XVI.

HELP IN THE LORD.

I HELP, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips, and with a double heart, do they speak.

3 The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh

proud things;

4 Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?

5 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.

6 The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

7 Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.-PSALM XII.

THIS Psalm has been aptly compared to a ring, of which ver. 5 is the bright diamond. Most needful indeed is such a precious jewel in the dark setting all around. In this instance, as in Ps. ii., where similarly abounding wickedness threatens destruction to the kingdom of God, the inspired singer hears directly the voice of God (Ps. xii. 15; comp. Ps. ii. 6-9). The

kingdom of God seems in as great danger as its King; but the safety of His people is bound up with that of their Lord.

They were evil days in which this cry of the Church was heard, though David occupied the throne of Israel and the Spirit of God tuned the lyre of his praise. Yet prevailing iniquity in the world is not a mark that God has forsaken His people. 'Help, Lord,' or rather ‘Save, Jehovah'—make, or send safety or salvation,—Hosannah, is a cry both of distress and of joy, intermingling through the exercise of faith and prayer. Darkness cannot be complete so long as the Sun of Righteousness is in the heavens; sorrow cannot be allengrossing, so long as His promises are left us; nor can our faith fail amid apparently prevailing wickedness, while we can cry to a present and a living God, who 'at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,' and 'hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things.'

In fact, when we betake ourselves to this prayer we have already really conquered. For the issue itself could never be doubtful. The point to be aimed at was for us to rise above the things seen to 'quietness and assurance' in God. And as surely as the prayer ascends comes down the heard answer of ver. 5, with its future of immediateness: Now will I arise, saith Jehovah?' For, as Augustine most truly saith, 'Our heart is unresting till it rest in Thee;' and a little further on : 'I will seek Thee, Lord, invoking Thee, and invoke Thee, believing in Thee.' Then all becomes plain, and he who formerly 'mourned in his complaint, and made a noise' (Ps.

lv. 2), becomes in ver. 6 what Luther, by a gloss on the word faithful' in ver. 1, calls one of the Amen-people.

Perhaps the fundamental explanation and illustration of the sad state of matters described in this Psalm may be found in its last verse: All around the wicked walk proudly, when' (or since) 'vileness is exalted to the children of men.' When that which in itself is mean, low, vile, and worthless, comes to occupy the highest place in the esteem of the children of men (comes up to exaltedness,' as the expression might be literally rendered), the wicked walk proudly all around. Thus placed at the end of the Psalm, this would form a standing protest against the great sin of the world, and a fit transition to the entreaty of Ps. xiii. And truly the description answers most correctly to the state of matters in times of trouble to the Church. Wealth, worldly distinctions, unsanctified intellect, and material force seem to come to the top. Men look up to these, and wickedness, if but allied with such fictitious advantages, no longer hides itself as ashamed. And now

we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up,' is an apt portraiture of the 'last days' of the ancient Church, even as 'blessed is that man that maketh Jehovah his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies,' describes the godly believer. But this state of mind, perhaps more than any other, implies faith. It is extremely difficult to rise above the common views of men; indeed, only possible so far as we can realize the all-sufficiency, the omnipresence, and the omnipotence of our Father in Christ. But when I am able to understand that it is really vileness which is exalted—that it is not in any, nor in all these things,

to satisfy or to make me safe—an intense calm fills my soul. I am truly happy when I am truly free, and I am truly free when I truly rest in God.

But such being the common opinion entertained among men (ver. 8), we can more fully sympathize with the prayer of ver. I. Nothing short of His own interposition will remedy the matter. Looking around us, we feel deeply the need of His sending help. The godly man,' the pious (literally, the loving, gracious) 'ceaseth,' or has come to an end; 'the faithful' they who keep truth and continue true (according to Luther's apt rendering, 'the Amen-people')—' are clean gone from among the children of men.' And because iniquity

shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.' Alas, where is the practical adherence to their profession, the faithfulness, even of believers, in seasons of spiritual decrepitude? What is their bearing in presence of the mammon-worship and the trust in material force characteristic of the latter days? We require to be strong in the Lord, and not merely to hold abstract principles but to experience the power of fellowship with God. Saith one, in effect: 'Money can buy and do anything; self-interest and self-seeking govern and move all' (ver. 2). 'Nay,' replies the believer, 'but Jehovah is higher and mightier by far, and all these appearances will be subverted and put to shame' (ver. 3). Power and violence will carry the day; hand joineth in hand; and who can resist what is the regular and organized state of things, the natural sequence of events?' (ver. 4.) 'Nay, there is not such a natural sequence as you dream of. For the trial of our faith, and in carrying out the mystery of His providence, He allows

us to be poor and oppressed. But we give ourselves to prayer, and already we hear the promise of spiritual and perfect deliverance which anon shall be fulfilled (ver. 5). Thus having by faith overcome in this hand-to-hand conflict, we are prepared to receive the precious comforts which flow from the covenant of grace (ver. 6), and from its administration (ver. 7), and to understand both the reason and the duration of the present state of matters (ver. 8).

Thus it almost seems as if we had here a dialogue, or rather a contest, between 'the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience' and 'the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father.' Right over-against every forthputting of the one is the answer in faith and the victory by faith. The old truth, not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah,' is brought out, and tried 'as silver in a furnace of earth purified seven times.' Over-estimate of that which in itself is not only worthless, but vile (ver. 8), leads men to speak every one to his neighbour' (acquaintance or companion) 'vanity,' or rather that which is naught and untrue (absolutely viewed). That which is naught has become current coin among men, the principle of their social life, on which they act. 'Lips of smoothnesses, and with an heart and an heart they are speaking.' The verbs here indicate a continuity of action. Trying to please others, but in reality pleasing themselves and seeking their own; what a sadly true portraiture of the motives and conduct of the world! But here we take our stand; we are not to be 'carried away with their dissimulation; we know other, we believe other, and we expect other. We do not call down,