much more when confederate together, as they often are I 3. United. (Ver. 5.) Every- thing at t.imes seems to be in league against the soul, as were Israel's enemies against them, our Lord's enemies against him. 'l'hey come from all quarters (see vere. 6--8); foes from the south and east are first named, then those from the west, and lastly those from the north. Thus was Israel begirt and shut in with foes who, usually hostile to one another, were now one in hatred to Israel. 4. Deadly. It was not a mere rnid against Israel, but a fixed purpose to utterly destroy (ver. 4). And none other is the purpose of our soul's adversaries-not merely to annoy or injure, but to destroy (1 Pet. v. 8). 5. Subtle. (Ver. 3.) Like" a bolt out of the blue,'' so often is the assault upon our soul. At an hour when we think not, in ways we never dreamt of, when off our guard, when it seemed not only unlikely but irnpossible,-so does our crafty foe assail. III. THEY SEEM SOMETIMES TO BE VICTORIOUS. (Ver. 2.) We seem to hear the " tumult" of their loud exultation, and to see the haughty lifting up of the head. So it seemed to Elijah (1 Kings xix.), so it has seemed to thousands of sore-beset onee since. IV. Gon APPEABS TO KEEP SILENT AND mAOTIVE. (Ver. 1.) He seems to let things go their own way; our cry does not avail; the bitter agony of our soul does not seem to move him. This is terrible; but the experience of Israel of old is, not unfre- quently, tbat of God's Israel still-but only for a while. V. HELP COMES IN RECOLLECTION. 1. That these e11emies are C(}nfederate not so much against us as against God. They are "thine enemies" (vers. 2, 5, 18). Therefore we may look away from our weakness to the infinite power of God. 2. That God has vin- dicated his Name in days gone by. (Vers. 9-11.) Oh, it is blessed when in darkness and difficulty to remember God's deliverances of old, how completely our enemies were overthrown, how he made them "like Oreb and like Zeeb" I Memories such as these stay and stren,,athen the soul. VI. IsRAEL's SPIRIT MUST BE OURS. 1. Ther~ must be no idea of C(}mpromise. Israel desired the complete extermination of their foes. There is a burning ferocity of hate in these verses (9-17), which is utterly alien from the spirit of Christ towards our human foes; it is the spirit of the Old Testament, not that of the New. But in regard to our spiritnal foes, the would-be spoilers of our soul, we may, we should, we must, cherish a spirit of uncompromising hate. 2. The honour of the Lord's Nama must be our motive. For his sake (vers. 16, 18) we are thus to pray.-S. C.
Ver. 3.-God's hidden ones. This name is especially applicable to Israel because of the geographical position of their country. (Cf. Numb. xxiii. 9, "The people shall dwell alone.") They were away, off the beaten track of the nations, shut in, and, as it were, hidden, by the deserts on the e.a.st and. south, the sea on the west, and the mountains on the north, from the rest of the world. But the expression in the text is applicable to all God's people everywhere and always. They are hie hidden ones. And we note concerning them- L THE FACT-THEY_ ABE HIDDEN. I. Their physical life God often hides from tl,ose who wwld destroy it. Not always does he do this, but often, as Peter from llerod (Acts xii; and cf. Obadiah's biding of the prophets, 1 Kings xviii. 4). And bow often God bas hidden his servants in wildernesses, glens, mountain heights, cata- combs, etc. ! The adversary would fain have destroyed them all, as the wolf the sheep; but they have not all been destroyed, the sheep yet outnumber the wolves. 2. Their spiritual life u ever a hidden one. For it resides not in themselves, but in another, as the life of the branches is in the vine (John xv.; Col. iii. 3). The principles that govern it are not known or understood or appreciated by the world. Its law of self- sacri6ce, meekness, etc. Except by uncertain conjecture, the world knows nothing of its s1,rings of actiou and its controlling motives. The practice of this life is also so different from the world's life. It ii; meek, retiring, not loving notoriety; it pursues a lowly and unnoticed way; it hae no eye for worldly pomp, no ear for worldly applause. It is not necessarily identified with ,ny places, or seasons, or forms of worship, or order of men; but whilHt generally using more or less of them, is independent of them all. 3. Ar,d this C(}ndition of God's hiddlm ones is of their own choice. (Ruth ii.12; Pss. xci.1; cxliii. 9.) They love to have it so. The hidden life ill, in their esteem, the blessed, PB. txxxm. 1-18.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 187