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and the dying Saviour received it, and "bowed his head, and gave up the ghost."

In the twenty-second and following verses, the wicked are denounced; "Let their table become a snare before them;" that is, Let their prosperity become their ruin, "and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap." They love darkness too more than light; therefore, "Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not." And truly the eyes of Christ's persecutors were darkened; God's indignation has been poured out upon them; and their habitation has become desolate. They, as a nation, have been blotted out of God's Book, and the righteous have been written there.

But what is the meaning of the words, "Add iniquity unto their iniquity; and let them not come into thy righteousness?" It means, 'They have acted wickedly, let the stamp of iniquity be upon them, and let them not be counted among the righteous.'

O God, whatever be our trials and our sorrows, let our names be written in the Book of Life. Make us to be numbered among Thy saints in glory everlasting. For if we have a portion among that glorious band, our past troubles will soon be forgotten, and everlasting happiness will be ours.

PSALM LXIX. 29-36.

But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high. I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs. The humble shall see this, and be glad ; and your heart shall live that seek God. For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners. Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein, For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah; that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it; and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

AF

FTER speaking, as the Psalmist had done in the preceding verses, of the wicked and their punishment, he again places himself before God, and pleads his poverty and need; "But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high." And in the joyful prospect of this deliverance he begins at once to tune his heart; "I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving."

Thus the scene is changed from sorrow to joy, from a state of suffering to one of triumph, from a groan of complaint to the voice of joy and thank

fulness. And this, he says, "shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs "better even than the offering of a burnt sacrifice, however perfect the animal may be that is offered, though it be full grown with horns and hoofs. The Psalmist does not say that such a burnt offering would not be acceptable to God, but that the offering of the heart, the sacrifice of praise, would be more acceptable.

It is a blessing to know that our humble praises are ever welcome. None are so unworthy but that God is ready to welcome them; "For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners."

And now the Psalmist's heart bursts forth with a song of thankfulness at the thought of the Church's triumph. He feels not a doubt; but his heart is fully assured that better days are coming both for himself, and for the Church of God; "Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein. For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah; that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein."

How glorious the thought that the sufferings of God's people shall one day be exchanged for their glory, just as the Saviour's Cross and Passion prepared the way for His joyful Resurrection.

Let us be content then to suffer. Let us, like Him, willingly "endure the cross, despising the shame," mindful of " the joy that is set before us," and looking forward to that day when we shall be "set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

PSALM LXX.

Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord. Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt. Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say Aha, aha. Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified. But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying.

THE words of this Psalm, being the same as those in Ps. xl. 13-17, need not be separately explained.

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