HOMJLJES BY VARIOUS AUTHOP.S. Vcrs. 1-5.-" Help I" This is the cry of many. By sea and land, in times of peril, this call is made. '!'hat gun "booming loud" is the signal of a ohip in distresR. Tl,at flag held up from the boat is a siltnt appeal. That cry, rising loud and shrill, above the turmoil of storm, tells of "some strong swimmer in hi~ a-;,ony," who still hopes for succour. And as brother cries to brother, so the soul cries to ,God. There are cases when we can help ourselves. There arc other cases where friends and brethren can help us. For this we should thank Gori and take courage. 'l'he more the Spirit of Christ prevails, the more there will be both of self-help and mutual help. Btit there are other cases when God alone can help. Let us turn to him. There is every reasc,n to hope that we shall not seek him in vain. He has power (2 Chron, xxv. 8). He bas the disposition (Isa. xii. 10; xliv. 2). He has pledged his word (Ilos. xiii. 9). Well, therefore, might the psalmist say," Happy is he that bath the God of Jacob for his help" (P~. cx.lvi. 5) ! This psalm is entitled, "To put God in remembrance;'' and it is rich in light and comfort to all who make their prayer to God for help. Mark- I. THE CRY. "Help!" It is the sign of weakness and of fear. God seems to delay. The peril increases, and therefore the cry becomes more urgent. Soon it will be too late. "Make haste I" Who is there who has not felt the pain of need, and the greater pain of anxiety and fea:r. The more grievous our straits, the more earnest should be our prayers. II. THE RESPO~BE. The chief pleas are three, and God's answer always meets our necessities. 1. The malice of foes. Men are to be found who actnally take pleasure in pain, and especblly when the pain falls upon those they hate. The more of trouble, the greater their joy. This is the very spirit of hell. Such as persist in this kind of life must perish. God will disappoint the malice of the wicked by bis deliverance of the good. 2. Tlie benefit of God'a people. 'l'he good delight in good. Happy them- selves in God, they would have all others share in the same happiness. Especially have they aympathy with all of like spirit with themselves (1 Cor. xii. 26). Hence when the godly conquer their troubles by bearing them patiently, or are rescued as by tho hand of God, their hearts are refreshed. What is done to othe111 is as if done to themselves. 3. Personal necessity. God looks to individuals. None arc so "poor" that he will despise them. None are so "needy" that he cannot satisfy their wants. He delighteth in mercy. Each one of us may put hircself in the place of the 11salmist, and cry, as he did, with lively hope, "I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, 0 God!" When we thus trnst in God, hope rises to assurance. We feel as if what we asked was given, as if what we sought was done. "Thou art my Help and my Deliverer." But still, so long as we am in distress, and God has not yet perfected that which concerncth us, we urge the prayer," Make no tarrying."-W. F.
Vers. 1-5.-'l'his psalm is substantially a repetition of the last five verses of P~. xl. (which see). It was most likely detached and altered for a special occasion.-S.
EXPOSITION. marked characteristics. Kuy and Heng- PSALM LXXI. stenberg, howe1·er, regard it as Davidical, Ps. lxxi. is, like so many others, a psalw the former assigning it to tho timo of divided between complaint and praise. It Adonijah's attempt, tho latter to that of is comparatively wanting in ol'igin,ility, the rebellion of Absalmn. Metrically, it is being, t') a very great extent, nn echo of thought to <livide into seven short stanzas, other psalms, especially Pss. xxii., xxxi., ~nch of either three or four verses. xxxv., nnd xl. Complfliut, mingled with Vers. 1-3 are almost identical with the prnyer, occupies the first half (vors. 1-13); opening verses of Pa. xxxi. They express praise and thanksgiving the seconu (l'crs. a firm trust in Go,l, but combine with tho 14-24). The authorship of tho psalm is expression of thfa tnlilt nu. urgent I roycr for VC'lry doubtful, as it has no "titlo," 11nd fow deli ~err.nee. 60 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PB, LXXI, 1-24,