are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words, for they are sweet," &c. These verses are as obscure as the two former ones. The translation of Delitzsch does not make the meaning much clearer. "Hurled down upon the sides of the rock are their judges, and they hear my words as welcome. As when one furroweth and breaketh up the earth, are our bones sowed at the gate of Hades." Ver. 8, 9, 10.-" But mine eyes are unto Thee, O Lord, in Thee is my trust," &c. "Leave not my soul destitute," Pour not out my soul, this means, do not destroy me. The words, "nets," "snares," "gins," point to the stratgems with which his enemies sought to enthral and ruin him. an invocation for the What are the truly HOMILETICS :-This Psalm is truly desirable in human life. desirable things here supplicated? I. DIVINE ATTENTION TO HUMAN ASPIRATIONS. "Lord, I cry unto Thee, make haste unto me, give ear unto my voice when I cry unto Thee. Let my prayer be set forth before Thee." Here is a cry for immediate attention. "Make haste unto me." The prayer is, First: For the immediate attention of God. "Make haste unto me." It is the language of urgency. Distance from God is sinful and perilous, moral nearness to Him is our most urgent duty and deepest need. "Make haste unto me.” This really means bring me near to Thee, for He is always close to us in space and sympathy, but we are at a moral distance from Him. The prayer is, Secondly: For the favourable attention of God. "Let my prayer be set forth before Thee." "He desired," says Matthew Henry, "that He would be well pleased with him in it, well pleased with his praying, and the lifting up of his hands in prayer, which denotes both the elevation and enlargement of his desire, the outgoings of his hope and expectation, the lifting up of his hand signifying the lifting up of the heart, and being used instead of lifting up the sacrifices which were heaved and waved before the Lord. Prayer is a spiritual sacrifice, it is the offering up of the soul and its best affections to God. Now he prays that this may be set forth and directed before God as the incense which was daily burnt upon the golden altar, and as the evening sacrifice which he mentions, rather than the morning, perhaps because this was an evening prayer." The spirit of the language seems to be, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable unto Thee, O Lord." Another desirable thing here supplicated is II. A COMPLETE GUARDIANSHIP FROM WRONG IN LIFE. First: He prays against wrong in words. "Set a watch before my mouth," &c. Words are not mere sounds, they are often solemn things; they go forth bearing germs either of curse or blessing; and under excitement, when passion runs high, how ready they are to break forth almost unawares. Hence the necessity of this Divine "watch." We must keep our mouths as with a "bridle." Who shall tell the evils that flow in the world every day from unguarded speech? "The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity." Secondly: He prays against wrong in practise. "Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to pratise wicked works with men that work iniquity." If the suppliant here supposed that God ever inclines a heart to evil, he makes a sad mistake. God"tempeth no man.' What he probably meansanyhow, what he should mean-is, Do not let my heart incline to any evil thing. (1) Let it not be inclined to practise wicked works with wicked men. (2) Let it not be inclined to participate in the pleasures of wicked men. "Let me not eat of their dainties." Let not their feasts, their banquets, their festive revelries tempt me into their company. Another desirable thing here supplicated is III. A READINESS TO RECEIVE RIGHTEOUS REPROOFS. "Let the righteous smite me," &c. The author seems to be suffering under the reproaches of the wicked, and truly the reproaches of the wicked have ever abounded, and are always torturing to the good. Still, conscious of his own moral imperfections he required reproofs, and welcomed them because they would be a kindness to him-they would do him good. Righteous reproof is the kindest of social ministries, all require it. Fawning flatterers are the devil's ministers, in their honied words there is spiritual poison. What greater necessity have all than the society of men who shall reprove, rebuke, exhort? Another desirable thing here supplicated isIV. The MAINTENANCE OF A DEVOUT AND BELIEVING SOUL IN THE MIDST OF OUR ENEMIES. "For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.' Delitzsch renders this"For still do I meet their wickedness only with prayer." "When their judges are overthrown in stony places," &c. First: Here is devotion. The Psalmist means to say that, in spite of the continued machinations of his adversaries, he would have recourse to no other instrument of defence than that of prayer. A truly blessed thing it is to retain this spirit in the midst of enemies, and to fight our battle with spiritual weapons only. Secondly: Here is confidence. (1) Confidence in the success of his teaching. "When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words, for they are sweet." Men, however great, are liable to afflictions, and true words spoken then are most likely to take effect. (2) Confidence in the subjugation of his enemies. "He expresses," says Canon Cooke, "his conviction that although it was the design of his enemies to destroy him and his followers, and to scatter their bones, nevertheless God in His righteous providence, would so defeat their counsels and turn them against themselves, that they should perish by a destruction similar to that which they had prepared for him; whilst he whose eyes had been ever fixed upon the Lord should entirely escape.' The other desirable thing here supplicated is "But V. ULTIMATE DELIVERANCE FROM ALL ENEMIES. mine eyes are unto Thee, O God, the Lord, in Thee is my trust," &c. The Psalmist confidently believes that God will so frustrate the designs of his enemies that they will perish with the very destruction they intended for him. How sage and suggestive are the words of Matthew Henry: "All that are bound over to God's justice are held in the cords of their own iniquity. But let me at the same time obtain a discharge. The entangling and ensnaring of the wicked sometimes prove the escape and enlargement of the righteous." CONCLUSION: Ponder well the truly desirable things in human life as here suggested, and by prayer and effort you will pass through life more than a conqueror. "What e'er is good to wish, ask that of Heaven, Hartly Coleridge. 373 Sermonic Saplings. STIMULATING MEN TO BENEFICENT "BUT THANKS BE TO GOD," &c.--2 Cor. viii. 16-24. HE verses under notice present to us the subject of stimulating men to efforts of beneficence, and three remarks are suggested concerning this occupation: I. It is a work that REQUIRES THE HIGHEST ORDER OF CHRISTIAN MEN. We find here that not only Paul employs himself in it with all his loving earnestness and logical power, but he engages Titus also, and a "brother" with him of such distinction that his "praise is in the Gospel throughout all the Churches." To excite men to beneficent enterprises is pre-eminently a Christian work. Christianity is the mother of all philanthropic labours and institutions. Christian piety is a fountain whence all the myriad streams of human beneficence that circulate through all the districts of human life proceed. To stimulate this beneficence in men is the highest ministry on earth, and for it men of the most distinguished character and faculty are required. No man is too great for it, and but few men are equal to its successful discharge, Another remark suggested concerning this occupation is II. It is a work DESERVING THE GRATITUDE OF ALL. Paul refers to, First: The gratitude of those who had been excited to beneficent efforts. "But thanks be to |