waste the spiritual temple. Worse than fire, or axe, or sword, it rnahs havoc of the soul. And wickedness following hard on its footsteps completes the work which it ha3 begun. Then comes- II. THE EXULTATION OF THE ADVERSARY, (Ver. 4.) No doubt this literally occurred e.t Jerasalem, as it bas in many another sanctuary of God which ha.~ been brought to ruin. nut most assuredly that" roar" has been heard when the Church of God-his temple in the soul-has been laid waste. The adversaries of God point the finger of scorn; they scoIT and jibe and mock; they never weary of holding up to contempt the loud, lofty pretensions and vast claims of the Christian Church, as they bid all men see what a wretched fraud she has at last proved to be. They contrast what she said and what she is, and the roar of execration and exultation over her is heard far and wide as that contrast is seen. Let none of us by our infidelities add to that bitter she.me. Ill. 'l'HEY SET UP THEm STANDARDS AS TRUE. (Ver. 4.) In the temple at Jerusalem the invaders, no doubt, piled their military trophies, banners, and ensigns; or the "signs" spoken of may mean religions emblems, heathen rites aod ceremonies (cf. 1 Mace. i. 54, 59; iii. 48). But both meanings may be combined, as the temple may have been turned both into a barrack and heathen altar at the same time. The incident, however, suggests what is so continually seen when the spiritual temple of God is laid waste. Then men take their standards of truth for those of God; they assert their miserable theories of things for the verities which the Holy Scriptures have taught us; they bid us welcome some age of reason instead of the time-honoured truths on which the Church is founded. Their ensigns for signs, man's speculations for God's revelations. IV. THE BEAUTY AND GRACE OF THE TEMPLE THEY BREAK DOWN. (Ver. 6.) So has it been with material sanctuaries of God, and the like bas been done in those which are spiritual. For a while the unbeliever filches from the fair fabric of Christian truth those gracious and winsome doctrines which have ever commended the faith of Christ to men, and he claims them as the mere product of reason, as evolved by the processes of human thought. But when his work of destruction is complete, and the spiritual sanctuary of God is all laid waste, faith utterly gone, then it will be found that this "carved work of the sanctuary " will be broken down, and the love and care of men will depart with the love and faith of God. V. TBE WORK GOES ON UNTIL ALL IS DESTROYED. (Ver. 7.) It was BO with the material temple; but, thank God, all is not lost in the spiritual. There may be, however, individuals and groups of men in which the dread work is complete, and "God is not in all their thoughts." VI. EVERY BELI0 AND TRACE OF THE WORSHIP OF GoD IS GOT BID OF. (Ver. 8.) Besides the temple, there were, doubtless, synagogues, places of assembly, where religious men met for worship, though we do not meet with the actual mention of synagogues unm the times of the New Testament. And when the first temple was destroyed, we ma.y reasonably believe that such places existed, ns we know they did afterwards. But there are, alas 1 places and human hearts where every relic and trace of God's worship have been swept utterly away, as if bnrned with fire. So long as any place where the soul can meet with God is left, the great enemy's triumph is not complete ; he is not satisfied till what is said in ver. 8 has been done. But from this may God keep us all 1-S. C. Ver. 9.-" We see not uur signs." It is said that there were five signs in the first temple which the second had not-the e.rk of the covenant, the fire from heaven, the Shechinah, the Urim and Thummim, and the spirit of prophecy. So in the Church of Christ there are signs which are very blessed for us to see. I. SIGNS OF WHAT? it will be nsked. Of the presence, the power, the love of the Lord in our mi<lst. '!'his was what the signs in the first temple told of. II. WHAT AnE 'l'.BESE SIGNS? 1. The attention ~f meii around. 2. The work of conversion going on. 3. Witness of believers. 4. Their love to one another and to their fellow-men, because of their love to God. 5. Their peace and foy in God. III. 'fHE DIFFERENT RELATIONS DKTWEEN THE SEEDIG AND THESE SIGNS. 1. Thero may be neither. It is better there should be no fancied seeing, if the reality be not there. 88 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PS. LXXIV, 1-23,
For: 2. The1·e may be the seeing, and not the signs, 3, There m,ay be the signs and yet not the seeing. 4-. Tltere may be both. This is most blessed of all.-S. C. ' Ver. 17.-Summer teachings. The four seasons, it has been well ea.id, are God's fou: evangeli~ts of the natural world. The sternness of winter; the hopefulness of sprmg; the nchness of summer; the bounty of autumn ;--each sea.sou has its own messaize from God to our souls. Note- I. THE NATURAL SUMMER. This is what is referred to in our text: the psalmist appeals to it as a plea for God's much-needed help. His infinite power, which had made summer and winter, and bad been manifested in so many marvellous ways, was able to help Israel in their great distress, and their trust was that he would. 1. Israel had, kJ maintain stoutly the truth that God made all things. A whole mob of idol- gods was put forward and worshipped by the heathen as the authors and creators of the powers of nature. 2. And our mi.ssionaries to the heathen have to maintain the same trutll of God the Creator of all. It is by no means universally or generally believed even yet. 3. And in our day and in our own land, professedly Christian as it is, we may not slacken our testimony to this truth. It is not that wo have to contend with rival gods, as Israel had, and the missionary still has, but the existence of any God at all is either openly questioned or flatly denied. It is not polytheism, but atheism, that confronts and opposes the Christian advocate to-day and here at home. Natural law is everything; as if a law could do anything without an executive to put it in force. The ancient Greeks were pantheists, but our men of science have, too many of them, snnk down to a lower depth than that. The Greek saw gods everywhere and in all things; we see God nowhere. Shall we give in to this proud yet miserable atheism? God forbid I Let us still maintain with the psalmist, '"Thou hast ma.do summer." As we look round on all the rich glories of the season, let us confess, with our great Puritan poe~