And he exhorts others also to trust in the same Almighty protection; "Men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie." Trust them not, or they will fail you. And as for making riches your trust, they will take to themselves wings and fly away when you most need them.

Lastly, the Psalmist gives his reasons for trusting in God. First, because all power belongs to Him. Secondly, because mercy belongs to Him. Now, it is a great point to feel that we are trusting in One who is able to defend us, One whose power is infinite. But is it not a yet further blessing to know that this all-powerful God is a God of mercy towards His poor needy children? And once more we are here told that He is a just God; He "rendereth to every man according to his work."

Happy are we to have such a God to confide in! Shall we not "trust in him at all times,” and “pour out our hearts before him?"

PSALM LXIII. 1-4.

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul

thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

HE Psalmist here expresses his longing for

THE

God, and his earnest desire for communion with Him. It is well if we can address God as he did, saying, “O God, thou art my God." For as a magnet quickly turns towards the north, so, if our faith is true, it will be ever turning towards God.

"Early will I seek thee," says David; that is, early in the day, before other things press upon the soul, and thrust God out; and early in life, before the heart becomes hardened by sin and drawn away by the world. Let this then be our resolutionto begin each day with God, to give Him the first and freshest place in our hearts, and to put Him foremost in all our plans and purposes. This will make everything savour of God, and His presence and blessing will be in it.

Our Lord declares, "Blessed are they that

hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." And David speaks of this as his own experience; "My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee." Nature does not give us That soul only feels it

this appetite for God.

which is under the influence of grace. Oh that we may know something of its blessedness; then, although every human fountain of consolation and happiness be dried up, the Divine Fountain will still be open to refresh us.

In the second verse, David speaks of the sanctuary. There he had often realised God's power and glory; and he desires this feeling still to possess his soul. He knew that to taste of God's greatness and goodness was the secret of true comfort; life would be worth less without it; "Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee."

What is our life? It is the greatest of earthly blessings; "All that a man hath will he give for his life." And yet to the true child of God there is a pearl of far greater price, namely, the "lovingkindness" of God, on which hangs not only the life which now is, but that also which is to come. The sense of this lovingkindness tuned the harp of the son of Jesse, and now tunes the harps of the ransomed spirits before the throne of God.

PSALM LXIII. 5-11.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips; when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me. But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes. But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory; but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

THROUGHOUT the Bible, heavenly things

are compared to a feast. So David here speaks of being "satisfied as with marrow and fatness." The world can, and does, afford a certain amount of pleasure, but that pleasure does not last: it is "as the crackling of thorns under a pot:" it quickly blazes up, and as quickly dies out. But true religion satisfies the soul; "He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall not thirst."

And this enjoyment of God is felt not only in the public sanctuary, but when we draw near to

Him in private; for instance, when we "remember Him upon our bed, and meditate on Him in the night-watches."

His kindness, too, in the past, gives us confidence to trust in Him for the future: "Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice." So it is with our earthly friends; if they have been kind to us, and helped us in the hour of difficulty, this will not only make us grateful to them, but it will be to us an assurance of their future care. And shall not the same feeling lead us to trust God?

By the expression in the eighth verse, "My soul followeth hard after thee," David meant that his soul clung to God, and that amidst his many temptations to depart from Him, his determination was to cleave to Him.

He concludes by drawing a contrast between the certain destruction of his enemies, and his own joy in God's protection; "Thy right hand upholdeth me. But those that seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth;" that is, they will go down to the grave, or perhaps their bodies will remain unburied, and be "a portion for foxes," or jackals. Truly the contrast is very great, between the confidence of God's servant that he will be upheld by his heavenly Father, and the sure destruction of his foes.