man who _sees God. ~nd this privilege is reserved for" the puro in heart" (Malt. v. 8). 2. Since one God is over all, natural phenomena as well as providential incident may be made fuel for the religious life. A thunderstorm may aid worship. 3. Since one Being is the Origin of all l,:inds of force, prayer Joi· natural blessings and temporal mercies is pe1fectly reasonable; e.g. prayer for rain. It is quite true that prayer and rain lie in totally distinct spheres. 1 But since the same Deini:: who hears ono sends the other, the spheres find their unity at his throne. 4. Since the God who goi·erns all is One whom we know, we may read and sing of glory under all circumstances and everywhere. (Ver. 9.) "In his temple every whit of it uttereth glory; "or, "In his temple every one says, Glory I" Yes; we may triumph everywhere since our God is "King for ever!" 5. Holy awe may well combine with triumph, and loyalty with pi·aise. For God "sits enthroned "-such is the sublime fi"'ure SUO'O'ested here. AnJ " his people" though we are by grace, his absolute sovereig~ty mus'f°never be forgotten by us (ver. 2); ever must we give unto the Lord" the glory due unto his Name," 1 and " worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness "-in holy attire, even in the "fine linen which is the righteousness of saints" (Rev. xix. 8), "having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hilb. x. 22). 6. Amid all natural convulsions and national upheavings, let confidence and hope remain undis- turbed. "King for ever J " Then, however gloomy the outlook of events, nothing can happen beyond the bounds of Divine control, nothing which he cannot make subservient to the inbringing of his everlasting kingdom. "Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea" (Ps. x.lvi. 2).-C. Vers. 1-11.-The works and the Word of God should not be separated. They are both revelations, and the one is ne,1:essary to the right interpretation of the other. If we study God's works by themselves, we are apt to forget God's Word, and so forgot God himself. If, on the other hand, we confine ourselves to God's ·word, we arc in danger of falling into a similar error-that of forgetting God's presence in bis works,· and so turning the world without us into a world without God. The psalmist shows us a more excellent way. "The occasion of this psalm; is a thunderstorm; but it does not limit itself to the external natural phenomenon, but in it perceives the self- attestation of the God of redemptive history" (Delitzsch). If Pa. viii. should be read at night when the sky is bright with stars, and Ps. xix. by day when the sun is high in the heavens, this should be studied in the gloom of the storm, when the lightnings flash o.nd the thunders roll, aad the terrors of the Lord nre on every side. It is then we can realize its deep grandeur and beauty, and feel its power to bring us nearer God. 1. The first thing is that we should take the right standpoint. "Not to the earth con.fined ascend to heavl!n." We must rise above the things seen, above the various forces working around us, above the mere reasonings and imaginations of our own hearts. We must take our place by the side of the highest, "the God-like ones," "the sons of the mighty "-the angels, who are in truest sympathy with God. It is as we hear with their ears, and see with their eyes, and enter into fellowship with them in miad and spirit, that we can truly behold Jehovah's glory, and fitly sing his praise ("l'er. I). 2. The true spirit with which to contemplate the magnificent spectacle is reverence and trust (ver. 2). 'l'hus prepared, we are able to recognize God's presence. A. "voice" implies a speaker. Behind all the glory of visible and natural things there is the glory of God. He is the Force of all forces, and the Life of all life. 'l'he man of science may see nothing in the thunderstorm but cold material law, and the savage may recognize only a mysterious power which fills his soul with fear and trembling; but if we are of the same spirit as the psalmist, we can rise from the seen to the unseen, and acknowledge the presence and the glory of God. 3. Further, we are ablo to confess with humility and awe the supreme majesty of God. The storm in progress witnesses to bis eternal power and Godhead. We. behold his glory as the 1 See articles on 'The Function of Prayer in the Economy of the Universe,' by Rev.
Wm. Knight, Dundee, in Coutemporary Review, January and December, 1873. ' The psalmist is thought by some to c.all on the heavenly hosts to praise God (ver. I); ~nrely not exclusively, but rather along with the Church of God on earth (see Hengslcn• berg hereon, und Ps. ciii. 10- 22). rll. XXIX, 1-11.J THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 217