fur us. When the Lord's day comes round, what multitlldes come together, and there is bread enough and to spare for them all! More particularly it may be said that the Lord's Supper is a "table" prepared by God for his people. Here we see his wise forethought. He saw what was needful, and designed this feast for the good of bis people. Here we see his loving care. His hand is seen in everything from first to last. 'l'he table is the Lord's table. 'l'he "bread" is his "body;" the wine is "bis blood; " the voice that says, "Come, eat," is his voice. There is not only preparation of the table, but of the guests. When we think of what we were and what we arc; of what we deserved and of what we have received,-it is with wonder, love, and praise that we say, "Thou preparest a table before me." We have "enemies," but they have not prevailed. We can think of them with pity, and forgive them; we can even pray for them, that they may be converted into friends, and, should they continue alienated and hostile, we can face them without fear, because "greater is be that is with us, than all they that are against us." The future is for us bright with hope. The dark valley is behind, and the power of God before. The table below is the earnest of the table above.-W. F. Ver. 6.-" .All the days of my life." Life is ma.de up of "days." Confidence in God gives- I. STRENGTH FOB LIFE'S WORK. "I shall not want." God is able to meet all our needs, "A.a thy days, so shall thy strength be" (Deut. xxxiii. 25; .Phil. iv. 13). II. SuPPOBT UNDER LIFE'S TRIALS. There will be changes. 'l'he "green pastures" may give place to the dark valley. There may be loss of health, of property, of friends; there may be unknown trials. "Thou art with me." III. FULFILMENT OF LIFE'S GREAT HOPES. It is n great thing to be one of Christ's flock, ever under the Shepherd's tender care. But more is promised. '!'here will be the goinii; in and out, and finding pasture-all through; but the end is not here, but above. The best is to come. The perfection of manhood; the "rest that remai □ eth; " the "fulness of joy;" the glorious fellowships that know no break, Wld that bring no pain, are in our Father's honse. "For ever with the Lord I Amen, so let it be; Life from tho dead is in that word, 'Tis immortality." W.F. Vers. 1-4.-God's providential care. "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want," etc. God's care and providence over man are denoted by the following things. I. HE GIVES RJ:ST TO THE WEARY, "Maketh me to lie down in green pasture8." Man is a combatant; he has a fight to maintain, a work to do; and he shall hnve seasons to rest from bis exhaustion. He is a pilgrim-traveller. He has rest from bodily toil. So also rest from spiritual work. But the rest is spiritual in its kind. Not mental inactivity. But a clearer perception of those grand truths which nfford the truest relief from the distraction of the conflict. Composure amidst distractions. The bl,ssed end we aim at, and the certain issue of it. IT. HE RENEWS THE EXHAUSTED STUENGTH OF MAN. (Vers. 2, 3.) Religious strength consists in the power to do_ and the power to suffer-or courage and fortitude. 172 THE BOOK Of•' PSALMS. [Ps, X)UV, 1-10,
This power to do-to conquer sin in ourselves and in the world-is stren<rthened by unshaken faith in God's truth, and by the power of self-denial. 'l'hes; are God's gifts, not by any direct act of his, but as the consequence of striving to do his will. III. Goo WILL AFFORD PROTECTIO~ IN THE DARKEST AND MOST DIFFIOULT TIMES, (Ver. 4.) Death is not always dark or difficult to good men. But the general tendency is to view death as dark and evil, and to fear it on those accounts. Darkness creates a feeling of tmcertainty and a desire/or guidance. God has removed the uncertainty and affords us guidance, The evil of death is the sense of guilt. Christ gives us the victory over that evil by proclaiming the forgiveness of the Father, and the removal of our sin. All who submit to G-od's guidance may claim him for their Shepherd. Jesus Christ fulfils the character of man's true Shcpherd.-S. Vers. 5, 6.-Fulness of joy. The psalmist has hitherto spoken of the care of the good Shepherd in removir.g the miseries, pains, and sufferings which this life brings- of the rest, refreshing, and protection he had received. Now he rises higher into the rich fulness of joy he receives, and the good things of God's house. Four principal ideas here. I. THAT THERE IS AN ABUNDANT PROVISION FOR EVERY WANT. (Ver. 5,) For all out-ward and inward want. A feast or banquet is spread for us by a royal Host, There is a feast provided for the senses and appetites in outward nature-if we do not tum it into a riot and a debauch. The enjoyment of it arises from and depends on labouring for it and the moderate use of it. There is also the greater feast providetl for the mind and heart, in finding the truth and responding to the love which God has set forth, as the means of building up the true life. Ohrist is the Bread and Wine of life. David's honour as God's guest was the greater, that it was witnessed by those who had been his enemies. II. His IlEABT WAS FULL OF SOLEMN THANKFULNESS AND JOY. (Ver. 5, "Thou bast anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows.") He had a most vivid perception that the feast, the anointing, the fulncss, all came from the Divine hand. 'l'his sense of God in our lives makes a whole world of difference to our experience. No gratitude possible without it. No sense of the glory of life without it. III. Oun ASSURANCE OF THE CONSTANCY OF THE DIVINE LOVE AND •GOODNESS, (Ver. 6,) What God had been to him in the past, be would continue to be in the future. He bad suffered, had been weary, been persecuted, had had battles to fight, had been bewildered in his path; but God bad been bis Guide and Deliverer, and would continue to be all through the remainder of his life. IV. HE WOULD BE BLESSED WITII THE FELLOWSHIP AND FRIENDSIIIP OF Goo FOR EVEB. (Ver. 6.) This is the meaning of" And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever," so as to be near him and have constant intercourse with him. It includes all kinds of intercourse with God-worship, communion, sonship, obedience, guidance, so as to fill the whole life of thought and feeling and action. "For ever" looking onwards, perhaps, dimly, to the life beyond, which was not so clear to him as it is to us.-S.