Snnres in thy quiet; snRreB in thy commotion; Snares in thy diet; snares in thy devotion; SnRres lurk in thy resolves, snares in thy doubts; Suares lie within thy heart, aud Silltl'8S without; Snares are above thy head, and snares beneath; Snares in thy sickness; sna.res a.re in thy death." There is not a place in which a believer walks that is free from them. Therefore let us wat~h and pray. II. OUR RICH CONSOLATION IN VIEW OF THESE DANGERS. God will" surely" deliver us from them. 1. He has promised to do so. 2. He has done so for his people in all ages who have sought such deliverance. 3. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil; therefore, certs.inly, these snares. II I. THE NAT URE OF ms DELIVERANCE. How does the Lord fulfil this _word? I. By not letting us fall into them. He keeps us from the evil, that it shall not touch us. This is very blessed-more blessed than to be delivered out of the snare when we have fallen therein. The elder brother was, after all, more to be envied than the restored prodigal. We too much forget this. God has mao.y means of holding us back from sin. Chief of a.11, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, giving us, a.s to Joseph, a holy fear and an abiding love of God. 2. By rescuing us out of the snare. Yes, he stands ready to do this. You fallen ones, he will do this for you.-S. 0. Ver. 4.-" Just as a hen protects her brood." This is undoubtedly the image here. Not the outspread wings of the cherubim, which overshadowed the ark of the covenant. Nor the mighty pinions of the eagle, whose home was on the lofty crag, and her path through the sunlit sky. But it is the homely image taken from the familiar scenes of the farmyard and the barn. It is in keeping with the gracious condescension of God to employ such an emblem; it is like the Lord himself, "full of grace and truth." '\Ve would not bave dared to make such a comparison ; but he has done so, likening himself to the mothe-r-bird, which fosters, cherishes, and protects her young, Let us note- 1 THE SPECIAL BLESSING HEBE PilOMISED, It is the gracious protection of God. In the clos1 □ g senteuce of this verse it is likened to "shield and buckler." To Israel it rueaat protection from outward calamity, such as pestilence and th8 destruction caused by war; but to us it tells of all tliat spiritual guardianship we enjoy. From all the guilt of former sin; from the power of sin now; from the might of temptation ; from the crushing power oi sorrow; from the misery of a useless and, still more, a harmful lile; from the fear of death; from all these, and, when it will be well for us, from outward ill a.s well II. THE M.A?\?;EB OF ITS BEBTOWl4ENT, It comes through: 1. The all-availing atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. When this is pleaded and trusted in by the sinner, his guilt is all roken away. 2. From the power of sin, by t!te regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit, cleansing the heart and sanctifying our whole nature. 3. From sorrow, by his providence keeping it away; or giving, as to Paul, grace sufficient to sustain iL; or by removing its cause. 4. From the misery of a useless life, by inspir- ing tfte soul with a desire for others' good, and by his Spirit, fitting for service. 6. From fear of death, by the revelation of the far better life with Christ, to be entered on at once when this life is done. III. OTHER BLESSINGS THAT coHE .&LONG WITH THIS ONE. For the emblem employed suugests not only protection from enemies, but much more than that. Picture to yu~rself what the shelter of the wing of tbe mother-bird is to her young, and it will tell of what the precious promise of our text means to the believing soul. 1. It means happy conknt and comfort. " My soul shall be satisfied," and that richly-so Ps. lxiii. declares. And the emblem of our text suggests it, even as the experience of God's sainLs confirms it. The soul is happy in God. Dungeoos as at Philippi and Rome, deathbeds, and dewlations of all kinds have been irradiated with the blessed content of those whom God has covered with his feathers, and who have put their trust under his wings. 2. A life hid~n with God. See how the young brood are hidden away under their mother's wing! A life hidden from strife and malice and the world. 3• .Nearrl£86 to tlui /wi,rl of God. The young birds can feel the beat of their mother'a PB. X0I. 1-16,] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 275
heart, So the soul of the sheltered one beholds and feels tbe love of God. 4. Perfect peace. IV. To WHOM ALL THIS IB PROMISED, Not to any and everybody, but to those only who dwell in the ijecret place of the Most High; that is, who abide, ever trusting, in the Lord Jesus Christ.-S. C.