of ealva~ion, 11nd f?r his people ".the Lord~ himself "ie the portion of tne1r cup." And 11s 1n the pre~10us veroe the diverse dealings of God with men are told of, putting do,~n one a~d seUrng_up another, so here also we have _the main contents of the cup, which are nch 11nd bright and good, declared, and the miserable drecrs which the wicked ■hall drink a~d clrnin out to the last. There is the better part fo~ the good, the evil part for the wicked. We therefore take the "cup" here told of, as setting forth human life, our earthly existence allotted to us by the Lord. .And thus we learn- I. THAT oun LIFE 18 GIVEN TO us OF THE LORD, Jt is a cup, a portion, an assigned lot, intended and ordered for us, "The cup which my Father bath given me, shall I not drink it?" So said our blessed Saviour of the life allotted to him. Life for us all is in the hand of God, and he gives it to each one as he sees fit. This is a very blessed truth. For we know we have no choice over the ma.in elements of our life; when, where, with what endowments, many or few, or of what parentage we shall be born,- 1111 this we have no control over. But it is good to know that not chance, still less ill will, but the Lord, has assigned to each of us the life we have to live, and he, like the master of the feast, deals out to each his cup (cf. Ps. c.," It is he that bath made us," etc.), Therefore we may be sure that he means it to be for our good; for- II. HE PURPOSES TIIAT IT SHOULD BE BRIGHT AND JOYOUS, This, though apparently so contrary to what life is to many, is, nevertheless, what the metaphor employed here means. It tells of the wine which was meant to "make glad the heart of man; " the wine which was the symbol, not of vile debauchery, as it too often is in this country, but of gladness, mirth, joy. .And the wine Rpoken of is of the choicest sort-sparkling, foaming, bright, not some common sour beverage, such as the " vinegar" which one of the soldiers at the cross gave to our Lord to drink when he cried, '' l thirst." But the cup which the Lord gives us, as many of his children know, the life which he assigns us, is one that he would have to be rich and bright and glad. Not rich it may be-it rarely is-with this world's wealth, but rich with those "u~searchable riches," with that "heavenly gift," which is the perpetual gladness of the soul. Do we all of us know this? We ought to. The fault is our own if we do not. Our Lord would have us all live-and we may-bright and blessed and beautiful lives. We thirst for joy, and God gives us, in tbo gift of life, a cup full of it. But, as in the happiest of homes, the child to be happy must be obedient, so is it with ourselves towards God. III. NEVERTHELESS, THERE IS MUCH OF DANGER IN IT. "It is full of mixturo,, (cf. Prov. ix. 2). .As was the wine mingled with myrrh, intended to stupefy the senses, which was given to our Lord on his way to Calvary. This mixture increased the intoxicating power of the wine, or acted as a narcotic to deaden the senses. .And in the cup of life there is much to intoxicate, to excite with pride aud passion, and to unduly lift up the foolish heart. See Jeshurun, Nebuchadnezzar, the power of wealth, \he pride of life, the effects of power, etc. Oh, how many souls have been ruined thus I And there is much to deaden or dull all holy sensibility. Yes, "full of mix.ture" is this cup of life. IV. 'fHE WICKED DRINK THE DREGS. They drink so deeply, the world is everything to them, they care for nothing else, and they find tpat life has its dregs, and they have to drink them. Evil conscience, fear of judgment, disappointment, the future tlark, death without hopP,-these are some of the dregs. Oh for grace that we may use the world, and not abuse it !-8, C. •
Ver. 1.-.A pious ruler's pui-poses and confidences. The division of the Book of Psalms into five books, and the clear recognition of the historical relations of many of the psalms, have given fresh intorest to the study of this book of the Bible. It was usual to &eek only for historical associations of the Psalms in the life of D,\vid. We now know that many of the later psalms stand related to the succeeding reigns, to the time of the Uaptivity, and to the renewed nationnl life, on the return from Babylon. The Psalms have wider associations than the records of the experience of any one life. They reflect God's ways with his people in all the ages, and the ways of God's people with him. This psalm is often passed over as not being a very striking one, or having in it any very memorable or suggestive sentences. But it gains new interest when we connect it with Hezekiah, and find illustrations for it in the great strain-time of his reign, when Sennncherib put the holy city in peril, and there was II strange and sad 86 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PS, LXXV, 1-10.