5. A good man showeth favour 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 tormentors; 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 bestows upon 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 employed his talents for the benefit of mankind, will be able to render a good account to his Lord who intrusts them with him.

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.

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 ex

alted with honour.

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 discretion, according to the nature of the soil, and in proper season, so as to produce the most plentiful harvest. Therefore his righteousness endures for ever; its fruits and its good report are lasting among men, and it is never forgotten before God, who has prepared for it an eternal reward. His horn shall be exalted with honour, or, in glory; whatever may be his lot upon earth; and even there the charitable man will frequently be had in honour; 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.

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 other; 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 upon 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.

PSALM CXXI.

ARGUMENT.

In this Psalm the prophet introduces a person, most probably an Israelite on his way to Jerusalem, expressing his trust and confidence in Jehovah, the Maker of heaven and earth, of whose favour and protection, at all times, and in all dangers, the prophet assures him. These promises, like those in xcist Psalm, were, in their full and spiritual sense, made good to Messiah, and are now daily accomplishing in the members of his mystical body, the Christian church. Bishop Lowth supposes the two first verses to be spoken by David, when going out to war, and the answer and encouragement to be made by the high priest from the Holy place. In this case, the idea of warfare is added to that of pilgrimage, and the Psalm rendered still more applicable to us, as well as to the true David our King.

1. I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.

The true Israelite, amidst the dangers of his earthly pilgrimage and warfare, looks continually towards the heavenly city, whither he is travelling. Faith shows him afar off the everlasting hills, from whence comes the help, which must bring him in safety to them.

He lifts up his eyes, in prayer to the Almighty, whose temple and habitation are thereon. He puts not his trust in any creature, but implores aid immediately of him who made heaven and earth, and who, consequently, has power over all things in both.

3. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

In the first two verses, we heard the believer declaring his resolution to trust in God. The prophet now commends that resolution, and encourages him to persevere in it. As if he had said, Thou dost well to expect help from Jehovah alone; to overlook the vanities here below; to place thy confidence, and set thy affections on him who dwells above. Know therefore assuredly, that he will be with thee in the way in which thou goest; he will preserve thee from falling, and defend thee from all dangers; for in him thou hast a guardian, who is not, like all others, liable to remit his care, by being subject to sleep or death. The eye of his providence is upon thee, and that is always open. "Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."

5. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

The meaning is, that the good man, during his journey through life, shall be under God's protection at all seasons; as Israel in the wilderness was defended from the burning heat of the sun by the moist and refreshing shadow of the cloud; and secured against