ver. 4. Selah. A break, or pa.use, here And the reply follows from the previo11" oocnrred, while the procession of Levites speakers. The Lord strong and mighty, advanced to the very gates of the sanctuary. the Lord mighty in battle. It is Jehovo.h, Then the strain was resumed-the choir the Str1111g and lllighty One-strong in him- being divided into two parts, which sang self, mighty in his o.cts, mighty especially alltiphonally. in battle; whom ye may therefore be glad Ver. 7.-Lift up your heads, O ye gates. to receive among you as your Defence. It So sang one ho.If of the choir, <'ailing upon is this King for whom we demo.nd admission. the gates to throw themselves wide open Ver. 9.-Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates ; to their full height, that free entrance might even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and be given t-0 the approaching sacred fabrio. the King of glory shw.l come in. A repetition And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors. of vcr. 7, the first pa.rt of the choir reiter• Pleo1:astic, but giving the emphasis of a.ting its challenge. rcp<>tition, and adding the epithet "ever- Ver. 10.-Who is this King of glory1 lasting," because the tabernacle was viewed The second part of the choir reiterates its as about to be continued in the temple, and question, as though not yet quite under- the temple was designed to be God's house standing. "Who iir he, this King of glory?" "for ever" (1 Kings viii. 13). And the and the first, slightly varying its nnswer, King of glory shall come in. God wo.s replies, The Lord of hosts, ha is the King regarded as dwelling between the cherubim of glory. The epithet, "Lo1·d of hosts " on the mercy-seat, whore the Shcchino.h well known at the tilue (l Sam. i. 11; 2 from time to time ma.de its appearance. Sam. v. 10; vi. 2; vii. 18, 26. 27, etc.), made The entrance of the ark into the tabernacle all clear, and, the gates being thrown open, was thus the "coming in of tho King of the ark was brought in, and set in its place glory." in the midst of the tabemo.cle (2 Sam. vi. Ver. 8.-Who is this Xing of glory-1 The 17). It has been genera.Hy recognized that other half of the choir, acting as kc·epcrs of the reception of the ark into the tabernacle the doors, inquires, a.s if ignorant of the on Mount Zion typified the entrance of our motive and character of the procession, Lord into heaven after his ascension, "Who is tliis King or glory? "-who is it whence our Church appoints this psalm as to whom ye give !his high-sounding appella- one of thoBO to be recited on Allcensioh tion, and to whom ye require us to open? D~y.
HOMILETICS.. Ver. 1.-The world for God. "The earth is the Lord's," etc. The world-wide breadth and grandeur of the Old Testament Scriptures, contrasted with the local narrowness and national bigotry of the JewiRh people, is among the most impressive notes of its Divine inspiration. Every Israelite was trained in two convictions, which lay c10s11 to the heart of the nation11l religion : (1) that Israel, in a sense th11t put a TI"ide difference behreen them and all other nations, was God's chosen people; and (2) that the land which God had given as an inalienable inheritance was peculiarly Jehovah's land. What the Israelite was apt to lose•sight of was that these 11:ifts and distinctions were not for farael's own glory, but for the good of mankind. The Holy Land was to be the seed-plot of the world. Probably no ancient nation could havo grasped this grand idea. But the spirit of prophecy fills the pages of Old Testament Scripture with Gorl's all-embracing purpose; brightens them with the promise of a universal kingdom and religion; claims the whole world for Jehovah. l. THE EARTH 18 THE Lo1m's, AB THE WHOLE UNIVERSE IS HIS, DY RIGHT OF CREATION. This is the first lesson of reJic,ion (Gen. i. 1). David beautifully expresses this (1 Chron. x.xix. 11, 12, 14). Men m~y call themselves lords of the soil, and make what Jaws they choose about land; but in literal truth, every inch of earth, from centre, to surface, belongs to "the blessed and only Potentate." The wealthiest owner, the most absolute despot, is but a. tenant-at-will, who ma.y nt any moment receive notice to qnit (Luke xii. 20). Dear in mind that creation implies design. Every creature, every atom, force, law, existed in the Infinite Eternal Mind, before "be ~pake, and it was done" (Ps. xxx. 6-9). 11. As THE ODJECT OF HIS INCESSANT, UNIVERSAT, OARE, KNOWLEDGE, BOUNTY, Men talk and think as though God were an absentee owner; 11t most o. conslitntioual Sovereign, ruling by laws that restiict his action and bind his will. This is in truth an absurd fancy, yet one which often passes for scieotific. Even really godly peoplo havo PB, XXIV, 1•-10.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 175