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thinketh every day a year, and looketh toward heaven for the accomplishment of God's word, saying to "her friend and her beloved, when wilt thou comfort me? Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!"*

83. For I am become like a bottle in the smoke: yet do I not forget thy statutes.

Bottles among the Jews were made of skins. One of these, if exposed to heat and smoke, would become shrivelled and useless. Such a change will labour and sorrow cause in the human frame; and the Psalmist here complaineth that his beauty and strength were gone; the natural moisture was dried up; in consequence of which the skin shrivelled, and both colour and vigour departed from him. Disease and old age will produce the same sad effects in us all; but the body's weakness is the soul's strength; as the outward man decayeth, the inward man is renewed; I do not forget thy statutes.

84 How many are the days of thy servant? When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?

The well-beloved John heard a question of the same import with this, asked by the spirits of the martyrs, that had left their bodies, and were waiting in the separate state for the day of retribution. The answer which was made to them, may likewise satisfy our impatience, when suffering affliction and persecution. “I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice; saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them, and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little sea son, until their fellow-servants also, and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled," Rev. vi. 9, &c.

85. The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.

"Defecerunt oculi mei:" Ambrosius: "Nonne quandò aliquem desideramus et speramus adfore, eò dirigimus oculos unde speramus esse venturum? Sic teneræ uxor ætatis, de speculâ litorali, indefessâ expectatione conjugis præstolatur adventum; ut quamcunque navim viderit, illic putat conjugem navigare, metuatque ne videndi gratiâ dilecti; alius antevertat, nec psa possit prima dicere, video te, mi marite." Vide reliqua apud Ambrosium, ejusdem planè spiritutus, nec tamen potui temperare, quin hæc excriberem. Sic affectus est quisquis cum Paulo dissolvi cupit, et esse cum Christo. Sic denique qui semei gustato bono Dei verbo, ut idem Paules ait, sibi postea relictus, deficit tædio sui, ac reddi sibi postulat prægustatem suavissimi amoris dulcedinem. Bossuet.

The manner of taking wild beasts was by digging pits, and covering them over with turf, upon which when the beast trod, he fell into the pit, and was there confined and taken. But there was a law, that if a pit were left open, and a tame beast, an ox, or an ass, fell into it, the owners of the pit should make good the damage, Exod. xxi. 31. Much more shall men be called to a severe account, who purposely lay snares and stumbling-blocks before the feet of their innocent brethren, to cause them to fall and perish.

86. All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrong. fully; help thou me.

Man is perfidious and deceitful, God is faithful and true; he hath promised to help those who suffer wrongfully, and he will, in the end, show himself to be the avenger of all such. Let them wait with patience, since the King of Righteousness himself suffered as a malefactor before he entered into his glory.

87. They had almost consumed me upon earth: but I forsook not thy precepts.

However low the church, or any member thereof, may by persecution and tribulation, be brought upon earth, yet nothing can separate them from the love of God, while they forsake not his precepts, nor disbelieve his promises. The soul, we know, must forsake the body; but God will forsake neither.

88. Quicken me after thy loving-kindness, so shall 1 keep the testimony of thy mouth.

Through the loving-kindness of God our Saviour, the Spirit of life is given unto us, by whose quickening influences we are revived, when sunk in sins, or in sorrows, and are enabled with joy and gladness to persevere in keeping the testimony of his mouth. LAMED. PART XII.

39. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven: or, Thou art for ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven: 90. They faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. 91. They continue this day according to thine ordinan ces for all are thy servants.

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The eternity of Jehovah, and the immutability of his counsels, are considerations which afford comfort and encouragement to his people, when their enemies are in arms against them. Even in this world, the unwearied heavens continue to perform invariably their operations upon themselves and the bodies placed in them; while the globe of the earth retaining its original form and coherence of parts, still, as at the beginning, supports and maintains the successive generations of men, which live and move upon it, to whom the faithful promises of God are fulfilled, from

age to age. Thus doth the unchangeable order of nature itself point out to us the truth of her great author, and at the same time reprove the eccentric notions of rebellious man. The heavens and the earth" continue this day according to thine ordinance," O Lord, "for all things are thy servants;" all invariably serve thee, except man, who alone was endowed with reason, that he might obey and glorify thee, in this life and that which is to come.

92. Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.

The Psalmist assureth us, from his own experience, how pleasant and how profitable, in time of trouble, is the meditation on the fidelity of God, as displayed in the stability of his works. The delights by this afforded, sustained his soul in afflictions, which must otherwise have brought him to an end. And the same everlasting word shall be the believer's support and consolation, even when the heavens shall melt around him with fervent heat, and the earth, and all that is therein, shall be burnt up. "Heaven and earth shall pass away," saith He who made them, "but my word shall not pass away."

93. I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.

Great are the necessities, and many the disorders of the soul; but in the scripture there is provision and medicine for them all; and according to our various wants and maladies, God relieveth and quickeneth us, sometimes with one part of his word, sometimes with another. Now, when we have found ourselves thus benefited, at any time, by a particular passage of holy writ, we should never forget, but remember and treasure it up in our minds, against a like occasion, when the same affliction or temptation may again befall us.

94. I am thine: save me, for I have sought thy precepts.

The double relation which we have the honour to bear to God, by creation, and by redemption, as the work of his hands, and the purchase of his blood, is a most endearing and prevailing argument with him, to save us from our enemies. But then, let it be remembered, that no man can say to God with a good conscience, I am thine, unless he can also go on, and say, I have sought thy precepts, I desire to serve and obey thee alone: since after all, "his servants we are to whom we obey ;" and if sin be our master, how can we say to a Master whose interest is directly opposite, I am thine?

95. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.

In the preceding verse, David besought God to save him.

The reason of that prayer is here assigned, namely, because the wicked lay in wait for him, to destroy him, as they afterward did to destroy one whom the afflicted and persecuted Psalmist represented. Spiritual enemies are continually upon the watch to destroy us all; and we can no way escape their wiles, but by considering, so as to understand and observe, God's testimonies.

96. I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.

Of all perfection in this world, whether of beauty, wit, learning, pleasure, honour, or riches, experience will soon show us the end. But where is the end or boundary of the word of God? Who can ascend to the height of its excellency? who can fathom the depth of its mysteries? who can find out the comprehension of its precepts, or conceive the extent of its promises? who can take the dimensions of that love of God to man which it describeth, or that love of man to God which it teacheth? The knowledge of one thing leadeth us forward to that of another, and still, as we travel on, the prospect opens before us into eternity, like the pleasant and fruitful mountains of Canaan, rising on the other side of Jordan, when viewed by Moses from the top of Pisgah. O happy region of celestial wisdom, permanent felicity, true riches, and unfading glory while we contemplate thee, how doth the world lessen, and shrink to nothing in our eyes! Thy blessings faith now beholdeth, but it is charity which shall hereafter possess and enjoy them!

MEM. PART XIII.

97. O how I love thy law! It is my meditation all the day. Words cannot express the love which a pious mind entertaineth for the scriptures. They are the epistle of God to mankind, offering reconciliation, peace, and union with himself in glory; containing reasons why we should love him and each other, with directions how to show forth that love, which, as the apostle saith, is the fulfilling of the law, Rom. xiii. 10. On some portion of these scriptures should our meditation be continually, and each day should add something to our knowledge, to our faith, to our virtue.

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98. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies for they are ever with me. 99. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. 100. I understand more than the ancients: because I keep thy precepts.

The commandments of God were ever with David; the testimonies of God were his meditation; and the precepts of God it was his care to observe; therefore his wisdom exceeded the poli

cy of his enemies, the learning of his teachers, and the experience of the ancients. Thus, by the wisdom of the scriptures, did the holy Jesus, in the days of his flesh, confound his adversaries, astonish the teachers of the law, and instruct the aged. And it is the high prerogative of the scriptures, at all times, to render youth and simplicity superior to the inveterate malice and subtlety of the grand deceiver, and his associates.

101. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.

The foundation of all religion must be laid in mortification and self-denial; for since the will of fallen man is contrary to the will of God, we must abstain from doing the one, in order to do the other. The affections may be styled the feet of the soul, and unless these be refrained from evil ways, no progress can be made in that way which alone is good and right; we cannot keep God's word.

102. I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.

Perseverance is the effect of instruction from above, by the Spirit, through the word: and our heavenly Teacher differeth from all others, in this, that, with the lesson, he bestoweth on the scholar both a disposition to learn, and ability to perform.

103. How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth.

The soul hath its taste, as well as the body, and that taste is then in right order, when the words of scripture are sweet to the soul, as honey is to the mouth. If they are not always so, it is because our taste is vitiated by the world and the flesh; and we shall ever find our relish for the word of God to be greatest, when that for the world and the flesh is least, in time of affliction, sickness, and death; for these are contrary one to the other. In heaven the latter will be no more, and therefore the former will be all in all. 104. Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

He who delighteth to study the scriptures, will understand from them the true nature of righteousness and of sin; he who doth understand the nature of each, will love the former, and, in proportion, hate the latter; and with that which we thoroughly hate, we shall not bear to have any connexion; with suspicion and jealousy we shall eye it approaching: with courage and constancy we shall arm and fight against it; we shall make no peace, nor so much as a truce with it; but, as faithful soldiers and servants of Jesus Christ, we shall aim at that utter extermination of

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