and by its right name. Then how soon will God, for the sake of his Son Jesus Christ, enable us to say, with all the joyousness with which David said it, “Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!"

LECTURE ON PSALM XXXIII.

VERSE 1. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.

THE last psalm closes with a call upon the righteous and the upright in heart, to praise God for his forgiving mercy; this opens with a call upon the same class of persons to praise him for his almighty power, and providential goodness manifested in the preservation of his people. To praise God for his preservation of them in the midst of the greatest dangers, is comely in the upright. It is the only return they can make to him for his goodness to them, and is suitable and becoming. The righteous and the upright in heart of our psalm, are not persons without moral defect, but persons without hypocrisy in their service of God-Israelites, indeed, in whom there is no guile.

VERSE 2. Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery, and an instrument of ten strings.

The melody of voice and heart seems insufficient to David's mind in his ovation of praise and thanksgiving, unless it is accompanied by the melody of sweet sounds, to augment its fervour and heighten its glow. To what instruments of music reference

is here made in the harp, the psaltery, and an instrument of ten strings, it is not easy to determine. And if we could decide the question, it would be of little practical importance to us. They were, no doubt, instruments whose tones were of the joyous and jubilant sort, in order to be in keeping with the spirit of the psalm.

VERSE 3. Sing unto him a new song: play skilfully with a loud noise.

Not a new song in its theme-the greatness of God's power and goodness to his people-but a new celebration of his power and goodness. It is a new song only as being a new outpouring of praise and adoration excited by augmented displays of the Divine. mercies; mercies never ceasing, calling for ceaseless songs of praise, and for songs of praise ever

new.

VERSE 4. For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth.

The "word of the Lord" here intended, is his word of promise: his "works done in truth," the perpetual fulfilment of his promises to his people. He never falsifies his word. What he promises, he performs. "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or, hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" Num. xxiii. 19. This is the character of the God of Israel, given by the wicked Balaam; given unwillingly, but given truly.

VERSE 5. He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Here is another source of confidence and joy in God. He loveth righteousness and judgment, universal justice, so that all who have right on their

side may be sure of ultimate deliverance. God's love of justice, and his so ordering all things as to accomplish its ends, is the good man's strongest stay in all his conflicts with oppression and wrong. It nerves his heart with strength in the hour of trial. And God is as mercy-loving as he is justice-loving. "The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." We see on every side manifestations of the Divine benevolence as numerous as the manifestations of the Divine justice. They walk hand in hand; one, avenging the good man's wrongs; the other, pardoning his offences, and crowning his life with loving-kind

nesses.

VERSE 6. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

Already described as being faithful, just, and good, God has here ascribed to him another attribute that should be cause for joy to the believer-omnipotence. This is the arm of his other attributes, and gives infinite ability to them all. It is no labour whatever for him to accomplish the greatest things. "By his word were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." There is omnipotent power in his very breath. It brought into existence every visible thing with which immensity teems-the earth beneath our feet, and the star whose distance from us no numbers can express.

VERSE 7. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.

There is here a descent from the general to the particular, from the manifestations of Divine power in the illimitable heavens, to the manifestations of the same power in a single instance on the earth, God's gathering the waters of the sea together and

retaining them in their places as if they were solid substances, when, left to themselves, they might again overflow the earth. They are as secure in the places God has assigned them as they would be locked up in storehouses constructed for that very purpose. They cannot pass their barriers, except at his bidding. His hand is upon their every wave, though tossing itself mountain high, repressing its fury until it sinks quietly to rest again-the wildest storm being always succeeded by a calm, leaving the waters of the great deep still where they were, and the earth where it was.

VERSES 8, 9. Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him: for he spake, and it was done; he commanded and it stood fast.

These words compose one of the many passages in the word of God where any attempt at expansion and explanation only mars their force. Standing alone by themselves, they speak to the imagination and the heart with a power which no other words can augment. "He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." Who would not fear and stand in awe of such a Being as this, who called a universe into existence out of nothing, by a word; and by the same word, it stood fast, impressed with laws from which it has never deviated, except at his behest? Man requires means to accomplish ends. God requires them not. He has in his mere will all that he needs to accomplish infinite ends. Man's most finished works may be still improved, and soon perish. God's works are perfect from the beginning, and continue what he made them, till he bids them change. What a God is this to have for one's enemy! and yet, what a God to have for one's friend!

VERSES 10, 11. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought; he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

This was said to encourage God's Israel of old not to fear what man could do unto them. He who made all creatures so easily, could control them as easily. He who called them into being out of nothing, could certainly bring their counsel to nought, and their devices to none effect-defeat all their plans and purposes of evil. It was not so, however, with the counsel of the Lord; it would stand, and the thoughts of his heart to all generations. His purposes of mercy toward his people, he would certainly accomplish. These words were spoken for the encouragement of the Israel of God now, as well as for his Israel of old.

VERSE 12. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. The history of the world is a verification of these words. Only those nations whose God was the Lord, have been eminently blessed. Knowing and worshipping the God of revelation, has been their only enduring bond of union, strength, and peace. Their choosing him for their inheritance, leading him to choose them for his, has thrown around every such nation the shield of his omnipotent wisdom and immeasurable love. Their undertaking the defence and promotion of his cause has invariably enlisted him to undertake the defence and promotion of theirs. In whatever nation this has not been the case, there anarchy, falsehood, and oppression have in time carried the day against order, truth, and justice. Of this fact all the nations now on the earth are illustrations; each is distinguished and prosperous,