signed is the period of revival under King Josiah. This will compel us to the belief that the psalms must have come upon the scene at the exact time when they profess to have lifted their honest heads above the horizon.

7. Lastly, this discovery will help to restore David to his rightful distinction in the authorship of the psalms, and our Lord to his rightful supremacy in the minds and hearts of those who are posing as scholars. If the present collection of Psalms existed, just as we have them now, at the time of the LXX., then there is no room for a single contribution to the collection in the days of the Maccabees. All, or nearly all, of the Psalter must have been complete when the prophets of the Restoration laid down their labor with their lives. But at that time seventy-three out of one hundred and fifty psalms were ascribed to David, and thirteen more of them have historical inscriptions fitting into events in the life of the king. Besides this, the name of the king is found in twelve other psalms. David has the preeminence in the praises of the temple as well as in the government of the throne. Hence, while the name of Moses occurs six hundred and fifty times in the Old Testament, that of David appears nine hundred and fifty times. He stands preeminent amongst the obedient servants of Jehovah-a man after God's own heart-and also preeminent amongst the poets, the heroes, and the kings of Israel. He is both the hero of the Old Testament and also of the book of Psalms.

If the modern fad to find editors, instead of authors, must continue to obtain in the imaginations of the critics, and to obtrude itself into biblical research, still it must not be forgotten that these imaginary editors, at a very ancient date, made the name of the poet-king second to no other in the collection of the psalms. Discuss or discard the titles, their very

existence at that remote period has to be accounted for, as well as the oblivion into which they fell. And there can be no explanation so satisfactory as the one that is obvious, natural, and historic. David was the greatest king of the Jewish nation, and he was the very man,-emotional, sensitive, Godfearing, strong in his keen sense of righteousness, and brave in his intense hatred of sin-the very man from whom these pious poems could come. Further, this discovery of the proper place and meaning of the musical titles shows that commemorative and national services were held in the temple in honor of David, in the days of the chief musician. Psalm viii. shows that David is the champion who went out between the camps in the time of a nation's crisis; for it is evident that no people celebrate fireside fame or private heroism in public song.

It follows, therefore, that our Lord was right when he spoke of what David said in the psalms. For more than a quarter of a century the hearts of those who believe in the supreme deity of Christ have been either bleeding with pious sorrow, or boiling with righteous indignation, at the flippant way in which professed scholars and (God save the mark) professed Christians have said that "Jesus did not know," that he was "limited in his knowledge by his environments and his opportunities," that he "may have accommodated his teaching to the ignorance" of the people of his day, when he spoke of Moses as the author of the Pentateuch and of David as the composer of the psalms. Let us hope-although one cannot but confess that it is hoping against hope that this new light on the old psalms may suggest to modern students the fitness of having more modesty and less assumption; more seemly reverence and less unseemly pride; more of the sublime conceptions of the "Roundhead" and less of the shal

low pomposity of the "Cavalier," in their future speculations and published findings. Let us hope and pray that this old light of bygone days, dropped out of the consciousness of the successors of the patriarchs and prophets, and buried beneath the learned labors of the lexicographers and expositors, but now recovered and placed upon its divinely appointed lampstand, and shedding its lustre upon the meaning, the past use, and the prospective outlook of the Psalms, and revealing the national experience of Israel, as well as the personal struggles and hopes of God's saints in ages gone by, may lead men to recognize that there are some things which they do not know, and some things which our Lord did know. May we all learn that it is better to let the Scriptures judge the man than for the man to sit in judgment upon the Scriptures. May these leaders of modern thought learn that the best of all is to give to Christ the same preeminence in judging of the authorship, the truthfulness, and the abiding character of the whole of the Scriptures, which they affect to give him in the peerless perfection of his personal life, and the elevated character of his matchless teachings.

ARTICLE VI.

THE DIACONATE: A NEW TESTAMENT STUDY.

BY THE REVEREND ROBERT E. NEIGHBOR.

THE evangelical denominations are not in agreement as to the office and functions of the deacon. This, however, does not indicate the perversity of the theologic mind, but rather the meagerness of the New Testament records in regard to the diaconate and the consequent difficulty in determining the matters variously pertaining to it. In the Episcopal and Methodist Episcopal churches it constitutes the lower of two "orders" in the ministry; and accordingly the deacon, though not ranking as a full "priest," is, nevertheless, a minister in the sense that he is authorized to preach and is placed in charge of congregations. In the Methodist Episcopal churches he is required to prepare for it by taking a prescribed course of study, and then, after having passed a successful examination, and being also of approved character, he may be formally ordained a deacon. In due time he is advanced to the full priesthood by passing an examination in a second course of study, provided there be no bar to his advancement on moral grounds.

66

In non-episcopal churches, on the other hand (with perhaps the exception of the Lutheran), there is but one "order" in the ministry, and the deacon's functions are therefore non-ministerial. He does not preach, or, at least, preaching functions are not regarded as included in his office. Among Presbyterians he has charge of only the temporal and

secular affairs of the congregation, while in Baptist and Congregational churches he is not restricted to this, but assists the pastor as a sort of qualified adviser in the general supervision of the church's spiritual interests. He is not, however, a preacher; if at any time he preach, having ability to do so to the edification of the congregation, he is not considered as doing it in virtue of his office as a deacon. In Baptist and Congregational churches, therefore, the deacons collectively constitute a kind of pastor's cabinet, and divide with him theoretically, at least, the responsibility of the church's welfare. In practice, however, they sometimes, it must be confessed, add to his responsibility; and since they stand to him in the relation of the many to the one, they not infrequently overrule his larger knowledge and experience by their prejudices and unwisdom, limit his efficiency, and hasten his resignation.

It is sometimes offered as a criticism that the deacons content themselves, as a rule, with officiating at the Lord's Supper in the distribution of the bread and wine to the membership: but there are pastors who would consider themselves fortunate if their deacons could be persuaded to limit their official activities to that simple and innocent service. On the other hand, a body of deacons composed of wise and experienced and godly men, thoroughly loyal to both the pastor and the church, and cordially recognizing their true relation to him and to it, knowing the duties of their office and being qualified for them, is an undoubted tower of strength to the pastor and also to the church. Such deacons there are, and they are worthy of being held in very high esteem for their work's sake. Happy the pastor who, instead of having to manage his deacons as well as his church, can rely upon their cooperation, is strengthened by their wise suggestions, and rejoices in the assurance of their personal sympathy.