They see how, in His good time, one people after another are gathered into His one fold; how the fulness of the nations is being brought to know Him and to serve Him, Whose service is perfect freedom.' They learn how 'faith cometh by hearing;' and how the very message that Christ was crucified, is in truth the proclamation of His Almighty sovereignty. It may be that some may make a show of reverence without keeping the law of obedience, but their work will come to nothing. Hypocrisy must wither; sin must be afraid; they who are not, and will not be, children of the kingdom, shall find that the stubbornness of heart which they had fancied their fortress and stronghold, is really a prison to which they have condemned themselves.

47. The Lord liveth, and blessed be my strong helper and praised be the God of my salvation.

48. Even the God that seeth that I be avenged and subdueth the people unto me.

49. It is He that delivereth me from my cruel enemies, and setteth me up above mine adversaries : Thou shalt rid me from the wicked man.

Thus then the Church on earth must join in praises with the Church in heaven, before Him Who hath life, and Who hath given to them that true knowledge of Himself which is eternal life. If they are weak, He is strong; if they are sinful,

He is a Saviour; He watches over His own with never-ceasing love; He will raise them from poverty, and deliver them from persecution; He will keep them safe from the evil world, and 'finally beat down Satan under their feet.'

50. For this cause will I give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles praises unto Thy Name.

and sing

And not the Body merely, which is the Church' of the believing, shall glorify God, but their Head shall join with them too; to the finiteness of their thanksgivings He adds the infiniteness of His own praise, Who became the manifesting of God's love to man, and the perfecting of man's coming near to God. In Him shall both Jew and Gentile glorify God for His mercy, and He shall glorify the Father for His mercy in them; 'as it is written, For this cause I will confess to Thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto Thy Name.'

51. Great prosperity giveth He unto His King: and sheweth loving-kindness unto David His Anointed, and unto his seed for

evermore.

The magnificence of David, and the glory of his kingdom, were but a shadow cast from that coming kingdom which the Son of David would establish for ever. The power of that Anointed King was to reach as widely as the mercy of God, and the law of His kingdom was to be unending righteousness. Then was the fulness of Almighty loving

kindness shewn, when He came Whose name was called Jesus, of Whom the message was brought,'He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.'

This Psalm, which is found also, with some few variations, in 2 Samuel xxii., is said in its title to be by " David, the servant of the Lord, who spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul." It is an ascribing of praise to God, Who preserved him in very many dangers and trials, and had set him upon his throne, and had given him by Nathan a promise, that "He would raise up his seed after him, which should be of his sons, and would establish his kingdom; and that he should build Him a house, and that He would stablish his throne for ever," (1 Chron. xvii. 11, 12). In the beginning of the Psalm David describes the mightiness of God under the figure of a fearful storm. It is possible that a storm, or some convulsion of nature, may at some time have deterred Saul from falling upon David and killing him; but if this did give occasion to this part of the Psalm, it also recalled to the singer's mind all those instances in which God, through the powers of nature, had revealed His will to man,-when He divided the Red Sea and the Jordan, when He gave the law on Sinai, when He discomfited the Philistines at Mizpeh, (1 Sam. vii. 10). Two of the passages of this Psalm are applied by the writers of the New Testament to that promised Seed Who should reign over not only the Jew, but the Gentile, and of Whose kingdom there should be no end. The first verse is quoted in Heb. ii. 13, and the fiftieth in Rom. xv. 9; and there is also a reference to the fourth in Acts ii. 24. This is one of the most grand and regular of the Psalms, while at the same time it is difficult to trace out thoroughly the whole of the mystical meaning which was in the mind of the prophet-king.

Morning Prayer.

FOR CHRISTMAS-DAY.

PSALM Xix. Cæli enarrant.

1. THE heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament sheweth His handy-work.

The universe is a mighty temple filled with the glory of God, and each portion of it is ever shining with the reflection of that with which the whole is filled. The heavens, in their mid-day radiance dazzling mortal eyes with their sublime beauty and solemn purity, that high serene expanse of skies, which seems bent above the earth like a crystal vaulting, whose depths, infinite as they are, are full of light and clearness,-these speak not of themselves, but of One mightier, purer, brighter even than they are. The glory of the creation declares the glory of the Creator. That wonderful and lofty work is a world-wide confession, made not in word, but in deed, of that God the Father Almighty, Who is Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.'

2. One day telleth another and one night certifieth another.

3. There is neither speech nor language: but their voices are heard among them.

Heb. Day unto day pours forth speech :

And night unto night shews knowledge.

There is not speech, and there are not words.
Their voice is not heard.

Not for one short day, nor in one fixed place, is that mysterious display made of the mightiness of God. His glory has not been once proclaimed and then been hidden; but day following after day in unerring order brings ever the same message; and each night becomes the herald to the next of His creating power and His unvarying law. They are silent, and yet they speak unceasingly; from one region of the world unto another they are ever uttering their proclamation; and men's hearts, whatever the language of their tongues may be, can hear their voice, and men's eyes can read their tidings, which tell, and ever have told from the beginning, of Him Who made them :-for 'the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead.'

4. Their sound is gone out into all lands: and their words into the ends of the world.

Heb. Their line goeth through the earth;

And their words to the bounds of the world.

But power and glory is not all that they have to tell of. The eternal Spirit, Who 'garnished the heavens' with their loveliness, impressed upon them yet a deeper meaning, which they only whose eyes He openeth can read. The will of God as revealed in His Gospel, the mysteries of grace made known in Christ, these marvels of His redeeming love were to be made no less fully known than the marvels of