Ver. 3.-The tether of the ungodly. "How long shall the wicked triumph?" Men ask this question only when they cannot see the rope, or the chain, which keeps the movements of the ungodly within strict limitations. In Jersey and Guernsey the cattle are not left free in the fields, but are tethered so that they can only feed within a defined circle; and the visitor is interested in the different lengths of tether allowed to each animal. Bunyan represents his pilgrim as alarmed at the lions at the entrance to the palace Beautiful, and reassured when told that they were chained, and the chains did not permit of their reaching the middle of the pathway: he would be quite safe if he kept to the middle. The waves lift up themselves, and sometimes seem as if they would overwhelm; but God holds the waters in the hollow of his band, puts bis limitations even on their storm-time swellings. The martyr-souls are represented in Rev. vi. 10 as crying from under the altar of God, "How long, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" I. THE TETHER OF THE UNGODLY IS FIXED FOB THE HONOUR OF Goo. He will not permit his Name to be dishonoured or his work to be hindered. Nebuchadnezzar finds he bas reached the limit of his tether when he begins to boast himself agaiilllt God. Herod reaches bis limit when, unreproved, he allows the people to shout concern- ing him, "It is tho voice of a god, and not of a man." Because God is and must be supreme, every man is under limitations. .Against that meu fret, but they can only hopelessly fret. II. THE TETHER OF THE UNGODLY IS FIXED FOR THE SAFETY OF GoD'B PEOPLE. " What can harm you if ye be followers of that which is good ? " The figure is presented of Satan, the deceiver and persecutor of the saints, as bound for a thousanu years. He is always bound. See the figure of Satan, in the Book of Job, obliged to get Diviue permission ere he can touch Job, or a thing that Job has. Eveu the malice of persecuting ages, and the shameless wickedness of the Inquisition, were in Divine limitations. III, THE TETHER OF THE UNGODLY IS FlllD IN THE INTERESTS OF THE UNGODLY THEMSELVES, Illustrate from the antediluvians. Their life-tether was about a thousand years, so they became gigantic in wickedness, What would proud, vicious 308 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PS, XOIV, 1-23,
men bec0me now, if they could got free from Divine restraints? Mercy puts limits on tile wicked.-R. T. Vers. 9, 10.-Fi·om man to God. The argument here is, that whatever powers aro found in man are surely found in him who made man. The workman must have in him everything that gRins expression in his work. A. machine is an embodiment or thought, and the thought is alt-0gether higher than the machine. Here the point is- men hear the cry of the oppressed; men see the sufferings of the godly; then they may be quite sure that God both sees and hears; and they must seek some better explanation of his delayed help than can be found by assuming his ignorance or indif- ference. " Whitt.ever is in mRn must be in the Power that made man-whether by evolution out of lower na.tures or otherwise it matters not-aud whatever exists in tha& P,)wer must show itself in active energy in the direction of man's history" (Ba.rry). 1. MAN IS ALWAYS READY TO HELP BIS SUFFERING NEIGHBOUR. Man as man i~. Some men, self-centred and self-seeking, are not. All true men are sympathetic toward sufferers, easily roused to champion the oppressed, and vigorous against the violent wrong-doer. History is full of illustrations of the sacrifices men will make in behalf of the innocent and oppressed. No doubt the advancing civilization, which crowds cities, tends to put the disabled and oppressed out of sight and hearing; but let their condition come into view, and then men are ready with generous hand and gift, prepared to help. The psalmist is dealing with those who pleaded that, in the liumiliations aod distresses of his time, there were oo more than signs of human sympathy and help; and who groaned that these were proving quite ineffective. II. Goo IS ALWAYS READY TO HELP HIS SUFFERING PEOPLE. First, this is abso- lutely certain-he can see and hear. .A.nd this is quite as certain-he does see and hear. Then why does he not immediately intervene? To get the reason we must always take a large and comprehensive view of God's rule. .A.nd especially we must remember that he is the God of the wrong-doer as well as of the saint; of the oppressor a.~ well as of the oppressed. And it may be that the need of the hour is chastening for the good, and this may require that the evil be maintained as the chastening agency. -R.T. Ver. 11.-The vanity of men's idea of the Divine indifference. "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity." Clearly the reference is not a general one, t-0 the common and usual thoughts of men, but a special one to the particular thoughts about the delay of God's vindication of the oppressed, which was at the time distress- ing the psalmist (see ver. 7). The idea that God does not regard the suffering of his people, and will not intervene in their behalf, is characterized as "vanity," a foolish, baseless, and altogether unsound notion. This idea concerning God is sometimes the doubt of the pious soul, as in Isa. xl. 27; here it is the reproach of the ungodly. The doubt of the pious soul is properly met by Divine comfortings and assuranceR ; the reproach of the ungodly is properly met by scornful and withering reproof. "So far from 'not seeing,' 'not regarding,' as these brutish persons fondly imagine, Jehovah reads their inmost thoughts and devices, as he reads the hearts of all men, even though for a time they are unpunished" (see 1 Cor. iii. 20). I. SUCH THOUGHTS ABE VANITY BECAUSE THEY ARE UNTRUE. They do not answer to the facts. U God be God, he must know what is going on; he must be controlling everything; he must be working toward the blessing of the good. Such thoughts are untrue if tested (1) by right knowledge of God; (2) by the "9surances and promises of God; (3) by the history of his dealings with men; (4) by the personal experiences of believers. II. SucB-TBOUGBTB ABE VANITY BECAUSE THEY ABE UNWORTHY. The men who encourage them are not in a right state of mind. Men ought to trust God, not doubt him. Men ought to be quick to observe everything that can nourish confidence, If God's ways ever seem perplexing, our assumption should always be in favour of their wisdom and loving-kindness. It is unworthy of men to doubt God in one thing, seeing he gives them such abundont reason for trusting him in a thousand things. He is •• too good to be unkind." III. Soca THOUGHTS ABB VANITY BECAUSE THEY ABE UNSTABLE, They are but I'S, XOIV, 1-28,] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 209