Apply to the redempUon of the world from sin through our Lord Jesus Christ. What activity, energy, skill, and power were required for the great salvation! II. THE STRENGTH OF GoD'e WISDOM NEEDED FOR BA VINO WORK. The histories of the Old Testament abundantly illustrate the fact, that God's times and ways of saving are seldom such as man could have thought of. The wisdom of them was fully seen in their issues; but it was altogether beyond men, too strong for men to grasp and under- stand. How Israel was to be saved from Egypt, or Assyria, or Babylon, men could not tell. It was done in the times of Moses, and of Hezekiah, and in the " Return," through the strength of the Divine wisdom, combined with the strength of Divine energy. Apply to the great salvation from sin. The Divine wisdom in it ha.~ been the marvel of the ages, and it is marvellous still, deeper than even an ocean-line can reach. "The wisdom of God in a mystery." III. THE STRENGTH OF GoD's LOVE NEEDED FOR BA.VINO WORK. This leads into familiar ranges of thought. Our best deeds are-done, and are best done, in the strength and inspiration of our love. And we are bidden to try and realize that love ot Goa in human redemption, which is" beyond all manner of so rnuch."-R. T. Ver. 3.-Tlie turnings and returning, of God. "Tum us again, 0 God, l\od cause thy face to shine." '!'he tJxpression, "tum us,'' seems to have been used in tt1e prayers of the captives in Babylon; they are represented as saying, "Turn again our captivity, 0 Lord, as the slrea.ms in the south!" The exiles are not praying for repentance, but for a change in their circumstances-a change in the eddent relations of God to them. Their captivity seemed to them God's turning them away from him. What they asked was a gracious returninf( to them. Putting the bentencc in modvrn form, it would read, "Turn to us a~ain, 0 God, nnd cause thy face to shine, and "·e shall be saved." Some render, "0 God, rest-ore us!" which conveys the same ide,,. I. GoD's TURNING AWAY DECLARES THE NEED FOR DIVINE JUDGME:STS. If we estimated life aright, we should think more of the presence and working of God in our life, as the Overruler, Restrainer, Guide, who is ever moulding and modern.ting our impnlse, ever putting strail!;ht what we bend awry. And then we should regard aright God's holding aloof, turning away, "drawing up into a cloud," and leaving us to the miseries of our own self-ordering; which miseries would become his correcting judg- illents. 'l'his point may be effectively illustrated by God's word to Moses when Moses was interceding in the matter of the golden calf. God proposed to withdraw his own Presence as Guide, Restrainer, and Overruler; and Moses knew well that would prove the severest of judgments. The same thing may be shown in the caso of King Saul. It is figured as the withdrawal of God's Spirit from him. Left without l)ivine restrainings and overrulings, Saul runs down into woes that are Divine judgments. So with Israel in captivity. They had so grieved God that he had" turned away," and left them to follow their own political devices. 'l'hey sought Assyria, or they sought Egypt, and they wonld not seek Jehovah. They ..must come under Divine judgments, and learn through them; but they brought the judgments on themselves. And God's turning and leaving them alone was at once the necessary thing, and the most mer9iful thing. When men are wilful, Divine severities are Divinest mercies. II. GoD'S TURNING-TOWARDS SHOWS THE TIME HAS COME FOB DIVINE RESTORINGS. It is the sign that men have learned the lesson of their judgments and calamities, and have come to a better mind. They have begun to realize what God turned away i;neans and involves; they have begun to want the sight of God's face again, and the cheer of the shine or smile on his face. And when that is man's mood, God can turn round, and can enter again on thoso guiding, overruling, and restraining relations, which then are rightly esteemed. Bunyan illw;trates, in his 'Holy War,' very effectively the turning away of Emmnnuel, the consequent misery of Mansoul, the awakening desire for Emmanuel, and his gracious return.-R. T.
Ver. 4.-The refusal of prayer. "How long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?" The sign of the anger was God's not heeding their cry. "They asked and received not, because they asked amiss." The Prophet Isaiah (i. 15) even represents God as saying to his sinful people, "When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: 164 'l'HE BOOK OF PSALMS. [rs. LXXX. 1--19,