tion, therefore it is independent of any local and limited reference which either authorship would give to it; that sentiment is that "human enterprises only succeed by the Divine blessing." (Proverbs X. 22.)

(a) No house stands that God does not build, whether the house signify the home, the business, the character, or the church for human sufficiency is a foundation of sand. (Proverbs xiv. 11.)

(b) No city is safe that God does not keep, whether interpreted politically as belonging to the State, or religiously as being that of the heart: for the arm of flesh is a bulwark of mud. (Proverbs xi. 11, also xxix. 8.)

(c) No labour is profitable that He does not bless, whether it be manual or mental: for without grace it increases sorrow or multiplies wickedness. (Proverbs x. 16.)

(d) No sleep is peaceful that He does not give, being broken by scaring dreams or prevented by devising schemes. (Proverbs iv. 16.)

(e) No family is blessed that is not an heritage of Him, for "The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked, but He blesseth the habitation of the just." (Proverbs iii. 33.)

We do not say that houses are not erected, that cities are not watched, that sweat of brow and brain are not successful, that repose is not realized, that offspring are not born and bred; nay! But being done without God, i.e., without imploring His help, presence, blessing, "reward,"-unmoved and unsanctioned by His Spirit, and without an eye to His glory-all is, in the superlative sense, "in vain." Such living and labour misses the supreme charm and purpose of being, viz., Jehovah's smile of approval and the magnifying of His name. Without this, life is a blank, a failure, a vanity. The great practical lesson to be learnt is, that we must take the Lord with us in every enterprise and work, and so live above all care-" Sleep being used here for complete freedom from care, and peace of mind"-for He alone can give the "increase" to our planting, watering, thinking, toiling. Anxiety and care have neither power to help nor ability to command success. And where in any of the diverse departments of life, whether in gain or fame, learning or literature, conflict or controversy, politics or preaching, church or home, there may be seeming success (as the result of push, tact, perseverance, and principle), nevertheless, if it be not diademed with the approbation of God, if in all and through all and for all the glory of God be not the inspiring motive and culminating end, it is the most gigantic failure. Work finds its inspiration and reward, life its repose and blessedness, and home its multiplying companions and comforts alone in Jehovah's benediction.

"Duties are ours, events are God's; and the way is to do

these duties free from anxiety, because trusting in Him; and He will give us all that He knows we have need of, and, to the bargain, that peace which passeth all understanding. Let us only have His love, and then we may repose in the confidence that all is well." Let us cultivate the noble habit of soul of looking upon all we have-home, safety, prosperity, carefulness for nothing, good and praiseworthy children—as gifts of His hand, fruits of His paternal blessing.

THE ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTIETH PSALM.

(DE PROFUNDIS.)

"This plaintive Ode bespeaks the deepest mental distress under a sense of sin, and yet Faith fixes her eye on the throne of Infinite Love." "A noble composition-among the most illustrious in the whole collection." It is the sixth of the so-called "Penitential Psalms" and must prove a "treasury of great comfort to all in distress."

It is recorded of Martin Luther, that when assailed by the devil at Coburg, and in great affliction, he said to those around him, "Venite, in contemptum diaboli Psalmum, de profundis, quatuor vocibus cantenus, come, let us sing that Psalm, 'Out of the depths, etc., in derision of the devil.'"

Homiletically analysed we have, I. SOUL-DEPTHS:-"Out of the depths" &c. "Deep waters are often used as figurative of great distress," (Psalm xlii. 5 to 8). "Depths" of (a) darkness-(6) doubt (c) sorrow-(d) sin: the last explaining all the others. There are likewise crises-sudden emergencies-great griefs and conflicts into which the Christly soul is sometimes plunged, which may be called "depths." No depths so deep but God can see, hear, and uplift us.

II. SOUL-CRYING:- "I cried unto Thee, O Jehovah." This vocalization of soul the irrepressible out-come of (a) necessitydistress, "the depths." Men seldom pray in "the shallows" of life-in the hey-day of prosperity, when all is calm, bright, joyous. But when the storm rages, and the flood assays to carry everything before it, and we are flung into the " depths" of danger and distress, instinctively we "cry" for succour and salvation, (Ps. xl. 1-2,) (ditto cvii. 4 to 6: 11 to 13, etc.,) (Jonah ii. 2). "As spices smell best," says quaint old Trapp, "when beaten, and as frankincense is most oderiferous when cast into the fire;" so do men pray most and best "out of the depths of trouble &c.

This vocalization of soul is the (b) cry of self-helplessness :-There is no alternative but to sink and perish if God does not interpose. Weakness is appealing to omnipotence: self-sufficiency never prays

-cries-unless as the old Pharisees at the corners of the streets! When we realize our nothingness we "cry" most.

dependence seeking help.

Prayer is

This vocalization of soul is the (c) cry of earnest entreaty : he does not sigh! he cries. The pressure of extremity gives volume and vigour to his soul-voice. He cries, not because God is deaf or distant, but because he is in earnest and agony. His is "fervent prayer" which "availeth much."

III. SOUL-APPREHENSIONS:-Verses 3 and 4.

The

The moral perception is quickened. Spiritual discernment is all alive. "Vail" of unbelief is rent in twain, and personal sin is apprehended in its true character, as well as in its relationship to the Divine Sovereign. All sin has a twofold bearing-a human and a divine. It is a divine insult-an outrage of law-a defiance of authority, &c.; it is also a human injury-calamity-degradation, etc. Thus it is felt to be here. It rises on the horizon of the moral sense in all its minutiæ and magnitude, causing the soul to exclaim, "If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark," or take strict account of, "iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" Jehovah is strict to "mark," but slow (because "abundant in mercy,") to execute judgement. No sin escapes His eye: His entry against us is correct, but His mercy restrains hasty justice and holds back the due deserts of our iniquities.

But while there is a clear apprehension of Divine Justice, there is likewise a vivid apprehension of the Divine "Forgiveness" (verse 4): this Forgiveness, as the fruit of Divine Love, tempering His Justice and prolonging the delay of deserved punishment. It is "Forgiveness" based on Atonement, (Eph. i. 7): Abundant, (Isa. lv. 7): Unceasing—“ it is a perpetual act, and should be as a perpetual picture to our hearts; " it is productive of filial fear-not a fear which is a "trembling at His unchangeable law, but a fear of incurring His displeasure." "The sense of forgiveness, so far from producing licentiousness, produces holiness," (1 Kings viii. 38 to 40: Jer. xxxiii. 9).

IV. SOUL-WAITING: verses 5 and 6. Right moral attitudebiding Jehovah's time and pleasure. The finite waiting on the Infinite the subject on the King-the sinner on the Saviour. It is darkness waiting for day-break, poverty for "unsearchable riches," penitence for assured acceptance in the beloved!"

It is expressive of (a) Patient Hopefulness: hopefulness inspired and sustained by infallible Promise," in His word do I hope," verse 5: the Divine Character, verse 7. Expressive of (b) Eager Expectation explain and enforce the beautiful figure in verse 6. Expectation begotten of a strong faith-"He shall redeem Israel from all hist iniquities," verse 8.

Waiting, hoping, expecting, never can be disappointed: through it the "cry" of distress becomes changed into the song of victory.

THE ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIRST PSALM. (THE CHILD-SPIRIT.)

Such is the spirit of this Psalm and the spirit of Christianity. There is a beautiful harmony between verse 1 and Rom xii. 16; "Mind not high things. be not wise in your own conceits." Also between verse 2 and St. Matt. xviii. 3, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."

One of the most striking peculiarities and glories of the Christian religion is the prominence given to children therein, (Matt. xviii. 2 and 5, also 10; Mark x. 13 to 15; 1 Cor. xiv. 20). “I find,” says Dr. Armitage, "a child in no religion but in the religion of Jesus. and although the child cannot master the mysteries, he can believe the mysteries, he can obey the mysteries." And no other religion ever dreamt of making a child a pattern or model of the spirit that must be possessed in order to effectual salvation. "Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein, (Luke x. 15.)

It is not childishness but childlikeness that is the condition of admission into the Kingdom, not of Grace only, but likewise of Nature, Providence, Law, Learning, Science-of every kingdom of knowledge and truth. Faith is a better interpreter than conceit in any region of riddles: the former belongs pre-eminently to the child-spirit, the latter to the full-grown fool! "Lofty imaginations" will be cast down in every attempt of irreverent guessing at Divine things: the worldly wise will be shut out of the "Kingdom," while the docile and trustful and filial child-spirit will enter in. "I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes," (Mat. xi. 25),

David evidently had this spirit, and it flung open to him all the gates leading into the higher realms of thought-fact-experiencetruth! where Divine mysteries only strengthened his faith and deepened his reverence, where Divine glories raised his wonder and admiration, but subdued and quieted his soul into a childlike teachableness and submission. Infinite problems, upon which modern learning" whets a prostituted intellect," King David intelligently and devoutly viewed as "things too high" for him, but, child-like, he gave them his credence, acceptance, obedience. And whoever, like David, spiritually "becomes" a weaned child"-weaned from self-seeking, self-exaltation, self-sufficiency-he knows nothing of

pride of heart or pride of intellect, a haughty self-importance and conceit which intrudes into things unseen, things "too wonderful " for unaided human reason to cope with. Nay, where he cannot penetrate he does not speculate or fabricate and what he cannot solve he does not haughtily scorn, reject, deny. He approaches infinite subjects with a conscious inability to know but little of their meaning, and that little but imperfectly. He is ever careful to observe the limit which marks off the secret things which belong to God from those revealed which belong to us; he never trespasses on the forbidden ground beyond that limit. Irreverent curiosity does, vulgar self-conceit does, the "haughty" heart and the "lofty" eyes do: and finding themselves out of their depth, they stretch out the hands of unbelief and audacity and swim direct to the shores of scepticism! it is meddling with "things too high" for them which makes poor shallow-brained and conceited mortals sceptics. Let the child-spirit possess the philosopher, the scientist, the critic, the theologian, the scholar, and each will "trust" where they cannot "trace," worship where they cannot decipher the hand-writing of divinity on the glorious page of His works, and "hope" (verse 3) to know in full what is now witholden, when life attains its perfection yonder. May we realize "that humility of the true faith which is akin to the modesty of true science;" Amen.

THE ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY THIRD PSALM.

(CHRISTIAN UNITY.)

By whom this Psalm was written, and on what occasion, it is not known. The subject of it is one of the sweetest that can engage the human mind, and the scene it pictures one of the fairest and best that the Divine Eye can witness. Nature is a splendid unity, bnt unity in diversity: so the Church &c.

Consider I. Christian Unity in its nature :—

(a) Negatively it is not uniformity of sentiment, appearance, organization, position, &c. But

(6) Positively it is oneness of spiritual relationship, privilege, honour: oneness in motive, sympathy, action: a unity of heart, life, and testimony. The Apostolic Church a beautiful practical illustration of it, (Acts ii. 1-44-45).

Consider II. Christian Unity in its CHARACTERISTICS :—

It is (a) good: because Scripture declares it-angels and God delight in it-growth in grace is promoted by it—and it is a source of strength and security. It is (6) "pleasant:" to the eye strife is most disagreeable to witness even in the world, how much more so in a Christian community-a religious family &c. To the heart: the