these are the ruins of God's temple. It is lost, but not irredeemably. He has "found a rnneom" (cf. Luke xv. 24). 2. The greatness of man's nature is proved by the very greatness of his ruin. Only from an exalted height could he fall so terribly. Beasts are not capable of sin. Low, materialistic views of our nature necessarily involve slight views of sin. God's great love, in place of implying indulgence or indifference to sin, is the very measure of his abhorrence, because sin has (1) defaced his likeness; (2) robbed him of men's love and trust; (3) broken his highest law; (4) destroyed man's happiness. II. 'fHEREFOBE "THE REDEMPTION OF THE SOUL IS PRECIOUS;" AND AT AN INFU!ITE COST IT HAS BEEN EFFECTED. 'l'hat there is such redemption the psalmist was assured. The faith of Old Testament saints was no doubt imperfect. The guiding light shone dimly. Yet now and then flashes out a gleam of startling brightness (Job xxxiii. 23- 28). For us the light shines clear (Matt. xx. 28). Cast away from these words- " ransom," "cost," "price," and the like-all narrow (and as it were commercial) associations. Remember the Father not only accepts, but provides, the propitiation ; the atonement is his eternal purpose; "the Lamb of God" is "his unspeakable Gift" (1 John iv. 9, 10). III. THE ISSUES OF THIS REDEMPTION ABE INFINITE. "It ceaseth for ever; " or else "endures for ever" (Heb. ix. 12; x. 26; J ohn_L 27, 28; Rom. viii. 35-39; John iii. 18, 19, 36). Every preacher must judge for himself whether to bring into the pulpit one of the most serious controversies of the day-the ultimate fate of those whom Scripture describes as "lost," "perishing." Who would not wish to entertain, if he could, what is called "the larger hope"? But if it is to be realized, it must be by means unrevealed in Scripture, and upon principles and laws contrary to those which in this life form and fix character for good or evil. 'l'he soul which is hardened in hatred to God and goodness, gnawed with the feverish thirst of depraved appetites, and bound in the fetters of vicious habit, carries within it the elements of a present hell. The danger is real u.nd great, that in peering into the far-off future, beyond the day of judgment, attention should be diverted from such plain wal'Ilings as Matt. x. 28; John viii. 2-i.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vera. 1-20.-" A dark saying:" wealth in bad hands. The author and the date of this psalm are alike unknown. There are, however, matters concerning it of much more importance, which we do know. One of these is that the writer was a believer in Goel; and that while the dark problems of life perplexed him, as they do and have done so many others, he saw light above and beyond them. Another is that in this psalm wo have the words of one who had "inclined his ear" to hear what the great Speaker would say unto him, and what he would have him write. He would not put pen to paper till he received the word from heaven. "Antequam ad alios loquar, prius devote audiam ipse Spiritum Sanctum intus me erudientem." 1 "In tho words, 'I will incline mine ear to a similitude,' it is plainly implied that the wisdom which the psalmist would communicate is no self-sprung possession, but one that has been acquired by him . . . he only brought forth what he had learned in the school of God" (Hengstenberg, in Zoe.). The theme of the psalm is suggested by tho fact, so often observed, that much of the world's wealth is in the hands of the ungodly. Concerning it, "in Ps. xxxvii. David, in Ps. xlix. the sons of Korab, and in Ps. lxxiii. Asaph, teach the same truth" (Fausset, p. 258). In dealing therewith we shall portion out the homiletic expositions in three distinct outlines. In this we deal with the darker side of the theme. I. ONE OF LIFE'S HOST PERPLEXlliO FACTS IS TIIAT BO MUCH WEALTH SHOULD DP: IN DAD HANDS. No observant man can fail to see many illustratious of this. 2 The greatnoss assumed by the rich often overshadows humblor souls. It sets them wonder- ing why God should let so many of his people struggle with poverty while many of the ungodly are rolling in wealth. And, to the eye of sense, it darkens the world's • • Poli Synopsis,' in loo. The whole paragraph is worth attention. • See E:-cpositor, vol. x. p. 4156; and Homilist, vol. xii. (l!:<litor's series), p. 7¼. 382 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [rs. XLIX. 1-20.