throwing the wicked. He, the God of Zion, shall reign for ever. The application of this Psalm to the circumstances and the deliverance of the Jews in the last days, is evident. The heart of the faithful is full of it; it is Christ Himself who leads these praises in the great congregation (see Psalm xxii. 25). For His heart takes part in all that happens to Israel.

In Psalm cxlvii. the whole congregation is more seen here. It is "our God," and again, it is He who builds up Jerusalem, and gathers together the outcasts of Israel, the Comforter of the broken-hearted, the Sovereign Creator of heaven and earth, who yet takes pleasure in those that fear Him. It is He who blesses Jerusalem, and establishes it with strength; who does what He pleases in heaven and earth, but who has shown His word unto Jacob and His statutes unto Israel, which He has done to no other nation. They have not known His judgments. The immediate and distinctive application of all these Psalms to Israel, as the nation in whom Jehovah will unfold His ways, and make Himself known in the last days, is clear and unequivocal.

Psalm cxlviii. extends the sphere of praise, calling on all the heavenly beings to praise Jehovah; and then in verse 7, the earth and all its inhabitants, for His glory is above the earth and heaven. Verse 14 gives also the special relations of Israel with the Lord, in a peculiar manner. The intimacy of the Church is not found in these praises. It is not the Father, it is not the Bridegroom of our souls. It is Jehovah, the Creator of heaven and earth. It is the righteous government of the Most High, of the God of Israel, worthy of all praise and of all glory. But the affections of one who, being joined to the Lord, is but one Spirit, are quite another thing. Such a one recognises the truth, the rightfulness of all this, its perfection in its place, but it is not his place.

Psalm cxlix. takes up the joy and the praises of Israel in particular, and the judgment which it is given them to execute upon the enemy. This last part shows how unsuitable it is to put the Church in the position of those who offer up these praises. It is suitable to Israel, because it is through the destruction of their enemy that they

have deliverance. The righteous judgment of God's government is the subject. The Church, belonging to heaven, having lived in grace on the earth, quits it to meet the Lord in the air, leaving her enemies down here. In the glory-even in the earthly and heavenly-this distinction continues. Of the earthly Jerusalem it is said, “The nation and kingdom that will not serve thee, shall perish;" while in the heavenly Jerusalem the leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations. It is beautiful to see this distinctiveness of grace continuing even in glory.

Psalm cl. is a kind of chorus, the force of which is evident; it is rather to be felt than explained. It will be observed that in the whole of this last book, it is always Jehovah. That is to say, the relation is acknowledged, and God is known in His relation to Israel, and by the name that is sacred to this relation. If we study the relationship which the Lord has entered into with Israel, in order to glorify this name, and which are set before us prophetically in the Psalms, we shall find that a fresh light is thrown upon the spiritual character of the Gospels, which enables us to understand the way in which the Jews, devoted as they were to their ceremonies and proud of their traditional privileges, must have been offended by the presence of One whose perfection judged their moral condition. Rejected by them-but according to the counsels of God, for the accomplishment of redemption, and the bringing in of the Church, united to Him in the glory He assumed in heaven-He will perform all the promises of God to Israel, His elect people on earth, when He shall return. There will be a prepared heart in a remnant of this people, in the midst of unparalleled distress; a distress which the Lord has personally anticipated, and in which He sympathises with the remnant. The Psalms give a voice in their hearts to this sympathy, until, interposing in power, He displays all the glory of Jehovah's name, the Creator, the Governor of the earth, the Judge of the wicked, faithful to His promises, kind and compassionate to His people, condescending to the humble and meek. It is, therefore, always necessary to distinguish the Church,

which is united to the Lord before His manifestation, while He is still hidden in God. Let us remark in conclusion, that this last book is not so much the connected historical order of the last days, as the expression of the various sentiments of the faithful remnant during that period. We always find in it the name of Jehovah, that is to say, the relations of Israel with Jehovah are recognised by faith, although not yet re-established in fact. And all the sentiments which this produces, whether of sorrow, of encouragement, or of joy, find their expression in this last book. It is a moral supplement to the historical contents of the preceding books, and always supposes the last days and the personal exercise of faith in that which Jehovah is unto this faith.

I feel how imperfect is this development of that which is contained in the Book of Psalms, so rich in precious sentiments. I only hope that some principles are set forth which will assist in understanding them, and some keys to their application in reading the Psalms themselves.

FRAGMENTS.

WHAT is the state of things around us (called the church) when it is compared with that which was displayed at first at Jerusalem; and what will be the result of it all in the day of the Lord's coming?

"PRAYER is prayer, let it come from the weak or from the strong. It is not the heart or the lip from which it comes, as the Ear that it goes to, which is the great thing."

D.

JOHN IV.

"With Thee is the fountain of life."

Who is that weary man, so lone and pale,
Beneath the shade that falls on Jacob's well?
A lowly pilgrim, from the noon-tide heat,

He sitteth there to rest his aching feet.

No more he seems: but heavenly hosts attend
And wait on Him, where'er His footsteps bend.
They looked with wonder when they sang his birth,
The greatest marvel ever seen on earth.
That humble man is Israel's promised King,
Though for His head a crown of thorns they'll bring.
Yes, He Immanuel is, The Eternal Word,
Of heaven and earth, of men and angels, Lord,
The Eternal Son hung on a woman's breast,
The mighty Goda beside the well takes rest,

My soul tread softly! for 't is holy ground,
No finite mind can this deep mystery sound,
But worship and adore the wondrous love
That could the blessed God so freely move
Towards thee, a sinner, and an enemy!
Yes, Lord, Thou hast revealed this grace to me.
But see a woman comes, unconscious, who
Sits by the water, and as careless too.
He asks to drink, and coldly she replies,
Yet gazes on the stranger with surprise,
For there was something in His eye and tone,
That ever marked Him as the Holy One.

Ah! didst thou dream, poor sinner, that for thee,
Thus faint and weary, He's content to be,

That for the joy of giving thee to know

The living fountains from His heart that flow,
The garden's agony, the Cross, the grave,

He'll suffer all, His guilty ones to save.

But thou didst know, the grovelling heart was won,
And found a treasure, ere the setting sun,

Thy happiest hour, thou couldst rejoicing tell,
That hour of noon, which brought thee to the well,
Alone with Jesus,—from His lips to hear
What drew the publicans and sinners near,
The gracious words for which our spirits yearn.
O blessed Lord! we too would sit and learn,
And drink abundantly, yea, drink for ever,
Pleasures of pure delight from God's own river!

a Isaiah xl. 28.

PERSONNE.

ACROSTIC PSALMS.

4.-Ps. CXIX.

Each of the verses from 25-32 begins with Daleth.

Down to the dust my soul cleaves;

Quicken Thou me according to Thy word.

ver. 25

Declared have I my ways, and Thou heardest me;

Teach me Thy statutes.

ver. 26

Do Thou make me to understand the way of Thy precepts;

So shall I muse of Thy wondrous works.

ver. 27

Dropping-as-if-melting is my soul through heaviness;

(Directing my steps) in the way of Thy commandments I will run; For Thou shalt enlarge my heart.

ver. 32.

FRAGMENT.

How many neglected texts, texts hid away in corners, so to speak, half-sentences, may I say, parts of verses, obscure pieces or fragments of the word, were realised in the days of the New Testament. Generations had scarcely heeded them, but they were in the oracles of God, and God would treat them as real, however man might neglect them. "For what if some did not believe, shall their unbelief make the word of God of none effect: God forbid."

"Out of Egypt have I called my Son;""The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up;" "A bone of Him shall not be broken;" "Behold I and the children whom God hath given me;" "With men of other tongues will I speak," etc.; "He that gathered little had no lack;" "Rejoice, ye gentiles, with his people."

I only put down what just occurs to me at the moment; but they serve to illustrate what we are saying, How the Spirit of God, thus, in a distant age, made scripture to come forth from its hiding or secret place in the book, and from under the practical ignorance and neglect of man, and show itself as a great reality. Thousands of years had made no alteration, had had no effect upon them: they were as real before God as when His Spirit breathed them, and He would make them good, nor let a jot or a tittle fail.

So with us. What the ministry of the Lord and of the Spirit in the Apostles did, in those days, after this manner, for many and many a neglected scripture, the coming day of power and of glory and of Christ, will do for many a neglected scripture still. All shall be realised, and word after word shall come forth, whether of promise or of judgment; and God shall be found true, tho' every man a liar.

The price of the measure of fine meal, and the treading down of the unbelieving lord, in the day of the famine of Samaria, tell us these things in a solemn and yet interesting Scripture (2 Kings vii.).