prove our sincerity, to perfect our patience. For these purposes, He seemeth to have sometimes forgotten his word, and to have deserted those whom He had engaged to succour and relieve; in which case, He would have us, as it were, to remind Him of his promise, and solicit his performance of it. The Psalmist here instructeth us to prefer our petition upon these grounds; first, that God cannot prove false to his own word; "Remember the word unto thy servant:" secondly, that He will never disappoint an expectation which Himself hath raised; "upon which thou hast caused me to hope."

50. This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.

While performance is delayed, we "rejoice in hope; "Rom. xii. 12, and the promise is our comfort in affliction; a comfort, divine, strong, lasting; a comfort, that will not, like all others, fail us when we most want it, in the day of sickness, and at the hour of death; but will always keep pace with our necessities, increasing in proportion as the pleasures of the world and the flesh decrease in us, and then becoming complete, when they are no more. So powerful is the word of God to revive us, when dead, either in sins, or in sorrow; "thy word hath quickened me."

51. The proud hath had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.

A true servant of God believeth the promises, and practiseth the precepts of his blessed Master. The haughty infidel will scoff at him for one part of his conduct; the insolent worldling will ridicule him for the other. But neither will induce him to disbelieve, or to disobey. Let us be certain that we have the Divine "law" for our warrant in what we believe, and in what we do; and then,

let not the "derision of the proud" prevail upon us to " I decline from it."

52. I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself.

The great remedy against that temptation which ariseth from the reproaches of our scornful and insulting adversaries, is here prescribed, namely, a "remembrance of God's judgments of old,' whether we understand the "judgments" of his mouth, or those of his hand; his righteous decrees for the punishment of bad, and reward of good, men, or the many and wonderful instances of his executing those decrees, from the beginning of the world, recorded in the sacred history. These are sources of real and endless "comfort" upon such occasions; because nothing can happen to us, which hath not happened to God's people "of old;"no case, of which there is not a precedent in Scripture, where we may read the process of similar trials, their issue, and the final sentence of the Judge, who is still the same, and whose rule of procedure and determination is invariable.

53. Horror hath taken hold upon me, because of the wicked that forsake thy law.

The consequence of a due meditation on God's judgments will be a compassion for the "wicked," on whom those judgments, in the end, fall; so that instead of feeling for ourselves, on account of the injuries they do us, we shall feel for them, who are thereby drawing down vengeance and destruction on their own heads. Daughters of Jerusalem," said the blessed Jesus, when led to be crucified, "weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children." Luke xxiii. 28.

54. Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.

The soul, which descended from above, and longs to return thither again, is a stranger and a sojourner upon earth. The body is "the house of her pilgrimage," in which she is confined during her state of exile. And, how harsh soever the usage may be which she receiveth from the world, she ever findeth joy and comfort, as once did the fugitive and wandering son of Jesse, in making God's "statutes" the subjects of her psalms, and hymns, and spiritual "songs," until death shall restore her to liberty. Then, ascending to heaven from whence she came, and like the early lark singing as she ascends, she will seek her native abode, there to celebrate her redemption from the earth, and to chant forth the praises of Him who hath redeemed her, in a new song, before the throne.

55. I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept thy law.

By the "name" of God, his nature, so much at least of it as we are concerned to know, and are capable of receiving, is revealed to us. Such a love had the Psalmist for it on that account, that, as in the day God's statutes were his songs, in the night God's name was the subject of his meditation. With his tongue he praised Him in the day, with his heart he desired Him in the nightwatches. At night, the dissipation, noise, and hurry of business cease; external silence produceth internal calmness and composure, inviting us to celestial contemplation; the world is dead to us, and we are dead to the world; the soul is then most alive, and seemeth to experience a foretaste of that time, when the body and its concerns shall no more molest and impede her. The good effect of hours thus secretly passed in holy exercises,

will appear openly in our lives and conversations: "I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and," as the fruit of it, "have kept thy law."

56. This I had, because I kept thy command

ments.

As one sin is often the consequence and the punishment of another, so one act of obedience is the issue and the reward of another; and, to him who hath well used the grace already received, shall more be given. "This I had," this ability to perform my duty, and to delight in the performance of it day and night, was vouchsafed unto me, "because I kept thy commandments," because I was not heretofore disobedient, but employed the strength with which Thou, O LORD, hast endued me, not in doing mine own will, but thine.

CHETH.-PART VIII.

57. Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words.

Happy the man, who can sincerely say, "Thou art my portion, O LORD;" I have considered, and made my choice; from henceforth, I renounce all things for the love of Thee; Thou art sufficient for me; Thee only I desire to enjoy, and, therefore, Thee only I desire to please; "I have said that I would keep thy words."

58. I entreated thy favour with my whole heart: be merciful unto me, according to thy word.

He who hath chosen God for "his portion," will earnestly seek his "favour," and the light of his countenance; he who hath promised and vowed to "keep the words" of God, hath need to seek that favour and that light, that he may have grace and power to fulfil his engagements. Mercy is

VOL. II.

X

the sole fountain of every good gift for which we ask, and God's promise the only ground upon which we ask it; "be merciful unto me, according to thy word."

59. I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.

The Psalmist did not content himself with barely praying for strength and grace, but his faith, relying on the word of promise, put itself in motion. He considered his "ways," his course of thinking, speaking, and acting; how far he had proceeded in it, and whither it led him; and this consideration produced a conversion of the whole man, of the heart and its affections, from the creature to the Creator, as He hath revealed Himself in the Scriptures of truth; "I turned my feet unto thy testimonies."

60. I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.

A true penitent suffereth no time to be lost between his good resolutions and the performance of them. "Draw me," saith the Church, "and we will RUN after thee:" Cant. i. 4. Andrew, Peter, and others, stayed not for a second call from Christ, but followed Him immediately upon the first. By deferring our return to duty, we lose many comfortable fruits, which it would have produced both in ourselves and others, while the difficulties of ever returning, and the danger of never returning, are daily and hourly increasing.

61. The bands, or, troops, of the ungodly have robbed me; but I have not forgotten thy law.

To be robbed, or plundered of his possessions in this world, was by no means a case peculiar to David. The primitive Christians were continually so treated; and our Lord gives all his disciples warning to stand prepared for such events, ready