when we are enabled to put away from us every wish, every thought, every desire that is apart from Him, and to pray this prayer, For Thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.'

'Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me.' They, the world, the flesh, and the devil. How active are they in spreading nets for unwary souls! Is there ever a day in which we do not find that some one of these three have been busy spreading a net for us? Well indeed may we exclaim with the Psalmist, Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me;' or, again, as in Psalm xxv, 'Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He shall pluck my feet out of the net.' Just the reverse, beloved, of what we would naturally say. If we had reason to believe that a net had been spread in our path. we should naturally look well to our feet, to see that we did not fall into it. Here, on the contrary, if there is any safety at all for us, it must be in this prayer to our Almighty Deliverer, Pull Thou my feet out of the net;' 'Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He shall pluck my feet out of the net.' We are not to look downwards at our own weak and faltering footsteps; for then most surely we shall stumble and become entangled in the net: our eyes must be ever fixed upon Him, and He will 'pluck our feet out of the net,' and we shall be set free as a bird out of the snare of the fowler.

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For Thou art my strength,' my deliverer, my Saviour, and through Thy power the snare is broken, and I am escaped:' as Chalmers quaintly puts it, 'the expulsive power of a new affection' has conquered for ever the old enemy, the new love has cast out the old, the hidden snare has lost its charm for us, and the meshes of the net which were like to have entangled us to our destruction have been rent asunder: the spell that was upon us has been broken, and now once more we are free.

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Lastly, see how the life of faith is manifested: Into

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Thine hand I commit my spirit.' These words were used by our Lord Himself, and echoed, trustfully and joyfully, by him who wore the earliest martyr's crown, while many of the Lord's servants have fallen asleep since then with these words on their lips and in their hearts. Still I do not think that their application should be limited to that solemn moment when the heart sinks to rest on the precious assurance, 'I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.' The believer may well take up the same words at every stage of the life of faith: Into Thine hand I commit my spirit.' I give Thee that which is most precious to me; so precious, that were I to lose it, it should profit me nothing though I gained the whole world in exchange. This precious soul I commit to Thee. Take it into Thy keeping, so that it may be for ever safe. Whatever may happen to me here, whether I be in the midst of troubles, perplexities, sorrows, or sufferings, or whether in the bright sunshine of outward prosperity, I commit my soul to Thee. Have I not good reason so to do? For Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.' Redeemed me; bought me back; paid the price; laid down the ransom; delivered me from going down to the pit. All this He has done for me, and shall I not commit my soul to Him for ever? He has redeemed me. Yes, with His own most precious blood, 'as of a lamb without blemish, and without spot.' 'Into Thine hand, O Lord, I commit my spirit,' to be kept safely by Thine own most blessed power, through all the snares and dangers that may lie before me, to be kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation.'

PSALM XXXI. 6-16.

THE TRIAL OF FAITH.

'I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the Lord.

'I will be glad and rejoice in Thy mercy for Thou hast considered my trouble; Thou hast known my soul in adversities,

'And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: Thou hast set my feet in a large room.

'Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.

For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed. 'I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.

'I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.

For I have heard the slander of many fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.

But I trusted in Thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God.

My times are in Thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

'Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant: save me for Thy mercies' sake.'

THE believer having entered on the life of faith,' as we have seen in the earlier part of this Psalm, experiences now the trial of faith,' which is, in the words of St. Peter, 'more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire.' This we find chiefly in verses 9-13.

'I have hated them that regard lying vanities:' I am indifferent to them; my heart and theirs do not go together; we have nothing in common; I must keep apart from them; I cannot be mixed up with those who have to do with 'vanities of emptiness.' So must all feel who know what it is to find Christ, the Pearl of great price. Whatever it may be that comes before them, however seducing in its outward appearance, it is the 'vanity of

emptiness,' because the Master is not there. From all this, the Psalmist says, I will stand apart; but I trust in the Lord.' There alone is perfect safety, there is happiness, with Him; and in Him I am safe.

'I will be glad and rejoice in Thy mercy;' in the friendship of Jehovah, His loving-kindness, His tender mercy; 'For Thou hast considered my trouble, Thou hast known my soul in adversities;' Thou knowest every step of the way, and nothing is hidden from Thee; Thou hast 'considered' it all.

Beloved friends, is it not well thus to leave the emptiness and vanity of the world for the sake of the blessed fellowship and companionship of the Heavenly Father? For having thus 'known my soul in adversities, Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy:' no, never! Deliverance may seem to be far off, and like Elisha's servant we may be ready to sit down in despair; but the chariots and horses are there, although we see them not, and the army of the living God is encamping round about us to deliver us! The child of God is sometimes brought down to the lowest point in the needful trial of his faith and patience; but not one shall ever be able to say that He took him and made him His, and yet shut him up into the hand of the enemy.' Nay, Thou hast set my feet in a large room.' Is it not a large room, beloved friends? Can we measure it? Is there any limit to it? Is it not filled to overflowing with His light, that everlasting light of which we often sing? and has He not set our feet in it? Yes, He has made it all plain and right and good for us. us, and now He 'sets' our feet in it, He establishes us there; He does not 'shut us up,' He enlarges us.

He has chosen it for

Here then we have reached the highest point in the life of faith, and it is immediately followed by the trial of faith. We cannot of course say whether David realised in his own experience at one time all that is herein

expressed. It may have been so, or it may be the teaching of long years which finds expression here; whichever it is, it is manifestly set down for us, in order that when trials come, as come they will, we may be able like David to flee to the stronghold, and find our safety and refuge there.

Have mercy upon me, O God, for I am in trouble; wasted or consumed with grief is mine eye, yea, my soul and my body.' Here we have set forth in striking language a state of great and sore trouble, spiritual and physical, so grievous and terrible that the Psalmist in his sore extremity is fain to cry out, My life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing.'

We are apt to look upon David as a very prosperous man, and are perhaps inclined sometimes in reading his Psalms to feel that what was easy comparatively for David is sadly different for us. But here he lets us into the secret of his life; it is spent with grief, and his years with sighing. Yea,' he says, 'my strength faileth because of mine iniquity.' There is the secret and spring of all. This is what gives the sting and the bitterness to these troubles. It is because of mine iniquity.'

When God sends trouble and trial to us, if we are His people, why does He do it? Is it not to make us know the hidden evils of our hearts? Is it not to bring to light the hidden things of darkness? He deals with us wisely, and lovingly, and well, in order to show to us those 'secret faults' of which the Psalmist speaks (Psalm xc. 8); the secret sins; not the sin of the hypocrite, who deceives his neighbour by professing to be that which he is not, but rather the hidden depths of our own evil hearts, hidden very often even from ourselves. If we have indeed been brought to the foot of the cross, and shown how sinful we are, we yet know that we have not by any means fully learnt the depths of our own hearts, that they are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked;' and so