Ver. 8.-Rccrea.nt EpTwat'.m. We do not know what battle this WI\S, Some point to I Chrou. vii. 21; others to Josh. xiii.1, 13 and xviii. 3; others to 1 Sam. iv. But we do m•t certainly k!low. Ephraim's character was such as is here described (see ver. 67). Also Hosea, passim; he terms them "a cake not turned;" "a silly dove." He s1tys, they" compass me about with lies." As to their armour, see 2 Chron. xvii. 17. Also see David's teaching "the children of Judah the use of the bow." Their opportunities for service were very great. As a tribe they were rich; the sanctuary 01 Isr~el was at_ Shiloh, in their midst; the metropolis of the land also; theirs, too, the largest populallon, the most famous names---,Joseph, Joshua, Gideon. They were an especially military tribe. As to their fate, they utterly perished (see Roru. xi. 1-8). Their history is very instructive; for there is a battle to be waged to-day. As we watch we see many come to it "armed," and capable of rendering the good service we look for from them. But lo I many of them tum back, and render no help at all, to their own shame and to the hurt of many more. Note- I. THF. BATTLE. "All the world's a stage," said our great poet. Ha.d he said," All the world's a battle-field," he would have been yet more true to fact. The battle is between God and Satan, as to who shall reign over us-God or his adversary. And God has equipped many soldiers for the fight. See- 11. THE ARMOUR he has given them-given to many of us. Christian education; holy example; means of grace; power and capacity for service, imparted by the teaching of his Word; the sanctions and urgings of conscience, the dre.win~s of his Spirit, and much more. Such things constitute the armour which would make 1111 good soldiers if we would avail ourselves of them. But there is- lII. THE TURNING BACK on the part of many, even as Ephraim turned back. Ridicule has, perhaps, to be met; or loss to be borne; or self to be denied; or ease to be foregone; the cross in one or other of its forms has to be taken up; and many go away-go back, sorrowful, perhaps, but, nevertheless, they tum back. Ob, what shame to them ! a people nobly born, well-armed, and pledged to the service, and yet, etc.! What dishonour to Christ! what discouragement to the faithful Church! what loss to God's kingdom! what triumph for the foe I what ruin for themselves 1-S. C. Yer. 16.-The rock. (Cf. 1 Cor. L 4; Numb. xx.) What rock was this? Travellers have described such rock; but we do not know that it was this one. But we do know that it existed; that the waters which flowed from it followed Israel; which is what Paul means by saying that the "rock followed them ; " and that this rock was a type of Christ-not Christ himself, but a type of him. Note- L THE RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN CHRIST AND THE nocK. 1. Jn nature. A rock is like Christ; it is stable, solid, fit for a foundation. A rock may be a great defence. " Be thou my strong Rock, a House of defence to cover me." A refreshing shade. "The shadow of a great rock," etc. 2. In the fact that the rock was smitten ere the waters flowed out. 3. Moses, the Law's representative, was the smiter. And to obey the Law, Christ was smitten. If. THE STREAMS WHICH FLOWED FROM IT. These tell of what from Christ flow to us-pardoning mercy, sanctifying grace, spiritual consolation, eternal life. And as those streams, so these are free, satisfying, copious, constant. Ill THE INQUIRIES SUGGESTED. Have we drunk of them? If not, do so. Are we drinking of then,? Invite others.-S. C. Ver. 21.-National judgments. This psalm is emphatically a judgment psalm. It teaches that- L NATIONS ARE JUDGED AS WELL AS INDIVIDUALS. History is almost entirely occupied with the judgments of God upon nations. Hence it is that we say, "Happy is that nation which has no history I" for if it has, we know the nature of the record for the most part. II. THEm JUDGMENT IS JOST. Study the causes of the decline of empires, nations, and peoples, and it will generally be found that, as with the Cana.anitish nations, their vice and wickedness bad become so rampant and foul that, for the sake of humanity at large, it was necessary that the besom of God's destruction should sweep them away. Gibbon's great work on the 'Decline and Fall of the Empire of Rome' is really PB. LXXVIlI, 1-72.] 'l'HE BOOK OF PSAUlS. 135
-though Gibbon was far enough from intending it to be eo-a thfY.ldicl, a vindication of God and of hie righteousness. Ill. BUT BUCH JUDGMENTB DO NOT COME UNTIL ALL OTHER MEANS HAVE BEEN FIRST TRIED. It was so with Israel. They had witnessed the plagues upon Egypt. They had experienced tho unstinted mercy and long-suffering of God. They had seen the glorious miracles which God wrought on their behalf. They had been taught hie holy Law. So that the question of Isa. v. 4 was altogether just. And so in the history of all nations. If God's vengeance cometh surely, it cometh very slowly; so that, perchance, it may not need to come at all. IV. 'l'HEY ARE EXECU'I1m IN THE PRESENT LIFE. There is no future judgment for nations. When Christ came, as he did at the destruction of Jerusa.lem in A.D. 70, the judgment he predicted should then take place was fulfilled. V. IN THEM THE INNOCENT BUFFER WITH THE GUILTY, This is inevitable. The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children. Hence-- VI. THEY PREDICT THE FUTURE FINAL JUDGMENT. God shall then judge every man according to his works, as is not possible in the judgments of the nations now. VII. AnE EFFECTUAL DUT FOB A TIME. They do not put an end to sin, but only stay it for a season (ver. 34). VIII. ARE ACCORDING TO RIGHTEOUSNESS. The leaders in sin shall suffer deepest condemnation. See the doom of Ephraim, Israel's ringleader in iniquity (vers. 9, 57, 67). IX. THE SINS WHICH PROVOKE THEM DO NOT BINDER THE PURPOSES OF Go D. (Ver. 70.) David was raised up to carry on what should have been Ephraim's work. X. TRUE PATRIOTISM IS TO HELP FORWARD, BY ALL MEANS IN OUB POWER, THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH ALONE EXALTETH A NATION,-8. C,