HOMILIES BY V.ARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-11.-..A.thirst for God, This is one of the most touching, pathetic, and beautiful of the Psalms. It is not possible to decide either its author or the time of it3 composition. Its tones are very much like the plaintive sounds from David's harp, whether or no he was its writer (but see homily on Ps. xliii.). Leaving untouched, owing to want of space, the historical and geographical matters suggested in the psalm,1 we shall devote ourselves entirely to the opening up of its deep pathos and spiritual fervour, RO as to administer instruction and comfort to those saints of God who may even nllw be ready to say, "All thy waves and billows a.re gone ever me," and from whom, for a. while, the face of God seems to be hid. May they find help in tracing the experience of a like sufferer in the ancient days I I. ONLY TBl!l LIVING Goo 0AN SATISFY THIC 0RAVIN0S OF BU11AN SPIRITS, (Vera. 11 2.) So t},e writer of Pa. lx.xxiv. 2. The words of Augustine are well known, declaring tb.i,t our hearts want rest, and cannot find it till it is found in God. There are four lin~s of illustration along which this thought may be worked out. 1. In the heathen world. There are many Corneliuses longing for the Peters to come and tell them abo·lt God. The late Mrs. Porter, widow of a missionary at Madras, assured the writer that her husband and herself often came a.cross instances of this sort, and said, "Oh, if Christian people did but know how men long n.fter God, they surely would hasten to send them the news of his love I" 1 'fhis yearning after God shows itself in what is best in the several religions of the world. 2. In the worldly, even in Christian lands. Men thirst after riches, honour, rank, etc., and yet the raging tllirst of the spirit remains unquenched, Some, indeed, may have suppressed the craving till it ceases to be felt. But such numbness of feeling is not to be confounded with satisfaction. At the moment we are writing, an Italian, named Succi, is ma.king the experiment of going without food for forty days, having made similar attempts before, though for a. shorter period, He declares that after the first week no desire for food is left, But, for e.11 that, he is n. shrivelling, starving man, Will any be so foolish as to mistake the absence of desire for food for the satisfaction and sustenance of his nature ? So in spiritual things, a man may trifle with the yearnings of the Spirit, till the yearning ceases, But he wants God, /or all that I 3. In the awakened soul, when the first tbrobbings of the renewed lifo aro felt, the desire after God becomes intelligent, clear, and strong; the soul craves its God, in whom alone it can find light, pardon, friendship, power, to the/ull extent of its 1 Ifor suggested historic circumstances, see Stanley's 'Sinai and Palestine,' ob. viii. § G,
11lso ix, anrl xi.; for geographicul elucidation, see Perowne's instructive notes; for a refer- ence to the wonderful play of emotion in tllis and other psahus, see lrving's iutl"Od ucLory essay to Bishop Horne on tile Psalms; Perowue's second chapter in his introduction on • Tile Use of the Psalter in the Church and by Individuals; ' and the preface to Dr. P,i.rker's "Psalter," ~n vol. xii. of his• People's Bible,' although. as Dr. Parker confesses, lie has left the Psalter "almost untouched," so for as exposition is concerned. , A touching illustration will be found in M. Godet's 'Commentaire sur l'Evangile de Bt. Jean,' tome truisieroe, p. 17, deuxieme edition: Paris and London; and in tile Et1glis:, translation of the same, vol. ii. p. 277 (Clurk). 334 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PS, XLIL 1-11,