prepare us for the kingdom of heaven. The soldiers, like their great Leader, must be "made perfect through sufferings."

36. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that, or, and, my feet did not slip.

In other words, God had opened a free course for him to victory and triumph, and had also endued him with strength to run that course; thus removing the two mischievous effects of sin, which not only precluded the way to heaven, but deprived us of the ability to travel in it.

37. I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them; neither did I turn again till they were consumed. 38. I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.

If we suppose David in his conquests to have prefigured victorious Messiah, then have we, in these and the subsequent verses, a sublime description of that vengeance, which Jesus, after his resurrection and ascension, inflicted on his hardened and impenitent enemies. His wrath "pursued" and "overtook” them, in the day of visitation; nor did it return, till, like a devouring fire, it had "consumed the prey." The Jews were cast down, “not able to rise," or lift up themselves as a people, being crushed under the feet of the once despised and insulted Nazarene. Let us reflect upon the impotence of our spiritual adversaries, when Jesus declares war against them: and let us beseech him to conquer them in us, as he has conquered them for us.

39. For thou hast girded me with strength unto battle; thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. 40. Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.

With the almighty power of the Godhead was Jesus invested, by which all enemies were subdued unto him; the stiff "necks" of his crucifiers were bowed under him, and utter destruction became the portion of those who hated him, and had "sent after him, saying, we will not have this man to reign over us." So gird us thy soldiers and servants, O Lord Jesus, to the battle, and subdue under us, by the power of thy grace, those that rise up against us, whether they be our own corrupt desires, or the malicious spirits of darkness; so give us, like another Joshua, the "neck" of these our enemies, that we may destroy them that hate, and would destroy us. 41. They cried, but there was none to save them; even to the LORD, but he answered them not.

Never was there a more just and lively portrait of the lamenta. ble and desperate state of the Jews, when their calamities came

upon them. They cried, but-none to save!" They had rejected him who alone could save, and who was now about to de stroy them. They cried to Jehovah, and thought themselves still his favourite nation; but Jehovah and Jesus were one; so that after putting the latter from them, they could not retain the former on their side. "He answered them not !" It was too late to knock when the door was shut; too late to cry for mercy, when it was the time of justice. Let us knock while yet the door may be opened: and not begin to pray, when prayer shall be no longer heard. 42. Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind; I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.

The nature of that judgment which was executed upon the Jews, cannot be more accurately delineated, than by the two images here made use of. They were broken in pieces, and dispersed over the face of the earth by the breath of God's displeasure, like "dust before the wind; and as dirt in the streets, they were cast out," to be trodden under foot by all nations. O that every nation would so consider, as to avoid their crime and their punishment.

43. Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people, and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.

If David was delivered from the strivings of the people; if the adjacent heathen nations were added to his kingdom, and a “people, whom he had not known, served him;" how much more was this the case of the Son of David, when he was "delivered," by his resurrection, from the power of all his enemies; when he was made "head of the heathen," of whom, after their conversion, his church was, and to this day is composed; and when, instead of the rejected Jews, a people, to whom before he had not been known, became his servants?

44. As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me; the strangers shall submit themselves unto me. 45. The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.

"As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me;" hereby is intimated the readiness with which the Gentiles should flow into the church, upon the preaching of the Gospel to them, when the Jews, after having so long and so often heard it, had nailed Christ to the cross, and driven the apostles out from among them. "The strangers shall submit themselves unto me;" the nations who were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise," either cordially submitted to the sceptre of Christ, or at least dissembled their hostility, and yielded a feigned submis

sion; (for so the word on sometimes signifies;) the strangers shall fade away;" that is, such of them as set themselves against me, shall find their strength blasted and withered as a leaf in autumn, and shall fall at the sound of my name and my victories; "they shall come trembling from their strong-holds," as places not able to protect them, and therefore they will sue for peace. Such seems to be the import of these two verses, which therefore denote the conquest of Messiah to have been every where complete. And accordingly, in the remaining part of the Psalm, the church, through Christ her Head, blesseth Jehovah for the same.

46. The LORD liveth, and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. 47. It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me. 48. He delivered me from mine enemies ; yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me; thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

In other words, " And now, the Lord God omnipotent liveth and reigneth, for ever blessed and exalted, as the God of salvation; by him I am avenged of those who persecuted me, and am advaneed to empire; my enemies are fallen, and my throne is established." Thus we learn to trust in Jehovah without fear, when our enemies are victorious, and to glorify him without reserve, when

we are so.

49. Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

Remarkable is the manner in which St. Paul cites this verse, Rom. xv. 9. The context runs thus, "Now I say, that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name." This verse is by the Apostle produced as a proof, that the Gentiles were one time to glorify God, for the mercy vouchsafed them by Jesus Christ. But according to the letter of the passage, king David only says, that he will "give thanks unto God among the heathen," on account of his own deliverance, and exaltation to the throne of Israel; for upon that occasion we know that he composed and sung the Psalm. This citation brought by St. Paul cannot therefore be to the purpose for which it is brought, unless the Psalm have a double sense; unless God be glorified in it for the victory and inthronization of Christ, as well as for those of David; and this cannot be, unless the same words which literally celebrate the one, do likewise prophetically celebrate the other; unless David be a figure of Christ, and speak in his person, and in

that of his body the church. While this Psalm is used, as a Christian hymn, in the Gentile Christian church, David still continues, as he foresaw he should do, "to give thanks unto Jehovah, to glorify God among the Gentiles," for the mercies of redemption, and to "sing praises unto his name."

50. Great deliverance giveth he to his King: and showeth mercy to his Anointed, to David and to his seed for evermore.

"Great deliverance giveth he unto his king;" to king David, in saving him from Saul and his other temporal enemies, and seating him on the earthly throne of Israel; to king Messiah, in rescuing him from death and the grave, and exalting him to a heavenly throne, as Head of the Church: "and showeth mercy to his Anointed; to him who was anointed outwardly, and in a figure, with oil; and to him who was anointed inwardly, and in truth, with the Holy Ghost and with power: “toDavid and to his seed for evermore;" to the literal David, and to his royal progeny, of whom, according to the flesh, Christ came; and to Christ himself, the spiritual David, the Beloved of God, and all those who through faith become his children, the sons of God, and heirs of eternal life.

IV DAY. MORNING PRAYER. PSALM XIX.

ARGUMENT.

In the former part of this beautiful Psalm, ver. 1-6. the heavens are represented as the instructors of mankind; the subject, the universality, and the manner of their instructions, are pointed out; the glory, beauty, and powerful effects of the solar light are described. The latter part of the Psalm, 7-14. contains an encomium on the word of God, in which its properties are enumerated; and a prayer of the Psalmist for pardoning and restraining grace, and for the acceptance of these and all other his devotions and meditations. From a citation which St. Paul hath made of the 4th verse, it appears, that, in the exposition, we are to raise our thoughts from things natural to things spiritual; we are to contemplate the publication of the Gospel, the manifestation of the Light of Life, the Sun of Righteousness, and the efficacy of evangelical doctrine. In this view the ancients have considered the Psalm, and the church hath therefore appointed it to be read on Christmas day.

"This verse is applied in Rom. xv. 2. to the calling of the Gentiles unto the faith of Christ, and praise unto God therefor. By which we are taught, that of Christ and his kingdom this Psalm is chiefly intended.” Ainsworth.

1. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handy work.

Under the name of "heaven," or, "the heavens," is comprehended that fluid mixture of light and air, which is every where diffused about us; and to the influences of which are owing all the beauty and fruitfulness of the earth, all vegetable and animal life, and the various kinds of motion throughout the system of nature. By their manifold and beneficial operations, therefore, as well as by their beauty and magnificence, "the heavens declare the glory of God;" they point Him out to us, who, in Scripture language, is styled "the glory of God;" by whom themselves and all other things were made, and are upholden; and who is the author of every grace and blessing to the sons of men: "the firmament," or expansion of the celestial elements, wherever it extends, "showeth his handy work," not only as the Creator, but likewise as the Redeemer of the world. And thus do the heavens afford inexhaustible matter for contemplation and devotion to the philosopher and to the Christian.

2. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.

The labours of these our instructors know no intermission, but they continue incessantly to lecture us in the science of divine wisdom. There is one glory of the sun, which shines forth by day; and there are other glories of the moon and of the stars, which become visible by night. And because day and night interchangeably divide the world between them, they are therefore represented as transmitting in succession, each to the other, the task enjoined them, like the two parts of a choir, chanting forth alternately the praises of God. How does inanimate nature reproach us with our indolence and indevotion!

3. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

Our translators, by the words inserted in a different character, have declared their sense of this passage to be, that there is no nation or language, whither the instruction diffused by the heavens doth not reach. But as the same thought is so fully expressed in the next verse, "Their sound is gone out," &c. it seems most adviseable to adhere to the original, which runs literally thus, "No speech, no words, their voice is not heard;" that is, although the heavens are thus appointed to teach, yet it is not by articulate sounds that they do it; they are not endowed, like man, with the faculty of speech; but they address themselves to the mind of the intelligent beholder in another way, and that, when understood, a