volume of the book it is written of me; I delight to do Thy will, O my God: yea, Thy law is within My heart.' We have Him presented before us in these verses, not merely as a glorious Being, appearing for a little while and then passing away from us again. He is like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. He takes deep root among us, becomes bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, so that from that time forward to the present, and onward to the end of time, He is essentially one with His people. So these words at the very opening of the whole Book of Psalms come to us with peculiar force; for do they not testify of Him, that blessed Jesus, who in the days of His flesh found it His meat to do the will of His Father and to finish His work; and concerning whom, when the heavens were opened, the voice was heard, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased'? while it is strikingly added at the close of the 3rd verse of this Psalm, Whatsoever He doeth, it shall prosper,' just as in Isaiah it is written, 'He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.' 'Whatsoever He doeth, He maketh it to prosper' is the correct rendering of the original text here. He did all in His own strength, and by His own almighty power perfected every part of His work, until at last He was able on the cross to exclaim, 'It is finished;' and again, 'I have glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.' Do we find, in that great and wondrous work of His, any one single flaw? Had He ever to undo or unsay anything He had done or said? Oh! never, never! From first to last all prospered in His hand, and He saw of the travail of His soul and was satisfied.'

'The ungodly are not so.'

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They are not like him of whom it is written, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.' They are not so.

They are not planted (settled, fixed) by the rivers of water; no, they are not so! They are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.' Yes, for 'His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner, but He will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.' They shall never be rooted; but shall be like the chaff which the wind carrieth away! It is told us that eventually Christ's own dear people shall reign with Him in the new heavens and the 'new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.' But there shall be no place found there for the ungodly! It will be with them as it is written in Isaiah, that their iniquities, like the wind, have carried them away.' This must be the end of the ungodly! This the portion of their cup! Beloved, 'God hath no pleasure in the death of him that dieth ;' let us always bear that in mind. The ungodly do but reap the bitter fruit of the seed which they have sown, and therefore it is written that the ungodly shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous.' But oh, my dear friends, their punishment is a just and righteous one! For,' said a holy man of God, 'I have had my Bible open before me, and I have been on my knees before God, and with tears and bitter anguish I have been brought to this conclusion, that even as God would take the righteous to Himself, to dwell with Him in glory everlasting, even so must He banish the wicked from His presence for ever.' Let it never be said of any of us that we have seen the light and loved the darkness rather.

Think how great things He has done for us, and has had compassion on us! He has come to us in our low and lost estate, in this waste, howling wilderness, and has proved to us in His infinite and unchanging compassion and love, that He can be just and yet the justifier of the ungodly.

It is but a little while,' my beloved, and every vestige of sin shall be removed for ever. Everything that

defileth, or that worketh abomination, or that maketh a lie shall be cast out for ever. The tares shall no longer grow with the wheat. There shall be one song, one hymn of praise, one joy, even the joy of the Lord Himself. The heart made free and purified from sin for ever; the body made like unto His glorious Body; and then shall the righteous shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. God shall be their everlasting light, and the days of their mourning shall be ended.'

The tares and the wheat are mingled together now, but He only waits His time. 'The Lord knoweth them that are His,' and soon shall it be made manifest who are His and who are holy; when at the last great day He shall separate the sheep from the goats, and judge them 'according to the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be evil.' The Lord knoweth.' He walks in the midst of the golden candlesticks, and He knows and sees all. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.'

Sad indeed it is, beloved, to look around upon the numerous congregations of professing Christians in our land, and to think how few, comparatively, among them are really Christ's people! Ah! they stand just now. For man sees the outward appearance' only, but like chaff shall they be then driven away.

Beloved, we are persuaded better things of you,' even the things that accompany salvation. Thank God, that in Christ there is no condemnation. It may be, and often is, so long as we are in this world, a stand-up fight with sin and Satan. Thanks be to God, the end is sure. For He giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.'

Thus, beloved, just one word, 'The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous.' He knoweth, He orders it all from the beginning to the end, every step. He, your

blessed Saviour, knows it all, not only by reason of His omniscience, but through His experience; for He 'was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.' He knows your way, and remember, 'Whatsoever He doeth He maketh it to prosper.' He will not leave you alone. He will not give you over to Satan. He will perfect that which concerneth you; and having 'begun a good work in you, He will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.'

If I speak to one fainting heart of the Lord's people, to one who is discouraged because of the way, who is saying, 'Ah, I thought I belonged to Him, but now, I fear, I fear!' to such I say, 'Fear not.' It is just for such as you that His grace and mercy are ready, and whatsoever He doeth shall prosper. It is His own work, and shall He not complete it? Aye, He may loosen our hold of many earthly things; He may break many a chain which binds our spirits down, in completing that glorious work; but He knows it all. Oh that we could realize that! He knows it all! He understands it afar off! The way may be a dark one; it may be long; it may be rough; it may be thorny; but the end thereof is peace, peace unspeakable, which passeth all understanding; peace which shall flow like a river; peace and joy and glory. Oh, then, see to it that you walk closely with Jesus now; that you endure as seeing Him who is invisible. Hold fast that which ye have, that no man take your crown;' and 'when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory, which fadeth not away?'

PSALM II.

THE SUFFERINGS OF MESSIAH.

'Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 'The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying,

'Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords

from us.

'He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.

'Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion.

'I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten thee.

'Ask of Me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

'Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

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Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

'Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

'Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.'

It would be impossible, in a short lecture, to enter fully into all the verses of this wonderful Psalm. My object will be to shew the striking connection which subsists between it and the 1st Psalm, which it immediately follows. In that connection you may find the key by which to understand the whole Book of Psalms. You will bear in mind the description in the 1st Psalm of the perfectly holy man: where shall we find such a man? Who can attain unto such a high and lofty standard? None but the man Christ Jesus ever attained unto it. He was holy, harmless, without guile, without sin. He was the Holy One of God, of whom the Father said, 'This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.' In the 1st Psalm is stated also the everlasting distinction between the righteous and the wicked. That distinction was proclaimed by God on the day of the Fall: I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed.' It is a distinction which must eternally continue. The righteous and the wicked can never come together. There is a great gulf between