I. THE rnA YERS, Even in these few verses we note : 1. How numet'OUB they an, I "Bow duwn tbine ear;" "Preserve my soul ; " "Save me;" "Be merciful uuto me I" "Rejoice t.he soul of thy serve.nt." 2. How substanti.ally the same I Hepetitlons need 1w1 be •• ve.in repetitions;" they are often the reverse of vain; indeed, in many moods of our soul, tbey are indispensable. The soul is slow and sluggish; its 11is inertia; he.rJ to be overcome, e.nd it is found by many that repetition, "saymg the same words," 1s a great help in arousing thought and fixing the mind on the se.cred duty before it. 3. Bui, varied inform. This is also very heljJful in prayer. Stereotyped forms, unless we be very watchful, will flow over the mind and never arouse a solitary thought, It is good, therefure, to compel the mind to express itself in varied form; for so our prayer is likely to be both more real and more helpful. 4. .And progressive in meaning. 'l'he psalmist begins with simply entreating God to hear him, to give him audience; then he a,ks for his chief need to be supplied, and that he may be delivered, saved; then, that his unworthiness may be overlooked, that God would be merciful to him; and lastly, that the Lord would rejoice his soul, not merely preserve and save him, but more-give him joy. It is ever an upward advance, as our prayer should be. 6 . .And confident in trust. The opening petition is one of the many proofs that prior to the Incarnation the saints of God had come to the full conviction of the humanity of God. 'l'his cry that God would " bow down" his "ear" is one of those e.nthropomorphic, as they are called, expressions, of which the Old Testament is so full. How often do we read of the eyes, feet, hand, face, ear, of God I They are not mere figures; but they tell of the recognized truth that God was as we are-apart from our weakness, limitation, and sin. And the psalmist has laid hold of this truth, and it is his encouragement as he pours forth bis praJ er. Thus in a very real sense the prayer~ ot the Jewish Church were, as are ours, otlered through Jesus Cllrist our Lord. '!'hey, as do we, came to the Father by him; tor "no man cometh unto the Father but by me," said our Lord, nor otberwise have any ever come, IL THE PLEAB URGED. They are full of power, and in them, as in the prayers they support, there is variety e.nd advance in thought, 1. His deep need, (Ver. 1.) Unless this be felt, there will n.tver be real prayer. 2. His relationship to God, (Ver. 2.) "For I am one whom thou lovest." This, the rendering of the margin, is preferable to the text either of the Authorized Version, which is," I am holy," or of the Revised Version, wl.lich is, "I am godly." It avoids the self-righteous tone which seems inseparable from these readings, and declares his confidence begotten by favours received from God in the past. 3. His trust. 4. His continued prayer. He be.d waited on the Lord, confident that his trust would be sustained. 5. The declared Name of God. (Ver. 5.) He who believingly urges that cannot fail of the Divine aid e.ccording to his n.eed.-S. C. Ver. 9.-Grace triumphant. The declaration of God's ultimate possession of all hearts, which is involved in this verse, is found not here alone (cf. Pss. x.xii. 27; !xvi, 4 · Isa. !xvi. 18, !:!3; John :x:iL 32; Phil. ii. 10, 11, etc.); and, assuredly, it is the spirit of the whole Scripture. And such considerations as the following sustain such blessed belief. L '.l.'JlAT IT IS A FA.ITH WIDCH 60 COMMENDS ITSELF TO THE CONSCIEN0E OF lllEN, It is what ought to be, what we cannot help hoping may be, that God's will may br done everywhere and by all. IL Tiu,: OPPOSLTE BELIEF IS PRACTICALLY .A.THEISTICA.L, For it necessitates that we believe (1) tuat either God would save all men, but could not-in which case he would not be God, because some other had evidently greater power than he; or (2) tliat God could save, but would not, which is plainly contradictory of the whole Scripture, and, were it true, God would be no longer God. Either theo,y lee.de direct to atheisw. Ill. IT IS INCREDIBLE TIIA.T GOD WOULD HA.VE CONTINUED TO ORE.A.TE IIEINGS WHOM BE KNEW MUST ETER:!\A.LLY BIN AND SUFFER, Creation involves rede:r.iption. Had he been unable to redejm, he would not have created. IV. CamsT WAS MANIFESTED TO DESTROY THE WOBKB OF THE DEVll. But if any are for ever unsaved, then Christ has not e.ccomplished the work he ca1oe to do, e.nd the victory belongs not to him, but to Satan. I'S, LXXXVI, 1-17.) TlIE BOOK. OF PSALMS. 217
v. THE WORTH OF CHRIBT'B ATONEMENT, His the propitiation for the sins of the whole wurld, Hut some may say," It is of no use to any one unless he trusts it." That is so; but our contention is that the reso•JTces of God are adequate to bring men to give up their own evil will, and to cast themselves in penitence and trust on God. Has he not already brought round the most stubborn of h11man wills? He knows how to make the prodigal come to himself, and to say, "I will arise," etc. VI. HE HAS TAUGHT us TO PRAY, ,, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTII As," ETC. But this is what our text predictH; and he would not have bidden us pray that prayer if it was never to be fulfilled. All this is no encouragement to sin, for it teaches that God will leave no means untried, no matter how terrible they may be, and for the hardened sinner they will be terrible, to subdue to himself the perverse and unruly will of man.-S. C. Ver. 11.-True religion, and what it calls for, I. THE ESSENCE OF ALL TRUE RELIGION IS THE FEAR OF GoD. "To fear thy Name," says the psalmist, and so saying he sets forth the central nature of real religion. But this fear (1) is not the fear which has torment; or (2) that which is simply the reasonable dread of penalty,-the fear or the law-abiding citizen; but it is (3) the fear begotten of love,-the fear of an affectionate child, which makes it careful to obey. Whatever we love we are careful to obey the laws of-whether it be art, science, parents. And so with the fear of God. It is seen in all saints. 11. THERE 0AN BE NO SUCH RELIGION UNLESS THE HEART BE IN rr. latellect may be there, Reason give her assent. Approval may be expressed-it often is. Deep feeling experienced, this not unusual; but unless the heart, the will-fJr this is the real meaning of the word "heart "-be in our religion, we practically have none. III. NOR TIIEN UNLESS THE HEABT BE tn-ITED I.N IT. Some minds a.re not fixed on anything; they are perpetual waverers. Others are fixed, set, wrongly but "stead- fastly to do evil." But they are blessed who are described in our text. Oh to be able to say, "0 God, my heart is fixed, my heart is fixed" 1-S. C.