9. He sent redemption unto his people, he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend,' or, terrible, is his name.'

He who sent redemption' to Israel by the hand of Moses, hath now 'sent redemption' by the power of Jesus to all the world: he who, at mount Sinai, established his covenant' with his people, and gave them a law, hath now established his 'covenant' with the Gen tiles, and published to them his Gospel from Sion. Holy is his name,' and therefore 'terrible' to those who, under all the means of grace, continue unholy.

10. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments his praise endureth for ever.'

The fear of God' is the first step to salvation, as it exciteth a sinner to depart from evil, and to do good; to implore pardon, and to sue for grace; to apply to a Saviour for the one, and to a Sanctifier for the other. Religion is the perfection of wisdom, practice the best instructor, and thanksgiving the sweetest recreation.

PSALM CXII.

ARGUMENT.

[The Psalmist enumerateth the blessings attending the man who feareth Jehovah; 1. the pleasure which he taketh in doing his will; 2. the prosperity of his seed; 3. the plenteousness in his house; 4. his comfort in trouble; 5. his internal joys; 6. the honor with which he is remembered; 7, 8. his only confidence in God; 9. his good deeds, and the reward of them; 10. the envy, wretchedness, and perdition of the wicked. The blessings of the Gospel are spiritual and eternal; and they are conferred on the members of the Christian church through Christ their head, who is the pattern of all righteousness, and the giver of all grace.]

1 Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments;' or, he delighteth greatly in his commandments.

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The man who duly feareth God,' is delivered from every other fear; the man who'delighteth in God's com

It sometimes pleaseth God to bestow on his servants, s as he did on Israel of old, the good things of this world. And a rich man is therefore happier than a poor man, because it is more blessed to give than to receive:" Acts xx. 35. But the true wealth of Christians is of another kind; their riches' are such as neither moth can corrupt, nor thief steal. Grace and glory are in the 'house' of Christ, and everlasting righteousness' is the portion of his children. Ta vo

While we are on earth, we are subject to a threefold 'darkness; the darkness of error, the darkness of sorrow, and the darkness of death. To dispel these, God visiteth us, by his word, with a threefold light; the light of truth, the light of comfort, and the light of life. The Christian's temper is framed after the pattern of his Master; and he is ever ready to show to others that 'love' and 'mercy which have been shown to him.

5. A good man showeth favor and lendeth? he will guide his affairs with discretion.'

The former part of this verse may be rendered, with a little variation, 'It is well with the man who is gracious and communicative.' Ill-nature and avarice are their own tor

mentors: but love and liberality do good to themselves by doing it to others, and enjoy all the happiness which they cause. It is not God's intention, that any of the talents which he bestowed on us should lie dead, but that our brethren should have the use of them; even as Christ received the Spirit to communicate it to us, and our salvation is his glory and joy. The latter part of this verse is likewise capable of a different, and, indeed, a more literal, translation: He will support, or maintain, his words, or his transactions, in judgment; that is, he who thus employeth his talents for the benefit of mankind, will be able to render a good account to his Lord who entrusteth them with him, him

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6. Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.' 7. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. 8. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies.'

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Nothing can deprive the person here described of his felicity. When his work is done, his body will go to its repose in the dust; but the memorial' of his name and of his good deeds will be still fresh as the morning breeze, and fragrant as the flower of the spring. 'He feareth no evil report,' no blast of slander and malice can touch him; no tidings of calamity and destruction can shake his confidence in God; but he will hear the trump of judgment, and behold the world in flames, rather with joy than with dread; as knowing, by those tokens, that the hour of his redemption is come, when he shall see his enemies,' and even death, the last of them, under his feet.

9. He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honor.'

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His riches are not hoarded up, but dispersed' abroad; and that not by others after his death, but by himself in his life-time: He hath dispersed.' They are not squandered in the ways of vanity and folly, but given to the poor;' nor are they given indiscriminately and at random, but 'dispersed,' like precious seed, with prudence and

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discretion, according to the nature of the soil, and in proper season, so as to produce the most plentiful harvest. Therefore his righteousness endureth for ever;' its fruits and its good report are lasting among men, and it is ne ver forgotten before God, who hath prepared for it an eternal reward. His horn shall be exalted with honor, or, in glory:' whatever may be his lot on earth, and even there the charitable man will frequently be had in 'honor,' at the last day, certainly, when the thrones of the mighty shall be cast down, and the sceptres of tyrants broken in pieces, then shall he lift up his head, and be exalted to partake of the glory' of his Redeemer, the author of his faith, and the pattern of his charity, who gave himself for us, and is now seated at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens.

10. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away; the desire of the wicked shall perish.'

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The sight of Christ in glory, with his saints, will, in an inexpressible manner, torment the crucifiers of the one, and the persecutors of the others; as it will show them the hopes and wishes of their adversaries all granted to the full, and all their own desires' and designs for ever at an end; it will excite an envy which must prey on itself, produce a grief which can admit of no comfort, give birth to a worm which can never die, and blow up those fires which nothing can quench.

[The servants of God are, 1. exhorted to praise his name, 2. at all times, and, 3. in all places, on account, 4, 5. of his power and glory, 6-8. of his mercy in redeeming man, and 9, making the Gentile church to be a joyful mother of children. This Psalm is appointed to be read on Easter-day.]

1. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.' 2. Blessed be the name of the LORD, from this time forth, and for evermore.'

Christians are the servants' of Jesus Christ; and a

most delightful part of their service it is, to 'praise' his holy and saving 'name' in the church, which now useth this Psalm among others, and with it 'blesseth the name' of her Lord and Saviour, from age to age. The Psalmist wished and prayed that this might be done, and he foresaw that it would be done, while the world should last, on earth, and afterwards for evermore' in heaven. 3. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the LORD's name is to be praised; or, is praised. 4. The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.'

At the diffusion of the Gospel through the world, the name of Christ was praised from the east to the west,' in churches every where planted by the apostles and their successors; and the grand subjects of joy and triumph among believers were, the superiority of their Master over the Heathen nations' and their idols; the exaltation of 'his glory above the heavens,' and all the powers therein; the might of his arm, and the majesty of his kingdom.

5. Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high? 6. Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in earth."

Highly as our Lord is exalted above this system, above these heavens and this earth of ours, yet he condescendeth to regard every thing that passeth here, and to make us, the inhabitants of this lower world, and, for our sakes, all the other creatures in it, the objects of his peculiar care and paternal love,

7. He raiseth the poor e poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;' 8. That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.'

Such is his mercy to the poor sons of Adam in their fallen estate, that from the lowest and most abject condi tion, from the pollutions of sin, and from the dishonors of the grave, he raiseth them to righteousness and holiness, to glory and immortality; he setteth them on high, with the inhabitants of the heavenly Jerusalem, with the princes of his people,' the leaders of the armies above, with angels and archangels before his throne. What is the exaltation of the meanest beggar from a dunghill to an earthly diadem, when compared with that of human na