being, or of nny so-called deity, whose word can only be the word of some createrl being representing him. "Hath he said, and shall he not do it? hatb he spoken, e.nd shall he not make it good?" "God is not a man, that he should lie." 111. GoD 18 INCOMPARABLE IN PITY. It seems to the psalmist of Rehoboam's di8tressed age as if God "he.d forgotten to be gracious." B11t he may rest his soul in the confidence that none can pity like God; and if Divine action should ever seem strange, it ce.n only he said that God's pity is checking the action of what, in God, men may think to be severity.-R. T. Ver. 9.-Ancient sentiments conMrning the sea. Throughout the Scriptures the sea is regarded as an object of fear; its majesty, greatness, masterfulness, seem mostly to have impressed men. It he.d not then been tamed by human skill; the compass was not known; the few vessels were inefficiently constructed for ocean sailing, and they seldom ventured out of sight of land. Scripture speaks of "the raging of the sea," of" the raging waves of the sea," of its voice" roaring," of the" floodd lifting up their voice," of the" wicked being like tbe troubled sea," of" those that go down to the sea" seeing "the wonders of the Lord, and his judgments in the deep," of the "great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable." And even when it seems t-0 have a gentler thought, and says, "There go the ships," immediately it adds a note of power and fear, "There is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein." I. THE BEA WAS A SYMBOL OF SEPARATI0:-.'1 AND SO OF THE EARTHLY TROUBLES THAT COME OUT OF SEPARATIONS. When friends in those days were carried away over the sea, they seemed to be utterly, hopelessly lost. We may have to some extent mastered this feeling by making of the ocean a highway, and yet still our friends are more truly lost to us when the sea divides us than when the land does. And yet, in family life, there are worse dividers than the sea. IJ. THE BEA BROUGHT THE SUPREME BENSE OF DANGER, AND SO SYMBOLIZED THE PERILS TO WHICH DAILY LIFE IS EXPOSED. The sea is ever raging as if it would devour. The waters sink as if they would swallow us up, or rise as if they would cast us out. In our boats there is but an inch of wood between us and death. Ylet our real perils are those which come to our soul's life. "Fear not them who can but kill the body." What the sea may typify is far more important than what the sea can do, III. THE BEA. SEEMED TO EMBODY THE IDEA OF MYSTERY. We can never seem to understand the sea; never account for the see.; never feel sure what it is going to do; never read the secrets it holds in its bosom. It is the symbol for us of the mysteries, often so distressing, so agonizing, with which we are surrounded-mysteries of life, of truth, of duty, of ourselves, of God, of eternity, which compel our life on earth to be a "life of faith." IV, THE SEA WAS AN EMBLEM OF THE 0HANGEAIILENESS THAT CHARACTERIZE:S ALL EARTHLY THINGS. It is well called the troubled, restless sea; and this we feel quite as truly in summer calm, when only gentle winds blow across it, as in winter conflicts, when wild winds raise high the tides. It ever reminds us that "the fashion of this world passeth away." Yet the psalmist could see God restr.iining and using even the sea, and with this thought encourages our fullest confidence in him.-R. T.
Ver. 14.-Equity and righteousness. Prayer-book Version, "Righteousness and equity are the habitation of thy seat;" Revised Version, "Justice and judgment are the foundation of thy throne." The terms "j11stice," "righteo11sness," stand for the abstract virtue; the terms "judgment," "equity," stand for the applications and adaptations of justice to times, circumstances, and men. Equity is the law of fr.:b t applied to particular circumstances. 'l'he double assertion made concernin~ God is that what be does is always right judgeJ by the standards of righteousness, and always right judged by the frailties and infirmities of men. Both these considerations help to bring men full confidence in him, and assurance concerning bis ways with them. I. Goo's WAYS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT TO THE STANDARD. "Righteousness is the basis of his throne;" the distinguishing feature of his rule. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" If it be asked-Where is the standard of righteousne~s ·t we may reply-In man•~ own moral sense. If he knows right from wrong, he must 252 THE BOOK OF PSALMS, [rs. LXXXIX, 1-52,