of worship, and hill of eminence, should diligently see to it, that they have the preparation of heart which fits them to be inmates of the house of God. Without the wedding-dress of righteousness in Christ Jesus, we have no right to sit at the banquet of communion. Without uprightness of walk we are not fit for the imperfect church on earth, and certainly we must not hope to enter the perfect church above.

2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.

3 He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.

4 In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

5 He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

2.-THE ANSWER. The Lord in answer to the question informs us by his Holy Spirit of the character of the man who alone can dwell in his holy hill. In perfection this holiness is found only in the Man of Sorrows, but in a measure it is wrought in all his people by the Holy Ghost. Faith and the graces of the Spirit are not mentioned, because this is a description of outward character, and where fruits are found the root may not be seen, but it is surely there. Observe the accepted man's walk, work, and word. "He that walketh uprightly," he keeps himself erect as those do who traverse high ropes; if they lean on one side over they must go, or as those who carry precious but fragile ware in baskets on their heads, who lose all if they lose their perpendicular. True believers do not cringe as flatterers, wriggle as serpents, bend double as earth-grubbers, or crook on one side as those who have sinister aims; they have the strong backbone of the vital principle of grace within, and being themselves upright, they are able to walk uprightly. Walking is of far more importance than talking. He only is right who is upright in walk and downright in honesty. "And worketh righteousness." His faith shows itself by good works, and therefore is no dead faith. God's house is a hive for workers, not a nest for drones. Those who rejoice that everything is done for them by another, even the Lord Jesus, and therefore hate legality, are the best doers in the world upon gospel principles. If we are not positively serving the Lord, and doing his holy will to the best of our power, we may seriously debate our interest in divine things, for trees which bear no fruit must be hewn down and cast into the fire. "And speaketh the truth in his heart." The fool in the last psalm spoke falsely in his heart; observe both here and elsewhere in the two psalms, the striking contrast. Saints not only desire to love and speak truth with their lips, but they seek to be true within; they will not lie even in the closet of their hearts, for God is there to listen; they scorn double meanings, evasions, equivocations, white lies, flatteries, and deceptions. Though truths, like roses, have thorns about them, good men wear them in their bosoms. Our heart must be the sanctuary and refuge of truth, should it be banished from all the world beside, and hunted from among men ; at all risk we must entertain the angel of truth, for truth is God's daughter. We must be careful that the heart is really fixed and settled in principle, for tenderness of conscience towards truthfulness, like the bloom on a peach, needs gentle handling, and once lost it were hard to regain it. Jesus was the mirror of sincerity and holiness. Oh, to be more and more fashioned after his similitude!

3. After the positive comes the negative. "He that backbiteth not with his tongue." There is a sinful way of backbiting with the heart when we think too hardly of a neighbour, but it is the tongue which does the mischief. Some men's tongues bite more than their teeth. The tongue is not steel, but it cuts, and its

wounds are very hard to heal; its worst wounds are not with its edge to our face, but with its back when our head is turned. Under the law, a night hawk was an unclean bird, and its human image is abominable everywhere. All slanderers are the devil's bellows to blow up contention, but those are the worst which blow at the back of the fire. "Nor doeth evil to his neighbour." He who bridles his tongue will not give a licence to his hand. Loving our neighbour as ourselves will make us jealous of his good name, careful not to injure his estate, or by ill example to corrupt his character. "Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour." He is a fool if not a knave who picks up stolen goods and harbours them; in slander as well as robbery, the receiver is as bad as the thief. If there were no gratified hearers of ill reports, there would be an end of the trade of spreading them. Trapp says, that "the tale-bearer carrieth the devil in his tongue, and the tale-hearer carries the devil in his ear." The original may be translated," endureth;" implying that it is a sin to endure or tolerate tale-bearers. "Show that man out!" we should say of a drunkard, yet it is very questionable if his unmannerly behaviour will do us so much mischief as the tale-bearer's insinuating story. "Call for a policeman!" we say if we see a thief at his business; ought we to feel no indignation when we hear a gossip at her work? Mad dog! Mad dog!! is a terrible hue and cry, but there are few curs whose bite is so dangerous as a busybody's tongue. Fire! fire!! is an alarming note, but the tale-bearer's tongue is set on fire of hell, and those who indulge it had better mend their manners, or they may find that there is fire in hell for unbridled tongues. Our Lord spake evil of no man, but breathed a prayer for his foes; we must be like him, or we shall never be with him.

4. “In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord." We must be as honest in paying respect as in paying our bills. Honour to whom honour is due. To all good men we owe a debt of honour, and we have no right to hand over what is their due to vile persons who happen to be in high places. When bad men are in office, it is our duty to respect the office, but we cannot so violate our consciences as to do otherwise than contemn the men; and on the other hand, when true saints are in poverty and distress, we must sympathize with their afflictions and honour the men none the less. We may honour the roughest cabinet for the sake of the jewels, but we must not prize false gems because of their setting. A sinner in a gold chain and silken robes is no more to be compared with a saint in rags than a rushlight in a silver candlestick with the sun behind a cloud. The proverb says, that "ugly women, finely dressed, are the uglier for it," and so mean men in high estate are the more mean because of it. "He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not." Scriptural saints under the New Testament rule "swear not at all," but their word is as good as an oath those men of God who think it right to swear, are careful and prayerful lest they should even seem to overshoot the mark. When engagements have been entered into which turn out to be unprofitable," the saints are men of honour still." Our blessed Surety swore to his own hurt, but how gloriously he stood to his suretiship! what a comfort to us that he changeth not, and what an example to us to be scrupulously and precisely exact in fulfilling our covenants with others! The most far-seeing trader may enter into engagements which turn out to be serious losses, but whatever else he loses, if he keeps his honour, his losses will be bearable; if that be lost all is lost.

5. "He that putteth not out his money to usury." Usury was and is hateful both to God and man. That a lender should share with the borrower in gains made by his money is most fitting and proper; but that the man of property should eat up the poor wretch who unfortunately obtained a loan of him is abominable. Those who grind poor tradesmen, needy widows, and such like, by charging them interest at intolerable rates, will find that their gold and their silver are cankered. The man who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord must shake off this sin as Paul shook the viper into the fire. "Nor taketh reward against the innocent." Bribery is a sin both in the giver and the receiver. It was frequently practised in Eastern courts of justice; that form of it is now

under our excellent judges almost an unheard-of thing; yet the sin survives in various forms, which the reader needs not that we should mention; and under every shape it is loathsome to the true man of God. He remembers that Jesus instead of taking reward against the innocent died for the guilty.

"He that doeth these things shall never be moved." No storm shall tear him from his foundations, drag him from his anchorage, or uproot him from his place. Like the Lord Jesus, whose dominion is everlasting, the true Christian shall never lose his crown. He shall not only be on Zion, but like Zion, fixed and firm. He shall dwell in the tabernacle of the Most High, and neither death nor judgment shall remove him from his place of privilege and blessedness. Let us betake ourselves to prayer and self-examination, for this psalm is as fire for the gold, and as a furnace for silver. Can we endure its testing power?

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.

Verse 3.-Backbiteth. The word here used comes from a root signifying foot, and denotes a person who goes about from house to house, speaking things he should not (1 Tim. v. 13); and a word from this root signifies spies; and the phrase here may point at persons who creep into houses, pry into the secrets of families, divulge them, and oftentimes represent them in a false light. Such are ranked among the worst of men, and are very unfit to be in the society of saints, or in a church of Christ. See Rom. i. 30.-Dr. Gill.

Verse 5.-Whole Psalm. The holy soul is the love of God, the joy of angels; her eyes dare look upon the glorious Judge whom she knows to be her Saviour. Her heart is courageous; she dares stand the thunder; and when guilty minds creep into corners, she is confident in Him that He will defend her. She challengeth the whole world to accuse her of injustice, and fears not the subornation of false witnesses, because she knows the testimony of her own conscience. Her language is free and bold, without the guiltiness of broken stops. Her forehead is clear and smooth, as the brow of Heaven. Her knees are ever bent to the throne of grace; her feet travelling toward Jerusalem; her hands weaving the web of righteousness. Good men bless her; good angels guard her; the Son of God doth kiss her; and when all the world shall be turned to a burning pile, she shall be brought safe to the mountain of joy, and set in a throne of blessedness for ever.-Thomas Adams.

HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER.

Verse 1.-Qualifications for Church membership on earth and in heaven. A subject for self-examination.

Verse 1.-I. Comparison of the Church to the Tabernacle. God's presence manifested, sacrifice offered, and vessels of grace preserved in it; mean externally, glorious within. II. Comparison of its double position to that of the Tabernacle. Moving in the wilderness and fixed on the hill. III. Enquire into qualifications for admittance into church and tabernacle. Parallel with the Priests, &c.

Verse 1.-The great question. Asked by idle curiosity, despair, godly fear, earnest enquirer, soul troubled by falls of others, holy faith. Give answer to each.

Verse 2.-" He that walketh uprightly." I. What he must be? He must be upright in heart. A man himself bent double cannot walk uprightly. II. How he must act. Neither from impulse, ambition, gain, fear, or flattery. He must not be warped in any direction, but stand perpendicularly. III. What he must expect. Snares, &c. to trip him. IV. Where he must walk. Path of duty, the only one in which he can walk uprightly. V. Where he must look. Up, right-up, and then he will be upright. Verse 2.- 'Speaketh the truth in his heart. Subject:-Heart falsehood and

heart truth.

Verse 3.-The evils of detraction. It affects three persons here mentioned. The backbiter, the suffering neighbour, and the taker-up of the reproach.

Verse 4.-The duty of practically honouring those who fear the Lord. Commendation, deference, assistance, imitation, &c.

Verse 4.-Last clause. The Lord Jesus as our unchanging Surety, his oath and his hurt.

Verse 5.-The evidences and privileges of godly men.

Verse 5.-Last clause. The fixedness and safety of the godly.

WHEN

B.SLY DEL

HEN Barnabas had come to Antioch and seen how many were turned unto the Lord through the preaching of the disciples, we read, "he was glad." To hear of souls being brought to Jesus must ever gladden the hearts of God's people, irrespective of the particular instrumentality employed; whilst nothing is so calculated to provoke their zeal and stir them to personal service for Christ. No doubt our readers were refreshed last month by the graphic account of Mr. Carter's work amongst the "roughs" at the Victoria Theatre, and elsewhere. This month we insert a short sketch of the Lord's work in connection with the Church at Chelsea, where our brother Mr. Frank White is labouring. Our friends left the old meeting-house, Paradise-walk, in February last, and commenced services in the new school-room, Lower Sloane-street. Here they were much encouraged; several who have since been baptized date their first impressions to those meetings. On Sunday, April 30th, 1865, the new chapel was opened, Mr. Samuel Martin, of Westminster, preaching in the morning; and in the evening, Mr. Vince, of Birmingham. These services were followed by a special prayer meeting on the Monday, and an address by Mr. John Offord. Mr. C. H. Spurgeon preached two sermons on the Tuesday. On Wednesday, special addresses were given by the Hon. Mr. Baptist Noel and Mr. Blackwood, whilst a public meeting was held on the Monday, at which Sir Morton Peto presided, and Mr. Brock, Mr. J. A. Spurgeon, Mr. Bigwood, and Mr. Varley took part. Since the opening, large and attentive congregations have assembled from time to time to listen to the simple preaching of the cross, nor has the Word been in vain: many have been brought to Christ, and about fifty added

to the Church; thirty of these were baptized by the pastor. Mr. W. writes:"We had special cause for rejoicing a few Sundays since when ten believers gave the answer of a good conscience in the waters of baptism, and confessed their union with Jesus in death and resurrection. These were of various ages, from the youth of fourteen to the old man of seventy-four. Many wept that night, and indeed it was an affecting sight to see an old pensioner of the Queen, boldly professing soldiership in the one army of the living God.' He calls himself a brand plucked from the burning,' and the simplicity of his trust in Jesus is truly refreshing. I hope,' said he, 'soon to change my cocked hat for a crown.' Praying parents were that night encouraged to trust in a faithful covenant-keeping God, as they saw the children of many prayers openly declaring themselves on the Lord's side; whilst we have reason to hope others were led to decide for Christ who had long been halting between two opinions."

Amongst other agencies employed in these days to reach the classes not easily got at by ordinary means, "free teas," followed by addresses of an earnest and simple character have been found very useful. In this way, the brethren at Chelsea were enabled some time since to bring together about two hundred navvies (employed on the New Victoria Railway Bridge). They were addressed by a colporteur, who was formerly one of themselves, and their excellent missionary, Mr. Storey. On another occasion, a number of Chelsea pensioners were collected together in the same way, and "a very blessed sight" it was to see the old warriors listening to the story of the cross as the different speakers addressed them concerning him who by his death spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

"He hell in hell laid low

Made sin, he sin o'erthrew ;
Bowed to the grave, destroyed it so,
And death, by dying, slew."

Through the kindness of our kind friend and their employers, a third meeting of a similar character was held for the carpenters, masons, labourers, &c., who were engaged in building the chapel. Nor was this effort unblessed; an earnest soul is now in communion with the Church as the fruit of the Word spoken on that occasion. Such agencies are well worthy of support; could not some of our friends put it in Mr. White's power to employ them more frequently?

It may interest our readers to have a sketch of the grand old building called, "The Royal Hospital, or Chelsea College." It furnishes a comfortable home