HOMILETICS, Ver. 9.-" For the glory of thy Name." The mariner throws out hie heaviest anchor 'l\'hen the s_torm rages; if that will. not hold, nothing else can save. So the psalmist puts out this plea. The templ'st of ,1udgment was swl'eping over the land. The future was dark. Israd's unfaithfulness bad forfeited God's promises, We have no certnin clue to ihe exact occasion of this psalm. The Spirit who spake by the prophets would not tie it up to one time of trial, but let it stand ready for the Church's uso. Serious difficulties beset the explanations that it belongs to the time either of Nebuchadnezzar or of ~he Maccabees. Much ~ay _be said for referring it to the Egyptian invasion in the tlm~ of Rehobonm; which, 1f not equally calamitous with the Assyrian and Babylo~1an, must have aJ!pc~red unspeakably terrible, following close on the glories of D,rnd and Solomon; firngrng over the heads of devout Israelites the deadly fear that God was about to annul his covenant and forsake his people. "If the foundations," etc. (Ps. :xi. 3). He can take refuge in God. So Jeremiah (xiv. 21). I. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS PLEA? A name stands for much or little, according to whose it is. A stranger's palls on our ear as empty sound. A great man's-Milton, Wren, Howard, Wilberforce-stands not only for the man himself, but his work. We think of' Paradise Lost,' St. Paul's, the lightening of the prisoners' misery, the freedom of the slave. A friend's name sets a thousand echoes ringing, the heart beating; brings roses to the cheek or tears to the eye. A man's name stands for his character, credit, faith. The banker looks what name is at the back of the paper. "Give us your name," say the promoters of an enterprise, "and we are certain of success." Prov. xxii. 1 true in more senses than one. "\Vhen a man gives his name, he pledges his honour. So, then, God's name stands for his honour, promise, character -ia a word, for his very self; and for all that we know concerning him (see Exod. iii. 13; vi. 3 1). When Moses a.ske<i to see God's glory, the Lord answered that he would proclaim his Name (Exod. xxxiii. 19; xxxiv. 5; cf. xxiii. 21). Our Saviour sums up his work on earth thus (John xvii. 6). The "glory" of God's Name, then, corresponds, humanly speaking, with what every honest man holds dearer than life- his character. On God's part it stands for his claim to love, trust, obedience, gratitude, reverence, adoration. On ours, whrn we exercise all these, we are said to" give glory to God," "the glory due unto his Name." II. "\VHA.T IS THIS PLEA WORTH? Wherein lies its force and value? "For men to search their own glory is not glory." Some miuds are perplexed by the thought that; what is wrong for us cannot be right for God; and so God cannot make his glory the object of hii; dealings. This 'is for want of clear thought. Eternal principles of right and wrong are the same with God as with us, else no mortal likeness to God possible. But duties change with relationships; parental not the same as filial; or a king's as a pri,·ate cilizeu's. That Goel is what he is is the eternal foundation of all happiness, life, being. That he should be lcnown to be what he is, and rec1:1ive the love, obedience, worship, clue to him, is indispensable to the order and well-being of his cl.Jildren. If all men glorified God perfectly, this would bJ a happy and giorious world. Just because it is possible for us to glorify God, it is degrading and unhappy to liv1:1 for lower ends. 'l'o live for self is lowest of all, self-worship the worst idolatry. To live for others-for your family, your profession, your country, your follow-men,-this is noble as far as it goes. But high above a.II other aims (like the snow-peak above lower heights) rises this crowning achievement. The highest life was his wLo could say John xvii. 4. If this is true of each, it must be true of all. And God must act according to truth. "He cannot deny himself;" cannot aL<licate, or "give his glory to another." Impossible I If we try to imagine such an impossibility, we see it would !)e an infinite wrong to all creatures no less than to the Creator. Clouds in the sky do not hinder the sun's rays from filling space; but they shut them out from earth. Life is depressed; were they den~e enough permanently 1 The words may possibly, without viola.ting Hebrew grammar, be taken as a question, '' And , .. was I not known?" Otherwise we must understand that the full import of Lhis name w1111 uot revealed to the fathers as to and by Moses. PII, LXXIX, 1-18,] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 149
and completely to shut out the sunlight, it would perish, So all that hides God's glory is dendly to mnn's true life. III. WHEN AND DY wrroM MAY THIS PLEA BB USED? By all Ood's children at all times, lt ought to be the prayer of all men, Our Saviour sets it in the fore- front of our prayer, "Hallowed," etc. If our hearts beat true, no selfish desire will compete with this; God's honour will be dearer than life. Yet our best welfare is comprehended (Prov. xviii. 10; Ps. xxv. 11). But this plea specially fits times of public distress and danger, as in this psalm; and the position and work of Gocl'a Chnrch in the world. Moses urged it (Exod. xxxii.; Numb. xiv.); Joshua (vii. D). These two petitions are inseparable, "Hallowed be thy Name; thy kingdom come." IV. TUE GOSPEL IS TH~ GREAT ANSWER TO TflIS PRAYEP~ Tl,is was the angels' song (Luke ii. 14); our Saviour's prayer, and God's answer (John xii. 28). Thi8 is the gospel message-our sins are forgiven/or his Namds sake (1 John ii. 12). The glory of God's Name consists, above all, in righteousness and love. It is often said, and the saying is often blamed, that the gospel reconciles these. Where no discord is, there is no room for reconciliation. Yet, to our view, justice requires punishment; love, pardon. The gospel shows these, not in discord or contrast, but unity (Rom. i. 17, 18; iii. 25, 26; vi. 23; 1 John i. 9).
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-13.-An imprecatory psalm. We need not be at pains to fix the date or this psalm, whether it belongs to the period or the Exile or of Antiochus Epiphanes. 'l'he words to some extent suit either. Ilut we note in it- I. WHAT 1s RIGHT FOR EVERY ONE. The writer id in sore trouble, but he takes his trouble to God. One purpose of all such trouble has already been won-the heart has been brought nearer God. II. WHAT WAS NATURAL AND NOT WRONG FOR JSRAEL 1 BUT WOULD llE VERY '\\"RONG FOR us. We refer especially to the vengeful utterances which we fiod in vers. 6, 10, 12, 13. Now, concerning them we note: 1. That the1·e are very many such in the Psalms. The comminatory, and especially the imprecatory psalms, have ever l een a 0