to our fellow-men; so that they do not cl&sh one with the other. On the contrary, the lower love may help the higher, and the higher cannot exist if the lower do not. III. BUT IF SUCH SUPREME DELIGHT IN GOD BE POSSIBLE, IT IS ALBO INFINITELY DESIRABLE. All life, even the most menn and poor, becomes transformed transfigured, glorified, by means of it. The soul becomes independent of all earthly favour and heeds not this world's frown, nor all "the slings and arrows of outra.,.eous fort~ne." Unspeakably hlest and blessing is the characteristic of the soul in who":n this love of God dwells. See Paul's" sorrowful, but always rejoicing," etc. IV. IT IS ATTAINED THROUGH OBEDIKNCE AND TRUST, "He that keepeth my com- mandments, he it is that loveth me," said our Lord. Such obedience is not only the fruit, but the root, of the love which grows out of it. We obey, and we come to love him whom we obey. Serving is the secret-not alone the sign, but the source alsQ-Of loving. Our love for our children is in proportion to the sacrifices we make for them. It is so everywhere and for ever.-S. C. Ver. 26.-The failing jlah and the strengthening God. Here is a vivid and blessed contrast. Consider- 1 'l'HE FAILTNG OF HEART AND FLESH here told of. 1. Some understand this as th• result of his foolish <xmflict with God; and here, as all who contend with God are, he was worsted and brought low. 2. Others, as telling of his passionate desire a,fter God, how he was "sick of love," broken down with his longing for God. 3. Others, as telling of his heavy load, of troulJle. "He bad a God's rod instead of a good piece of bread for his breakfast every morning ; and the table was covered with sackcloth, and furnished with the same bitter herbs both at dinner and supper." 4. .Anyway, it is a fact, that heart and flesh do fail, both of the evil and of the good. 'l'he best herbs wither as well as the worst weeds. There is no discharge in this war. 5. What a rebuke it is to those whose treasures &re all of the world! II. THE STRENGTHENING GoD. How does he accomplish his gracious work? 1. By his Spirit in our hearts. 2. By hi, Word of promise for the future. The Spirit and the Word are his " rod and st&tf," which comfort us.-S. C. Ver, 28.-Drawing near to God, a good thing. The psalmist is very emphatic about it. His words imply that he is quite sure of it. Let us ask, then-Why is it so good to draw near to God? Many are the answers. L IT IS so BY WAY OF CONTRAST WITH WB.AT BE HAD BEEN DOING-wearying himself to understand the hidden ways .,f God, the labyrinth of his providence, No good had come of that, but ouly evil. Gotthold, in his' Emblems,' tells us of the freaks of his child. The father was one day sitting in his study, and when he lifted hie eyes from his book, he saw, standiDg upon the window-ledge, his little son. He was terribly frightened, for the child stood there in utmost peril of falling to the ground and being dashed to pieces. The little lad had been anxious to know what hie father wa.s doing so many hours in the day in hie Rtudy, and be had at last, by a ladder, managed, with boyish daring, to climb ur,, till there he stood outside the window, g~zing at his father with all his eyes. "So,' said the father, as he took the child into h1s chamber, and rebuked him for his folly-" so have I often tried to climb into the council- chamber of God, to see why and wherefore he did this and that; and thus have I exposed myself to peril of falling to my own destruction." II. BECAUSE OF WHAT IT IlltPLIEB. 1. That he was at peace with God. A soul unreconciled cannot draw near. 2. That he knew the way. He had learned the blessed but difficult art of drawing near; for drawing near is of the heart, _not of the lips merely; and Satan will always try, and too often he succeeds, to hinder that. 3. He had found how good it was by his own eri;perience. IIL BECAUSE THE LIGHT IS so MUCH BETTER in the region near God. What a fog and mist he wss in until he" went into the sanctuary of God," and drew near to him I We see things truly there as we cannot elsewhere. IV. THE TElltPESTB OF THE SOUL DIE DOWN THERE. It is the region of blessed calm. V. THE Am IS so INVIGORATING. God is II the Health of my countenance," 11 the Strength of my heart." PB, LXXIV, 1-~3.] 'fHE BOOK OF PSALMS. 81
VI. Is NOT Goo OUR Goo, OUR OWN Goo, OUR souL's HOME? Where, then, can we be better than at home ?-S. 0. I Vere. 1-28.-77ie solution of a great problem. The question here is-Why should good men suITer, and bad men prosper, when the Law had said that God we.s a righteous Judge, meting out to men in this world the due recompense of their deeds'/ The course of things should perfectly reflect the righteousness of God. The psalmist struggles for a solution of this problem. The first verse contains the conclusion be had arrived at. I. His DANGER. Expressed in the second, thirteenth, and twenty-second verses. 1. The example and sophistries of the wicked had nea.rly wrought his ou;n downfall. His feet had been tempted by their prosperity to forsake tbe ways of righteousness, and he had almost fallen into their infidelity. 2. His faith in righteou.aness had been nearly lost. (Ver. 13.) In vain had he cleansed his inward and outward life- at least, he was tempted to think so for a time, 3. Others had been indu.ced to follow the example of the wiclced. (Ver, 10.) "Therefore tum his peo-ple after them, and at the full stream (of their prosperity) would slake their thirst" (Perowne). II. THE OAUBE OF BIB DANGER. (Vers. 4-9.) 1. The wicked and atheistic seemed prosperous and happy. They had no trouble, no sorrows that hasten their death ("bands"). They are proud and violent, oppressive and defiant of the heavens. All these are hasty and euperficial estimates of the experience .of the wicked. 2. He himself was troubled and chastened continually. (Ver. 14.) He who had been at such pains to cleanse his heart and hands. This was mystery that bewildered him. 3. But he restrains the utterance of his doubts to others. (Ver. 15.) He forebore to shake the faith of others, and cause them to stumble. III. REASSURANCE BY THE RECOVERY OF HIB FAITH. (Vers. 17-28.) 1. He found the solution in the light of God's presence. (Ver. 17.) The sanctuary was the symbol of God's presence, Hitherto he had studied the matter only in the light of human experience; now in the light of God's righteous character. 2. Their prosperity wou.ltl come to a sudden, end. (Vers. 18-20.) 3. Communion with God is the realization of our highest destiny, not any unknown good. (Vers, 23-28.}-S,