which sremed to a pious Israelite an integral part of truo religion have waxed old and vanished awa~. Dut." the Vv ord of th~ Lord abidct_h for ever:" Faith, hope, love, lmrnd on Gods promises,_ are th_e same m. all a.ges-m ,vatts or ,vesley, Calvin or Luthrr, Paul or John, as m David and Ismah. Across that wide gulf of time which hnR swallowerl so much deemed imperishable, we join hands with this ancient saint and feel Lhat he is our hroLher. His experieuce holds the mirror to our own. Th~ Spirit who inspired him is promisell to us also. Let us take note of his resolve his humi/i'.ty, his crmfidence. ' I. TnE PSALMI~T's ~IXED :n1ssoL~E AND PURPOSE. "I will go." He speaks NI one who k11ow_s. The Revisers give a different sense. Ilut they render the same Hebrew ,vord (which commonly moans "come") "go" in Gen. xxxvii. 30; Numb. xxxii. 6; Jonah i. 3._ And the wOI:d for "strength" (plu~al in Hebrew) is so rer,dered, and cannot be , thcrw1se rendered, m Ps. xc. 10. The vigorous Authorized Version is much the more apt and intelligiblr. Whither he is bound, and what he needs for the journey. Son,e lives can hardly be likened to rither a journey or a race. No fixed purpose rules them; no high aim inspires; no goA.l shines in view. 'l'hey veer and drift with the chnn_g;ng ~urrent o~ fashi~n and circumstance. There is something very noble and admirable m fixed 10dom1table purpose, even when it docs not rest on the hiahest motives. ,ve admire the courage of the great Roman, who said to the trembling pilots in ,·iew of the tempest," It is not necessary for me to live, but it is necessary for me to go" (Plutarch's 'Life of Pompey the Great'). But we find a grander courage in St. Paul (.A.cts xxi. 13). Or in Luther, after two hours spent in intense prayer, "If there were as many devils in Worms as tiles on the house-tops, I would go." The one is the firmncs; of human will, defying circumstances to bend it. The other, of human we.'\kne!is taking hold on almighty strength. II. Therefore note secondly, THI!: PSALMIST'S Hm.nLITY. He is not vaunting his own strength, or trusting to it. "In the strength of the Lord God." All strength is God's. He nerves the arm that is raised against his law; kindles the light of reason in the mind tha.t denies him. Let but a tiny clot of blood press on a thread of nerve, and the strongest arm will be paralyzed, the keenest brain unconscious. Hence Scripture strongly condemns the worsl.ip of human power and greatness (Isa. ii 22). A view to which me11 are always prc•ne. A great blemish on tbe writings of one of our most powerful writers, Thomas Carlyle. It is wonderful bow much people pardon in a conqueror! Such judgment is false. " God resisteth the proud." lllust.: Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. iv. 30, 31, etc.). Humility is true wisdom; since it is simply acknowledging what is fact. llL THE PSALMIST'S CONFIDENCE. "I will go," etc. A confidence resting in blind presumption, "I \\·ill go, come what may, hinder who dare!" is mere self-delusion. On the otlier hand, mere sense of weakness, "I cannot go! '' is miserable, fatal to all success. Faith solves the paradox of combining the humblest sense of weakness with the boldest courage, most strenuous effort, most assured hope (1 John v. 4, 5; John xv. 4, 5; 2 Cor. xii 9). Nothing but this courage of humiHty, this confidence of faith, can warrant, in any sane mind, a fearless outlook, even a.:i concerns earthly life. For the strongest is not strcng all round ; and the strain may coma at the one weak point. To climb the mountain is one thing; to breathe the rare air at the top is another. The dash which carries the soldier against the enemies' rauks will not sustain him through the dark, cold hours of the sentinel's lone watch. 'l'he athlete may fail at the desk. The man whom no labour could over-task, whose resource, quickness, energy, promptly met every emergency in action, may helplessly break down in adversity. Tbe man whom adversity could neither break nor bend may lose self- control in prosperity, and make shipwreck in a smooth s~a. Yet more is this true of the spiritual life. lllust.: Peter (.John xiv. 37, 38; xviii. 10, 17, 25, 27). Have wo the right to exercise this confuience anew 1 We cannot over-trust God (Phil. iv. 13). SuppOS!: a farmer has lowlying meadows along the course of a river, which he oan irrigate at wilL It is no presumption in him to say, "My land can never. suffer drought "-if he opens the sluicea. Prayer opens the ijluir.es wliich let the full river of God's grace, wisdom, strength, peace, flow into the soul. How can you bear to face tbe 1rnknown possibilities, or the certainties, of the future without this "strength of the Lord God"? Wb,tt may happen any miuute? "No use," you ~ny, "to think re. 1,xx1. 1-24.J THE BOOK OF PSALMS. G3
of that." No; I know it ie no use: does that make things better? How crm you help thinking of it, unless you can take hold of God'a strength and be at pear,e with himP