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to the house of God. The Lord, it is said, "will let them go with the workers of iniquity (i, Hengstenberg), as if to suggest to us, who know now of the great day's awful scenes, the word of the Judge, “Depart!" and the description of the result—“These shall go away into everlasting punishment." He shall assign them their portion with the hypocrites, (Matt. xxiv. 51).

How calm, how sweet the contrast to which our eyes are suddenly and abruptly turned! It is the high priest pronouncing what remained of his full blessing (Num. vi. 26). The Lord lifts up his countenance upon them, and gives the word

Peace upon Israel!" Everything desirable is wrapt up in this peace. Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down, (Isa. xxxiii. 20). This will be the "good" which the Lord will do to his Israel, when he places him in his lot in the end of the days. And with his soul full of thoughts like these, we need but wonder at The Lord's servant's faithful adherence to his faithful God.

PSALM CXXVI.

A Song of degrees.

1 WHEN the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.

2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them.

3 The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.

4 Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south.

5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed,

Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

LORD, to whom shall we go for the joy of final victory, but to The theme. thee, who has been in all ages the source of Israel's joyful victories? Jehovah has ever been the author of our blessings, of Confidence blessings almost too great to be believed, and He will give us

"An autumn of joy for a seed-time of tears."

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"We have been like those that dream.”

On all such occasions, so great has been the blessing vouchsafed, that our "mouth has been filled with laughter." The word expresses the habit, or customary act, as does also 1, q. d., at such times (N) our mouth was filled with laughter, and the old patriarch's words, Job viii. 21, were verified in us, and the Gentiles were wont to say,

"The Lord has wrought mightily

In what he has done for them."

It was thus in the valley of Elah, where Goliath fell, and Philistia fled. It was thus at Baal-Perazim. It was thus when one morning, after many nights of gloom, Jerusalem arose at dawn of day, and found Sennacherib's thousands a camp of the dead. And it has all along been the manner of our God. "The Lord has wrought mightily

In what he has done for us;

And we have been made glad !”

Ever do this till conflict is over! Just as thou dost with the streams of the south, year by year, so do with us—with all, with each. And we are confident thou wilt; we are sure that we make no vain boast when we sing this Psalm as descriptive of the experience of all thy pilgrims and worshippers. Horne beautifully says, "Thou sowest perhaps in tears, thou doest thy duty amidst persecution and affliction, sickness, pain, and sorrow; thou labourest in the church, and no account is made of thy labours, no profit seems likely to accrue from thee. Nay, thou thyself must drop into the dust of death, and all the storms of that winter must pass over thee. Yet the day is coming when thou shalt reap in joy; and plentiful shall be thy harvest. For thus thy blessed Master 'went forth weeping,' a man of sorrows, bearing precious seed, and strewing it all around him, till at length his own body was buried, like a grain of wheat, in the furrow of the grave. But He arose and is now in heaven, whence he shall doubtless come again rejoicing,' with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, 'bringing his sheaves with Him.' Then shall every man receive the fruit of his works, and have praise of God." Look, then, at this picture→

"He goes, and he goes weeping,

Bearing the basket of seed, (load of, Amos ix. 13):

He comes, and he comes with singing,

Bearing his sheaves !”

The worshipper, in all ages, has known the going forth to serve the Lord in tears--the following him with the cross-the scattering the sed in his field in sorrow and fear; but as certainly shall he know the joy of harvest at his Lord's return. The disciple is in this merely tracing the Master's path"So came Messiah, friend of men,

(A man of sorrows he),

To fight with grief, and tears, and pain,

That we might conquerors be.

Behold, he comes the Second time

To wipe away our tears,

And takes us up along with him.

For everlasting years."-BARCLAY.

Our Lord, in his parable of the Sower, seems to unfold the idea expressed here, so far as it bore on his service and labour here. The other part, referring to his Second Coming and glory, was not dwelt upon there. Nevertheless, it is well for us, in pondering the parable of the Sower, to revert to this Psalm, and see the reward of him who goeth forth like the We shall not serve less cheerfully by joining in this

master. Psalm

The Lord's servant thankful'y recording past joys, and anticipating future.

PSALM CXXVII.

A Song of degrees for Solomon.

1 EXCEPT the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to cat the bread of

sorrows:

For so he giveth his beloved sleep.

3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord! and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

4 As arrows are in the hands of a mighty man, so are children of the youth.

5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them :

They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the

gate.

The title.

The theme.

care.

A SONG of the beloved!—of him who toiled himself till all was finished, and who now bids us enter into rest! A song of him who giveth his beloved ones sleep! Taking it as a song from the pen of Solomon, who was its author, Kimchi understands the Temple" by the "House" of verse 1, as "the City" is Jerusalem. The connection in that case with the former is the thought of Jerusalem restored and rebuilt after the captivity -"Unless the Lord build the city."

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Here we find the worshippers exhibit that rare grace, freedom from care, arising from full confidence in Jehovah. Freedom from Solomon, who sang afterward of "vanity" (7 emptiness) in all merely human pursuits, here sings of N, "nothingness," the uselessness of mere human anxiety and care-uselessness of it to the builders of the house, uselessness in the keeper of the city uselessness in you who rise up early, who defer your resting till late, who eat bread of sorrows! How like the writer of Ecclesiastes is all this! And then the other side of

the picture is presented, as in his "Song of Songs."

“On this wise (12) giveth he to his beloved--sleep.”

They may rest from care, and he will work; it is "the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich," says this same Solomon, "without the addition of 3-sorrow," such as verse 2 spoke of (Prov. x. 22). This is his manner with those who are 7 like Solomon himself, who bore the name "Jedidiah” (2 Sam. xii. 25). Sleep" is used for complete freedom from care, and peace of mind.

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Having laid down this principle, those who inhabit the city and house are remembered, and the illustration follows in the style of the Greater than Solomon, who asked, "Which of you can add one cubit to his stature, one year to his life, by all his thought?" Who could, by care, secure a family like Jacob's twelve sons?

“Behold, sons are a heritage of the Lord's giving." (Gen. xxxiii. 5.) "The fruit of the womb is the hire he gives." (Gen. xxx. 18.)

It is he that gives them, and it is he that makes them what they are--that makes "sons begotten in youth" (Gen. xlix. 3) to be like a warrior's arrows.

“Happy the man whose quiver he (Jehovah) has filled with these ;

They shall not be confounded when they speak with their enemies in the
gate."

They enjoy the blessing pronounced by Rebecca's friends, (Gen. xxiv. 60). But it is the Lord that fills the quiver; it is not the forethought or anxiety of man.

grim-band.

Thus the pilgrim-band, and their Lord at the head of them Christ's pil(Matt. vi. 25-34), cast their cares on Jehovah. Even when they see a lack of men to defend the cause of God—even when ready to ask, "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"—they still depend on Him whose part it is to give sons of youth. And he will do it gloriously. Zion shall see Isa. lxvi. 8 fulfilled-" a nation born at once;" and earth shall see the sons of Israel on the Lord's side, when “the weakest of them shall be as David” (Zech. xii. 8). And thus, whether as to The Temple, or as to Jerusalem, whether in regard to the families of Israel, or as to who shall stand on the Lord's side in evil days, he knows that the Lord, in the matter of salvation, has "given his beloved sleep," and that this is his manner in providence, too.

Horsley calls this Psalm, "A Psalm to be addressed by the priest to the parents presenting the first-born;" but though that would no doubt be an appropriate time to use it, it is of far wider significance. We see in it this sight, viz.—

The Lord's servant ceases from care, and expects prosperity from the Lord.

PSALM CXXVIII.

A Song of degrees.

1 BLESSED is every one thar feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.

2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands

Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: Thy children like olive-plants round about thy table.

4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord! 5 The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion :

And thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. 6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.

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