due to a higher Master; 'THY SERVANT did meditate in thy

statutes.'

24. Thy testimonies also are my delight, and my counsellors.'

Pleasure and wisdom, as the world hath ordered matters, are almost incompatible; insomuch that Solomon, relating the experience he had had of voluptuousness, mentions it as a thing out of the ordinary course, that his wisdom' all the time remained with him;' Eccles. ii. 9. But they who meditate in the word of God, find a pleasure, which hath wisdom for its inseparable companion. Their sorrow is dispelled, and their doubts are resolved. For how can he be sorrowful, who sits by the fountain of joy? How can he be long in doubt, who hath the prophets and apostles for his counsellors?

DALETH.-PART IV.

25. My soul cleaveth to the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.'

The Psalmist, in a state of affliction and humiliation, still seeketh relief, by prayer, from the Scriptures. His circumstances vary, but his affection to the word of God continueth the same. Every one, whose affections are set on things below, hath reason to exclaim with David, ' My soul cleaveth to the dust.' From this kind of death we are quickened,' or made alive, by the Gospel, through that same Spirit which raised Christ from the dead, and which shall raise us also at the last day. Then soul and body, perfected together, shall take their final farewell of earth, and ascend to heaven, where the soul shall feel no passion but the love of God, and the body shall have no employment but to express it.

26. I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me; teach me thy statutes.'

We should freely and ingenuously declare' to God in prayer for our sins, our temptations, our sorrows, and our undertakings; it argues love, confidence, and sincerity, so to do; it is a means of acquainting us with our own state, of which generally we are ignorant; and it will not fail to procure us those aids from above, of which we Div. No. XXIV.

S

stand in need. God will 'hear' us; he will pardon our offences, strengthen us in our trials, dispel our grief, and prosper the work of our hands on us. These mercies, when received, should incline us to walk worthy of them, and, for that purpose, to beg the farther instruction and direction of the divine Spirit; I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me-teach me thy statutes.'

27. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts; so shall I talk,' or meditate, ' of thy wondrous works,' or thy mysteries,

The heart of the troubled Psalmist is intent on duty, and the deliverance which he chiefly requesteth is that from ignorance and error. True knowlege cometh from God, and it cannot be too often desired of him. It is pleasant as the light, extensive as the heavens, and more profitable than the treasures of eastern kings. He who is led to understand' the celestial 'mysteries' of the Scriptures, will never want subjects for meditation,' and should never permit those subjects either to slip out of his mind, or to lie unimproved in it.

28. My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according to thy word.'

Let us not marvel, if sin bring us to the knowlege of sorrow, since he who knew no sin,' was yet, on our account, so intimately acquainted with grief. In the garden, his soul' melted for heaviness,' and there appeared an angel from heaven 'strengthening him: Luke xxii. 43. Our transgressions deserve an eternity of sorrow; let us not, therefore, repine at any part of it that may fall to our share in time. No, blessed Jesu! let us suffer with thee, as both a means and a pledge of our future glorification with thee. Only 'strengthen us, according to the promises in thy word.' In this life, all we ask is faith and patience; faith, to assure us that thou orderest all things for the best; and patience, to preserve that faith. These were the provisions with which thy best-beloved servants of old travelled through this mortal life. Enable us, on whom the ends of the world are come, to do the same; that so, when the days of our earthly pilgrimage shall be happily accomplished, we may sit down, with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in thy heavenly kingdom.

29. Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.' 30. I have chosen the way of truth thy judgments have I laid before me.'

It is plain that the way of truth," in the latter of these two verses, is opposed to the way of lying,' or of falsehood, in the former. The one comprehends every thing in doctrine and practice that is right, and therefore true;' the other denotes every thing which is wrong, and therefore false.' Of these two ways man hath his choice. God points out to him the former by his word, and offers to conduct him in it by his Spirit. Satan shows him the latter, and endeavours to seduce him into it by his temptations. The Psalmist declareth himself to have chosen' God's way, and to have laid' the Scriptures before him,' as the chart by which he was to direct his course. He therefore prays that the other way may be far removed' from him; and that God would vouchsafe him such a thorough acquaintance with the way' of truth, as might prevent him from ever wandering into the path of error. much depends on the road we choose! How difficult is it, in a divided and distracted world, to choose aright! Yet this choice, so important, so difficult, frequently remains to be made by us, when we have neither judgment to choose, nor strength to travel!

How

31. I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.'

The

Having once chosen our road, it remains that we persevere in it; since better had it been for us never to have known the way of truth, than to forsake it, when known; and we have the same reasons to go on, which induced us to begin; nay, though the love of the world may require novelty and variety to support it, yet, in the blessed union of the soul with its Redeemer, true affection will increase with time and acquaintance. Psalmist doth not only say, 'I have followed,' but ‘I have stuck unto, thy testimonies;' I have adhered so closely and firmly to them, that temptation has in vain essayed to allure, and persecution has vainly attempted to force, me from them. And therefore he beseecheth God so to continue his grace and favor, that he may never, by falling from his steadfastness, disgrace his

Master, his cause, his brethren, himself, nor be put to shame at the last day. 'O LORD, put me not to shame!'

32. I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.'

The true Christian is always proceeding in the way of godliness, though not always with equal pace. In grief, whether for temporal or spiritual losses, the heart is contracted, and the spirits are all summoned home to comfort and support it, so that the faculties are left feeble and sluggish; and then the progress can be but slow. This was the Psalmist's case. But even then he promises, that, when God, by sending him joy and gladness, should enlarge his heart,' dilate his spirits, and put life and strength into his actions, he would quicken his pace in proportion, and, with renewed vigor and alacrity, run the way' of the divine commandments,' until it should have brought him to rest and felicity in the bosom of God.

TWENTY-FIFTH DAY.-MORNING PRAYER.

HE.-PART V.

33. Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.'

Instruction from above is necessary for the children of God, while they continue in this world. The more we know, the more we shall desire to know; we shall beg a daily supply of grace, as well as of bread; and a taste of the cluster of Eschol will make us long after the vintage of Canaan: Numb. xiii. 23. Religion is the art of holy living, and then only known when it is practised; as he is not a master of music who can read the notes which compose it, but he who has learned how to take a lesson readily from the book, and play it on his instrument; after which, the pleasure it affords will be a sufficient motive for continuing so to do. Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.'

34. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.'

Much understanding' is needful in order to the 'observation' of the law, that we may know what is commanded, and what is forbidden, and how far; that we may avoid the snares laid for us in the way of duty; that we may respect things according to their due rank and worth; that we may do good works in their proper time, place, and manner; above all, that the affections may be directed by the judgment, and not the judgment by the affections. The law cannot be observed, unless it be understood; and it is understood in vain, unless it be observed; or rather, if it be indeed understood, if there be on the mind, at all times, a full conviction of divine truths, and their excellency, not only in themselves, but compared with the offers of the world, the flesh, and the devil, then it will certainly operate in hearty obedience. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.'

35. Make me to go,' or conduct me, in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.'

He who teacheth us the way to heaven, must also 'conduct' us in it, and the same grace must give light and strength. The Scripture is our rule, the Spirit is our guide; and, from beginning to end, it is God who inclines, prepares, and enables, us to go in the' clean and pleasant path of his commandments;' a path which leads us far from the noise and pollution of the world, through a paradise of promises and comforts, grateful as the fragrance of early spring, or the incense ascending from the holy altar. Happy the soul that can say to God, therein do I delight; which is, at the same time, a reason for her to ask, and for him to grant, a continuance and perseverance therein.

36. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.'

The wit of man may conceive, and his tongue may utter, great things of God and holiness, while his heart is averse from both; therefore David saith, not only 'give me understanding,' but incline my heart.' Our true characters are formed by the desires of our hearts, which, not finding satisfaction in themselves, must seek it in something without them. The world offers itself