personal dislike o.od antipo.thy, though he could not but have felt that, but for the so.ke of the many whom they were lee.ding astray. And he affirmed only what he knew to be true. WliPo, then, we have to speak evil of another, let us speak only as Christ did-faithfully, openly, and for the sake of others rather than our own sake. Such evil- speaking is not slander. 2. What, then, is slander 1 It is the speakin"' evil on hear- e<iy rather than proof, or on half-knowledge; it is generally cowardly:" back biting" Pa. xv. calls it. The man would be ashamed tu say it openly. The motive is mo.lignant---seeking to do evil, or, if not that, there is a culpable carelessness a.s to the truth, which is almost as bad. This is what the psalmist seerru to mean when he so.ye, "Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing." II. GREAT 1s THE EVIL THAT TREY DO. 1. Often to the victim of their slander, (See Edna Lyall's 'Autobiography of a Slander.') Of. Shakespeare, 'Othello•- " Who steals my purse steals trash . . . But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, And wakes me poor indeed." There are men in every rank of life whose whole career bas been blighted by some cruel slander, which, often carelessly rather than maliciously, has been set going. 2. To the hearer of them. A shadow ha.s come over your intercourse with the slandered one; confidence is destroyed or much shaken; you are drawn nearer to that mad state of mind which led David to say, "All men are liars." You don't know whom to trust. 3. To the slanderer himself most of all. If it has been spoken carelessly, as it so often is, and he comes to know of the evil he has wrought, it will be a lifelong regret to him. If it has been done out of malice, then he ha.-; done not a. little to harden his con- science, to sear it as with a. red-hot iron. Furthermore, he has incurred the anger of _God, to whom slander is abho1Tent (Ps. v. 6), and ooe of whose chief commands is, "Thou shalt not bear false witness," etc. And he loses his own self-respect; he carries about with him the consciousness of his crime and shame, and, when found out, a.s he is all but sure to be, he is the object of the merited scorn of his fellow-men. III. How TO DEAL WITH THEM. "Him will I cut off," says our text. 1. No doubt David would deal with such men in the ruthless, despotic way of an Eastern. king. There would be but short shrift for such with him. 2. .And so God will deal with them, unless they repent. 3 . .And so, in principle, should we deal with them. Be stern with the man who brings the slander; shun the company of such; warn others against him; compel the man to say openly what he has said in secret. 4. Such stern treatment necessary, for we a.re a.11 prone to this sin. A buruing coal thrown out in the road soon becomes dead; but cast it into a. heap of straw, and then what conflagra- tion ensues I The first pictures the fate of a good report of your neighbour-nothing comes of it. The second pictures the fate of an evil report-how that spreads fast and far I And slander is destructive of all brotherhood and confidence between man and man. It flagrantly violates our Lord's golden rule, "Do unto others as you would," etc. CoNOLUSION, 1 . .Are you the victim of slauder 1 Pray for your enemy, and forgive him; then go and tell him of his fault. 2. All ure in danger of this sin. Therefore seek to have your heart filled with love; let the mind be in you which was also in Christ, then slander will become impossible to you.-S. C.
Ver. 1.-The Divine mercy and judgment. This "king's song" may reasonably be associated with the beginning of David's reign. Then we must regard " mercy and judgment" a.s o.ttributes of the Divine King. David desired to frame his own rule, a.ad his own kingdom, after the Divine pattern. He meditates on the mercy and righteousness of God till his heart glows with the thought of their surpafsing excellence, a.s seen in the Divine government; a.ud he longs to have these kingly virtues trans- ferred into his own life and reign. That seems to be the first connection of the text, and such thoughts and desires a.re in every way suitable for a. king. But we are not kings; and so we a.re set upon finding associations with the kin~'s words which may fit them to our circumstances, and make tiiem expressive of our feeling. Reviewing God's dealings wit.h us- I. WE OAN srno OF MERoY. That is a very comprehensive word. It includes the 366 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [PS, 01, 1-8,