIRIT, The prayer is offered by "lips without deceit," in nil sincerity, without any hypocritical pretence. The trnthfulness, ri,!hteousness, of his spirit arc here pleaded as a ground for his being heard. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Integrity of mind is necessary to all true and successful prayer. He is in earnest about the righteous cause, and not making a pretence to it. HI. ON THE GROUND OF A RIGHTEOUS 0HARACTER, (Ver, 3.) 1. God had subjected him to dose s_crutiny in the night. He had been divinely tested, "In the night," when good and evil thoughts spring up io greatest force, because of our freedom from out- ward occupation, and when the native bias discovers itself unchecked, 'l.'hen God tries him, and does not find that his thoughts are dross, but gold. This is a bold statement, when put by the side of other statements, "If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquity," etc. 2. He lceeps evil thoughts in su~iection, even when they do arise, They do not pass his mouth, do not find expression, but are held back from utterance. We cannot help evil thoughts, but we can help the utterance of them. IV. HE PLEADS AI.SO RIGHTEOUS CONDUCT, (Vera. 4,5.) He has kept himself from the common doings of men, from the ways of the oppressor and destroyer. This is the negative side of his conduct; but it is a great virtue to resist the mass and run against the stream, The positive is that he bad held fast in his doings to the Divine paths, and been steadfast in the right course. He has been eonstant, and steered by the heavenly pole-star.-S.