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النشر الإلكتروني

are so guilty and depraved as to render them more or less unhappy here, and miserable hereafter. Mercy alone can remove their guilt, sweep away the dense cloud of sin that fills them with terrible remorse and foreboding, and mercy alone can remove the depravity by a thorough renewal of nature. Mercy creates men anew in Christ Jesus in good works. Thank God that this mercy is enduring, and will continue with us until our last hour. Secondly: Because all men that will hereafter live require mercy. The number of generations that will appear on this earth when we are gone and our name buried in the oblivion of ages are known only to ONE. But not one individual in all the generations will be able to do without mercy. Thank God, then, that mercy is to run on to the crash of doom. Another thing suggested in relation to this point is that

II. This is a subject for the CELEBRATION OF ALL MEN. It is for Israel in general, "Let Israel now say," that is for the great bulk of the Hebrew people, including all the unbelieving and unrenewed. "Let the house of

Aaron now say," that is the whole priesthood, all the men set apart to conduct the worship of Almighty God, and to lead on the souls of men to true knowledge, purity, and peace. "Let them that now fear the Lord say, that is all the truly religious part of Israel, whether of the priesthood or the laity. This perpetuity of mercy therefore, is a subject in which men of all characters, of all lands, of all times may triumphantly rejoice. Here we can all meet, both the rich and the poor. It has been said that mercy is like a rainbow, that you must never look for it after night, that it shines not in the other world. I would rather say, it is like a bright constellation of stars, resplendent even in the midnight sky.

No. CLXIV.

God the Deliverer and Defender of His People.

"I CALLED UPON THE LORD IN DISTRESS," &c. Ps. cxviii. 5-7. Portion of Psalm Sung on the Way.

ANNOTATIONS :-Ver 5. "" I called upon the Lord in distress." There is nothing extraordinary in this. Who has not called upon the Lord in great distress? It is the law of humanity.

"The

Lord answered me and set me in a large place." This, alas, is not common, it is somesomewhat rare. How few of all the cries that go up to heaven from this world of sorrow and distress, so reach the eye and heart of the Infinite as to gain an answer. And why? Because they are selfish, unbelieving, &c. The words "set me" are not in the Hebrew. The true version would be "I called upon in a narrow place(straits), and the Lord answered me in a wide place." The reference is to the deliverance of the people from their captivity and

setting them at large both in a temporal and spiritual

sense.

Ver. 6.—“ The Lord is on my
side; I will not fear. What
can man do unto me?" That
is, the Lord is for me.
The
Lord is the name by which
the Almighty became known
to Moses and to Israel in the
deliverance from Egypt (Ex.
It occurs no less
vi. 3).
than twenty-one times in
this Psalm, exclusive of the
last verse.

Ver. 7. "" The Lord taketh

my part with them that help me, therefore, shall I see my desire upon them that hate me." "Rather, Jehovah is on my side with them that help me,' not as if Jehovah were one of many helpers, but among helpers to help them."-Fuller.

HOMILETICS :-In these verses the Almighty is presented as the Deliverer and Defender of His people. "The Lord answered me, and

I. The DELIVERER.

set me in a large place." The deliverance seemed to have consisted in raising him from a circumscribed to

an expansive position. The expression "in distress,' means out of straightness, in allusion, no doubt, to the captivity of Babylon. The expression, "set me in a large place," points to the unrestricted freedom which they had on their return to their own land. The Almighty is constantly delivering men in this way, lifting them from the narrow to the broad. (1) He does so secularly. How often by His providence does He take men from the narrowness of poverty out into the broad places of worldly prosperity. (2) He does so intellectually. He takes men from the narrowness of ignorance and prejudice, and habit, out into the broad places of knowledge and freedom. (3) He does this spiritually. From the narrowness of guilt and corruption He takes men by the Gospel of His Son, into the broad realms of forgiveness and virtue.*

II. The Defender. "The Lord is on my side, I will not fear what can man do unto me?" Which means "The Lord is for me." First: Because of this we need not fear. "I will not fear, what can man do unto me?" If He is for us, who can be against us? "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, therefore we will not fear," &c. If He is for us, we have not only the whole universe for us, but even our very enemies shall be made to subserve our interest. Secondly: Because of this we shall conquer. "The

Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me." The word "desire" is not in the Hebrew. The words should be "and I shall look upon my haters," look with calm defiance, look with expectant triumph.

*See "Homilist," Vol. xlii.. p. 110.

"The Lord appears my helper now,
Nor is my faith afraid

What all the sons of earth can do,

Since heaven affords its aid.

"'Tis safer, Lord, to hope in Thee,
And have my God my friend,
Than trust in men of high degree,
And on their truth depend."

No. CLXV.

Confidence in God.

“IT IS BETTER TO TRUST IN THE LORD," &c. Ps. cxviii. 8-13. Portion Sung on the Way (2).

ANNOTATIONS:--Ver. 8, 9. "It is

better to trust in the Lord." "The reference," says Prebendary Young, "is to the opposition of the Samaritans to the building of the Temple, the intrigues of the Persian Satraps, and the feebleness of the monarch. The work was stopped for a while under Artaxerxes (PsuedoSmerdis) (Ez. iv. 17-23). Even when, on the death of Artaxerxes, Haggai and Zechariah roused the people to recom.mence the building, the Persian nobles still tried to hinder it." But the eye of the Lord God was upon the elders of the Jews that they (the Persian nobles) could not cause them to cease," until the matter was referred to Darius, and a favourable answer came back from him” (Ezra v. 1-5).

Ver. 10, 11.-"All nations com

passed me about: but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them." In the name of Jehovah it is certain that I shall destroy them. "All nations" must be understood, not historically, but poetically. It has been remarked that the repetition four times of the words, "they compassed me about," marks. the pertinacious animosity of the enemies described. Ver. 12. "They compassed me about like bees." Like bees that swam in multitudes and with malignant instincts. "They are quenched as the fire of thorns.” Attacking with prodigious rage, and seeming as though they would utterly destroy the devoted city, they suddenly perish, and no trace of them abides, as fire among thorns.

blazes up suddenly with vast heat (lviii. 9) and crackling, and directly dies out, leaving no trace.

Ver. 13. "Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall, but the

Lord helped me." "Thou." Here the whole body of enemies are just as one man.. The whole furious swarm is apotrophised as one.

HOMILETICS :-The general subject of these words is Confidence in God, and the words lead us to look at this confidence in two aspects-as justified by experience, and as the inspiration of courage.

I. AS JUSTIFIED BY EXPERIENCE. "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes." This is the testimony of experience expressed in the verses above. The writer had trusted, and he was not put to shame, he was not confounded. "It is better," says Matthew Henry, "more wise, more comfortable, and more safe, there is more reason for it, and it will speed better, to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man, yea, though it be in princes. He that devotes himself to God's guidance and government, with an entire dependence upon God's wisdom, power, and goodness, has a better security to make him safe, than if all the kings and potentates of the earth should undertake to protect him." Experience, or consciousness, which is the most infallible of all tests, the most demonstrative of all evidence, declares that God has never failed to those who have trusted in Him. Here is the testimony of experience, "Ye know in all your hearts, and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. There failed not aught of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the

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